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Development Of Human Neuronal Microphysiological Models And Subsequent Integration Into Multi-Organ Platforms For Evaluation Of Therapeutic Efficacy And Off-Target Toxicity, Aakash Patel

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Microphysiological systems are a rapidly growing field of research for modeling of physiological processes and disease in an in vitro environment. The translatability and cost effectiveness of these platforms make them a valuable tool for drug discovery, allowing investigation of both efficacy and off-target toxicity either as a replacement or supplement to traditional animal models. Neurological disorders in particular are often difficult to emulate in an animal model, making the development of these models a highly useful area of research for both elucidation of brain function, as well as neurological disorders. Taking these models and integrating them into a multi-organ …

Shadows From The Double-Wide: A Reflection On Home, Brittani K. Brown

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

My studio practice acts as a personal anthropological investigation into my upbringing in the rural South. I utilize photographic, textile, print, and virtual mediums that have a unique historical and/or modern connection with the South. Almost a decade after deciding to leave my Southern Baptist religion behind and even longer after covering up my Southern accent, I find myself in a place of tension-ridden nostalgia for the place I grew up.

The community of artists in the Southeast region of the United States continues to grow and create a more cohesive picture of the South and Southern identity through their …

Increasing Access Through Graduate Teaching Assistant Training: A Udl-Informed, Video-Based Professional Development Approach For Inclusive Chemistry Instruction, Kathleen Lugo Charriez

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

STEM courses pose concealed barriers to learning for students with disabilities, a demographic that constitutes a significant portion of postsecondary science and engineering undergraduate student populations. While extensive research has examined access and inclusiveness in K–12 education and, to a more limited extent, in higher education, there remains a critical gap in understanding how to proactively design undergraduate chemistry curricula that are both accessible and inclusive for a diverse range of learners. In particular, limited attention has been given to supporting Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) in adopting inclusive instructional practices in higher education chemistry courses.

In large academic institutions, GTAs …

Sub-Cycle Nonlinear Optics In Solids, Dipendra Khatri

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

The rapid advancement of digital electronics and telecommunication systems necessitates processing information at increasingly higher speeds. However, modern semiconductor technology faces fundamental physical limitations in transistor miniaturization and clock frequency due to quantum mechanical constraints. To overcome these barriers, ultrafast optoelectronics, leveraging light-matter interactions, offers a promising alternative. Light, as the fastest carrier of information, enables signal processing at frequencies far beyond conventional semiconductor technology. Advancements in laser technology have enabled stable and reliable ultrashort light pulse sources, lasting only a few femtoseconds at optical wavelengths. When utilized for signal processing, they could enable clock frequencies over 1000 times higher …

Ab Initio Studies Of Electrochemical Processes: Insights Into Co2 Reduction And Hydrogen Evolution Reactions, Theodoros Panagiotakopoulos

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

The urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions has spurred intense interest in sustainable technologies that enable both carbon dioxide (CO2) utilization and hydrogen production. This thesis explores these challenges through a combination of electrochemical simulations, surface science, and experimental validation. Central to the study is the electrochemical CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR), which offers a promising route for converting CO2 into fuels and chemicals using renewable electricity. We begin by addressing the limitations of traditional modeling approaches for electrochemical systems. A hybrid explicit-implicit solvation model (SOLHYBRID) and an electrode potential control algorithm (TPOT) were developed to simulate the electrochemical interface …

Advanced Subspace Estimation Techniques For Statistical Analysis And Machine Learning, Kang Li

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

The rapid expansion of data volume and complexity across diverse domains has underscored the need for robust and efficient techniques capable of extracting meaningful information from high-dimensional datasets. Subspace estimation—identifying the underlying low-dimensional structures within high-dimensional data—has emerged as a cornerstone method in modern data analysis and machine learning. This dissertation aims to advance both the theoretical and practical aspects of subspace estimation problems.

