Digital Commons Network^™

Towards Left-Shifting Optimizations In The Hardware Design Methodology, Sanjay Gandham

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

The exponential growth in computational demands has outpaced traditional Moore's Law scaling, necessitating innovations in hardware design methodologies. Traditional hardware design flows defer critical power, performance, and area (PPA) optimizations to late stages such as Logic Synthesis and Physical Design, creating prolonged feedback cycles that limit performance scaling. As designs grow in complexity, these late-stage optimization bottlenecks worsen, making it increasingly difficult to meet the desired PPA constraints for modern SoC designs with billions of transistors.

To address this limitation, this dissertation introduces the concept of left-shifting the hardware design process by enabling PPA optimizations at the earlier RTL stage. …

Exploring The Security Landscape Of Ar/Vr Applications: A Multi-Dimensional Perspective, Abdulaziz Alghamdi

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

The rapid evolution of Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technologies on mobile platforms has significantly impacted the digital landscape, raising concerns about security and privacy. As these technologies integrate into everyday life, understanding their security infrastructure and privacy policies is crucial to protect user data.

To address this, our first study analyzes AR/VR applications from a security and performance perspective. Recognizing the lack of benchmark datasets for security research, we compiled a dataset of 408 AR/VR applications from the Google Play Store. The dataset includes control flow graphs, strings, functions, permissions, API calls, hexdump, and metadata, providing a …

Characterization Of Turbulent Flames In Confined Combustors, Max Fortin

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

As industry transitions to a net-zero carbon future, turbulent premixed combustion will remain an integral process for power generating gas turbines and are also desired for aviation engines due to their ability to minimize pollutant emissions. However, accurately predicting the behavior of a turbulent reacting flow field remains a challenge. To better understand the dynamics of premixed reacting flows, this study experimentally investigates the evolution of turbulence in a high-speed bluff-body combustor. The combustor operates across a range of equivalence ratios from 0.7-1 to quantify the role of heat release and flame scales on the evolution of turbulence as the …

Towards An Intelligent Speculative Software-Defined Networking, Ahmad Hariri

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Software-Defined Networking (SDN) separates the control and data planes, enabling better programmability of the control plane to predict, route, and schedule traffic at the data plane. Reactive SDN dynamically installs flow rules when a new flow arrives, making it adaptable to application dynamics. This design is well-suited for emerging low-latency applications like online gaming and AR/VR, which require millisecond-level response times for an acceptable quality of experience. However, Reactive SDN faces limitations, as each new flow triggers a miss, sending a Packet-in message from the switch to the SDN controller, increasing latency. To reduce delay, it's crucial to predict flow …

Characterizing Muscle Control As An Emg Visual Matrix, Peter W. Makary

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Evaluating electrical muscle activity patterns using surface electromyography (EMG) is a widely used technique to assess movement in research settings, but its use has not been translated to clinical settings. This study aims to investigate the potential of evaluating muscle activity control through a visual matrix display. EMG data from older and younger adults collected in a previous seated locomotor perturbation study was used to generate visual matrices representing their lower-limb ankle muscle activity. Visual matrices from each condition consist of 20x20 grids, where each axis represents activity from an individual muscle of muscle pairs, such as the tibialis anterior …

Investigating The Efficacy Of A Novel Law Enforcement Use Of Force Training Simulation, Justin D. Lane

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Realistic scenario based training (SBT) is an effective method used to prepare police officers for real world use of force incidents. Many law enforcement agencies are unable to host regular SBT due to time, cost, and facility constraints. A novel simulation training approach was investigated to determine if it may be a suitable alternative or supplement to traditional SBT at reduced cost, time, and increased frequency. This novel scenario based simulation training (SBST) environment combined physical and virtual elements into a single training scenario. A physical space, designed to depict the scene of a critical incident, was equipped with immersive …

Aluminum Alloys For Laser Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing And Process Optimization By Machine Learning, Kevin Graydon

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing is a promising manufacturing technology enabling enhanced design freedom through layer-by-layer production. However, traditional, wrought aluminum (Al) alloys suffer from solidification cracking during LPBF processing and the initial printer parameter optimization process required for every novel or untested material is time and resource intensive. There exists a need to formulate Al alloys for LPBF and a method to reduce the resources consumed during initial printer parameter optimization studies. Al-9.5Ce-xMo (x = 0.2, 0.6, 1.0 wt. %) alloys have been designed specifically for LPBF utilizing the CALPHAD approach. Additionally, a neural network model was …

Deepfake Detection And Defense: An Analysis Of Techniques And Robustness, Nigel Francis

