Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Heat is one of the most important factors in our atmosphere for precipitation (thunderstorm) formation. Thermal energy from local urban land-cover is also a common source of heat in the lower atmosphere. This phenomenon is known as the urban heat island effect (UHI) and is identified as a substantial cause to a changing climate in surface weather modification. The proceeding study investigates this connection between the UHI and surface weather using remote sensing platforms A ten-year analysis of the Indianapolis UHI and thunderstorms were studied from the summer months of May, June, July, August and September (MJJAS) from 2002 until 2011. LANDSAT space borne satellite technology and land-surface based weather radar technology was used in this analysis for thunderstorm investigation. Precipitation areas identified from land-based NEXRAD WSR-88D technology were used to identify convection from non-synoptic forcing and non-normal surface diurnal heating scenarios. Only convection appearing from the UHI were studied and analyzed. Results showed twenty-one events over eighteen days with the year 2005 and 2011 having the largest frequency of events. The month of August had the largest concentration with seven events during the late afternoon hours. UHI results showed July had the largest heat island magnitude with April and September having the lowest magnitude in UHI temperatures. Three events of the twenty-one storm paths did not had a significant mean temperature difference in the heat island below the storm reflectivity. The nineteen storm paths that were significant had a warmer area underneath storm path development by an average 6.2°C than surrounding areas. UHI initiation points showed twelve of the twenty-one events having statistically significant differences between 2 km initiation areas and the rest of the study areas. Land-cover results showed low intensity developed areas had the most land-cover type (48%) in the 2km initiation buffer regions.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The Pedestrian Automatic Emergency Braking System (PAEB) can utilize on-board sensors to detect pedestrians and take safety related actions. However, PAEB system only benefits the individual vehicle and the pedestrians detected by its PAEB. Additionally, due to the range limitations of PAEB sensors and speed limitations of sensory data processing, PAEB system often cannot detect or do not have sufficient time to respond to a potential crash with pedestrians. For further improving pedestrian safety, we proposed the idea for integrating the complimentary capabilities of V2V and PAEB (V2V-PAEB), which allows the vehicles to share the information of pedestrians detected by PAEB system in the V2V network. So a V2V-PAEB enabled vehicle uses not only its on-board sensors of the PAEB system, but also the received V2V messages from other vehicles to detect potential collisions with pedestrians and make better safety related decisions. In this thesis, we discussed the architecture and the information processing stages of the V2V-PAEB system. In addition, a comprehensive Matlab/Simulink based simulation model of the V2V-PAEB system is also developed in PreScan simulation environment. The simulation result shows that this simulation model works properly and the V2V-PAEB system can improve pedestrian safety significantly.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / In recent decades, Petri nets (PNs) have been used to model traffic networks for different purposes, such as signal phase control, routing, and traffic flow estimation, etc. Because of the complex nature of traffic networks where both discrete and continuous dynamics come into play, the Hybrid Petri net (HPN) model becomes an important tool for the modeling and analysis of traffic networks. In Chapter 1 a brief historical summery about traffic systems control and then related work is mentioned followed by the major contributions in this research. Chapter 2 provides a theoretical background on Petri nets. In Chapter 3, we develop a HPN model for a single signalized intersection first, then we extend this model to study a simple traffic network that consists of two successive intersections. Time delays between different points of network are also considered in order to make the model suitable for analysis and simulation. In addition to HPN models, we also consider discrete Petri nets where their modeling simplicity enables the characterization of the occurrences of all events in the system. This discrete PN is particularly useful to give a higher-level representation of the traffic network and study its event occurrences and correlations. In Chapter 4, we build a discrete PN model to represent a traffic network with two successive intersections. However, we find that the model leads to unbounded places which cannot accurately reflect the dynamics of the traffic in terms of event occurrences. Hence, we introduce the Modified Binary Petri nets (MBPN) to overcome the limitation and resolve the confliction problem when we design our controllers. This MBPN model is a powerful tool and can be useful for the modeling and analysis of many other applications in traffic networks. Chapter 5 gives a summary for each chapter, provides conclusion and discusses future work for both discrete and hybrid Petri nets.

