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- Title
- CHOOSING MATES WHO LOOK LIKE OURSELVES.
- Creator
-
Gruber, Alyse, Donley, Amy, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Some research suggests that the reason men and women choose mates who are physically similar to them, is because though they may be genetically similar (given the physical characteristics), the fact that there is no kinship allows for genetic stability. Some researchers believe this is a product of evolutionary forces, therefore allowing possible mates to find those whom they would see as compatible and fertile. Researchers have found that as children we imprint our parent's facial features,...
Show moreSome research suggests that the reason men and women choose mates who are physically similar to them, is because though they may be genetically similar (given the physical characteristics), the fact that there is no kinship allows for genetic stability. Some researchers believe this is a product of evolutionary forces, therefore allowing possible mates to find those whom they would see as compatible and fertile. Researchers have found that as children we imprint our parent's facial features, which helps develop the normal facial recognition later. With this knowledge it is suggested that we subconsciously use our parent's facial imprint as our standard for beauty when it comes to finding a mate. As children share a resemblance to their parents, it is not unlikely that as adults, men and women then choose mates who are physically similar to themselves. The current study examined whether men and women look for mates who are physically similar, even if they do not realize it. This study looked at a range of physical characteristics from hair color to height to body type. The wide range of physical characteristics allowed participants to be very specific about the ideal physical features they desire in a mate. It also allowed participants to be specific about their own physical characteristics. The survey was distributed through an online link that was distributed by upper and lower level sociology professors as well as social media sites. The results of this study are important because most research on heterosexual relationships focus on what characteristics each partner are looking to find. However, there is very little research on the phenomena of heterosexual partners choosing a mate who are physically similar.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2014
- Identifier
- CFH0004602, ucf:45323
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004602
- Title
- Bayesian Model Selection for Classification with Possibly Large Number of Groups.
- Creator
-
Davis, Justin, Pensky, Marianna, Swanson, Jason, Richardson, Gary, Crampton, William, Ni, Liqiang, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
The purpose of the present dissertation is to study model selection techniques which are specifically designed for classification of high-dimensional data with a large number of classes. To the best of our knowledge, this problem has never been studied in depth previously. We assume that the number of components p is much larger than the number of samples n, and that only few of those p components are useful for subsequent classification. In what follows, we introduce two Bayesian models...
Show moreThe purpose of the present dissertation is to study model selection techniques which are specifically designed for classification of high-dimensional data with a large number of classes. To the best of our knowledge, this problem has never been studied in depth previously. We assume that the number of components p is much larger than the number of samples n, and that only few of those p components are useful for subsequent classification. In what follows, we introduce two Bayesian models which use two different approaches to the problem: one which discards components which have "almost constant" values (Model 1) and another which retains the components for which between-group variations are larger than within-group variation (Model 2). We show that particular cases of the above two models recover familiar variance or ANOVA-based component selection. When one has only two classes and features are a priori independent, Model 2 reduces to the Feature Annealed Independence Rule (FAIR) introduced by Fan and Fan (2008) and can be viewed as a natural generalization to the case of L (>) 2 classes. A nontrivial result of the dissertation is that the precision of feature selection using Model 2 improves when the number of classes grows. Subsequently, we examine the rate of misclassification with and without feature selection on the basis of Model 2.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2011
- Identifier
- CFE0004097, ucf:49091
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004097
- Title
- Intelligent Selection Techniques For Virtual Environments.
- Creator
-
Cashion, Jeffrey, Laviola II, Joseph, Bassiouni, Mostafa, Hughes, Charles, Bowman, Doug, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Selection in 3D games and simulations is a well-studied problem. Many techniques have been created to address many of the typical scenarios a user could experience. For any single scenario with consistent conditions, there is likely a technique which is well suited. If there isn't, then there is an opportunity for one to be created to best suit the expected conditions of that new scenario. It is critical that the user be given an appropriate technique to interact with their environment....
