Digital Commons Network^™

Correlations Between Sexual Imagery And Sexual Cognitions, Jennifer L. Mcdonnell

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Analyzing the relationship between the visual imagery used in music videos, and the sexual cognition of viewers. Sexual cognition is the awareness of one's own sexual behavior, and its implications. The visual content of music videos was analyzed focusing only on the imagery used. The Heterosexual Script (Jhally, 2007) in particular is observed in most music videos, highlighting the sexual objectification of women and the dominant role of males. The direction of causality between the visual imagery and sexual cognitions can only be speculated using a number of theories, namely cognitive dissonance (Festinger, 1957), cultivation theory (Gerbner et al., 1994), …

Sexual Content In Music Lyrics And Their Effects On Sexual Cognition, Nicole Nowotny

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine the sexual content found in music lyrics of different genres and their relationship to specific sexual cognitions. The study included 902 participants, both male and female, belonging to various ethnic backgrounds, ages 18 and up. It was hypothesized that listening to music containing frequent sexual lyrics will have an affect on men and women’s sexual cognitive beliefs. Results indicated that there was a relationship between frequency of sexually explicit lyrics and views on sexual cognitions. The breakdown by genre shows a more detailed relationship between the lyrics and sexual cognitions. Overall, the …

Characterization Of Hemerythrin-Like Protein Rv2633c, Michelle D. Cherne

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Hemerythrin-like protein Rv2633c is a small 18 kDa protein that is expressed in Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Sequence analysis of Rv2633c predicts the presence of a hemerythrin-like domain, which binds dioxygen using a µ-oxo-bridge (Fe-O-Fe), rather than a heme group. Though it is noticeably upregulated during macrophage infection and during in vitro acidification, the role of Rv2633c in Mtb survival has yet to be elucidated. This project aims to characterize the function of Rv2633c by studying the in vitro response of the recombinant protein to conditions present in the macrophage lysosome, such as reduced oxygen levels or the …

Right-Wing Aauthoritarianism, Social Dominance Orientation, And Workplace Implications, Devin S. Burnell

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Workplace bullying is a recently recognized problem within organizations. Two personalities may be theoretically related, and may be able to predict this aggressive behavior: right-wing authoritarianism and social dominance orientation. However, it is still unclear how to measure right-wing authoritarianism as a construct. Two surveys were distributed. The first was to assess the factor structure inconsistency among the literature. A three-factor operationalization was supported. Analysis of the second survey examined the relationship between the aggression dimension of right-wing authoritarianism, dangerous worldview and workplace bullying; as well as the relationship between social dominance orientation and competitive worldview on workplace bullying. No …

The Relationship Between Substance Use And Social Class Among College Students, Kelcey Little

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Alcohol and substance use among a college population has become a norm for our society. Even more intriguing are the possible factors that may lead to use and abuse of alcohol and substances. The purpose of the current study was to examine the relationship between multiple participant characteristics (i.e., ethnicity, gender, year in college, socioeconomic status) and alcohol and substance use. A total of 902 participants from the University of Central Florida answered multiple questionnaires via the Sona system. Items in the questionnaires included topics such as demographic variables, social class variables, and items regarding alcohol and substance use in …

The Politics Of Mental Health: A Comparative Study Of Policy Adoption And Implementation In Germany And Japan, Luis Diego Campos

Honors Undergraduate Theses

In the aftermath of World War II, the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan followed Germany’s blueprint in fashioning a universal health coverage system. Comparisons to Germany’s welfare state during this same time period reveal markedly different social and mental health policy practices, as Germany’s Christian Democratic Union and Social Democratic Party cooperated toward progressive policies while the Liberal Democratic Party largely neglected social welfare expansion. The effect of these practices is reflected in budgetary provisions, institutionalization practices, and mental health epidemiology. This research finds that a favorable economic climate allowed the Liberal Democratic Party to politically isolate the Social Democratic …

Correcting Medicaid Enrollment Underreporting By The Current Population Survey: A Stochastic Frontier Analysis, Brachel R. Champion

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The Current Population Survey (CPS) is the most widely cited source for estimates on Medicaid enrollment. However, previous literature has shown the CPS underreports enrollment by 30-40% in comparison to state-level records. The question then is how to correct the Medicaid enrollment gap brought on by the CPS. Gross adjustments for the discrepancy may be made, but only if the true amount of enrollees is known. In years when administrative records are delayed or incomplete this is not possible. To date, the methods for correcting underreporting require access to the state-level data which is usually infeasible or unpublishable due to …

The Effects Of Corporate Social Responsibility On Financial Performance, Marly Mentor

