Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

University of Central Florida

Discipline
Keyword
Publication Year
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 3691 - 3720 of 6994

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Delay Sensitive Routing For Real Time Traffic Over Ad-Hoc Networks, Dipika Darshana Jan 2008

Delay Sensitive Routing For Real Time Traffic Over Ad-Hoc Networks, Dipika Darshana

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Wireless ad hoc network consists of inexpensive nodes that form a mobile communication network. Due to limitations of the transmission range, the nodes rely on each other to forward packets such that messages can be delivered across the network. The selection of the path along which a packet is forwarded from the source node to the destination node is done by the routing algorithm. Most commonly used routing algorithms, though effective for non-real time applications, cannot handle real-time applications that require strict delay bounds on packet delivery. In this thesis, we propose a routing protocol that ensures timely delivery of …

Go to article

A Reinforcement Learning Technique For Enhancing Human Behavior Models In A Context-Based Architecture, David Aihe Jan 2008

A Reinforcement Learning Technique For Enhancing Human Behavior Models In A Context-Based Architecture, David Aihe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A reinforcement-learning technique for enhancing human behavior models in a context-based learning architecture is presented. Prior to the introduction of this technique, human models built and developed in a Context-Based reasoning framework lacked learning capabilities. As such, their performance and quality of behavior was always limited by what the subject matter expert whose knowledge is modeled was able to articulate or demonstrate. Results from experiments performed show that subject matter experts are prone to making errors and at times they lack information on situations that are inherently necessary for the human models to behave appropriately and optimally in those situations. …

Go to article

The Effectiveness Of Specifically Designed Filter Media To Reduce Nitrate And Orthophosphate In Stormwater Runoff, Mikhal Moberg Jan 2008

The Effectiveness Of Specifically Designed Filter Media To Reduce Nitrate And Orthophosphate In Stormwater Runoff, Mikhal Moberg

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Throughout Central Florida surface water and ground water are decreasing in quantity and quality in part because of excess Nitrate and Phosphorus nutrients. Stormwater runoff serves as a medium for transport of Nitrate and Phosphorus to surface water and ground water. The goal of this experiment is assess the Nitrate and Phosphorus removal in stormwater using select media. The results of a literature search, batch test experimentation and column test experimentation are used to determine an optimal media blend that may be implemented in detention ponds to reduce Nitrate and Phosphorus. The extensive literature search revealed 32 different media that …

Go to article

Performance Based Decision System In Determining Post Closure Care (Pcc) Duration In Florida Landfills, Asawari Kulkarni Jan 2008

Performance Based Decision System In Determining Post Closure Care (Pcc) Duration In Florida Landfills, Asawari Kulkarni

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study is an evaluation of Post Closure Care (PCC) duration of landfills using performance based methodology. The post closure care phase begins once the landfill is closed. As required by the Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA) Subtitle D, PCC duration for municipal solid waste landfills is 30 years. During the PCC period, the landfill operator/owner is required to conduct monitoring for leachate, landfill gas, and ground-water and maintain the integrity of the cap so that the landfill does not impose a threat to surrounding human health and environment (HH&E). The duration of PCC can be reduced by the director …

Go to article

A Kinetics Study Of Selected Filtration Media For Nutrient Removal At Various Temperatures, Elizabeth Henderson Jan 2008

A Kinetics Study Of Selected Filtration Media For Nutrient Removal At Various Temperatures, Elizabeth Henderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In recent years the nutrient levels of the Upper Floridan aquifer have been increasing (USGS, 2008). An example of this is found in Ocala, Florida where Silver Springs nitrate concentrations have risen from 0.5 mg/L in the 1960 s to approximately 1.0 mg/L in 2003 (Phelps, 2004). Because stormwater is a contributor to surficial and groundwater aquifer recharge, there is an increasing need for methods that decrease nitrogen and phosphorus levels. A laboratory column study was conducted to simulate a retention pond with saturated soil conditions. The objectives of the column studies reported in this thesis were to investigate the …