Show moreSelection in 3D games and simulations is a well-studied problem. Many techniques have been created to address many of the typical scenarios a user could experience. For any single scenario with consistent conditions, there is likely a technique which is well suited. If there isn't, then there is an opportunity for one to be created to best suit the expected conditions of that new scenario. It is critical that the user be given an appropriate technique to interact with their environment. Without it, the entire experience is at risk of becoming burdensome and not enjoyable.With all of the different possible scenarios, it can become problematic when two or more are part of the same program. If they are put closely together, or even intertwined, then the developer is often forced to pick a single technique that works so-so in both, but is likely not optimal for either, or maybe optimal in just one of them. In this case, the user is left to perform selections with a technique that is lacking in one way or another, which can increase errors and frustration.In our research, we have outlined different selection scenarios, all of which were classified by their level of object density (number of objects in scene) and object velocity. We then performed an initial study on how it impacts performance of various selection techniques, including a new selection technique that we developed just for this test, called Expand. Our results showed, among other things, that a standard Raycast technique works well in slow moving and sparse environments, while revealing that our new Expand technique works well in denser environments.With the results from our first study, we sought to develop something that would bridge the gap in performance between those selection techniques tested. Our idea was a framework that could harvest several different selection techniques and determine which was the most optimal at any time. Each selection technique would report how effective it was, given the provided scenario conditions. The framework was responsible for activating the appropriate selection technique when the user made a selection attempt. With this framework in hand, we performed two additional user studies to determine how effective it could be in actual use, and to identify its strengths and weaknesses. Each study compared several selection techniques individually against the framework which utilized them collectively, picking the most suitable. Again, the same scenarios from our first study were reused. From these studies, we gained a deeper understanding of the many challenges associated with automatic selection technique determination. The results from these two studies showed that transitioning between techniques was potentially viable, but rife with design challenges that made its optimization quite difficult.In an effort to sidestep some of the issues surrounding the switching of discrete techniques, we sought to attack the problem from the other direction, and make a single technique act similarly to two techniques, adjusting dynamically to conditions. We performed a user study to analyze the performance of such a technique, with promising results. While the qualitative differences were small, the user feedback did indicate that users preferred this technique over the others, which were static in nature.Finally, we sought to gain a deeper understanding of existing selection techniques that were dynamic in nature, and study how they were designed, and how they could be improved. We scrutinized the attributes of each technique that were already being adjusted dynamically or that could be adjusted and innovated new ways in which the technique could be improved upon. Within this analysis, we also gave thought to how each technique could be best integrated into the Auto-Select framework we proposed earlier. This overall analysis of the latest selection techniques left us with an array of new variants that warrant being created and tested against their existing versions.Our overall research goal was to perform an analysis of selection techniques that intelligently adapt to their environment. We believe that we achieved this by performing several iterative development cycles, including user studies and ultimately leading to innovation in the field of selection. We conclude our research with yet more questions left to be answered. We intend to pursue further research regarding some of these questions, as time permits.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2014
- Identifier
- CFE0005469, ucf:50381
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005469
- Title
- VIBROTACTILE GUIDANCE CUES FOR TARGET IDENTIFICATION.
- Creator
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Downs, Joshua, Gilson, Richard, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
The purpose of this dissertation was to establish how vibrotactile guidance cues can be used to improve marksmanship. This work originated in an effort to provide covert communication, navigation, and weapon aiming cues for infantrymen. It is predominantly an application-driven investigation rather than driven a priori by specific theoretical predictions from models of human performance. Three experiments are presented. Experiment 1 established the affect on initial response to vibrotactile...
Show moreThe purpose of this dissertation was to establish how vibrotactile guidance cues can be used to improve marksmanship. This work originated in an effort to provide covert communication, navigation, and weapon aiming cues for infantrymen. It is predominantly an application-driven investigation rather than driven a priori by specific theoretical predictions from models of human performance. Three experiments are presented. Experiment 1 established the affect on initial response to vibrotactile guidance cues of tactor placements on the palmer versus dorsal surface of the hand, and targets appearing left versus right of center. Results suggest that tactile cues provided on the left side of the medial line of the hand afford moving the hand to the left, while tactile cues provided on the right side of the medial line afford moving the hand to the right. Experiment 2 established the affect of continuous relative distance cues and on- versus off-target vibrotactile stimuli on reaction time and accuracy for target selection. Results indicated an interaction between the pulse rate of vibrotactile stimuli and the method used to highlight an "on-target" condition; the suppressed target condition was superior to the enhanced target condition when the pulse rate increased as the cursor moved closer to a target. Experiment 3 established if there are performance differences between discrete and continuous distance information for target selection, and investigated the interaction between the near-target pulse rate and on-target cues. Results indicate that maximizing the difference between near-target guidance cues and on-target cues reduces the target selection time, particularly when the near-target pulse rates are fast (ISI = 10 msec). The results also suggest that, as with vision, the vibrotactile off-target guidance cues are not necessary during the whole target selection task. Rather, the guidance cues can be provided only during the initial pop-up condition and during the sub-movements closing on the target.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2005
- Identifier
- CFE0000369, ucf:46333
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000369
- Title
- CROSS-MODAL DISTRACTION ON SIMULTANEOUS TRANSLATION: LANGUAGE INTERFERENCE IN SPANISH-ENGLISH BILINGUALS.
- Creator
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Young, Violet A, Modianos, Doan, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Bilingualism has been studied extensively in multiple disciplines, yet we are still trying to figure out how exactly bilinguals think. A bilingual advantage has been observed in various experimental studies, but also has not been observed in many other studies. A bilingual advantage has been shown in tasks using selective attention. These tasks study the effects of language interference, where two types of interference are observed: interlingual (between-languages) and intralingual (within...
Show moreBilingualism has been studied extensively in multiple disciplines, yet we are still trying to figure out how exactly bilinguals think. A bilingual advantage has been observed in various experimental studies, but also has not been observed in many other studies. A bilingual advantage has been shown in tasks using selective attention. These tasks study the effects of language interference, where two types of interference are observed: interlingual (between-languages) and intralingual (within one language). This study examined language interference in Spanish-English bilinguals, using an auditory-visual simultaneous translation experimental setup. 16 college English monolinguals and 17 college Spanish-English bilinguals were tested. The task was to ignore the word in the headphones and to translate/repeat the word on the screen into English. Distractor words went to either the right, left, or both headphone ears. Subjects were given 72 words to translate, words were randomized, and ear of the distractor word was randomized. The monolingual group was not affected by any independent variables tested except screen word length. Bilinguals did worse when the word and audio were in Spanish, and when the word and audio were different words. No ear advantage was observed. Proficiency levels and first language had no effects on bilingual performance. More intralingual interference was observed for bilinguals only, no significant interference occurred for monolinguals. A slight bilingual advantage was found but not fully, because of the high load of the task and introduction of another language. In conclusion, bilinguals did not have a cognitive advantage in this experiment setup.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2018
- Identifier
- CFH2000448, ucf:45844
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000448
- Title
- THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ADMISSION CREDENTIALS AND THE SUCCESS OF STUDENTS ADMITTED TO A PHYSICS DOCTORAL PROGRAM.
