Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring How Reflective Exercises Affect First-Year Engineering Epistemological And Intelligence Beliefs, Amber J. Kemppainen

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This work explores the effects of the implementation of a KWL reflective learning exercise on first-year engineering students’ self-efficacy, intelligence beliefs (mindset), and epistemological beliefs. A sample of 428 first-year engineering students were divided into three groups: a) control, b) exposure to KWL, and c) used KWL. Significant differences were found in self-efficacy between the groups with more efficacious students being less likely to utilize the KWL activity. Seventy-seven percent of the students who used the KWL activities reported positive learning outcomes by using the KWL activity to focus their class preparation or to reflect on their learning. No significant …

Invitational Rhetoric: An Engaged Pedagogy For Technical Communication, Linford Odartey Lamptey

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Many scholars have advocated a breakdown of teachers' authority while agitating for students’ voice and freedom in the classroom. They have proposed several theories to this effect. In this paper, I reflect on how principles of invitational rhetoric, engaged pedagogy and critical pedagogy operate in teaching a technical communicating class. It is to find out how these tend to support or otherwise students’ voices, engagement and agency. To reflect, I adopted and adapted the principles of invitational rhetoric, engaged, and critical pedagogy to topics in technical communication. My reflections reveal that the successful applications of theories cannot be guaranteed. We …

Development Of Open Source Software And Hardware Tool-Chains For Novel Electronics, Shane Oberloier

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

3-D printing technologies have become widely adopted and have spurred innovation and efficiency across many markets. A large contributor to the success of 3-D printing are open source, low cost electronics. On-site circuit manufacturing, however, has not become as widely utilized as 3-D printing. This project attempts to address this problem by proposing and demonstrating an open source circuit board milling machine which is inexpensive, easily manufactured, and accurate. In three interdependent sub-projects, this thesis defines a standard method for designing open source hardware, the design of the bespoke circuit mill, and explores an application of the mill for novel …

Employing Dielectric-Based Media For Controlling Field Patterns And Wave Propagation In Advanced Electromagnetic Devices, Navid Pourramzan Gandji

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Rapid progress in developing electromagnetic devices and in governing the wave propagation during last years caused renewed interest to dielectric materials. First, engineered dielectric structures with spatial dispersion of their parameters came to replace uniform substrates in antennas and other resonance devices. Then additional boom of dielectric applications was caused by the possibility to employ dielectrics as materials of artificial media. Later, attention of researchers was attracted to properties of the media composed of dielectric resonators (DRs). Currently DRs are used to create metamaterials – the media with unprecedented properties, which cannot be found in nature. Dielectric photonic crystals and …

Offline And Online Density Estimation For Large High-Dimensional Data, Aref Majdara

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Density estimation has wide applications in machine learning and data analysis techniques including clustering, classification, multimodality analysis, bump hunting and anomaly detection. In high-dimensional space, sparsity of data in local neighborhood makes many of parametric and nonparametric density estimation methods mostly inefficient.

This work presents development of computationally efficient algorithms for high-dimensional density estimation, based on Bayesian sequential partitioning (BSP). Copula transform is used to separate the estimation of marginal and joint densities, with the purpose of reducing the computational complexity and estimation error. Using this separation, a parallel implementation of the density estimation algorithm on a 4-core CPU is …

Impact Of Inrush Currents And Geomagnetically Induced Currents On Transformer Behavior, Nishchal Sharma

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Transformers are the tie-points of electrical power systems. Their protection from power system faults and other innate issues is of prime importance. A few of the issues that are studied in this report are magnetic inrush currents, geomagnetically induced currents in power transformers and Over-excitation.