L'accès aux médicaments essentiels (ME) est un élément clé de la qualité des soins dans un système de santé. Par ailleurs, le financement basé sur la performance (FBP) attire de plus en plus l'attention des décideurs comme une intervention pour améliorer la prestation des services de santé, y compris l’accès aux ME, dans les pays à faible et moyen revenus (PFMR). Malgré l’intérêt croissant de la recherche sur le FBP, très peu d’étude ont porté sur la mise à l’agenda d’une telle réforme ou son maintien à l’ordre du jour au fil du temps, encore moins sur l’influence de celle-ci sur l’accès aux ME dans les PFMR. A travers une analyse du programme de FBP au Cameroun, la présente thèse vise à faire avancer les connaissances en examinant les questions suivantes : qu’est-ce qui explique l’apparition du FBP au niveau de la politique nationale de la santé et quel est l’impact de ce programme sur l’accès aux ME? Le devis de recherche est celui d’une étude de cas et la démarche analytique s’appuie sur la combinaison des données qualitatives, à travers des entrevues réalisées auprès des acteurs clés du programme FBP au Cameroun, et quantitatives, issues de l’évaluation d’impact de ce programme. La perspective conceptuelle est celle des cycles de politique, du cadre de transfert des politiques et de la recherche interventionnelle. Les résultats sont structurés en quatre articles scientifiques. La mise du FBP à l’agenda au Cameroun s’est construite à partir des rapports et événements identifiant l'absence d'une politique de financement de la santé adaptée comme une question importante à laquelle il fallait s'attaquer (article 1). L'évolution du discours politique vers une plus grande responsabilisation a permis de tester de nouveaux mécanismes. Un groupe d'entrepreneurs politiques de la Banque mondiale, par le biais de nombreuses formes d'influence (financière, conceptuelle, fondée sur la connaissance et les réseaux) et en s'appuyant sur plusieurs réformes en cours, a collaboré avec de hauts fonctionnaires du gouvernement pour mettre le programme FBP à l'ordre du jour. Des organisations non gouvernementales internationales ont été recrutées au début du programme pour assurer sa mise en œuvre rapide. Toutefois, il a fallu transférer ce rôle aux organisations nationales pour assurer la pérennité, l'appropriation et l'intégration de l'intervention du FBP dans le système de santé (article 2). L'expérience de ce transfert montre que les éléments favorisant la réussite d’un tel processus incluent des directives structurées, une appropriation et planification conjointe de la transition par toutes les parties, et un soutien post-transition aux nouveaux acteurs. Les données qualitatives suggèrent que la mise en œuvre du programme FBP influence l’accès aux médicaments essentiels par l’entremise de plusieurs facteurs, notamment une plus grande autonomie des formations sanitaires, une régulation appliquée des équipes cadre de santé, une plus grande responsabilisation des acteurs du médicament et la libéralisation du système d’approvisionnement (article 3). Cependant, le programme a eu un impact très limité sur la disponibilité des ME (article 4). L'intervention n’a été associée à aucune réduction des ruptures de stock de ME, sauf pour la planification familiale (PF), avec une hétérogénéité des effets entre les régions et les zones urbaines et rurales. Ces résultats sont la conséquence d'un échec partiel de la mise en œuvre de ce programme, allant de la perturbation et de l'interruption des services à une autonomie limitée des formations sanitaires dans la gestion des décisions et à un retard considérable dans le paiement des prestations. / Access to essential medicines (EM) is a key element of quality of care in a health system. Accordingly, performance-based financing (PBF) is increasingly attracting the attention of policy makers as a promising intervention to improve health service delivery, including access to essential medicines, in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Despite the growing interest in PBF research, very few studies have focused on how such a reform has been put on the agenda or how it has been maintained over time, much less how it has influenced access to EMs in low- and middle-income countries. Through an analysis of the PBF program in Cameroon, this thesis aims to advance knowledge by examining the following questions: What explains the emergence of PBF at the level of national health policy and what is the impact of this program on access to EMs? The research design is a case study and the analytical approach is based on a combination of qualitative data, through interviews conducted with key actors of the PBF program in Cameroon, and quantitative data from the impact evaluation of this program. The conceptual perspective is that of policy cycles, the policy transfer framework and intervention research. The results are structured into four scientific articles. Putting the PBF on the agenda in Cameroon was built from reports and events identifying the lack of an appropriate health financing policy as a critical issue that needed to be addressed (article 1). The evolution of political discourse towards greater accountability made it possible to test new mechanisms. A group of political entrepreneurs from the World Bank, through many forms of influence (financial, conceptual, knowledge-based and networked) and building on several ongoing reforms, worked with senior government officials to put the PBF reform on the agenda. International non-governmental organizations were recruited at the beginning of the programme to ensure its rapid implementation. However, this role had to be transferred to national organizations to ensure sustainability, ownership and integration of the PBF intervention into the health system (Article 2). The experience of this transfer shows that the elements for the success of such a process include structured guidelines, joint ownership and planning of the transition by all parties, and post-transition support to new actors. The implementation of the PBF programme influences access to essential medicines through several factors, including greater autonomy of health v facilities, enforced regulation of district medical teams, greater accountability of drug stakeholders and liberalization of the supply system (Article 3). However, the programme had a very limited impact on the availability of EMs (Article 4). The intervention was not associated with any reduction in EM stock-outs, except for family planning (FP), where the reduction was 34% (P = 0.028), with a heterogeneity of effects between regions and urban and rural areas. These poor results were likely the consequence of partial implementation failure, ranging from disruption and discontinuation of services to limited facility autonomy in managing decision‐making and considerable delay in performance payment.

