Digital Commons Network^™

Mobile Health Technology To Enhance Healthcare Service Delivery In Developing Nations (Saudi Arabia), Nawaf Khan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Saudi Arabia is among the countries that have very high prevalence rates of diabetes and hypertension, with prevalence rates of almost 18% and 25%, respectively. The majority of patients with diabetes and hypertension fail to manage their diseases and to show up for their follow up appointments. Mhealth technology is among the interventions that have been recently adopted to overcome these issues and improve the quality of healthcare services. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a mobile phone application named diabetes and hypertension application (DHA Tracking) to promote adherence for patients with diabetes and hypertension in Mecca, Saudi …

A Descriptive Study Of The Relationship Between Stress, Person-Environment Fit, And Turnover Intention Of Wait Staff In Central Florida Independent And Regional Chain Restaurants, Sejal Madhubhai

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This descriptive study examined turnover intention for wait staff working at independent and regional chain restaurants in central Florida. The purpose of this dissertation in practice was to understand the role that stress, Person-Environment Fit, and demographics play in turnover intention. A self-report questionnaire was distributed to wait staff in central Florida via social media websites. The self-report questionnaire consisted of the Perceived Person-Environment Fit Scale (PPEFS), the General Workplace Stress Scale (GWSS), and the Turnover Intention Scale (TIS-6). A total of 265 responses were collected from participants and the responses were analyzed using a stepwise regression and two multilinear …

Sexual Assault Acknowledgment And Psychological Symptoms: The Indirect Effect Of Social Reactions To Disclosures, Emily Bernstein

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Sexual assault is a prevalent problem for women. As a result of sexual assault, women experience a host of negative psychological consequences such as posttraumatic stress, depression, and anxiety. While some survivors label their sexual assault experience as such (i.e., are acknowledged survivors), other survivors do not and use other terms (e.g., a miscommunication). The effect of acknowledgement of sexual assault on post-assault outcomes has yielded mixed findings: some find that unacknowledged survivors report better psychological functioning, while others find that acknowledged survivors have better outcomes. This study sought to better understand acknowledgment status and psychological outcomes by examining the …

Sex, Gender, Sexual Assault, And Rape On The Red Pill: A Thematic And Linguistic Analysis, Walker Talton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The digital space has offered fertile new territory to connect with like-minded individuals and discuss anything and everything. This has resulted in the creation of the Manosphere, a collection of men concerned about the state of men and masculinity and how society views and treats men. One of the places online this community has found a home is the popular website Reddit, which offers the ability to create individual pages in which communities can form around and discuss and share information on almost any topic they desire. This study aimed to investigate the ways in which one community on Reddit, …

As We Enter 2020, Let’S Be The Change Our Children Need, Katherine Philp

UCF Forum

Today’s teens and young adults are doing everything we’ve encouraged them to do; so why are we uneasy with their passion, drive and anger on issues?

The Effects Of A Plant-Based Diet On Inflammation Of Patients With Cardiac Disease, Rachel L. Butcher

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Cardiac disease is the primary cause of death in the United States of America (CDC, 2017). Despite ongoing efforts and investments to improve cardiac health in the United States, most of the population will suffer from cardiovascular diseases. There is a multitude of research supporting that diet can contribute to cardiac disease, but it is less known that diet can greatly contribute to regulation and reversal of cardiovascular disease processes (Huang et al., 2012; Satija et al., 2017; Kim et al., 2019). Existing research supports the efficacy of plant-based diets to manage and reverse certain cardiac diseases (Tuso et al., …

Millennial Attitudes Toward Telehealth: An Integrative Literature Review, Hannah Gwyneth Y. Tabora

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Purpose: The primary purpose of this research was to explore individuals born in the millennial generation’s likelihood of using telehealth and virtual office visits as a replacement for face to face provider interactions. The secondary purpose was to examine the feasibility and access of treatable conditions and ailments in a virtual environment.

