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The Aerodynamics Of Bird Perching: Understanding Wing And Body Interactions In Pigeon Flight, Anirudh Sriram

Honors Undergraduate Theses

During landing, birds often execute a perching maneuver. The perching maneuver refers to the complex series of actions that birds, and pigeons in particular, will perform when landing. They will typically decelerate by pitching their body to a high angle of attack and spreading their wings. It is believed to help achieve better control and reach optimal lift and drag coefficients. This study seeks to better understand the vortex interactions between the main and tail wings during this maneuver. However, it is still an unexplored phenomenon. Thus, two bird models were conceived to analyze it, one with and one without …

The Inverse Scattering Transform For The Nonlinear Schrödinger Equation, Ivan Casas-Rocha

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The Nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) Equation, iψ_t + 1/2 ψ_xx ± |ψ|²ψ = 0, is a nonlinear partial differential equation which is used to model several physical phenomena including nonlinear effects inside optical fibers and the formation of rogue waves in shallow water. It is particu- larly difficult to study solutions to this equation due to the nonlinearity, and the nonlinearity leads to incredibly interesting solutions not found in linear PDEs such as solitons. In this thesis, we highlight two methods of obtaining solutions to the (NLS) equation: the Inverse Scattering Transform and the Dressing Method. Furthermore, …

Comparative Efficacy Of Hallucinogens In Treating Mood Disorders Through A Meta-Analysis Of Symptom Reduction, Dosage, And Duration, John Marco D.F. Muniz

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Background: Hallucinogens including psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), ketamine, N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) (as ayahuasca), have re-emerged as potential rapid-acting treatments for mood disorders. We conducted a meta-analysis of placebo-controlled trials evaluating their efficacy in depression and anxiety disorders. Methods: A systematic review identified 12 trials (Total ≈ 670) meeting inclusion criteria (randomized, placebo-controlled). Data on Cohen’s d and Hedges’ g effect sizes for depression- and anxiety-related outcomes were extracted. We computed pooled effect sizes (weighted by sample size and inverse variance), performed subgroup analyses by drug, diagnosis, follow-up duration, and outcome measure type, and assessed heterogeneity (I², Q …

Modified Equations Of Conformal Symplectic Exponential Time Differencing Methods, Taylore M. Keesler

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Planetary orbits, pendulums, and hurricanes are everyday examples of nonlinear systems, often studied using differential equations. However, their exact solutions can not always be computed, and thus, we use numerical methods to approximate their solutions. Certain methods are better suited to preserve special properties of the system like energy and geometry. Through previous numerical simulations, a conformal symplectic method proves more effective in this preservation. To understand why, we find the modified equation of a nonlinear system with damping, which is a differential equation for which the numerical solution is exact. Through backward error analysis, we obtain these modified equations, …

A Time Series Analysis Of The Macroeconomic Indicators, Mia Houston

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Understanding inflation—particularly across regions and categories—is crucial for effective policymaking, strategic business decisions, and safeguarding vulnerable populations, as it highlights the diverse drivers and impacts of price changes within the economy. This has become increasingly crucial in recent years between the volatile inflation conditions introduced by the COVID-19 pandemic, energy price shocks, and renewed trade tensions and tariffs. This thesis analyzes 77 U.S. monthly inflation time series from 2003 to 2023 using two forecasting approaches: an elementwise Seasonal Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (SARIMA) model and a Factor-Augmented Vector Autoregressive (FAVAR) model. The data obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics …

Prime Factorization And Unit Calculations Of Quadratic Integer Rings, Gabriel F. Roca

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The failure of unique factorization in a ring leads to the investigation of the closest algebraic structure, which are prime ideals. Using generalizations that have helped solve questions such as Fermat's Last Theorem, there is interest to study the elements with a multiplicative inverse (units) via the geometry and arithmetic patterns that arise in quadratic integer rings, since they provide tools for other questions in mathematics, ranging from pure algebra to applications in cryptography, and more. Overall, the following thesis provides a small exposition on the theory of integral domains and some specific calculations.

