Digital Commons Network^™

En Tiempos De Extinción, Adialyz Del Valle Berríos

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

En Tiempos de Extinción is a collection of short, mostly speculative, stories exploring themes of community, exploitation, resistance, and the ever-present effects of colonialism in nearly every aspect of life. “El Amor de una Diosa es Amor Suficiente” centers on a young girl’s initiation into a community that will do whatever it takes to indoctrinate the young. “Al Aire Libre” focuses on two tenured professors determined to enjoy their last day on the job, navigating the complicated feelings of what progress means in a world that prioritizes capital. In “OVNI,” the history of a wacky television dating show unravels …

The Role Of Alcohol Expectancies In The Relationship Between Social Anxiety And Protective Behavioral Strategies Among College Students, Jordan Ortman

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

College students with elevated social anxiety are at heightened risk for alcohol-related consequences despite not consistently reporting greater alcohol use. One potential explanation for this pattern is lower engagement in protective behavioral strategies (PBS). Social alcohol expectancies are relevant to PBS use because students with elevated social anxiety often expect alcohol to reduce social discomfort or facilitate social interaction, and these beliefs may correspond with lower use of strategies that constrain the pace or amount of drinking. The present study examined whether positive and negative social alcohol expectancies were intermediate variables in associations between social anxiety and three PBS domains: …

Hidden Gem, Fraught Liability, Or Visible Asset? The Museum Of Contemporary Art Jacksonville, Keidra D. Navaroli

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

This dissertation utilizes a combination of archival research, qualitative interviews, and data-driven analyses to examine how the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Jacksonville came under the governance of the University of North Florida (UNF). Founded in 1924, MOCA became a cultural institute of UNF in 2009 during the Great Recession. Tracing MOCA’s reinventions and geospatial movements across Jacksonville, this study considers the ideologies that informed the museum’s development, the locations that defined its service to Northeast Florida, and the financial conditions that necessitated its eventual rescue by a public university. The museum’s challenges are reflective of larger tensions in the …

Multi-Scale Drivers Of Beetle Biodiversity In A Rapidly Urbanizing Region, Alessandra Pandolfi

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

As cities continue to expand, designing urban landscapes that balance ecological resilience with biodiversity conservation has emerged as a pressing challenge. This dissertation examines urban ecosystems as complex and dynamic environments shaping plant and animal communities, with a particular focus on ground-dwelling beetles as ecologically significant indicators of environmental change. Conducted across the Orlando metropolitan area, one of the fastest-growing regions in the United States, this dissertation integrates experimental and observational approaches. Specifically, it aims to (1) test sustainable landscaping practices, (2) compare the ecological outcomes of conventional and alternative residential landscape designs, and (3) assess how gradients of urbanization …

“I Call For The Resurgence And Reclamation Of Our Indigenous Ways”: Institutional Landscapes, Resistance, And The Experiences Of Mmir Advocates, Sara Tehrani

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Indigenous Peoples across Turtle Island experience disproportionately high rates of violence and homicide compared to other racial groups. Rooted in coloniality and sustained by Western institutions, this epidemic is recognized as the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR) crisis. In response, Indigenous women have mobilized the MMIR Movement to raise awareness and advocate for institutional change. Although scholarship on MMIR has expanded, limited research has explored the experiences of MMIR advocates. This study interrogates the institutional landscapes that shape MMIR advocacy and explores the resistance strategies advocates employ to address the crisis. Using reflexive thematic analysis, this study examines semi-structured …

Two Papers Exploring Cognitive Fit Theory And Data Visualization In Accounting, Kelly Wellman

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

This dissertation examines how data visualization design influences judgment and decision making in accounting using cognitive fit theory as a unifying framework. As visualization tools such as dashboards, Excel, Tableau, and Power BI become increasingly prevalent, understanding which design choices improve performance has become critical. The first paper provides a structured literature review of cognitive fit theory from 1991 through 2025, synthesizing research across accounting and related disciplines and tracing its evolution from early graph vs tables comparisons to mor recent work incorporating task complexity, individual differences, and design-specific features. The review identifies key gaps, including limited attention to difference …

