Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Black Hispanic And Black Nonhispanic Breast Cancer Survival Data Analysis With Half-Normal Model Application, Hafiz Mohammad Rafiqullah Khan, Anshul Saxena, Veronica Vera, Faheema Abdool-Ghany, Kemesha Gabbidon, Nancy Perea Perea, Ts Stewart, Venkataraghavan Ramamoorthy Ramamoorthy

USF St. Petersburg campus Faculty Publications

Background: Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death for women in the United States. Differences in survival of breast cancer have been noted among racial and ethnic groups, but the reasons for these disparities remain unclear. This study presents the characteristics and the survival curve of two racial and ethnic groups and evaluates the effects of race on survival times by measuring the lifetime data-based half-normal model. Materials and Methods: The distributions among racial and ethnic groups are compared using female breast cancer patients from nine states in the country all taken from the National Cancer Institute’s …

Using Habit Reversal To Decrease Filled Pauses And Nervous Habits In Public Speaking, Carolyn Joanne Mancuso

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Public speaking is a challenge faced by people from all walks of life. Research in the area of public speaking has focused on examining techniques to reduce public speaking anxiety. Very little research, however, has focused on the acquisition of public speaking skills. While presenting speeches, many people engage in nervous habits that have the potential to decrease the effectiveness of the speech and their credibility as a speaker. This study evaluated the effectiveness of simplified habit reversal in reducing three of these nervous habits: filled pauses, tongue clicking, and inappropriate use of the word like. Following baseline, participants …

Evolution And Functional Morphology Of The Cephalic Lobes In Batoids, Samantha Lynn Mulvany

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cephalic lobes are unique structures derived from the anterior pectoral fins, found in select myliobatid stingrays. Many benthic batoids utilize undulatory locomotion and use their pectoral fins for both locomotion and prey capture. Pelagic myliobatids that possess cephalic lobes utilize oscillatory locomotion, using their pectoral fins to locomote and their cephalic lobes for prey capture. Despite differences in habitat usage and locomotor modes, these batoids feed on very similar benthic organisms. The purpose of this study was to 1.) compare the morphology of the cephalic lobes and anterior pectoral fins in lobed and lobeless species, looking at skeletal elements, musculature …

An Exploration Of Threatened Harm As A Type Of Maltreatment And Its Relation To Recurrence Of Maltreatment, Roxann Mcneish

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There were no studies found in the literature that primarily focused on threatened harm as type of maltreatment. This study utilized Florida's child welfare administrative data to explore threatened harm as a type of maltreatment, particularly as a predictor of recurrence of maltreatment within six and 12 months for children who had a verified report of maltreatment in FY2005-2006. Threatened harm was examined in three ways; when it was reported as the only maltreatment, the initial maltreatment, and in situations where there was a prior report. The most prevalent acts of threatened harm were examined separately. It was examined as …

Contrast Adaptation In The Lateral Eye Of Limulus Polyphemus, Tchoudomira Valtcheva

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Luminance and contrast adaptation are neuronal mechanisms that the retina applies for continuous adjustment to light sensitivity though a collection of cellular and synaptic mechanisms distributed across the retinal network, thus accommodating the wide input range of the visual system within the constricted output range of retinal ganglion cells. Luminance mean adaptation has been demonstrated in the output neurons of the invertebrate eye (eccentric cells), and the aim of the study was to investigate whether the homology in visual processing extends to luminance variance (contrast) adaptation as well. The spike trains of individual eccentric cells were recorded from live horseshoe …

Factors Influencing Vaccination Decisions In African American Mothers Of Preschool Age Children, Chauntel Mckenzie Mcnair

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rates and coverage levels of immunizations of African-American children are reduced compared to other races. Few studies have identified factors that influence vaccination decisions of African-American mothers. This study assessed the mothers' vaccination decisions using a self-administered questionnaire and a screening instrument for determining health literacy. This instrument is called Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM). The sample was 92 African American mothers, recruited from a large metropolitan church in Jacksonville, Florida, who had at least one child under the age of seven. A cross-sectional research design was used to administer survey instruments to identify and interpret parental …

Providing Pathways To Coverage: A Case-Evaluation Of The Outreach And Enrollment Model At A Federally Qualified Health Center Network In South Central Florida., Florida Covering Kids & Families, Jodi Ray, Margeaux A. Chavez

Florida Covering Kids & Families

Objectives: Assess the outreach and enrollment strategies implemented by Florida Community Health Centers, Inc. (FCHC) to enroll eligible but not insured community members in Medicaid and other benefits programs.

