View All Items

Title: DETECTING CURVED OBJECTS AGAINST CLUTTERED BACKGROUNDS.
Creator: Prokaj, Jan, Lobo, Niels, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Detecting curved objects against cluttered backgrounds is a hard problem in computer vision. We present new low-level and mid-level features to function in these environments. The low-level features are fast to compute, because they employ an integral image approach, which makes them especially useful in real-time applications. The mid-level features are built from low-level features, and are optimized for curved object detection. The usefulness of these features is tested by designing an...
Show moreDetecting curved objects against cluttered backgrounds is a hard problem in computer vision. We present new low-level and mid-level features to function in these environments. The low-level features are fast to compute, because they employ an integral image approach, which makes them especially useful in real-time applications. The mid-level features are built from low-level features, and are optimized for curved object detection. The usefulness of these features is tested by designing an object detection algorithm using these features. Object detection is accomplished by transforming the mid-level features into weak classifiers, which then produce a strong classifier using AdaBoost. The resulting strong classifier is then tested on the problem of detecting heads with shoulders. On a database of over 500 images of people, cropped to contain head and shoulders, and with a diverse set of backgrounds, the detection rate is 90% while the false positive rate on a database of 500 negative images is less than 2%.
Show less
Date Issued: 2008
Identifier: CFE0002102, ucf:47535
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002102

Title: USING COMPUTER SIMULATION MODELING TO EVALUATE THE BIOTERRORISMRESPONSE PLAN AT A LOCAL HOSPITAL FACILITY.
Creator: Bebber, Robert, Liberman, Aaron, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001 and the subsequent anthrax mail attack have forced health care administrators and policy makers to place a new emphasis on disaster planning at hospital facilities--specifically bioterrorism planning. Yet how does one truly "prepare" for the unpredictable? In spite of accreditation requirements, which demand hospitals put in to place preparations to deal with bioterrorism events, a recent study from the General Accounting Office (GAO) concluded...
Show moreThe terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001 and the subsequent anthrax mail attack have forced health care administrators and policy makers to place a new emphasis on disaster planning at hospital facilities--specifically bioterrorism planning. Yet how does one truly "prepare" for the unpredictable? In spite of accreditation requirements, which demand hospitals put in to place preparations to deal with bioterrorism events, a recent study from the General Accounting Office (GAO) concluded that most hospitals are still not capable of dealing with such threats (Gonzalez, 2004). This dissertation uses computer simulation modeling to test the effectiveness of bioterrorism planning at a local hospital facility in Central Florida, Winter Park Memorial Hospital. It is limited to the response plan developed by the hospital's Emergency Department. It evaluates the plan's effectiveness in dealing with an inhalational anthrax attack. Using Arena computer simulation software, and grounded within the theoretical framework of Complexity Science, we were able to test the effectiveness of the response plan in relation to Emergency Department bed capacity. Our results indicated that the response plan's flexibility was able to accommodate an increased patient load due to an attack, including an influx of the "worried well." Topics of future work and study are proposed.
Show less
Date Issued: 2007
Identifier: CFE0001712, ucf:47293
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001712

Title: A NEAT APPROACH TO GENETIC PROGRAMMING.
Creator: Rodriguez, Adelein, Wu, Annie, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The evolution of explicitly represented topologies such as graphs involves devising methods for mutating, comparing and combining structures in meaningful ways and identifying and maintaining the necessary topological diversity. Research has been conducted in the area of the evolution of trees in genetic programming and of neural networks and some of these problems have been addressed independently by the different research communities. In the domain of neural networks, NEAT (Neuroevolution...
Show moreThe evolution of explicitly represented topologies such as graphs involves devising methods for mutating, comparing and combining structures in meaningful ways and identifying and maintaining the necessary topological diversity. Research has been conducted in the area of the evolution of trees in genetic programming and of neural networks and some of these problems have been addressed independently by the different research communities. In the domain of neural networks, NEAT (Neuroevolution of Augmenting Topologies) has shown to be a successful method for evolving increasingly complex networks. This system's success is based on three interrelated elements: speciation, marking of historical information in topologies, and initializing search in a small structures search space. This provides the dynamics necessary for the exploration of diverse solution spaces at once and a way to discriminate between different structures. Although different representations have emerged in the area of genetic programming, the study of the tree representation has remained of interest in great part because of its mapping to programming languages and also because of the observed phenomenon of unnecessary code growth or bloat which hinders performance. The structural similarity between trees and neural networks poses an interesting question: Is it possible to apply the techniques from NEAT to the evolution of trees and if so, how does it affect performance and the dynamics of code growth? In this work we address these questions and present analogous techniques to those in NEAT for genetic programming.
Show less
Date Issued: 2007
Identifier: CFE0001971, ucf:47451
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001971