This project develops a novel way of initializing and visualizing the flux linkage in the transformer core for studies on energization inrush currents. In addition, a quasi-DC source for GIC has been developed in order to study the GIC effects on power transformers and a sensitivity analysis has been carried out to understand effects of …

Investigation Of Mechanical, Electrical, And Thermal Properties Of Particulate/Fiber/Polymer Composites, Julie Tomasi

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Composites have many applications due to their high strength to weight ratio, chemical resistance, and the ability to tune properties like electrical resistivity (ER). In this work, polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and cycloaliphatic epoxy (CE) composites with different fillers were studied. PEEK composites contained up to 10 wt% Akzo Nobel Ketjenblack carbon black (CB), up to 15 wt% Asbury Carbons TC307 graphene nanoplatelets (GNP), up to 30 wt% Solvay carbon fiber (CF), and combinations of the three carbons. Formulations were developed for electrostatic dissipative and electrically conductive applications. The most conductive formulation was 7.5 wt% CB/30 wt% CF/PEEK, which had an electrical …

Intelligent And Secure Underwater Acoustic Communication Networks, Chaofeng Wang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Underwater acoustic (UWA) communication networks are promising techniques for medium- to long-range wireless information transfer in aquatic applications. The harsh and dynamic water environment poses grand challenges to the design of UWA networks. This dissertation leverages the advances in machine learning and signal processing to develop intelligent and secure UWA communication networks. Three research topics are studied: 1) reinforcement learning (RL)-based adaptive transmission in UWA channels; 2) reinforcement learning-based adaptive trajectory planning for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) in under-ice environments; 3) signal alignment to secure underwater coordinated multipoint (CoMP) transmissions.

First, a RL-based algorithm is developed for adaptive transmission in …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Current Atmospheric Refraction Models In Predicting Sunrise And Sunset Times, Teresa Wilson

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The standard value for atmospheric refraction on the horizon of 34', used in all publicly available sunrise and sunset calculators, is found to be inadequate. The assumptions behind atmospheric models that predict this value fail to account for real meteorological conditions. The result is an uncertainty of one to five minutes in sunrise and sunset predictions at mid-latitudes (0° - 55° N/S). A sunrise/set calculator that interchanges the refraction component by varying the refraction model was developed. Two atmospheric refraction models of increasing complexity were tested along with the standard value. The predictions were compared with data sets of observed …

Studying Mass And Mechanical Property Changes During The Degradation Of A Bioadhesive With Mass Tracking, Rheology And Magnetoelastic (Me) Sensors, Zhongtian Zhang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

In this research, the degradable polymer 4-arm poly (ethylene glycol)-glutaric acid-dopamine (PEG-GA-DM₄) was synthesized. The degradation behavior of crosslinked PEG-GA-DM₄ bioadhesive was studied with mass tracking, oscillatory rheology, and magnetoelastic (ME) sensors. Changes in mechanical properties were correlated with both dry mass and wet mass changes during the degradation. The results indicate that the loss of mechanical property in the bioadhesive can take place without losing the dry mass. The mass loss profile cannot describe the degradation behavior completely. In addition to studying the degradation of PEG-GA-DM₄, this research also confirms the application of ME …

Controlling Light With Metadevices, Xu Zhang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The development of metamaterials provides a new way to manipulate electromagnetic waves by sub-wavelength artificial structures, and hence brings new properties and functionalities that cannot be found with conventional materials. This leads to the possibility of previously unthought-of applications, including perfect lenses, invisibility cloaks, and perfect absorbers. However, several critical challenges need to be addressed before transiting from intriguing scientific findings to real-world usable devices.

This dissertation deals with two challenges regarding the practical use of metamaterials. Firstly, fabrication of truly three-dimensional (3D) and large-scale metamaterials is needed to increase the degrees of freedom of the functionality for device level …

Experimental Investigation Of Impinged Droplet Dynamics, Nitisha Ahuja

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The fuel spray wall interaction phenomenon plays an essential role in determining the emissions and performance of an internal combustion engine. The investigation of single droplet wall interaction is crucial to understanding of a spray wall impingement process. This report is a compilation of the experimental work done to understand the droplet impingement characteristics, through optical diagnostics and temperature measurement. Different fuels and different surface under ambient and elevated temperature conditions are used for these tests, with two objectives: Development of a common depositionsplashing criteria; and Understanding droplet post impingement dynamics variation with factors like: Weber number (ratio of inertia …