Methods: Researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with 24 staff members and patients, conducted ethnographic observations, administered a short staff survey, and collected outreach related print materials for analysis. FCHC, Inc. provided enrollment numbers to compliment qualitative interview data about the program’s impact. Data were analyzed using Atlas.ti.

Results: Results suggest that FCHC’s outreach and enrollment model increases healthcare access for eligible, low-income and hard-to-reach patients in their service area who face barriers …

Mycological Study For A Management Plan Of A Neotropical Show Cave (Brazil), Erika Linzi Silva Taylor, Maria Aparecida De Resende Stoianoff, Rodrigo Lopes Ferreira

International Journal of Speleology

Caves are stable environments with characteristics favoring the development of microorganisms. The allocthonous input of organic matter and microbes into the warm Neotropical caves may favor the development of filamentous fungi, including pathogenic species. Histoplasma capsulatum is a pathogenic species commonly found in caves and associated with bat and bird guano. Many Brazilian caves have been historically visited due to scenic and religious tourism. The objective of this study was to perform a microbiology study for a management plan of a show cave in Brazil, focusing on the presence and distribution of pathogenic and opportunistic fungi in the cave. Statistics …

First Steps In Planning A College Department Curriculum To Incorporate Information Fluency, Claudia J. Dold

Claudia J. Dold

Creating an information fluency curriculum for a specific discipline requires preliminary work: assessing what students already know in their discipline; what they need to learn to be successful in their current course; and then what they will need to be functional in the field when they complete the remaining classes in their discipline, when they start working in their field, and/or when they move on to graduate school. This session addresses how one librarian approached faculty in a particular discipline, assessed the current teaching agenda, and planned to determine the information fluency demands of the courses.

Long-Term Upregulation Of Inflammation And Suppression Of Cell Proliferation In The Brain Of Adult Rats Exposed To Traumatic Brain Injury Using The Controlled Cortical Impact Model, Sandra A. Acosta, Naoki Tajiri, Kazutaka Shinozuka, Hiroto Ishikawa, Bethany Grimmig, David M. Diamond, Paul R. Sanberg, Paula C. Bickford, Yuji Kaneko, Cesario V. Borlongan

Psychology Faculty Publications

The long-term consequences of traumatic brain injury (TBI), specifically the detrimental effects of inflammation on the neurogenic niches, are not very well understood. In the present in vivo study, we examined the prolonged pathological outcomes of experimental TBI in different parts of the rat brain with special emphasis on inflammation and neurogenesis. Sixty days after moderate controlled cortical impact injury, adult Sprague-Dawley male rats were euthanized and brain tissues harvested. Antibodies against the activated microglial marker, OX6, the cell cycle-regulating protein marker, Ki67, and the immature neuronal marker, doublecortin, DCX, were used to estimate microglial activation, cell proliferation, and neuronal …

The Problem Of Too Many Statistical Tests: Subgroup Analyses In A Study Comparing The Effectiveness Of Online And Live Lectures, David M. Lane

Numeracy

The more statistical analyses performed in the analysis of research data, the more likely it is that one or more of the conclusions will be in error. Multiple statistical analyses can occur when the sample contains several subgroups and the researchers perform separate analyses for each subgroup. For example, separate analyses may be done for different ethnic groups, different levels of education, and/or for both genders. Media reports of research frequently omit information on the number of subgroup analyses performed thus leaving the reader with insufficient information to assess the validity of the conclusions. This article discusses the problems with …

