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Lipschitz Conditions On Operators And Matrices, Ryan Farrell

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Lipschitz functions on the real line find various applications across mathematics, including in differential equations, optimization, and machine learning. The goal of this thesis is to investigate functions which satisfy certain Lipschitz conditions when ap- plied to operators and matrices. Our study will review two classes of such functions, the class of Operator Lipschitz functions with respect to a given matrix norm, and the class consisting of functions which do not meet Lipschitz conditions in the traditional sense but satisfy inequalities which are Lipschitz in nature – we call such conditions ”Lipschitz-like”. The thesis concludes with a survey of these …

Undergraduate Students' Perceptions Of Philanthropy, Importance Of Affinity-Based Giving And Impact On Student Giving, Kristine Herrington

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As technology continues to advance, and alumni donor numbers decline, fundraising professionals are exploring new ways to encourage alumni to give back to their alma mater and continue building a strong donor pipeline. With a myriad of economic and political factors contributing to increased and inflated costs for colleges and universities, and students alike, maintaining a steady pipeline of donors to ensure ongoing philanthropic support is important. As budgetary concerns and funding cuts continue to work their way into the higher education landscape, college and university annual giving departments are increasingly tasked with exploring student philanthropy programs (SPPs) on campus …

Precision Haptics For Rehabilitation: Quantifying Directional Bias And Force Threshold Effects On Motor Learning, Conor J. Nolan

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hand rehabilitation represents a critical challenge in modern physical therapy, with significant implications for patients' quality of life and functional independence. Despite technological advancements across healthcare, traditional hand assessment methods often rely on subjective measures or lack task-specific biomechanical assessment capabilities. This thesis investigates the effects of haptic force feedback, handedness, and rotation direction on circle-tracing task completion using a within-subjects factorial design with 20 university participants examining varying resistance levels (0.0N, 0.5N, 1.2N) across different movement configurations using a 3D Systems Touch X haptic device with 0.023mm precision. Results demonstrate that moderate haptic force (0.5N) significantly enhanced spatial accuracy …

Leucine Catabolism Is Associated With Longevity In Female Eastern Lubber Grasshoppers, Kerri R. Conklin

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background & Aims: Dietary isoleucine restriction can improve metabolic health and increase lifespan. It has been hypothesized that shifts in branched-chain amino acid catabolism drives this longevity effect. Impaired branched-chain amino acid catabolism is linked to several age-related diseases. We investigated whether dietary isoleucine restriction increases leucine catabolism and associates with longevity and full reproduction.

Methods: In two experiments, adult female Eastern Lubber grasshoppers (Romalea microptera) were assigned to either a high-quality diet (Balanced ile), or diets with varying isoleucine content (Moderate ile-R and Severe ile-R). In Experiment 1, we used a low-energy (Low Lettuce) group as a positive …

Long-Term Assessment Of The Morphological Behavior Of The Beaches North Of Sebastian Inlet, Florida, Aidan O'Gorman

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The morphological behavior of the beaches north of Sebastian Inlet, Florida is investigated by applying Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analyses to a series of beach surveys conducted semi-annually (winter and summer) over a period of fifteen years (2005-2019), with the primary objectives being to 1) determine the extent to which the inlet’s influence to the north typically fluctuates on a short-term basis (e.g. annually), and 2) identify any long-term trends of accretion or erosion that might exist. Each survey is comprised of thirty-one cross-shore profiles that are referenced to permanently installed range monuments (“R-monuments”) that are spaced nominally 305 …

Understanding Fare Capping In Public Transit: Socioeconomic Predictors And Ridership Outcomes, Maige Majuto

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fare capping is a transit policy that limits how much a rider pays within a certain period, after which all rides are free for the rest of that period. Fare capping has become a potential strategy to reverse the trend of declining transit ridership, which has been caused by factors like fare increases, service reductions, and shifts in travel behavior. While demographic and socioeconomic characteristics are known to influence ridership, their role in fare capping adoption remains underexplored. This study examines how factors like age, income, race, education, and car ownership affect fare capping adoption at the neighborhood level and …