Title: AN INTERACTIVE FRAMEWORK FOR MESHLESS METHODS ANALYSIS IN COMPUTATIONAL MECHANICS AND THERMOFLUIDS.
Creator: Gerace, Salvadore, Kassab, Alain, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: In recent history, the area of physics-based engineering simulation has seen rapid increases in both computer workstation performance as well as common model complexity, both driven largely in part by advances in memory density and availability of clusters and multi-core processors. While the increase in computation time due to model complexity has been largely offset by the increased performance of modern workstations, the increase in model setup time due to model complexity has continued to...
Show moreIn recent history, the area of physics-based engineering simulation has seen rapid increases in both computer workstation performance as well as common model complexity, both driven largely in part by advances in memory density and availability of clusters and multi-core processors. While the increase in computation time due to model complexity has been largely offset by the increased performance of modern workstations, the increase in model setup time due to model complexity has continued to rise. As such, the major time requirement for solving an engineering model has transitioned from computation time to problem setup time. This is due to the fact that developing the required mesh for complex geometry can be an extremely complicated and time consuming task. Consequently, new solution techniques which are capable of reducing the required amount of human interaction are desirable. The subject of this thesis is the development of a novel meshless method that promises to eliminate the need for structured meshes, and thus, the need for complicated meshing procedures. Although the savings gain due to eliminating the meshing process would be more than sufficient to warrant further study, the proposed method is also capable of reducing the computation time and memory footprint compared to similar models solved using more traditional finite element, finite difference, finite volume, or boundary element methods. In particular, this thesis will outline the development of an interactive, meshless, physically accurate modeling environment that provides an extensible framework which can be applied to a multitude of governing equations encountered in computational mechanics and thermofluids. Additionally, through the development of tailored preprocessing routines, efficiency and accuracy of the proposed meshless algorithms can be tested in a more realistic and flexible environment. Examples are provided in the areas of elasticity, heat transfer and computational fluid dynamics.
Show less
Date Issued: 2007
Identifier: CFE0001913, ucf:47484
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001913

Title: VOICE TRACK COMPUTER BASED SIMULATION FOR MEDICAL TRAINING.
Creator: Makwana, Alpesh, Kincaid, J. Peter, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Varying the delivery rate of audio-based text within web-based training increases the effectiveness of the learning process and improves retention when compared with a fixed audio-based text delivery rate. To answer this question, two groups of 20 participants and one group of 10 participants were tested using the Web-based Anatomy & Physiology course modules developed by Medsn, Inc. The control group received the static speed of 128 words per minute while the experimental group received the...
Show moreVarying the delivery rate of audio-based text within web-based training increases the effectiveness of the learning process and improves retention when compared with a fixed audio-based text delivery rate. To answer this question, two groups of 20 participants and one group of 10 participants were tested using the Web-based Anatomy & Physiology course modules developed by Medsn, Inc. The control group received the static speed of 128 words per minute while the experimental group received the initial speed of 128 words per minute with the option to change the speed of the audio-based text. An additional experimental group received the initial speed of 148 words per minute also having the option to vary the speed of the audio-based text. A three way single variable Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was utilized to examine speed of voice presentation differences. The results were significant, F (2, 47) = 4.67, p=0.014, ç2 = 0.166. The mean for the control group was (M = 7.2, SD = 1.69) with the experimental groups at, (M = 8.4, SD = 1.31) and with extra groups at (M = 8.6, SD = 1.26).
Show less
Date Issued: 2005
Identifier: CFE0000639, ucf:46533
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000639

Title: OLDER ADULTS AND ONLINE SOCIAL NETWORKING: RELATING ISSUES OF ATTITUDES, EXPERTISE, AND USE.
Creator: Hernandez, Elise, Smither, Janan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The social transition to older adulthood can be challenging for elderly individuals and their families when isolation poses a threat to well-being. Technology is currently providing younger generations with an opportunity to stay in contact with social partners through the use of online social networking tools; it is unclear whether older adults are also taking advantage of this communication method. This study explored how older adults are experiencing online social networking. Specifically,...
Show moreThe social transition to older adulthood can be challenging for elderly individuals and their families when isolation poses a threat to well-being. Technology is currently providing younger generations with an opportunity to stay in contact with social partners through the use of online social networking tools; it is unclear whether older adults are also taking advantage of this communication method. This study explored how older adults are experiencing online social networking. Specifically, this research addressed how older adults' attitudes towards online social networking are related to their expertise in using computers and the internet for this purpose. A survey methodological approach was employed whereby older adults aged 65 and over were recruited from senior centers across the Central Florida area to fill out a series of questionnaires. The Computer Aversion, Attitudes, and Familiarity Index (CAAFI) was used to measure attitudes and expertise with computers. The Internet Technical Literacy and Social Awareness Scale was used to measure interest and expertise with the internet. The relationship between older adults' use of online social networking and their attitudes and expertise was also investigated. Finally, social connectedness, (measured using the Social Connectedness Scale) and subjective well-being (measured using the Satisfaction with Life Scale) were measured to explore whether older adults receive a psychosocial benefit from using online social networking. Findings showed expertise and attitudes scores were strongly correlated, and these scores were also predictive of online social networking use. The results of this study may help social service providers for elderly individuals begin to understand the many factors associated with using new forms of technology.
Show less
Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: CFH0004078, ucf:44786
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004078

