Digital Commons Network^™

Analyzing Asthma And Allergy Effects Of Immigrant Children In South Florida, Uma Roy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Through my research study, I have analyzed the waiting, suffering, and struggle of Hindu immigrants to access quality healthcare treatment in South Florida. I wanted to explore immigrant parents' perceptions and beliefs associated with specific Hindu cultural meanings as well as exercising specific rules and norms of behavior for treating asthma and allergies in their children. My ethnographic study reveals the immigrants' perspectives on their traditional healing system and the healthcare system in South Florida for their children's wellness, as they incorporate "plural medical systems". My research findings show how immigrants adapt to the healthcare system in a "highly stratified …

Community, Placemaking, And Preservation: Historic Neighborhoods In West Palm Beach, Florida, Aislinn Cruz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Historic preservation: the act of protecting landmarks and buildings, often through active participation with the community. The project aims to explore perceptions of those living in historical neighborhoods in West Palm Beach, Florida about:1) Neighborhood cultural connection, 2) Placemaking locations, 3) Relationship with the city, and 4) Knowledge of preservation projects. Using digital and in-person surveys, the project utilized Likert-scale and short-response questions to collect data. Results showed residents had mixed feelings about their cultural connection. Though a majority described their neighborhood positively, some negative responses came from a specific northern neighborhood. Locations of placemaking notably included parks and community …

Exploring The Relationship Between Health Literacy And Health Behavior Intention Through Mediation Moderation Analyses, Christopher M. Boerum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Vaccine hesitancy is a complicated public health issue that could compromise the well-being of our communities, evident not only in the COVID-19 pandemic but also in the increasing occurrences of vaccine hesitancy toward long-established vaccines, leading to breakthrough cases of diseases such as measles. Several factors can impact this complex phenomenon, such as health education (HE), attitudes towards social media (SMA) and exercise (EA), chronic disease exposure/risk perception (CDR), and demographic variables.

This study examined the relationship between health literacy (HL), and health behavior intention. The eHeals assessment measured HL and an assessment of vaccine attitude (VA) measured health behavior …

Social Connections And Bond Pricing, Uliana Filatova

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this manuscript, I present two essays that examine the role of social connections in corporate bond pricing.

The first essay examines the effect of interlocking connections between investment banks and corporate executives or directors on bond underpricing and underwriting fees. Interlocking is associated with more accurate bond pricing, reflected in significantly lower excess initial returns on newly issued bonds. Specifically, interlocking reduces underpricing by 6.25-14.01 basis points, saving, on average, up to $935,000 per issuance cost. The reduction in underpricing is most pronounced for high-yield bonds and bond IPOs, where the financial expertise of interlocked investment banks is particularly …

Sleep Quality, Volumetric Brain Biomarkers For Ad, Executive Function, & Cognitive Decline In Older Adults, Layaly Shihadeh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objective: Our aims were to examine differences in sleep quality sub scores and total scores across diagnostic groups cross-sectionally and longitudinally, correlate executive function scores and volumetric biomarkers of AD (prefrontal cortical and hippocampal volumes) with sleep quality scores, and explore how demographic variables may serve to moderate how sleep quality effects diagnosis. Method: 381 participants were classified into 3 diagnostic groups (Cognitively normal (CN), mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and dementia) based on the CDR global score. Prefrontal cortical volume, hippocampal volume, and PSQI total and sub scores were used as predictors of progression status. Daytime dysfunction, sleep duration, and …

Amalia E Carlo (1812) By Pietro Carlo Guglielmi In Napoleonic Naples: Unearthing A Forgotten Opera, Barbara Salani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation offers a significant contribution to musicology, illuminating an opera lost to obscurity for over two centuries. Its reconstruction is the result of interdisciplinary research encompassing Italian socio-political history, philology, and cultural-linguistic analysis. The opera is Amalia e Carlo, a masterpiece by Pietro Carlo Guglielmi, composed in 1812, which enjoyed a brief period of success before succumbing to the shifting tides of time and political change. Its libretto and musical score were scattered and relegated to the obscurity of archives and closets in Tuscany, Naples, and Munich. The research aims to elucidate the opera's importance not only within the …

Education In Death: The Post-Mortem Life Of Academic Collections, Alexis Blanche Bunce

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Florida Atlantic University has a skeletal teaching collection made up of nine disarticulated individuals. Like other anatomical skeletal collections housed in universities, FAU’s collection has unknown origins. With the current shift in bioarchaeology, it is important to take any steps necessary towards a more ethical practice and properly answer for the unethical practices that led to countless collections being obtained without consent. Keeping proper documentation should always have been a necessity, but moving forward, instructors can introduce curation taphonomy forms into their routine documentation. I drafted and tested these forms on five of the nine skeletal individuals in FAU’s collection …

