Digital Commons Network^™

Determining The Extent Of Pioneer Mangrove Acidification On Intertidal Oyster Reefs, Cindy Whitten, Andres Alatorre, Nicole Campbell, Savanna Freeman, Sydney Henderson, Kate Mclendon, Connor Wright, June Davison, Madison Ganci, Katherine Harris

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

The Indian River Lagoon (IRL) stretches 251 kilometers along Florida’s east coast and is one of the most biodiverse estuaries in North America. Mosquito Lagoon, the northernmost portion of the IRL, is home to mangroves and intertidal oyster reefs that provide numerous ecosystem services. These two habitats are overlapping as climate change drives mangroves poleward. Scientists have documented mangrove expansion and the transition of oyster reef habitat to mangrove islands. Past studies have shown large, adult mangrove stands drive soil acidification. The goal of this study was to understand if stand-alone, or pioneer, Rhizophora mangle (red mangroves) and Avicennia germinans …

What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?, Alissa Johnson

High Impact Practices Student Showcase Fall 2023

The purpose of my project is to explain my point-of-view of how 4310 Service-Learning: Marine Conservation & Restoration has changed my outlook of this career field and how its influenced me to want to continue in this major. I discuss how three amazing women teach me about oysters (Katherine Harris, Tara Blanchard, and Kelsey Mack) and how they found their voice in a male heavy career field. I also touch on the opportunities I took like mangrove gardening, trail camera footage of Cape Canaveral, and a beach clean-up, just to name a few and how the community plays a huge …

Supercharging Learning With Schoolhouse, Jackson Huff

High Impact Practices Student Showcase Fall 2023

When the COVID-19 virus struck the world in early 2020, it immediately disrupted education. Classes which occurred in-person now had to transition to an online regimen. Unfortunately, for students, this change resulted in significantly lessened academic performance as well as increased rates of mental health disorders.

Observing this drastic change, Salman Khan, founder of Khan Academy, a website which hosts free educational video series, founded a new project called Schoolhouse to help alleviate students' struggles during the change to online education. Schoolhouse would provide free online tutoring in STEM subjects to anyone who desired it. Today, Schoolhouse hosts hundreds of …

Empowering Futures: Matthew's Knights Of Distinction Leadership E-Portfolio In Academic Excellence, Matthew A. Hernandez

High Impact Practices Student Showcase Fall 2023

My presentation centers on my E-Portfolio, seamlessly incorporating three key milestones from the Knights of Distinction program into significant events. Beginning with a brief personal introduction, I shared why I became a physics major, and explored the roots of my passion for space. Utilizing a visual aid, my poster board, I elucidated each focus area and its relevance to my aspirations and societal contributions. The first focus area was Citizenship and how I attended an “Industry BBQ” with the hopes of gaining valuable information to share it with other engineers. The second focus area was about leadership and my role …

Ai, Cataloging & Metadata, Sai Deng

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This presentation explores the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on cataloging and metadata, presenting examples of AI-based cataloging. It provides a few examples of utilizing ChatGPT, Bard and Bing Chat Enterprise for tasks such as creating a MARC record, classifying a book and assigning thesaurus terms. The discussion covers AI’s potential in cataloging and metadata within the library field, along with its advantages and disadvantages. It also addresses how cataloging and metadata professionals should navigate the integration of AI in this new environment. The initial presentation took place at the University of Central Florida Libraries’ AI Interest Group meeting, and …

The 5-Ps Of Jumpstarting Open Assessment Creation With Generative Ai, Rebecca Mcnulty, Lily Dubach, James R. Paradiso

Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI trained on Large Language Models to generate text) has exploded into the digital learning space. As the need for Open Educational Resources (OER) also continues to grow, generative AI can jumpstart aspects of OER creation. This presentation will consider barriers to OER adoption, including the availability of supplemental teaching resources, and will propose a use case for leveraging AI text-generation to support best practices for creating unique assessment questions. Through the “5-Ps,” – Problem, Past, Present, Possibilities, and Product – we will consider the ways that adopters, adapters, and authors of OER can use generative AI …