Go to article

14th Annual Joseph C. Andrews Mentoring Breakfast, February 4, 2008, Black Faculty And Staff Association Jan 2008

14th Annual Joseph C. Andrews Mentoring Breakfast, February 4, 2008, Black Faculty And Staff Association

BFSA Collection - Mentoring Breakfast Materials

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Real-Time Realistic Rendering Of Nature Scenes With Dynamic Lighting, Kevin Boulanger Jan 2008

Real-Time Realistic Rendering Of Nature Scenes With Dynamic Lighting, Kevin Boulanger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Rendering of natural scenes has interested the scientific community for a long time due to its numerous applications. The targeted goal is to create images that are similar to what a viewer can see in real life with his/her eyes. The main obstacle is complexity: nature scenes from real life contain a huge number of small details that are hard to model, take a lot of time to render and require a huge amount of memory unavailable in current computers. This complexity mainly comes from geometry and lighting. The goal of our research is to overcome this complexity and to …

Go to article

Evaluating The Performance Of Animal Shelters: An Application Of Data Envelopment Analysis, Brandy Heyde Jan 2008

Evaluating The Performance Of Animal Shelters: An Application Of Data Envelopment Analysis, Brandy Heyde

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this thesis is the application of data envelopment analysis to understand and evaluate the performance of diverse animal welfare organizations across the United States. The results include identification of the most efficient animal welfare organizations, at least among those that post statistics on their operations, and a discussion of various partnerships that may improve the performance of the more inefficient organizations. The Humane Society of the United States estimates that there are 4000 - 6000 independently-run animal shelters across the United States, with an estimated 6-8 million companion animals entering them each year. Unfortunately, more than half …

Go to article

Without A Camera, Brian Kulbaba Jan 2008

Without A Camera, Brian Kulbaba

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The method for creating my art is a matter of experimental process, manipulation of photographic elements, and time spent. I am a photographer in a digital age that does not use a camera. My moment of creativity occurs without the snap of a shutter, but relies on my understanding and control of the chemical components of photography. My work deconstructs the notion of duplication commonly found in photography. The procedure can be repeated but the results are variable. The process of creating my work often results in a multitude of prints, but the pieces that I select as art capture …

Go to article

Learning African-American History In A Synthetic Learning Environment, Adams Greenwood-Ericksen Jan 2008

Learning African-American History In A Synthetic Learning Environment, Adams Greenwood-Ericksen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Synthetic Learning Environments (SLEs) represent a hybrid of simulations and games, and in addition to their pedagogical content, rely on elements of story and interactivity to drive engagement with the learning material. The present work examined the differential impact of varying levels of story and interactivity on learning. The 2x2 between subjects design tested learning and retention among 4 different groups of participants, each receiving one of the 4 possible combinations of low and high levels of story and interactivity. Objective assessments of participant performance yielded the unexpected finding that learners using the SLE performed more poorly than any other …

Go to article

Structure-Function Analysis Of The Drosophila Stubble Type Ii Transmembrane Serine Protease, Rachel Morgan Jan 2008

Structure-Function Analysis Of The Drosophila Stubble Type Ii Transmembrane Serine Protease, Rachel Morgan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hormonally-triggered regulatory hierarchies play a major role in organismal development. Disruption of a single member of such a hierarchy can lead to irregular development and disease. Therefore, knowledge of the members involved and the mechanisms controlling signaling through such pathways is of great importance in understanding how resulting developmental defects occur. Type II transmembrane serine proteases (TTSPs) make up a family of cell surface-associated proteases that play important roles in the development and homeostasis of a number of mammalian tissues. Aberrant expression of TTSPs is linked to several human disorders, including deafness, heart and respiratory disease and cancer. However, the …

Go to article

Tmdl Bioassessment Sampling Of Benthic Macroinvertebrates For Lake Jesup And Lake Seminary, Gloria Eby Jan 2008

Tmdl Bioassessment Sampling Of Benthic Macroinvertebrates For Lake Jesup And Lake Seminary, Gloria Eby