In the first part, we investigate Fréchet central subspace estimation, a critical component of sufficient dimension reduction (SDR) challenges. Traditional SDR methods often fall short when dealing with non-Euclidean responses. To address this, we propose a …

The Impact Of Virtual Backgrounds In Video-Mediated Selection And The Role Of Candidate Qualifications, Mira Gruber

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Videoconferencing allows users to manage their self-presentation through virtual backgrounds that mask their immediate physical environment. Prior research suggests that backgrounds depicting professional home spaces (e.g., bookshelves) elicit more favorable impressions than those that depict personal home spaces (e.g., bedrooms). Expectancy Violations Theory (EVT) provides a framework for understanding such effects. The present dissertation applied EVT to video-mediated selection interviews, that have become increasingly popular since the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the strict expectations for professionalism in interviews, virtual backgrounds that deviate from such expectations may negatively impact hiring decisions. Consequently, this work examined the impact of two virtual background types, …

Retirement Adjustment: Subjective And Social Well-Being Of Retirees In Response To The Preretirement Work-Nonwork Interface, Yeeun Choi

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

Retirement represents a significant life transition that profoundly impacts one’s subjective and social well-being. Drawing on the life course perspective, this study investigated retirement adjustment by analyzing the longitudinal patterns of well-being and the predictors influencing these trajectories. Using a mixed-methods approach, this study combined 16 years of longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) (n_A = 1,470, n_B = 1,422) with qualitative narratives from retirees (n = 30) to provide a comprehensive understanding of the retirement adjustment process. The growth mixture model (GMM) analysis identified four distinct patterns in retirees' life satisfaction trajectories …

An Involuntary Motive Of Voluntary Behavior: An Investigation Of The Causes And The Consequences Of Citizenship Pressure, Junyoung Hong

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

This dissertation investigates citizenship pressure, defined as an individual’s perception of pressure to perform organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), by examining its conceptual boundaries, antecedents, behavioral outcomes, and underlying mechanisms. Study 1 used an item-sorting task with undergraduate participants to assess whether citizenship pressure is empirically distinct from related constructs such as OCB norms and workaholism. Substantial conceptual overlap prompted refinement of the construct and its measurement. Study 2 surveyed employees to examine how supervisor and coworker OCB demands, along with personality traits (conscientiousness and agreeableness), predict citizenship pressure at the between-person level. Although personality traits showed no direct effects, they …

Impacts Of Susceptibility To Peer Influence And Fomo On Viewing Alcohol-Related Content On Social Media, Alcohol Expectancies, And Alcohol Use, Callie L. Wang

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

PURPOSE: Young adult (YA) alcohol use remains a significant public health problem, and may be influenced by alcohol expectancies developed through exposure to peers’ alcohol related content (ARC) on social media. This study examined the associations among ARC exposure, alcohol expectancies and alcohol use among YAs, and how susceptibility to peer influence and Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) may influence these relations. METHOD: YAs in the United States who endorsed consuming 1-2 standard drinks per month (N=371) completed surveys measuring ARC exposure, alcohol expectancies, susceptibility to peer influence, FoMO, and alcohol use at baseline and at 4- and 8-week follow …

Hallucinogen Usage, Experiencing Mystical Phenomena, And Transformational Identity Change, Cameron Hyder

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

This study seeks to understand the therapeutic potential of multiple prominent hallucinogens (LSD, Psilocybin, MDMA, Cannabis, and DMT) by examining corresponding posttraumatic growth, transformational identity change, and experience(s) of mystical phenomena. College students (N = 278) completed an anonymous online survey. The data was analyzed to assess hallucinogen usage history and possible changes, as well as any significant differences between each hallucinogen. Participants were first asked about their hallucinogen usage including which hallucinogens they have specifically used, number of uses, age of first use, and the last time they used. They were also asked to rate their short-term vs …

Identity Impacts Of Crafting In Multiple Life Domains Among Employees With Chronic Mental And Physical Illnesses: A Mixed-Method Study, Kenzie Dye

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

This dissertation examined the impact of job, home, and leisure crafting on perceptions of five markers of positive work identity among employees with chronic mental and physical illnesses. It was hypothesized that all forms of crafting would be positively related to work identity perceptions when examined independently, and that job crafting would be the strongest predictor when the crafting categories were examined together. It was also predicted that home and leisure crafting would amplify the effects of job crafting on positive work identity. Based on qualitative data collected from focus groups comprised of individuals with a variety of chronic mental …

