Digital Commons Network^™

Exploring The Genetic Structure And Evolutionary History Of Marine Fish Populations Across Micronesia, Pavithiran Amirthalingam

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Most marine species exist as metapopulations, composed of subpopulations inhabiting patchily distributed habitat. Connectivity among these subpopulations is primarily facilitated by larval dispersal via ocean currents. Understanding patterns of population connectivity is crucial for evaluating metapopulation dynamics and ensuring long-term population stability in managed species. Micronesia, a vast region in the North Pacific with hundreds of islands, is the northern extent for many tropical species and is thought to function as vital stepping-stones between the central and western Pacific. However, limited phylogeographic studies in the region have left significant knowledge gaps regarding metapopulation dynamics. Here I address this knowledge gap …

Down By The Tracks, Ova ‘Cross The Trussle: Exploring Systemic And Structural Barriers To Perinatal Healthcare Access For Black Women In Rural Alabama, Trinity C. Johnson

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

This dissertation uses semi-structured interviews (n=42), participant observation, archival research, and storytelling, it employs frameworks of structural violence, intersectionality, and reproductive justice to situate Black women’s maternal health within broader histories of racialized medical neglect and reproductive governance. The study explores two questions: (1) What obstacles do Black women in rural Alabama face in accessing perinatal healthcare? (2) How do they navigate these barriers, and what strategies do they employ? A mixed-methods approach—including ethnography, quantitative analysis, and GIS—guides this research, with storytelling serving as both a methodological intervention and a challenge to dominant anthropological narratives. Findings highlight three major themes: …

Food Insecurity Among University Students And The Barriers To Utilizing Food Assistance Programs During And After Hurricanes Ian And Nicole, Carvis C. Durr

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Background and objectives: Food insecurity (FI) is a pressing concern among university students in the United States. Natural disasters such as hurricanes can exacerbate this issue, particularly for low-income individuals, including university students. Although a range of campus, community, and federal food assistance programs (FAPs) are available, students often face barriers to accessing these resources. However, limited research has explored FI among university students in the context of hurricanes, particularly how students utilize FAPs and the challenges they encounter in accessing them. This dissertation aims to (1) understand the prevalence of FI among students, especially socially vulnerable groups at the …

The Sociological Engagement In John Coltrane's A Love Supreme: Examining The Impacts Of Race, Music, And Culture In Video-Based Learning Amongst College Students, Kinyel K. Ragland Sr.

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

This project consists primarily of the interest in Video Based Learning (VBL) and understanding the impacts of a video based on the connections between John Coltrane’s song Acknowledgement on the Jazz suite A Love Supreme to the Civil Rights movement and systemic racism. Research confirms that VBL has an impact on student learning, yet this project finds that because of the content of the video, it fits into scholarship where there are gaps. The methodological approach, which was qualitative, found that students were overall enlightened, entertained, and were interested in learning more. Other findings include suggestions and recommendations for future …

Unravelling The Role Of Two-Component Systems In Mycobacterium Abscessus, Andrea C. Molero Perez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Mycobacterium abscessus (Mab) is an emerging pathogen within the nontuberculous bacteria (NTM) which poses a threat due to its complex multi-drug resistance and opportunistic nature. It is predicted that only 45.6% of patients will have successful treatment, with immunocompromised and cystic fibrosis patients being the most threatened. Moreover, investigating new treatment approaches is key to responding to this public health issue. Two-component systems (TCS) are regulatory pathways that play a pivotal role in bacterial survival and virulence. These systems are composed of a sensor histidine kinase (HK) and cognate response regulator (RR) protein that senses environmental cues and triggers specific …

Family Perceptions Of End-Of-Life Care For Terminally Ill Individuals In The Intensive Care Unit, Yunju Kim

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The Intensive Care Unit (ICU) provides specialized care for critically ill individuals, but despite aggressive treatments, the risk of mortality remains high. Transitioning from life-saving interventions to end-of-life care (EoLC) can be emotionally challenging for families and the healthcare team. Fear of EoLC can lead to a continuation of futile treatments, leading to ethical conflicts, emotional distress, and unnecessary suffering. The primary purpose of this literature review is to explore incongruencies in family expectations for EoLC in terminally ill individuals in the ICU in the transition of care from life-saving measures to EoLC. The secondary purpose of this literature review …

How Does The Modern Supreme Court Treat The Idea Of Retribution In The Context Of Capital Punishment?, Paige Forsberg

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis explores the modern U.S. Supreme Court's treatment of retribution in the context of capital punishment, analyzing how justices have framed and justified the death penalty as a form of justice. Through the examination of key Supreme Court rulings and legal arguments, this study evaluates the evolving role of retribution in the Court’s decisions on death penalty cases, highlighting how judicial reasoning has shifted over time in response to legal, philosophical, and societal developments.