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Companies have taken the initiative to be socially responsible over the years. In the past, the focus for companies has been on maximizing wealth. With the growth of corporate social responsibility (CSR), there has been many debates regarding its benefits. More companies are beginning to realize the value of being socially responsible and how critical it is to business function. This paper researches past studies on the relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance. This relationship is then tested using a reliable source of data on corporate social responsibility performance. This study uniquely looks at the accounting and market-based …

Role Of Adrenergic Neurons In Motor Control: Examination Of Cerebellar Purkinje Neurons In Mice Following Selective Adrenergic Cell Ablation In Vivo, Monica Mansour

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Phenylethanolamine-N-methyltransferase (Pnmt) is the enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of noradrenaline to adrenaline. These catecholamines are synthesized in the medulla of the adrenal gland and by some neurons of the central nervous system. The precise location of Pnmt action in the brain and its physiological significance are unknown. Prior studies led by Aaron Owji, a graduate student in Dr. Ebert’s laboratory, showed that mice with selectively ablated Pnmt cells show signs of neurological defects such as abnormal gait, weakened grip strength, lack of balance, reduced movement, and defective reflexes during tail suspension tests.

The cerebellum is a small section of …

Quantifying The Success Of Eastern Oyster Pilot Reefs In Brevard County, Florida, Lacie Anderson

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Crassostrea virginica, the eastern oyster, is a native keystone species that inhabits many coastal and estuarine ecosystems along the Atlantic seaboard. Introduction of the eastern oyster into estuarine areas with limited current populations is gaining popularity as a pro-active approach to improve estuarine water quality. In November 2014 and April 2015, a total of five pilot oyster reef treatments were deployed in Brevard County: bagged adult oysters (grown by community members under their docks through oyster gardening) collected in fall 2014 and spring 2015, bagged clean shell, oyster restoration mats, and empty plots (control). Locations of deployment included a …

Public Perceptions Of Birthmothers Of Adopted Children, Bethany I. Wedlund

Honors Undergraduate Theses

A woman who has experienced an unintended pregnancy and chooses to place the child for adoption is known as a birthmother. When faced with an unintended pregnancy, women typically have three courses of action. They may choose to parent the child, terminate the pregnancy, or place the child for adoption. There is limited research on birthmothers themselves or societal perceptions of them.

When it comes to societal perceptions of abortion, religiosity is a significant factor. Contrary to popular belief, many of the women who choose to abort do so in order to preserve the lives of their families. Single mothers …

Structural Health Monitoring Of Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessels, Luca Letizia

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This work is focusing to study the structural behavior of Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessels (COPVs). These COPVs are found in many engineering applications. In the aerospace field, they are installed onto spaceships and aid the reorientation of the spacecraft in very far and airless, therefore frictionless, orbits to save energy and fuel. The intent of this research is to analyze the difference in performance of both perfectly intact and purposely damaged tanks. Understanding both the source and location of a structural fault will help NASA engineers predict the performance of COPVs subject to similar conditions, which could prevent failures of …

The Effect Of Climate On Physiology And Immune Function In The Asian Citrus Psyllid, Diaphorina Citri, Grace Avecilla

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The variation in the insect immune system is an important regulator of insect populations and the pathogens they carry. A central component of insect immunity is melanin, whose production creates cytotoxic intermediates that help to protect against a broad spectrum of pathogens. Melanin is also used in insect cuticle where it helps to improve thermoregulation and desiccation resistance, with insects having less melanized cuticles in warmer and more humid environments. Considering that cuticle melanin and immune melanin are formed by near identical biochemical pathways, they are pleiotropically linked (that is, one or more linked genes influence multiple traits). This has …

The Effect Of Caffeine On Migraine Headaches, Deborah Shimshoni

Honors Undergraduate Theses

As the most widely consumed drug around the globe, there is a vast array of contradicting research available on caffeine. One of the most debated and researched topics on caffeine is its effect on the brain. Meanwhile, the data on the neurological condition of migraine has information scattered throughout countless research articles and experiments.

Although neither migraine or caffeine are completely understood by the medical world, this analysis attempts to give a more coherent understanding of the relationship between the two. This is done by first understanding the known and theorized mechanisms of caffeine as well as the pathologies of …

Identity Development And Sexual Orientation Prejudice, Cassandra Smith

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study examined the relationships among psychological variables of sexual prejudice, psychological adjustment, and identity development. It was hypothesized that sexual orientation prejudice would be negatively related to psychological adjustment. It was further hypothesized that identity formation would moderate the relationship between sexual orientation prejudice and psychological adjustment. Participants were 200 college students, ages ranged from 18-48 (M = 21.96, SD = 4.87). Sexual orientation for the participants included self-identified labels of Heterosexual (88.5%), Homosexual (6.5%), Bisexual (3.5%), Pansexual (1%), and Demisexual (0.5%). Survey data were collected through a Psychology Research Experience website (SONA). Results revealed a negative correlation between …

Microenvironment Changes In The Pancreatic Stroma Induced By Inflammation, Kathryn Cline

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Pancreatic cancer is the product of microenvironment alterations which emerge from inflammatory signaling and progress to more devastating cases such as Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC). PDAC is extremely aggressive with a statistical five-year survival rate of merely 3%-5%, and is more than relevant to cancer research being that it is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the US. Unfortunately pancreatic cancer is often unnoticed until reaching its hardly treatable end stages, which perpetuates the low survival rate.