Unmasking Impression Management: Large Language Models For Detecting Socially Desirable Responding In Open-Ended Situational Judgment Tests, Barret Vermilion

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Socially desirable responding (SDR) — the tendency to present oneself in an overly favorable light — remains a persistent validity concern in industrial-organizational psychology. Contemporary theory frames SDR as multidimensional, distinguishing agentic impression management (AM; inflating competence, dominance, and achievement) from communal impression management (CM; inflating warmth, cooperation, and prosocial qualities). Existing measures of AM and CM rely on self-report, which captures these constructs only at the level of generalized trait-like tendencies rather than as they naturally unfold in applicants' own language. This dissertation proposes a text-based alternative: detecting AM and CM in open-ended situational judgment tests (SJTs) of Big …

Study Of Compressibility Of Flames In Scramjet Combustors, Anirudh Ranganathan

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Viable forms of propulsion for practical hypersonic flight are of great interest in modern times, of which supersonic combustion ramjets(scramjets) are a very advantageous option. Compared to ramjets, which are severely limited by increasing total pressure loss and dissociation effects, scramjets offer a much more efficient form of propulsion in the Mach 6 – 8 regime. Despite this, a common and unmitigated issue facing scramjet technology is scramjet unstart.

Prior investigations researching scramjet unstart have elucidated global heat release considerations in relation to total fueling or combustion modes as a result of global heat release . Minimal work has been …

Adaptability And Applications Of Advanced Laser Absorption Diagnostics In High-Pressure Shock Tube Environments, Lucas R. Pitts

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Theoretical application and physical implementation of various laser absorption spectroscopy (LAS) diagnostics are examined within a high-pressure shock tube facility. Research focuses on the rationale behind the specific optical alignment layouts used across three distinct experimental campaigns, detailing the methodology required to maintain signal integrity in varied reacting flow environments. The first research campaign addresses the pyrolysis of hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) solid propellant binders for solid fuel ramjet (SFRJ) applications by measuring the species time histories of alkenes and aromatics. Alignment configurations prioritized beam stability and signal strength for the decoupling of overlapping absorption features to ensure measurements accurately …

Examining Attrition In Rtms For Smoking Cessation: The Roles Of Perceived Research Burden And Delay Discounting, Miranda Proctor

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

This secondary analysis examined predictors of attrition in a randomized clinical trial conducted by Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center evaluating repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for cigarette smoking cessation. Smoking cessation reduces cancer risk and mortality and improves mental health outcomes. Although rTMS shows promise for supporting sustained abstinence by targeting neurobiological mechanisms underlying nicotine dependence, participant attrition threatens statistical validity, reduces power, and limits generalizability. Identifying predictors of attrition is therefore critical for optimizing trial design and retention.

Research examining predictors of attrition in smoking cessation trials remains limited. Prior work in other clinical populations suggests that higher perceived …

A Sensory Ecology Of Fear: Moonlight-Mediated Predation Risk And Foraging Behavior In Neotropical Electric Fish, Chiu Lok Poon

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Animals must forage to acquire energy for survival and reproduction, yet foraging exposes them to predators. This creates a trade-off between energy intake and safety, wherein the perception of predation risk alone can alter activity patterns. Within this trade-off, risk, energetic needs, and sensory adaptations vary, shifting the balance and favoring different foraging strategies. Using Neotropical electric fish as a study system, I investigated how foraging under predation risk is shaped across biological scales, including environmental dynamics, interspecific sensory differences, activity-timing mechanisms, and intraspecific variations. These nocturnal fish emit continuous electric signals to sense their environment, allowing non-invasive monitoring of …

A Frequency-Dependent Hydrodynamic Modeling Framework For Offshore Platforms With Optimization-Based Parameter Identification, Md. Rafid-Ul Haque Sakif

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Accurate prediction of hydrodynamic loads on offshore platforms requires drag coefficients that adequately capture their dependence on wave frequency. However, conventional implementations of Morison’s equation generally assume constant drag coefficients across the entire frequency spectrum, which can lead to inaccuracies in predicting platform responses under complex sea-state conditions. To address this limitation, this study proposes a frequency-dependent hydrodynamic modeling framework in which the platform response is decomposed into distinct frequency regions, specifically low-frequency and high-frequency components. Separate drag coefficients are assigned to each region to better represent the underlying flow physics. The decomposition is achieved using filtering techniques in the …