- Creator
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Wilkerson, Teresa, Tubbs, LeVester, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
The researcher developed this study based on the Hardgrave, et al. (1993)statement that for a doctoral student, it was "more than just standardized scores, previous academic performance, and past work experience ultimately affects whether the candidate will be successful in the program" (p. 261). This study examined both the subjective and quantifiable aspects of application materials to a physics doctoral program to explore potential relationships between the credentials presented in the...
Show moreThe researcher developed this study based on the Hardgrave, et al. (1993)statement that for a doctoral student, it was "more than just standardized scores, previous academic performance, and past work experience ultimately affects whether the candidate will be successful in the program" (p. 261). This study examined both the subjective and quantifiable aspects of application materials to a physics doctoral program to explore potential relationships between the credentials presented in the application and the ultimate success of the admitted students. The researcher developed questions with the goals of addressing the problem of attrition in doctoral programs and gaining a better of understanding the information provided in students' application packets. The researcher defined success as either enrolled four years after admission or attainment of the degree. This study examined the records of a population of students admitted to a physics doctoral program from the fall of 1997 to the fall of 2003 to determine their level of success as of August 2006. An exploratory analysis of the data provided answers to each of the research questions as well as an extensive understanding of the students admitted into the program during this time. This study examined both admission credentials and constructs identified by past researchers. An evaluation of the data gathered in this research revealed no relationships between these and student success as previously defined. In 1974, Willingham stated simply, "the best way to improve selection of graduate students will be to develop improved criteria for success" (p. 278). To this end, recommendations emerged regarding the decision-making process and suggestions for future research. This study was not developed to prove or disprove past research findings that predicted success from admissions information; rather, the researcher developed this study to explore each of the credentials that a student presents with his or her application packet, and to tell the story about the nuances of these credentials as they related to student success in a physics doctoral program.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2007
- Identifier
- CFE0001524, ucf:47154
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001524
- Title
- DESIGN AND DEMONSTRATION OF MEANDERLINE RETARDERS AT INFRARED FREQUENCIES.
- Creator
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Tharp, Jeffrey, Boreman, Glenn, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Meanderline structures are widely used as engineered birefringent materials for waveplates and retarders at radiofrequencies, and have been previously demonstrated at frequencies up to 90 GHz in the millimeter-wave band. In this dissertation, we present results related to the modeling, fabrication, and experimental characterization of meanderlines across the range from 30 to 100 THz, in the long-wave and mid-wave infrared bands. Specific issues addressed in these new designs include spectral...
Show moreMeanderline structures are widely used as engineered birefringent materials for waveplates and retarders at radiofrequencies, and have been previously demonstrated at frequencies up to 90 GHz in the millimeter-wave band. In this dissertation, we present results related to the modeling, fabrication, and experimental characterization of meanderlines across the range from 30 to 100 THz, in the long-wave and mid-wave infrared bands. Specific issues addressed in these new designs include spectral dispersion and angular dependence of the retardance, as well as axial ratio and throughput. The impact resulting from the infrared properties of the metals and dielectrics is explicitly included throughout. Several novel applications are identified, including integrated circular polarizers, reflective waveplates, and large-area polarization tags.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2007
- Identifier
- CFE0001884, ucf:47396
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001884
- Title
- BEHAVIOR OF VARIABLE-LENGTH GENETIC ALGORITHMS UNDER RANDOM SELECTION.
- Creator
-
Stringer, Harold, Wu, Annie, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
In this work, we show how a variable-length genetic algorithm naturally evolves populations whose mean chromosome length grows shorter over time. A reduction in chromosome length occurs when selection is absent from the GA. Specifically, we divide the mating space into five distinct areas and provide a probabilistic and empirical analysis of the ability of matings in each area to produce children whose size is shorter than the parent generation's average size. Diversity of size within a...
Show moreIn this work, we show how a variable-length genetic algorithm naturally evolves populations whose mean chromosome length grows shorter over time. A reduction in chromosome length occurs when selection is absent from the GA. Specifically, we divide the mating space into five distinct areas and provide a probabilistic and empirical analysis of the ability of matings in each area to produce children whose size is shorter than the parent generation's average size. Diversity of size within a GA's population is shown to be a necessary condition for a reduction in mean chromosome length to take place. We show how a finite variable-length GA under random selection pressure uses 1) diversity of size within the population, 2) over-production of shorter than average individuals, and 3) the imperfect nature of random sampling during selection to naturally reduce the average size of individuals within a population from one generation to the next. In addition to our findings, this work provides GA researchers and practitioners with 1) a number of mathematical tools for analyzing possible size reductions for various matings and 2) new ideas to explore in the area of bloat control.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2007
- Identifier
- CFE0001652, ucf:47249
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001652
- Title
- Methods for online feature selection for classification problems.
- Creator
-
Razmjoo, Alaleh, Zheng, Qipeng, Rabelo, Luis, Boginski, Vladimir, Xanthopoulos, Petros, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Online learning is a growing branch of machine learning which allows all traditional data miningtechniques to be applied on an online stream of data in real-time. In this dissertation, we presentthree efficient algorithms for feature ranking in online classification problems. Each of the methodsare tailored to work well with different types of classification tasks and have different advantages.The reason for this variety of algorithms is that like other machine learning solutions, there is...