The onset of PDAC may be facilitated by the activation of pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs), which secrete collagen and markedly contribute …

Aptameric Sensors: In Vitro Selection Of Dna That Binds Bromocresol Purple, Derek B. Miller

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Aptamers being used as sensors is an emerging field that has capabilities of being tomorrow’s diagnostic tools. As aptameric sensors have become more popular, their visualization systems have been limited. The majority of today’s aptameric sensors require expensive machinery such as a fluorometer in order to visualize results. We propose a system that will cut the need for instrumentation and be detected via the naked eye. With the selection of an aptamer to bind the pH indicating dye bromocresol purple (BCP) this may be achieved. When rendered active, the binding towards BCP will facilitate a color change from yellow to …

Outcomes Assessment Within Prostate Cancer Interventions For Couples: A Narrative Review, Andrea M. Siguenza

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Current cancer research is beginning to address the psychosocial implications of a prostate cancer (PCa) diagnosis from not just the perspective of quality of life of the patient, but of his partner as well. Such inquiries have created novel intervention programs aiming to alleviate the adverse side effects that a PCa diagnosis may inflict on the couple.
Assessing efficacy of couple-based interventions, however, has been a difficult task due to the lack of homogeneity between studies regarding the operationalization process of primary outcome variables, as well as the instruments being used to measure them. This thesis, in response, aims to …

Exploring The Therapeutic Roles Of Santeria For Latinx Living In Florida, Amaris J. Santiago

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Mental health services within Latinx communities in the United States has been greatly underutilized. Seekers of mental health support face many barriers including internalized stigmas, misconception of mental health serves and low general knowledge of mental health and wellness. For many Latinx, culturally competent mental healthcare has lacked important elements to how Latinx interpret mental healthcare services. The use of Santería in many in Florida and the United States has supplemented gaps left by formal mental healthcare services. Santería has its own stigmas within Latinx communities were its practiced, forcing many Santeros and seekers to practice in private. Lack of …

Study And Analysis Of Upper Gastrointestinal Symptoms Among Students At The University Of Central Florida, Deberly M. Anzueto

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Upper gastrointestinal symptoms can be caused by many different diseases and can present themselves in many different forms and range in intensity depending on the person. In previous research, upper gastrointestinal symptoms have been correlated with stress, smoking, alcohol intake, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), among others. The purpose of this study will be focusing on finding any association between these risk factors mention and symptoms of upper gastrointestinal disease among college students. The study will utilize an Izumo scale questionnaire for the assessment of abdominal symptoms and Quality of Life (QOL). The questionnaire was built using Survey Monkey and …

The Difference In Ventilatory Threshold Among Adolescent Males Based On Maturity Status, Dyane Loney

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Previous research has shown an inverse relationship between age and the relative intensity at which ventilatory threshold (VT) occurs in adolescent boys. However, no study has examined the effect of maturity status on VT in the differences in boys from the onset of puberty, adolescents. The purpose of this study was to compare VT among adolescent boys of different maturational groups. Methods: For this study, moderately active adolescent male participants (14 ± 3 y) completed this study. Maturational status of the participants was determined via years from peak height velocity (PHV), which is an estimation of somatic maturity status derived …

Water Sanitation And Waste Management In Latin America, Colombia, And Cartagena: A Study Of The Relationship Between Environment, Health, Poverty, And Policy, Andrea K. Sullivan

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The objective of this research is to identify the need for stricter environmental standards and regulations in three areas of study. Organized by their level of analysis, these areas are Latin America (at the System-Level-of Analysis), Colombia (at the State-Level-of-Analysis), and the city of Cartagena (at the Sub-National-Level of Analysis). This research was accomplished in two phases. The first involved conducting an exhaustive literature search of sources, germane to the objective, published in Spanish and English. The second featured a site inspection conducted over a 10-day period during the month of May 2016 to Cartagena, Colombia. The purpose of the …