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study was to obtain a bioassessment using benthic macroinvertebrates to meet TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load) criteria for an oligotrophic (Lake Seminary) and an eutrophic (Lake Jesup) freshwater system in Seminole County, Florida. Monthly sampling of the benthic macroinverterbrate communities provided important biological data necessary to construct TMDL protocol and trophic state. Since macroinvertebrates are near the base of the food chain, they not only provide a critical role in the natural flow of energy and cycling of nutrients through the food web, but also provide a good indication of water quality by their presence and …

Go to article

Cis-Regulatory Analysis Of The Pigment Cell Differentiation Gene Polyketide Synthase, David Rogers Jan 2008

Cis-Regulatory Analysis Of The Pigment Cell Differentiation Gene Polyketide Synthase, David Rogers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The analysis of Gene Regulatory Networks (GRNs) is essential to understanding the complete process of embryo development. Elucidating every gene regulatory circuit from maternal regulatory inputs all the way to the activation of differentiation gene batteries is an important step in increasing our understanding of developmental biology. In this work I study the cis-regulatory architecture of a pigment cell differentiation gene, polyketide synthase (SpPks) in the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. SpPks encodes an enzyme that is responsible for the biosynthesis of the sea urchin pigment echinochrome in larval pigment cells. The analysis of the promoter of a differentiation gene will …

Go to article

Virtually Abstract, Michael Kappers Jan 2008

Virtually Abstract, Michael Kappers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My most recent body of work frees me from traditional animation and graphic design principles that had become second nature in my creative practice over years of commercial work in industry. I now find myself unconsciously creating shape and form without a preconceived vision of the final outcome. This allows for a free-flowing approach to my canvas. The canvas in which my forms are created is virtual space and can be described as an infinite cube. The first step I take in each of my pieces is creating a cube with the center residing at Cartesian coordinates 0,0,0. From there, …

Go to article

The Effect Of Applying Wikis In An English As A Foreign Language (Efl) Class In Taiwan, Yu-Ching Chen Jan 2008

The Effect Of Applying Wikis In An English As A Foreign Language (Efl) Class In Taiwan, Yu-Ching Chen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Incorporating technology into learning has brought major benefits to learners and has greatly changed higher education. Since there is limited number of experimental research investigating the effectiveness of applying wikis, this study collected experimental data to investigate its effectiveness. The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of applying wikis in terms of students' learning outcomes, to investigate the changes regarding students' attitude towards language learning, to explore the communication channels in wikis that facilitate students' interaction in the e-learning environment as well as students' experience of using wikis. Results showed that there existed statistically significant difference between …

Go to article

Phase-Shifting Haar Wavelets For Image-Based Rendering Applications, Mais Alnasser Jan 2008

Phase-Shifting Haar Wavelets For Image-Based Rendering Applications, Mais Alnasser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, we establish the underlying research background necessary for tackling the problem of phase-shifting in the wavelet transform domain. Solving this problem is the key to reducing the redundancy and huge storage requirement in Image-Based Rendering (IBR) applications, which utilize wavelets. Image-based methods for rendering of dynamic glossy objects do not truly scale to all possible frequencies and high sampling rates without trading storage, glossiness, or computational time, while varying both lighting and viewpoint. This is due to the fact that current approaches are limited to precomputed radiance transfer (PRT), which is prohibitively expensive in terms of memory …

Go to article

Painting The Sublime Landscape And Learning To See Nature Along The Way, Deborah Browne Jan 2008

Painting The Sublime Landscape And Learning To See Nature Along The Way, Deborah Browne

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My thesis is one artist's response to the question of the relevance of landscape painting today, focusing on the communication of the idea of environmental stewardship. The process of studying nature and transferring that vision to canvas promotes greater understanding of the beauty and complexity of elements that comprise ecosystems. The artist possesses a creative impulse finding satisfaction in making artwork that expresses a love of nature as part of a larger worldview. If done well, the persuasive power of such art may be enormous. Comprised of oil paintings and written work, this thesis establishes a way of approaching both …

