Digital Commons Network^™

A Sweet Deception, Andrea Florian, Ellis Stafford, Bridget Mcloud, Awi Siam

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Have you ever wanted to be a detective and solve a murder? Well, here is your chance! Bradley Thompson, an investment banker at JP Morgan, was murdered in his home, and we are relying on you to piece together the toxicological clues and find his killer! This murder-mystery activity will involve selecting different toxicological tests and evaluating evidence to determine who committed this heinous crime.

Investigating The Role Of Humic Acid In The Adsorption Mechanics Of Acetaminophen On Potassium Persulfate-Aged Polyethylene Terephthalate (Pet), Andrew Littleton, Maria Danielle Garrett, Phd

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Pharmaceutical contaminants such as acetaminophen (APAP) are showing a rising presence in aquatic environments, where their interactions with microplastics (MPs) can potentially modulate natural degradation mechanisms. Concurrent presence of the two substances has been shown to potentiate increase their individual harmful effects. This study investigates whether oxidative aging and humic-acid surface modification of PET microplastics influence APAP adsorption.

In this study, UV-aging was reproduced using an iron (II)-activated potassium persulfate (Fe(II)-KPS) oxidation system. Aqueous dissolved organic matter (DOM) is simulated using multi-hour exposure to humic acid. The MPs are then removed from the solution to examine adsorption mechanisms. While most …

Don't Let Them Fall, Let Ai Call, Ella Mills, Sara Barker, Andreea Ifrim, Yvette Uwase

SPARK Symposium Presentations

This project proposes a nurse-led pilot of AI-supported predictive mobility monitoring on a cardiac medical-surgical unit, to improve early identification of high-risk mobility behaviors and enhance patient safety. Current fall-prevention strategies, such as bed alarms and virtual sitters, often alert staff after unsafe movement has begun, creating a reactive cycle that contributes to alarm fatigue and delayed intervention (Abbe & O’Keeffe, 2020). This initiative uses monitors with contactless infrared sensors to identify movement before patients exit the bed, an alert system that goes straight to the nurse and PCT phones, and a central console for floor management and care coordination. …

Assessment Of Doxorubicin And Etoposide Effects On Cardiotoxicity Using Daphnia Magna As A Model Organism​, Jacob P. Bealle, Andrea Florian

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Chemotherapeutic agents such as doxorubicin and etoposide are widely used in cancer treatment but are known to produce cardiotoxic side effects that can limit their clinical use. Doxorubicin has been strongly associated with dose-dependent cardiac damage, and etoposide has also been reported to produce cardiotoxic effects although the cardiotoxic effects of etoposide are not as well studied. Daphnia magna is a useful model organism for cardiotoxicity studies because its transparent body allows direct observation of heart rate and provides a living system for detecting physiological responses to exposure. The purpose of this study was to investigate the cardiotoxic effects of …

Potential Environmental Triggers Of Goodpasture's Disease And The Role Of The Sulfimine Crosslink, Colton S. Miller, Andrea Florian, Elena Pokidysheva

SPARK Symposium Presentations

Goodpasture’s syndrome (GP) is an autoimmune disorder that primarily affects kidneys and lungs. The main issue for patients with Goodpasture's syndrome is the binding of autoantibodies to the glomerular basement membrane (GBM), which hinders the filtration of blood. A key characteristic of Goodpasture's syndrome is the presence of autoantibodies that target the NC1 domain of the α345 isoform of type IV collagen, a crucial component of the GBM that provides structural support and is critical for filtration function. Sulfilimine bonds crosslink the collagen IV NC1 hexamers, contributing to the stabilization of these structures. A recent clinical case of recurring Goodpasture's …

Data For Forthcoming Article: "Employing Zebrafish To Understand Genetic Drivers Of Epilepsy-Related Comorbid Behaviors", Colleen Carpenter-Swanson

Biology Faculty Data

Forthcoming from Frontiers in Pharmacology:

"Children with epilepsy frequently experience a range of significant comorbidities beyond seizures, such as motor dysfunction, cognitive impairment, and neurodevelopmental delays. In some cases, these comorbidities contribute more significantly to overall disease burden than the seizures themselves. To improve quality-of-life (QOL) for these children, treatment options should be selected that control seizures and ameliorate comorbidities. Unfortunately, such therapeutics remain largely elusive. Addressing this issue requires suitable preclinical models. Here we used CRISPR-generated zebrafish with single-gene mutations linked to pediatric epilepsy and applied clinically-relevant behavioral assays to study the effects of these mutations. Using high-throughput locomotion-based …

Retrospective Analysis Of High Flow Nasal Cannula Use In The Emergency Department: Association With Intensive Care Unit Admissions And Emergency Department Throughput, Raj Patel, Jesus Tamayo, James Duong, Nathaniel Banet, Hengameh Pajer, Anita Datta, Jake Valentine

Gulf Coast Division GME Research Day 2026

No abstract provided.