Population Genetics Of Shallow And Mesophotic Corals And Sponges In The Gulf Of Mexico And Florida, Ryan J. Eckert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Population genetic analyses provide critical insights into biodiversity and resilience on coral reefs. This dissertation investigated the genetic connectivity and cryptic diversity of multiple foundational reef species, the corals Stephanocoenia intersepta, Orbicella faveolata, Montastraea cavernosa, and the sponge Xestospongia muta, across shallow and mesophotic reefs in the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS) and across marine protected areas on the Florida Reef Tract. Using a reduced representation genotyping approach, 2bRAD-seq, we generated genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) datasets for each species to assess patterns of population structure across regions and depth zones. Analyses uncovered cryptic lineages …

Institutional Learning And International Student Enrollment: A Case Study Of Perceptions Of Practice, Debra Szabo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the application of Peter Senge’s Learning Organization Theory at Florida Atlantic University (FAU), focusing on administrators' perceptions of institutional learning amid increasing international student enrollment. Higher education institutions must balance market-driven behaviors with collaborative learning environments as they navigate a competitive global landscape.

The study stresses the need to investigate institutional learning outcomes and the impact of rising international student enrollment on university policies, procedures, and organizational learning. It explores the relationship between espoused theories, strategic goals designated by FAU, and theories-in-action, which reflect actual practices in recruiting and supporting international students. By integrating Argyris and Schön's …

Manteño Landscape In Construction: Geoarchaeology In The Cloud Forest, Coastal Ecuador, Janny Mauricio Velasco

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research explores archaeological soil micromorphology as an experimental method for studying the effects of intensive landscape transformation in the Manteño inland urban clusters of the Las Tusas River Valley of Rio Blanco, Manabi, Ecuador. Specifically, during this period, the Manteño society expanded its influence along the Ecuadorian littoral, incorporating the cloud forest of the Chongón Colonche cordillera as part of its settlement strategy. Micromorphology could provide detailed information about the cultural processes that formed the soil structure of the archaeological midden of N4C4-044. This work presents the results of soil micromorphology in a Neotropical Forest of Central Coastal Ecuador, …

Mapless Autonomous Navigation Using Monocular Vision, Sai Digvijay Neelam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis investigates monocular vision-based navigation for autonomous ground robots in indoor environments. It explores the effectiveness of mapless navigation strategies using image inputs and evaluates both modular and end-to-end deep learning techniques. A comprehensive implementation pipeline was developed on a Clearpath Dingo robot, comparing the approaches: classical optical flow (Farneback), modular deep learning with motion planning, and an end-to-end model.

The modular methods involve predicting region-wise obstacle depths using a ResNet 18 based model trained on a custom indoor dataset, followed by a motion planner. The end-to-end approach leverages a ResNet-18 architecture to jointly predict steering angles and collision …

Modeling Single-Engine Failure In Dual-Engine Tilt-Rotor Aircraft, Alexander Christopher Gaudreau

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While single-engine failure has been considered in dual-engine tilt-rotor aircraft, more complex failures have been less investigated. This thesis will model a simultaneous powertrain and drivetrain complex failure scenario during vertical flight on a dual-engine tilt-rotor aircraft. This thesis is valuable to designers and operators, as it will simulate the aircraft's complex failure scenario and flight dynamics. Complex failure is modeled using MATLAB’s Simulink to accomplish a six degrees-of-freedom translational and rotational dynamic and kinematic free-fall model. A counter-rotating rotor system representation for the dual-engine tilt-rotor aircraft was also achieved by incorporating the rotor block in Simulink. It was discovered …

Spot (Smart Position And Temperature) Tagging Reveals Environmental Factors That Shape Blacktip Shark (Carcharhinus Limbatus) Annual Migrations., Isaac Tuszynski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Blacktip sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus) in the Western Atlantic migrate annually to spend the winter in waters off the coast of southeastern Florida. In the spring, these sharks migrate north to waters ranging as far north as Long Island, New York. This study was based on spatial data collected by SPOT (Smart Position and Temperature) tags deployed on blacktip sharks from 2017 to 2024. The data from the tags were used to investigate the offshore extent of the migration, the thermal preferences of these sharks, and which environmental variables can be used to predict their latitudinal distribution. Most blacktip detections were …

Tiny-Physics: A Compact Large Language Model For Physics Word Problems On Mobile Devices, Akhil Vallala

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis offers Tiny-Physics, a compact large language model optimized for solving physics word problems on mobile devices. While Small Language Models (SLMs) offer potential for on-device learning, there is a lack of domain-specialized models for physics. This research fine-tunes smolLM2-360M, a state-of-the-art SLM, using a combination of publicly available datasets (e.g., camel-ai/physics) and a novel synthetic dataset generated through a multi-agent system based on GPT-4o and 1000 Solved Problems in Classical Physics.