Application Of Remote Sensing And Machine Learning Modeling To Post-Wildfire Debris Flow Risks, Priscilla Addison

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Historically, post-fire debris flows (DFs) have been mostly more deadly than the fires that preceded them. Fires can transform a location that had no history of DFs to one that is primed for it. Studies have found that the higher the severity of the fire, the higher the probability of DF occurrence. Due to high fatalities associated with these events, several statistical models have been developed for use as emergency decision support tools. These previous models used linear modeling approaches that produced subpar results. Our study therefore investigated the application of nonlinear machine learning modeling as an alternative. Existing models …

Algorithms For Reconstruction Of Gene Regulatory Networks From High -Throughput Gene Expression Data, Wenping Deng

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Understanding gene interactions in complex living systems is one of the central tasks in system biology. With the availability of microarray and RNA-Seq technologies, a multitude of gene expression datasets has been generated towards novel biological knowledge discovery through statistical analysis and reconstruction of gene regulatory networks (GRN). Reconstruction of GRNs can reveal the interrelationships among genes and identify the hierarchies of genes and hubs in networks. The new algorithms I developed in this dissertation are specifically focused on the reconstruction of GRNs with increased accuracy from microarray and RNA-Seq high-throughput gene expression data sets.

The first algorithm (Chapter 2) …

Target Detection, Tracking, And Localization Using Multi-Spectral Image Fusion And Rf Doppler Differentials, Casey D. Demars

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

It is critical for defense and security applications to have a high probability of detection and low false alarm rate while operating over a wide variety of conditions. Sensor fusion, which is the the process of combining data from two or more sensors, has been utilized to improve the performance of a system by exploiting the strengths of each sensor. This dissertation presents algorithms to fuse multi-sensor data that improves system performance by increasing detection rates, lowering false alarms, and improving track performance. Furthermore, this dissertation presents a framework for comparing algorithm error for image registration which is a critical …

A Student-Centered Learning Approach To Design For Manufacturability: Meeting The Needs Of An Often- Forgotten Customer, Jay R. Goldberg, David Rank

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

A hands-on learning module was implemented at Marquette University in 2012 to teach biomedical engineering students about basic manufacturing processes, lean manufacturing principles, and design for manufacturability. It incorporates active and student-centered learning as part of in-class assembly line simulations. Since then, it has evolved from three class periods to five. The module begins with two classroom presentations on manufacturing operations and electronics design, assembly, and testing. Students then participate in an in-class assembly line simulation exercise where they build and test an actual product per written work instructions. They reflect on this experience and suggest design and process changes …

Use Of A Dynamic Balance System To Quantify Postural Steadiness And Stability Of Individuals With Lower-Limb Amputation: A Pilot Study, M. Barbara Silver-Thorn Phd, Joel Kempfer, Alyssa J. Schnorenberg, Brooke Slavens

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Introduction Despite rehabilitation and gait training, the gait of individuals with lower-limb amputation is often asymmetric and falls and/or fear of falling are common. Clinical assessments of balance and stability include the Berg BalanceScale and the Dynamic Gait Index. Biomechanical assessments, conducted largely in research laboratories, are more objective, quantitative, and may provide greater resolution. These biomechanical measures include postural sway during both unilateral and bilateral standing tasks and the dynamic postural response to applied or volitional perturbations. The objective of this study was to investigate the utility of a dynamic balance system, a relatively new clinical tool incorporating dual …

Real Time Evaluation Of Tissue Optical Properties During Thermal Ablation Of Ex Vivo Liver Tissues, Vivek K. Nagarajan, Venkateswara R. Gogineni, Sarah B. White, Bing Yu