Analysis Of Bin Packing Variants, Kyle T. Ambrose

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Bin Packing problem is a classic and widely studied optimization problem that arises naturally in applications like manufacturing, logistics, and memory allocation, where space and resource constraints are critical. In this thesis, we first demonstrate the NP-completeness of Bin Packing via a reduction from Three-Dimensional Matching, establishing its foundational complexity. We then survey core heuristics for the one-dimensional case and extend our analysis to two and three-dimensional variants, including both offline and online strategies. Special attention is given to stochastic bin packing, where item sizes are modeled as random variables drawn from distributions such as uniform, truncated normal, and …

Assessment And Optimization Of Electric Vehicles Charging Infrastructure: Addressing Accessibility Disparities In Urban And Rural Areas, Dennis B. Bwire

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The widespread adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is essential for advancing sustainable transportation systems; however, disparities in the spatial distribution of electric vehicle charging stations (EVCS) present significant challenges for equitable access. This thesis investigates both the inequities in EVCS accessibility and offers a data driven approach for optimizing the siting of future charging infrastructure.

The first part of the study investigates the accessibility of EVCS in rural and urban areas, focusing on how socio-demographic factors influence accessibility metrics. Using geographic information systems (GIS), network analysis, and binary logistic regression, spatial data on EVCS locations and socio-demographic attributes such as …

Volunteer Teachers’ Experience In Hospitality In Church-Based Esl Ministries, Susan M. Russo

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In adult ESL empirical studies addressing a variety of problems of practice, the concepts of welcome, hospitality, or inclusion are frequently mentioned as important by teachers and learners. An absence of empirical studies on the experience of hospitality has been noted by researchers, hence the need for exploratory studies. Additionally, this study served to contribute to the limited body of research on church-based ESL ministries, and more future studies are needed to provide a better research-driven picture of their challenges and impacts.

The purpose of this mixed methods, constructivist grounded theory study was to develop a grounded theory consistent …

Rodcast Interaction: A Novel Technique For Dense Virtual Reality Environments, Nevzat U. Demirseren

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Virtual Reality (VR) technologies continue to grow in popularity and application versatility, yet effective interaction within complex dense environments remains as a critical challenge. In particular, users with low level of VR experience often face decreased accuracy and dissatisfaction selecting occluded objects. A variety of interaction techniques to select and manipulate objects exist, but there is a research gap in understanding what kinds of techniques support users in dense environments. This study evaluates the user performance and preference in such environments. Three interaction techniques are examined in this study: Go-Go Hand, Flower Cone, and a proposed technique called RodCast Interaction. …

Impact Of An Online Teaching Faculty Development Course On Student Social Engagement, Preston P. Bennett

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ample evidence supports the impact of greater student social engagement on student success outcomes, particularly for first time in college freshmen students (Avison et al., 2007; Tinto, 1997; Wilcox et al., 2005). Keeping students engaged socially online can be challenging for some faculty due to reliance on strategies that worked previously within face-to-face environments (McQuiggan, 2012). At the University of North Florida, a Teaching Online (TOL) certification course provides instructors with evidence-based online pedagogy aimed at bolstering social engagement.

This dissertation investigated whether and how faculty implementation of TOL design principles impacted freshmen students’ social engagement with both peers and …

Leaving It All Behind: A Storied Experience, Brandi Sheree Wynne Winfrey

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) professionals are experiencing an unprecedented time as conservative politicians and legislators work to dismantle DEI in higher education. In 2022, Florida became one of the first states to introduce and enact anti-DEI legislation. Few studies have examined or investigated the lived experiences of DEI professionals currently living in the midst of this experience. The purpose of this narrative inquiry was to capture and restory the lived experiences of DEI professionals employed at public Florida universities during the introduction and enactment of anti-DEI legislation. Five co-composers contributed their stories of experience as data to this narrative …

Understanding Shifts In Student Satisfaction Between Peak And Post Pandemic, Brian Verkamp

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates student satisfaction in online learning environments at the University of North Florida (UNF), with a focus on how satisfaction levels have fluctuated between the peak-pandemic and post-pandemic periods. Utilizing a combination of descriptive and inferential statistical techniques, the research examines the relative importance and satisfaction ratings of various educational factors, including demographic influences such as gender, race, and academic program. By creating a composite measure of overall student satisfaction, this study provides a comprehensive analysis of the factors that most significantly impact student experiences in online courses. Findings highlight the critical role of both satisfaction and importance …