Drug-Induced Ild Requiring Ecmo, Arjun Kamath, Jose Garza, Matthew Wagner, Deekshita Valiveti, Percy Thomas, Christopher Ganson, Abhay Vakil, Zuhair Ali

Gulf Coast Division GME Research Day 2026

No abstract provided.

Acute Aortic Dissection Three Days After Starting Ciprofloxacin: A Case Of Fluoroquinolone-Associated Vascular Catastrophe, Victoria Jackson, Bryan Kharbanda, Derrick Huang

Gulf Coast Division GME Research Day 2026

No abstract provided.

Contemporary Nonfemoral Access For Tavr: Comparative Outcomes Of Transcarotid, Transsubclavian/Transaxillary, And Transcaval Approaches, Yves Najm Mrad, Snehalkumar Patel

Gulf Coast Division GME Research Day 2026

No abstract provided.

Medical Toxicology: A Safety Net For Snakebite Victims, Braden Capt, George Warpinski, Sharan Campleman, Anne-Michelle Ruha, Spencer Greene

Gulf Coast Division GME Research Day 2026

No abstract provided.

Rapid Diagnosis Of Hemorrhagic Shock Due To Upper Gi Bleeding With Point-Of-Care Ultrasound In The Emergency Department, Tamari Ronen, Derrick Huang

Gulf Coast Division GME Research Day 2026

No abstract provided.

A Review Of Replications Over 88 Years Of The American Speech-Language Hearing Association Journal Publications, Andrea L.B. Ford, Jessica S. Riccardi, Austin Thompson, Helen L. Long, James C. Borders, Scott R. Schroeder, Alisa Baron, Mariam El Amin, Danika L. Pfeiffer

Speech-Language Pathology Faculty Publications

Purpose: This review aimed to determine the prevalence of replication studies in the field of Communication Sciences and Disorders and examine longitudinal changes in this prevalence across American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) journals from 1936 to 2024. It is a conceptual replication of Cook and colleagues' review of replications in special education journals.

Method: Our data source comprised 17,843 journal articles published in seven ASHA peer-reviewed journals between 1936 and 2024. We identified 3,903 articles, excluding duplicates, that had at least one instance of replicat*. Two research team members screened articles independently, and then one research team member coded each article, …

Transforming Police Officers To Community Peace Officers: A Scholarly Personal Narrative Addressing The Mental And Moral Conflicts In Community Engagement & Law Enforcement, London S. R. Mcbride

Doctor of Education

This dissertation explores the transformation of police officers into community peace officers by examining the mental and moral conflicts inherent in community engagement and law enforcement. Using scholarly personal narrative (SPN) as my methodology, the study integrates my lived experience as a Black law enforcement officer with broader discussions on race, power, leadership, and institutional culture. Grounded in critical race theory, social justice leadership, and trauma theory, the research investigates how systemic inequities, organizational resistance, and historical trauma influence policing practices and officer identity. The literature review highlights the legacy of racialized policing, the psychological toll of law enforcement work, …

Town Of Richmond, New Hampshire 2025 Annual Report, Richmond Town Representatives

Richmond, NH Annual Reports

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire.

Community Outreach At Healthy Start Coalition Of Osceola County, Ben John

High Impact Practices Student Showcase Spring 2026

The Healthy Start Coalition of Osceola County (HSCOC) is a state and federally funded non-profit organization dedicated to providing comprehensive prenatal and postnatal care to mothers and families. This abstract details a professional internship focused on enhancing community outreach and systemic efficiency. HSCOC manages diverse programs, including care coordination, home visiting, risk screening, and Fetal and Infant Mortality Review (FIMR), working closely with regional OBGYN providers to identify and support at-risk participants through evidence-based interventions.