Title: Stochastic-Based Computing with Emerging Spin-Based Device Technologies.
Creator: Bai, Yu, Lin, Mingjie, DeMara, Ronald, Wang, Jun, Jin, Yier, Dong, Yajie, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: In this dissertation, analog and emerging device physics is explored to provide a technology plat- form to design new bio-inspired system and novel architecture. With CMOS approaching the nano-scaling, their physics limits in feature size. Therefore, their physical device characteristics will pose severe challenges to constructing robust digital circuitry. Unlike transistor defects due to fabrication imperfection, quantum-related switching uncertainties will seriously increase their sus-...
Show moreIn this dissertation, analog and emerging device physics is explored to provide a technology plat- form to design new bio-inspired system and novel architecture. With CMOS approaching the nano-scaling, their physics limits in feature size. Therefore, their physical device characteristics will pose severe challenges to constructing robust digital circuitry. Unlike transistor defects due to fabrication imperfection, quantum-related switching uncertainties will seriously increase their sus- ceptibility to noise, thus rendering the traditional thinking and logic design techniques inadequate. Therefore, the trend of current research objectives is to create a non-Boolean high-level compu- tational model and map it directly to the unique operational properties of new, power efficient, nanoscale devices.The focus of this research is based on two-fold: 1) Investigation of the physical hysteresis switching behaviors of domain wall device. We analyze phenomenon of domain wall device and identify hys- teresis behavior with current range. We proposed the Domain-Wall-Motion-based (DWM) NCL circuit that achieves approximately 30x and 8x improvements in energy efficiency and chip layout area, respectively, over its equivalent CMOS design, while maintaining similar delay performance for a one bit full adder. 2) Investigation of the physical stochastic switching behaviors of Mag- netic Tunnel Junction (MTJ) device. With analyzing of stochastic switching behaviors of MTJ, we proposed an innovative stochastic-based architecture for implementing artificial neural network (S-ANN) with both magnetic tunneling junction (MTJ) and domain wall motion (DWM) devices, which enables efficient computing at an ultra-low voltage. For a well-known pattern recognition task, our mixed-model HSPICE simulation results have shown that a 34-neuron S-ANN imple- mentation, when compared with its deterministic-based ANN counterparts implemented with dig- ital and analog CMOS circuits, achieves more than 1.5 ? 2 orders of magnitude lower energy consumption and 2 ? 2.5 orders of magnitude less hidden layer chip area.
Show less
Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: CFE0006680, ucf:51921
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006680

Title: Investigation of a Self-powered Fontan Concept Using a Multiscale Computational Fluid-Structure Interaction Model.
Creator: Beggs, Kyle, Kassab, Alain, Steward, Robert, Mansy, Hansen, DeCampli, William, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) occurs in about 1\% (40,000) of newborn babies each year in the United States alone. About 10.9\% (960) of whom suffer from Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) - a subset of CHD where children are born with a single-ventricle (SV). A series of three surgeries are carried out to correct HLHS culminating in the Fontan procedure where venous flow returns passively to the lungs. The current configuration for the Fontan results in elevated Central Venous Pressure ...
Show moreCongenital Heart Disease (CHD) occurs in about 1\% (40,000) of newborn babies each year in the United States alone. About 10.9\% (960) of whom suffer from Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) - a subset of CHD where children are born with a single-ventricle (SV). A series of three surgeries are carried out to correct HLHS culminating in the Fontan procedure where venous flow returns passively to the lungs. The current configuration for the Fontan results in elevated Central Venous Pressure (CVP), inadequate ventricular preload, and elevated Pulmonary Vascular Resistance (PVR) leading to a barrage of disease. To alleviate these complications, a `self-powered' Fontan is suggested where an Injection Jet Shunt (IJS) emanating from the aorta is anastomosed to each pulmonary artery. The IJS attempts to reduce the central venous pressure, increase preload, and aid in pulmonary arterial growth by entraining the flow with a high energy source provided by the aorta. Previous computational studies on this concept with rigid vessel walls show mild success, but not enough to be clinically relevant. It is hypothesized that vessel wall deformation may play an important role in enhancing the jet effect to provide a larger exit area for the flow to diffuse while also being more physiologically accurate. A multiscale 0D-3D tightly coupled Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) with Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) model is developed to investigate the efficacy of the proposed `self-powered' Fontan modification. Several runs are made varying the PVR to investigate the sensitivity of IVC pressure on PVR. IVC pressure decreased by 2.41 mmHg while the rigid wall study decreased the IVC pressure by 2.88 mmHg. It is shown that IVC pressure is highly sensitive to changes in PVR and modifications to the Fontan procedure should target aiding pulmonary arterial growth as it is the main indicator of Fontan success.
Show less
Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: CFE0007311, ucf:52107
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007311