Solvability Of Stochastic Linear-Quadratic Optimal Control Problems Under Partial Stabilizability Conditions, Al-Sadh Rahman Imadh

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Optimal Control Theory, a branch of Control Theory, is applicable in fields such as engineering, operations research, and economics. Stochastic Optimal Control deals with noisy systems and data using Ito’s formulation. Given a noisy system and a cost functional, the goal is to find a control that will minimize the cost. This thesis focuses on linear quadratic stochastic optimal control, and we explore state equations that are not stabilizable. We first address measurability concerns arising from the semigroup property of the state trajectory. The notions of partial stability and partial stabilizability are introduced, and we formulate their corresponding Lyapunov and …

Entangled Photoelectron Attosecond Spectroscopy, Jonathan Sar-Shalom

Honors Undergraduate Theses

In this thesis we propose an interferometric scheme to retrieve the dynamics of an electron wave packet emitted from two distinct residual photo-ion channels in the ionization of an atom by an ultra-short UV pulse. EPAS (Entangled-Photoelectron Attosecond Spectroscopy) works by having a non-overlapping UV and few-cycle IR pulse, where the IR is tuned near the transition frequency between two electronic bound states of the photo-ion. Using a time-dependent simulation based on a two-channel atomic model, supported by a perturbative approach, we were able to compute the resulting interference in the angular distribution of the photoelectron and retrieve the energy-dependent …

Theoretical Analysis Of Cnns For Automatic Seizure Detection In Eeg Signals, Jackson T. Small

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Epilepsy is a common brain disorder where neurons in the brain rapidly fire, causing recurring seizures. The brain activity during a seizure can be detected by electroencephalogram (EEG) signals; however, this process is not only labor-intensive and time-consuming but is also subject to inter-rater variability, with a study showing only moderate agreement when diagnosing patients, even among experts. Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) are often proposed to detect seizures automatically, achieving high performance. The focus on performance comes at a cost of losing interpretability, leaving the model as effective but seen as a ’black box’. This thesis confronts the interpretability knowledge …

Florida’S Gifted Education Program: Exploring The Nexus Between Giftedness And Choice Of College Major, Sterlin L. Bass

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Florida’s Gifted Education Program (FGEP) is a K-12 educational program in Florida’s public education system through which gifted students are identified and supported through individualized educational plans promoting intellectual development. The intent of this study is to explore the influence Florida’s Gifted Education Program has on the choice of major of a student and mental health outcomes. Current data revolving around different definitions of “giftedness” such as high ACT scores, SAT scores, and GPA, show a connection between negative mental health outcomes produced by the development of perfectionism. FGEP presents challenges in addressing these concerns due to non-standardized curricula across …

Archival Stellar Flare Follow-Up In Evryscope Observations, Tyler J. Thomas

Honors Undergraduate Theses

M dwarfs, the most abundant stars in the galaxy, are prime targets in the search for habitable exoplanets. However, their high flare activity may compromise planetary atmospheres, with Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) increasing this risk. Despite this, the relationship between M dwarf flares and CMEs is not well understood. This study uses archival data from Evryscope North and South, crossmatched with Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) and Gaia data, to investigate this relationship. This crossmatching demonstrated an abundance of stars within the 20 arcsecond Evryscope uncertainty. The analysis also revealed a modest excess of K1 and F9 type stars but …

Investigating The Effects Of Binaural Beats On Encoding Efficiency And Working Memory Performance In College Students With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Traits, Megan Daza

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Binaural beats (BB) have been increasingly explored as a non-invasive cognitive enhancement tool, particularly in populations with neurodevelopmental conditions such as Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This study investigates the effects of beta-frequency binaural beats on encoding efficiency and working memory performance, specifically verbal-spatial working memory, in college students with ADHD traits. Using a 2 (ADHD/Neurotypical) × 2 (Low/High Cognitive Load) mixed ANOVA design, participants will complete an N-back working memory task under baseline, binaural beats, and control (white noise) conditions. Key research questions examine whether binaural beats improve working memory accuracy and reaction time, whether their effects vary across cognitive load …