Show moreOnline learning is a growing branch of machine learning which allows all traditional data miningtechniques to be applied on an online stream of data in real-time. In this dissertation, we presentthree efficient algorithms for feature ranking in online classification problems. Each of the methodsare tailored to work well with different types of classification tasks and have different advantages.The reason for this variety of algorithms is that like other machine learning solutions, there is usuallyno algorithm which works well for all types of tasks. The first method, is an online sensitivitybased feature ranking (SFR) which is updated incrementally, and is designed for classificationtasks with continuous features. We take advantage of the concept of global sensitivity and rankfeatures based on their impact on the outcome of the classification model. In the feature selectionpart, we use a two-stage filtering method in order to first eliminate highly correlated and redundantfeatures and then eliminate irrelevant features in the second stage. One important advantage of ouralgorithm is its generality, which means the method works for correlated feature spaces withoutpreprocessing. It can be implemented along with any single-pass online classification method withseparating hyperplane such as SVMs. In the second method, with help of probability theory wepropose an algorithm which measures the importance of the features by observing the changes inlabel prediction in case of feature substitution. A non-parametric version of the proposed methodis presented to eliminate the distribution type assumptions. These methods are application to alldata types including mixed feature spaces. At last, we present a class-based feature importanceranking method which evaluates the importance of each feature for each class, these sub-rankingsare further exploited to train an ensemble of classifiers. The proposed methods will be thoroughlytested using benchmark datasets and the results will be discussed in the last chapter.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2018
- Identifier
- CFE0007584, ucf:52567
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007584
- Title
- Large Area Conformal Infrared Frequency Selective Surfaces.
- Creator
-
Darchangel, Jeffrey, Schoenfeld, Winston, Boreman, Glenn, Likamwa, Patrick, Kik, Pieter, Lail, Brian, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Frequency selective surfaces (FSS) were originally developed for electromagnetic filtering applications at microwave frequencies. Electron-beam lithography has enabled the extension of FSS to infrared frequencies; however, these techniques create sample sizes that are seldom appropriate for real world applications due to the size and rigidity of the substrate. A new method of fabricating large area conformal infrared FSS is introduced, which involves releasing miniature FSS arrays from a...
Show moreFrequency selective surfaces (FSS) were originally developed for electromagnetic filtering applications at microwave frequencies. Electron-beam lithography has enabled the extension of FSS to infrared frequencies; however, these techniques create sample sizes that are seldom appropriate for real world applications due to the size and rigidity of the substrate. A new method of fabricating large area conformal infrared FSS is introduced, which involves releasing miniature FSS arrays from a substrate for implementation in a coating. A selective etching process is proposed and executed to create FSS particles from crossed-dipole and square-loop FSS arrays. When the fill-factor of the particles in the measurement area is accounted for, the spectral properties of the FSS flakes are similar to the full array from which they were created. As a step toward scalability of the process, a square-patch design is presented and formed into FSS flakes with geometry within the capability of ultraviolet optical lithography.Square-loop infrared FSS designs are investigated both in quasi-infinite arrays and in truncated sub-arrays. First, scattering-scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) is introduced as a characterization method for square-loop arrays, and the near-field amplitude and phase results are discussed in terms of the resonant behavior observed in far-field measurements. Since the creation of FSS particles toward a large area coating inherently truncates the arrays, array truncation effects are investigated for square-loop arrays both in the near- and far-field. As an extension of the truncation study, small geometric changes in the design of square-loop arrays are introduced as a method to tune the resonant far-field wavelength back to that of the quasi-infinite arrays.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2014
- Identifier
- CFE0005476, ucf:50348
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0005476
- Title
- Model Selection via Racing.
- Creator
-
Zhang, Tiantian, Georgiopoulos, Michael, Anagnostopoulos, Georgios, Wu, Annie, Hu, Haiyan, Nickerson, David, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Model Selection (MS) is an important aspect of machine learning, as necessitated by the No Free Lunch theorem. Briefly speaking, the task of MS is to identify a subset of models that are optimal in terms of pre-selected optimization criteria. There are many practical applications of MS, such as model parameter tuning, personalized recommendations, A/B testing, etc. Lately, some MS research has focused on trading off exactness of the optimization with somewhat alleviating the computational...