Title: Relating First-person and Third-person Vision.
Creator: Ardeshir Behrostaghi, Shervin, Borji, Ali, Shah, Mubarak, Hu, Haiyan, Atia, George, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Thanks to the availability and increasing popularity of wearable devices such as GoPro cameras, smart phones and glasses, we have access to a plethora of videos captured from the first person (egocentric) perspective. Capturing the world from the perspective of one's self, egocentric videos bear characteristics distinct from the more traditional third-person (exocentric) videos. In many computer vision tasks (e.g. identification, action recognition, face recognition, pose estimation, etc.),...
Show moreThanks to the availability and increasing popularity of wearable devices such as GoPro cameras, smart phones and glasses, we have access to a plethora of videos captured from the first person (egocentric) perspective. Capturing the world from the perspective of one's self, egocentric videos bear characteristics distinct from the more traditional third-person (exocentric) videos. In many computer vision tasks (e.g. identification, action recognition, face recognition, pose estimation, etc.), the human actors are the main focus. Hence, detecting, localizing, and recognizing the human actor is often incorporated as a vital component. In an egocentric video however, the person behind the camera is often the person of interest. This would change the nature of the task at hand, given that the camera holder is usually not visible in the content of his/her egocentric video. In other words, our knowledge about the visual appearance, pose, etc. on the egocentric camera holder is very limited, suggesting reliance on other cues in first person videos. First and third person videos have been separately studied in the past in the computer vision community. However, the relationship between first and third person vision has yet to be fully explored. Relating these two views systematically could potentially benefit many computer vision tasks and applications. This thesis studies this relationship in several aspects. We explore supervised and unsupervised approaches for relating these two views seeking different objectives such as identification, temporal alignment, and action classification. We believe that this exploration could lead to a better understanding the relationship of these two drastically different sources of information.
Show less
Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: CFE0007151, ucf:52322
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007151

Title: A quasi-experiment on the degree to which i-Ready Reading Instruction predicted Florida state assessment scores for low performing students compared to students on grade level.
Creator: Pierce, Ashley, Sivo, Stephen, Bai, Haiyan, Clark, M. H., Hopp, Carolyn, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The purpose of this study was to determine the degree to which i-Ready(&)#174; Reading Instruction (a computer adaptive testing program) predicted Florida Standards Assessment English Language Arts (FSA ELA) scores for low performing students (Level 1) compared to those who are on grade level (Level 3). Participants included students in seventh grade at a central Florida school district who participated in i-Ready(&)#174; Reading Instruction and who had previously scored a Level 1 or Level 3...
Show moreThe purpose of this study was to determine the degree to which i-Ready(&)#174; Reading Instruction (a computer adaptive testing program) predicted Florida Standards Assessment English Language Arts (FSA ELA) scores for low performing students (Level 1) compared to those who are on grade level (Level 3). Participants included students in seventh grade at a central Florida school district who participated in i-Ready(&)#174; Reading Instruction and who had previously scored a Level 1 or Level 3 on the FSA ELA. A hierarchical multiple regression was run to determine the impact of the interaction effect between prior year FSA performance level and time spent in i-Ready(&)#174; Reading Instruction, while controlling for teacher-level and other student-level variables. Regression analyses indicated that prior year FSA ELA performance level did not moderate the degree to which time spent in i-Ready(&)#174; Reading Instruction predicted FSA ELA score gains. Additionally, when the interaction term was removed from the regression, time spent in i-Ready(&)#174; Reading Instruction did not predict FSA ELA score gains.
Show less
Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: CFE0007234, ucf:52242
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007234

Title: Gradient based MRF learning for image restoration and segmentation.
Creator: Samuel, Kegan, Tappen, Marshall, Da Vitoria Lobo, Niels, Foroosh, Hassan, Li, Xin, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The undirected graphical model or Markov Random Field (MRF) is one of the more popular models used in computer vision and is the type of model with which this work is concerned. Models based on these methods have proven to be particularly useful in low-level vision systems and have led to state-of-the-art results for MRF-based systems. The research presented will describe a new discriminative training algorithm and its implementation.The MRF model will be trained by optimizing its parameters...
Show moreThe undirected graphical model or Markov Random Field (MRF) is one of the more popular models used in computer vision and is the type of model with which this work is concerned. Models based on these methods have proven to be particularly useful in low-level vision systems and have led to state-of-the-art results for MRF-based systems. The research presented will describe a new discriminative training algorithm and its implementation.The MRF model will be trained by optimizing its parameters so that the minimum energy solution of the model is as similar as possible to the ground-truth. While previous work has relied on time-consuming iterative approximations or stochastic approximations, this work will demonstrate how implicit differentiation can be used to analytically differentiate the overall training loss with respect to the MRF parameters. This framework leads to an efficient, flexible learning algorithm that can be applied to a number of different models.The effectiveness of the proposed learning method will then be demonstrated by learning the parameters of two related models applied to the task of denoising images. The experimental results will demonstrate that the proposed learning algorithm is comparable and, at times, better than previous training methods applied to the same tasks.A new segmentation model will also be introduced and trained using the proposed learning method. The proposed segmentation model is based on an energy minimization framework that is novel in how it incorporates priors on the size of the segments in a way that is straightforward to implement. While other methods, such as normalized cuts, tend to produce segmentations of similar sizes, this method is able to overcome that problem and produce more realistic segmentations.
Show less
Date Issued: 2012
Identifier: CFE0004595, ucf:49207
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004595