Retribution, long considered one of the primary justifications for capital punishment, is examined through a nuanced lens in this study. While historically viewed as a …

“Some Small Kiss From Your Sweet Lips”: Navigating Hierarchy In Eastern Roman Letters, Nicholas Elijah Raffington

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The presence of homoeroticism in the letters of elite Byzantine men was both the product of long-term literary developments and was employed for many purposes. As a medieval society which saw a unique level of social mobility, an individual’s connections and how they managed and negotiated them within the competitive elite milieu was of utmost importance to their relevance. Letters naturally emerge as a suitable literary genre to affirm and recognize relationships, to ask for favors, or introduce a new member to the group. As the evidence suggests, homoeroticism was employed within the male-centered world of business and politics as …

The Evolution Of Surveillance And The Decline Of Privacy, Alan J. Geyer

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study directly examines how surveillance law and technology have evolved in the United States and how privacy rights have declined correspondingly. The study specifically focuses on how advancements in surveillance technology have overstepped the boundaries of Fourth Amendment protections and analyzes whether these provisions are adequate for protecting citizens in the modern technological era. The study explores newly employed methods of technological surveillance, such as facial recognition, data collection, and automated license plate readers. It focuses on how government surveillance programs have reshaped legal and ethical understandings of privacy. The changes in surveillance and technology have been analyzed by …

Does Money Matter? An Analysis Between Per-Student Funding And Its Link To Student Achievement In Florida, Chloe Zwetschkenbaum

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study examined the relationship between per-student funding and student achievement within four counties in the state of Florida (Clay County, Duval County, Flagler County, and St. Johns County) and whether higher per-student funding resulted in higher student achievement. Florida recently changed from the usage of the Common Core Standards to the Florida Benchmarks for Excellent Student Thinking (B.E.S.T.) and from the Florida State Assessment (FSA) to the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (F.A.S.T.) test in 2022 (Sabina, Hartikka, and Viola, 2023). This research focused funding on the results of the F.A.S.T. test and the per-student funding of each district …

Sports And Rhetorical Marginalization: A Case Study Of Angel Reese & Caitlin Clark, Diamond R. Williams

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis explores the manifestation of racism, sexism, and capitalism in the language and rhetoric of sports media through a case study of WNBA players Angel Reese and Caitlin Clark. This study theorizes that sports media has referred to Reese and Clark with damaging language tied to the intersections of their respective identities. This thesis also identifies and analyzes the presence of repeated themes throughout select sports media that mirror relevant theories surrounding stereotypes, biases, and marginalization in sports. Examining and analyzing the subtle nuances at play allows one to understand how language implicitly reinforces harmful narratives and, thus, how …

A Kinder Panopticon? Examining Effects Of Fairness And Justice On Performance Outcomes Under Advanced Electronic Monitoring Systems, William F. Tang

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The adoption of Electronic Performance Monitoring (EPM) systems has increased with the prevalence of remote workers post-COVID. Research indicates EPM yields conflicting performance and behavioral outcomes. EPM-related behavior can be predicted by organizational justice (the extent to which workplaces are perceived as fair in nature); environments with higher justice ratings are less likely to induce issues like stress and distrust. However, advanced EPM like electroencephalograms (EEG) may modulate the relationships between perceived fairness, stress, and work performance. This study assigned 42 participants to a modified vigilance test (based on Temple, et al., 2001), which participants took under 3 placebo monitoring …

Investigating The Effect Of Artificial Sweeteners On Fitness And Metastasis In Drosophila Melanogaster, Om R. Patel

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Artificial sweeteners are widely used sugar substitutes, yet their potential effects on health remain poorly understood. For example, more evidence suggests that frequent consumers of sugar substitutes may also be at increased risk of excessive weight gain, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes, which contradicts the original purpose of artificial sweeteners. This thesis investigates the impact of artificial sweeteners on health using Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism, focusing on three key areas: viability, excretion, and cancer metastasis. Viability assays revealed that flies exposed to artificial sweeteners exhibited a decrease in progeny, with some concentrations increasing progeny but most decreasing …

Facilitation Of Chemotherapy Efficacy Through Targeted Drug Delivery In Lung Cancer Cells Via Ultrasound And Implications On Health Interventions, Ibrahim Nasim

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Lung Cancer (small cell and non-small cell) is the leading cause of cancer death in the US, accounting for about 20% of all cancer deaths. Paclitaxel (PTX) is a chemotherapeutic agent commonly used to treat lung cancer. It works by slowing and stopping cancer growth by stiffening microtubules within cells, promoting mitotic halt and cell death. Carboplatin (CP) is another agent given to lung cancer patients containing platinum and works via direct damage of oncolytic DNA. The exact mechanism of how PTX and CP cause cell death is still an under-studied area. This thesis aims to provide insight into how …

