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 3361 - 3390 of 41677

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Attention, Working Memory, And Adaptive Functioning In Emerging Young Adults With Psychometrically-Defined Schizotypy, Parth Nakirikanti Jan 2023

Attention, Working Memory, And Adaptive Functioning In Emerging Young Adults With Psychometrically-Defined Schizotypy, Parth Nakirikanti

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Schizotypy, a complex construct linked to schizophrenia-related traits, encompasses positive, negative, and disorganized symptoms. This study offers a review of the concept of schizotypy, including its historical evolution, tracing it from Bleuler's early mention in 1911 to Meehl's continuum model. Embracing a dimensional perspective, this research underscores the interplay of biological, psychological, and social factors in understanding schizotypy. Deficits in sustained attention and working memory within schizotypy remain underexplored, with prior studies yielding inconsistent results. Adaptive functioning deficits in individuals with schizotypy are also inadequately understood. Examining a college student population, this investigation utilized scores on the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire …


An Advocacy Resource Guide To Address The Growing Reality Of Youth Homelessness: Identifying Interventions For Education, Healthcare, And Housing In Central Florida, Venerina M. Costanza Jan 2023

An Advocacy Resource Guide To Address The Growing Reality Of Youth Homelessness: Identifying Interventions For Education, Healthcare, And Housing In Central Florida, Venerina M. Costanza

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Today, there are children sleeping under bridges with no food to eat and nowhere to go. Without our help someone's daughter will continue to cry herself to sleep as she sleeps in the woods with only a blanket, someone's son will feed himself with trash from a dumpster, someone's granddaughter sleeping under a bridge will be raped and someone's grandson will commit suicide because he lost all hope. These children need our help. (Enough is Enough, 2022). Although there are some government agencies and organizations that try to identify what can be done to help the homeless youth population, minimal …


Effect Of Estrogen On Chondrogenesis In Female Articular Chondrocytes, Ebony R. Parsons Jan 2023

Effect Of Estrogen On Chondrogenesis In Female Articular Chondrocytes, Ebony R. Parsons

Honors Undergraduate Theses

As women age and transition into menopause they face a higher risk of developing osteoarthritis leading to total joint replacements. Estrogen is the primary female reproductive hormone. As a woman approaches menopause, estrogen production decreases by 100-fold. Previous research has shown that Estrogen Replacement Therapy (ERT) reduced joint replacements in post-menopausal women. However, there is a lack of research surrounding ERT's effect on chondrocyte proliferation and extracellular matrix production, particularly 3D culture extracellular matrix production. Chondrogenesis is a process of skeletal development resulting in the formation of cartilage. Chondrocytes, derived from mesenchymal progenitors, serve as the fundamental cellular component in …


The Study Of Crisis Narratives Over Time: Mayfield, Ky In The Aftermath Of The 2021 Tornadoes, Rebecca Freihaut Jan 2023

The Study Of Crisis Narratives Over Time: Mayfield, Ky In The Aftermath Of The 2021 Tornadoes, Rebecca Freihaut

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

This study was a year-long longitudinal qualitative research project using the case study of Mayfield, KY after the catastrophic tornado event that impacted their community on December 10, 2021. Oral histories were collected from 18 participants who lived in or were closely connected to Mayfield at the six month and 1.5 year marks after the disaster. Later, after the oral histories were archived and made available to the public, the transcripts were used to extract the crisis narratives from the oral histories and the data was thematically analyzed using the existing theory and theoretical framework of Narratives of Crisis: Telling …


Revisiting The Vigilance Taxonomy: Are Findings Consistent In A Remote Environment?, Grace E. Waldfogle Jan 2023

Revisiting The Vigilance Taxonomy: Are Findings Consistent In A Remote Environment?, Grace E. Waldfogle