Male College Presidents With Children: Recollections On Perceptions Of Work-Life Balance., Asquith Armstrong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative research study explored the recollections of work-life balance and fatherhood through the reported experiences and reflections of select college presidents. The researcher used a basic narrative research practice which allowed individuals to share their experiences while shedding light on how the individuals see themselves. Six college presidents participated in one-on-one semi structured interviews. The researcher incorporated Clark's Work-family border theory as the framework for this study, which recognized that a working individual largely functions in two separate domains: work and family. The presidents' experiences were examined within this construct and addressed the research question that guided the study: …

The Effects Of A Loving-Kindness Meditation On Positive Emotions, Social Connectedness, And Problem Behaviors In Second And Third Grade Students., Doreen Collins-Mchugh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Concerns about K-12 students' mental health and social, emotional, and ethical development have prompted some schools to implement programs designed to promote student well-being and healthy social and emotional functioning. Most of these programs are distinguished as social and emotional learning (SEL) programs and/or character education programs. Although there is growing empirical support for the potential of school-based mindfulness interventions to positively influence students' well-being, the number of school-based mindfulness studies is limited, and the majority of the investigations have focused on students' cognitive rather than affective capacities. Loving-Kindness Meditation (LKM), a mindfulness- and compassion-based practice, is garnering recent attention …

The Diffusion And Performance Of The Accountable Care Organization Model, Yi-Ling Lin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: Unity in pursuit of the Triple Aim: better health, better care, and lower per capita cost, can be achieved through a well-designed health care delivery system. The accountable care organizations (ACOs) model is considered a key component of health care delivery system improvement because the model fosters better coordination of care through clinical integration and financial accountability. Within the six Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS) ACO programs, the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) ACO has the largest size with a total of 432 ACOs formed; the service subjects of the MSSP ACO are the fee-for-service beneficiaries. Recently, …

Prehabilitation (Prehab): Prevention In Motion, Billie Russell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for U.S. adults. It adds greater than $100 billion to U.S. health care costs annually. Rates of morbidity, mortality, and economic burden of the disease could be dramatically reduced with improvements in sedentary behaviors among adults with coronary artery disease (CAD). A regular commitment to moderate physical activity can reduce ischemic heart events up to 50%. Although the benefits of physical activity are well-known for individuals with coronary artery disease, an estimated 70% of this population remains relatively sedentary. Hospital-based cardiac rehabilitation programs are the single secondary prevention option offered to improve …

Zooming In On The Money Shot: An Exploratory Quantitative Analysis Of Pornographic Film Actors, Erin O'Neal

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sex work is one of the rare elements of our society that is both accepted and stigmatized. Ironically enough, it is stigmatized without being studied in depth. The truth is we know very little about sex work and even less about pornography—the most legal of genres. While researchers have spent a great deal of time determining the effects that pornography has on viewers, particularly juvenile viewers, little research has been done on the men and women who make pornography. A 43 question survey was created and disseminated to those in the pornographic film industry, both amateur and professional, resulting in …

Antecedents Of Emotional Labor And Job Satisfaction In The Hospitality Industry, Valeriya Shapoval

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

It is a general policy in the hotel industry that all the service should be provided in the friendly and a professional manner. The first smile of a front desk clerk or a wait staff can make a difference in customer satisfaction and loyalty. A service quality is becoming more important with increase of competitiveness among hotels and hotel brands. A process of regulating positive emotions for an organization is called Emotional Labor (EL) (Grandey, 2000). While essential for the hospitality industry, empirical research on EL is very limited, and research on EL during stressful situations is almost nonexistent. To …

Optimizing Strategies For In Vivo Exposure In The Traditional Clinical Setting, Maryann Owens

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the ability of a pre-recorded videoconferencing (VC) audience to elicit the physiological and subjective arousal associated with Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) when giving a formal presentation. This study had three objectives: (a) to determine whether speaking to the VC audience elicited significant increases in physiological response (e.g., heart rate and electrodermal activity) and subjective distress over baseline resting conditions (b) to determine whether the VC task more closely replicates the physiological and subjective experience of giving a speech to a comparable real-life audience than levels elicited by a Virtual Reality (VR) environment and (c) to determine whether …

Degradation Of Hexachlorobenzene, Pentachlorophenol And Pentachloroanisole Using Activated Magnesium In An Acidified Ethanol/Ethyl Lactate Cosolvent System, Amel Garbou

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For many centuries, chemists have dedicated many labor-intensive hours to improving the quality of life for mankind by developing synthetic methods for the production of compounds which fulfill the needs and meet the demands of society. However, the innovation of such compounds has frequently come at the cost of detrimental side-effects that do not always present themselves until many years, or even decades, following their initial application. Many compounds in this category come in the form of globally-distributed halogenated molecules which are toxic to many living organisms, susceptible to bioaccumulation and resistant to biodegradation processes. Such compounds are classified as …