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Correspondence between Multiple-Respondent Anecdotal Assessments and Functional Analysis: Analyses of Rank-Order, Magnitude-of-Difference, and Overall Outcomes
We administered the Motivation Assessment Scale (MAS) and the Questions About Behavioral Function (QABF) to five raters and compared the results with functional analysis outcomes for 12 cases in which agreement was obtained for at least four out of five raters on either anecdotal assessment. The scores for functional categories on the MAS and QABF were ranked by averaging the scores for the raters who agreed on the primary maintaining variable. Functional analysis results were ranked by examining average responding across all conditions. A comparison showed correspondence between the highest category and the highest functional analysis condition for 10 out of 11 cases for the MAS and all 10 cases for the QABF. Correspondence for the category and condition ranked second was found for 2 out of 11 cases for the MAS and 2 out of 10 cases for the QABF. The magnitude of difference between categories on the MAS/QABF did not appear to predict the amount of difference in responding in the corresponding functional analyses.
Date:
May 2016
Creator:
Arnalds, Holmfridur Osk
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Parents’ Reported Utilization, Accessibility, and Effectiveness of Academic Support Resources for Military Adolescents at Fort Hood Military Base
Academic support resources are increasingly available to military-connected youth; however, the military community, in general, tends to under-utilize available resources. The research literature has not clearly identified accessibility to military academic support resources or perceived effectiveness of resources as explanations for under-utilization of adolescent support services. The current research study examines military parents' perceptions of academic resource programs looking at how parents' perception of resource accessibility and resource effectiveness were related to program utilization. Based on qualitative analysis of military parent interviews, utilization was related to both accessibility and effectiveness. This research adds to the literature by identifying the relationship to between accessibility and utilization and reported effectiveness and utilization of academic support resources.
Date:
May 2016
Creator:
Booker, Dana Dean
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Rated M for Monkey: An Ethnographic Study of Parental Information Behavior when Assessing Video Game Content for their Children
Following the decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association (2011), which struck down the state of California’s appeal to restrict the sale of games deemed to have “deviant violence” to those 18 or older and the court’s recommendation that parents use the ESRB Ratings System instead, this ethnographic study sought to better understand what parents thought of laws on video games and how they used the recommended ratings system. A total of 30 interviews using semi-structured open-ended questions were conducted and analyzed to reveal what parents thought of laws on video games, how they used the ESRB Ratings System to assess video game content, and what other methods they used for video game content assessment in addition to the ratings system. This research utilized Dervin and Nilan’s (1986) sense-making methodology as a way to learn how parents bridged their knowledge gap when it came to learning about video game content and how they made sense of the knowledge gained to determine the content appropriateness for their children. Analyses of the collected data provided the foundation for a model on the effects of the parent-child relationship on parental information behavior.
Date:
May 2016
Creator:
Harrelson, Diana
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Exploring Analog and Digital Design Using the Open-Source Electric VLSI Design System
The design of VLSI electronic circuits can be achieved at many different abstraction levels starting from system behavior to the most detailed, physical layout level. As the number of transistors in VLSI circuits is increasing, the complexity of the design is also increasing, and it is now beyond human ability to manage. Hence CAD (Computer Aided design) or EDA (Electronic Design Automation) tools are involved in the design. EDA or CAD tools automate the design, verification and testing of these VLSI circuits. In today’s market, there are many EDA tools available. However, they are very expensive and require high-performance platforms. One of the key challenges today is to select appropriate CAD or EDA tools which are open-source for academic purposes. This thesis provides a detailed examination of an open-source EDA tool called Electric VLSI Design system. An excellent and efficient CAD tool useful for students and teachers to implement ideas by modifying the source code, Electric fulfills these requirements. This thesis' primary objective is to explain the Electric software features and architecture and to provide various digital and analog designs that are implemented by this software for educational purposes. Since the choice of an EDA tool is based on the …
Date:
May 2016
Creator:
Aluru, Gunasekhar
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Predicting Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms During Adolescence: A Longitudinal Study of The Role of Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) Axis Dysfunction