Post-Translational Modification Of The Low-Density Lipoprotein Receptor By Serine Proteases, Matthew E. Ruiz

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Hypercholesterolemia is a disease affecting many Americans and adults worldwide and can lead to further complications such as atherosclerosis, stroke, or pulmonary embolisms making it a major risk factor for heart disease. The disease states are caused by chronically elevated levels of VLDLs that get broken down into LDLs. Cells expressing the LDLR can endocytose LDLs from the blood for use intracellularly as cholesterol and prevent plasma cholesterol deposition in the endothelium. Current treatments include leading healthier lifestyles through dieting and exercise, or pharmacological treatments targeting cellular cholesterol production or dietary cholesterol uptake from the GI tract. The SREBPs are …

Community Redevelopment Agencies' (Cras) Perceptions Of The Legal, Ethical, Economic, And Financial Impacts On Florida's Redevelopment Since The Passage Of Florida House Bill 9 In 2019, Laurel L. Richmond

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This qualitative study explores the legal, ethical, economic, and financial impacts on Community Redevelopment Agencies (CRAs) following the passage of Florida House Bill (HB) 9 in 2019 by interviewing administrators and attorneys of the oldest Florida CRAs. CRAs are dependent special districts, funded by tax increment financing (TIF), and created to address areas deemed slum, blighted, or facing a shortage of affordable housing. HB 9 intended to address transparency and accountability issues and restore CRA operations and spending back to the original purpose, as authorized by Florida Statute 169.

The findings are timely and novel, given it has been five …

Ableism Under The Veil Of Ignorance: Does Rawls Render Justice To The Disabled?, Marina T. Habib

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis focuses on Rawls’ neglect of disabled people in A Theory of Justice. Rawls claims that disabled people are too complicated for this theory and thus depriving them of their equality. This thesis looks at how other scholars have approached Rawls’ claim. This is meant for advanced undergraduates and new graduate students in political science, political theory/philosophy, and philosophy, who are likely being first introduced to Rawls or have never heard of him before. These students are the future of our society, and they will make a change in the future. This thesis serves to educate them on Rawls’ …

My Body, Your Choice: Exploring Reproductive Abuse Among Undergraduate Women In A Post-Roe America, Riley H. Alvero

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision in June 2022 overruled Roe v. Wade (1973) and held that abortion access is not a constitutionally protected right. The overturn of Roe v. Wade has had notable impacts on women’s overall sexual behavior and reproductive choices, and it highlights a macro-level infringement on women’s reproductive agency. Coercive condom use resistance violates reproductive autonomy on a micro-level, but can have equally harsh effects. Previous literature has studied these occurrences singularly; this research investigates connections between them. This study recruited 14 undergraduate women with a history of reproductive coercion, in the form of …

Examining The Social Influences Of Conspiratorial Belief And Endorsement, Phoebe S. Archibald

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether social factors such as the need to belong, fear of negative evaluation, and conformity predict belief in conspiracy theories, and whether political orientation and social media use moderate these relationships. Conspiracy theories play a growing role in shaping public opinion, and identifying the social contributors to such beliefs can help explain why individuals adopt them. Ninety-nine undergraduate students completed surveys measuring conspiracy belief, need to belong, conformity, and fear of negative evaluation, along with questions about political orientation and social media use.

Correlational analyses revealed that all three social variables …

Creating A Criteria Set To Evaluate The Use Of Cai Resources In K-6 Language Arts Education, Matthew T. Bates

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this creative project was to research adequate educational practices regarding implementing technology and specifically CAI (Computer-Assisted Instruction) technology in the context of elementary education. This information was compiled into distinct categories based on research articles and policy statements. Then, the implications of each category were explored within the classroom. From this review of research, I created a criteria set for elementary educators to follow to evaluate CAI in the framework of their own educational methods and classroom. This thesis presents an address on the issue of student engagement in elementary literacy classrooms by assisting students in actively …

Generation Z’S Perception Of Skin Cancer And How It Relates To Climate Change, Piercen Bogolea

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Skin cancer is the most common cancer worldwide, and climate change has been identified as a significant contributor. Preventative action early on can help reduce occurrence, but it is unknown if Generation Z is aware of this and is taking the necessary action now to protect themselves. This research aims to gauge the perception of Generation Z on the severity of skin cancer, the relationship between climate change and skin cancer, and the prevalence of preventative measures being taken. A survey was distributed to students aged 18 to 27 enrolled at the University of Central Florida through mixed sampling. The …