Show moreModel Selection (MS) is an important aspect of machine learning, as necessitated by the No Free Lunch theorem. Briefly speaking, the task of MS is to identify a subset of models that are optimal in terms of pre-selected optimization criteria. There are many practical applications of MS, such as model parameter tuning, personalized recommendations, A/B testing, etc. Lately, some MS research has focused on trading off exactness of the optimization with somewhat alleviating the computational burden entailed. Recent attempts along this line include metaheuristics optimization, local search-based approaches, sequential model-based methods, portfolio algorithm approaches, and multi-armed bandits.Racing Algorithms (RAs) are an active research area in MS, which trade off some computational cost for a reduced, but acceptable likelihood that the models returned are indeed optimal among the given ensemble of models. All existing RAs in the literature are designed as Single-Objective Racing Algorithm (SORA) for Single-Objective Model Selection (SOMS), where a single optimization criterion is considered for measuring the goodness of models. Moreover, they are offline algorithms in which MS occurs before model deployment and the selected models are optimal in terms of their overall average performances on a validation set of problem instances. This work aims to investigate racing approaches along two distinct directions: Extreme Model Selection (EMS) and Multi-Objective Model Selection (MOMS). In EMS, given a problem instance and a limited computational budget shared among all the candidate models, one is interested in maximizing the final solution quality. In such a setting, MS occurs during model comparison in terms of maximum performance and involves no model validation. EMS is a natural framework for many applications. However, EMS problems remain unaddressed by current racing approaches. In this work, the first RA for EMS, named Max-Race, is developed, so that it optimizes the extreme solution quality by automatically allocating the computational resources among an ensemble of problem solvers for a given problem instance. In Max-Race, significant difference between the extreme performances of any pair of models is statistically inferred via a parametric hypothesis test under the Generalized Pareto Distribution (GPD) assumption. Experimental results have confirmed that Max-Race is capable of identifying the best extreme model with high accuracy and low computational cost. Furthermore, in machine learning, as well as in many real-world applications, a variety of MS problems are multi-objective in nature. MS which simultaneously considers multiple optimization criteria is referred to as MOMS. Under this scheme, a set of Pareto optimal models is sought that reflect a variety of compromises between optimization objectives. So far, MOMS problems have received little attention in the relevant literature. Therefore, this work also develops the first Multi-Objective Racing Algorithm (MORA) for a fixed-budget setting, namely S-Race. S-Race addresses MOMS in the proper sense of Pareto optimality. Its key decision mechanism is the non-parametric sign test, which is employed for inferring pairwise dominance relationships. Moreover, S-Race is able to strictly control the overall probability of falsely eliminating any non-dominated models at a user-specified significance level. Additionally, SPRINT-Race, the first MORA for a fixed-confidence setting, is also developed. In SPRINT-Race, pairwise dominance and non-dominance relationships are established via the Sequential Probability Ratio Test with an Indifference zone. Moreover, the overall probability of falsely eliminating any non-dominated models or mistakenly retaining any dominated models is controlled at a prescribed significance level. Extensive experimental analysis has demonstrated the efficiency and advantages of both S-Race and SPRINT-Race in MOMS.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2016
- Identifier
- CFE0006203, ucf:51094
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0006203
- Title
- A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT'S DOCTRINE OF SELECTIVE INCORPORATION AND CORPORATE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS JURISPRUDENCE.
- Creator
-
Fate, Rebecca R, Beckman, James, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
With recent and contentious Supreme Court cases dealing with corporate constitutional rights, such as Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010), as well as with the appointment of a new justice, the time is particularly ripe for evaluations of the Supreme Court's jurisprudence in this area, including predictions about the future of this line of cases. The purpose of this thesis is to establish a better understanding of the historical jurisprudential approach utilized by the...
Show moreWith recent and contentious Supreme Court cases dealing with corporate constitutional rights, such as Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010), as well as with the appointment of a new justice, the time is particularly ripe for evaluations of the Supreme Court's jurisprudence in this area, including predictions about the future of this line of cases. The purpose of this thesis is to establish a better understanding of the historical jurisprudential approach utilized by the Supreme Court to decide corporate constitutional rights by establishing the well-known doctrine of selective incorporation as an appropriate analogy. No other works attempt to frame the case history of corporate constitutional rights within a consistent doctrine, yet many works seek to evaluate and predict Court decisions in this area. This work will therefore create a new frame of reference for corporate constitutional rights, providing a new basis for interpretation and predictions. This thesis begins by conducting a thorough overview of both lines of cases, focusing on the establishment of each doctrine over time as well as the reasoning behind the Court's use of this particular approach. Once a clear picture of both approaches has been ascertained, this thesis moves on to an overall comparison and evaluation of both approaches. In finding the process, intent, and overall effect of both jurisprudential approaches to be the same, the use of selective incorporation as an analogy for the Supreme Court's approach to corporate constitutional rights gives way to predictions about the future of corporate constitutional rights. Considering the relevant views expressed by the new justice, Neil Gorsuch, and the previous decisions of the Roberts Court, this analogy provides solid evidence for predicting continued expansion of corporate constitutional rights, including such areas as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and perhaps even rights of the accused. The comparative approach used in this thesis, as well as the analogy it establishes, can also be revisited as new Court decisions are made and as the makeup of the Court changes overtime.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2017
- Identifier
- CFH2000194, ucf:45985
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH2000194
- Title
- TRENDS IN THE SELECTION, EVALUATION, AND COMPENSATION OF UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS IN THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY SYSTEM.
- Creator
-
Marshall, Nancy, Taylor, Rosemarye, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Recent literature suggested that while the discussion of presidential selection, evaluation, and compensation was common to both private and public institutions, special attention was paid to public university presidents. They and their presidencies were subject to intense public debate and scrutiny. Florida's public university presidents have contended with the same issues as their counterparts in other states. However, the 2001 changes in the state's higher education governance...