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a trauma-related disorder that may develop in response to traumatic or stressful events. Dysfunction of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis has been implicated in the disorder. Studies support such dysfunction as being a consequence of PTSD, rather than a precursor. However, most studies of the HPA are either cross-sectional or have been carried out in adults. The aim of the present study was to identify whether HPA dysregulation interacts with stressful experiences to increase the likelihood of developing PTSD symptoms in a community-recruited sample of healthy adolescent girls. Adolescent girls (N = 550) and one of their parents participated. Adolescents’ clinical symptoms were assessed at baseline and at a nine month follow-up. Saliva samples were collected from all adolescent participants at waking, 30 minutes after waking, and 8 pm on 3 consecutive days. Flattened diurnal slope of cortisol at baseline was associated with increased PTSD symptoms nine months later. Baseline cortisol awakening response (CAR) per se was not prospectively related to developing PTSD symptoms, but its interactions with stressful experience was associated with elevated PTSD symptoms at follow-up. Effects were small and need to be replicated in samples with more severe stressors, as well as more …
Date:
May 2016
Creator:
Liu, Keke, 1988-
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
The Art of Borrowing: Quotations and Allusions in Western Music
Music travels across the past in the form of composers borrowing from each other. Such musical borrowings and quotations involve not only the use of melodic materials but also musical structures, texts, symbolism and other types of inspiration. The pre-existing musical idea being used is linked to a specific memory of a particular composer and time. The artistic allusions of composers connect the present and the past. Music also travels across the present and into the future. The outcome of contemporary composers borrowing from each other influences the present period and affects later composers' musical inspiration, i.e., it affects future composers, and therefore, the future. Composers frequently refer to melodies or musical idea from contemporaries and reinterpret them in their own compositions. This is largely because composers do not write in isolation and have been inspired and influenced by contemporary musicians and cultural contexts. However, these musical borrowings sometimes raise questions about the composers' creativity and authenticity. This is largely due to the nature of inspiration and imagination, which determines who or what is original. With this in mind, why do composers still borrow musical ideas despite the risks involved? In what ways do they overcome criticism and demonstrate the …
Date:
May 2016
Creator:
Lee, Myung-Ji
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Role of Combat Exposure and Insomnia in Student Veterans' Adaptation to College
Since 2002, the number of veterans enrolled in universities has nearly doubled, although 30-40% of veterans fail to complete their degree. While research efforts to understand the challenges veterans face transitioning from military life to college has increased in recent years, few studies have looked beyond the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Insomnia is the most frequently reported symptom of combat veterans and can have serious implications for college students. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of insomnia and student veteran adaptation to college relative to civilian students. College students (N = 588) were administered a Background Information Questionnaire, the Insomnia Severity Index, the Deployment Risk and Resilience Inventory, and the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire. Results revealed that students with insomnia reported significantly lower adaptation to college than students without insomnia. Student veterans reported better academic and personal-emotional adaptation to college than civilian students, while civilians reported better social adjustment than veterans. Although combat veterans without insomnia scored consistently higher academic adjustment than non-combat veterans and civilian students, when present insomnia seemed to have a greater negative effect on combat veterans’ academic adjustment relative to civilian students. Furthermore, insomnia mediated the relationship between combat …
Date:
May 2016
Creator:
McGuffin, James J.
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Quality Management Theory Development and Investigation of the Constructs within an Organizational Framework
Supply chain management (SCM) and quality management (QM) share some common literature and have overlapping domains that reinforce each other in the supplier and customer relationship management areas. Despite the recognized importance of supplier and customer relationships toward achieving quality goals, limited prior research examines whether SCM represents a distinct construct within the prominent existing quality focused organizational frameworks such as the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA). As a result of the absence of the SCM construct in the frameworks, the problem facing researchers is understanding the role of SCM in the implementation of QM practices within an organization. Such an understanding is key to QM theory development for the 21st century organizations. In order to conduct this investigation, we examine several well-studied quality focused organizational frameworks that are validated among the community of researchers, and, widely accepted among practitioners. However, which of these well-known quality management models serve as the best proxy for a quality focused organizational framework is an important area for research in order to better promote QM worldwide. This research involves three essays and uses a mixed methodology of qualitative and quantitative research. Essay 1 compares well-known national quality award frameworks such as the MBNQA, …