Methods: A literature review exploring millennials and telehealth was performed using various databases with search terms combined to include: ‘millennials*’, ‘telehealth*’, ‘telemed*’, ‘finance*’, ‘primary care*’, ‘healthcare*’, ‘health knowledge*’, ‘literacy*’, ‘education*’, ‘misinformation*’. The data was conformed into tables that synthesized the relationship between the millennial generation and their access …

Additive Manufacturing Of Elastomeric Lung Phantoms In Radiation Oncology, Jonathan Sookdeo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Cancer is a particularly difficult disease to manage and treat, with cancer of the lung being a notably complex disease to treat with radiation therapy. In this study, a stereolithography-based 3D printing process was developed to fabricate human lung phantoms with identical mechanical and physical properties of human lungs in order to assist with targeted radiation therapy. A highly flexible UV photopolymer material with an elastic modulus of approximately 350 KPa was formulated for use in a custom-built stereolithography-based 3D printing apparatus. The printer built for 3D printing of the photopolymer features a large build volume with off-shelf components with …

Hybrid Physics-Informed Neural Networks For Dynamical Systems, Renato Giorgiani Do Nascimento

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Ordinary differential equations can describe many dynamic systems. When physics is well understood, the time-dependent responses are easily obtained numerically. The particular numerical method used for integration depends on the application. Unfortunately, when physics is not fully understood, the discrepancies between predictions and observed responses can be large and unacceptable. In this thesis, we show how to directly implement integration of ordinary differential equations through recurrent neural networks using Python. We leveraged modern machine learning frameworks, such as TensorFlow and Keras. Besides offering basic models capabilities (such as multilayer perceptrons and recurrent neural networks) and optimization methods, these frameworks offer …

Traffic Speed Prediction And Mobility Behavior Analysis Using On-Demand Ride-Hailing Service Data, Jiechao Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Providing accurate traffic speed prediction is essential for the success of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) deployments. Accurate traffic speed prediction allows traffic managers take proper countermeasures when emergent changes happen in the transportation network. In this thesis, we present a computationally less expensive machine learning approach XGBoost to predict the future travel speed of a selected sub-network in Beijing's transportation network. We perform different experiments for predicting speed in the network from future 1 min to 20 min. We compare the XGBoost approach against other well-known machine learning and statistical models such as linear regression and decision tree, gradient boosting …

Learning Context-Sensitive Human Emotions In Categorical And Dimensional Domains, Pooyan Balouchian

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Still image emotion recognition (ER) has been receiving increasing attention in recent years due to the tremendous amount of social media content on the Web. Many works offer both categorical and dimensional methods to detect image sentiments, while others focus on extracting the true social signals, such as happiness and anger. Deep learning architectures have delivered great suc- cess, however, their dependency on large-scale datasets labeled with (1) emotion, and (2) valence, arousal and dominance, in categorical and dimensional domains respectively, introduce challenges the community tries to tackle. Emotions offer dissimilar semantics when aroused in different con- texts, however "context-sensitive" …

Human Performance In Virtual Reality Environments And Its Exploration With Engineering Analytics, Fahad Alasim

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Engineering Analytics (EA) is a technique used to derive meaningful insight from gathered data. It is an approach that has arisen, and it includes the process of analyzing data using analytics tools from fields such as Big Data, Machine Learning (ML), traditional operations research, statistics, and numerical methods. Industrial Engineering is an engineering field concerned with how to design better, improve, and install integrated systems, uses EA to understand and continually improve, innovate, and build new processes. Therefore, EA and Virtual Reality (VR) technology can be used in combination with Electroencephalography (EEG), a physiological measurement, to investigate human areas. The …

Investigation In Engineering Leadership Using System Engineering And Virtual Reality, Charles Davis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

System Engineering can help derive requirements and specifications to build virtual environments which are good to test behaviors and attitudes. Virtual simulations can have a strong impact because role-playing facilitates active learning, permits the acceptance of new concepts, and generates increased interest, enthusiasm, and motivation. Research over the last 50 years has shown that reasoning with and about context is an essential aspect of human cognition, permeating language, memory, and reasoning capabilities. This integral process is developed over a lifetime through experiential learning. In this research, we utilize systems engineering to capture guidelines from psychologist and concepts of technological leadership. …

Addressing The Elephant On The Stage: Mental Health In Theatre Education, Alexandra M. Meridionale

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis examined the ways in which present-day 6^th through 12^th grade theatre educators approach the topic of mental health, both implicitly and explicitly, in theatre education. Through a survey of existing literature, as well as interviews with 6^th through 12^th grade theatre educators, the researcher examined ways in which theatre educators were aware of the mental health needs of their students in any of the following capacities: explicit discussions regarding mental health, theatre curriculum, show selection, script analysis, and casting choices.

