Digital Commons Network^™

Body Image And Healthy Lifestyle Behavior Among University Students, Tracy L. Wright

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Children develop beliefs about ideal body image and carry these perceptions into adulthood. Consequences of poor body image may include decreased self-esteem, depression, unhealthy lifestyle, and eating disorders. Understanding healthy lifestyle behaviors and the relationship between body image and these behaviors can empower individuals to engage in behaviors to improve health. Pender’s health promotion model provided the theoretical framework for this study. The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship between body image and healthy lifestyle behaviors among undergraduate university students. An email was sent to undergraduate students, providing a link to the survey that included: demographic, body …

Climatic Influences On Social Cognition, Tyler Joel Swartz

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The effects of ambient room temperature on social cognition were examined in the current study. This study included 202 participants who completed a computer-based survey consisting of eight items measuring participants’ self-perception and desired social dynamics. I included these constructs because they serve to empirically examine the claims put forth by the Socio-Relational Framework of Expressive Behavior (Vigil, 2009). Participants completed the survey in experimental settings with the ambient room temperature ranging from 67.8 °F to 77.2 °F. I identified several important relationships that support the current theoretical framework, such as the differential desire for either affiliative or avoidant social …

The Authentic Self And Advertising : The Effects Advertising Has On The Formation Of The Authentic Self, Lorivie Abapo

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In a world bombarded with advertisements, it may be difficult for the development of an authentic self. Authenticity is a mode of existence in which there is ownership in the sense of self, while at the same time being able to present this sense of self to others. To be authentic is to act and live in a way that expresses a genuine concern for the self in which projects and goals pursued. The sense of self is the feeling of genuineness of the self and representing this self requires actions that correlate to these feelings. Advertisements act as communication …

Population Structure And Nest Success Of Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus Polyphemus), And Vegetative Response To Prescribed Burning In Northeast Florida, Kristine Constance Amatuli

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A gopher tortoise population on the campus of University of North Florida is part of an ongoing study initiated during the early 1990s, and this project presents data on this population collected during the 2009-2011 field seasons. The project has three major objectives: 1) measure population demographics including density and structure to assess long-term viability and recruitment, 2) evaluate decadal growth rates of individuals by comparing measurements of tortoises captured and marked in the 1990-1994 study done at the same site with those tortoises recaptured during the current study, and 3) assess the effect of prescribed burning on vegetation. In …

Finding Feminism In American Political Discourse : A Discourse Analysis Of Post-Feminist Language, Jessica Margaret Burris

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The term “feminist” is a widely used label that is often embraced by women who do not advocate feminism. The wide use of the feminist label in contrast to the declining presence of feminist activism indicates a problem with the development of a third wave of feminism in the United States. In this study, I evaluated trends in feminism in the United States through an analysis of public political discourse. A semantic discourse analysis of political discourse from 1870 to 2011 evaluated a shift in the use of inclusive and exclusive pronoun usage by female political speakers. Speeches compiled for …

Reel Deans : The Portrayal Of Higher-Education Administrators In American Films, Jeffrey Todd Hess

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Leadership theory routinely focuses on the relationships of leaders within the context of the work environment; however, culture and, specifically, films are a pervasive influence on both individuals and work environments. The literature review revealed that the relationships between higher-education faculty and administrators are strained. A conceptual framework known as the dark side phenomenon identified three dynamics affecting the work between faculty and administration: working relationships, supervisory roles, and the cultural impact. This lead to the research question: How are higher-education administrators portrayed as characters in popular American films? Data collection began with the selection of American films to study …

Content Analysis Of Conflict Resolution Curricula, Mary Smith

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Violence in schools in various forms has become recognizable. Awareness of this situation has resulted with proliferation of curricula for conflict education. The purpose of this study was to analyze conflict resolution curricula designed for five to eight year olds. The study examined three issues formulated from the review of related literature: time and space, skill building, and developmentally appropriate practices. The findings included time and physical space requirements for conflict resolution curricula, the suggested skills needed to peacefully resolve conflicts, and an evaluation of the developmentally appropriate activities in the curricula for early childhood ages 5-8.