Examination Of Driving Experience, Hazard Perception & Distracted Driving: Going Beyond Individual Factors By Using A Social-Ecological Framework, Alejandro A. Arca

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation post-2024

This research included two studies that examined the roles of nomophobia, driving experience, distraction presence, and hazard presence on driving behavior. In Study 1, a hazard perception task was used to assess participants’ hazard perception accuracy rate and reaction time. Results showed that novice drivers displayed significantly higher levels of nomophobia and lower self-efficacy scores, divided attention, and working memory scores compared to their experienced counterparts. Furthermore, the results also showed that novice drivers reported faster reaction times to hazards, which may be associated with poor impulse control as previously reported in the literature. Study 2 was conducted to further …

Reconciling Theory And Praxis. Defending Subjective Agency Against Althusser's Structuralism - Daniel Guerrero, Daniel Guerrero

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Louis Althusser labels Marx’s early works as humanist, pseudo-materialist, and self-contained within the ideology of German idealism. Therefore, all attempts to develop a Marxist theory based on these works are futile and ideological. Instead, Althusser proposes a ‘scientific’ reading of Marx developing a structuralist theory based on dialectical materialism. I argue that his interpretations deny individual agency and reduce social relations to mechanistic processes, which directly conflicts with fundamental Marxist ideas like alienation, production, and species-being. By discussing authors within the Marxist Humanist tradition, I argue that a theoretical framework based on Marx’s early works is not only possible, but …

The Impact Of Religiosity On Political Knowledge Among Youth Voters, Norah Sackett

Honors Undergraduate Theses

As political engagement trends among young voters have continued to shift in the United States' political atmosphere, understanding the cognitive factors that influence these decisions is becoming increasingly important. Political efficacy, or the feeling that individual political action can impact the political process, impacting their civic duties, has long been regarded as a key determinant of an individual's political engagement. This study investigates how young voters' understanding of prominent political arguments relates to their sense of political efficacy, with a specific lens on individual religiosity.

Through an examination of this relationship between religiosity and overall comprehension of political arguments, this …

Optimizing Crispri Gene Silencing Of Putative Drug Targets In Mycobacterium Abscessus, Max Ivanov

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Among nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM), Mycobacterium abscessus (Mab) poses a particular threat to patients with cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease due to the lung damage and higher mortality rate it causes. Current treatments involve prolonged multi-antibiotic regimens that are often ineffective, highlighting the need for new drug targets.

The CRISPR Interference (CRISPRi) system uses a deactivated Cas9 protein (dCas9) to enable inducible gene silencing, offering a potential approach to identifying new targets. Genes that lead to a loss of Mab viability when silenced are considered essential, an important attribute of potential drug targets. While CRISPRi has shown …

Academic Proposals For Combating Authoritarian Populism In The United States: A Review Of The Social Science Literature, Emily A. Padgett

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Throughout American history, the idea of “democracy” has been taught at a base level throughout the school system. While we have been taught what a democracy is, it is rare to understand what a democracy isn’t. There have been threats identified by academics to our democracy throughout different eras in history. Now, in our current political climate, all main threats to democracy have been enacted at once.

This thesis serves as a literature review of a handful of academics and their idea of what the main threats to democracy are. There will be references to different perspectives and schools of …

Spirituality In Place: Assessment Of Spirituality, Place Attachment, And Locus Of Control In College, Chloe Armand

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The intent of this thesis is to explore how spirituality in place shapes college students’ cognition. While spiritual development is recognized as an important aspect of student affairs, its influence on cognitive factors such as locus of control and place attachment remains underexplored. This study investigates the relationship between spirituality, place attachment, and locus of control, as well as students’ perceptions of spiritual design elements on UCF’s campus. To assess these perceptions, a Quality of Place Questionnaire for Spirituality was developed. This instrument aims to measure humanity, sensuality, and sustainability in the built environment. This research uncovers the connections between …