What’S For Dinner? A Multi-Pronged Approach Investigating The Foraging Habits And Diet Of St. Johns River Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Erebennus), Andrea Leigh Swinehart

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Wildlife population management depends on knowledge of the population’s foraging ecology. A community of resident Tamanend’s bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops erebennus) utilizes the St. Johns River (SJR) in Jacksonville, Florida, and members of the community are regularly sighted emaciated or with skin lesions. Anthropogenic disturbances may contribute to further health decline, therefore Chapter One analyzed SJR foraging dolphin group habitat use before, during, and after a large-scale dredging event known as the Jacksonville Harbor Deepening Project (JHDP). Kernel density estimates (KDEs) of foraging dolphin group sightings were generated to estimate 95% utilization distributions (i.e., foraging home ranges) for three …

Assessment Of Surface Area Application Ratios For Beach Sand Treated Via Surface Percolated Micp-Bioslurry For Erosion Mitigation, Connor J. Marlin

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rapid shoreline erosion associated with sea-level rise is an ongoing threat to coastal infrastructure. Traditional stabilization techniques, such as revetments, seawalls, and periodic nourishment, often prove costly, ecologically disruptive, or provide only temporary protection. Microbially Induced Calcite Precipitation (MICP) and its operational variant, bioslurry, present a biologically inspired alternative capable of forming a cemented surface crust that reduces soil erodibility. Previous laboratory studies typically prescribed a solution dosage as a percentage of pore volume (%PV). While geotechnically sound, this metric is poorly suited to field deployment across a large area. This thesis evaluates surface-area-based dosing (L/m²) as the primary dosage …

The Presence Of Mercury (Hg) And Perfluoroalkyl Substances (Pfas) In The Guana And Tolomato Rivers, Morgan E. Lattomus

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Guana and Tolomato Rivers provide essential habitat for several ecologically and economically important species and is a well-loved and recreated area. Spanning the northeastern Florida coast, the rivers are home to over 50 endangered or threatened species and host several habitat restoration projects due to their ecological significance and proximity to development along the coast. The effects of human influence and pollution, and specifically toxic metal mercury (Hg) and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), are not well known within the system. Hg is known to biomagnify within food webs, and there is a considerable lack of literature concerning PFAS behavior within …

Computational Pangenomics And Machine Learning For Genotype-Phenotype Analysis, Tejaswi Vemuri

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Phenotypes are the observable characteristics of an individual organism. Predicting quantitative phenotypes from genomic variation remains challenging when causal signals span both local motifs and distal regulatory contexts. Building on Frequented Regions (FRs)—subsequences conserved across genomes and extracted from a pangenome graph generated from a large collection of closely related species—we compare several modeling strategies across 35 Saccharomyces cerevisiae growth phenotypes: Random Forest (RF) on FR counts (called RFCounts), RF on FR sequences, 1D convolutional neural networks (CNN) on FR sequences, Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks on FR sequences, a Genomewide Association Study (GWAS) baseline, and a sequence-based transformer model, …

Connecting Bicyclists And Transit: A Multimodal Routing Tool With Bicycle Facilities Scoring, Raphael Y. Mrema

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research develops a comprehensive, data-driven framework for assessing multimodal bicycle accessibility using open-source technologies and real-time routing data. Traditional active transportation studies often depend on proprietary GIS tools and static network datasets, which limit scalability, reproducibility, and integration with live mobility systems. In contrast, this study introduces a Python-based approach that leverages GeoPandas, the Google Maps Directions API, and General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) data to dynamically evaluate infrastructure quality, operational stress, and multimodal connectivity. The framework was applied to Duval County, Florida, to examine how roadway design, facility type, and transit availability jointly influence bicycle network performance and …

Political Communication In A Multicultural Metropolis: Chinese Ethnic Media And The 2023 Toronto Mayoral By-Election, Dongwei Lin

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Chinese are the second largest visible minority group in Canada and the most frequently reported ethnic or cultural origin in Toronto. Mandarin and Cantonese are, respectively, the largest and third largest non-official languages in Toronto. However, little research exists on the role of the Chinese ethnic community in Toronto municipal politics, especially the role of Chinese ethnic media in Toronto municipal elections.