The Effect Of Race And Masculinity On Female Mate Preference, Michael S. Penuliar

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The current work extends upon the theories of female mate preference in a novel way by examining how the interaction of race and the masculinity of males affect preference in females. In Study 1, I manipulated the facial masculinity of photographs of White, Black, and Asian males. Female participants rated the faces on attractiveness, masculinity, and age. In Study 2, nine photographs were matched on masculinity and participants made judgments on dimensions relating to dateabiltity, attractiveness, resources, masculinity, and parenting behaviors. Asian males are often neglected as potential romantic partners. A major aim of the current work was to assess …

Demography And Reproductive Biology Of The Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus Polyphemus) Population At White Oak Plantation, Nassau County, Florida, Julia Rachel Smith

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The demography and reproductive biology of the gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) was studied for two years at White Oak Plantation (WOP), located in northeast Florida along the St. Mary’s river. Two sub‐populations were studied in regions I referred to as Site A and Site B. I located 312 burrows and captured 109 different tortoises, either by hand or using bucket traps. Tortoise density was 4.48/ha at Site A and only 1.15/ha at Site B. Juveniles were the most abundant age class overall, while hatchlings were numerous at Site A but virtually absent at Site B. The combined sex ratio for …

Empirical Performance Analysis Of High Performance Computing Benchmarks Across Variations In Cloud Computing, Sindhu Mani

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

High Performance Computing (HPC) applications are data-intensive scientific software requiring significant CPU and data storage capabilities. Researchers have examined the performance of Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) environment across several HPC benchmarks; however, an extensive HPC benchmark study and a comparison between Amazon EC2 and Windows Azure (Microsoft’s cloud computing platform), with metrics such as memory bandwidth, Input/Output (I/O) performance, and communication computational performance, are largely absent. The purpose of this study is to perform an exhaustive HPC benchmark comparison on EC2 and Windows Azure platforms.

We implement existing benchmarks to evaluate and analyze performance of two public clouds spanning …

Does Need For Cognition Moderate The Relationship Between Eyewitness Age And Perceived Credibility?, Anna E. Pittman

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The relationship between age and perceived credibility was examined, particularly whether or not middle-aged witnesses were perceived as more credible than older eyewitnesses. Additionally, I was interested in whether or not the relationship between age and credibility was moderated by need for cognition. Participants read a trial transcript about a child pedestrian-car accident wherein a defendant was charged with manslaughter. The sole eyewitness, either a 49 or 79 year-old male, testified that the child hit his head on a rock upon stepping off the curb before being struck by the defendant’s vehicle. Transcripts included direct and cross-examination with half accompanied …

Online Aggression : The Influences Of Anonymity And Social Modeling, Adam G. Zimmerman

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Behavioral temptation to aggress and participant blog responses following a group word unscrambling game were examined in situations of anonymity and positive or negative social modeling. Anonymous participants were more aggressive than non-anonymous participants. Also, social modeling seemed to moderate the effect of anonymity on behavioral temptation to aggress as well as verbal aggression via blog posts. Specifically, anonymous participants responded more aggressively when they viewed aggressive models following failure in a team word unscrambling game. These findings suggest that although anonymity may increase the likelihood that individuals will aggress, social modeling may influence aggressive outcomes.

Colordots: An Intersection Analysis Resistant Graphical Password Scheme For The Prevention Of Shoulder-Surfing Attack, Jim Littleton

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In an increasingly mobile world, the combination of mobile computing devices, publicly accessible Wi-Fi hotspots, and camera phones pose a significant threat to alphanumeric passwords in public environments. Graphical passwords, introduced as an alternative to alphanumerical passwords, help prevent successful shoulder-surfing attacks – covertly observing or recording a password login session, however, most cannot prevent intersection analysis on the data collected through shoulder-surfing. ColorDots is a new graphical password scheme designed to be easy to use and learn, to prevent successful shoulder-surfing attacks, and to hinder intersection analysis. A software implementation of ColorDots is tested, and the results analyzed. This …

Improving Dynamic Decision Making Through Training And Self-Reflection, Sarah Jane Donovan