Bond Behavior Of Uhpc-Nsc Interfaces For Bridge Deck Repair Under Flexural Loading, Larissa Santiago La Banca

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

The use of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) has increased due to its superior mechanical properties and strong bond with normal-strength concrete (NSC). It is widely used as a repair material, particularly in bridge decks, where maintenance remains a challenge. However, the interface between UHPC and NSC is often the weakest region of the composite system and requires careful evaluation.

This study investigates the bond behavior between UHPC and NSC using different surface preparations, test setups, and UHPC materials. The experimental program included unreinforced beams with vertical interfaces tested under three- and four-point flexural loading, and reinforced slabs with horizontal interfaces …

Code-Switching, Identity-Shifting, And Identity Distress Among Black Undergraduate Women Attending Predominantly White Institutions, Erin Smith

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Code-switching (altering language or speech) and identity-shifting (modifying appearance or behavior) are adaptive strategies often used by individuals from marginalized groups to navigate environments shaped by dominant cultural norms. Although these behaviors are commonly discussed in qualitative literature, relatively few quantitative studies have examined their psychological correlates among Black undergraduate women attending predominantly White institutions (PWIs). These behaviors may function as coping strategies in response to racialized and gendered expectations, yet the psychological implications of these strategies remain understudied. The present study examined the relationships among identity distress, code-switching, identity-shifting, and gendered racial identity centrality within a diverse sample of …

Advancing Multi-Modal Learning, Swetha Sirnam

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Multimodal learning aims to develop systems that understand and reason across multiple sources of information such as images, videos, audio, and text. These capabilities are central to applications including visual search, digital assistants, robotics, and visual question answering. Despite recent progress in multimodal large language models, current approaches struggle to capture the structured complexity of real-world visual data. Fine-grained visual details are often lost during multimodal alignment, models frequently fail to capture nuanced human intent, and existing methods remain limited in understanding long-form videos with complex temporal dynamics. Furthermore, many evaluation benchmarks rely heavily on explicit visual cues, which can …

For Whom The Tale’S Told: Multilevel Perspective On Narrative And Identity In Information Ecosystems, Jihye Song

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

In contemporary online information environments, narratives do not merely convey facts. They organize meaning, signal identity, and guide collective sensemaking. During periods of crisis and uncertainty, these processes become especially salient, as individuals and communities turn to social media to interpret unfolding events. At the same time, these environments are shaped by complex sociotechnical dynamics, including platform affordances, algorithmic amplification, elite influence, and grassroots participation. These dynamics form ecosystems in which narratives and identities are constructed, contested, and stabilized. Drawing on theory and empirical analyses of COVID-19 discourse on Twitter, this work develops and applies a multilevel framework to explain …

Examining Relationships Between Pre-Arrival Information, Perceived Preparedness, And Distressing Call Outcomes Among Firefighters, Victoria L. Steigerwald

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Responding to distressing emergency calls increases firefighters’ risk for negative mental health outcomes, including posttraumatic stress disorder, warranting investigation into factors that can be targeted to reduce their risk for call-related distress. The present study examined whether the completeness of pre-arrival information about a distressing call reduced firefighters’ peri- and post-call distress via their perceived preparedness for the call and whether general self-efficacy moderated the relationship between pre-arrival information completeness and perceived preparedness. Data were analyzed from 173 active firefighters in the United States (89.0% male, mean age=37.98 years) who completed an online survey asking them to report on levels …

Dynamic Interactions Of The Compressible Reacting Flow With A Morphing Wall In A Supersonic Combustor, Mason R. Thornton