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

The rise of deepfake media powered by the abrupt and rapid advances in generative AI, has introduced serious concerns and challenges in digital content verification. Although there is a wide range of detection strategies currently in use and being proposed, many remain limited in their ability to generalize across manipulation types, defend against adversarial attacks, or operate efficiently in real world scenarios. This paper presents a survey of deepfake detection and defense techniques, organized into ten technical categories: frequency-based, spatial-based, temporal-based, physiological-based, multimodal detection, adversarial attacks and defenses, forensic noise-based methods, watermarking and prevention strategies and dataset contributions. Drawing on …

Increasing Bystander And Environmental Awareness Through Haptic Feedback, Jose-Valentin T. Sera-Josef

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

The Chariot System is a bystander and environmental awareness system that uses vibrotactile haptic feedback delivered via a wearable. It was designed with the goal of using a subject's haptic channel to keep them aware of their surroundings thus freeing their visual channel to focus on and enjoy a virtual reality (VR) experience. This work contributes to the space of VR research that aims to keep users aware of the outside world while in VR, an area that typically focuses on using visual notifications but rarely applies haptics. A user study involving 24 participants was conducted comparing the Chariot System …

Modeling Data Metrics And Distributions For Representation And Efficient Transfer Learning, Li Ren

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Representation Learning and Transfer Learning are fundamental challenges in deep learning, particularly for downstream computer vision tasks. While existing research predominantly focuses on loss functions and network architectures, this dissertation explores how modeling distance metrics and data distributions can enhance representation and transfer learning efficiency in computer vision applications, specifically focusing on image captioning and retrieval tasks.

We make contributions primarily in three subareas. First, we develop an image captioning system that leverages geometric relationships among objects using a novel object graph structure, enhancing global visual representations for more accurate caption generation. We further incorporate adversarial learning to model data …

Haptics Based Grasping Of Novel Objects Using Robotic Manipulator, Nicolas C. Leocadio

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

This work is focused on extending and demonstrating the generalizability of previous interactive perception-based work done on a model-free, non-neural algorithm for robotic gripper envelopment of objects using haptic feedback. Using a 6-axis force and torque sensor placed behind the wrist of a robotic arm's manipulator, appropriate motions are generated in order to achieve contact with, align the manipulator with, and place the manipulator around some desired object in a position where grasp is possible by simply closing the manipulator. The algorithm relies on generating restoring (reactive) and frictional forces by rapid multidirectional oscillation of gripper fingers about an initial …

Enhancing The Hardness Of The Multispectral Zns Transparent Ceramics Through Ga2s3 Incorporation: A Comparative Study Of Vapor Transport Deposition And Solid-Solid Reaction Methods, Hayat Soufiani

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Multispectral zinc sulfide (MS-ZnS) is an important optical ceramic widely used in broadband imaging systems due to its wide transmission range and relatively low cost. However, its modest mechanical properties limit its durability in harsh environments. This dissertation investigates two solute strengthening methods, vapor transport deposition (VTD) and diffusion coupling (DC), to enhance the hardness of MS-ZnS windows through Ga2S3 incorporation while maintaining optical transparency. The VTD process successfully incorporated gallium in the subsurface, resulting in up to 120 % increase in microhardness compared to untreated samples, but with slight discrepancies in lateral gallium distribution. The DC technique demonstrated superior …

The Sociological Engagement In John Coltrane's A Love Supreme: Examining The Impacts Of Race, Music, And Culture In Video-Based Learning Amongst College Students, Kinyel K. Ragland Sr.

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

This project consists primarily of the interest in Video Based Learning (VBL) and understanding the impacts of a video based on the connections between John Coltrane’s song Acknowledgement on the Jazz suite A Love Supreme to the Civil Rights movement and systemic racism. Research confirms that VBL has an impact on student learning, yet this project finds that because of the content of the video, it fits into scholarship where there are gaps. The methodological approach, which was qualitative, found that students were overall enlightened, entertained, and were interested in learning more. Other findings include suggestions and recommendations for future …

Themed Experience & Attractions Academic Symposium 2025 Proceedings, Themed Experience & Attractions Academic Society

Proceedings of the Annual Themed Experience & Attractions Academic Symposium

No abstract provided.

A Mathematical Modeling Approach To Investigate The Impacts Of Post-Infection Mortality And Partial Immunity On Disease Endemicity, Brendan M. Shrader

Honors Undergraduate Theses

A number of infectious diseases cause post-infection conditions or complications, such as COVID- 19, Q fever, and Polio. These conditions result in recovered individuals having a higher mortality rate than susceptibles, and this can impact disease dynamics. An existing mass-action model in the literature that incorporated post-infection mortality was shown to have limit cycles, or persistent oscillations, in the infected population. To better understand what causes these limit cycles, we develop and analyze a new epidemiological model with standard incidence. We show standard results, including the existence, uniqueness, and stability of the disease-free and endemic equilibria, and we rule out …