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The modern business environment requires managers to make decisions in a dynamic and uncertain world. In the current study, experimenters investigated the effects of a brief training aimed at improving dynamic decision making (DDM) skills on individual performance in a virtual DDM task. During the training, experimenters explained the DDM process, stressed the importance of self-reflection in DDM, and provided 3 selfreflective questions to guide participants during the task. Additionally, experimenters explored whether participants low or high in self-reflection would perform better in the task and whether participants low or high in self-reflection would benefit more from the training. Participants …

Development Of A Predictive Model For Bulk-Flow Through A Porous Polymer Membrane Tube, Aaron Robert Meles

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While extensive mathematical and numerical work has been done in terms of modeling the mainstream flow in a tube with porous walls, very little has been done experimentally to confirm these various solutions, and what has been done has focused on large sintered metal tubes used in nuclear power applications. Furthermore, these solutions are quite mathematically complex and arduous to implement. In this work, the mainstream flow through a porous polymer membrane tube is examined and a method for calculating the through-membrane flow rate and axial pressure drop is presented. Two membrane tubes are tested experimentally, and a simple set …

Improving The Knowledge-Based Expert System Lifecycle, Lucien Millette

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Knowledge-based expert systems are used to enhance and automate manual processes through the use of a knowledge base and modern computing power. The traditional methodology for creating knowledge-based expert systems has many commonly encountered issues that can prevent successful implementations. Complications during the knowledge acquisition phase can prevent a knowledge-based expert system from functioning properly. Furthermore, the time and resources required to maintain a knowledge-based expert system once implemented can become problematic. There are several concepts that can be integrated into a proposed methodology to improve the knowledge-based expert system lifecycle to create a more efficient process. These methods are …

Flexural Behavior Of Laterally Damaged Full-Scale Bridge Girders Through The Use Of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (Cfrp), Nicholas James Alteri

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

The repair and strengthening of concrete bridge members with CFRP has become increasingly popular over recent years. However, significant research is still needed in order to develop more robust guidelines and specifications. The research project aims to assist with improving design procedures for damaged concrete members with the use of CFRP.

This document summarizes the analysis and testing of full-scale 40’ foot long prestressed concrete (PSC) bridge girders exposed to simulated impact damage and repaired with carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) materials. A total of five AASHTO type II bridge girders fabricated in the 1960’s were taken from an …

Cross-Cultural Comparative Study Of Users’ Perception Of The Navigation Organization Of An E-Commerce Web Application, Tetiana A. Bilyayeva

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The object of this study was to assess the influence of native language, as a principal cultural characteristic, one users’ behavior when using a web-based e-commerce application. The study expands on previous research by comparing English and Russian users. The research also considered demographic data to assess additional factors that influence behavior and task performance. The research design encompassed an online shopping application with two different navigation menus. One menu was based on the action-object model and the other was based on the object-action model. The user interface was created in two different languages (Russian and …

Institutional Factors That Pertain To Commuter Student Success, Heather Adams Kenney

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore what institutional factors affect retention and student success at a Florida public, 4-year university for commuter students. This study included institutional factors controlled by the university that affect retention with students who commute to the institution. Commuter students compose over 80% of enrollment at the nation’s college and university campuses. This mixed-method study included both a survey and focus groups. In the first part of the study, quantitative data were collected, using the Noel-Levitz Student Satisfaction Inventory (SSI). The survey analysis of the data collected using the SSI indicated that the scores …

Nutrient Transport By Shrimp Hepatopancreas, Tamla A. Simmons

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Purified brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV) were isolated to characterize primary cellular transport mechanisms for white shrimp. The ultimate goal is to determine the effective components of a shrimp’s diet, thereby enhancing growth, as well as nutrient content. Juvenile shrimp are dependent on plant material as a food source. Potassium is a key component of plants, thus it may play a role in nutrient transport. In addition, divalent metals have been shown to act as co-transporters in several other organisms, thus they may serve as a transport mechanism for shrimp.

Fresh, live, white or brown shrimp were obtained, and from …

Evaluating Speedup In Parallel Compilers, Deepa V. Komathukattil

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Parallel programming is prevalent in every field mainly to speed up computation. Advancements in multiprocessor technology fuel this trend toward parallel programming. However, modern compilers are still largely single threaded and do not take advantage of the machine resources available to them. There has been a lot of work done on compilers that add parallel constructs to the programs they are compiling, enabling programs to exploit parallelism at run time. Auto parallelization of loops by a compiler is one such example. Researchers have done very little work towards parallelizing the compilation process itself.