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

The influence of compressibility on supersonic reacting flows is explored by varying the area expansion ratio in a supersonic cavity combustor using a moving wall. In principle, this design allows on-the-fly adjustment of the combustor aft wall expansion ratio to accommodate variable inlet conditions and fueling rates. The variable back pressure broadens the operability envelope and ensures greater pressure rise recovery compared with a constant geometry combustor. The results demonstrate that modulating area expansion alters the combustor pressure distribution and can influence cavity flame dynamics. At sufficiently high equivalence ratios and compression levels, the back pressure induced by the moving …

A Sensor Fusion And Optimization Framework For High-Resolution Power Outage Detection And Energy Asset Allocation, Elizabeth Trader

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Existing power outage datasets lack the spatial and temporal resolution required for neighborhood- level risk assessment, and conventional energy system design optimizes for cost without accounting for community-level demand - resulting in inefficient and inequitable asset de- ployment. This dissertation presents IONCORTEX, a framework integrating three technical contributions: a heterogeneous sensor fusion pipeline combining social media signals with municipal infrastructure records for intersection-level outage detection at six-hour tempo- ral resolution, maintaining detection capability during telecommunications disruptions; a techno-economic analysis pipeline evaluating photovoltaic, battery storage, hydrogen, and diesel portfolios using NREL’s System Advisor Model with Monte Carlo uncertainty quan- tification; and …

Abig4l: A Semantic Reasoning Engine For Verilog Via Abstract Interpretation, Alicia Thoney

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Modern Electronic Design Automation (EDA) flows treat structural and semantic reasoning as separate concerns. Synthesis structurally optimizes RTL, while dedicated verification teams validate functional behavior through testbenches and formal methods. This organizational divide means designers have no automatic, sound way to understand what their RTL does at the moment they are writing it. This thesis introduces AbIG4L (Abstract Interpretation of Generic 4-valued Logic), a static analysis framework that bridges this gap by delivering sound semantic reasoning automatically, directly within the hardware design loop.

The framework operates on a language-agnostic intermediate representation to compute sound over-approximations of hardware behavior across 0, …

Emotional Support Friends: Creating Social Impact Through Art And Polite Humor, Kenyari Gil Rosario

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

This thesis aims to provide new imagery to the conversation of mental health and neurodivergence. It does this through forms of soft sculpture, digital paintings, marker drawings, and community murals. Inspired by the practices of Keith Haring, iconographic characters are used to portray common struggles and coping habits of mental conditions in an endearing light. With the goal of social impact, this project is affiliated with the non-profit organization Providing Autism Links and Support (P.A.L.S). This partnership has given the community an opportunity to share their compassion through art and donations and uses art as a means of social impact …

If Your Muses Don't Hate You..., Hannah Howe

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

If Your Muses Don’t Hate You… interrogates a speaker who feels she lacks the tools needed to properly assess trauma and grief. This collection follows the speaker as she delves into obsessive analysis of self, often using metaphysical lenses as methods of comprehension. Each section explores a facet of the subject’s identity, and examines whether her heartache is self-inflicted, preordained, or both. Six of the seven sections provide the reader with imaginative interpretations of the speaker’s natal chart, allowing the reader the opportunity to analyze alongside the speaker. The first half of these sections present the speaker struggling to separate …

Essays On Network Resilience: Enhancing Network Resilience Through Network Governance Structure, Process, Environment, And Leadership, Hanvit Kim

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

As disasters become more complex, their impacts often cascade across interdependent systems, creating failures that extend beyond any single organization or sector. Because such crises cut across organizational and sectoral boundaries, effective response depends not only on the capacity of individual organizations but also on the resilience of interorganizational networks. Yet despite the growing importance of networked coordination in disaster response, the concept of network resilience remains underdeveloped in the literature, with limited consensus on its definition, measurement, and determinants. This dissertation addresses that gap by systematically examining what network resilience is, how it can be conceptualized and assessed, and …

Computational Methods For Rna 3d Structure Classification And Structural Motif Discovery, Nabila Shahnaz Khan

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Non-coding RNAs perform diverse and essential cellular functions, and the study of RNA structures is expanding rapidly. The growing volume of RNA 3D structures highlights the need for efficient computational methods to identify recurring structural motifs, which are often conserved and critical to RNA function. However, the complexity and redundancy of RNA structures in existing databases pose significant challenges for motif discovery and structural analysis. To address these challenges, this dissertation presents three complementary computational approaches. First, a non-redundant RNA structural dataset, RNA-NRD, was developed to systematically reduce redundancy in RNA structural data and provide a reliable foundation for downstream …