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Previous research has highlighted key taxonomic factors that have been found to influence human performance on vigilance tasks. However, previous literature has focused on research conducted in laboratory settings but has not examined vigilance tasks in remote environments. The present dissertation addresses this gap in the literature by examining human performance on a remote vigilance task, as well as workload and stress associated with the task. Qualitative data were collected to further understand the environment and distractions that participants experienced. Across three experiments, 372 participants were asked to complete a vigilance task and answer surveys pertaining to stress, workload, and …


Preparing College Students With Adhd For Online Job Interviews: Self-Regulation & Psychophysiology, Tahnee L. Wilder Jan 2023

Preparing College Students With Adhd For Online Job Interviews: Self-Regulation & Psychophysiology, Tahnee L. Wilder

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

This dissertation investigates the complex dynamics of digital communication, highlights the unique stressors it places on college students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and advocates for adopting interdisciplinary methods to enhance their participation in online communication environments. While online interviewing has become increasingly common in the employment domain, it poses unique difficulties for individuals with ADHD, who may struggle with self-regulation and communication skills. Due to the absence of physical presence, online interviews pose a significant challenge to individuals in perceiving and responding to the nuanced range of non-verbal cues, which can greatly impact the effectiveness of their communication. To advance …


Safety Evaluation Of Active Traffic Management Strategies On Freeways By Short-Term Crash Prediction Models, Md Tarek Hasan Jan 2023

Safety Evaluation Of Active Traffic Management Strategies On Freeways By Short-Term Crash Prediction Models, Md Tarek Hasan

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Traditional crash frequency prediction models cannot capture the temporal effects of traffic characteristics due to the high level of data aggregation. Also, this approach is less suitable to address the crash risk for active traffic management strategies that typically operate for short-time intervals. Hence, this research proposes short-term crash prediction models for traffic management strategies such as Variable Speed Limit (VSL)/Variable Advisory Speed (VAS), and Part-time Shoulder Use (PTSU). By using high-resolution traffic detectors and VSL/VAS operational data, short-term Safety Performance Functions (SPFs) are estimated at weekday hourly and peak period aggregation levels. The results indicate that the short-term SPFs …


Adversarial Attacks, Coarse Robustness, And Dataless Neural Networks: Novel Techniques For Improved Classification And Combinatorial Optimization, Ismail Alkhouri Jan 2023

Adversarial Attacks, Coarse Robustness, And Dataless Neural Networks: Novel Techniques For Improved Classification And Combinatorial Optimization, Ismail Alkhouri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Neural networks (NN) have become a central component in most machine learning systems. However, studies have shown that these models are not robust against adversarial attacks. As such, in this dissertation, we explore four directions. In the first direction, we investigate adversarial attacks on two hierarchical classification (HC) models: the Flat HC (FHC), and the Top-Down HC (TDHC). In particular, we formulate attacks against these models by using convex programming. Through experimental results, it is shown that FHCs are more robust than TDHCs. Second, we formalize a new notion of coarse robustness that is defined with respect to a specified …


Bench- And Pilot-Scale Corrosion Control Inhibitor Effectiveness Studies For A Community's Blended Surficial And Brackish Groundwater Supply, Paula Campesino Jan 2023

Bench- And Pilot-Scale Corrosion Control Inhibitor Effectiveness Studies For A Community's Blended Surficial And Brackish Groundwater Supply, Paula Campesino

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The United States Environmental Protection Agency regulates the lead and copper content of a public water system's finished water at the consumer's tap, through the Safe Drinking Water Act's Lead and Copper Rule (LCR), promulgated in 1991. This rule was recently changed through the LCR Revisions (LCRR), that took effect in 2021. The more stringent requirements of the LCRR motivated the City of Sarasota, Florida (City), to work with the University of Central Florida (UCF) on a study of the municipality's finished water corrosivity. Initially, this evaluation investigated the City's existing finished water corrosivity using linear polarization resistance (LPR) measurements …


The Development Of Computational Models For Melting-Solidification Applications Using The Volume-Of-Fluid Method, Brendon Cavainolo Jan 2023

