Digital Commons Network^™

Scrolling Fatigue: How Continuous Short-Form Video Consumption Affects User Attention And Satisfaction, Maribeliy Ramos Jimenez

Communications and Digital Media Theses

This thesis focuses on the negative effects that derive from continuous short-from video consumption. It specifically examines the relationship between user scrolling fatigue, attention, and satisfaction with constant usage of short-form video platforms. It mainly focuses on the use of digital platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram. This research builds on previously examined empirical investigations that analyzed the effects of scrolling through short-form video digital platforms influences users’ memory, stress, and procrastination. The research analyzes the possible connection with the use of survey-based quantitative methods. The study aims to determine how users process the continuous exposure to short-form …

Back To The Bayfront, Dania Hefley

Theses & ETDs

I’m trying to make sense of the different versions of myself that existed inside New College over the last four years. How I existed while studying. Which classrooms made me feel like a person. Which professors taught me how to read. Which ones taught me how to think. Which ones made me want to rise to the level of the room. Which ones made me feel like I was disappearing. I don’t want to turn these four years into a lesson, but I need a way in that lets me see the throughline. Recently, my literature professor, Miller, was talking …

Understanding Tlr3 Immune Response Activation In Cryptosporidium Parvum And Cryspovirus Pathogenesis, Surayya Hudayberganova

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Cryptosporidiosis is a serious gastrointestinal illness caused by a protozoan parasite known as Cryptosporidium. It is particularly dangerous for malnourished children and those with compromised immune systems. My research focuses on the Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) response to the Cryptosporidium parvum infection, specifically in the presence of the parasite’s viral mutualist named cryspovirus (CSpV1). Results using research methodologies like ELISA and RT-qPCR have indicated that TLR3 expression increases during the infection process of Cryptosporidium parvum (C. parvum). Furthermore, one intriguing observation concluded during this study suggests that administering the TLR3-specific inhibitor CU-CPT4a to infected cells drastically decreased this activation. This …

Not Set In Stone; Medusa As A Monster, Victim, And Symbol Of Protection, Caroline Dziekan

Theses & ETDs

This thesis will examine the ancient Greek monster Medusa in order to outline the three key elements of her identity as a monster, victim, and symbol of protection. It will do so through examinations and analysis of her written mythology and artistic representations, tracking the progression of her identity throughout these works and then analyzing her identity within them. Each chapter will focus on one of the three principal aspects of her identity in order to dissect each piece on its own before examining how these aspects interact with each other. In doing so, this thesis will explore the roles …

Emily Dickinson And Poetic Presentation, Eirinn Flanagan

Theses & ETDs

No abstract provided.

Callie Goes To College, Callie Flemming

Theses & ETDs

This document discusses the musical process, influence, and construction of the alternative rock album callie goes to college, released in 2026. It was self- produced over four years on New College of Florida’s campus by Callie Flemming, who is also the author of this thesis. It starts with a discussion of the album’s broad influences and its general sonic profile, then moves onto specific analysis of consistent and repeated ideas in harmonic and melodic composition, the presence of several different types of counterpoint, the appearances of improvisatory solo sections, the emotional implications of the lyrics and the impact that composition …

Effects Of Early Life Karenia Brevis Exposure On Bottlenose Dolphin Calves In Sarasota Bay, Florida, Elizabeth Fry

Theses & ETDs

Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) have increased in frequency, intensity and geographic distribution in the past several decades. Florida is an epicenter for an HAB, commonly referred to as red tide, caused by the algal dinoflagellate Karenia brevis, which produces the neurotoxin brevetoxin. Acute exposure to brevetoxin causes respiratory distress and has been associated with large scale marine mammal mortalities and fish kills. However, potential chronic effects of exposure, including via maternal transfer, have not been well characterized. Fetal and juvenile mammals may be particularly susceptible to the neurobiological effects of excitotoxins due to their developmental stage. Many resident coastal bottlenose …

Rhetorical Models Of Conspiracy Theories How Two Political Commentary Youtubers Build Narrative Authority, Riley Bucklin

Theses & ETDs

The purpose of this study is to explore the rhetoric that independent political commentators on YouTube used to develop conspiracy theories in the immediate aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s murder. On September 10th, 2025, Charlie Kirk — a prominent conservative political commentator and activist — was assassinated at a Turning Point USA event on Utah Valley University campus. Following the shooting, various conspiracy theories developed online as the narrative from the federal investigation was still developing. This study is necessitated by the rapid pace at which digital subcultures have displaced traditional media outlets and reshaped what is considered trustworthy reporting. To …

Honduras’ Stagnant Development: An Institutional And Solow Growth Analysis From 1990-2022, Alejandra Martinez