Show moreRecent literature suggested that while the discussion of presidential selection, evaluation, and compensation was common to both private and public institutions, special attention was paid to public university presidents. They and their presidencies were subject to intense public debate and scrutiny. Florida's public university presidents have contended with the same issues as their counterparts in other states. However, the 2001 changes in the state's higher education governance created distinct challenges and opportunities for the 11 presidents in the Florida State University System. The purpose of this study was to analyze the trends in the selection, evaluation, and compensation of the 11 university presidents in the Florida State University System (SUS) from 1996-2006, the period five years before and five years after the changes in governance. Interviews with university presidents, members of boards of trustees, and members of the Florida Board of Governors, members of the Florida Legislature, and salary histories from seven of the 11 Florida institutions were used to analyze the trends in light of the shift in perceptions of the presidents' roles and the changes in higher education governance. Since 2001, and the establishment of boards of trustees and by Florida statute, presidents were seen as the chief executive officer of their institutions, a change from an academic to a business model. Trustees, who primarily came from a business background, viewed them as CEOs and chose to compensate presidents at a higher level than they had previously been paid. The Board of Governors, a majority of whose members also had corporate backgrounds, implied the need for a CEO-type leadership style and more corporate-style accountability. In 2003, the Florida Legislature responded to the salary surge at the chief executive level and placed a $225,000 salary cap from appropriated funds on the university presidents' salaries. The legislation did not place any restrictions on university foundations or other sources for supplementing the compensation package.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2006
- Identifier
- CFE0001498, ucf:47076
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001498
- Title
- SELECTIVE MODE EXCITATION IN SPECIALTY WAVEGUIDES USING MICRO OPTICAL ELEMENTS.
- Creator
-
Mohammed, Waleed, Johnosn, Eric, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Although optical fibers and specialty waveguides are the base of majority of today's telecom and light delivery applications, fabrication deformation, nonlinearity and attenuation limit the bandwidth of the data being transmitted or the amount of power carried by these systems. One-way to overcome these limitations without changing the fibers design or fabrication is to engineer the input light in order to excite a certain mode or a group of modes with unique optical properties. Diffractive...
Show moreAlthough optical fibers and specialty waveguides are the base of majority of today's telecom and light delivery applications, fabrication deformation, nonlinearity and attenuation limit the bandwidth of the data being transmitted or the amount of power carried by these systems. One-way to overcome these limitations without changing the fibers design or fabrication is to engineer the input light in order to excite a certain mode or a group of modes with unique optical properties. Diffractive and micro optics are highly effective for selectively coupling light to specific modes. Using micro optics, mode selective coupling can be achieved through several matching schemes: phase only, phase and amplitude, or phase, amplitude and polarization. The main scope of this work is the design and fabrication of novel optical elements that overcome the limitations of these light delivery systems, as well as the characterization and analysis of their performance both experimentally and using numerical simulation
Show less - Date Issued
- 2004
- Identifier
- CFE0000171, ucf:46163
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000171
- Title
- CONTRIBUTIONS TO AUTOMATIC PARTICLE IDENTIFICATION IN ELECTRON MICROGRAPHS: ALGORITHMS, IMPLEMENTATION, AND APPLICATIONS.
- Creator
-
Singh, Vivek, Marinescu, Dan, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Three dimensional reconstruction of large macromolecules like viruses at resolutions below 8 \AA~ - 10 \AA~ requires a large set of projection images and the particle identification step becomes a bottleneck. Several automatic and semi-automatic particle detection algorithms have been developed along the years. We present a general technique designed to automatically identify the projection images of particles. The method utilizes Markov random field modelling of the projected images and...
Show moreThree dimensional reconstruction of large macromolecules like viruses at resolutions below 8 \AA~ - 10 \AA~ requires a large set of projection images and the particle identification step becomes a bottleneck. Several automatic and semi-automatic particle detection algorithms have been developed along the years. We present a general technique designed to automatically identify the projection images of particles. The method utilizes Markov random field modelling of the projected images and involves a preprocessing of electron micrographs followed by image segmentation and post processing for boxing of the particle projections. Due to the typically extensive computational requirements for extracting hundreds of thousands of particle projections, parallel processing becomes essential. We present parallel algorithms and load balancing schemes for our algorithms. The lack of a standard benchmark for relative performance analysis of particle identification algorithms has prompted us to develop a benchmark suite. Further, we present a collection of metrics for the relative performance analysis of particle identification algorithms on the micrograph images in the suite, and discuss the design of the benchmark suite.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2005
- Identifier
- CFE0000705, ucf:46610
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000705
- Title
- INCORPORATING GRAPHIC NOVELS INTO SOCIAL STUDIES BASED INSTRUCTION: AN EFFECTIVE MEANS OF DETERMINING QUALITY GRAPHIC NOVELS.
- Creator
-
Johannessen, Lindsey, Hoffman, Elizabeth, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
ABSTRACT It is becoming increasing important that teachers educate students about social studies in such a way so that students are interested and motivated by what they read. So often the curriculum is bombarded with physically heavy, incomprehensible, and traditional textbooks. Based upon the need for extensions to the social studies textbooks, my goal to establish a guideline for selecting quality graphic novels fitted for elementary social studies instruction. Therefore, my study will...
Show moreABSTRACT It is becoming increasing important that teachers educate students about social studies in such a way so that students are interested and motivated by what they read. So often the curriculum is bombarded with physically heavy, incomprehensible, and traditional textbooks. Based upon the need for extensions to the social studies textbooks, my goal to establish a guideline for selecting quality graphic novels fitted for elementary social studies instruction. Therefore, my study will attempt to answer the question: What is an effective means of determining quality graphic novels? Following my adaptation and creation of rubrics established for determining the needs and qualities of graphic novels, I was able to establish and analyze several social studies content related graphic novels appropriate for the elementary social studies curriculum. This investigation into social studies graphic novels provided 18 graphic novels for possible use in the elementary social studies curriculum, 5 of which were deemed quality via the established rubrics. Furthermore, the investigation proved that the books deemed quality provided more than what was established as necessary within the rubrics. The additional information found within those texts was referred to as a postlude. One strong conclusion from this study is the large void of graphic novels that teachers might link with the social studies curriculum so as to enhance elementary social studies instruction.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2011
- Identifier
- CFH0003824, ucf:44764
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0003824
- Title
- An Exploratory Analysis of a Five Minute Speech Sample of Mothers of Children with Selective Mutism.