Understanding Evacuation Traffic Safety Issues During Hurricane Evacuation Using Machine Learning And Connected Vehicle Data, Zaheen E Muktadi Syed

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Hurricane evacuation, ordered to save lives of people of coastal regions, generates high traffic demand with increased crash risk. To mitigate such risk, transportation agencies need to anticipate highway locations with high crash risks to deploy appropriate countermeasures. With ubiquitous sensors and communication technologies, it is now possible to retrieve micro-level vehicular data containing individual vehicle trajectory and speed information. Such high-resolution vehicle data, potentially available in real time, can be used to assess prevailing traffic safety conditions. Using vehicle speed and acceleration profiles, potential crash risks can be predicted in real time. Previous studies on real-time crash risk prediction …

An Examination Of The Role Of Industry 4.0 In Supply Chain Management: Critical Success Factors And A Roadmap, Alper Senol

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Global supply chain management aims to enhance efficiency and profitability for suppliers, manufacturers, logistics providers, and warehouses. It faces challenges due to the complexity involved. To stay competitive, organizations in the industry are leveraging Industry 4.0 technologies, but some struggle with implementation due to limited expertise. The primary challenge of Global Supply Chain Management now is to integrate Industry 4.0 tools and technologies to maintain high-quality standards and optimized processes. This study focused on identifying the key factors that directly affect the success of integrating Industry 4.0 into the supply chain. It examined both tangible and intangible business resources and …

"Do You Want To Build With Snowman?": Positioning Twine Story Formats Through Critical Code Study, Daniel Cox

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Using critical code studies, this dissertation examines the Twine story format Snowman. Despite existing books on the authoring tool Twine, a central part of its functionality, what it names "story formats," is rarely covered. This study steps into this gap and, based on my own experiences through working on story formats and documenting examples using Twine, explores the greater social context of the story format Snowman through examining its source code. This dissertation consists of three chapters, each using a different set of research methods. First, the metaphor of a stack is used to better understand how software like Snowman …

Transportation Electrification In Interdependent Power And Transportation Systems - Analysis, Planning, And Operation, Sina Baghali

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Electric vehicles (EVs) are one of the eminent alternatives to decarbonize the transportation sector. However, large-scale EV adoption brings new challenges and opportunities to both transportation and power systems (TPSs). The challenges include the lack of understanding of EV driving behaviors and the associated charging demand (CD) distribution, the complex interaction of the decentralized decision-makers from TPSs, and the insufficient infrastructure from TPSs to accommodate the growing CD of EVs. On the other hand, the opportunities include benefiting the power systems by leveraging vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technologies and improving transportation mobility by incorporating strategic infrastructure planning. The goal of this dissertation …

Assessing The Overall Utility Of Rapid Digital Documentation Methods On The Juniper Springs Recreational Site In The Ocala National Forest, Alexander Nalewaik

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The use of rapid digital documentation technologies remains in its infancy, although it promises to change the course of future archaeological work. With rising sea levels, the natural deterioration of historic sites and structures, and the lack of proper funding for historic and cultural sites, more of these sites are at risk of destruction. With the implementation of rapid digital documentation methods, researchers can address risks associated with data loss. To date, only a handful of cultural resource management (CRM) firms use these technologies, citing the lack of use as too expensive or difficult to learn. Using rapid digital documentation …

Towards Efficient And Effective Representation Learning For Image And Video Understanding, Taojiannan Yang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Deep learning has achieved tremendous success on various computer vision tasks. However, deep learning methods and models are usually computationally expensive, making it hard to train and deploy, especially on resource-constrained devices. In this dissertation, we explore how to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of deep learning methods from various perspectives. We first propose a new learning method to learn computationally adaptive representations. Traditional neural networks are static. However, our method trains adaptive neural networks that can adjust their computational cost during runtime, avoiding the need to train and deploy multiple networks for dynamic resource budgets. Next, we extend our …