Go to article

Creating Marginality And Reconstructing Narrative: Reconfiguring Karen Social And Geo-Political Alignment, Barbara Verchot Jan 2008

Creating Marginality And Reconstructing Narrative: Reconfiguring Karen Social And Geo-Political Alignment, Barbara Verchot

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pre-modern conceptualization of shifting borderlands and territories rather than fixed boundaries often allowed for the dynamic flow of peoples between polities. Until the late 1800s and the colonization of Burma in 1886 by the British Empire, this permeability of the borders of its territory was how Siam (currently Thailand) viewed its geo-political sphere (Thomson 1995:272). Britain extended the boundaries of its empire beyond India to guarantee the economic interests of the British Empire. With this push eastward, Siam abutted a polity that rejected the idea of shifting borderlands. The British ascribed to the modern concept of non-permeability of borders. This …

Go to article

Emotional Evaluation Of A Product/System, Hana Smith Jan 2008

Emotional Evaluation Of A Product/System, Hana Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Technological advances in products and systems have brought emotional design or emotional engineering to the forefront of research. While several measures to assess emotional expression of products have been developed, the source of the emotion rating of a product or system was often unclear. The purpose of this dissertation is to conduct three studies to examine the causes of emotional ratings and to establish if product-specific emotion rating scales are useful for capturing accurate user evaluations. Three studies were conducted using citrus juicers. Juicers were chosen for several reasons: their wide variety of styles, one self-explanatory purpose (to make juice), …

Go to article

Adolescents' Stress And Health: Parental Influences And Cognitive Mediators, Reesa Donnelly Jan 2008

Adolescents' Stress And Health: Parental Influences And Cognitive Mediators, Reesa Donnelly

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research to date indicates that parental and cognitive variables play a role in stress responses and health outcomes. Although researchers are beginning to focus on developmental processes in stress/health outcomes, there is little research examining which parental behaviors are most predictive of stress/health and whether cognitive variables mediate this relationship. As a result, the current study examines the self-reports of 160 late adolescents regarding parental behaviors, cognitive variables, and stress/health outcomes. In addition, blood pressure reactivity to a stressful situation was collected as a physiological measure of stress. The results suggest that, among the parental behaviors that are examined, parental …

Go to article

Redefining Art As An Experience, Pedro Zasciurinskis Lopes Jan 2008

Redefining Art As An Experience, Pedro Zasciurinskis Lopes

HIM 1990-2015

Art is present in nearly every aspect of our lives. The concept of art, however, is not easy to define. When discussing the subject of art, one must consider experience, art, and the aesthetic. These three concepts complement each other, but are difficult to distinguish. As a result, meaningful and coherent discussions about art are difficult to achieve. I believe that in order to discuss what good art, meaningful art, fine art, and useful art are, one must first have a clear understanding of what art is. In this thesis I attempt to build a foundation for meaningful discussion about …

Go to article

Change Of Physical Context Impairs Cardiovascular Habituation To Stress, Kevin M. Palmer Jan 2008

Change Of Physical Context Impairs Cardiovascular Habituation To Stress, Kevin M. Palmer

HIM 1990-2015

The present study examined whether cardiovascular habituation to stress is affected by a change in the physical context in which a stressor is encountered. Twenty-five undergraduate students at the University of Central Florida, Palm Bay Campus, were exposed to 4 trials of a stressor consisting of mental arithmetic while under evaluative observation. It was hypothesized that if participants experienced a change in the physical context in which stress was experienced on the final trial, they would demonstrate impaired habituation to stress as indicated by measures of heart rate and blood pressure. Physical context was manipulated by either asking participants to …

Go to article

University Of Central Florida Ir 2007-2008 Fact Book, University Of Central Florida Jan 2008

University Of Central Florida Ir 2007-2008 Fact Book, University Of Central Florida

Historical Fact Book and Enrollment

Historical fact book and enrollment data for the University of Central Florida.