Title: NONINVASIVE PHYSIOLOGICAL MEASURES AND WORKLOAD TRANSITIONS:AN INVESTIGATION OF THRESHOLDS USING MULTIPLE SYNCHRONIZED SENSORS.
Creator: Sciarini, Lee, Nicholson, Denise, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The purpose of this study is to determine under what conditions multiple minimally intrusive physiological sensors can be used together and validly applied for use in areas which rely on adaptive systems including adaptive automation and augmented cognition. Specifically, this dissertation investigated the physiological transitions of operator state caused by changes in the level of taskload. Three questions were evaluated including (1) Do differences exist between physiological indicators...
Show moreThe purpose of this study is to determine under what conditions multiple minimally intrusive physiological sensors can be used together and validly applied for use in areas which rely on adaptive systems including adaptive automation and augmented cognition. Specifically, this dissertation investigated the physiological transitions of operator state caused by changes in the level of taskload. Three questions were evaluated including (1) Do differences exist between physiological indicators when examined between levels of difficulty? (2) Are differences of physiological indicators (which may exist) between difficulty levels affected by spatial ability? (3) Which physiological indicators (if any) account for variation in performance on a spatial task with varying difficulty levels? The Modular Cognitive State Gauge model was presented and used to determine which basic physiological sensors (EEG, ECG, EDR and eye-tracking) could validly assess changes in the utilization of two-dimensional spatial resources required to perform a spatial ability dependent task. Thirty-six volunteers (20 female, 16 male) wore minimally invasive physiological sensing devices while executing a challenging computer based puzzle task. Specifically, participants were tested with two measures of spatial ability, received training, a practice session, an experimental trial and completed a subjective workload survey. The results of this experiment confirmed that participants with low spatial ability reported higher subjective workload and performed poorer when compared to those with high spatial ability. Additionally, there were significant changes for a majority of the physiological indicators between two difficulty levels and most importantly three measures (EEG, ECG and eye-tracking) were shown to account for variability in performance on the spatial task.
Show less
Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: CFE0002781, ucf:48108
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002781

Title: LINKING PLACE VALUE CONCEPTS WITH COMPUTATIONAL PRACTICES IN THIRD GRADE.
Creator: Cuffel, Terry, Dixon, Jule, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: In an attempt to examine student understanding of place value with third graders, I conducted action research with a small group of girls to determine if my use of instructional strategies would encourage the development of conceptual understanding of place value. Strategies that have been found to encourage conceptual development of place value, such as use of the candy factory, were incorporated into my instruction. Instructional strategies were adjusted as the study progressed to meet the...
Show moreIn an attempt to examine student understanding of place value with third graders, I conducted action research with a small group of girls to determine if my use of instructional strategies would encourage the development of conceptual understanding of place value. Strategies that have been found to encourage conceptual development of place value, such as use of the candy factory, were incorporated into my instruction. Instructional strategies were adjusted as the study progressed to meet the needs of the students and the development of their understanding of place value. Student explanations of their use of strategies contributed to my interpretation of their understanding. Additionally, I examined the strategies that the students chose to use when adding or subtracting multidigit numbers. Student understanding was demonstrated through group discussion and written and oral explanations. My observations, anecdotal records and audio recordings allowed me to further analyze student understanding. The results of my research seem to corroborate previous research studies that emphasize the difficulty that many students have in understanding place value at the conceptual level.
Show less
Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: CFE0002634, ucf:48196
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002634