- Creator
-
Kovac, Lisa, Culp, Anne, Hundley, Gulnora, Szente, Judit, Renk, Kimberly, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Selective mutism (SM), an anxiety disorder wherein children have difficulty speaking or communicating when they are uncomfortable, is relevant for the early childhood population as symptoms often manifest upon school entry (Steinhausen (&) Juzi, 1996) and early treatment leads to better treatment prognosis (Oerbeck, Stein, Wentzel-Larsen, Langsrud (&) Kristensen, 2014). Bergman, Gonzalez, Piacentini and Keller, (2013) utilized an integrative behavioral treatment for children (ages 4-8) with...
Show moreSelective mutism (SM), an anxiety disorder wherein children have difficulty speaking or communicating when they are uncomfortable, is relevant for the early childhood population as symptoms often manifest upon school entry (Steinhausen (&) Juzi, 1996) and early treatment leads to better treatment prognosis (Oerbeck, Stein, Wentzel-Larsen, Langsrud (&) Kristensen, 2014). Bergman, Gonzalez, Piacentini and Keller, (2013) utilized an integrative behavioral treatment for children (ages 4-8) with SM and reported a 75% treatment responder status after 24 weeks of therapy. Their mothers are the focus of this study.This exploratory study examined the content of Five Minute Speech Samples at baseline and end of treatment condition for 9 mothers whose children had participated in the randomized controlled trial. Via a content analysis of language samples, this study examined emergent themes and a priori codes of Expressed Emotion (a construct associated with a variety of disorders) and parental overcontrol (a construct associated with the development and maintenance of anxiety disorders). Results revealed five categories of content expressed by mothers: (a) child characteristics (b) child's activities, (c) relationships with others, (d) difficulties other than SM, and (e) thoughts related to SM. Analysis revealed mothers who had children with SM had higher levels of expressed emotion and emotional overinvolvement than samples of mothers of children without SM. The implication of this finding is unknown and is a direction for future research. Overcontrol was overtly present in one mother and subtle in other mothers. Levels of expressed emotion largely remained unchanged over the course of treatment. Overall, information garnered from giving mothers the five minutes speech sample provides insight for therapists to design intervention. Giving the mothers a chance to discuss their views and experiences with their children is valuable in determining the behavioral and emotional support they need as they parent their child with SM.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2018
- Identifier
- CFE0007033, ucf:51990
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007033
- Title
- ATTRIBUTES INFLUENCING MEETING PLANNERS' DESTINATION SELECTION: A CASE OF ORLANDO, FL.
- Creator
-
Hayat, Adi, Okumus, Fevzi, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
The meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions (MICE) industry generates billions of dollars in direct and indirect spending annually, and is considered one of the fastest growing segments of the tourism industry. Destinations that want to capitalize on this industry must understand what drives its planners. The current study used Orlando, Florida as a case study, and investigated whether there are differences between the three meeting planners' types (association, corporate, 3rd...
Show moreThe meetings, incentives, conventions, and exhibitions (MICE) industry generates billions of dollars in direct and indirect spending annually, and is considered one of the fastest growing segments of the tourism industry. Destinations that want to capitalize on this industry must understand what drives its planners. The current study used Orlando, Florida as a case study, and investigated whether there are differences between the three meeting planners' types (association, corporate, 3rd party) in regards to destination selection attributes and the recent recession impact. The study further identified attributes that affect future bookings to Orlando. Data was collected from a nationwide survey of meeting planners with a usable sample of 2,388 completed phone surveys and 118 completed online questionnaires. Only one significant difference was found between the three meeting planners' types. This research was performed in the midst of the recent recession. Some effects of the recent economic downturn on the events industry are decreased attendance and more conservative cost management. Most association meeting planners did not cancel or postponed their events, although all planners agree that attendance to their meetings decreased. Third party planners seemed to be the most sensitive to budget allocations. Recommendations for the Orlando Orange County Conventions and Visitor's Bureau include marketing the variety and quality of its meeting facilities better, its extreme weather insurance and its website. It is also wise to pursue more local associations, because those can be the main source of income during recessions.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2011
- Identifier
- CFE0004008, ucf:49180
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004008
- Title
- MULTILAYERED PLANAR PERIODIC SUBWAVELENGTH MICROSTRUCTURES FOR GENERATING AND DETECTING CIRCULARLY POLARIZED THERMAL INFRARED RADIATION.
- Creator
-
Wadsworth, Samuel, Boreman, Glenn, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Generation and detection of circularly-polarized (CP) radiation in the 8- to 12-[micro]m band of the infrared (IR) spectrum is crucial for polarization sensing and imaging scenarios. There is very little naturally occurring CP radiation in the long-wave IR band, so that useful functionalities may be obtained by exploiting preferential radiation and transmission characteristics of engineered metamaterials. Conventional CP devices in the IR utilize birefringent crystals, which are typically...