The need for an Anthropocentric Development Evaluation stems from the inability of development theory and praxis, which has informed the past Development Decades, to ameliorate abject poverty experienced by most people throughout the world. Emanating from a hermeneutical-interpretist epistemology the fundamental argument of an Anthropocentric Development Evaluation is that people and the crucial aspects of their humanity should be the central focus in development and evaluation processes. Thus, taking the people-centred approach to development as its starting point, an Anthropocentric Development Evaluation draws attention to the marginalised, particularly the poor, the rural poor, resource-poor primary producers, women and their households. An Anthropocentric Development Evaluation also argues for an actor-orientation to Development Evaluation to emphasise the situational, yet individual behaviour, of people. Alongside such an approach, lies the significance of culture and people's knowledge for development, as well as the limitations, risks, uncertainties and vulnerabilities people face as a consequence of their humanity. These may influence the extent to which they participate in spontaneous or imposed development initiatives. An Anthropocentric Development Evaluation then comparatively assesses three sets of similar, yet different, methodologies using people and aspects of their humanity described above as the focus for that assessment. The methodologies assessed include Action Research, Social Impact Assessment and the Complementary Rural Development Field Tools. The purpose of doing so is to obtain a suitable medium through which to test the focus of an Anthropocentric Development Evaluation in a development setting. The testing of an Anthropocentric Development Evaluation in a development setting is done first by providing an Anthropocentric Development Evaluation of aspects of life of people living in the community of Nyanyadu in KwaZulu-Natal. Social Impact Assessments using the focus of an Anthropocentric Development Evaluation are then made of two development initiatives in respect of the people of Nyanyadu. These two initiatives are a nutrition and social development programme and the national land reforms. The purpose of all these evaluations is to examine the extent to which people and their humanity are seen to be crucial in development processes. / Development Administration / D.Litt. et Phil. (Development Administration)

The need for an Anthropocentric Development Evaluation stems from the inability of development theory and praxis, which has informed the past Development Decades, to ameliorate abject poverty experienced by most people throughout the world. Emanating from a hermeneutical-interpretist epistemology the fundamental argument of an Anthropocentric Development Evaluation is that people and the crucial aspects of their humanity should be the central focus in development and evaluation processes. Thus, taking the people-centred approach to development as its starting point, an Anthropocentric Development Evaluation draws attention to the marginalised, particularly the poor, the rural poor, resource-poor primary producers, women and their households. An Anthropocentric Development Evaluation also argues for an actor-orientation to Development Evaluation to emphasise the situational, yet individual behaviour, of people. Alongside such an approach, lies the significance of culture and people's knowledge for development, as well as the limitations, risks, uncertainties and vulnerabilities people face as a consequence of their humanity. These may influence the extent to which they participate in spontaneous or imposed development initiatives. An Anthropocentric Development Evaluation then comparatively assesses three sets of similar, yet different, methodologies using people and aspects of their humanity described above as the focus for that assessment. The methodologies assessed include Action Research, Social Impact Assessment and the Complementary Rural Development Field Tools. The purpose of doing so is to obtain a suitable medium through which to test the focus of an Anthropocentric Development Evaluation in a development setting. The testing of an Anthropocentric Development Evaluation in a development setting is done first by providing an Anthropocentric Development Evaluation of aspects of life of people living in the community of Nyanyadu in KwaZulu-Natal. Social Impact Assessments using the focus of an Anthropocentric Development Evaluation are then made of two development initiatives in respect of the people of Nyanyadu. These two initiatives are a nutrition and social development programme and the national land reforms. The purpose of all these evaluations is to examine the extent to which people and their humanity are seen to be crucial in development processes. / Development Administration / D.Litt. et Phil. (Development Administration)

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Health Information Technology (HIT) has become an integral component of healthcare today. The HITECH Act (2009) and Meaningful Use objectives stand to bring wide-sweeping adoption and implementations of HIT in small, medium and large sized healthcare organizations across the country. Though recent literature has provided evidence for the benefits of HIT in the profession, there have also been a growing number of reports exploring the adverse effects of HIT. There has not, however, yet been a systematic account of the adverse effects of HIT in the healthcare system. The current push for HIT coupled with a lack of critical appraisal of the potential risks of implementation and deployment within the medical literature has led to a general unquestioning and unregulated acceptance of the implementation of technology in medicine and healthcare as a positive addition with little or no risk. While the benefits of HIT are clear, a review of the existing studies in the literature would provide a holistic vision of the adverse effects of HIT as well as the types and impact within the nation’s health care system to inform future HIT development and implementation. The development of a general understanding of these adverse effects can serve as a review and summary for the use of informatics professionals and clinicians implementing HIT as well as providing future direction for the industry in HIT implementations. Additionally, this study has value for moving forward in