Assessing The Relationship Between Perceived Psychological And Physical Pain In Adults With Orthopedic Pain, Daniel C. Karimi Dehkordi

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Suicide remains a public health concern in the U.S., particularly among individuals experiencing chronic pain and psychological distress. This cross-sectional study investigated the relationship between perceived physical and psychological pain in 41 adults with chronic orthopedic conditions. The relationship between other risk and protective factors and perceived levels of pain distress was also examined. Results showed a significant positive correlation between psychological distress and physical pain (r(39) = 0.388, p < .05) and psychological distress and depressive/anxiety symptoms (r (39) = 0.477, p < .01). Psychological distress was moderately associated with feelings of hopelessness (r (39) = 0.403, p < .01), however, the relationship between physical pain and hopelessness was weak and nonsignificant (r (39) = -0.06, p = .71). Contrary to expectations, emotional support did not buffer the effects of psychological distress (r (39) = 0.07, p = 0.66). Mediational analysis confirmed that emotional support did not influence the relationship between physical pain and psychological distress (Beta (β) = -0.969, p = 0.572; Sobel Z = 0.5598, p = 0.575). Age was not correlated with psychological distress (r (39) = -0.24, p = 0.13) or mental health symptoms (r (39) = -0.05, p = .77). While there was no significant difference across sex, males reported higher mental health symptomatology and psychological distress scores than female counterparts. These findings underscore the direct impact of physical pain on psychological distress and challenge assumptions about the protective role of social support. The study highlights the need for integrated, multidisciplinary interventions targeting both physical and psychological pain to mitigate suicide risk among individuals with chronic orthopedic conditions. Future research should iii explore alternative support mechanisms and resilience-building strategies to address the complex interplay of pain, distress, and suicidality.

Exploring The Potential Use Of Health-State Indexes To Improve Estimates Of Health Benefits Of Environmental Regulation, Madison G. Drewry

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This study explores a novel method to calculate the willingness to pay (WTP) for individuals of the general population to reduce the risk of having an illness. The purpose of the study is to observe the implications of the possibility to produce more accurate value of a statistical case (VSC) estimates for usage in regulatory agencies and environmental economics within benefit cost analyses (BCA). By joining aspects from both BCA and cost effectiveness analysis (CEA), such as the health-related quality of life (HRQL), and the value of a statistical life (VSL), this research aims to provide a more precise framework …

The Effects Of Demographic Variables On Covid-19 Attitudes Surrounding The 2020 Election, Shelby K. Dalbec

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic was a worldwide phenomenon, with far-reaching consequences in all sectors of society, including the 2020 election. To better understand the implications of this global occurrence, this research examines the extent to which demographic variables influenced public opinions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. This study takes a quantitative approach, analyzing datasets from the 2020 American National Elections Studies (ANES). It examines demographic, socioeconomic, and political factors as independent variables, with dependent variables that capture attitudes related to the COVID-19 pandemic. I hypothesized that there would be a strong relationship between party identification and COVID-19 attitudes. This study found that …

The Truth And Their Versions: Florida Lawmakers And Academic Freedom Across K-12 And Higher Education, Kassandra Faylun

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Florida’s HB 7 and SB 266, enacted July 1, 2022, and July 1, 2023, respectively. HB 7 controls how certain race-related concepts, like critical race theory, are taught in K-12 classrooms and higher education. SB 266, apart from prohibiting expenditures for DEI programs, provides new requirements for general education core course curricula, including the disallowing of teaching identity politics and barring any classes that are “based on theories that systemic racism, sexism, oppression, and privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and were created to maintain social, political, and economic inequities.” Both HB 7 and SB 266 …

Exploring The Impact Of Attorneys With Exposed Tattoos On Jurors, Diego F. Mahoney

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Within the legal field, there appears to be a pervasive stigmatization of exposed tattoos. Law firms justify their explicit or implicit bans on exposed body art by arguing that tattoos could negatively prejudice jurors who may be biased against people with tattoos. This thesis intends to put that notion to the test via a digital survey. Subjects who meet the qualifications to serve as a juror in the United States were shown one of two identical videos of an opening statement. However, in one video the attorney has a neck tattoo, whereas in the other the attorney does not. Subjects …