Show moreGeneration and detection of circularly-polarized (CP) radiation in the 8- to 12-[micro]m band of the infrared (IR) spectrum is crucial for polarization sensing and imaging scenarios. There is very little naturally occurring CP radiation in the long-wave IR band, so that useful functionalities may be obtained by exploiting preferential radiation and transmission characteristics of engineered metamaterials. Conventional CP devices in the IR utilize birefringent crystals, which are typically bulky and expensive to manufacture. The operation of these devices is generally optimized at a single wavelength. Imaging in the long-wave IR is most often broadband, so that achromatic CP-device behavior is highly desirable from a flux-transfer viewpoint. Also, size, weight and cost are significant drivers in the design of practical IR systems. Thus a solution is sought with a convenient thin planar form factor. This dissertation will demonstrate a novel planar periodic subwavelength-microstructured approach derived from classical radiofrequency meanderline designs that are able to generate CP radiation over a broad IR band while maintaining a low fabrication profile. We investigate issues regarding efficiency as a function of the number of layers in the device structure; reflective, transmissive, and emissive behavior; strategies for broadband achromatization; and thermal-isolation requirements between the active blackbody reservoir and the top of the planar device, to achieve a given degree of polarization. Theoretical, numerical, and experimental findings are presented that confirm the feasibility of this class of devices for use in a wide variety of situations, from polarization imaging and spectroscopy to industrial laser processing and machining.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2011
- Identifier
- CFE0003935, ucf:48686
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003935
- Title
- PERSONAL PERCEPTIONS AND ORGANIZATIONAL FACTORS INFLUENCING POLICE DISCRETION: THE CASE OF TURKISH PATROL OFFICERS' RESPONSIVENESS.
- Creator
-
Tasdoven, Hidayet, Kapucu, Naim, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
-
Police officers make decisions at the street level in a variety of situations that have direct impact on quality of life, justice in society, and individual freedom. These decisions inherently involve the exercise of discretion, since successfully performed police tasks are linked to the officer's choosing among alternative courses of action. Appropriateness of unsupervised decisions taken under street contingencies remains questionable in terms of police-behavior legitimacy. Law enforcement...
Show morePolice officers make decisions at the street level in a variety of situations that have direct impact on quality of life, justice in society, and individual freedom. These decisions inherently involve the exercise of discretion, since successfully performed police tasks are linked to the officer's choosing among alternative courses of action. Appropriateness of unsupervised decisions taken under street contingencies remains questionable in terms of police-behavior legitimacy. Law enforcement agencies seek ways to control excessive discretion to avoid undesired consequences of police discretion and maintain organizational legitimacy. Traditionally, organizations developed reward and sanction structures that aimed to shape officer behavior on the street. Recent perspectives, on the other hand, emphasize that it is imperative to manage discretion by employing a value-based approach that requires the agency to encourage subordinates in the exercise of certain behaviors simply because they are believed to be right and proper. This approach depends primarily on beliefs, values, and attitudes of employees rather than external contingencies of environment. Drawing on expectancy and value-based approaches, this study examines the factors affecting patrol officers' discretionary decisions to enforce law in the Turkish National Police (TNP). The reward expectancy concept was derived from the expectancy theory of motivation, which uses extrinsic rewards in structuring discretion. Regarding the value-based approach, public service motivation (PSM) represents the intrinsic motives of officers in this study, while selective enforcement corresponds to the attitudes of officers. Discretionary behaviors of officers on the street were conceptualized as responsiveness, which refers to the degree to which officers iv are willing to respond to street contingencies. The study tested the mediating role of work effort between reward expectancy/responsiveness and public service motivation/responsiveness relationships. Samples of the study were drawn from uniformed patrol officers in seven provinces of Turkey. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Responses of 613 patrol officers were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The study developed four latent constructs and validated their measurement models by using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Structural equation modeling was used to investigate causal and confirmatory relationships among latent variables. Findings of the study suggested that reward expectancy did not have a statistically significant relationship to responsiveness. The study did not find a significant association between reward expectancy and work effort of officers. This finding was found to be attributable to the fact that officers do not believe in the fair distribution procedures of rewards and they do not value organizational rewards. Public service motivation of respondents, on the other hand, indicated a strong, positive, and statistically significant relationship with both work effort and responsiveness. These results indicated that intrinsic motives of officers in the TNP are more powerful in explaining officer responsiveness to street contingencies. As hypothesized, officer attitudes toward selective enforcement negatively influenced officer responsiveness, indicating that officers' beliefs and values influence their discretionary behaviors. Among the demographic characteristics of participants, only age of officer indicated a negative significant relationship to responsiveness. This finding suggested that motivation decreases as age increases. Contrary to other findings in the literature, this study found that intensity perceptions of respondents was positively associated with responsiveness. The study revealed some policy, theoretical, and methodological implications. The findings suggested that the TNP should either completely eliminate the existing reward system or revise it to motivate officers to be responsive. A leadership practice that promotes PSM and discourages selective enforcement was also suggested. Contrary to research that emphasizes the role of extrinsic motivation on police discretion, this study empirically reported that intrinsic motivation has an even stronger effect on officer behavior and needs to be taken into account in future studies. The study contributes to an understanding of police discretionary behavior in the TNP, which has unique characteristics of structure, culture, and law. The limitations of the study in terms of its dependency on officer perceptions and concerns about construct validity were discussed and future research was suggested.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2011
- Identifier
- CFE0003886, ucf:48734
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003886