Odd Colorings Of Graphs With Maximum Degree And Surface Conditions, Matthew Kyle

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

A proper vertex coloring of a graph is said to be odd if, for each vertex, there is a color that is present an odd number of times in its neighborhood. Introduced as a softening of other coloring problems, this problem has recently seen much research interest. It has been conjectured that all planar graphs are odd-5-colorable. Further research has suggested bounds for odd coloring numbers of graphs with different maximum degree conditions, different girths, and on different surfaces; we progress results in all of these areas. We improve an upper bound for odd coloring numbers of graphs of maximum …

Framing Home: Extending Beyond The Threshold, Kaitlin R. Kirsch

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

This thesis body of work inspects the changes in the artist’s relationship to domesticity and their perceived sense of control over the spaces they have called home. By creating and embellishing spaces that subvert the threshold between the physical and psychic, the works stimulate feelings of comfort or discomfort. Installations of found materials, mixed media, and text-based dark humor, come together to account for this artist’s attempt to navigate the tediousness of daily life. The work takes into consideration the intangible rules that infiltrate a household, defining the framework in which a person learns to live within, or adapt to, …

High-Efficiency And Compact Virtual Reality Displays, Zhenyi Luo

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies are revolutionizing the way humans interact with digital information. However, current near-eye display systems still face critical challenges regarding optical efficiency, image quality, and device weight. This dissertation focuses on addressing these limitations through innovative liquid-crystal (LC) optics and system-level design strategies to achieve high-efficiency and compact VR displays.

First, to solve the longstanding problem of severe chromatic aberrations in ultrathin LC optics, I proposed an achromatic diffractive LC device. By stacking three LC layers with specifically designed spectral responses and polarization selectivity, I successfully reduced the chromatic aberrations. This idea enables …

Chemical Kinetic Experiments Of Monomethyl Hydrazine Combustion Products At High Pressures And High Temperatures In A Shock Tube, Cooper Q. Mills

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

This study presents experimental shock tube laser absorption spectroscopy data to validate high-pressure and high-temperature chemical kinetic mechanisms for mixtures of H₂/air, NH₃/air, and H₂/CO/NO₂/air diluted in argon (95-98%) at high pressures (5, 10, 25 bar) and high temperatures (1000 to 2150 K). The mixtures were at equivalence ratios of 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 to cover the range of possible conditions experienced throughout practical combustors. Laser absorption spectroscopy data was measured for NH₃, H₂O, CO, and NO using a novel multi-species setup. Chemical kinetic mechanisms contain the fundamental …

Temporal Patterns Of Storm Surges: Event-Identification, Clustering, And Count Modeling, Ariadna Martin Oliva

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Coastal regions face compounding risks when extreme events strike in rapid succession, yet most statistical frameworks treat such events as independent, a simplification that can critically underestimate hazard. This thesis addresses that gap through three interconnected contributions focused on the temporal clustering of storm surges at the global scale. A new automated method is developed to extract independent storm surge events from continuous tide gauge records. By leveraging event correlations and a soft-margin approach that accounts for local variability, the method identifies characteristic event durations across 1,485 global tide gauge stations, revealing the influence of both local site conditions and …

Revolution In The Age Of Social Media: A Mathematical Model For Information, Dissent, And Stability, Killian Muollo

Graduate Studies Theses and Dissertations 2026

Revolutions, defined by Skocpol as rapid transformations in class, state, and/or social structures, are important world events that can cause civil wars, spark international trends, and result in transitions toward democratic and autocratic regimes alike. They are characterized largely by the mechanism of mass mobilization, which is increasingly facilitated by online networks and digital communication. In this dissertation, we investigate such means and outcomes of revolutions as dynamical systems. We construct three models describing separate but complementary aspects of revolution, beginning at the smallest unit of analysis and then moving outward in scope. First, we construct a graph-based model to …