A Unique Method Of Using Information Entropy To Evaluate The Reliability Of Deep Neural Network Predictions On Intracranial Electroencephalogram, Elakkat Dharmaraj Gireesh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Deep Neural networks (DNN) are fundamentally information processing machines, which synthesize the complex patterns in input to arrive at solutions, with applications in various fields. One major question when working with the DNN is, which features in the input lead to a specific decision by DNN. One of the common methods of addressing this question involve generation of heatmaps. Another pertinent question is how effectively DNN has captured the entire information presented in the input, which can potentially be addressed with complexity measures of the inputs. In the case of patients with intractable epilepsy, appropriate clinical decision making depends on …

Optimizing Information Values In Smart Mobility, Fatima Afifah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Smart mobility, enabled by advanced sensing, communication, vehicle, and emerging mobility technologies, has transformed transportation systems. Real-time information shared by public and private entities plays a pivotal role in smart mobility, which facilitates informed decision-making, including effective mode choice, dynamic vehicle control, optimized travel routing, and strategic vehicle relocation. While more information is believed to benefit individual decision makers, it is crucial to acknowledge that the effects of information on transportation network performance are contingent; more information may not always benefit the safety and mobility of the whole system. The goal of this dissertation is to investigate the effects of …

Optimal Sequencing And Scheduling Algorithm For Traffic Flows Based On Extracted Control Actions Near The Airport, Sharmistha Chakrabarti

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This dissertation seeks to design an optimization algorithm, based on naturalistic flight data, with emphasis on safety to perform a benefits' analysis when sequencing and scheduling aircraft at the runway. The viability of creating a decision-support tool to aid air traffic controllers in sequencing and optimizing airport operations is evaluated through the benefits' analysis. Air traffic control is a complex and critical system that ensures the safe and efficient movement of aircraft within the airspace. This is particularly true in the immediate vicinity of an airport. Unlike in en-route or terminal area airspace where aircraft usually traverse well established routes …

Distributed Optimization With Limited Communication In Networks With Adversaries, Iyanuoluwa Emiola

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

We all hope for the best but sometimes, one must plan for ways of dealing with the worst-case scenarios, especially in a network with adversaries. This dissertation illustrates a detailed description of distributed optimization algorithms over a network of agents, in which some agents are adversarial. The model considered is such that adversarial agents act to subvert the objective of the network. The algorithms presented in this dissertation are solved via gradient-based distributed optimization algorithm and the effects of the adversarial agents on the convergence of the algorithm to the optimal solution are characterized. The analyses presented establish conditions under …

Improving Basic Cadet Training For Changing Environment: Case Study At The Korea Air Force Academy, Yoojin Kwon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Increasing uncertainty, such as Covid-19 and weather changes, threatens BCT (Basic Cadet Training) at ROKAFA (Republic of Korea Air Force Academy). In preparation for the changing and adverse environment, this study carried out the following steps to propose a system improvement utilizing LVC (Live, Virtual, Constructive) in BCT system at ROKAFA; 1) Researching the examples of BCT and LVC by advanced countries, 2) Analyzing BCT (ROKAFA) through systems approach (document analysis, survey of 140 cadets and officers, written interviews with military experts), 3) Applying LVC to BCT. BCT is a vital step in the transition from civilian to military status …

Detecting Team Conflict From Multiparty Dialogue, Ayesha Enayet

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The emergence of online collaboration platforms has dramatically changed the dynamics of human teamwork, creating a veritable army of virtual teams composed of workers in different physical locations. The global world requires a tremendous amount of collaborative problem solving, primarily virtual, making it an excellent domain for computer scientists and team cognition researchers who seek to understand the dynamics involved in collaborative tasks to provide a solution that can support effective collaboration. Mining and analyzing data from collaborative dialogues can yield insights into virtual teams' thought processes and help develop virtual agents to support collaboration. Good communication is indubitably the …

Annotation Efficient Visual Recognition: From Semi-Supervised To Few-Shot Learning, Mamshad Nayeem Rizve