The key argument of this thesis is that “Chinese ethnic media represent complementary public sphere(s) for informing and engaging Chinese Canadians in local political participation and discussion.” Through the 2023 Toronto Mayoral By-Election case study, this thesis examines …

Co-Creation, Interpretations And Engagement With A Movement-Based Symbol For Climate Justice: A Qualitative Inquiry, Kai Reimer-Watts

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The climate crisis demonstrates with complete clarity the need for massive systems-level changes towards far more sustainable societies. Global and local emissions need to decline rapidly to mitigate intensifying climate breakdown, accompanied by climate and sustainability solutions, to secure a far more stable, safe, and just future for all people and all life. Within these changes, engaging in our communities is essential to support and co-create broader solutions to help advance more sustainable societies, reduce negative impacts of a changing climate, and to move towards cultures and systems that recognize natural limits and centre care for people and planet.

‘Climate …

Children's Interpretation Of Others' Faces Covered With Medical Masks, Sevval Cinar

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

How we recognize and regulate emotions is fundamental to overall health and wellbeing. Emotional recognition and understanding are key to proper communication and emotion regulation. Barriers, such as masks, might have an impact on the way children recognize and interpret others' emotions, and therefore the way they learn, communicate, and regulate their own. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated widespread mask-wearing, raising questions about its impact on children’s emotional development. Using a sample of children with varying levels of exposure to mask wearing adults (N= 13, ages 4 to 6), we investigated how prolonged mask wearing predicts emotion recognition, particularly …

Structural Insights Into Peptidoglycan O-Acetylation In Gram-Negative Bacteria, Tyler Malloch

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The Centres for Disease Control has acknowledged that we are entering a post-antibiotic era, where increasing numbers of bacterial pathogens are becoming resistant to known antibiotics. One of the most successfully targeted features of bacteria is also the main component of the cell wall, peptidoglycan (PG). PG is a heteropolymer of alternating sugar residues, namely N-acetylmuramic acid (MurNAc) and N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) which are joined together by b-(1,4)-glycosidic bonds and crosslinked via stem peptide chains. PG is a target, readily lysed by exogenous and endogenous autolysins, such as lysozyme and lytic transglycosylase, respectively. This event leads to cell death …

Exploring The Interconnections Between Mitochondrial Carrier Proteins Involved In Energy Transfer: The Case Of Uncouplig Proteins 2 And 4, Adenine Nucleotide Translocase, And Phosphate Translocase, Marzieh Tabefam

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Mitochondrial carrier (MC) proteins play an essential role in cellular energy metabolism by mediating the transport of solutes and protons across the mitochondrial inner membrane (MIM). This thesis explores the structural and functional characteristics of three groups of MC proteins—Uncoupling Proteins (UCPs), Adenine Nucleotide Translocase (ANT), and Phosphate Translocase (P_iT)—to elucidate their individual and interrelated cooperative roles in mitochondrial proton transport and energy regulation.

The study develops and applies novel methodologies for the overexpression, purification, and reconstitution of MC proteins into model lipid bilayers mimicking the native mitochondrial inner membrane environment. These methods ensure proteins maintain their native-like …

Art/Place Making In A Settler Colonial Context: A Critical Place Inquiry On The Haldimand Tract/Kitchener-Waterloo From A White Settler Perspective, Haley Sheppard

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Although critical place scholars implicate artists in settler colonial processes of placemaking, there is little information on how white settler artists (WSAs) might use their creative practice to support practices of accountability and solidarity with Indigenous resurgence. This research responds to this gap by investigating the creative practices of WSAs located on the Haldimand Tract/in Kitchener-Waterloo (KW), and how they might approach critical, contextual practices in their creative work. A critical place inquiry was combined with ethnographic research principles and a transformative critical research paradigm. Six WSAs participated in mobile interviews, which took place in a location significant to them. …