Date:
May 2016
Creator:
Peng, Xianghui
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Development of an Instrument to Measure the Level of Acceptability and Tolerability of Cyber Aggression: Mixed-Methods Research on Saudi Arabian Social Media Users
Cyber aggression came about as a result of advances in information communication technology and the aggressive usage of the technology in real life. Cyber aggression can take on many forms and facets. However, the main focus of this study is cyberbullying and cyberstalking through information sharing practices that might constitute digital aggressive acts. Human aggression has been extensively investigated. Studies focusing on understanding the causes and effects that can lead to physical and digital aggression have shown the prevalence of cyber aggression in different settings. Moreover, these studies have shown strong relationship between cyber aggression and the physiological and physical trauma on both perpetrators and their victims. Nevertheless, the literature shows a lack of studies that could measure the level of acceptance and tolerance of these dangerous digital acts. This study is divided into two main stages; Stage one is a qualitative pilot study carried out to explore the concept of cyber aggression and its existence in Saudi Arabia. In-depth interviews were conducted with 14 Saudi social media users to collect understanding and meanings of cyber aggression. The researcher followed the Colaizzi’s methods to analyze the descriptive data. A proposed model was generated to describe cyber aggression in social media …
Date:
May 2016
Creator:
Albar, Ali Aldroos
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Child Centered Play Therapy with Children Exhibiting Aggressive Behaviors
Aggressive behaviors in childhood currently serve as the leading cause of counselor referrals within the United States. Children exhibiting maladaptive aggressive symptomology are at an increased risk for highly externalized and problematic behaviors across the lifespan. Emotional self-regulation and empathy are two constructs currently believed to be closely related to aggression, but a lack of research exploring these variables currently exists in the counseling literature. In this study I examined the effect of child-centered play therapy (CCPT), is a manualized, developmentally responsive, and nondirective intervention, on these variables. Participants were 71 students from four Title 1 elementary schools in the southwest U.S. referred by teachers for aggressive behavior (12 females, 59 males; age range 5-10 years with mean age 6.28. The sample consisted of 52.1% (n = 37) children identified as African American, 21.1% (n = 15) as Latina/Latino, 19.7% (n = 14) as Caucasian, and 7% as multiracial (n = 5). Participants were randomly assigned to 8 weeks of a twice-weekly CCPT experimental group (n = 36) or a waitlist control group (n = 35). Results of descriptive discriminant analyses (DDA) of the Social Emotional Assets and Resilience Scale and the Children’s Aggression Scale scores revealed that parents perceived …
Date:
May 2016
Creator:
Wilson, Brittany
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Feasibility of a New Technique to Determine Dynamic Tensile Behavior of Brittle Materials
Dynamic tensile characterization of geo-materials is critical to the modeling and design of protective structures that are often made of concrete. One of the most commonly used techniques currently associated with this type of testing is performed with a Kolsky bar and is known as the spall technique. The validity of the data from the spall technique is highly debated because the necessary boundary conditions for the experiment are not satisfied. By using a technique called pulse shaping, a new “controlled” spall technique was developed to satisfy all boundary conditions so that the analyzed data may be useful in modeling and design. The results from this project were promising and show the potential to revolutionize the way Kolsky bar testing is performed.
Date:
May 2016
Creator:
Dean, Andrew W.
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
A Phenomenology of Fostering Learning: Alternate Reality Games and Transmedia Storytelling
This dissertation presents the essence of the experience of instructional designers and instructors who have used alternate reality games (ARGs) and transmedia storytelling (TS) for teaching and learning. The use of game-like narratives, such as ARGs and TS, is slowly increasing. However, we know little about the lived experiences of those who have implemented such transmedia experiences in formal or informal learning. The data consists of written transcripts from interviews with 11 co-researchers in the United States and Europe. Phenomenology was the guiding methodology. The study begins by reviewing storytelling and the use of games in learning, leading up to exploring the tradition of using ARGs and TS in learning contexts. The analysis was one of reduction leading to codes, summary stories, themes, and the essence of the experience. Co-researchers used many techniques to enlighten their learners including problem-solving, critical thinking, collaboration, encouragement, disruption, and connection-making. When successful, connection-making facilitates learner agency development by providing learners with the power to act by their own initiative. Action came through the communicated narratives and games that closely tied to real-world problems. In the context of these efforts, this study's co-researchers emerged as educational life-world learning-coaches, "sensei", who were each using strategies and …
Date:
May 2016
Creator:
Wakefield, Jenny S.