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Complete ablation of liver tumors is vital for minimizing the risk of local tumor recurrence. Accurately identifying the hallmarks of tissue necrosis during thermal ablative therapies may significantly increase the efficacy of ablation, while minimizing unnecessary damage to the surrounding normal tissues or critical structures. Light propagation in biological tissues is sensitive to the tissue microstructure and chromophore concentrations. In our previous studies, we found that the wavelength (λ) averaged liver tissue absorption coefficient μ_a and reduced scattering coefficient μ_s’ change significantly upon heating which may be used for assessment of tissue damage during thermal …

Affective Risk Perception In Automotive Environments, Dane Atkins

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Traversing the automotive environment exposes drivers to a risk of property damage, injury, and death. This risk varies across the road network. This research questions whether drivers are capable of accurately perceiving their own exposure to risk in this environment. Analysis begins with an assessment of risk exposure at roadway intersections (as measured in terms of crash frequency, severity, and mixed-weighting methods). This assessment provides risk indices for a cross-section of road intersections across an urban Iowa community. These indices are then used in the development of an experimental visual cognition survey used to record risk perceptions of roadway sites …

Characterization Of Recombinant Glycogen Debranching Enzyme From Corynebacterium Glutamicum And Application For Resistant Starch Production, Chay Sirirattanachatchawan

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Glycogen debranching enzyme (EC 2.4.1.25/EC 3.2.1.33) catalyzes a hydrolysis of α-1,6 glycosidic bond and a transfer α-1,4 glucan from donor molecules to acceptor molecules. The objectives of this research are to characterize a glycogen debranching enzyme from Corynebacterium glutamicum (CgGDE) and optimize resistant starch (RS) type 3 production using recombinant CgGDE. Recombinant CgGDE was expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) and successfully purified by DEAE FFTM column. The calculated molecular weight of CgGDE was approximately 95 kDa and the protein existed as a trimer as analyzed by size exclusion chromatography. CgGDE showed the highest activity on amylopectin followed by glycogen, …

Image Super-Resolution Technique Using Deep Inception Based Residual Networks, Wazir Muhammad

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

Recently, deep Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN) have achieved exceptional performance over the past few years, in the area of image processing and computer vision task, especially on single image super-resolution (SISR). It is an immensely challenging task and has multiple practical applications, such as medical image processing, satellite imaging, facial image enhancement, and compressed image improvement. However, the majority of the existing image super-resolution CNN-based methods have been developed by stacking an innumerable number of layers and blindly increasing the size of the network architecture. Conversely, this leads to an increase in the model sizes and higher computational complexities. Furthermore, …

ผลของสารลดแรงตึงผิวต่อการเตรียมตัวเร่งปฏิกิริยา Ptco/C สําหรับปฏิกิริยารีดักชันของออกซิเจน ในเซลล์เชื้อเพลิงพีอีเอ็ม, ปาณิศา ปราบ ณ ศักดิ์