Title: SPATIO-TEMPORAL MAXIMUM AVERAGE CORRELATION HEIGHT TEMPLATES IN ACTION RECOGNITION AND VIDEO SUMMARIZATION.
Creator: Rodriguez, Mikel, Shah, Mubarak, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Action recognition represents one of the most difficult problems in computer vision given that it embodies the combination of several uncertain attributes, such as the subtle variability associated with individual human behavior and the challenges that come with viewpoint variations, scale changes and different temporal extents. Nevertheless, action recognition solutions are critical in a great number of domains, such video surveillance, assisted living environments, video search, interfaces,...
Show moreAction recognition represents one of the most difficult problems in computer vision given that it embodies the combination of several uncertain attributes, such as the subtle variability associated with individual human behavior and the challenges that come with viewpoint variations, scale changes and different temporal extents. Nevertheless, action recognition solutions are critical in a great number of domains, such video surveillance, assisted living environments, video search, interfaces, and virtual reality. In this dissertation, we investigate template-based action recognition algorithms that can incorporate the information contained in a set of training examples, and we explore how these algorithms perform in action recognition and video summarization. First, we introduce a template-based method for recognizing human actions called Action MACH. Our approach is based on a Maximum Average Correlation Height (MACH) filter. MACH is capable of capturing intra-class variability by synthesizing a single Action MACH filter for a given action class. We generalize the traditional MACH filter to video (3D spatiotemporal volume), and vector valued data. By analyzing the response of the filter in the frequency domain, we avoid the high computational cost commonly incurred in template-based approaches. Vector valued data is analyzed using the Clifford Fourier transform, a generalization of the Fourier transform intended for both scalar and vector-valued data. Next, we address three seldom explored challenges in template-based action recognition. The first is the recognition and localization of human actions in aerial videos obtained from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), a new medium which presents unique challenges due to the small number of pixels per human, pose, and moving camera. The second issue we address is the incorporation of multiple positive and negative examples of a target action class when generating an action template. We address this issue by employing the Fukunaga-Koontz Transform as a means of generating a single quadratic template which, unlike traditional temporal templates (which rely on positive examples alone), effectively captures the variability associated with an action class by including both positive and negative examples in the template training process. Third, we explore the problem of generating video summaries that include specific actions of interest as opposed to all moving objects. In doing so, we explore the role of action templates in video summarization in an effort to provide a means of generating a compact video representation based on a set of activities of interest. We introduce an approach in which a user specifies the activities that interest him and the video is automatically condensed to a short clip which captures the most relevant events based on the user's preference. We follow the output summary video format of non-chronological video synopsis approaches, in which different events which occur at different times may be displayed concurrently, even though they never occur simultaneously in the original video. However, instead of assuming that all moving objects are interesting, priority is given to specific activities of interest which pertain to a user's query. This provides an efficient means of browsing through large collections of video for events of interest.
Show less
Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: CFE0003313, ucf:48507
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003313

Title: Conversion and Validation of SIGART Program, a Progressive Traffic Signal Lights System Computer Model.
Creator: Troyan, Dennis F., McEwan, Stuart, Engineering
Abstract / Description: Florida Technological University College of Engineering Thesis
Date Issued: 1972
Identifier: CFR0011995, ucf:53082
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFR0011995

Title: A Computer Graphics Analysis of a Freeway Merge Control System.
Creator: Risher, Thomas A., Bauer, Christian, Engineering
Abstract / Description: Florida Technological University College of Engineering Thesis; In 1975, C.S. Bauer completed a doctoral dissertation at the University of Florida which treated the Green Band Merging Control System on I-75 in Tampa, Florida. In this work, Bauer suggested the possibility for the use of computer graphics as a toll for analysis of the bands generated by the Green Band Control System Simulation developed in his dissertation. The use of computer generated movies of the bands displayed to ramp...
Show moreFlorida Technological University College of Engineering Thesis; In 1975, C.S. Bauer completed a doctoral dissertation at the University of Florida which treated the Green Band Merging Control System on I-75 in Tampa, Florida. In this work, Bauer suggested the possibility for the use of computer graphics as a toll for analysis of the bands generated by the Green Band Control System Simulation developed in his dissertation. The use of computer generated movies of the bands displayed to ramp drivers by the system allows the comparison of various band control strategies without the need for field implementation and testing. With the goal of producing such films in mind, the research topic discussed in this paper was undertaken. The report introduces the reader to some of the basic aspects of computer graphics and presents specialized computer software and interface hardware for producing automated computer graphics movies from a Tektronix 4010 storage display. A brief discussion of the Tampa System and its associated simulation program is presented, and representative frames from the moves of the Tampa System produced in the research are discussed. Suggestions for additional work that could be undertaken in the research area conclude the report.
Show less
Date Issued: 1976
Identifier: CFR0011597, ucf:53042
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFR0011597