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Field Validation of Zero Energy Lab Water-to-Water Ground Coupled Heat Pump Model
Heat pumps are a vital part of each building for their role in keeping the space conditioned for the occupant. This study focuses on developing a model for the ground-source heat pump at the Zero Energy lab at the University of North Texas, and finding the minimum data required for generating the model. The literature includes many models with different approaches to determine the performance of the heat pump. Each method has its pros and cons. In this research the equation-fit method was used to generate a model based on the data collected from the field. Two experiments were conducted for the cooling mode: the first one at the beginning of the season and the second one at the peak of the season to cover all the operation conditions. The same procedure was followed for the heating mode. The models generated based on the collected data were validated against the experiment data. The error of the models was within ±10%. The study showed that the error could be reduced by 20% to 42% when using the field data to generate the model instead of the manufacturer’s catalog data. Also it was found that the minimum period to generate the cooling …
Date:
May 2016
Creator:
Abdulameer, Saif
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Customizable Modality Pathway Learning Design: Exploring Personalized Learning Choices through a Lens of Self-Regulated Learning
Open online courses provide a unique opportunity to examine learner preferences in an environment that removes several pressures associated with traditional learning. This mixed methods study sought to examine the pathways that learners will create for themselves when given the choice between an instructor-directed modality and learner-directed modality. Study participants were first examined based on their levels of self-regulated learning. Follow-up qualitative interviews were conducted to examine the choices that participants made, the impact of the course design on those choices, and what role self-regulation played in the process. The resulting analysis revealed that participants desired an overall learning experience that was tailored to personal learning preferences, but that technical and design limitations can create barriers in the learning experience. The results from this research can help shape future instructional design efforts that wish to increase learner agency and choice in the educational process.
Date:
May 2016
Creator:
Crosslin, Matthew B.
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Virtual Entrepreneurship: Explicating the Antecedents of Firm Performance
Prior research has examined entrepreneurial businesses spatially located in the physical or offline context; however, recent radical information and technological breakthroughs allow entrepreneurs to launch their businesses completely online. The growth of the online business industry has been phenomenal. Predictions for worldwide online sales estimate it to reach $2 trillion in 2016. Virtual entrepreneurship refers to the pursuit and exploitation of opportunities via virtual platforms. Web 2.0 cybermediaries offer web-based platforms that function similarly to traditional intermediaries in a virtual setting and minimize barriers to entry for virtual entrepreneurial firms. The use of such cybermediaries with increasing success suggests an implicit shift in the dominant logic that typically underpins the functioning of entrepreneurial firms operating in the physical world. In this relatively uncharted territory, marked by a focus on profit, cooperation, collaboration and community, three ideal-type institutional logics i.e. Market, Corporation and Community, blend together. It is posited that a Virtual Entrepreneurial Logic guides the norms, behaviors, and practices of entrepreneurial firms operating via these virtual platforms. This raises the question whether the blending of three ideal-type logics leads to the existence of different antecedents of performance. A business model antecedent addressing the economic dimension, a community antecedent addressing the …
Date:
May 2016
Creator:
Chandna, Vallari
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
An Analysis of Educational Technology Publications: Who, What and Where in the Last 20 Years
This exploratory and descriptive study examines research articles published in ten of the top journals in the broad area of educational technology during the last 20 years: 1) Educational Technology Research and Development (ETR&D); 2) Instructional Science; 3) Journal of the Learning Sciences; 4) TechTrends; 5) Educational Technology: The Magazine for Managers of Change in Education; 6) Journal of Educational Technology & Society; 7) Computers and Education; 8) British Journal of Educational Technology (BJET); 9) Journal of Educational Computing Research; and 10) Journal of Research on Technology in Education. To discover research trends in the articles published from 1995-2014, abstracts from all contributing articles published in those ten prominent journals were analyzed to extract a latent semantic space of broad research areas, top authors, and top-cited publications. Concepts that have emerged, grown, or diminished in the field were noted in order to identify the most dominant in the last two decades; and the most frequent contributors to each journal as well as those who contributed to more than one of the journals studied were identified.