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

งานวิจัยนี้ศึกษาผลของสารลดแรงตึงผิวที่มีต่อตัวเร่งปฏิกิริยา PtCo/C สำหรับปฏิกิริยารีดักชันของออกซิเจนในเซลล์เชื้อเพลิงพีอีเอ็ม ซึ่งสารลดแรงตึงผิวที่ใช้ในการทดลองประกอบด้วย สารลดแรงตึงผิวชนิดประจุบวก (CTAB), ชนิดประจุลบ (SDS), และชนิดไม่มีประจุ (Triton X-100) โดยทำการเตรียมตัวเร่งปฏิกิริยา PtCo/C ร้อยละ 20 โดยน้ำหนัก ผลการทดลองพบว่าตัวเร่งปฏิกิริยาที่ใช้ CTAB ความเข้มข้น 0.004 โมลต่อลิตร ให้พื้นที่ผิวในการเกิดปฏิกิริยาเคมีไฟฟ้าสูงที่สุด นอกจากนี้การปรับปรุงตัวเร่งปฏิกิริยาด้วยความร้อนที่อุณหภูมิ 600 องศาเซลเซียส สามารถเพิ่มพื้นที่ผิวในการเกิดปฏิกิริยาและช่วยลดขนาดอนุภาคของตัวเร่งปฏิกิริยาลงได้ เนื่องจากการปรับปรุงด้วยความร้อนจะกำจัดสารลดแรงตึงผิวที่บดบังบริเวณการเกิดปฏิกิริยา การศึกษาเสถียรภาพของตัวเร่งปฏิกิริยาในสารละลายกรดซัลฟิวริกที่อิ่มตัวด้วยไนโตรเจน ความเข้มข้น 0.5 โมลต่อลิตร พบว่า CTAB ความเข้มข้น 0.004 โมลต่อลิตร มีเสถียรภาพสูงที่สุด รองลงมาเป็น Triton X-100 และ SDS ตามลำดับ ซึ่งเป็นผลมาจากปริมาณพื้นที่ผิวในการเกิดปฏิกิริยาของตัวเร่งปฏิกิริยา ส่วนของการทดสอบกัมมันตภาพสำหรับปฏิกิริยารีดักชันของออกซิเจนในสารละลายกรดที่อิ่มตัวด้วยออกซิเจนและเซลล์เชื้อเพลิงพีอีเอ็มแบบเซลล์เดี่ยวภายใต้ภาวะไฮโดรเจน/ออกซิเจน ที่อุณหภูมิ 60 องศาเซลเซียส ความดันบรรยากาศ พบว่า Triton X-100 ความเข้มข้น 0.001 โมลต่อลิตร ให้กัมมันตภาพในสารละลายกรดและเซลล์เชื้อเพลิงพีอีเอ็มแบบเซลล์เดี่ยวสูงที่สุด

การพัฒนายุทธศาสตร์การจัดการศึกษาตลอดชีวิตเพื่อส่งเสริมการรู้วิทยาศาสตร์สำหรับพลเมืองของเยาวชนไทย, กรรณิการณ์ เฉิน

