Novel hybrid columns made of ultra-high performance concrete and fiber reinforced polymers

The application of advanced materials in infrastructure has grown rapidly in recent years mainly because of their potential to ease the construction, extend the service life, and improve the performance of structures. Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) is one such material considered as a novel alternative to conventional concrete. The material microstructure in UHPC is optimized to significantly improve its material properties including compressive and tensile strength, modulus of elasticity, durability, and damage tolerance. Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite is another novel construction material with excellent properties such as high strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-weight ratios and good corrosion resistance. Considering the exceptional properties of UHPC and FRP, many advantages can result from the combined application of these two advanced materials, which is the subject of this research. The confinement behavior of UHPC was studied for the first time in this research. The stress-strain behavior of a series of UHPC-filled fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) tubes with different fiber types and thicknesses were tested under uniaxial compression. The FRP confinement was shown to significantly enhance both the ultimate strength and strain of UHPC. It was also shown that existing confinement models are incapable of predicting the behavior of FRP-confined UHPC. Therefore, new stress-strain models for FRP-confined UHPC were developed through an analytical study. In the other part of this research, a novel steel-free UHPC-filled FRP tube (UHPCFFT) column system was developed and its cyclic behavior was studied. The proposed steel-free UHPCFFT column showed much higher strength and stiffness, with a reasonable ductility, as compared to its conventional reinforced concrete (RC) counterpart. Using the results of the first phase of column tests, a second series of UHPCFFT columns were made and studied under pseudo-static loading to study the effect of column parameters on the cyclic behavior of UHPCFFT columns. Strong correlations were noted between the initial stiffness and the stiffness index, and between the moment capacity and the reinforcement index. Finally, a thorough analytical study was carried out to investigate the seismic response of the proposed steel-free UHPCFFT columns, which showed their superior earthquake resistance, as compared to their RC counterparts.

Towards the formation of a sustainable South Florida: An analysis of conflict resolution and consensus building in the South Florida Everglades Ecosystem Restoration Initiative

This dissertation examines the sociological process of conflict resolution and consensus building in South Florida Everglades Ecosystem Restoration through what I define as a Network Management Coordinative Interstitial Group (NetMIG). The process of conflict resolution can be summarized as the participation of interested and affected parties (stakeholders) in a forum of negotiation. I study the case of the Governor's Commission for a Sustainable South Florida (GCSSF) that was established to reduce social conflict. Such conflict originated from environmental disputes about the Everglades and was manifested in the form of gridlock among regulatory (government) agencies, Indian tribes, as well as agricultural, environmental conservationist and urban development interests. The purpose of the participatory forum is to reduce conflicts of interest and to achieve consensus, with the ultimate goal of restoration of the original Everglades ecosystem, while cultivating the economic and cultural bases of the communities in the area. Further, the forum aim to formulate consensus through envisioning a common sustainable community by providing means to achieve a balance between human and natural systems. ^ Data were gathered using participant observation and document analysis techniques to conduct a theoretically based analysis of the role of the Network Management Coordinative Interstitial Group (NetMIG). I use conflict resolution theory, environmental conflict theory, stakeholder analysis, systems theory, differentiation and social change theory, and strategic management and planning theory. ^ The purpose of this study is to substantiate the role of the Governor's Commission for a Sustainable South Florida (GCSSF) as a consortium of organizations in an effort to resolve conflict rather than an ethnographic study of this organization. Environmental restoration of the Everglades is a vehicle for recognizing the significance of a Network Management Coordinative Interstitial Group (NetMIG), namely the Governor's Commission for a Sustainable South Florida (GCSSF), as a structural mechanism for stakeholder participation in the process of social conflict resolution through the creation of new cultural paradigms for a sustainable community. ^