The Development Of Computational Models For Melting-Solidification Applications Using The Volume-Of-Fluid Method, Brendon Cavainolo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Fluids-related issues in the Aerospace industry are often multiphase in scope. Numerical modeling, such as computational fluid dynamics, is used to describe these problems, as they are difficult or impossible to describe analytically. This research uses computational fluid dynamics to describe multiphase problems related to melting-solidification and particle impingement. Firstly, a numerical model was established that uses the Volume-of-Fluid method to resolve a melting/solidifying particle. This model was verified against experiments and simplified analytical models, and a mesh independence study was done to ensure the results were independent of the mesh sizing. Next, the model was applied to two separate …


A Spatiotemporal Examination Of Crime Site Selection For Commercial Burglary And Street Robbery, Devin Cowan Jan 2023

A Spatiotemporal Examination Of Crime Site Selection For Commercial Burglary And Street Robbery, Devin Cowan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The overall goal of this dissertation is to examine how the built and natural environment influences how potential criminals identify crime sites to offend within. Guided by the theoretical principles of crime site selection and crime pattern theory, this study specifically focuses on the crimes of street robbery and commercial burglary in three unique study locations—Atlanta, GA, Fayetteville, NC, and Rochester, NY. The data for this study were collected from multiple publicly available data repositories. Of these repositories, criminal incident data for the dependent variables were gathered from the National Policing Institute's Police Data Initiative. Data for the independent variables, …


Social Equity Through Vaccinations During Covid-19: A Study Of Equitable Utilization Of Resources During Emergencies And Crises, Rebecca Entress Jan 2023

Social Equity Through Vaccinations During Covid-19: A Study Of Equitable Utilization Of Resources During Emergencies And Crises, Rebecca Entress

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Governments provide resources that enable people and neighborhoods to return to normalcy after emergencies, which enhances community resilience. Past research found that such resources are not always equitably utilized by communities, where oftentimes communities with high social vulnerability receive fewer resources. COVID-19 was one of the largest and most widespread public health emergencies. In response to the emergency, the United States (U.S.) government sponsored the creation and administration of COVID-19 vaccines. COVID-19 vaccines reduce the probability of severe illness and death, making them an important resource for community resilience. This study uses an explanatory sequential mixed methods research design to …


Understanding, Modeling, And Simulating The Discrepancy Between Intended And Perceived Image Appearance On Optical See-Through Augmented Reality Displays, Austin Erickson Jan 2023

Understanding, Modeling, And Simulating The Discrepancy Between Intended And Perceived Image Appearance On Optical See-Through Augmented Reality Displays, Austin Erickson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Augmented reality (AR) displays are transitioning from being primarily used in research and development settings, to being used by the general public. With this transition, these displays will be used by more people, in many different environments, and in many different contexts. Like other displays, the user's perception of virtual imagery is influenced by the characteristics of the user's environment, creating a discrepancy between the intended appearance and the perceived appearance of virtual imagery shown on the display. However, this problem is much more apparent for optical see-through AR displays, such as the HoloLens. For these displays, imagery is superimposed …


Leadership Efficacy: A Study Of The Relationship Between Leadership Efficacy, Teacher Perception And Teacher Retention, Rachel Hazel Jan 2023

Leadership Efficacy: A Study Of The Relationship Between Leadership Efficacy, Teacher Perception And Teacher Retention, Rachel Hazel

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Leadership self-efficacy is an important quality for school principals. In his work, Hattie has stated, "How we think about the impact of what we do is more important than focusing on what we do (Hattie, 2020)." Leadership efficacy, theories of action, and how leaders ensure their actions are aligned with their goals is more important than ever as educators face challenges with teacher shortages and leading in a tumultuous time. Teacher recruitment and retention is a worldwide problem. Teachers are leaving the field. While teachers do not have to validate the beliefs of their leaders, they must carry out the …


High-Dynamic-Range And High-Efficiency Near-Eye Display Systems, En-Lin Hsiang Jan 2023