Generating Negotiations For Iago, Kylee R. Weener

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Negotiation is a complex field that can benefit from introducing artificial intelligence (AI); doing so would benefit researchers as they try to deepen their understanding of human-human and human-agent negotiation. Investigating how large language models (LLMs) can generate negotiation dialogue with emotional context would bring agents closer to acting more human. This study explores how fine-tuning and prompt engineering can achieve this goal and the possibilities for an AI that fills these criteria to be included in the Interactive Arbitration Guide Online platform (IAGO). Doing so will make the negotiation interactions in IAGO feel more complex and natural, allowing researchers …

Quantized Average Agreement Algorithms With Error Correction For Digraphs, Shuaib A. Mughal

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Multi-agent systems have become more and more prevalent as technology increasingly gets integrated into our daily lives. Some of these technological systems are large in size; for example, the smart grid where multiple devices are used to monitor and control different aspects of the energy grid. Another example is a team of autonomous systems deployed for a specific task. When these systems are spatially distributed, an important component of distributed algorithms is the ability for the agents to reach consensus on the global state of the system. Reaching agreement enables the spatially distributed agent make decisions or determine the next …

Cloud Condensation Nuclei Activity Of Fresh And Aged Phenolic Acid Aerosol Particles, Emily A. Nortmann

Honors Undergraduate Theses

In recent years, the incidence of wildfires has considerably increased, with fire seasons starting earlier and ending later than usual due to changes in snowpack, precipitation, and temperature, which are attributed in part to climate change. Wildfires are responsible for the emission of a variety of gases and organic aerosol particles in the atmosphere with profound impacts on air quality, visibility, and human health. The aerosol particles produced by wildfires can contribute to climate change by scattering or absorbing solar radiation, affecting the radiative balance of the planet through cooling or warming effects, or by acting as cloud condensation nuclei …

Stem Vs. Non-Stem Students’ Stimulant Misuse For Academic Advantages, Camille H. Allie

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study aimed to explore the relationship between academic discipline, caffeine consumption, reported perception of stimulant misuse behaviors, and reported academic stress at the University of Central Florida. Participants were categorized as either STEM or non-STEM majors and reported whether they had misused stimulants in the past 12 months and their daily average caffeine consumption. Due to the low number of participants who reported stimulant misuse, caffeine consumption was incorporated, grouping participants as either “above median” caffeine consumption or “below median” caffeine consumption. Two 2 (Caffeine Consumption: High vs. Low) x 2 (Major: STEM vs. Non-STEM) between-subjects ANOVAs were conducted …

An Exploration Of Preservice Teachers' Perspectives On Elementary Writing Instruction, Railynn E. Baumgardt

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Writing instruction is frequently overshadowed by a greater emphasis on reading and mathematics in elementary education, resulting in preservice teachers (PSTs) often feeling underprepared and lacking confidence to teach writing effectively. This undergraduate thesis explores the perspectives of junior and senior elementary education majors at the University of Central Florida enrolled in the course Teaching Language Arts for the Elementary Classroom (LAE 4314). Using an anonymous online survey, this study investigated 38 PSTs as writers themselves, their beliefs about writing instruction, their preparedness to teach writing, and the impact of the methods course on their readiness to teach writing. Results …

The Truth And Their Versions: Florida Lawmakers And Academic Freedom Across K-12 And Higher Education, Kassandra Faylun

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Florida’s HB 7 and SB 266, enacted July 1, 2022, and July 1, 2023, respectively. HB 7 controls how certain race-related concepts, like critical race theory, are taught in K-12 classrooms and higher education. SB 266, apart from prohibiting expenditures for DEI programs, provides new requirements for general education core course curricula, including the disallowing of teaching identity politics and barring any classes that are “based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political, and economic inequities.” Both HB 7 and SB 266 …