Barriers To Postpartum Depression Treatment: Availability And Accessibility Of Maternal Behavioral Health-Inclusive Support Groups For Low-Income Populations, Radhika S. Venkatesan

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The maternal health crisis is a prevalent and concerning issue in the United States. The lack of efficient availability and accessibility to health care services plays a significant role in augmenting this problem. One health care service that is often understudied is support groups, for prevalent issues like postpartum depression. Considering the socioeconomic burdens of low-income mothers, this paper analyzed the accessibility and availability of maternal health support groups across counties in Florida, with varying amounts of individuals below the federal poverty level (%BPL). Essentially, Florida counties were divided into one of four categories depending on their %BPL. A Fisher’s …

Development Of Cerium Oxide Based Polymer Composites With Enhanced Cytocompatability For Biomedical Applications, Roshna Cherugail

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis presents the synthesis and characterization of cerium oxide nanoparticles (CNPs), and silver-doped cerium oxide nanoparticles (AgCNPs) loaded in alginate beads that were designed to be applied in biomedical settings. Cerium oxide was chosen for its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capabilities, and silver oxide was selected to enhance antimicrobial functionality, both of which are pivotal in expedited wound closure and promoting cellular proliferation. Through the use of an advance electrospray encapsulation apparatus, alginate-based polymer beads were created by incorporating either CNPs or AgCNPs into the matrix. These beads were later characterized using a range of microscopic and FTIR analyses, in …

Mechanistic Insights Into The Antimicrobial Action Of Fungus-Derived Xanthoquinodins Against Clostridioides Difficile, Erika A. Serravalle

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

The bacterial pathogen Clostridioides difficile is the leading cause of antibiotic- and healthcare-associated diarrhea, imposing significant clinical and economic impacts. The emergence of hypervirulent strains, such as PCR ribotype 027 (RT027), has exacerbated disease severity, recurrence rates, antibiotic resistance, and epidemiological spread. Expanding resistance profiles among C. difficile strains continue to limit the effectiveness of current IDSA-SHEA recommended therapies, which are already compromised by high recurrence rates due to antibiotic-induced disruption of the gut microbiota. These challenges highlight the urgent clinical need to identify and characterize antimicrobial compounds targeting alternative pathways in C. difficile physiology. We report the discovery and …

Towards Supporting Undergraduate Students To Become Lifelong Learners: A Multimethod, Multimodal, And Multigranular Analysis Of Motivation And Self-Regulated Learning In Context, Sierra Outerbridge

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

This publication-based dissertation includes three manuscripts with distinct statistical methods to investigate self-reported motivation, self-reported self-regulated learning (SRL), and enacted SRL processes in undergraduate student contexts towards understanding how students learn how they learn.

The first manuscript focused on 1248 undergraduate statistics students, utilized self-reported motivation, and interpreted logfile data of time spent within an online textbook through the lens of SRL using hierarchical cluster analysis followed by k-means cluster analysis to identify four distinct motivation clusters. Results from a repeated measures ANOVA suggest that students did not spend time differently within the textbook, whereas there were differences between motivation …

On High-Speed Breakup Of Water Droplets Behind High Mach Number Shocks, Sydney M. Briggs

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Water droplet breakup in high-speed flow is a relatively popular experimental study to analyze breakup mechanisms. There is a plethora of experiments performed at low Mach number and low Weber number, but studies with higher speed flows and higher Weber numbers are less common. In this study, water droplet breakup is assessed using high-speed shock waves (Mach 2.3-above Mach 5) in a shock tube. Multiple methods are used to introduce droplets, and multiple different water purity levels are considered. An assessment was made into whether cavitation played a role in the breakup process physically, as this has been a budding …

Beyond The Bench: Historical Injustices And Future Pathways For Florida’S Family Court, David J. Blum

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis examines systemic inequities in Florida’s family law system, focusing on how legal doctrines, discretionary practices, and enforcement patterns disadvantage unwed and noncustodial fathers. Drawing on statutory analysis, case law, empirical studies, and psychological research, it evaluates several reforms designed to promote fairness while protecting child welfare. These include mandatory paternity testing at birth, a rebuttable presumption of equal custody, stronger enforcement of visitation orders, equitable tax restructuring, and improved training for legal professionals. Current Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity (VAP) procedures often create binding obligations without confirming biological parentage, resulting in long-term emotional, legal, and financial consequences. Research shows …

Rapid Inference Of Atmospheric Feature Parameters From Light Curves Using Bayesian Neural Networks, Eugenio A. Diaz

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Mapping atmospheres using rotationally modulated light curves offers insights into cloud structures and dynamics. Current retrieval methods, primarily based on Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques like Aeolus, can infer atmospheric features but are computationally prohibitive for large datasets. This project proposes a neural network (NN) framework for the rapid, variational inference of atmospheric structure from light curves, particularly those of brown dwarfs. The primary approach focuses on training a Bayesian NN (BNN) to perform regression, predicting the spot parameters that describe the object's surface brightness map. Given the scarcity of suitable observational training data, the BNN is trained on …