Environmental Law And Social Mistrust- How The Repeal Of The Chevron Doctrine May Hinder The Epa And More, Rebecca R. Collins

Honors Undergraduate Theses

I am specifically studying the effects of a recent Supreme Court decision will have on administrative law and specifically on the EPA. Simply put, the decision is likely going to foster distrust within the EPA and decisions that are made within environmental law, as the shift goes away from scientific experts, but to less educated legal professionals who interpret the laws. In the past, people thought of the initial Chevron decision as incredibly beneficial for scientific matters and for the environment. Chervon was removed recently with another Supreme Court decision that made this idea obsolete, removing professionals from the power …

A Constitutional View Of Administrative Agencies, Anthony J. Diego

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This research focuses on a nuanced area of American law and history: the constitutionality of administrative agencies. Determining their constitutionality requires a sound and fundamental understanding of administrative agencies’ history and purpose, as well as applicable constitutional principles. Reliance on core legal and historical documents founding the United States, as well as existing literature analyzing them, is essential to this determination. Administrative agencies have existed within the United States government since the Founding, though not without scrutiny and exception to government operations. Recently, Supreme Court precedent dramatically changed agency operative functions, making it now an opportune time to analyze the …

Rapid Inference Of Atmospheric Feature Parameters From Light Curves Using Bayesian Neural Networks, Eugenio A. Diaz

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Mapping atmospheres using rotationally modulated light curves offers insights into cloud structures and dynamics. Current retrieval methods, primarily based on Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) techniques like Aeolus, can infer atmospheric features but are computationally prohibitive for large datasets. This project proposes a neural network (NN) framework for the rapid, variational inference of atmospheric structure from light curves, particularly those of brown dwarfs. The primary approach focuses on training a Bayesian NN (BNN) to perform regression, predicting the spot parameters that describe the object's surface brightness map. Given the scarcity of suitable observational training data, the BNN is trained on …

Ad Astra Per Aspera: Legal Revision Of Space Laws And Intellectual Property To Cultivate Global Alliance And Innovation, Jaiden E. Haggiag

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis explores the inadequate nature of the current legal space regime and points out the gaps in outer space laws, including the following: Jurisdictional Challenges, Frameworks of Liability, and IP (Intellectual Property) Enforcement, utilizing laws such as the Outer Space Treaty (OST), the Liability Convention, the Registration Convention, the Moon Agreement, the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), and TRIPS, along with national laws like the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act and The Inventions in Outer Space Act (35 U.S.C. § 105.). Through analysis of current scholarly proposals and treaty evolution and synthesize to provide policy options, the goal of …

Criminal Defenses In The Age Of Ai: An Examination Of How Technological Advancements Are Challenging Traditional Duress And Mistake Of Fact Defenses, Lauren Lepage

Honors Undergraduate Theses

AI has rapidly evolved into a defining force of modern life, transforming industries by automating tasks, streamlining workflows, and enhancing everyday experiences. However, the same advancements, especially in deepfakes, now enable highly convincing manipulation of audio, images, and video, blurring the line between truth and fabrication. As these technologies grow more accessible, they not only reshape digital interactions but also challenge core principles of criminal law and culpability. This research examines the rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and deepfake technology and analyzes the challenges they pose to traditional criminal defenses. Employing a doctrinal legal research approach, it evaluates statutory …

An Analysis Of The Constitutionality Of Florida's 2024 Hb 3: “Online Protections For Minors,” Comparative To Other State Regulations Of The Internet, Evan J. Siegel

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis examines the constitutionality of the Florida House of Representatives’ 2024 priority bill, HB 3: “Online Protections for Minors,” through its ongoing litigation in North Florida. The broad nature of the bill, which is now Florida law, and its burden on accessing constitutionality protected speech and/or expression may not be consistent with the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. How the law defines and shapes what material may be accessible to people on the Internet, or the means they would need to use to create a social media account, are questions many other courts have begun …

Parents’ Perspectives On Emotional Regulation In Their Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Diana Stewart

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The current study’s main research question was whether emotional dysregulation of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affects parental stress levels. This project examined various negative emotional reactions, such as anger, sadness, worry, anxiety, and tantrums that were present in children with an ASD diagnosis, ages 4 to 13. The research consisted of five psychological assessments with strong psychometric properties. The whole survey was supposed to be filled out by a parent or a caregiver of a child, since children are considered a vulnerable population when it comes to research. The first assessment was the Childhood Autism Spectrum Test (CAST) …

Volume Xxxii (2025)

The Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Journal of Florida Literature

No abstract provided.

Threads Of Home: Finding Rawlings's Florida, Rick Kilby

The Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Journal of Florida Literature

No abstract provided.