Theses & ETDs

For the past 33 years, Honduras has been persistently one of the poorest Latin American countries, classified as a lower-middle income country with high crime rates and political corruption. Honduras, like other Latin American countries, is known for being rich in natural resources, but despite over 60 years of foreign aid has yet to develop itself domestically and internationally, as Western standard deems it. Previous research on Honduras’ poverty and economic development are typically centered around a specific region and the rural sector, but there is a gap in the literature that analyzes the economic disparity of the country as …

Sunless, Gabriel Olah

Theses & ETDs

My thesis is simple. It is a novella which I have been working on in one form or another for the better part of a year and a half. Over my lengthy times working on this work, it has changed shape drastically, just as any proper story should. Characters were added and dropped, locations were visited and left behind, ideas and plotlines developed or removed, all eventually being boiled down into this current version. This is a version I hold no belief in being perfect, for perfect is the enemy of done, but I am of the belief that it …

Inverse Problems On Networks With Self-Loops And Related Problems In Electrical Impedance Tomography, Hope Steen

Theses & ETDs

The central topic of this thesis is the inverse problem for random walks on graphs, i.e. finding the transition probabilities of some Markov chain restricted to a rooted tree graph with known topology and a set of joint distributions of first hitting time and hitting place. It has already been shown by de la Peña et al. in the case where self-transitions are prohibited that the transition probabilities of such a Markov chain can be determined given these joint distributions on two ’boundary layers.’ This thesis proves that the problem can be solved for Markov chains allowing self-transitions, via an …

Industry Analysis In The Event Clothing Retail: Market And Price Strategies, Challenges And Implications, Sports Promotions Group Case Study, Pablo Herrera Jara

Theses & ETDs

The event clothing retail sector occupies a unique space within the broader apparel industry, offering customized products tied to specific occasions such as sports events, concerts, or festivals. This segment of the market benefits from emotional engagement and time‑limited availability, but it also presents challenges due to production cycles or fluctuating inventory. In this thesis, the Industry Strategy is applied to a case study: Sports Promotion Group, a company specializing in event‑specific apparel for sports events. By analyzing the various situations and interactions that shape the firm’s choices, the study extracts insights relevant to businesses operating in the event-clothing retail …

Pro Rege Chr. Brass Band: A Century Of Sound, Jonathan T.J. Henneveld

Dissertations

The Christian Brass Band Pro Rege of Heerenveen, The Netherlands, celebrated its one hundredth birthday in 2024. As one of the most prominent community-based brass bands in the region, Pro Rege is part of a Dutch wind ensemble tradition that goes largely undocumented. While they and other bands like them function as cultural and educational institutions, academic literature remains limited, almost ignoring them completely. This dissertation wishes to address this oversight by providing an historical study of the brass band from its establishment in 1924 to the present day.

Starting out in the Dutch ensemble tradition of the Fanfare band, …

Sustainability Savvy: The Role Of Competence And Efficacy In Promoting Pro-Environmental Behavior, Lorenna Graham

Environmental Studies Honors Projects

Combatting environmental issues requires both large-scale and individual change. While many understand that personal pro-environmental behavior (PEB) is necessary, individuals do not always engage in this behavior (Hines, 1986, Goh, 2022). Thus, there is a need to investigate psychological factors which encourage PEB. Prior research suggests competence and outcome efficacy as likely PEB predictors (Bentler, 2023, Lavergne & Pelletier, 2015, Priolo, 2016), while cognitive dissonance has been shown to both encourage and discourage PEB (Bouwman, 2022, Dickerson, 1992, Ehrich & Irwin, 2005). Study 1 investigates the relationship between cognitive dissonance and PEB with competence and outcome efficacy as potential moderators. …

Sustainability Concepts In "Lab" Projects For Calculus I, Ii, And Iii (Poster), Joshua Holden

Faculty Publications - Mathematics

No abstract provided.

Social Protection To Foster Inclusive, Resilient Early Childhood Education In Kenya, Uganda, And Tanzania, Nyagwegwe Wango

Institute for Educational Development, East Africa

In order to evaluate the efficacy of systems approaches in enhancing early childhood education (ECE), this study summarizes outcomes from the SESEA and F4L programs in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. The study investigates how context-responsive ECE, social-emotional learning (SEL), and social protection (SP) interventions contribute to improvements in teaching practices, inclusion, and learner outcomes using mixed-methods data, including teacher surveys, classroom observations, and policy analysis. The findings show significant improvements in inclusive classroom practices, gender-sensitive pedagogy, and teacher confidence, especially when reflective peer learning and continuous mentoring are incorporated. Children’s academic performance and well-being have been linked to the integration …

Ai Literacy In The Nursing Informatics Community: A Needs Assessment, Jerri Westphal