The reveal the educator perception that mental health issues are increasingly relevant to 6 …

Representation In The Story: The Social Impact Of Diversity In Transmedia, Tiffany S. Tanaka-Cooper

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to take a more profound and nuanced look into the effects of diversity in transmedia storytelling (also known as transmedia narrative or multiplatform storytelling) on society, more specifically, how the representation in these stories affect the minority groups that interact with transmedia. This thesis investigates the depiction of minority groups in transmedia storytelling and the influence of identifiable characters and plotlines. The research and following interviews I have engaged in will encapsulate into a screenplay set in a fictional court that offers the discourse of "forced diversity" within the transmedia narrative: whether or not …

Australian And New Zealand Army Corps (Anzacs) In World War One: The Making Of National Identity And Erasure Of Women And People Of Color, Simran Pawar

Honors Undergraduate Theses

My work seeks to understand the origins of national identity as it pertains to the Anzacs of Australia and New Zealand, their service at the Battle of Gallipoli, and its use in the establishment of a white, male creation myth in both nations following the end of World War One. I furthermore plan to examine how this Anzac myth excluded and even erased the place of marginalized communities in the birth of Australia and New Zealand as modern nations. In other words, my thesis explores both the insiders and the outsiders of the Anzac myth. My cutting-edge research aims to …

Gender Disparity Of Women In Theatre Design, Madison M. Valesky

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The question of why there is gender disparity in the field of theatre design continues to be an issue that has been widely debated in the field of theatre; scholars such as Tish Dace argue that workplace environments and family support are two of the main reason women leave the field of design. However, there are works, articles, arguments and perspectives that have not been adequately addressed regarding why the issue of why gender disparity in theatrical design still exists. My thesis addresses the issue of gender disparity in theatre design with special attention to the underlying issues that exists. …

A Transnational Look At The Modern Women, Isabella Hardesty

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Spanning forty years apart, the short story “Miss Sophia’s Diary” (1926) by Ding Ling and The Bell Jar (1963) by Sylvia Plath can speak to one another in revealing the position of women in a revolutionary new era. The two stories may be generationally and geographically distant, yet both hold a collective female consciousness in the context of the emerging modernist epoch. By examining these two pieces of literature in relation to one another, similar attitudes and stylistic trends emerge regarding the treatment of women. The common archetypes, for each respective time and country, imprinted onto women are at some …

Visual Rhetorics And Rally Signs: A Study Of Feminist Theory And Progression, Rachel Casey

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This research explores the current directions of the U.S. Women's Movement and the beliefs encompassed by 21^st century feminism through a study of participant rally signs displayed at the 2020 Women's March on Washington. Currently, there is much ambiguity surrounding the values for which feminism stands and further contestation about whether a U.S. Women's Movement exists at all. This study examines public feminist activism in an established social rally to extrapolate goals of the present women's agenda and underlying manifestations of feminist philosophy. Through analysis of personal messages and examination of feminist directions, further implications concerning rational dialogue and …

Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Echoes: Digital Political Discourse And Vectors Of Ideological Propagation, Devon Razey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This study analyzes the discursive strategies used by participants in online non-political spaces to negotiate and propagate political ideologies. Through the use of Critical Discourse Analysis in rhetorical studies (Huckin et. al.), this study produced a theory of political ideological vectors in digitally connective social network platforms. The analysis uses discussions taken from Twitter and Reddit surrounding the introduction of an Asian female character, Nagini, in the Fantastic Beats: Crimes of Grindelwald trailer immediately following its release in September 2018. Ultimately, this study found that participants are less likely to isolate themselves within politically congenial echo chambers than previously theorized …

Color And Color Placement Effects On Purchase Intent Of Loot Boxes In Video Games, Mackenzie Bland

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Research on the effects of color associations in gambling situations has especially come to the forefront in recent times with the rise of casinos and other sales techniques in which consumers do not know the outcome of their purchases. Loot boxes are a unique form of micro-transactions in video games where players are uncertain about the objects they will receive with their monetary purchase. The aim of this study is to explore the effects of color and color placement in ads on loot box purchase intent. It will contribute to research about color perception in marketing and will, more specifically, …

"It’S Just A Bad Period" And Other Ways Of Dismissing Women's Pain: An Ethnographic Look Into The Experience Of Endometriosis, Selina Hays

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis uses online ethnographic methods to analyze the impact of patriarchal values on the illness experiences of women with endometriosis. Current literature suggests that negative impact on patients with endometriosis with regard to cultural discourse surrounding menstruation and chronic illness. Utilizing a combination of critical discourse analysis and constructivist grounded theory, the results of this research demonstrate that patients engage in a form of performance that is reactive to normalization and dismissal of pain by doctors and wider social support due in part to cultural stigmas of menstruation and chronic pain, as well as the inherent power imbalance in …

Models Of Perception: Lay Theories And Stigma Towards Alcohol Use Disorder, Tori L. Jansen