Title: Critical Programming: Toward a Philosophy of Computing.
Creator: Bork, John, Janz, Bruce, Grajeda, Anthony, McDaniel, Rudy, Hughes, Charles, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Beliefs about the relationship between human beings and computing machines and their destinies have alternated from heroic counterparts to conspirators of automated genocide, from apocalyptic extinction events to evolutionary cyborg convergences. Many fear that people are losing key intellectual and social abilities as tasks are offloaded to the everywhere of the built environment, which is developing a mind of its own. If digital technologies have contributed to forming a dumbest generation...
Show moreBeliefs about the relationship between human beings and computing machines and their destinies have alternated from heroic counterparts to conspirators of automated genocide, from apocalyptic extinction events to evolutionary cyborg convergences. Many fear that people are losing key intellectual and social abilities as tasks are offloaded to the everywhere of the built environment, which is developing a mind of its own. If digital technologies have contributed to forming a dumbest generation and ushering in a robotic moment, we all have a stake in addressing this collective intelligence problem. While digital humanities continue to flourish and introduce new uses for computer technologies, the basic modes of philosophical inquiry remain in the grip of print media, and default philosophies of computing prevail, or experimental ones propagate false hopes. I cast this as-is situation as the post-postmodern network dividual cyborg, recognizing that the rational enlightenment of modernism and regressive subjectivity of postmodernism now operate in an empire of extended mind cybernetics combined with techno-capitalist networks forming societies of control.Recent critical theorists identify a justificatory scheme foregrounding participation in projects, valorizing social network linkages over heroic individualism, and commending flexibility and adaptability through life long learning over stable career paths. It seems to reify one possible, contingent configuration of global capitalism as if it was the reflection of a deterministic evolution of commingled technogenesis and synaptogenesis. To counter this trend I offer a theoretical framework to focus on the phenomenology of software and code, joining social critiques with textuality and media studies, the former proposing that theory be done through practice, and the latter seeking to understand their schematism of perceptibility by taking into account engineering techniques like time axis manipulation. The social construction of technology makes additional theoretical contributions dispelling closed world, deterministic historical narratives and requiring voices be given to the engineers and technologists that best know their subject area. This theoretical slate has been recently deployed to produce rich histories of computing, networking, and software, inform the nascent disciplines of software studies and code studies, as well as guide ethnographers of software development communities.I call my syncretism of these approaches the procedural rhetoric of diachrony in synchrony, recognizing that multiple explanatory layers operating in their individual temporal and physical orders of magnitude simultaneously undergird post-postmodern network phenomena. Its touchstone is that the human-machine situation is best contemplated by doing, which as a methodology for digital humanities research I call critical programming. Philosophers of computing explore working code places by designing, coding, and executing complex software projects as an integral part of their intellectual activity, reflecting on how developing theoretical understanding necessitates iterative development of code as it does other texts, and how resolving coding dilemmas may clarify or modify provisional theories as our minds struggle to intuit the alien temporalities of machine processes.
Show less
Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: CFE0005928, ucf:50843
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005928

Title: Computer Programming with Early Elementary Students with and without Intellectual Disabilities.
Creator: Taylor, Matthew, Dieker, Lisa, Vasquez, Eleazar, Hines, Rebecca, Nickels, Megan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Researchers suggest students at the preschool and kindergarten grade levels are active learners and creators and need to be exposed to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curriculum. The need for student understanding in STEM curriculum is well documented, and positive results in robotics, computer programming, and coding are leading researchers and policy makers to introduce new standards in education. The purpose of this single case design study is to research the...
Show moreResearchers suggest students at the preschool and kindergarten grade levels are active learners and creators and need to be exposed to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curriculum. The need for student understanding in STEM curriculum is well documented, and positive results in robotics, computer programming, and coding are leading researchers and policy makers to introduce new standards in education. The purpose of this single case design study is to research the abilities of kindergarten students, with and without intellectual disabilities (ID), to learn skills in computer programming and coding through explicit instruction, concrete manipulatives, and tangible interfaces. While constructionist methodology is typically used to teach robotics, best practice for students with ID is explicit instruction. For this reason, a group of students with ID and a group of students without ID were taught to program a robot to move in a square, through explicit instruction, and by using the iPad application, Blockly. It was discovered that students in both groups were capable of programming the robot, though students learned at different rates. Introducing STEM to students with and without ID at an early age could prepare students for future STEM careers and encourage students with ID to pursue STEM-related paths.
Show less
Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: CFE0006807, ucf:51802
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006807

Title: Adversarial Attacks On Vision Algorithms Using Deep Learning Features.
Creator: Michel, Andy, Jha, Sumit Kumar, Leavens, Gary, Valliyil Thankachan, Sharma, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Computer vision algorithms, such as those implementing object detection, are known to be sus-ceptible to adversarial attacks. Small barely perceptible perturbations to the input can cause visionalgorithms to incorrectly classify inputs that they would have otherwise classified correctly. Anumber of approaches have been recently investigated to generate such adversarial examples fordeep neural networks. Many of these approaches either require grey-box access to the deep neuralnet being...
Show moreComputer vision algorithms, such as those implementing object detection, are known to be sus-ceptible to adversarial attacks. Small barely perceptible perturbations to the input can cause visionalgorithms to incorrectly classify inputs that they would have otherwise classified correctly. Anumber of approaches have been recently investigated to generate such adversarial examples fordeep neural networks. Many of these approaches either require grey-box access to the deep neuralnet being attacked or rely on adversarial transfer and grey-box access to a surrogate neural network.In this thesis, we present an approach to the synthesis of adversarial examples for computer vi-sion algorithms that only requires black-box access to the algorithm being attacked. Our attackapproach employs fuzzing with features derived from the layers of a convolutional neural networktrained on adversarial examples from an unrelated dataset. Based on our experimental results,we believe that our validation approach will enable designers of cyber-physical systems and otherhigh-assurance use-cases of vision algorithms to stress test their implementations.
Show less
Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: CFE0006898, ucf:51714
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006898

