Digital Commons Network^™

Subsurface Upflow Wetland System For Nutrient And Pathogen Removal In Wastewater Treatment Systems, Ni-Bin Chang, Martin Wanielista

UCF Patents

Methods and systems for a subsurface upflow wetland for wastewater treatment that includes a series of parallel treatment cells, each cell including from bottom to top, a layer of gravel, a layer of sand over the gravel to remove pathogens from a septic effluent, a pollution control medium above the sand later to remove nurtients, total suspended solid, and biochemical oxygen demand and a growth media mixture layered on top of the pollution control pmedia to grow plants, and a gravity distrubition system to distribute effluent to the series of parallel treatment cells. The pollution control medium inlcudes at least …

Methods And Compounds For Inhibition Of Cell Death, Antonis Zervos

UCF Patents

This invention is directed to methods and compositions for inhibiting caspase-independent apoptosis. In particular, methods and compositions for inhibiting Omi/HtrA2 activity, as well as method for identifying other inhibitors of Omi/HtrA2. Also disclosed are Omi/HtrA2 specific substrates and methods for identifying other substrates of Omi/HtrA2.

Want A Good Reference Letter? Do Something To Deserve It, Linda Walters

UCF Forum

Each August, the entire UCF community anticipates the start of the fall semester. As we all laze through the final days of summer, we reminisce about the highs and lows of previous school years and strategize how we can avoid those same lows this fall.

Homography-Based Passive Vehicle Speed Measuring, Mubarak Shah, Janaka Liyanage

UCF Patents

An apparatus for passively measuring vehicle speed includes at least one video camera or acquiring images of a roadway upon which at least one moving vehicle travels upon, each of the images comprising a plurality of pixels. A computer processes pixel data associated with the plurality of pixels, including using a adaptive background subtraction model to perform background subtraction on the pixel data to identify a plurality of foreground pixels, extracting a plurality of blobs from the foreground pixels, and rectifying the blobs to form a plurality of rectified blobs using a homography matrix. The homography matrix is obtained by …

Characterization Of An Advanced Neuron Model, Christopher Echanique

HIM 1990-2015

This thesis focuses on an adaptive quadratic spiking model of a motoneuron that is both versatile in its ability to represent a range of experimentally observed neuronal firing patterns as well as computationally efficient for large network simulation. The objective of research is to fit membrane voltage data to the model using a parameter estimation approach involving simulated annealing. By manipulating the system dynamics of the model, a realizable model with linear parameterization (LP) can be obtained to simplify the estimation process. With a persistently excited current input applied to the model, simulated annealing is used to efficiently determine the …

Systems And Methods For Graphical Rendering., Amar Mukherjee, Weifeng Sun

UCF Patents

A computer readable medium configured to approximate the integral of the product of a plurality of functions includes logic configured to factor the plurality of functions into a set of fixed functions and one varying function, logic configured to determine a first vector that represents the product of the fixed functions in the wavelet domain, logic configured to determine a second vector that represents the one varying function in the wavelet domain, and logic configured to determine an inner product of the first vector and the second vector.

Art Is Always A Series Of Questions To Contemplate, Not Solve, Carla Poindexter

UCF Forum

Why do people value a painting or drawing? An elementary-school student I know recently answered: “Because when we look at art we can see how the artist felt about things.”

Technology Can Be Blessing, Curse To Students, Alexandra Pittman

UCF Forum

Many college students seem to have forgotten what a university is for because they have become lost within their own technology.

Dispersions Of Carbon Nanotubes In Copolymer Solutions And Functional Composite Materials And Coatings Therefrom, Qun Huo, Lei Zhai, Jianhua Zou

UCF Patents

A dispersion includes non-chemically modified carbon nanotubes, a soluble block coploymer providing at least one block of a conjugated polymer, and at least one solvent. at 25 degrees C, exclusive of any mechanical force and after one hour, at least 90% of the carbon nanotubes exist in the dispersion as isolated nanotubes. The compenents of the dispersin can be combined with a polymer miscible with the block copolymer to form a carbon nanotube polymer composite upon removal of the solvent. The dispersion can be cast on a substrate and then dried to form a coating, including forming a superhydrophobic coating …

Ucf Cocoa & Palm Bay Newsletter Summer 2012, Megan M. Haught

UCF Cocoa & Palm Bay Newsletter

This is the Summer 2012 edition of the UCF Cocoa & Palm Bay Newsletter which celebrates the accomplishments and community activity of the faculty, staff, and students from the University of Central Florida Cocoa and Palm Bay campuses.