informatics to develop frameworks for implementation and guidelines and standards for development and regulation of HIT at a federal level. This study involves the use of an integrative literature review to identify and classify the adverse effects of HIT as reported in the literature. The purpose of this study is to perform an integrative review of the literature to 1) identify and classify the adverse effects of HIT; 2) determine the impact and prevalence of these effects; 3) identify the recommended actions and best practices to address the negative effects of HIT. This study analyzed 18 articles for HIT-induced error and adverse consequences. In the process, 228 errors and/or adverse consequences were identified, classified and represented in an operational taxonomic schema. The taxonomic representation consisted of 8 master categories and 30 subcategories. Additionally, the prevalence and impact of these errors were evaluated as well as recommendations and best practices in future systems design. This study builds on previous work in the medical literature pertaining to HIT-induced errors and adverse consequences and offers a unique perspective in analyzing existing studies in the literature using the integrative review model of research. It is the first work in combining studies across healthcare technologies and analyzing the adverse consequences across 18 studies to form a cohesive classification of these events in healthcare technology.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Urban forestry is a very important element of urban structures that can improve the environment and life quality within the urban areas. Having an accurate classification of urban forests and grass areas would help improve focused urban tree planting and urban heat wave mitigation efforts. This research project will compare the use of high – resolution aerial imagery and LiDAR data when used to classify canopy and grass areas. The high – resolution image, with 1 – meter resolution, was captured by The National Agriculture Imagery Program (NAIP) on 6/6/2012. Its coordinate system is the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83). The LiDAR data, with 1.0 – meter average post spacing, was captured by Indiana Statewide Imagery and LiDAR Program from 03/13/2011 to 04/30/2012.The study area is called the Near East Side Community Organization (NESCO) neighborhood. It is located on the east side of downtown Indianapolis, Indiana. Its boundaries are: 65 interstate, East Massachusetts Avenue, East 21st Street, North Emerson Avenue, and the rail road tracks on the south of the East Washington Street. This research will also perform the accuracy assessment based on the results of classifications using high – resolution aerial imagery and LiDAR data in order to determine and explain which method is more accurate to classify urban canopy and grass areas.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The substantial increase demand for electrical energy requires high efficient apparatus dealing with energy conversion. Several technologies have been suggested to implement power supplies with higher efficiency, such as multilevel and interleaved converters. This thesis proposes an energy conversion unit with an optimized number of output voltage levels per number of switches nL=nS. The proposed five-level four-switch per phase converter has nL=nS=5/4 which is by far the best relationship among the converters presented in technical literature. A comprehensive literature review on existing five-level converter topologies is done to compare the proposed topology with conventional multilevel converters. The most important characteristics of the proposed configuration are: (i) reduced number of semiconductor devices, while keeping a high number of levels at the output converter side, (ii) only one DC source without any need to balance capacitor voltages, (iii) high efficiency, (iv) there is no dead-time requirement for the converters operation, (v) leg isolation procedure with lower stress for the DC-link capacitor. Single-phase and three-phase version of the proposed converter is presented in this thesis. Details regarding the operation of the configuration and modulation strategy are presented, as well as the comparison between the proposed converter and the conventional ones. Simulated results are presented to validate the theoretical expectations. In addition a fault tolerant converter based on proposed topology for micro-grid systems is presented. A hybrid pulse-width-modulation for the pre-fault operation and transition from the pre-fault to post-fault operation will be discussed. Selected steady-state and transient results are demonstrated to validate the theoretical modeling.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Over the past two decades, northern parts of the United States have experienced extreme heat conditions. Some of the notable heat wave impacts have occurred in Chicago in 1995 with over 600 reported deaths and in Philadelphia in 1993 with over 180 reported deaths. The distribution of extreme heat events in Indianapolis has varied since the year 2000. The Urban Heat Island effect has caused the temperatures to rise unusually high during the summer months. Although the number of reported deaths in Indianapolis is smaller when compared to Chicago and Philadelphia, the heat wave in the year 2010 affected primarily the vulnerable population comprised of the elderly and the lower socio-economic groups. Studying the spatial distribution of high temperatures in the vulnerable areas helps determine not only the extent of the heat affected areas, but also to devise strategies and methods to plan, mitigate, and tackle extreme heat. In addition, examining spatial patterns of vulnerability can aid in development of a heat warning system to alert the populations at risk during extreme heat events. This study focuses on the qualitative and quantitative methods used to measure extreme heat events. Land surface temperatures obtained from the Landsat TM images provide useful means by which the spatial distribution of temperatures can be studied in relation to the temporal changes and socioeconomic vulnerability. The percentile method used, helps to determine the vulnerable areas and their extents. The maximum temperatures measured using LST conversion of the original digital number values of the Landsat TM images is reliable in terms of identifying the heat-affected regions.