Electronic Thesis or Dissertation

The purpose of this study was to examine the factors associated with academic achievement in at-risk high school students attending one of four charter schools in south Florida geared toward dropout prevention. Several factors were identified through a thorough review of the literature to identify the common demographic variables associated with lower academic achievement including race and ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, and an identified learning disability. Each of these variables became the control variables in this study. More recent research has examined the role of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and resilience (via protective factors) in predicting academic outcomes. None of the studies found examined the role of ACEs, resilience, and academic achievement in a student population that has been identified as being at risk for high school dropout. In addition, it was explored whether ACEs (by type) and resilience (by type) varied by life stage.
Administrative data was collected on 160 randomly selected students, 80 of whom were considered adolescents (15-17), and 80 who were considered emerging adults (18-21). Descriptive statistics (frequencies, mean, and standard deviation) were examined. Multiple regression with hierarchal entry was then used to test the first two research questions, and 5 hypotheses, analyzing the impact of total ACEs (and then ACEs by type) and total resilience (and then resilience by type) on academic achievement. Results were not statistically significant for either question. A one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was then run to explore whether ACEs by type or resilience by type varied based on life stage (adolescence or emerging adult). The results were not statistically significant. Outcomes of the study are discussed as are the limitations of the study and suggestions for future research.

This thesis is a collection of essays related to place, including meditations on different landscapes, examinations of historic place-based research, and an exploration of environmental and cultural issues.

The current study examined the association between retrospectively recalled paternal investment and current levels of commitment readiness in young adults. Various aspects of the participants’ relationship with their fathers during childhood were measured in a sample of 250 undergraduate students. Participants were also asked questions about how ready they are to be involved in a committed romantic relationship. The results did not support the main hypotheses: there were no significant associations between retrospectively recalled paternal investment and commitment readiness. Exploratory analyses revealed that attachment avoidance was significantly negatively correlated with both paternal investment, including measures of nurturant fathering and father involvement, and commitment readiness.

Genomics has been revolutionized by improved sequencing technologies, allowing for the detailed exploration of microbial dark matter and complex microscopic ecosystems. The bottleneck in genomic workflows has shifted from high-throughput sequencing to data analysis. This dissertation developed the Florida Center for Coastal and Human Health Shotgun Metagenomics Workflow (FCHsm) that is easy to use and tailor to unique datasets. This work acts as the beta-testing for the workflow, as it analyzes disparate biomes (environmental and host microbiomes) at varying sequencing depths (shallow and deep). FCHsm was used to resolve molecular dynamics and mine trans-kingdom metagenomes for secondary metabolic biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) in two marine environments— Indian River Lagoon toxic harmful algal blooms (IRL HABs) and the medicinal Leiodermatium sponge holobiont.
First, an in silico mock dataset was analyzed to benchmark the FCHsm workflow. Sourmash, coupled with the Genome Taxonomy Database, outcompeted the other taxonomic profilers by accurately predicting the size of the mock metagenome (450 genomes) and recalling the highest number of species (82 %) and strains (44 %). Nonpareil calculated the sequencing effort needed for 100 % coverage for all the datasets and correctly estimated the 75 Gbp of sequencing needed for almost 100 % coverage of the mock metagenomes (99.5 %). Next, the trans-kingdom metagenomes of the IRL were explored, and potential HAB biomarkers were identified.

Harm Reduction is a public health practice and social justice philosophy which aims to reduce the harms associated with drug use through pragmatic health strategies and advocacy. This paper ethnographically details the experiences and challenges of Harm Reduction advocates in Palm Beach County, Florida for the purpose of exploring cultural and structural barriers for harm reduction in this local setting. Utilizing a lens of Critical Medical Anthropology, cultural and structural barriers represent the shared beliefs and institutional realities which combine to create barriers for advocates in maintaining the Harm Reduction resource they provide, as well as barriers people who use drugs (PWUD) face when trying to access those resources. These issues are explored through ethnographic data featuring the knowledge and experience of Rebel Recovery and its associated syringe services program (SSP), Florida Access to Syringe and Health services (FLASH), as well as a private clinic, the Harm Reduction Center (HARC).