• A new staff and two new faculty members joined the Cocoa campus
• Two Educations students attended the NASA Pre-Service Teacher Institute
• 31 Cocoa Nursing seniors graduated in August four of which had Honors in the Major recognition
• The BCC/UCF Joint Use Library in Palm Bay was chosen as the cover image for Choice Magazine

The Learning Marketspace, July 2012, Bob Heterick, Carol Twigg

The Learning MarketSpace (4/03 - 4/14)

No abstract provided.

The Innovator, Volume 1 Issue 1, Summer 2012, Christa Santos

The Innovator

No abstract provided.

Methods For Increasing Potency Of Adult Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Kiminobu Sugaya, Angel Alvarez

UCF Patents

Disclosed herein are methods and materials for producing a more developmentally potent cell from a less developmentally potent cell. Specifically exemplified herein are methods that comprise introducing an expressible dedifferentiating polynucleotide sequence into a less developmentally potent cell, wherein the transfected less developmentally potent cell becomes a more developmentally potent cell capable of differentiating to a less developmentally potent cell of its lineage of origin or a different lineage.

Illuminations, Summer Issue, June 2012, Ucf Libraries

Libraries' Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Denial Of Convenience Attack To Smartphones Using A Fake Wi-Fi Access Point, Erich Dondyk

HIM 1990-2015

In this thesis, we consider a novel denial of service attack targeted at popular smartphone operating systems. This type of attack, which we call a Denial of Convenience (DoC) attack, prevents non-technical savvy victims from utilizing data services by exploiting the connectivity management protocol of smartphones' operating systems when encountered with a Wi-Fi access point. By setting up a fake Wi-Fi access point without Internet access (using simple devices such as a laptop), an adversary can prompt a smartphone with enabled Wi-Fi features to automatically terminate a valid mobile broadband connection and connect to this fake Wi-Fi access point. This, …

An Exploration Of Using Ipads And Digital Storytelling Through Westorieswith Students Who Have Autism, Michelle Mariotti

HIM 1990-2015

This study investigated the potential of using weStories, a type of digital storytelling, and the use of iPads with second and third grade students who have autism. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurological disorder that affects a person's ability to communicate, comprehend language, and their ability to socially interact with peers. Digital storytelling combines the art of telling stories with photos, videos, audio, and other digital media. This study employed the use of weStories, a collaborative storytelling process that requires students to work in a team while using an iPad. weStories were created by Dr. Glenda Gunter specifically for …

Inequality As A Determinant Of Growth In A Panel Of High Income Countries, Joshua Mcguire

HIM 1990-2015

This paper empirically examines the effect of income inequality on economic growth in a sample of 69 high income economies. It uses an improved inequality dataset developed by the World Institute for Development Economics Research and panel estimation techniques in an ordinary least squares regression. The results provide robust empirical evidence that rising levels of income inequality have adverse effects on growth in high income countries and indicate that, on average, a one standard deviation increase in income inequality will decrease growth by 67.91%. Results from the regression also suggest increases in human capital and international openness, decreases in the …

Embodied Abstraction In Cinema Virtual Prosthesis And Forests Of Light, Jon M. Perez

HIM 1990-2015

Our impressions of this lifeworld are contingent upon our ability to see (in every conflicting meaning of the word). This paper reviews a body of scholars who often share disparate, "incompatible" ontological commitments in effort to examine how their ordering of concepts may reveal a deeper fluidity and permeability between all states of inquiry, creation and investigation into Being and Time. It begins with perspective, examining our subjective presence in the context of the camera apparatus and considers how the mirroring of mechanical instrumentation, namely the rotary shutter and optics of the camera has limited the true function of the …

Tracking Error Of Leveraged And Inverse Etfs, John Romano

HIM 1990-2015

Tracking ability of leveraged and inverse exchange traded funds can be very important to investors looking for a dependable return. If the investor wants to put their money on a certain index they feel strongly about, they expect their investment vehicle to track that return appropriately. Over the years, we have seen tremendous growth in the exchange traded fund industry. In 2006, leveraged and inverse funds were introduced to the market, allowing investors to take leveraged and directional trades on indices. These investment vehicles can be traded as easily as any stock, and therefore need some attention. Since any novice …