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

งานวิจัยนี้มีวัตถุประสงค์เพื่อ 1)สร้างภาพอนาคตของการจัดการศึกษาตลอดชีวิตเพื่อส่งเสริมการรู้วิทยาศาสตร์สำหรับเยาวชนไทย 2) เพื่อพัฒนายุทธศาสตร์การจัดการศึกษาตลอดชีวิตเพื่อส่งเสริมการรู้วิทยาศาสตร์ของเยาวชนไทย ในช่วงระยะเวลา 10 ปีข้างหน้า คือระหว่างปี พศ. 2565-2574 โดยมีกลุ่มเป้าหมายคือเยาวชนอายุระหว่าง 15-24 ปี ทั้งที่อยู่ในการศึกษาในระบบและการศึกษานอกระบบ โดยมีขั้นตอนวิจัย 4 ขั้นตอนคือ 1) การศึกษาแนวคิดและรูปแบบการจัดการศึกษาตลอดชีวิตเพื่อส่งเสริมการรู้วิทยาศาสตร์ของประเทศต่างๆ 2) การศึกษาสภาพการเรียนรู้ตลอดชีวิตด้านวิทยาศาสตร์ และการรู้วิทยาศาสตร์ (Science Literacy) ของเยาวชนในสังคมไทย 3) การจัดทำภาพอนาคตการพัฒนาการศึกษาตลอดชีวิตเพื่อส่งเสริมการรู้วิทยาศาสตร์ (scenario) ด้วยเทคนิควงล้ออนาคต (future wheel) 4)การจัดทำยุทธศาสตร์การจัดการศึกษาตลอดชีวิตเพื่อส่งเสริมการรู้วิทยาศาสตร์เพื่อใช้เป็นข้อเสนอแนะเชิงนโยบายเพื่อใช้ประโยชน์ในหน่วยงานที่เกี่ยวข้องต่อไป ผลการวิจัยพบว่า ได้ภาพอนาคตที่เป็นไปได้สองภาพประกอบด้วย ภาพที่ 1 “สังคมแสนรู้" วิสัยทัศน์ของยุทธศาสตร์ได้แก่ : สังคมที่การจัดการศึกษาและการสร้างองค์ความรู้ใหม่อยู่ในมือของภาคประชาชน หรือชุมชน ซึ่งแรงจูงใจในการเรียนรู้เป็นไปเพื่อการสร้างงาน สร้างอาชีพและเพื่อสรรค์สร้างชุมชนให้เข้มแข็งและเติบโต และมีความสามารถในการเท่าทันสังคมโลก มียุทธศาสตร์ 4 ด้านคือ 1.ส่งเสริมกิจกรรมแบ่งปันความรู้ด้านวิทยาศาสตร์ เทคโนโลยีและนวตกรรมผ่านพื้นที่แลกเปลี่ยนเรียนรู้เพื่อสร้างทักษะและทัศนคติในการพัฒนาองค์ความรู้ใหม่ 2.ส่งเสริมการจัดการศึกษาที่ฝึกกระบวนการแก้ปัญหาและหาคำตอบด้วยการใช้กระบวนการทางวิทยาศาสตร์ 3.พัฒนาระบบฐานข้อมูล วิทยาศาสตร์ เทคโนโลยี และสิ่งแวดล้อมที่ส่งเสริมการเรียนรู้รายบุคคลให้เกิดการเรียนรู้ได้ทุกที่ทุกเวลา ในทุกสาระความรู้ 4.ส่งเสริมการมีส่วนร่วมด้านนโยบายและจริยธรรมวิทยาศาสตร์แก่เยาวชนเพื่อให้เกิดการใช้ความรู้ด้านวิทยาศาสตร์ในชีวิตและสังคม ภาพอนาคตที่ 2 คือ “สังคมสูงวัย อุ่นใจไปด้วยกัน" วิสัยทัศน์ของยุทธศาสตร์คือ : สังคมที่ผู้สูงวัยและเยาวชนอยู่ร่วมกันอย่างเข้าใจ มีความสุข สามารถดูแลซึ่งกันและกันตามศักยภาพของตน รวมทั้งช่วยกันดูแลตนเองและสิ่งแวดล้อมเพื่อให้ทุกคนมีคุณภาพชีวิตที่ดี มีความเท่าทันและยั่งยืน มียุทธศาสตร์ 4 ด้านได้แก่ 1.การจัดการองค์ความรู้ด้านวิทยาศาสตร์สุขภาพและสิ่งแวดล้อมเพื่อรองรับสังคมสูงวัยและสังคมยั่งยืน 2.ส่งเสริมบุคลากรสูงวัยให้เป็นผู้ถ่ายทอดความรู้และภูมิปัญญาด้านวิทยาศาสตร์ เทคโนโลยี และสิ่งแวดล้อม รวมทั้งสุขภาพ สู่ชุมชนและเยาวชน 3.ส่งเสริมการสร้างนวัตกรรมและอาชีพใหม่โดยเยาวชนและผู้สูงวัย เพื่อรองรับสังคมสูงวัยและสังคมยั่งยืน 4.ขยายพื้นที่กิจกรรมวิทยาศาสตร์ 3 วัย เพื่อสร้างโอกาสแลกเปลี่ยนความรู้และมุมมอง สร้างความเข้าใจและความสัมพันธ์อันดีระหว่างเยาวชน วัยทำงานและผู้สูงวัย

Hyperfunding: Regulating Financial Innovations, Seth C. Oranburg

Scholarly Articles

Innovations in corporate finance are driven by frustrations with present regulations and fueled by the internet and social media. Hyperfunding is one such example: Tesla paved the way for an electric vehicle revolution by preselling hundreds of thousands of its Model 3 EV direct to consumers. Unwary consumers may not have realized that they were underwriting Tesla's bold strategy to transform multiple product markets. Risks were not disclosed. Rewards proved illusory. Investors would have been entitled to disclosures and colorable claims of fraud when Tesla missed milestones and deadlines. But consumers can only get their $1000 deposit back, without interest, …