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) has multiple health and social consequences which negatively affect individuals’ lives. However, the decision to utilize treatment is influenced by a variety of social factors. The stigma associated with AUD may impact individuals’ willingness to seek treatment after drinking is viewed as an issue. A highly stigmatized disorder, perceptions of AUD may be influenced by medical/moral lay theories, responsibility attributions and implicit theories. Once treatment is sought, support from others during the recovery process has been associated with treatment retention rates and success. Lay recovery beliefs, such as change perceptions, influence the amount of support offered …

Social Change And Games Of Chance At The Site Of Gallon Jug, Nicholas C. Kopp

Honors Undergraduate Theses

During the 2019 field season of the Chan Chich Archaeological Project (CCAP)/Belize Estates Archaeological Survey Team's (BEAST) work in northwestern Belize, excavations commenced at an elite household at the site of Gallon Jug, named Courtyard B-1. Excavations revealed intriguing details about the lives of the inhabitants through the presence of burials, ceramics, architecture, and – as is central to this research – Patolli boards. Patolli, a prehistoric game of chance played throughout Mesoamerican, is a relatively under researched topic within the field of archaeology. In this thesis I argue that the patolli boards at Gallon Jug portray evidence of elite …

Necessary And Convenient: The Effect Of Commerce And Necessary And Proper Clause Jurisprudence, Janis Olkowicz

Honors Undergraduate Theses

While reading a news article about the upcoming presidential election one day, I noticed a trend. The vast majority of political articles discuss what the federal government should do, but almost never cover what it could do. In elementary school, American children are taught that the Constitution, a 4,543-word document, is the place from which all federal power is derived; but the Constitution says nothing about the regulation of travel, narcotics, or the vast majority of other areas that affect the way we live our daily lives, so where does that power come from? After some preliminary research, I discovered …

History Of Involvement With Combat Sports And Severity Of Subtypes Of Psychopathy, Allen Hagen

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Combat sports can be defined as sports that involve the physical domination of opponents in order to win. Previous research on combat sports as they relate to psychopathy and anti-social behavior has produced limited information regarding subtypes of trait psychopathy. While there is evidence suggesting participation in certain combat sports can lead to an increase in anti-social behavior (Endresen & Olweus, 2005), there has never been a direct investigation into primary psychopathy, which has other distinct features such as fearless dominance and lack of remorse. These traits may be useful in the further examination of psychopathologies within a sports context. …

Phantoms Of Fantasy: Materiality, Enjoyment, And The Minstrel Legacy Of Sentimentalism, Zafirios Daglaris

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

This research utilized material culture concepts, Lacanian psychoanalytic theory, and literary analysis methodologies to investigate the rhetorical and experiential legacies of the antebellum 'complex of sentimental principles' within the twentieth century North American culture industry. Drawing on Eric Lott's concepts 'love and theft' and the 'black mirror,' the author analyzed culture industry products like songs and novels, and argued that the terms of sentimental identification among North American whites came to depend on associative processes precedented by blackface minstrelsy. Whereas minstrels had once constituted the stage-form by appealing to sentimentalism, eventually, in the years after American Civil War and the …

2030: Utilizing Animation In Political Messaging, Angela Hernandez-Carlson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

The purpose of this paper and film is to explore the animated medium's ability to convey controversial political topics. The goal of this film is to reach my audience on an emotional level, which will hopefully motivate them to act on the information presented. By using animated themes and metaphors, the audience can digest the political messaging by disassociating themselves from the characters in the story. This will allow them to be open to other perspectives. This paper will explore how one can use the aesthetic quality of animation imagery to convey an important political message about our environment. The …

Some Southern Waters, Julian Baner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Some Southern Waters is a microbudget feature-length film written, directed, and produced by Julian Baner as part of the requirements for earning a Master of Fine Arts in Entrepreneurial Digital Cinema from the University of Central Florida. The film is a black and white, semi-abstract narrative mainly in the mystery genre, with elements of thriller, horror, and black comedy throughout. This thesis is a description of the creative impetus behind the project, as well as the technical process from pre-production through production, and post-production.

Mechanical Properties Of Boron Carbide (B4c), Ruslan Kuliiev

Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2020-2023

Boron carbide (B4C) is one of the most important opaque boride ceramics that has high hardness and Young's modulus that along with low density lead to a significant resistance to ballistic impact and, thus, B4C is broadly used as a protective material. B4C has also high neutron capturing cross section; therefore, it is used as control rods and neutron absorption shielding in nuclear reactors. In this work thermal, electrical and mechanical properties of dense B4C ceramics (99%) sintered using Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) were investigated. The Young's modulus of B4C measured by three different techniques – IE, RUS, and nanoindentation …