Rhythm Against Poethics, Jayvyn Dacas

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis stages an auto-poetic ethnography that listens to, and moves with, the anterior spaces of Black life. Those murmurs, hums, musical hesitations, and infrastructural vibrations that refuse capture by dominant epistemic regimes. Drawing from Ramon Amaro’s reading of Sylvia Wynter, Katherine McKittrick and Alexander Weheliye’s reflections on sound, Fred Moten’s insights on displacement, and Tendayi Sithole’s attention to the phonographic, the project situates music production as method and unworlding. Through engagements with the 808, sampling, sound systems, and embodied listening across Florida. Spaces like the warehouse, the party, record stores, and community become the work of Black voices, and …

Venezuela's And Mexico's Oil Industries: Policy Making Sets The Course, Camila Gimenez Valero

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The puzzle of Venezuela's crisis is one that researchers often try to understand. How did one of the richest nations in the world become one of the poorest? Venezuela is nowadays seen as a country with political unrest, where people struggle to get by and with a corrupt government. However, this was not always the case. Throughout the 20th century Venezuela had remarkable economic stability. Having discovered the world's largest known oil reserves, the nation's economy quickly developed, and the country also became known for its long-standing democracy. After the election of Hugo Chavez in 1998, Venezuela began to decline …

An Analysis Of Florida's Dual Enrollment Laws: How Florida's Model Is Uniquely Protected By The Fourteenth Amendment, William H. Hamman

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Florida’s dual enrollment program is an offering within the state’s basic education package, allowing secondary students to participate in postsecondary courses while simultaneously earning secondary and postsecondary credit. In Florida, around 80,000 students participate annually, and 1.5 million students are within the grade range eligible for participation in the program. This thesis analyzes how the program, and subsequently eligible students, are granted constitutional protections under the Fourteenth Amendment. The author conducted this research to highlight the expansive nature of constitutional law and demonstrate how Florida’s model is unique among state-mandated dual/concurrent enrollment programs. To conduct the necessary research, the author …

Measuring Personality And Animal Treatment Attitudes With The Pet Scale, Zackery J. Hilton

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Previous research has looked at the association between personality traits and the proclivity, or history, of committing acts that are characterized as animal abuse or animal cruelty. Much research has also found that individuals who exhibit this type of behavior towards animals also tend to exhibit similar behavior towards other individuals, mainly in the form of domestic or child abuse. Previous studies have measured animal abuse using very explicit and extreme criteria, using acts that are without question blatant abuse or torture; however, there is some grey area where many may argue whether certain acts should be considered abuse, which …

Ucf Pegasus Plan - 5th Grade - The Constitution, Joshua Houlbrooke, Madison Gilmore, Jacob Schwartz, Brenda Falcon, Spencer Millwood, Akili Hart

Pegasus Plans: Social Studies Unit Plans for Florida Teachers

During this unit, students will explore the history of the United States government, examine its structures and their functions, serving to establish within them strong civic knowledge as citizens of this nation. Students will interact with projects, activities, digital media, literature, and many different information rich means of effective social studies education.

Human-Machine Communication: Complete Volume. Volume 9

Human-Machine Communication

This is the complete volume of HMC Volume 9.

Accomplishing Robotic Autonomy: The Complexities Of Sociotechnical Care And Agency In The Laboratory, Yifan Xu, Elliott Hauser

Human-Machine Communication

Effective ethical interventions in emerging technologies such as robotic autonomy demand situated understandings of the practices that shape them. Drawing upon a year of participatory ethnography, this study examines the sociomaterial practices used to accomplish robotic agency in an engineering research laboratory. Ironically, the robot was often a helpless, even pathetic, figure. Roboticists displayed an attitude of surprisingly genuine, diligent, and self-effacing care toward the robot as they helped enable it to perform basic competencies such as picking up a bottle. Using a practice theory, we show how roboticists’ care practices, motivated and sustained by anticipatory narratives of robotic agency, …