A central component of this internship involved addressing a critical gap in the local system of care: the tendency for uninsured pregnant women to utilize …

Hope Walks Here: Raising Funds And Awareness For Suicide Prevention At Ucf, Tobey Smith

High Impact Practices Student Showcase Spring 2026

Student organizations Active Minds UCF Chapter and HOPE at UCF teamed up with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) to host an Out of the Darkness Campus Walk. These campus walks are AFSP’s signature student fundraising series which are designed to engage youth and young adults in the fight to prevent suicide, a leading cause of death. This event's purpose was to raise awareness, promote resources, and support those affected by saving lives and bringing hope. As a community, this walk raised over $20,000 for AFSP and reached over 400 participants. This student-led initiative brought the UCF campus together …

Social Media, Fitness, Gender, And Rhetoric, Emily M. Potts

High Impact Practices Student Showcase Spring 2026

The goal for this study was to find how TikTok uses rhetoric to argue about effective workout routines for males versus females and what values or ideologies does this rhetoric help to promote. People tend to take health and fitness advice from social media although it is not the most creditable place. Understanding how people on TikTok use rhetoric to argue about effective workouts for males versus females and what values and ideologies this rhetoric helps to promote is a gap, although it affects a significant amount of people in today's society.

To discover how rhetoric is used in this …

Leading With Our Hearts, Ananya Agarwal

High Impact Practices Student Showcase Spring 2026

This past semester I volunteer with hearts for the homeless Orlando where I performed health screenings on homeless people and contributed to donation drives. Hearts for the homeless has a very rich history. It was founded by a former UCF Student Andrew Aboujaoude, who was also a fellow Lead Scholar. He saw a very large issue in the homeless community that hypertension or high blood pressure was one of the leading causes of death. He created hearts for the homeless to help solve this issue by bringing free regular health screenings to the homeless community of Orlando.  Hearts for the …

Strength Of Association Between High Blood Pressure And Dementia Mortality In Adults, Ryan J. Wells

High Impact Practices Student Showcase Spring 2026

Dementia refers to a number of conditions that lead to a decline in cognitive function, with several overlapping symptoms such as a disruptions in thinking, impairments of social abilities, and memory loss being a key indication, among many other signs. These factors may become more apparent as the aging population is at a significantly higher risk. With that being said, it remains important for dementia and its related conditions to receive the attention they deserve to promote the well-being of those affected.

The objective behind the study was to dive into the potential relationship between high blood pressure (hypertension) and …

Putting Patients First: My Experience Working With Orlando Health, Usman S. Ahmed

High Impact Practices Student Showcase Spring 2026

This showcase is a narrative of my experience as a volunteer for Orlando Health. Orlando Health is a non-profit organization that operates a network of general and specialty hospitals across Orlando. Their stated mission is “To improve the health and quality of life of the individuals and communities we serve”. As part of my service, I volunteered at two of their locations: the Dr. P. Phillips Hospital, and the Spring Lake Medical Pavilion. At the Dr. P. Phillips Hospital, I restocked hospital supplies, helped managed patient records, and served as a liaison between patients and nursing staff. At the Spring …

Perceptions Of Social Mobility And Their Impact On Attitudes Toward Universal Basic Income, Casey S. Courtright

High Impact Practices Student Showcase Spring 2026

Despite the fact that social mobility has been declining in recent generations, meritocratic beliefs and a desire to maintain the status quo remain high among Americans. This may be in part due to Americans' tendency to be overoptimistic about their economic prospects. Could these inaccurate beliefs about social mobility be related to a lack of support for policies that address income inequality?

The proposed study aims to explore how people perceive social mobility in the United States and the impact those perceptions have on their attitudes toward universal basic income (UBI) policies. To test this, I developed a cross-sectional, quantitative …

The Association Between Sedentary Behavior And Heart Disease Mortality Rates Among Florida Residents., Umed Norkulov

High Impact Practices Student Showcase Spring 2026

This research project examines the association between sedentary behavior and Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) mortality among Florida residents. As heart disease remains the leading cause of death in Florida, identifying modifiable risk factors is a public health priority. This study utilizes an ecological design to analyze age-adjusted mortality rates across Florida’s 67 counties, correlating them with the prevalence of sedentary lifestyles reported via the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS).