Go to article

A Point Mutation In The Two-Component Regulator Phop-Phor Accounts For The Absence Of Polyketide-Derived Acyltrehaloses But Not That Of Phthiocerol Dimycocerosates In Mycobacterium Tuberculosis H37ra, Marie-Laure Chesne-Seck, Nathalie Barilone, Frédéric Boudou, Jesús Gonzalo Asensio, Pappachan E. Kolattukudy, Carlos Martín, Stewart T. Cole, Brigitte Gicquel, Deshmukh N. Gopaul, Mary Jackson Jan 2008

A Point Mutation In The Two-Component Regulator Phop-Phor Accounts For The Absence Of Polyketide-Derived Acyltrehaloses But Not That Of Phthiocerol Dimycocerosates In Mycobacterium Tuberculosis H37ra, Marie-Laure Chesne-Seck, Nathalie Barilone, Frédéric Boudou, Jesús Gonzalo Asensio, Pappachan E. Kolattukudy, Carlos Martín, Stewart T. Cole, Brigitte Gicquel, Deshmukh N. Gopaul, Mary Jackson

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Similarities between Mycobacterium tuberculosis phoP-phoR mutants and the attenuated laboratory strain M. tuberculosis H37Ra in terms of morphological and cytochemical properties, lipid content, gene expression and virulence attenuation prompted us to analyze the functionality of this two-component regulator in the latter strain. Sequence analysis revealed a base substitution resulting in a one-amino-acid change in the likely DNA-binding region of PhoP in H37Ra relative to H37Rv. Using gel-shift assays, we show that this mutation abrogates the ability of the H37Ra PhoP protein to bind to a 40-bp segment of its own promoter. Consistent with this result, the phoP gene from H37Rv …

Go to article

Ecology And Life History Of An Amazon Floodplain Cichlid: The Discus Fish Symphysodon (Perciformes: Cichlidae), William G. R. Crampton Jan 2008

Ecology And Life History Of An Amazon Floodplain Cichlid: The Discus Fish Symphysodon (Perciformes: Cichlidae), William G. R. Crampton

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

The discus fishes of the genus Symphysodon are popular ornamental cichlids that occur in floodplain lakes and flooded forests of the lowland Amazon Basin. These habitats are characterized by extreme seasonal fluctuations in the availability of food, shelter and dissolved oxygen, and also the densities of predators and parasites. Most aspects of discus biology are influenced by these fluctuating conditions. This paper reports an autoecological study of the western Amazonian discus S. haraldi (until recently classified as S. aequifasciatus). This species feeds predominantly on algal periphyton, fine organic detritus, plant matter, and small aquatic invertebrates. At high water it forages …

Go to article

Implications Of Mixed Reality And Simulation Technologies On Special Education And Teacher Preparation, Lisa Dieker, Michael Hynes, Charles Hughes, Eileen Smith Jan 2008

Implications Of Mixed Reality And Simulation Technologies On Special Education And Teacher Preparation, Lisa Dieker, Michael Hynes, Charles Hughes, Eileen Smith

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

No abstract provided.

Go to article

Use Of Baculovirus-Expressed Glycoprotein H In An Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Developed To Assess Exposure To Chelonid Fibropapillomatosis-Associated Herpesvirus And Its Relationship To The Prevalence Of Fibropapillomatosis In Sea Turtles, Lawrence H. Herbst, Shefali Lemaire, Ada R. Ene, David J. Heslin, Llewellyn M. Ehrhart, Dean A. Bagley, Paul A. Klein, Jack Lenz Jan 2008

Use Of Baculovirus-Expressed Glycoprotein H In An Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay Developed To Assess Exposure To Chelonid Fibropapillomatosis-Associated Herpesvirus And Its Relationship To The Prevalence Of Fibropapillomatosis In Sea Turtles, Lawrence H. Herbst, Shefali Lemaire, Ada R. Ene, David J. Heslin, Llewellyn M. Ehrhart, Dean A. Bagley, Paul A. Klein, Jack Lenz