Effects Of Traffic Incidents On Adjacent Facilities And Alternative Re-Routing Strategies, Alican Karaer

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study presents an analysis of detour operations as a concept of congestion management. Since a large portion of traffic delay emanates from traffic incidents, the goal of the study was to alleviate incident-induced impacts on freeways by diverting congested traffic on to adjacent roadway facilities. To balance the demand between freeway and arterial systems, optimization was required through Integrated Corridor Management (ICM). This thesis examines the justification and optimization of dynamic traffic routing strategies.

Previous studies have justified detour operations based solely on traffic simulation results. This study quantifies the impacts from freeway incidents on a parallel arterial roadway …

Automating Ciri Ratings Of Human Rights Reports Using Gate, Joshua M. Joiner

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis involves parsing document-based reports from the United States Human Rights Reports and rating the human practices for various countries based on the CIRI (Cingranelli-Richards) Human Rights Data Project dataset. The United States Human Rights Reports are annual reports that cover internationally recognized human rights practices regarding individual, civil, political, and worker rights. Students, scholars, policymakers, and analysts used the CIRI data for practical and research purposes. CIRI analyzed the annual reports from 1981 to 2011 and then stopped releasing the dataset for any further years, but a possible reason is due to the manual process of scouring the …

A Microscopic Simulation Study Of Applications Of Signal Phasing And Timing Information In A Connected Vehicle Environment, Gwamaka Lameck Njobelo

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The connected vehicle technology presents an innovative way of sharing information between vehicles and the transportation infrastructure through wireless communications. The technology can potentially solve safety, mobility, and environmental challenges that face the transportation sector. Signal phasing and timing information is one category of information that can be broadcasted through connected vehicle technology. This thesis presents an in-depth study of possible ways signal phasing and timing information can be beneficial as far as safety and mobility are concerned. In total, three studies describing this research are outlined.

The first study presented herein focuses on data collection and calibration efforts of …

The Role Of Wave Self-Similarity In Nearshore Wave Spectra, Morgan M. Smith

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nonlinear wave-wave interactions and wave breaking contribute to nearshore wave energy dissipation. These factors can be analyzed by the principles of wave self-similarity. The equilibrium range can be shown in wind-driven wave spectra that exist in the form ( ) and However, the appropriate methods used to determine this loss of energy are controversial. This study examines an approach that reinvestigates the self-similarity principles. Wave spectra with lower peak periods are dominated by nonlinear wave-wave interactions which produce a scaling in shallow water. This thesis investigates the relative role of spectral similarity in different conditions in the nearshore region of …

Evaluation Of Traffic Incident Timeline To Quantify The Performance Of Incident Management Strategies, Henrick Joseph Haule

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Transportation agencies are introducing new strategies and techniques that will improve traffic incident management. Apart from other indicators, agencies measure the performance of the strategies by evaluating the incidents timeline. An effective strategy has to reduce the length of the incident timeline. An incident timeline comprises various stages in the incident management procedure, starting when the incident was detected, and ending when there is the recovery of normal traffic conditions. This thesis addresses three issues that are related to the traffic incident timeline and the incident management strategies.

First, co-location of responding agencies has not been investigated as other incident …

Pokémon Go As A Positive Virtual Reality Game: Promoting Cognitive, Affective, And Empathic Benefits, Rachel Carpenter

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Video game popularity and time playing in children, adolescents, and adults is steadily increasing due to heightened accessibility, advanced technological game design, and a rising sedentary lifestyle among Americans. The advent of exergames and virtual reality paradigms has led to a new wave of mobile video games that can be played anywhere, involve the combination of mobility and gaming, and may be used to improve cognition, affect, and perhaps empathy. The aim of the present study was to examine if the exergame Pokémon Go would improve visual and verbal working memory, attention, positive and negative affect, and empathy. Additionally, the …