Key findings indicate that sedentary behavior exceeding 10 hours per day is an independent risk factor for heart disease, increasing risk by 8% to 18%, regardless of other physical activity …

Does Dosage Management Of Levothyroxine During Ramadan Improve Outcomes For Hypothyroidism?, John Duran, Dillon Moya, Ethan Cabral, Renan Rodriguez, Mia Ortiz

High Impact Practices Student Showcase Spring 2026

Ramadan fasting alters circadian rhythms and meal timing, interfering with the standard dosage of levothyroxine (LT4) on an empty stomach and impact its absorption. The presentation examines whether dosage management of levothyroxine during Ramadan improves the livelihood of patients with hypothyroidism. Hypothyroidism, characterized by deficient production of thyroid hormones (T3 and T4), leads to elevated thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels due to reduced negative feedback. Since LT4 is used to normalize TSH levels, disruptions in dosing timing during fasting may result in suboptimal thyroid control. A clinical trial was analyzed comparing regular LT4 dosing with an increased dose of 25 mcg …

Early-Life Stress And Skeletal Proportions In Egyptian Juveniles: A Comparative Analysis Of Upper And Lower Limb Growth, Bonnie Radican

High Impact Practices Student Showcase Spring 2026

Childhood skeletal growth is sensitive to environmental stress, and different limb segments may respond to developmental disruption unequally. This study explained whether lower limb bones showed greater growth deficits than upper limb bones in juvenile skeletal remains from the Kellis 2 cemetery at the Dakhleh Oasis, Egypt, a Roman period site (approximately AD 50-450) where nutritional stress and disease have been previously documented. The delta 1mean method developed by Goode et al., (1993) was applied to six long bones – humerus, radius, ulna, femur, tibia, and fibula – in a combines sample of 98 individuals drawn from original measurements and …

Variations In Dissolved Oxygen Across Vegetation Zones In A Freshwater Marsh, Stephanie N. Lievano, Aliah Wales Miller, Marissa Pratt, Anya Spara

High Impact Practices Student Showcase Spring 2026

Dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations are critical indicators of aquatic ecosystem health, yet these levels fluctuate significantly based on the structural and physiological characteristics of dominant vegetation. This study investigated the extent to which DO levels differ among wetland zones dominated by submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV), emergent plants, or floating plant cover. It was hypothesized that SAV-dominated areas would exhibit higher DO concentrations than emergent zones due to the direct release of photosynthetic oxygen into the water column. Data were collected across three diel blocks—morning, afternoon, and evening—in a UCF freshwater marsh using a YSI multiparameter sonde to measure DO, temperature, …

“We Learned So Much More About Each Other”: Strengthening Student-Educator Relationships Through Culturally Affirming Practices, Ashley R. Routhier

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School connectedness serves as a powerful lever for positive student outcomes. Specifically, student-educator relationships provide well-documented benefits, acting as a protective factor against adverse experiences. However, building and maintaining these relationships remains a complex challenge influenced by site-specific conditions. This challenge is further intensified when accounting for diverse cultural and racial backgrounds. Utilizing an improvement science framework, this qualitative study examined educators’ perceptions as they facilitated culturally affirming social and emotional lessons in a pre-existing advisory block at a magnet high school. Findings indicate that factors at every level of the system shape student-educator relationships. Policies emerged as a critical …

2025 Georgia Southern University Softball Media Guide, Georgia Southern University

Women's Softball Records

No abstract provided.

From State House To World Health Assembly: The Distinct Missions Of National And International Leadership In Oral Healthcare, Robert A. Faiella Dmd, Mmsc., Mba, William R. Calnon Dds, Facd

Journal of the American College of Dentists

Leadership in oral healthcare has long been treated as a skill assimilated over time through experience rather than intentionally defined, taught, and assessed. Unlike clinical practice, education, research, and infection control, leadership in oral healthcare lacks consistent standards despite its critical role in integrating these systems and guiding the profession’s future. As healthcare becomes increasingly collaborative and global, dentistry must deliberately develop leadership capabilities at multiple levels. This article examines leadership at the national and international levels, using the American Dental Association’s role within U.S. and global health and dental organizations as examples. It explores why these leadership contexts require …

Long-Lasting Impact Of Public Health Dentistry, Michal Herman Dds, Facd

Journal of the American College of Dentists

This article reflects on the enduring impact of public health dentistry through the author’s 25-year professional journey serving underserved and marginalized communities. It examines persistent barriers to equitable oral health care, including workforce shortages, inadequate insurance coverage, racial disparities, and limited access in rural and low-income populations. Drawing on experiences in nonprofit and community dentistry, the article highlights the importance of mentorship, advocacy, leadership, and community engagement in addressing oral health inequities. It argues that public health dentistry represents a form of professional altruism grounded in service and social responsibility, and calls on dental professionals to expand access, support workforce …