Title: The Impact of Computer-Assisted Instruction on Ninth- and Tenth-Grade Students.
Creator: Mcneely, Melanie, Murray, Kenneth, Murray, Barbara, Baldwin, Lee, Hutchinson, Cynthia, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: With over 60 years of education reform, including the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) in 1958, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1975, and No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in 2002, the achievement gap still existed at the beginning of the 21st century, and the effectiveness of the U. S. public school system continued to be questioned.This study was conducted to examine the effect of the use of a computer-assisted instruction curriculum, Achieve 3000(&)#174;, among select...
Show moreWith over 60 years of education reform, including the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) in 1958, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1975, and No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in 2002, the achievement gap still existed at the beginning of the 21st century, and the effectiveness of the U. S. public school system continued to be questioned.This study was conducted to examine the effect of the use of a computer-assisted instruction curriculum, Achieve 3000(&)#174;, among select secondary reading students in a central Florida school district and their implications for student achievement. This study showed significant difference existed in the type of students rather than the reading program. The ANCOVA performed on all students and the ANOVAs performed for exceptional education students, males and females, free/reduced lunch and ethnic subgroups did not show a significant statistical difference in the 2012-2013 reading achievement scores. The Achieve 3000(&)#174; reading program did not close the achievement gap any more than the non-Achieve 3000(&)#174; reading program. Conversely, the ANOVA performed for English language learners did show a significant statistical difference between the 2012-2013 reading achievement scores. However, the effect size each question was small indicating the practical implication was also small. Ultimately, this study made a strong argument for the need for further research.
Show less
Date Issued: 2014
Identifier: CFE0005381, ucf:50443
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005381

Computer Vision (13)	+ -
computer vision (12)	+ -
computational fluid dynamics (7)	+ -
Academic (6)	+ -
Machine Learning (6)	+ -

human-computer interaction (6)	+ -
Computational Fluid Dynamics (5)	+ -
Dissertations (5)	+ -
evolutionary computation (5)	+ -
human computer interaction (5)	+ -
machine learning (5)	+ -
Engineering -- Dissertations (4)	+ -
Reconfigurable Computing (4)	+ -
action recognition (4)	+ -
artificial intelligence (4)	+ -
computer graphics (4)	+ -
computer-mediated communication (4)	+ -
deep learning (4)	+ -
technology (4)	+ -
usability (4)	+ -
Academic -- Engineering (3)	+ -
Animation (3)	+ -
CFD (3)	+ -
Cloud computing (3)	+ -
Computer Science (3)	+ -
Deep Learning (3)	+ -
Evolvable Hardware (3)	+ -
FPGA (3)	+ -
GPU (3)	+ -
Genetic Algorithms (3)	+ -

ETD Collection (222)	+ -
Honors Collection (13)	+ -
PRISM: Political & Rights Issues & Social Movements (1)	+ -

University of Central Florida (222)	+ -
Kassab, Alain (14)	+ -
Lin, Mingjie (13)	+ -
Wu, Annie (13)	+ -
Shah, Mubarak (12)	+ -

Hughes, Charles (11)	+ -
Wang, Jun (11)	+ -
DeMara, Ronald (8)	+ -
Wiegand, Rudolf (8)	+ -
Engineering (7)	+ -
Ewetz, Rickard (7)	+ -
Foroosh, Hassan (7)	+ -
Gonzalez, Avelino (7)	+ -
Stanley, Kenneth (7)	+ -
Heinrich, Mark (6)	+ -
Hua, Kien (6)	+ -
Jha, Sumit Kumar (6)	+ -
Leavens, Gary (6)	+ -
Mucciolo, Eduardo (6)	+ -
Atia, George (5)	+ -
Bassiouni, Mostafa (5)	+ -
Divo, Eduardo (5)	+ -
Jha, Sumit (5)	+ -
Kapat, Jayanta (5)	+ -
Mansy, Hansen (5)	+ -
Marinescu, Dan (5)	+ -
Moore, Brian (5)	+ -
Proctor, Michael (5)	+ -
Bagci, Ulas (4)	+ -
Baldwin, Lee (4)	+ -

Search In

Pages

Pages

Sort Results By:

Narrow results by:

Topical Subject

Collection

Genre

Type of Resource

Language

Creator

Format

Owner