High-Dynamic-Range And High-Efficiency Near-Eye Display Systems, En-Lin Hsiang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Near-eye display systems, which project digital information directly into the human visual system, are expected to revolutionize the interface between digital information and physical world. However, the image quality of most near-eye displays is still far inferior to that of direct-view displays. Both light engine and imaging optics of near-eye display systems play important roles to the degraded image quality. In addition, near-eye displays also suffer from a relatively low optical efficiency, which severely limits the device operation time. Such an efficiency loss originates from both light engines and projection processes. This dissertation is devoted to addressing these two critical …


The Impact Of Competency Based Education On Educational Equity, Ndifor Manjong Jan 2023

The Impact Of Competency Based Education On Educational Equity, Ndifor Manjong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

For centuries, minority groups, students from low socio-economic background, and girls in public schools especially K-12 educational institutions in the United States have experienced prejudice, injustice, and bigotry. Unfortunately, the conventional approach of education, based on a one-size-fits-all approach, has failed to deal with these obstacles. In the past decades, however, there has been an increasing demand for the adoption of the Competency-Based system of education, a personalized learning approach that focuses on the acquisition of concrete skills rather than abstract knowledge. In a Competency-Based model, students advance based on the demonstration of mastery of knowledge and skills other than …


Stress Appraisals Of Organizational Change: The Role Of Adaptability And Communication, Wheeler Nakahara Jan 2023

Stress Appraisals Of Organizational Change: The Role Of Adaptability And Communication, Wheeler Nakahara

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This two-part study used a field study and experimental vignette design to investigate predictors (extent of change, adaptability, and communication) of threat, hindrance, and challenge appraisals of change. The field study also examined employee well-being, job attitudes, and behaviors as outcomes of these appraisals. Drawing from stress appraisal theory, the primary goal of the study was to add to our knowledge of how personal characteristics and contextual factors relate to positive and negative appraisals of change and how those appraisals manifest in employee related outcomes. I hypothesized that adaptability and high-quality communication would function as resources that promote positive appraisals, …


Interorganizational Networks And Coordination In Emergency Management: Policy And Practice In Response To Disasters, Ratna Okhai Jan 2023

Interorganizational Networks And Coordination In Emergency Management: Policy And Practice In Response To Disasters, Ratna Okhai

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

As a quintessential role of government, emergency and crisis management requires coordination between levels of government and private and nonprofit sector organizations. Hurricane Irma in 2017 was used as the context in examining interorganizational network effectiveness. Effective and efficient policy implementation and service delivery can be key indicators of collaborative networks; however, it was equally important to understand what factors determine the effectiveness of those collaborative networks. Using network theory and network governance as the theoretical foundations, this study measured and compared the designed versus implemented networks during disaster response. The guiding research for this study was: What factors facilitate …


Neural Dynamics Of Categorical Representations Used For Visual Search, Ashley Phelps Jan 2023

Neural Dynamics Of Categorical Representations Used For Visual Search, Ashley Phelps

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Decades of visual attention research have predominantly used pictorial search paradigms that cue participants with the exact perceptual details of the target. However, in everyday life, people often search for categories rather than specific items (i.e., any pen rather than a specific pen). To study visual attention in a more realistic context, researchers can use categorical search paradigms that cue participants with text indicating the target category. In these instances, one must rely on long-term memory to retrieve categorical features of the target. Both experiments in this study were a reanalysis of experiments previously designed and collected by Schmidt and …


A Framework To Define And Quantify Leadership Styles Within Navy Engineering Units, Megan Praschak Jan 2023

A Framework To Define And Quantify Leadership Styles Within Navy Engineering Units, Megan Praschak

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This study aimed to develop a framework for the U.S. Navy's leadership styles by assessing self-perceived leadership styles in a sample of reserve Engineering Duty Officers (EDOs) and the Senior Enlisted Leaders (SELs) in these technical units. Transformational and transactional leadership styles were examined using the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) Form (Avolio & Bass, 2004), while the servant leadership style was analyzed using the Servant Leadership Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SLSQ) (Sandling, 2021). The effect of rank and the triad leadership position on leadership style was explored in this study. The survey was made available to all EDOs and SELs (n = …