Ad Astra Per Aspera: Legal Revision Of Space Laws And Intellectual Property To Cultivate Global Alliance And Innovation, Jaiden E. Haggiag

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis explores the inadequate nature of the current legal space regime and points out the gaps in outer space laws, including the following: Jurisdictional Challenges, Frameworks of Liability, and IP (Intellectual Property) Enforcement, utilizing laws such as the Outer Space Treaty (OST), the Liability Convention, the Registration Convention, the Moon Agreement, the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), and TRIPS, along with national laws like the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act and The Inventions in Outer Space Act (35 U.S.C. § 105.). Through analysis of current scholarly proposals and treaty evolution and synthesize to provide policy options, the goal of …

An Analysis Of The Constitutionality Of Florida's 2024 Hb 3: “Online Protections For Minors,” Comparative To Other State Regulations Of The Internet, Evan J. Siegel

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis examines the constitutionality of the Florida House of Representatives’ 2024 priority bill, HB 3: “Online Protections for Minors,” through its ongoing litigation in North Florida. The broad nature of the bill, which is now Florida law, and its burden on accessing constitutionality protected speech and/or expression may not be consistent with the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. How the law defines and shapes what material may be accessible to people on the Internet, or the means they would need to use to create a social media account, are questions many other courts have begun …

Remedios Varo: Peregrinaciones, Julia Condes

Honors Undergraduate Theses

At the time of her death, the artist Remedios Varo (1908–1963) left behind over 500 works of art, the majority of which were created in her adopted country of Mexico. Known for her meticulously crafted fantastical paintings, Varo underwent exile and displacement due to first the Spanish Civil War, and later World War II, which led her to relocate to Mexico, where she would create prolifically for the remainder of her life. This paper will examine the effect of those experiences on the artist and the work she produced, attesting to Varo’s ability to translate complex emotions regarding the human …

Examining The Effect Of A High Fat Diet On The Expression Of Adipokines In A Murine Model Of Barrett's Esophagus, Saagar A. Shah

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Chronic acid reflux results in injury to the esophagus and the development of Barrett’s Esophagus (BE). BE elevates the lifetime risk for a patient to develop Esophageal Adenocarcinoma (EAC). Clinically, one of the main risk factors for BE and EAC is obesity, which alters the secretion of inflammatory cytokines by adipocytes, also referred to as adipokines. Conflicting reports have been made to the expression of adipokines and their receptors in the progression to esophageal cancer. Utilizing an inflammation-based mouse model for BE, we hypothesize that alterations in the expression of adipokines and their receptors favor an inflammatory environment associated with …

Unravelling The Role Of Two-Component Systems In Mycobacterium Abscessus, Andrea C. Molero Perez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Mycobacterium abscessus (Mab) is an emerging pathogen within the nontuberculous bacteria (NTM) which poses a threat due to its complex multi-drug resistance and opportunistic nature. It is predicted that only 45.6% of patients will have successful treatment, with immunocompromised and cystic fibrosis patients being the most threatened. Moreover, investigating new treatment approaches is key to responding to this public health issue. Two-component systems (TCS) are regulatory pathways that play a pivotal role in bacterial survival and virulence. These systems are composed of a sensor histidine kinase (HK) and cognate response regulator (RR) protein that senses environmental cues and triggers specific …

Spirituality In Place: Assessment Of Spirituality, Place Attachment, And Locus Of Control In College, Chloe Armand

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The intent of this thesis is to explore how spirituality in place shapes college students’ cognition. While spiritual development is recognized as an important aspect of student affairs, its influence on cognitive factors such as locus of control and place attachment remains underexplored. This study investigates the relationship between spirituality, place attachment, and locus of control, as well as students’ perceptions of spiritual design elements on UCF’s campus. To assess these perceptions, a Quality of Place Questionnaire for Spirituality was developed. This instrument aims to measure humanity, sensuality, and sustainability in the built environment. This research uncovers the connections between …

Addressing Barriers In The Primary Prevention Of Hypertension In Black People, Makalah Pierre Rn Bsn

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Hypertension is a significant health concern among minority groups, and the black population is most at risk (Abrahamowicz et al., 2023). The black population experience higher prevalence rates of hypertension compared to other racial groups and are more likely to experience hypertension-related problems, including cardiovascular disease (CVD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD).  This literature review explores various nursing interventions aimed at preventing hypertension within this population. In this review, the term “black people or persons” is a broad term used to describe both African Americans and people of Afro-Caribbean decent. This includes various backgrounds such as Haitian, Jamaican, or otherwise …

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 …