Date:
May 2016
Creator:
Natividad Beltrán del Río, Gloria Ofelia
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Enhancement of Light Emission from Metal Nanoparticles Embedded Graphene Oxide
A fully oxidized state of graphene behaves as a pure insulating while a pristine graphene behaves as a pure conducting. The in-between oxide state in graphene which is the controlled state of oxide behaves as a semiconducting. This is the key condition for tuning optical band gap for the better light emitting property. The controlling method of oxide in graphene structure is known as reduction which is the mixed state of sp2 and sp3 hybrid state in graphene structure. sp2 hybridized domains correspond to pure carbon-carbon bond i.e. pristine graphene while sp3 hybridized domains correspond to the oxide bond with carbon i.e. defect in graphene structure. This is the uniqueness of the graphene-base material. Graphene is a gapless material i.e. having no bandgap energy and this property prevents it from switching device applications and also from the optoelectronic devices applications. The main challenge for this material is to tune as a semiconducting which can open the optical characteristics and emit light of desired color. There may be several possibilities for the modification of graphene-base material that can tune a band gap. One way is to find semiconducting property by doping the defects into pristine graphene structure. Other way is oxides …
Date:
May 2016
Creator:
Karna, Sanjay K.
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Characterization of Post-Plasma Etch Residues and Plasma Induced Damage Evaluation on Patterned Porous Low-K Dielectrics Using MIR-IR Spectroscopy
As the miniaturization of functional devices in integrated circuit (IC) continues to scale down to sub-nanometer size, the process complexity increases and makes materials characterization difficult. One of our research effort demonstrates the development and application of novel Multiple Internal Reflection Infrared Spectroscopy (MIR-IR) as a sensitive (sub-5 nm) metrology tool to provide precise chemical bonding information that can effectively guide through the development of more efficient process control. In this work, we investigated the chemical bonding structure of thin fluorocarbon polymer films deposited on low-k dielectric nanostructures, using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Complemented by functional group specific chemical derivatization reactions, fluorocarbon film was established to contain fluorinated alkenes and carbonyl moieties embedded in a highly cross-linked, branched fluorocarbon structure and a model bonding structure was proposed for the first time. In addition, plasma induced damage to high aspect ratio trench low-k structures especially on the trench sidewalls was evaluated both qualitatively and quantitatively. Damage from different plasma processing was correlated with Si-OH formation and breakage of Si-CH3 bonds with increase in C=O functionality. In another endeavor, TiN hard mask defect formation after fluorocarbon plasma etch was characterized and investigated. …
Date:
May 2016
Creator:
Rimal, Sirish
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
An Exploration of the Word2vec Algorithm: Creating a Vector Representation of a Language Vocabulary that Encodes Meaning and Usage Patterns in the Vector Space Structure
This thesis is an exloration and exposition of a highly efficient shallow neural network algorithm called word2vec, which was developed by T. Mikolov et al. in order to create vector representations of a language vocabulary such that information about the meaning and usage of the vocabulary words is encoded in the vector space structure. Chapter 1 introduces natural language processing, vector representations of language vocabularies, and the word2vec algorithm. Chapter 2 reviews the basic mathematical theory of deterministic convex optimization. Chapter 3 provides background on some concepts from computer science that are used in the word2vec algorithm: Huffman trees, neural networks, and binary cross-entropy. Chapter 4 provides a detailed discussion of the word2vec algorithm itself and includes a discussion of continuous bag of words, skip-gram, hierarchical softmax, and negative sampling. Finally, Chapter 5 explores some applications of vector representations: word categorization, analogy completion, and language translation assistance.