Role Of C4 Resources In Isotopic Variability In Diet Among Children From Kellis 2 Cemetery, Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt, Faith R. Hendrix

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Using stable carbon isotope analysis, this study investigates dietary diversity in children buried at the Kellis 2 Cemetery (c. AD 50–450) in Egypt's Dakhleh Oasis. From the analysis of δ¹³C isotope values in hair keratin and bone collagen, the study reconstructs short-term and long-term dietary signals in juvenile and adult subjects. The aim is to clarify the role of C₄ plants—particularly millet—in weaning and childhood diets in a Romano-Christian Egyptian village context. A total of 631 segmented hair and 54 bone collagen samples were analyzed from 127 juveniles and 97 adults. Juvenile individuals (i.e., under 15 years biological age) showed …

Partisan Divides In Environmental Spending Attitudes: A Two-Level Hierarchical Analysis, 1973-2022, Jordan Lipner

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Public attitudes toward environmental spending have become increasingly divided along party lines, with sharp shifts over the past five decades. This thesis updates and expands on Johnson and Schwadel’s 2019 study by applying a two-level hierarchical linear model to General Social Survey data updated to include data from 2015-2022, capturing how political affiliation, education, race, and economic context interact with broader political and economic contexts to shape environmental attitudes over time.
The results show that political affiliation remains the strongest and most reactive predictor of environmental spending attitudes. Republican respondents are significantly more likely to oppose environmental spending, especially under …

Exploring The Dynamics Of Cislunar Space: A Detailed Study Of Periodic Orbits And Their Applications In The Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem, Nicole Weeden

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Ever since NASA announced the Artemis program in 2019, the cislunar space, a region between Earth and the Moon, has attracted substantial research interest. Nonetheless, understanding the complex multipart physics that guides our solar system is not a new area of interest. The ThreeBody Problem was first formulated by Lagrange in ”Essai sur le Probleme des Trois Corps” in 1772 and had additional refinements done by mathematicians like Poincare. However, it was not until NASA’s Apollo program that the cislunar space gained traction, and the Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem (CR3BP) model became more prominent. By deriving and explaining the necessary …

2024-2025 Ucf Center For Community Schools Progression Data, Ucf Center For Community Schools

Community Partnership Schools Annual Progression Data

No abstract provided.

Reconciling Theory And Praxis. Defending Subjective Agency Against Althusser's Structuralism - Daniel Guerrero, Daniel Guerrero

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Louis Althusser labels Marx’s early works as humanist, pseudo-materialist, and self-contained within the ideology of German idealism. Therefore, all attempts to develop a Marxist theory based on these works are futile and ideological. Instead, Althusser proposes a ‘scientific’ reading of Marx developing a structuralist theory based on dialectical materialism. I argue that his interpretations deny individual agency and reduce social relations to mechanistic processes, which directly conflicts with fundamental Marxist ideas like alienation, production, and species-being. By discussing authors within the Marxist Humanist tradition, I argue that a theoretical framework based on Marx’s early works is not only possible, but …

Increasing Access Through Graduate Teaching Assistant Training: A Udl-Informed, Video-Based Professional Development Approach For Inclusive Chemistry Instruction, Kathleen Lugo Charriez

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

STEM courses pose concealed barriers to learning for students with disabilities, a demographic that constitutes a significant portion of postsecondary science and engineering undergraduate student populations. While extensive research has examined access and inclusiveness in K–12 education and, to a more limited extent, in higher education, there remains a critical gap in understanding how to proactively design undergraduate chemistry curricula that are both accessible and inclusive for a diverse range of learners. In particular, limited attention has been given to supporting Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) in adopting inclusive instructional practices in higher education chemistry courses.