The fine-tuning process incorporates both supervised and instruction-tuning methods, including LoRA for parameter-efficient training. The resulting model is converted to GGUF format for deployment on resource-constrained mobile …

Factors Associated With Contraceptive Discontinuation Among Women In The U.S., Moradi Aljadani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: Contraceptive discontinuation is a significant public health concern in the United States, contributing to unintended pregnancies and associated health, social, and economic consequences. Despite the availability of a wide range of contraceptive methods, many women discontinue use prematurely due to a variety of personal, social, cultural, and systemic factors. However, limited research has comprehensively examined these factors at the national level, particularly within a theoretical framework that captures the multidimensional influences on contraceptive decision-making. Objective: This study aimed to assess the factors associated with contraceptive method discontinuation among women in the U.S, guided by Ray’s Theory f …

The Effect Of Huntington’S Disease On The Mechanical And Electrical Properties Of Red Blood Cells, Liliana Ponkratova

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Huntington’s disease (HD) has an impact on brain tissues and can alter the biochemical properties of the peripheral blood. Evidence in existing literature suggests that peripheral mutant Huntingtin protein may be involved and deteriorate HD. Red blood cells (RBCs), being the most abundant type of cells in the peripheral blood, can show detectable changes in their biophysical properties due to subtle changes in cell membranes. These changes can offer a minimally invasive means to track the progression of the disease. The transgenic line R6/2 is used as the disease model. Utilizing the electro-deformation spectroscopy, we measured membrane permittivity, cytoplasm conductivity, …

Quackery Unmask’D: Defining Quackery In English And American Vernacular Medical Works, C. 1600-1800, Katherine Rose Horan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis argues that, from 1600 to 1800, healers in both England and America conceptualized quackery through an evolving understanding of what made a medical practitioner “acceptable.” Through a close examination of vernacular medical print published in both England and America throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, this thesis complicates earlier understandings of quackery as being disconnected from politics and social biases. Instead, medical authors used social position—specifically gender, race, and religion—and medical philosophy as ways to identify quacks. In England, the Royal College of Physicians used quackery to delegitimize their opponents, while critics of the College did the same. …

A Sociolinguistic Study Of The Bani Malik Dialect In Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Mansour Almalki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

My research aims to examine how the dialect of the Bani Malik community, a minority group in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, has been influenced by its contact with the urban dialect of Mecca. It also aims to record Bani Malik speakers’ attitudes toward their heritage dialect. Thirty-six Bani Malik speakers of different age groups, genders, and amounts of contact with Meccan speakers were interviewed for 30 minutes each. Quantitative data analysis was used to investigate the influence of the Meccan dialect on one Bani Malik morphological feature, the first-person singular possessive marker < -i:h>, and two phonological features, the diphthongs [ai] and …

Improving Teacher Effectiveness, Keith D. Powell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This applied action research with a program evaluation aimed to determine if the Improving Effectiveness Three (IE3) program which is composed of professional development on the Professional Growth System (PGS), engagement in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs), and participation in the New Teacher Academy (NTA) improves teacher effectiveness at North Panama High School (NPHS) as measured by the Mississippi Professional Growth System.

For the past five years, the United States has struggled to fully staff public schools with highly effective teachers. This struggle is increasingly difficult in several southern states. North Panama High School, surrounded by more affluent school districts, experiences …

Creating A Mentorship Program For Assistant Principals To Improve Instructional Leadership, Shadonica Sharee Scruggs

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Effective instructional leadership is essential for strengthening teachers’ instructional capacity and improving student outcomes. However, many assistant principals often lack the mentorship and targeted professional development needed to thrive in this critical role. Providing them with the right support can bridge this gap, empowering them to become transformative leaders in their schools. In this study, I explored the development and implementation of a mentorship program designed to strengthen the instructional leadership skills of assistant principals with the ultimate goal of enhancing student learning outcomes. Using an applied research design, I collected data through surveys, focus groups, and interviews with assistant …

Exploring The Perceptions Of Non-Traditional Graduate Students About Their Experiences With Social Presence In Online Professional Degree Programs, Courtney Elizabeth Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The rise of virtual learning has been significant in recent years, with the percentage of degree programs offered exclusively online increasing from 15.4% in 2019 to 60% in 2022. While online courses provide flexibility and convenience, concerns have emerged regarding student engagement, learning outcomes, and satisfaction. Due to limited interactions with peers and instructors, virtual students often struggle with motivation and experience higher levels of anxiety, stress, and isolation compared to their in-person counterparts.

