Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2003. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains viii, 81 p. : ill. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 45-51).

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Ed.)--University of Hong Kong, 1983.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Central Florida, 2009. / Adviser: Viatcheslav Kokoouline. Includes bibliographical references (p. 125-138).

The objectives of the subject-matter of this thesis were to appraise some methods of solving non-singular optimal control problems by their degree of success in tackling four chosen problems and then to try the most promising methods on chosen singular problems. In Part I of this thesis, the chosen problems are attempted by quasilinearisation, two versions of shooting, Miels's method, differential dynamic programming and two versions of parameterisation . Conclusions on the various methods are given. NOC shooting, developed by the Numerical Optimisation Centre of The Hatfield Polytechnic, and constrained optimisation were found to be very useful for non-singular problems. In Part 11, the properties and calculation of possible singular controls are investigated, then the two chosen methods used. It was found that NOC shooting was again very useful, provided the solution structure is known and that constrained parameterisation was invaluable for determining the solution structure and when shooting is impossible. Contributions to knowledge as as follows. In Part I, the relative merits of various methods are displayed, additions are made to the theory of parameterisation, shooting and quasilinearisation, the best solutions known of the chosen problems are produced and choices of optimisation parameters for one chosen problem, the satellite problem, are compared. The satellite problem has dependent state variables and the Maximum Principle is extended in Appendix III to cover this case . In Part II, a thorough survey of the properties of singular controls is given, the calculation of possible singular controls clarified and extended, the utility of the two chosen methods is displayed, the best solutions known of the Goddard problem obtained with improved understanding of transitions in soluti on structures , Cl problem studied with control dependent on the costate variables and singular solution structures found.

The thesis examines the loosely framed hypothesls that a computer progr3m can be designed to aid the gaining of new insights into practical real problems in a way which is 3n3logous to well established creative problem solving techniques. Two programs were designed and tested by the writer for this purpose. Evidence is provided to show that the programs do in fact assist in the galning of such new insights. The research comprises 3n analysis of the relev3nt literature and field studies taking the form of controlled experiments. The field research design. The first stage comprised the development of 3n early prototype program BRAIN. From this e::ercise ideas for further development of the progr3m were e::tracted together with a methodology for establishing how to record user interaction with the progr3m. The second stage of the field research involved the systematic testing of an enhanced version of the initi3l progr3m. The writer sought to establish how users interacted with the program. There was observed to be strong evidence that users did in fact interact with the program. It was noted that some users found the progr3m somewhat too bizarre for their own liking and had difficulty in making good use of the structure provided by the program. Further developments of the initial program, BRAIN, and the theoretical justification for the design of a second program, ORACLE, were made. ORACLE adopts the role of a process facilitator operating in the mode of a Rogerian type therapist. The computer program is developed from ideas associated with the ELIZA program developed by Weizenbaum and experience with the BRAIN program. The third stage of the research concerned itself with ascertaining whether the programs appeared to help users working with real problems - ie; ones over which they exercised personal ownership. At the same time an attempt was made to evaluate the effectiveness of the improvements made to the BRAIN program. The results obtained indicated that there was evidence to support the view that both programs assisted in the gaining of new insights into real, owned problems.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of accommodative dysfunction inuniversity student at Linneaus university in Kalmar.In this study 30 subjects were recruited (24 women and 6 men) and they were all studentsat Linneaus university. The average age was 22.5±2.2 years. The oldest participant were28 years old and the youngest was 19 years old. First they had to answer a symptomsquestionnaire called CISS, then they underwent a refraction followed by a fullaccommodative examination including amplitude of accommodation, fused crosscylinder, relative accommodation and accommodative facility. The results of theaccommodative tests were compared to normal values for each test to diagnose theparticipants with accommodative dysfunction.Of the 30 participants, 11 had symptoms related to much nearwork from the CISSquestionnaire. However, only 3 participants had both symptoms and at least two abnormaltest results which gave a result of 10% with accommodative dysfunction where all 3 hadaccommodative insufficiens.The result of 10% with accommodative dysfunction is lower than what previous studieshave shown in both university students and the general population. This study does notshow that university students has more accommodative problems than the generalpopulation. All examinations in this study were done with the participants currentrefractions while the participants answered the symptoms questionnaire based on theircurrent spectacles. This could be a factor why there were more symptomatic participantsthan the number of participants with an accommodative dysfunction.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Psychology / Master / Master of Philosophy

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