With the advent of newly and more reliably designed targeted therapy methods in the past several years, targeted radionuclide therapy has attracted more attentions around the world as a more reliable treatment modality in combination with other well established traditional cancer treatments i.e., external beam radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Alpha particles have a high relative biological effectiveness (RBE) due to their high linear energy transfer (LET). However, to utilize them for therapeutic purposes, precise human body dosimetry calculation is required. The measurement of their uptake and biodistribution can be quite challenging. Also, due to the complex biology of different types of cells, their shapes and functions, there is not a simple and clear understanding of the mechanism of action that fits all. This study aims to estimate and compare the human organ dosimetry of the alpha emitter, 212Pb, from animal data assuming that it is conjugated with three different types of commonly used targeting nanoparticles. For this purpose, the pre-published animal data of three different radionuclide labeled peptide, antibody, and small molecule carriers were selected and converted to human data. Then a compartmental model was designed for each of them to fit the model to the human data with 212Pb, half-life of 10.64 hours. Once each model reached the desired fit, the area under the curves were extracted then the estimated human organ dosimetry calculations took place via the MIRD scheme. The organ dosimetry results for 212Pb + three different carriers are presented in Tables 14, 17, and 20.

The commodification of the female body is a vital concern that can be seen throughout history from the rhetoric consumed by societies. This thesis will give a rhetorical analysis of the websites of the milk banks of Prolacta Bioscience, Medolac, and The Human Milk Banking Association of North America. This will demonstrate how commodification, erasure, and disembodiment occurs to the mothers who donate their milk. I will examine how each organization offers up mothers, their milk, and infants as complete separate entities. My argument will propose a new metaphor I will define as the unfiltered raw public. I will demonstrate how this metaphor might better serve to restructure rhetoric to tether the mothers back to their bodies more sustainably for a cyborg future. The unfiltered raw public seeks to shift future discourse to reflect one more inclusive to difference rather than a future that commodifies the female body.

This thesis serves as an exploration of the environment in James Joyce’s Ulysses which holds accountable the violent material politics of England against Ireland and the acts of consumption committed against human and nonhuman bodies, which is a radical critique of the patriarchal discourse and action that decimated a once sovereign nation and its landscape. I argue through an eco-critical lens that intersects the human body, a once impenetrable landscape, and the elision of Brehon Gaelic law as a victim of colonial usurpation. There is a deep focus geared towards masculinity and its imposition upon the female body, but also an important look at the relationship between man and nature. While sexuality and nature co-exist in Ulysses, we can envision this novel as an “epic of living with animals" and their human predecessors.

Although there appears to be heightened awareness of the alarming rise in adolescent mental health concerns, treatment initiation and adherence to traditional therapies remains low. Nurses are at the forefront of exploring innovative youth-friendly therapeutic options that engage adolescents who otherwise may be reluctant to care. Human-animal interactions (HAIs) are alternative approaches where animals are integrated as therapeutic partners to help break down barriers, build trust, uncover meaning, and foster transformation. Equine-assisted learning (EAL), a type of HAI, was the focus of this research. This study explored the lived experience of adolescents who participated in an equine-assisted learning program guided through the lens of the theory of unitary caring and the hermeneutic-phenomenological unitary-caring research method. Eleven participants between the ages of 11-19 were interviewed. The outcomes of improved self-confidence, better mood, healthier relationships, and an optimistic outlook were supported by the literature. Six essences evolved from the narratives: troubled by turbulent connections; embracing uncertainty and vulnerability; awakening to the shared human-horse condition; attuning as one; engaging harmonically; and cultivating peace and joy. These essences, blended with the theory of unitary caring, led to the discovery of the antecedents of transformational change defined in the conceptual representation of the Unitary Caring Relatedness Model. These findings contribute to nursing and HAI literature and suggest a model that may be implemented in adolescent practice.

This thesis is an international comparative analysis on the women pilots of Britain’s Air Transport Auxiliary, the Soviet Union’s Aviation Group 122, and the United States’ Women’s Auxiliary Air Force, Women’s Flying Training Detachment, and the Women Airforce Service Pilots during World War II. Women pilots in these groups were motivated by three different factors in each country to aid the war effort and that determination was a common thread among these groups that drove them to serve their countries’ militaries. What made the pilots’ efforts stand out was that they offered the Allies an advantage over the Axis Powers in terms of utilizing an additional workforce. Unfortunately, these women are widely unrecognized for this advantage and are brushed aside. It is important to recognize the significance of how these women impacted the Allies socially and militarily, and this work aims to expand the discussion in World War II studies.