Date:
May 2016
Creator:
Le, Thu Anh
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
A Comparison of Methods for Sight-Reading Development Utilizing Collegiate Saxophonists
The ability to sight-read well is held as a highly regarded and important skill in music performance and education. Over the past 90 years, researchers have investigated several aspects of music sight-reading, especially those attributes possessed by skilled sight-readers. A significant and recurrent finding from this body of research is the relationship between sight-reading and rhythm recognition. Though these studies have found positive effects and correlations between rhythm recognition and sight-reading, they have been limited and indirect. The aim of this dissertation was to investigate the effects of (a) practicing rhythms on a single pitch and (b) practicing rhythms with full-range scales and their direct effects on sight-reading ability in saxophonists at the college level. The primary objective in this research was to determine if one method was more effective than another in developing sight-reading skills. The participants (N = 74) consisted of college students who were enrolled in saxophone lessons at a university in the southwestern United States. Participants were administered a sight-reading pre-test at the beginning of an 8-week treatment period. After pre-testing, students were blocked into two groups. The first treatment group was assigned to practice rhythms on a single pitch and the second treatment group was …
Date:
May 2016
Creator:
Campbell, Scott (Saxophonist)
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
A Spatial Econometric Study Examining the Determinants of Principal Salaries
The lack of evidence on reforms, such as determinants of principal salary, points to data and research deficiencies to be addressed in order to learn more about their effects and make sound public policies. The purpose of the study was to examine district and community determinants of principals’ salaries using a spatial econometric framework. The findings have implications for education policy development related to pay for contribution, rather than pay based on tenure, experience, or district wealth. The quantitative study used a spatial regression approach to model school, district, and community factors as determinants of Texas high school principal’s salary. Principal salaries are viewed from several lenses in this study by considering effective outcomes of pay defined by actual salaries and market considerations for pay as defined by community, organizational and human capital variables. Literature from the private sector as well as from the public school setting was used as a theoretical underpinning for the hypotheses set forth in this study. The findings provide empirical insights regarding how principal salaries are determined. The study found a statistically significant spatial autocorrelation relationship at p<.05 confirming geographic locations is a robust influence on principal salaries. After controlling for the spatial autocorrelation the …
Date:
May 2016
Creator:
Bland, J. Edward
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
A Search for Periodic and Quasi-Periodic Patterns in Select Proxy Data with a Goal to Understanding Temperature Variation
In this work over 200 temperature proxy data sets have been analyzed to determine if periodic and or quasi-periodic patterns exist in the data sets. References to the journal articles where data are recorded are provided. Chapter 1 serves an introduction to the problem of temperature determination in providing information on how various proxy data sources are derived. Examples are given of the techniques followed in producing proxy data that predict temperature for each method used. In chapter 2 temperature proxy data spanning the last 4000 years, from 2,000 BCE to 2,000 CE, are analyzed to determine if overarching patterns exist in proxy data sets. An average of over 100 proxy data sets was used to produce Figure 4. An overview of the data shows that several “peaks” can be identified. The data were then subjected to analysis using a series of frequency modulated cosine waves. This analysis led to a function that can be expressed by equation 3. The literature was examined to determine what mathematical models had been published to fit the experimental proxy data for temperature. A number of attempts have been made to fit data from limited data sets with some degree of success. Some other …
Date:
May 2016
Creator:
Otto, James (James Robert)
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Performance Evaluation of UNT Apogee Stadium Wind Turbines
The following report chronicles the University of North Texas Wind Turbine Project at Apogee Stadium. The timeline of events will include the feasibility study conducted by and for the university, grant awards from the Texas State Energy Conservation Office to fund the project, and a three-year sample of real time performance data since installation. The purpose of this case study is to compare the energy generation estimates by various stakeholders to the measured energy generation using a new but uniform performance relationship. In order to optimize energy generation in wind turbine generator systems, the most common wind speeds measured at the site should also be the most efficient wind speeds at which the wind turbine can convert the kinetic energy in the wind into mechanical energy and ultimately electrical energy. The tool used to convey this relationship will be a figure plotting the wind speed profile against the efficiency curve of the wind turbine. Applying this relationship tool to the UNT Apogee Stadium wind turbines provided valuable results. The most common wind speeds at Apogee Stadium are not the most efficient wind speed for the turbine. Also, the most common wind speeds were near the lower limit of the wind …
Date:
May 2016
Creator:
McCary, William D., III
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library
Learning from small data set for object recognition in mobile platforms.
Did you stand at a door with a bunch of keys and tried to find the right one to unlock the door? Did you hold a flower and wonder the name of it? A need of object recognition could rise anytime and any where in our daily lives. With the development of mobile devices object recognition applications become possible to provide immediate assistance. However, performing complex tasks in even the most advanced mobile platforms still faces great challenges due to the limited computing resources and computing power. In this thesis, we present an object recognition system that resides and executes within a mobile device, which can efficiently extract image features and perform learning and classification. To account for the computing constraint, a novel feature extraction method that minimizes the data size and maintains data consistency is proposed. This system leverages principal component analysis method and is able to update the trained classifier when new examples become available . Our system relieves users from creating a lot of examples and makes it user friendly. The experimental results demonstrate that a learning method trained with a very small number of examples can achieve recognition accuracy above 90% in various acquisition conditions. In …
Date:
May 2016
Creator:
Liu, Siyuan
Object Type:
Thesis or Dissertation
System:
The UNT Digital Library