The research done here focuses on parallel …

Bridge Deck Cracking Investigation And Repair, Vidal Velez Vargas

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this study is to investigate the cracking of concrete bridge decks and the sealants used in repairing transverse cracks. Cracking could occur in both hardened mature concrete and early age concrete. Several factors affect concrete cracking, such as age-dependent material properties, thermal- and moisture-related stresses and strains, material viscoelastic behavior, restraints, concrete expansion and contraction, casting sequence, formwork, material characteristics, and environmental exposure. The causes of early age cracking are primarily attributed to effects such as plastic shrinkage, temperature effects, autogenous shrinkage, and drying shrinkage. This deck cracking could greatly reduce durability, lead to a loss of …

Embodied Ethics : Transformation, Care, And Activism Through Artistic Engagement, Melissa Rachel Schwartz

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In what follows, I highlight negative environmental perspectives and actions based on traditional patterns of Western dualist thought with the ultimate aim of developing an alternative way of relating to the environment and the ‘other’, in general. In pursuit of such an alternative, I utilize embodied artistic practices in order to present the notion that one can engage more holistically with one’s environment, and the other. Through habitual, lifelong ‚Ways‛ cultivating specific practices generally necessary to creating and to viewing art, I argue, one can refine one’s ethical awareness and action. Following the aims of care ethics’ more context and …

The Leadership Of Catholic Sisters Who Have Served As College Presidents : The Impact Of Gender And Religion On Leadership Efficacy, Karen M. Scolforo

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

For over a century, Catholic Sisters have assumed leadership roles in higher education. They have impacted the lives of future leaders and empowered women to explore options to domesticity. Despite their profound contribution to higher education leadership, their history is missing from textbooks and library shelves. The purpose of this qualitative and phenomenological research study was to examine the lived experiences of Catholic Sisters who have served as college president; to gain an understanding of their perceptions and perspectives as they relate to leadership and leadership efficacy; to identify the role, if any, that gender and religion have played in …

Can Implied Isolation And Novelty Be Responsible For The Effect Of 'Adaptive Memory'?, Kim Anastasia Trajbar

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adaptive memory is "the idea that [our] memory systems might have evolved to help us remember fitness-relevant information—specifically, information relevant to survival" (Nairne, Thompson, & Pandeirada, 2007, p. 263). Nairne et al. found that processing words in terms of survival relevance yielded the best memory retention compared to other deep processing conditions. The purpose of the present research was to investigate whether factors including a feeling of isolation or novelty could explain the adaptive memory advantage observed in previous adaptive memory research. In two incidental learning experiments, participants rated word relevance in one of four conditions: grasslands survival, space mission, …

A View From Within : Instructors' Perspectives Of Their Roles With Adult Learners In Need Of Remediation, Lance J. Baxter

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative research study focused on the perceptions of 12 faculty members teaching courses in adult basic education and described their professional experiences and interactions with adult learners within the context of a two-year, public, postsecondary institution. Participants, ranging in teaching experience from 13 years to 43 years, volunteered to take part in one-to-one, semi-structured interview sessions to offer insight into their professional experiences. The interview sessions yielded the complex, context-specific data for detailed analysis. Data analysis, supported through educational criticism and relevant concepts from the professional literature (Eisner, 1998), was used to develop four themes: how the faculty viewed …

Improvements In Genetic Approach To Pole Placement In Linear State Space Systems Through Island Approach Pga With Orthogonal Mutation Vectors, Arnold Cassell

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis describes a genetic approach for shaping the dynamic responses of linear state space systems through pole placement. This paper makes further comparisons between this approach and an island approach parallel genetic algorithm (PGA) which incorporates orthogonal mutation vectors to increase sub-population specialization and decrease convergence time.

Both approaches generate a gain vector K. The vector K is used in state feedback for altering the poles of the system so as to meet step response requirements such as settling time and percent overshoot. To obtain the gain vector K by the proposed genetic approaches, a pair of ideal, desired …