Doctoral Projects

Nursing informatics professionals are required to lead AI integration in healthcare, yet their baseline AI literacy, competency, and educational needs have not been formally assessed. This descriptive needs assessment examined AI literacy, competency, adoption readiness, and engagement among nursing informatics professionals, concurrently identifying educational priorities and preferred learning modalities. A cross-sectional survey was administered to members of the American Nursing Informatics Association (ANIA) and the broader community (N = 194). The N.U.R.S.E.S. framework (Hoelscher & Pugh, 2025) informed the survey instrument's domain structure. Five composite indices were developed: AI Familiarity, Knowledge, Attitude, Competency, and Use. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation …

Wanti Wanti Nuh Ghetti: Navigating The American Theatre Through A Multicultural Lens, Gabriela Madu

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores how actors of color navigate educational and professional spaces so they can bring their full experiences to the projects they take on, whether those projects are written for them or not. Through the depiction of the struggles faced by women of color in educational theatre in my one-person show Wanti Wanti Nuh Ghetti, the thesis argues that theatre holds transformative potential when actors of color are not merely visible on stage, but are deeply invested in their work and have a sense of belonging within the creative process. Drawing on this performance, the study further explores how …

No Place But Here, Dillon Bryant

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The writing in this document is a dovetailing of fragments ranging from critical inquiry, analysis, scripts, and other observations that relate to the body of work in “No place but here”. It is an accompanying document attempting to enrich the visual work rather than a direct illustration. The installation of “No place but here” at the Rogers Creamery is an investigation utilizing collage, text, and other constructed photographs, images, and objects to play with and against familial and broader narratives of power, control, and ambiguity associated with the American West. Underpinned and intersected by interior questions revolving around artifice, connection, …

"Shhh": A Reflection On Matrescence, Anna Guillory

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

“Shhh” is a collection of drawings that reflect on the many ways the first year of motherhood shifts identity, perspective, and relationships. Focusing on my personal experience of becoming a caregiver, each work acts as an exploration and artifact of the shared labor between parenting and redeveloping an art practice, articulating both the tension and the enmeshing of these two realities. The work poses questions around value and production and consequently presents considerations of the passage into matrescence itself. Through a combination of rendered images, gestures and marks from observed moments in domestic space, postpartum life, and my own inner, …

A Better Box To Lie In, Camille Gros

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This written thesis accompanies an exhibition of textiles and works on paper that explore the emotional, architectural, and political structures that relay experiences of a Queer Southern livelihood; it is about girlhood, homoeroticism, isolation, passion, hunger, sweet love, and terrible fear. The show is a celebration of our dependance upon one another, and an expression of grief. I am sure that this work will need to be repaired in time, and I hope for many hands to mend it.

Global Perspectives On Cns Drug Innovation: Achievements, Barriers, And Priorities For The Next Decade, Hiroyuk Uchida, Gabriella Gobbi, Joseph Zohar, Allan Young, Dan Rujescu, Ming-Chyi Huang, Suresh Sundram, Lukoye Atwoli, Jana Vukovic, Kazutaka Ikeda

Internal Medicine, East Africa

Background Over the past decade, neuropsychopharmacology has shifted from stagnation to momentum, with first-in-class mechanisms and biomarker-enabled trials spanning psychiatry and neurology.

Methods We narratively synthesized advances from 2013 to 2026 across central nervous system (CNS) discovery and development, including pivotal trials, regulatory actions, digital/real-world evidence, genetics, artificial intelligence (AI), and implementation/global-access themes that are endorsed by international societies.

Results Therapeutic gains include rapid-acting drugs for treatment-resistant depression (intranasal esketamine); psychedelic-assisted therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder and depression; neuroactive steroid γ-aminobutyric acid-A receptor positive allosteric modulators (brexanolone, zuranolone) for postpartum depression; non-dopaminergic muscarinic agonists (xanomeline–trospium) for schizophrenia; orexin receptor antagonists …

Revised - The Role Of Gad67/65 In The Therapeutic Effects Of Ketamine And Fluoxetine In Fear-Conditioned Mice, Alex G. Ottimer

All NMU Master's Theses

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a chronic psychiatric disorder and the most common disorder following exposure to a traumatic event. The most commonly used drugs in PTSD treatment are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), though only about 50% of patients respond to this treatment. Previous work in our lab demonstrated the combination of chronic fluoxetine (FLX) and acute ketamine treatment decreased fear response in a contextual fear paradigm in male C57/BL mice. In rodents, fear conditioning (FC) is commonly used in the literature to induce behaviors related to PTSD. The mammalian central fear memory circuit involves a dynamic interplay between …

Post-Truth Gaming: Fictional Pasts And Constitutive Rhetoric In Video Game Nostalgia, Hunter Bishop