Dyscalculia: Characteristics, Causes, And Treatments, Gavin R. Price, Daniel Ansari

Numeracy

Developmental Dyscalculia (DD) is a learning disorder affecting the ability to acquire school-level arithmetic skills, affecting approximately 3-6% of individuals. Progress in understanding the root causes of DD and how best to treat it have been impeded by lack of widespread research and variation in characterizations of the disorder across studies. However, recent years have witnessed significant growth in the field, and a growing body of behavioral and neuroimaging evidence now points to an underlying deficit in the representation and processing of numerical magnitude information as a potential core deficit in DD. An additional product of the recent progress in …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of A Tablet Application To Increase Eye Contact In Children Diagnosed With Autism, Tricia Jeffries

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Studies have shown that increasing eye contact can be accomplished by using reinforcement, prompting, shaping, functional movement training, punishment, and self-monitoring. However, there is a lack of research that evaluates the use of technology as a way to increase eye contact. This study tested the effectiveness of a tablet application at increasing eye contact in children diagnosed with autism. The application requires the child to look at a picture of a person's face and identify the number displayed in the person's eyes in order to receive reinforcement. Data was collected immediately after training, one hour after training, and in the …

Nonword Processing In Bilingual Five Year Olds: Do Phonotactics Count?, Kyna Betancourt

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Phonotactic processing is foundational to the word processing task in both monolingual and bilingual children (Li & Farkas, 2002; Pierrehumbert, 2001; Shook & Marian, 2013; Storkel & Morrisette, 2002). While the use of phonotactic information in word processing in monolingual children is relatively well documented, it is less well understood in bilingual children. The purpose of this study was to investigate how bilingual kindergartners process the phonotactic probabilities of their two languages. A set of nonwords was developed that manipulated the strength of phonotactic probability across both Spanish and English while also controlling the language environment of the experimental task …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of An Internet-Based Behavioral Program For Increasing Physical Activity With And Without A Behavioral Coach, Diego Alejandro Valbuena

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Obesity is a problem of vast social concern in the United States. One factor that has been linked to reduction in body fat and the health problems associated with obesity is increasing physical activity. Although in-person behavioral interventions have been shown effective at increasing physical activity, attention is now being placed on disseminating these interventions through the use of technology. Several internet-based interventions have been developed and are readily available. The purpose of this study was to evaluate "Fitbit," a web-based behavioral intervention for increasing physical activity and losing weight. Additionally, this study examined if the addition of contact from …

Exploring The Relationship Between Physical Activity And Everyday Cognitive Function In Older Adults: Within- And Between- Person Variability, Christine Haley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research suggests that physical activity may play a role in preserving cognitive function in older adulthood. However, the exact nature, direction, and magnitude of observed associations remain unclear. The current study utilized a microlongitudinal design to repeatedly assess cognitive function and physical activity across five days. Two studies examined relationships between physical activity, physical fitness, and cognitive function among community-dwelling older adults. The first study examined associations between baseline performance in a measure of everyday cognition and multiple measures of physical activity and physical fitness. Bivariate analyses revealed that objectively measured physical activity of moderate-to-vigorous intensity, repeated chair stand time …

The Use Of Video Modeling Plus Video Feedback To Improve Boxing Skills, Charlsey Elizabeth Reynolds

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Video modeling and video feedback are behavioral procedures that have been shown to increase skill acquisition over time in a variety of environments. This study investigated the use of a video modeling and video feedback procedure, via a multiple baseline design to enhance skill acquisition in boxing. This study also incorporated multiple dimensions of analysis by including data based not only on a percentage of performance with a task analysis, but also the duration of each particular target behavior. The target behaviors for the study included three different boxing combinations, which were operationally defined based on component steps via …