Design And Control Of A Dual Active Bridge Converter For Electric Vehicle (Ev) And Photovoltaic (Pv) Applications, Md Safayatullah Jan 2023

Design And Control Of A Dual Active Bridge Converter For Electric Vehicle (Ev) And Photovoltaic (Pv) Applications, Md Safayatullah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

With the growing concerns of climate change due to fossil fuel-based electricity generation, solar integration to the grid is swiftly increasing. However, the intermittency of solar power is a major obstacle to harness it efficiently. Energy storage system (ESS) with its declining price over the last few years is a viable solution to address this issue. Another source of greenhouse gas emission is fossil fuel-based transportation system which is likely to be replaced by electric vehicles (EVs) in near future. To match the driving range of EVs with the internal combustion engine-based vehicle, fast and extreme fast charging infrastructure in …


An Examination Of A Decade Of K-5 Mathematics Standards In The United States, Ashley Schmidt Jan 2023

An Examination Of A Decade Of K-5 Mathematics Standards In The United States, Ashley Schmidt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This qualitative content analysis research study examined changes made to K-5 state mathematics standards across the United States from 2012 to 2022. This study aimed to answer the research question: In what ways, if any, do K-5 state mathematics standards differ from the CCSSM? This was accomplished through four additional sub questions which include: (1) In what ways, if any, do K-5 state mathematics student process and practice standards differ from the CCSSM? (2) In what ways, if any, do K-5 state mathematics standards content domains differ from the CCSSM? (3) In what ways, if any, do states describe how …


How Parents Perceive School Readiness, Jody Silvester Jan 2023

How Parents Perceive School Readiness, Jody Silvester

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The purpose of this study was to explore parents' perceptions of children entering kindergarten and their understanding of school readiness. In this collective case study, drawing on parent interviews and artifact sampling and guided by discourse analysis (Gee, 2015), I employed Saldaña's (2021) cycle coding methods to explore the themes of what parents perceive and co-construct as 'school readiness'. Data collected for this study includes video recorded interviews of four participants as well as artifacts of their child(ren)'s classroom assessments, parent-teacher conference forms and packets, and a checklist shared by the parents. The findings of the study showed parents' perception …


Leveraging Signal Transfer Characteristics And Parasitics Of Spintronic Circuits For Area And Energy-Optimized Hybrid Digital And Analog Arithmetic, Adrian Tatulian Jan 2023

Leveraging Signal Transfer Characteristics And Parasitics Of Spintronic Circuits For Area And Energy-Optimized Hybrid Digital And Analog Arithmetic, Adrian Tatulian

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

While Internet of Things (IoT) sensors offer numerous benefits in diverse applications, they are limited by stringent constraints in energy, processing area and memory. These constraints are especially challenging within applications such as Compressive Sensing (CS) and Machine Learning (ML) via Deep Neural Networks (DNNs), which require dot product computations on large data sets. A solution to these challenges has been offered by the development of crossbar array architectures, enabled by recent advances in spintronic devices such as Magnetic Tunnel Junctions (MTJs). Crossbar arrays offer a compact, low-energy and in-memory approach to dot product computation in the analog domain by …


Determining The Influence Of Kids Building For Kids Workshops On Attitudes And Beliefs Of General Education Middle School Teachers Toward Students With Disabilities, Jennifer Tucker Jan 2023

Determining The Influence Of Kids Building For Kids Workshops On Attitudes And Beliefs Of General Education Middle School Teachers Toward Students With Disabilities, Jennifer Tucker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Children with disabilities experience barriers to meaningful engagement in science, technology, mathematics, and engineering (STEM) learning activities and course options. While inclusion is widely professed, general education teachers report being uncomfortable in adapting coursework or including children with disabilities. However, informal professional development opportunities could potentially impact general education teachers' attitudes and dispositions towards including children with disabilities. The UCF Go Baby Go Kids Building for Kids workshops offers a one-time informal professional development experience that incorporates STEM content along with concepts of disability awareness and social justice. Little to no research exists on the impact of this type of …