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

In recent years, supervised deep learning has achieved remarkable success in solving a wide range of visual recognition problems. Large-scale labeled datasets have been crucial for this success and the progress has primarily been limited to controlled environments. In this dissertation, we present methods to improve the annotation efficiency of deep visual recognition models and also propose methods to improve the performance of annotation-efficient models in unconstrained open-world settings. To address the annotation bottleneck in supervised learning, we introduce a pseudo-labeling framework for semi-supervised learning. While consistency regularization methods dominate the field, they heavily rely on domain-specific data augmentations, limiting …

Deep Video Understanding With Model Efficiency And Sparse Active Labeling, Aayush Jung Bahadur Rana

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Videos capture the inherently sequential nature of the real world, making automatic video understanding an essential need for automatic understanding of the real world. Due to major advancements in camera, communication, and storage hardware, videos have become a widely used data format for crucial applications such as home automation, security, analysis, robotics, and autonomous driving. Existing methods for video understanding require heavy computation and large training data for good performance, this limits how quick the videos can be processed and how much data can be labeled for training. Real-world video understanding requires analyzing dense scenes and sequential information, which increases …

The Performance Of A Liquid-Fueled High Pressure Igniter For Scramjets, Gerardo Rodriguez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Ignition systems within scramjet combust ors remain a trending topic of research because of the essential role they play in the engine's operation. An alternative to currently researched ignition systems is investigated in this study with the main goal of u tilizing the same liquid fuel as the mai n combustion chamber for the ignition system itself. In this case, JetA fuel was injected in a liquid jet in crossflow configuration with air to atomize the fuel. To characterize this ignition system, metrics such as combustion chamber pressure rise, pulse frequency, and jet penetration were used to validate possible utilization …

A High-Pressure Shock Tube Study Of Hydrogen And Ammonia Addition To Natural Gas For Reduced Carbon Emissions In Power Generation Gas Turbines, Michael Pierro

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Ignition delay times from undiluted mixtures of natural gas (NG)/H2/Air and NG/NH3/Air were measured using a high-pressure shock tube at the University of Central Florida. The combustion temperatures were experimentally tested between 1000-1500 K near a constant pressure of 25 bar. Mixtures were kept undiluted to replicate the same chemistry pathways seen in gas turbine combustion chambers. Recorded combustion pressures exceeded 200 bar due to the large energy release, hence why these were performed at the high-pressure shock tube facility. The data is compared to the predictions of the NUIGMech 1.1 mechanism for chemical kinetic model validation and refinement. An …

Flow Induced Vibration In Corrugated Metal Flexhoses, Patrick Tran

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This study on flow-induced vibration provides valuable insights into the fundamental dynamics of fluid-structure interactions. The findings contribute to the development of predictive models and design guidelines for engineering systems susceptible to flow-induced vibration. By improving our understanding of this phenomenon, engineers can enhance the safety and reliability of various structures subjected to fluid flow, such as pipelines, flexhoses, and bellows. Flowinduced vibration is a phenomenon that occurs when fluid flow interacts with a structure, leading to oscillations and potentially causing mechanical damage. Understanding the underlying mechanisms and predicting the vibration characteristics is crucial for the design and safe operation …

A Study Of The Influence Of Heat Flux On Aerodynamics In Hypersonic Flow, Kristina Pionessa

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This study investigates the utilization of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to simulate aerodynamic heating effects in support of research and design endeavors. The initial investigation demonstrates the effectiveness of a computational approach in analyzing different geometries and flow conditions. Specifically, CFD is employed to analyze the aerodynamics of a blunt cone, double cone, and hypersonic leading edge experiencing a changing heat source across the flow/body boundary. At the stagnation point, maximum thermal loading occurs as previously found; therefore, boundary layer thickness and shock standoff distance is measured at that position to compare the results of each case. Characteristics such as …