Adding Cerebral Autoregulation To A Lumped Parameter Model Of Blood Flow, Russell Gentile

HIM 1990-2015

A mathematical model of blood flow in infants with hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) was improved by adding cerebral autoregulation. This is the process by which blood vessels constrict or dilate to keep blood flow steady in certain organs during pressure changes. The original lumped parameter model transformed the fluid flow into an electrical circuit. Its behavior is described using a system of thirty-three coupled differential equations that are solved numerically using a fourth-order Runge-Kutta method implemented in MATLAB. A literature review that includes a discussion of autoregulation mechanisms and approaches to modeling them is followed by a description of …

University Of Central Florida Undergraduate Catalog, 2012 - 2013, University Of Central Florida

UCF Catalogs

No abstract provided.

University Of Central Florida Graduate Catalog, 2012 - 2013, University Of Central Florida

UCF Catalogs

No abstract provided.

2012 Library Graduate Student Survey Report, Penny Beile

Libraries' Documents

No abstract provided.

Systems And Methods For Graphical Rendering, Amar Mukherjee, Weifeng Sun

UCF Patents

A computer readable medium configured to determine the integral of the product of a plurality of functions. The computer readable medium includes logic configured to project each function of the plurality of functions into the wavelet domain, logic configured to encode basis coefficients of each function in a wavelet tree, each function being encoded in at least one wavelet tree such that the plurality of functions are represented in the wavelet domain by a plurality of wavelet trees, and logic configured to traverse direct paths through the plurality of wavelet trees to determine the integral of the product of the …

Systems And Methods For Graphical Rendering., Amar Mukherjee, Weifeng Sun

UCF Patents

A method of rendering a graphical scene includes determining a plurality of functions that contribute to a light transport model of the scene, projecting each function of the plurality of functions into the wavelet domain, encoding basis coefficients of each function in a wavelet tree, each function being encoded in at least one wavelet tree such that the plurality of functions are represented in the wavelet domain by a plurality of wavelet trees, traversing direct paths through the plurality of wavelet trees, along which direct paths an integral coefficient may be nonzero, to determine the radiance of a point in …

The Learning Marketspace, April 2012, Bob Heterick, Carol Twigg

The Learning MarketSpace (4/03 - 4/14)

No abstract provided.

Library Grad Student Survey Report 2012, Cynthia Dancel

Libraries' Documents

No abstract provided.

Creating Performance Curves For Variable Refrigerant Flow Heat Pumps In Energyplus, Florida Solar Energy Center, Richard Raustad

FSEC Energy Research Center®

This document describes methods to generate performance curve coefficients for variable refrigerant flow heat pumps in DOE's EnergyPlus building energy simulation program. Manufactures performance data for capacity and power are used to create full-load and part-load performance curves for cooling and heating operating modes. When performance variations for full-load capacity or power cannot be modeled using a single performance curve, the data set is divided into lower and upper temperature regions and dual performance curves are used. Table objects may also be created to substitute when performance curves do not provide the required accuracy. These performance curves or tables are …

Diffraction Free, Self-Bending Airy Wave Arrangement, Aristide Dogariu, Demetrios Christodoulides, Georgios Siviloglou

UCF Patents

Methods and systems for Airy waves and wavepackets or beams having all the advantages of a diffraction-free or dispersion free wave but at the same time, its intensity features accelerate or self-bend during propagation. These beams can perform ballistic dynamics akin to projectiles moving under the action of gravity. The Airy waves are highly asymmetric and as a result their energy is more tightly confined in one quadrant thus increasing the energy density in the main lobes. These wavepackets can be one, two, and three-dimensional waves. In addition they tend to self-heal themselves which is important in adverse environments.

Simulations For Financial Literacy, Angela Hamilton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Financially literate consumers are empowered with the knowledge and skills necessary to make sound financial decisions that ensure their long-term economic well-being. Within the context of the range of cognitive, psychological, and social factors that influence consumer behavior, simulations enhance financial literacy by developing consumers’ mental models for decision-making. Technical communicators leverage plain language and visual language techniques to communicate complex financial concepts in ways that consumers can relate to and understand. Simulations for financial education and decision support illustrate abstract financial concepts, provide a means of safe experimentation, and allow consumers to make informed choices based on a longitudinal …