An Exploration Of The Experiences Of Middle Manager Housing And Residence Life Professionals In Attending Housing Professional Development Conferences, Marcus Silver Jan 2023

An Exploration Of The Experiences Of Middle Manager Housing And Residence Life Professionals In Attending Housing Professional Development Conferences, Marcus Silver

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how middle-manager housing and residence life professionals apply what they learn from attending a housing professional development conference. This study was guided by Biggs's (2003) framework, theory of constructive alignment, focused on intended learning outcomes used to create what students need to learn, followed by how they are assessed. This qualitative study used 10 in-depth semistructured interviews with middle-manager housing and residence life professionals working at a 4-year institution in the United States. Three research questions drove this study: (a) how do middle-manager housing and residence life professionals describe their learning …


High School Transition Clubs: Teacher Experiences Leading Clubs, Phillip Sasse Jan 2023

High School Transition Clubs: Teacher Experiences Leading Clubs, Phillip Sasse

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This phenomenological study was conducted to understand high school teachers' use of transition clubs to support student self-determination goals and student participation in community activities. A Qualtrics survey was administered to 51 clubs, with responses from 13 teachers. Survey results indicated club directors were most proud of the career exploration focus and club activities, which gave the students in the clubs new experiences and helped lead the students to positive outcomes. Five teachers agreed to meet for Zoom interviews about their experiences leading their College and Career Transition (CCT) Club. Responses were transcribed and analyzed using Colaizzi's (1978) method of …


An Exploration Of K-8 Classroom-Based Mathematics Teacher Leader Development, Treshonda Rutledge Jan 2023

An Exploration Of K-8 Classroom-Based Mathematics Teacher Leader Development, Treshonda Rutledge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This study investigated classroom-based mathematics teacher leader (CBMTL) development through analysis of interview and focus group transcripts, results from a Mathematics Teacher Leadership Experiences survey, application materials, and an evaluation report for an equity-focused, research-to-practice doctoral program centered on developing CBMTLs. A multiple case study was conducted to interpret and understand how K-8 mathematics teachers identified and described ways in which their participation in the program developed them as CBMTLs. Findings suggest that mathematics teachers develop as mathematics teacher leaders in stages and highlight the effectiveness of the research-to-practice partnership model as an impactful pathway for developing CBMTLs. Themes from …


Examining Direct Load Control Within Demand Response Programs, Maria Bonina Zimath Jan 2023

Examining Direct Load Control Within Demand Response Programs, Maria Bonina Zimath

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The power system is a complex entity with unique plant designs, control systems, and market strategies. For many years, engineers have developed advanced technology to keep the grid efficient and balanced. With the rise of renewable sources, some new technology and programs must be developed to keep the quality of the power system. Unlike traditional power plants, renewable energy is highly dependent on environmental factors, such as sunlight and wind, meaning the generation depends on an unpredictable source of fuel. As the grid moves to more sustainable sources, the power market faces a growing challenge of less control over the …


Biomarker Identification For Breast Cancer Types Using Feature Selection And Explainable Ai Methods, David E. La Rosa Giraud Jan 2023

Biomarker Identification For Breast Cancer Types Using Feature Selection And Explainable Ai Methods, David E. La Rosa Giraud

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This paper investigates the impact the LASSO, mRMR, SHAP, and Reinforcement Feature Selection techniques on random forest models for the breast cancer subtypes markers ER, HER2, PR, and TN as well as identifying a small subset of biomarkers that could potentially cause the disease and explain them using explainable AI techniques. This is important because in areas such as healthcare understanding why the model makes a specific decision is important it is a diagnostic of an individual which requires reliable AI. Another contribution is using feature selection methods to identify a small subset of biomarkers capable of predicting if a …