Electronic Thesis or Dissertation

This dissertation proposes a utility-centric peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading framework as an alternative to traditional net metering, aiming to resolve conflicts between distributed energy resource owners and utilities. It advocates for practical software services and dynamic payment mechanisms tailored to prosumer needs, offering an alternative to reducing net metering incentives. Additionally, it explores game theory principles to ensure equitable compensation for prosumer cooperation, driving the adoption of P2P energy markets. It also builds on demand-side payment mechanisms like NRG-X-Change by adapting it to provide fair payment distribution to prosumer coalitions. The interoperable energy storage systems with P2P trading also presented battery chemistry detection using neural network models. A fuzzy inference system is also designed to facilitate prosumers' choice in participating in P2P markets, providing flexibility for energy trading preferences. The simulation results demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed design schemes.

The Underlying of Being exhibition explores the complex relationship between the mind and body, delving into psychological effects at a cellular level. Art, science, and psychology contemplate the fundamental source of meaning and value: the human experience. The work emphasizes that our lives are not isolated but interrelated, reflecting a commonality on the most miniature biological scale. Scientific research confirms that cells can hold emotional experiences, a finding that is relevant to all humans.
The conceptual visual context derives from philosophical systems, scientific theories, and aesthetic judgments, abstracting from the ever-changing ebb and flow of being in the living world. The Underlying of Being exhibition focuses on the figure in abstracted shapes and layers of monochromatic colors, various papers, fibers, wires, glaze, and paints, producing sections of human narration sinking below the surface into an illusion or disillusioned visual physiological state of fluid within an imagined biosystems.

The following dissertation investigates algebraic frames and their spaces of minimal prime elements with respect to the Hull-Kernel topology and Inverse topology. Much work by other authors has been done in obtaining internal characterizations in frame-theoretic terms for when these spaces satisfy certain topological properties, but most of what is done is under the auspices of the finite intersection property. In the first half of this dissertation, we shall add to the literature more characterizations in this context, and in the second half we will study general algebraic frames and investigate which, if any, of the known theorems generalize to algebraic frames not necessarily with the FIP.
Throughout this investigative journey, we have found that certain ideals and filters of algebraic frames play a pivotal role in determining internal characterizations of the algebraic frames for when interesting topological properties occur in its space of minimal prime elements. In this dissertation, we investigate completely prime filters and compactly generated filters on algebraic frames. We introduce a new concept of subcompact elements and subcompactly generated filters. One of our main results is that the inverse topology on the space of minimal prime elements is compact if and only if every maximal subcompactly generated filter is completely prime. Furthermore, when the space of minimal prime elements is compact, then each minimal prime has what we are calling the compact absoluteness property.

This research presents findings from an in-situ experiment utilizing a hydrophone line array to capture the sound production of the Goliath grouper. Analysis revealed that Goliath grouper calls exhibit multiple frequency components, including one high-amplitude component and 2 to 3 low-amplitude components. The primary high-amplitude component is concentrated in the 30 to 70 Hz band, peaking around 50 Hz, while low-amplitude components span 20 to 30 Hz, 70 to 115 Hz, and 130 to 200 Hz. Comparison between in-situ data and results from a normal modes transmission loss model identified regions where echo level increased with propagation distance. This suggests that the loudness of the call may not necessarily indicate proximity, indicating the Goliath grouper might rely on other cues for localization, such as changes in the frequency profile of its call. Two methods for estimating call distance are presented. The first method vi utilized a transmission loss model and measured transmission loss across a hydrophone line array. This method could also determine the source level of the calls, yielding source level estimates ranging from 124.01 to 144.83 dB re 1 μPa. The second method employed match field filtering, validating the accuracy of the transmission loss model. Both methods produced similar call distance estimations, ranging from 11.5 to 17.1 meters, placing the grouper inside or near its typical habitat.

On September 28, 2022, Hurricane Ian, a large Category 4 hurricane, caused catastrophic damage and significant morphologic change along the southwest Florida barrier islands. This study evaluates the morphologic changes and sedimentological signatures of deposits resulting from Hurricane Ian through a combination of sediment cores, RTK-GPS beach profiles, and pre- and post-storm digital elevation models. During the storm, bidirectional sediment transport processes occurred along both developed and undeveloped shorelines, producing extensive washover deposits and ebb scour channels from the flood and ebb surges, respectively. Washover deposits contained interbedded sand and shell fragments with vertical grain size distributions dependent on position relative to the dune crest. Both washover deposits and ebb scour channels formed along dune crest elevational lows and were limited by dense vegetation and anthropogenic structures. Results from this study can be used to better constrain morphologic changes resulting from bidirectional sediment transport processes during large magnitude storm events.