Exploring Potential Risk Factors Of Fetal Origins Of Diabetes: Maternal Stressors During Pregnancy And Birth Outcomes Among Women In A Hospital In The Municipality Of Caguas, Puerto Rico, Juan Pablo Arroyo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Puerto Rico has the highest prevalence of type 2 diabetes, low birth-weight, and the second highest prevalence of preterm-birth in all the U.S. and its non-incorporated territories. These conditions are related. Birth-weight at both ends of the spectrum and preterm-birth are associated with an increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes and immune-inflammatory dysregulations. Maternal psychosocial stressors during pregnancy have also been recognized as potential risk factors for type 2 diabetes, and have been consistently associated with preterm-birth and low birth-weight across populations. Current evidence points toward epigenetic fetal metabolic-programming as the mechanism that underlies the increased risk for the …

African Americans And Hospice: A Culture-Centered Exploration Of Disparities In End-Of-Life Care, Patrick Dillon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As the United States' population ages and grows more diverse, scholars and practitioners have grown increasingly concerned about persistent disparities in the cost and quality of end-of-life health care, particularly with regard to African Americans. Although a variety of factors may influence these disparities, most scholars agree that the underutilization of hospice care by this population is an important contributor. Drawing from the culture-centered approach to health communication and narrative theory, the present study explores African American patients and caregivers' experiences with hospice care and takes an initial step toward addressing disparities in end-of-life care. I begin this study, first, …

Profile Of Alcohol And Drug Indicators For Hillsborough County, Florida, Kathleen A. Moore, M. Scott Young, Ellen Snelling

Mental Health Law & Policy Faculty Publications

Alcohol has the highest prevalence of use of any substance in Hillsborough County and throughout the nation. In 2011, Hillsborough County ranked first among all counties in alcohol-related fatalities. Although Hillsborough County DUI arrests decreased in 2011, Hillsborough still had more DUI arrests than any other Florida county. To address these concerns, the Hillsborough County Anti Drug Alliance (HCADA) and the Tampa Alcohol Coalition (TAC) have continued to support: DUI law enforcement operations, The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Alcohol Vendor Enforcement program (SAVE), DUI Counterattack, DUI media coverage, alcohol awareness programs, improved alcohol policies and community coalitions’ collaborative efforts to reduce …

High Jump Analysis, Paige Cooke

Undergraduate Journal of Mathematical Modeling: One + Two

This project presents a mathematical analysis of the high jump, a popular track and field event. The first and second stages of the high jump correspond to the athlete’s run along two distinct trajectories. The third stage is the actual jump. We propose an individual model for each of these stages and show how to combine these models to study the dynamics of the entire high jump.

The Professionalization And Practice Of Lactation Consulting: Medicalized Knowledge, Humanistic Care, Aimee R. Eden

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Breastfeeding support for mothers and their babies historically was the informal work of family and community members. In the United States today, breastfeeding support is embedded in the biomedical system, and is provided by a new allied health professional: the International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). This dissertation explores this professionalization of breastfeeding support and the origins of this new profession. It studies how IBCLCs working in the U.S. cultural context perceive and practice the profession and examines the relationship between the profession of lactation consulting and the medicalization of breastfeeding. Oral history interviews with 17 founders of the profession, …

Supply Chain Optimization Of Blood Products, Serkan Gunpinar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Major challenges in the management of blood supply chain are related to the shortage and wastage of the blood products. Given the perishability characteristics of blood which can be stored up to a limited number of days, if hospitals and blood centers keep an excessive number of blood units on inventory, wastages may occur. On the other hand, if sufficient number of blood units are not stored on inventory, shortages of this resource may cause the cancellations of important activities and increase the fatality rates at hospitals. Three mathematical models have been developed with the goal to improve the efficiency …

The Effects Of Uv Light On The Antimicrobial Activities Of Cave Actinomycetes, Devon Rule, Naowarat Cheeptham