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Chelonid fibropapillomatosis-associated herpesvirus (CFPHV) is an alphaherpesvirus believed to cause marine turtle fibropapillomatosis (FP). A serodiagnostic assay was developed for monitoring sea turtle populations for CFPHV exposure. CFPHV glycoprotein H (gH) expressed in recombinant baculovirus was used in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect virus-specific 7S turtle antibodies. Using captive-reared green turtles (Chelonia mydas) with no history of virus exposure as "known negatives" and others with experimentally induced FP as "known positives," the assay had 100% specificity but low sensitivity, as seroconversion was detected in only half of the turtles bearing experimentally induced tumors. Antibodies were detected only in …

Go to article

Genetic Structure And Breeding System In A Social Wasp And Its Social Parasite, Eric A. Hoffman, Jennifer L. Kovacs, Michael Ad Goodisman Jan 2008

Genetic Structure And Breeding System In A Social Wasp And Its Social Parasite, Eric A. Hoffman, Jennifer L. Kovacs, Michael Ad Goodisman

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Background: Social insects dominate ecological communities because of their sophisticated group behaviors. However, the intricate behaviors of social insects may be exploited by social parasites, which manipulate insect societies for their own benefit. Interactions between social parasites and their hosts lead to unusual coevolutionary dynamics that ultimately affect the breeding systems and population structures of both species. This study represents one of the first attempts to understand the population and colony genetic structure of a parasite and its host in a social wasp system. Results: We used DNA microsatellite markers to investigate gene flow, genetic variation, and mating behavior of …

Go to article

Genome-Wide Survey And Expression Profiling Of Ccch-Zinc Finger Family Reveals A Functional Module In Macrophage Activation, Jian Liang, Wenjun Song, Gail Tromp, Pappachan E. Kolattukudy, Mingui Fu Jan 2008

Genome-Wide Survey And Expression Profiling Of Ccch-Zinc Finger Family Reveals A Functional Module In Macrophage Activation, Jian Liang, Wenjun Song, Gail Tromp, Pappachan E. Kolattukudy, Mingui Fu

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Previously, we have identified a novel CCCH zinc finger protein family as negative regulators of macrophage activation. To gain an overall insight into the entire CCCH zinc finger gene family and to evaluate their potential role in macrophage activation, here we performed a genome-wide survey of CCCH zinc finger genes in mouse and human. Totally 58 CCCH zinc finger genes in mouse and 55 in human were identified and most of them have not been reported previously. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the mouse CCCH family was divided into 6 groups. Meanwhile, we employed quantitative real-time PCR to profile their tissue …

Go to article

A Novel Ccch-Zinc Finger Protein Family Regulates Proinflammatory Activation Of Macrophages, Jian Liang, Jing Wang, Asim Azfer, Wenjun Song, Gail Tromp, Pappachan E. Kolattukudy, Mingui Fu Jan 2008

A Novel Ccch-Zinc Finger Protein Family Regulates Proinflammatory Activation Of Macrophages, Jian Liang, Jing Wang, Asim Azfer, Wenjun Song, Gail Tromp, Pappachan E. Kolattukudy, Mingui Fu

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Activated macrophages play an important role in many inflammatory diseases. However, the molecular mechanisms controlling macrophage activation are not completely understood. Here we report that a novel CCCH-zinc finger protein family, MCPIP1, 2, 3, and 4, encoded by four genes, Zc3h12a, Zc3h12b, Zc3h12c, and Zc3h12d, respectively, regulates macrophage activation. Northern blot analysis revealed that the expression of MCPIP1 and MCPIP3 was highly induced in macrophages in response to treatment with lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Although not affecting cell surface marker expression and phagocytotic function, overexpression of MCPIP1 significantly blunted LPS-induced inflammatory cytokine and NO(2)radical anion. production as well as their gene expression. …

Go to article

First Prev Next Last