Exploring The Salinity Tolerance Of Zooplankton Communities On The Great Plains, Abbeneet Binning Bath, Derek Gray

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Palaeoecological data shows fluctuating salinity levels in lakes across the Great Plains due to alternating wet and dry periods over the last two millennia. Droughts caused by this natural variation may be exacerbated by anthropogenic climate change, as the Great Plains are expected to become drier over the coming decades. As conditions become drier, the evaporation of water will increase the salinity of lakes across the region. Increases in salinity may significantly impact biodiversity, including important members of lake food webs such as zooplankton. Due to the region's history of alternating wet and dry periods, zooplankton may have adapted to …

Environmental, Governance, And Bibliometric Research On Corporate Tax Avoidance, Harjot S. Mehmi

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This dissertation is composed of a literature review and three essays positioned in the corporate tax avoidance (CTA) space. The literature review summarizes the relationship between CTA and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors. Although there are mixed findings within each of the E-S-G categories in the CTA literature, in general, better environmental circumstances are negatively associated with CTA, social performance displays an inverse relationship with CTA, and governance factors also display an inverse relationship with CTA. The first essay is an empirical archival investigation of the relationship between CTA and an environmental factor – the risk of environmental hazards …

Thermokarst Can Stimulate Tall Shrub Productivity And Plant-Soil Feedbacks In The Low-Arctic Tundra, Claire O'Brien

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Warming temperatures are exacerbating permafrost thaw disturbances in the Arctic. Permafrost thaw disturbances are facilitating tall, deciduous shrub expansion. However, potential productivity differences between shrubs that colonize disturbed areas and those in undisturbed tundra remain understudied. More productive shrubs optimize for fast growth over leaf longevity, meaning they may produce more abundant and higher quality litter which could accelerate decomposition rates and lead to faster nutrient cycling. Faster nutrient cycling could create a positive feedback loop between shrubs and soil, maintaining greater ecosystem productivity. I measured in situ soil characteristics and physiological and structural shrub functional traits for green alder …

Reinforcement Learning For Scheduling And Routing: Electric Vehicles Charging And Patrol Scheduling, Majid Ghasemi

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This thesis offers a comprehensive exploration of Reinforcement Learning (RL), beginning with fundamental theoretical constructs, Markov Decision Processes, Dynamic Programming, Monte Carlo, and Temporal Difference methods, and extending into state-of-the-art deep RL approaches such as Deep Q-Networks (DQN) and policy-gradient algorithms. Through analytical experiments in controlled environments, the thesis demonstrates how distinct algorithmic choices (e.g., exploration techniques, eligibility traces, or network architectures) influence convergence and stability. These foundational insights pave the way for two in-depth case studies, which apply RL techniques to critical, real-world scheduling and routing challenges.

The first case study tackles the Electric Vehicle (EV) routing and charging …

Fallow Fields Or Fertile Ground: Analysing Food Governance In A Changing World, Johanna L. Wilkes

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Our food systems are failing us. In particular, industrial food systems fail to deliver healthy, adequate food to billions of people (FAO et al. 2019; FAO et al. 2024) and have led to increased instances of mental health crises for farmers (Jones-Bitton 2019; Younker & Radunovich 2021). In addition, industrial food systems contribute to the devastating impacts of a warming climate (IPCC 2021), biodiversity loss (WWF 2021), and soil erosion (Wise 2019; Badreldin and Lobb 2023) worldwide. Yet, little structural change has occurred in the way agriculture is governed and the problems created by industrial agriculture are becoming increasingly entrenched. …

To Encounter The Other? How Journalists Make Catholic Faith-Based Organizations In Mexico And Russia (In)Visible, Xochiquetzal Luna Morales

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Catholic Faith-Based Organizations (CFBOs) in Mexico and Russia are unique entities of study and comparison to understand the power dynamics between majority/minority institutional religions and their media representation. Although both countries recognize their religious diversity, Catholicism is still the major religion in Mexico, not only because of its large number of adherents but also its significant cultural and political capital. In contrast, in Russia, Catholicism is considered a minority religion and is often viewed as foreign to Russian values and traditions. These conditions influence how CFBOs have been featured in the news media in both countries. However, no single factors …