Florida's Vanishing Heritage: Climate Risk And Adaptation At Florida Heritage Sites, Levi Watson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This thesis examines history and preservation at coastal cultural heritage sites threatened by climate change and explores climate adaptation strategies at two sites on Florida's Atlantic coast. Current climate change models indicate the planet may see as much as 1.1 meters, or four feet, of global average sea level rise by the year 2100, requiring site managers to intervene by using adaptation techniques to improve resilience and guard against the loss of cultural heritage monuments. Understanding the history and importance of these sites to the surrounding communities and their numerous stakeholders is the first step to ensuring these sites remain …

Understanding The Mechanisms By Which Cable Sway Produces Motion Artifact In Mobile Electroencephalography, David Rojas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Mobile brain/body imaging utilizes electroencephalography (EEG) to record brain activity during human walking in dynamic environments. Motion artifact from cable sway affects the quality of EEG signals collected from the scalp, masking contributions of synchronously firing neurons. Previous studies have explored cable sway-induced motion artifact, but only during vigorous exercise or controlled sinusoidal motion. Therefore, a need remains to further understand the underlying mechanisms of this artifact, as it may help with developing real-time mitigation methods, reducing reliance on offline signal processing. In this thesis, I aimed to show that controlled cable sway could produce specific motion artifact waveforms in …

Experimental Analysis On Effects Of Inclination And Direction On Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Heat Transfer For Internal Pipe Flow, Emmanuel Gabriel-Ohanu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) can be utilized as a working or heat transfer fluid in various thermal systems with applications in large-scale power cycles; portable power production units, coolant systems and devices. However, there are no sufficient methods and equations of heat transfer coefficient correlations, and in addition insufficient research studies about the mechanisms controlling heat transfer processes for sCO2. This study is motivated by the need to understand the intricate properties of sCO2 heat transfer and fluid dynamics with an emphasis on flow direction and inclination effects. This paper presents the study on effects of gravity, buoyancy on sCO2 …

Puerto Rico's Cultural Industry (Re)Construction: A Study On Vulnerable Systems, Post-Disaster U.S. Philanthropy, And Autogestión Through Puerto Rican Artists And Cultural Managers' Perspectives, Andrea Ocasio Cruz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017, and its aftermath significantly changed the local cultural industry's funding infrastructure. Philanthropic foundations in the United States (US) have provided financial support to local artists, educators, cultural managers, and institutions after the storm for over four years. Based on semi-structured interviews with eight participants and fieldwork, this study provides insight into the colonial and neoliberal policies that progressively stripped the cultural industry's public funding infrastructure and ushered in a US-led "impromptu Institute of Culture." This study proposes that Puerto Rico's cultural industry was founded on a vulnerable system shaped by colonialism, resulting in …

Theoretical Analysis Of Charge Conduction And Rectification In Self-Assembled-Monolayers In Molecular Junctions, Francis Adoah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

As electrical devices shrink to the atomic scale, it is expected that Moore's law will soon be obsolete for semiconductor devices. In 1974, Avriam and Ratner predicted that organic devices could replace semiconductor technology, leading to extensive research on molecular-based organic devices. This dissertation delves into the theoretical frameworks used to examine the transport in molecular junctions and aims to enhance our comprehension of charge transport and conduction properties. The studies presented in this thesis illustrates that a molecule's alteration by just a single atom can change it from an insulator to a conductor, and also that, by fine-tuning the …

The Effects Of Microgravity On The Development Of Osteoporosis, Jackson Asiatico

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Previous research has identified a potential link between microgravity conditions and the onset of osteoporosis, a connection that stems from altered fluidic pathways crucial in nutrient dispersion and cell stimulation. Specifically, the absence of mechanical loading in space environments reduces fluid shear stress, thereby disrupting the normal flow of interstitial fluid in trabecular bone. This disruption greatly impacts the functionality of osteoblasts and osteoclasts, the vital cells responsible for maintaining healthy bones. The focus of this study aims to explore the impact of microgravity on bone loss in astronauts, establishing the connection between the lack of mechanical loading and the …