International Journal of Speleology

The goal of this study was to determine whether actinomycetes isolated from a volcanic cave in western Canada could produce novel antimicrobial compounds against six multidrugresistant pathogens when exposed to UV light. One hundred and seventy-six actinomycete strains isolated from Helmcken Falls Cave, Wells Gray Provincial Park, BC, were screened against six pathogens using the “plug assay” in UV light and no light conditions. Of the 176 strains tested, 100 or 57% of the cave actinomycete strains had antimicrobial activities against the pathogens in 124 different instances: 35 instances when exposed to UV and no light, 30 when exposed to …

Classification Models In Clinical Decision Making, Eleazar Gil-Herrera

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we present a collection of manuscripts describing the development of prognostic models designed to assist clinical decision making. This work is motivated by limitations of commonly used techniques to produce accessible prognostic models with easily interpretable and clinically credible results. Such limitations hinder prognostic model widespread utilization in medical practice.

Our methodology is based on Rough Set Theory (RST) as a mathematical tool for clinical data anal- ysis. We focus on developing rule-based prognostic models for end-of life care decision making in an effort to improve the hospice referral process. The development of the prognostic models is …

An Evaluation Of A Parent Implemented In- Situ Pedestrian Safety Skills Intervention For Individuals With Autism, Bethany Ann Harriage

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study evaluated a parent implemented in-situ pedestrian safety skills intervention for three individuals with autism. Specifically, this study examined the utility of using a behavioral skills training (BST) to help parents implement the most-to-least prompting procedures in training their children with autism pedestrian safety skills in community settings. A multiple baseline design across participants was used to assess parent implementation of in-situ pedestrian training as well as child participants' independently performed correct skills. Results indicated that parents implemented most-to-least prompting procedures with high levels of accuracy across streets during intervention and fading of BST. All child participants improved their …

An Evaluation Of Self Management To Increase On Task Behavior With Individuals Diagnosed With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactive Disorder, Lindsey C. Slattery

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the leading diagnoses for children. Children diagnosed with ADHD often have difficulty in many settings including at school as well as in the home. Medication is often a common treatment for these children, however, it has been often shown ineffective when used alone. A review of behavioral interventions, including various self-regulation interventions has been studied. Self-regulation interventions have been shown to be effective for children diagnosed with ADHD primarily in school or academic settings. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a self-management intervention on the on-task behavior of children …

The Acquisition And Usage Of The Sodas Problem Solving Method Among Adults At-Risk For Homelessness, Collin Edward Streetman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Individuals experiencing extended homelessness face multifaceted risks in physical health, nutrition, substance use, mental health, continuing unemployment, and incarceration. Some of these adults may benefit from learning a problem-solving decision-making method to assist them in dealing with everyday problems they encounter. This study taught three men with extensive histories of homelessness, but who were currently housed, the SODAS problem-solving decision-making method, and assessed their ability to learn it and guide another adult in the use of the method in simulated role-play problem situations. The acquisition of SODAS from behavioral rehearsal training was evaluated using a multiple-baseline design across participants' role …

A Comparison Of A Matrix Programming And Standard Discrete Trial Training Format To Teach Two-Component Tacts, Emily Braff

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Teaching using matrix programming has been shown to result in recombinative generalization. However, this procedure has not been compared to more standard discrete trial training formats such as DTT. This study compared acquisition and recombinative generalization of two-component tacts using each procedure. Matrix training was found to be more efficient than the DTT format. Half the amount of teaching was required to teach roughly the same number of targets using matrix training as compared to DTT.

Survivorship, Infertility And Parenthood: Experiencing Life After Cancer In Puerto Rico, Karen Elizabeth Dyer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While incidence rates are increasing for many cancers in Puerto Rico, mortality rates are declining (Torres-Cintron, et al. 2010), resulting in growing numbers of survivors and creating a situation in which long-term survivorship concerns are beginning to emerge as priorities. The importance of quality-of-life among survivors of cancer is increasingly being recognized among healthcare providers, although there remains a gap in knowledge of how young adult survivors cope with long-term treatment-related physical effects, such as infertility, and of the impact of cancer on survivors' social relationships and future goals.

Because understandings of "cancer survivorship," as well as of reproduction, vary …