Analysis of flexural isostasy of the northern Andes

The mode in which a lithosphere plate supports overlying topography is greatly driven by the strength of the plate. By analyzing the geophysical signature of lithosphere flexure, in the space and spectral domains, the strength of the plates that support the north Andean mountains and adjacent basins, and the topography of Kenya was investigated. In addition, the effect of windowing on elastic thickness estimates obtained via the coherence method was evaluated. ^ The coherence between the topography and Bouguer gravity spectra of northern South America suggests that the average elastic thickness of the lithosphere is 30 km. Although lateral variations were not resolved by the coherence implementation, these became apparent by modeling the foreland stratigraphy of the Llanos, Barinas and Maracaibo sub-Andean basins. Flexural models reveal a zone of lithosphere weakness beneath the eastern flank of the Eastern Cordillera and western flank of the Venezuelan Andes. The gravity anomaly calculated from these models is consistent with the observed Bouguer gravity anomaly. This zone of weakness appears to separate the strong, old Guyana shield lithosphere from the weaker and probably younger Andean lithosphere. The zone of weakness may correspond to a Paleozoic feature at the western margin of cratonic South America, or a Mesozoic rift arm that weakened the proto-Andean lithosphere. ^ Using synthetic data as well as the northern South America topography and gravity, this study demonstrates that lithosphere strength calculated from the coherence of mirrored data may overestimate the true lithosphere strength. As a result, many lithosphere plates may be weaker than currently thought. In light of this observation, gravity and topography data from Kenya were reevaluated using multitaper spectral techniques. The elastic thickness of this plate, currently undergoing rifting, was estimated at 7 to 8 km, a factor of 2 less than previously estimated. These estimates suggest that despite intense fracturing and sustained tensile stresses, continental lithosphere plates undergoing rifting are able to retain some strength. ^

Customer relationship management: A content analysis of issues and best practices

This dissertation is a study of customer relationship management theory and practice. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a business strategy whereby companies build strong relationships with existing and prospective customers with the goal of increasing organizational profitability. It is also a learning process involving managing change in processes, people, and technology. CRM implementation and its ramifications are also not completely understood as evidenced by the high number of failures in CRM implementation in organizations and the resulting disappointments. ^ The goal of this dissertation is to study emerging issues and trends in CRM, including the effect of computer software and the accompanying new management processes on organizations, and the dynamics of the alignment of marketing, sales and services, and all other functions responsible for delivering customers a satisfying experience. ^ In order to understand CRM better a content analysis of more than a hundred articles and documents from academic and industry sources was undertaken using a new methodological twist to the traditional method. An Internet domain name (http://crm.fiu.edu) was created for the purpose of this research by uploading an initial one hundred plus abstracts of articles and documents onto it to form a knowledge database. Once the database was formed a search engine was developed to enable the search of abstracts using relevant CRM keywords to reveal emergent dominant CRM topics. The ultimate aim of this website is to serve as an information hub for CRM research, as well as a search engine where interested parties can enter CRM-relevant keywords or phrases to access abstracts, as well as submit abstracts to enrich the knowledge hub. ^ Research questions were investigated and answered by content analyzing the interpretation and discussion of dominant CRM topics and then amalgamating the findings. This was supported by comparisons within and across individual, paired, and sets-of-three occurrences of CRM keywords in the article abstracts. ^ Results show that there is a lack of holistic thinking and discussion of CRM in both academics and industry which is required to understand how the people, process, and technology in CRM impact each other to affect successful implementation. Industry has to get their heads around CRM and holistically understand how these important dimensions affect each other. Only then will organizational learning occur, and overtime result in superior processes leading to strong profitable customer relationships and a hard to imitate competitive advantage. ^

Capabilities of Police and Military Forces in Central America -- A Comparative Analysis of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras an d Nicaragua

A difficult transition to a new paradigm of Democratic Security and the subsequent process of military restructuring during the nineties led El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua to re-consider their old structures and functions of their armed forces and police agencies. This study compares the institutions in the four countries mentioned above to assess their current condition and response capacity in view of the contemporary security challenges in Central America. This report reveals that the original intention of limiting armies to defend and protect borders has been threatened by the increasing participation of armies in public security. While the strength of armies has been consolidated in terms of numbers, air and naval forces have failed to become strengthened or sufficiently developed to effectively combat organized crime and drug trafficking and are barely able to conduct air and sea operations. Honduras has been the only country that has maintained a proportional distribution of its armed forces. However, security has been in the hands of a Judicial Police, supervised by the Public Ministry. The Honduran Judicial Police has been limited to exercising preventive police duties, prohibited from carrying out criminal investigations. Nicaragua, meanwhile, possesses a successful police force, socially recognized for maintaining satisfactory levels of security surpassing the Guatemalan and El Salvadoran police, which have not achieved similar results despite of having set up a civilian police force separate from the military. El Salvador meanwhile, has excelled in promoting a Police Academy and career professional education, even while not having military attachés in other countries. Regarding budgetary issues, the four countries allocate almost twice the amount of funding on their security budgets in comparison to what is allocated to their defense budgets. However, spending in both areas is low when taking into account each country's GDP as well as their high crime rates. Regional security challenges must be accompanied by a professionalization of the regional armies focused on protecting and defending borders. Therefore, strong institutional frameworks to support the fight against crime and drug trafficking are required. It will require the strengthening of customs, greater control of illicit arms trafficking, investment in education initiatives, creating employment opportunities and facilitating significant improvements in the judicial system, as well as its accessibility to the average citizen.