A key factor influencing student success in online courses is social presence, defined as the extent to which learners feel connected and engaged with their instructor …

Framing Ncaa V. Alston: Amicus Briefs’ Competing Visions Of Student-Athlete Compensation, Stuart A. Sutton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative content analysis was to examine how amici curiae frame policy preferences in amicus briefs submitted before the United States Supreme Court in NCAA v. Alston (2021). The questions addressed in this study were what dominant policy frames did interest groups use to frame policy preference in NCAA v. Alston (2021), and which (if any) policy frames in the amicus briefs emerged in the written opinions of the United States Supreme Court? This analysis indicates the complexities and intricacies of competing vision of student-athlete compensation within the persuasive lens of amicus briefs through interest groups. In …

Arithmetic Ramsey Theory In Algebraic Settings, Gauree Wathodkar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Arithmetic Ramsey theory is an area of combinatorics that deals with finding structures in large subsets of integers, dating back to at least Hilbert (1892). One of the early results in this area is Schur’s theorem (1917) that pioneered the concept of partition regularity. In 1933, Schur’s student Rado generalized his theorem and proposed a conjecture for partition regular equations. This was settled by Deuber in 1973. The first part of this dissertation is to generalize this conjecture in infinite integral domains.

For non-partition regular equations Rado gave a Boundedness conjecture in the integers. While this conjecture is still open, …

The Moderating Role Of Engagement On Mindfulness, Sarah Rose Wilson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined the moderating role of engagement in a technology-based mindfulness intervention among college students. Drawing on archival data from a prior randomized controlled trial, the analysis focused on whether self-reported engagement influenced changes in mindfulness as measured by the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ). Seventy-five participants in the mindfulness intervention group received brief psychoeducational and practice-based text messages over a 21-day period. A moderation analysis using PROCESS macro tested whether engagement moderated the relationship between pre- and post-intervention mindfulness scores. Results indicated that engagement did not significantly moderate changes in total FFMQ scores, providing no support for …

Management Strategies To Improve Gastrointestinal Health And Productivity Of Native And Dairy-Derived Steers Fed In Confinement, Becca B. Grimes Francis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this dissertation was to evaluate strategies to mitigate metabolic disorders in confinement fed steers. The first study was conducted on yearling beef steers to investigate the effect of a rumen buffer, calcium magnesium carbonate (CMC), when fed with or without tylosin phosphate (TYL), on growth performance, rumination activity and liver abscess prevalence. Supplementation of a rumen buffer was not an effective alternative to a feed-grade antimicrobial for the control of liver abscesses in beef steers. Supplementation of CMC reduced DMI, thus negatively influencing BW and ADG. No associative effects of CMC and TYL were observed for any …

Transcriptional Regulation Of Mouse Line-1 Subfamilies, Karabi Saha

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Development Of Bio-Based Coating Materials For Environmentally Friendly Controlled-Release Nitrogen Fertilizer Applications, Anne Carolyne Mendonca Cidreira

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Physiological And Genetic Studies Of Hydrotropism In The Maize Primary Root, Muyu Gu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Evaluating Dietary Consequences On Body Mass And Thermal Heat Flux Of North American Bison (Bison Bison) Yearling Heifers, Kendall Marie Wald

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Evaluating Effects Of Copper Sources In Nursery Pig Diets And Phytase Inclusion And Diet Interactions On Water Usage In Growing And Finishing Pigs, Daniel Rosales

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In modern swine production, nutritional strategies that optimize growth performance, resource utilization, and carcass quality are essential. Three independent trials were conducted to evaluate how dietary modifications involving copper (Cu) sources, phytase inclusion, and amino acid reformulation affect nursery and grow-finish pigs. The first trial assessed the effects of three different Cu sources on nursery pig growth performance. A total of 1,145 pigs (5.9 ± 1.3 kg BW) were assigned to one of four dietary treatments: control, tri-basic Cu chloride source #1 (TBCC1), Cu chelate (cCu), or tri-basic Cu chloride source #2 (TBCC2), each providing 150 ppm of Cu. Over …