In large academic institutions, GTAs …

The Global Thermophysical Properties Of (433) Eros, Mary L. Hinkle

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

We present results from a shape-based, rotationally-resolved thermophysical model of near- Earth asteroid (433) Eros, using reflected and near-IR spectra collected at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) over 18 nights (25 disk-integrated spectra in total) from 2009-2019. The data sample a variety of viewing geometries, illumination angles, and rotational phases and therefore allow us to characterize Eros's surface physical properties in detail, particularly at wavelengths in the thermal near- IR regime (λ > 3.5 microns) that were not measured by the NEAR Shoemaker mission. Eros's shape, spin state, density, albedo, and other physical properties measured by NEAR were incorporated into …

Terahertz Spin Pumping In Antiferromagnetic Crystals And Films, Gregory Fritjofson

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Antiferromagnetic spintronics is a budding field, promising applications for next generation computing and telecommunication, due to the inherent stability and terahertz frequency magnetic dynamics which antiferromagnets (AFMs) possess. However, due to the infancy and uniqueness of the field, AFM spin dynamics have yet to be studied to their full extent in the terahertz range. To this end, we describe a custom magnetometry system with continuous frequency operation from 60 GHz to 1.5 THz, complete quasi-optical polarization control, peak magnetic field of 9 T, temperature control from 5-300 K, and three-axis sample rotation. We provide initial results from uniaxial AFM MnF2 …

Sub-Cycle Nonlinear Optics In Solids, Dipendra Khatri

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

The rapid advancement of digital electronics and telecommunication systems necessitates processing information at increasingly higher speeds. However, modern semiconductor technology faces fundamental physical limitations in transistor miniaturization and clock frequency due to quantum mechanical constraints. To overcome these barriers, ultrafast optoelectronics, leveraging light-matter interactions, offers a promising alternative. Light, as the fastest carrier of information, enables signal processing at frequencies far beyond conventional semiconductor technology. Advancements in laser technology have enabled stable and reliable ultrashort light pulse sources, lasting only a few femtoseconds at optical wavelengths. When utilized for signal processing, they could enable clock frequencies over 1000 times higher …

Neural Network Accelerated Retrieval Of Clear Brown Dwarf Atmospheres, Peter T. Braunschweig

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

In the era of the James Webb Space Telescope, there is a pressing need for atmospheric retrievals to be fast, accurate, and physically motivated. The computational cost of self-consistent atmosphere models has thus far made them unfeasible for use in retrieval. Machine learning techniques have greatly accelerated computational tasks in a variety of fields, and have been applied to retrieval before. However, previous application to brown dwarfs has focused on inferring parameters from spectra tailored to the resolution and wavelength range of a specific instrument.

We train a neural network on cloud-free model atmospheres computed self-consistently with PICASO, and use …

Optomechanical Interactions And Dynamics In Nanoparticle Systems, Sohila Abdelhafiz

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

This dissertation investigates the coupling between optical forces and the dynamics of nanoparticle systems. Using theoretical models, simulations and experiments, we explore how light mediates interactions between nanoparticles leading to optical binding, nonreciprocal forces, and collective behavior in colloidal suspensions.

We first examine the dynamics and interactions of particles under illumination due to complex electromagnetic forces. Of particular interest are interparticle forces between particles with specific optical properties such as those satisfying the Kerker scattering conditions. We demonstrate the wavelength-dependent dynamics of such Kerker dimers and establish conditions required for their stable longitudinal binding. We also describe a one-way non-reciprocal …

Spectral Properties Of Disjoint Unions Of Open Intervals Via Unitary Groups Of Local Translations, Bryan Ducasse

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

The connection between spectral properties and tiling properties of domains can be explored by mimicking an early approach of Fuglede. This approach focuses on self-adjoint extensions of differential operators and associated strongly continuous, one-parameter unitary groups. We take this approach in this thesis, determining an explicit formula for such a unitary group and use this to create new connections between spectral and tiling properties of a domain. Dutkay and Jorgensen showed it is enough to consider the case when the domain is a disjoint union of open intervals, so we restrict the scope of this thesis to this case as …