The feasibility and optimization of small unmanned mobile marine hydrokinetic (MHK) energy platforms for harvesting marine current energy in coastal and tidal waters are examined. A case study of a platform based on the use of a free-surface waterwheel (FSWW) mounted on an autonomous unmanned surface vehicle (USV) was conducted. Such platforms can serve as recharging stations for aerial drones (UAVs), enabling extension of the UAVs’ autonomous operating time. An unmanned MHK platform potentially meets this need with sustainable power harvested from water currents. For the case study, six different waterwheel configurations were field-tested in the Intracoastal Waterway of South Florida in support of determining the configuration that produced the most power. Required technologies for unmanned operations of the MHK platform were developed and tested. The data from the field-testing were analyzed to develop an empirical relation between the wheel’s theoretical hydrokinetic power produced and the mechanical power harnessed by the MHK platform with various waterwheel configurations during field-testing. The field data was also used to determine the electrical power generated by the FSWW configurations during field-testing. The study has led to the development of standardized testing procedures. The empirical relation is used to examine predicted power production through scaling up different physical aspects of the waterwheel.

In this qualitative study, 21 Title IX federal court cases between 2000–2022 were examined. The purpose of this analysis was to explore how the changes in Title IX guidance across President George W. Bush (R), President Barack Obama (D), and President Donald Trump (R) administrations have impacted higher education institutional liability lawsuits. Guided by content analysis and the power-conscious framework, three research questions were asked: (1) How have the Title IX policy changes under the Bush, Obama, and Trump U.S. presidential administrations impacted higher education institutional liability lawsuits? (2) What specific Title IX requirements within the Bush, Obama, and Trump U.S. presidential administrations are higher education institutions being held liable for violating? (3) How effective is the Title IX guidance under the Bush, Obama, and Trump U.S. presidential administrations at reducing institutional liability? Four themes emerged from this study: (1) Increase in Title IX lawsuits, (2) Violation of Presidential Guidance Does Not Mean Violation of Title IX, (3) Previous Court Cases, (4) Guidance with More Legal Protocol Can Reduce Title IX Liability.
This content analysis concluded that higher education institutions should incorporate legal standards into their Title IX process and work to be compliant with federal law and the guidance provided by the Department of Education. Furthermore, this study demonstrates the different types and forms of power that change over a period of time. Based upon these conclusions, recommendations were made for higher education institutions and the U.S. Department of Education to create policies that would be fair and equitable to the involved parties while also reducing institutional liability.

Aquatic organisms are able to achieve swimming efficiencies that are much higher than any underwater vehicle that has been designed by humans. This is mainly due to the adaptive swimming patterns that they display in response to changes in their environment and their behaviors, i.e., hunting, fleeing, or foraging. In this work, we explore these adaptations from a hydrodynamics standpoint, using numerical simulations to emulate self-propelled artificial swimmers in various flow fields. Apart from still or uniform flow, the most likely flow field encountered by swimmers are those formed by the wakes of solid objects, such as roots of aquatic vegetation, or underwater structures. Therefore, a simplified bio-inspired design of porous structures consisting of nine cylinders was considered to identify arrangements that could produce wakes of varying velocities and enstrophy, which in turn might provide beneficial environments for underwater swimmers. These structures were analyzed using a combination of numerical simulations and experiments, and the underlying flow physics was examined using a variety of data-analysis techniques.
Subsequently, in order to recreate the adaptations of natural swimmers in different flow regimes, artificial swimmers were positioned in each of these different types of flow fields and then trained to optimize their movements to maximize swimming efficiency using deep reinforcement learning. These artificial swimmers utilize a sensory input system that allows them to detect the velocity field and pressure on the surface of their body, which is similar to the lateral line sensing system in biological fish. The results demonstrate that the information gleaned from the simplified lateral line system was sufficient for the swimmer to replicate naturally found behaviors such as K´arm´an gaiting. The phenomenon of schooling in underwater organisms is similarly thought to provide opportunities for swimmers to increase their energy efficiency, along with the other associated benefits. Thus, multiple swimmers were trained using multi-agent reinforcement learning to discover optimal swimming patterns at the group level as well as the individual level.

Missing rainfall records happens frequently in many areas, and making precipitation estimation has been a challenge due to the spatial-temporal variability of the parameter. Model tree (MT), regression tree (RT), and ensemble approach models were developed and evaluated for estimating missing precipitation values in this research study. The selection of stations using correlation coefficient and similar distribution, and variation of data used to build the model were applied in this study. Proposed models were developed and tested using daily rainfall data from 1971 to 2016 at twenty-two stations in Kentucky, U.S.A. The model results were analyzed and evaluated using error and performance measures. The results indicated that MT-based and ensemble models produce a better estimation of missing rainfall than regression trees. The MT-based model was able to estimate missing rainfall accurately without needing objective selection of stations and using minimal calibration data to build the model.

Malaria is an ancient lethargic disease that remains a global burden. It has been difficult to end the scourge of P. falciparum malaria because of the parasites’ drug resistance so early diagnosis of malaria is crucial. Microscopy remains the gold standard but has limited reliability in detecting malaria parasites. This study proffered a method towards detection of low parasitemia P. falciparum infected RBCs (Pf-RBCs) based on dielectrophoresis (DEP). A microfluidic device was designed for label-free cell sorting of Pf-RBCs from other whole blood in a continuous manner, based on the intrinsic electrical signatures of the cells. The design was validated by a finite element simulation using COMSOL Multiphysics. Simulations show the feasibility of the separation in a 9-mm long microfluidic channel under laminar flow conditions, using a low voltage supply of +/-10 V at 50 kHz.