All NMU Master's Theses

What happens when we become nostalgic for experiences we never had? How do video game companies impact what we are nostalgic for? What might a fictional nostalgia look like, and how can it help us better understand the role of nostalgia in Western culture? These are the central questions that this thesis seeks to answer. As seen in the United States’ current cultural and political infatuation with the past, nostalgia has become a dominant rhetorical strategy. Nostalgia is especially prevalent in the medium of video games, where a steady stream of remakes, remasters, and rereleases attempts to repurpose the past …

Enhancing Occupational Balance And Well-Being Among Significant Others Of First Responders, Alexis M. Ziegler

OTD DEx Reports - College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

Stress is defined as “a state of worry or mental tension caused by a difficult situation” (World Health Organization [WHO], 2023). It is common in daily life, however the amount and intensity of it is variable. First-responders, such as police, firefighters, emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics, have a predisposition to stress due to the requirements of their position. Because of the increased and consistent stress, these professions are at an increased risk for mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD; O’Toole et al., 2022). This relationship between stress and negative mental health, such as …

Clinical Case Study: The Effects Of Task Dynamics And Saltatory Pneumotactile Stimulation On Cerebral Oxygenation, Cognitive Performance, And Sensorimotor Function In An Adult Following Left Ischemic Mca Stroke, Bridget Slagle

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In the chronic stage of stroke recovery, neuroplasticity is thought to require external influence, and is often considered to be experience-dependent, or “Hebbian,” plasticity. Current studies have been investigating multiple ways to induce plasticity to enhance recovery, including investigating the role of sensory stimulation in cortical priming to enhance the effects of rehabilitation interventions.

This case study of an 80-year-old female with aphasia after L-MCA ischemic stroke included 18 neurotherapeutic sessions over 10 weeks. Each session included pneumotactile somatosensory stimulation to the glabrous hand and perioral face, delivered to both the left and right side via the GALILEO, as well …

Beyond The Cycle: How Menstruation Influences Gender Identity And Well-Being In Binary And Non-Binary Adults, Rin Nguyen

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Approximately 1.8 billion people worldwide menstruate, including transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) people, yet their experiences remain underrepresented in research. Given that menstruation can affect gender alignment and psychological well-being, understanding its impact on TGD people is critical. Gender congruence, or alignment between one’s gender identity and expression, is a key factor influencing well-being, with research linking it to reduced depression and anxiety. Furthermore, emerging research on gender euphoria, the joy experienced when gender congruence is experienced, suggests it may serve as a protective factor for mental health and well-being. Gender euphoria has been associated with reduced psychological distress and increased …

Recruitment Of Chrysaora Chesapeakei On Floating Docks Versus Bulkhead Surfaces: Which Axis Is Foulset?, Alyssa Lamberto

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Blooms of Chrysaora chesapeakei (bay nettles) have increased sharply in Barnegat Bay, New Jersey, reducing both ecological integrity and economic value. Because population expansion is driven primarily by the benthic polyp stage, where individuals attach to hard substrates and reproduce asexually, effective management must target the surfaces where polyps settle and clone themselves. The rapid growth of artificial infrastructure, particularly vinyl docks and bulkheads, has expanded available habitat for polyp recruitment. Scrubbing these structures has been shown to reduce ephyrae production, but it remains unclear whether both docks and bulkheads warrant equal management attention. This study compared recruitment on horizontal …

Individual Recognition: Do Horned Passalus, Odontotaenius Disjunctus, Display Individual Discrimination Of Familiar And Unfamiliar Conspecifics Through Changes In Their Behavior?, Sabrina Galloza

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The horned passalus, Odontotaenius disjunctus, are subsocial beetles that inhabit and defend decaying wood where they create galleries to live, mate, breed and provide brood care. The species is well known for their stridulations, making up to 14 different sounds, having one of the greatest repertoire of sounds for any known arthropod. Typically living in family units, it has been found that several families can inhabit the same log, therefore, the horned passalus can come into contact with both kin and non-kin. It is currently unknown whether the horned passalus can distinguish between nestmates and non-nestmates. Additionally, it is unknown …

Integrating Ai Into Collection Development Workflows: Prompts, Rubrics, And Responsible Use, Ivan Portillo, David Carson, Margaret Puentes

Library Presentations, Posters, and Audiovisual Materials

AI technologies are advancing at a rapid pace and offer new opportunities for library advancement. This session highlights practical ways AI can support collection development and discusses opportunities to improve library workflows.  Attendees will also learn how AI can strengthen library resource management by optimizing decision making and use of resources.

Learning Outcomes: 

• Attendees will learn about approaches to integrating artificial intelligence into collection development
• Attendees will learn about artificial intelligence tools and their applicability to collections 
• Attendees will learn about the ethical use of artificial intelligence tools