Other Education Commons^™

Data-Driven Modeling Of The Causes And Effects Of Interneuronal Dysfunction In Alzheimer’S Disease And Dravet Syndrome, Carlos Perez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

One of the defining features of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the increased cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP), causing abnormally high levels of the aggregation form of amyloid beta (Aβ ). Many studies have shown that both AD patients and AD mice models exhibit abnormal network activity, including hypersynchronous excitatory neuron behavior, altered brain rhythms, and in some instances epileptic seizures when exposed to high levels of Aβ In particular, strong experimental evidence suggests that it is the small globular amyloid oligomers (gOs) and curvilinear fibrils (CFs) rather than the more stable, late stage rigid fibrils (RFs) that cause …

Availability And Utilization Of E-Resources In University Libraries For Effective Research Output By Undergraduates Of Social Studies In South East Nigeria, Joseph C. Onuoha Ph.D, , Lilian Ujunwa Ifeanyi, Abdulrahman Yakubu Yunisa

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study sought to investigate the availability and utilization of e-resources in university libraries for effective research output by undergraduates of Social Studies in south-east, Nigeria. It is a descriptive survey research design. two research questions guided the study. A sample of 191 students from four stratified randomly selected universities in south east, Nigeria, were used for the study. The instrument for data collection is the researcher’s designed and validated questionnaire, tagged: ‘The Use of E-Resources in University Libraries Questionnaire’ (UERULQ). The instrument was trial tested using Cronbach Alpha, while reliability coefficient of 0.98 was obtained, which was considered high …

Diet Behaviors, Physical Activity, And Sociodemographic Factors In A Sample Of Racially Diverse Adults: A Secondary Analysis Of Nhanes (2017-2018) Data, Fatemeh Choupani

Dissertations

Background: The prevalence of obesity is increasing among adults in the United States and is related to a high risk to health. Obesity has been linked to lifestyle behaviors such as diet behaviors and physical activity.

Purpose: This study aimed to determine if an association exits between foods prepared outside of the home, walking or biking, vigorous/moderate recreational activities, sociodemographic factors and the outcomes, body mass index, percentage of body fat, and waist circumference.

Method: A secondary analysis was conducted using data from 3942 adults from the U.S. aged 20 years, as recorded in the National Health …

Enhancing Adult Refugees’ Metacognition, Motivation, And Multiliteracies: Metacognitive Instruction Within An E-Learning Environment, Imelda V. Bangun

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adult refugees without print literacy are a diverse group. The reasons adult refugees lack print literacy varies widely among individuals. While meeting the needs of these adults is indeed important, instructors who work with these learners are frequently challenged to provide suitable e-learning environments in which these learners can thrive. Accordingly, the present study aimed to achieve four goals. First, it investigated the effectiveness of explicit metacognitive instruction within an e-learning environment in enhancing the motivational profile of adult refugees with limited literacy. Second, it researched the effectiveness of explicit metacognitive instruction accompanied with an e-learning environment in enhancing the …

Visualization Dynamics And Ideal L2 Self: Exploring L2 Learner Motivation In A Study Abroad Context, Dan Zhong

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Second language learner motivation research has witnessed a transition from a historically static approach to a more dynamic approach, yielding extensive research during the past decade. Dörnyei (2005, 2009) proposed a vigorous motivation framework, the Second Language Motivational Self System (L2MSS) that highlights the dynamic nature of learner motivation. The L2MSS consists of three main constructs: the ideal L2 self, the ought-to L2 self, and the learning experiences (Dörnyei, 2005). This study uses the L2MSS framework as the theoretical basis to explore learners’ motivation and learning experiences in a study abroad context. Empirical studies using this framework to explore L2 …

Isolation Of Specific Phospholipids From Nannochloropsis Oculata Microalga For Cosmetic Applications, Ahmet Yener Manisali

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Algae, photosynthetic aquatic organisms, have recently caught the attention of the food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and nutraceutical industries due to the variety of natural compounds in their cellular bodies such as carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins. Specifically, microalgae-derived natural compounds such as phospholipids are extensively utilized in cosmetics as part of liposome formers, emulsifiers, solubilizers, and wetting agents. Although phospholipids are currently extracted from food sources, this practice raises sustainability concerns. Hence, growing microalgae on the provision of macronutrients such as nitrates and phosphates will serve as a more sustainable source of the several specific phospholipids such as phosphatidylcholine (PC), phosphatidyl-ethanolamine (PE), …

Exploring Adult Indigenous Latinxs’ English Language Identity Expressions And Agency: A Malp®-Informed Photovoice Study, Andrea Enikő Lypka

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Scholars historically emphasized literate learners’ additional language trajectories. In countries with increasingly large numbers of limited-literate adult language learners, there is an urgent need to inspire limited-literate adults to speak out and be heard. To address the needs of adult language learners with inconsistent schooling, and the ways their identities, agency, and social power influence opportunities for participation in the target language communities of practice, scholars need to implement bottom-up and responsive curricular and research innovations. To this end, informed by poststructuralist and transdisciplinary understandings of English language development, I investigated the identity work (self-positioning and other-positioning) and agency deployment …

Communication, Learning And Social Support At The Speaking Center: A Communities Of Practice Perspective, Ann Marie Foley Coats

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In response to increasing demand for public speaking instruction, more institutions are establishing campus speaking centers staffed by student tutors. Peer tutors provide clients with a range of supports in the speech-making process, including suggestions for speech content and organization and for improving delivery during simulated practice sessions. This study investigates patterns of peer interaction in one campus speaking center to understand the dynamics of peer support in a non-classroom setting and how they may create the conditions for student learning. This ethnographic study conceptualized speaking center activities and the practice of oral communication skills development through the lens of …

Thermoelectric Transport Control Using Single Phase Materials And Metamaterial Composites, Wencong Shi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The amount of annual energy consumption in today's human world is on an unprecedented level, as most of the energy used for industrial, transportation, and residential purposes are rejected or dissipated as waste heat, it is of crucial importance to find a way to harvest this wasted heat energy and convert it back into usages. Thermoelectric (TE) devices can help to achieve this purpose by utilizing the principle of thermoelectricity such as the Seebeck effect to generate the electric energy from the waste heat. The main challenges are to find TE materials that are highly efficient in energy conversion, low …

Fishing Without A Pole: Experiences And Insights Of Adults Working To Prevent Youth Suicide In A Low-Income, High-Rate State, Victoria L. Waugh-Reed

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

This study explores the underrepresented perspective of suicide preventionists in the state of New Mexico, their experiences and insights surrounding the prevention of youth suicide. I present these in narrative form; the primary method of investigation was purposeful, individual interviews with an initial and follow-up interviews. Preventionists in New Mexico face the enormous task of reducing historically high youth suicide rates when compared with the rest of the nation; additionally, New Mexico is a rural state that exhibits a complex mix of risk and resiliency factors. I invited participants to discuss their experiences, share barriers to their work, offer success …

A Framework For Assessing The Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, And Safety (Rams) Of Decentralized Sanitation, Adefunké Adeosun

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In established industry sectors, Reliability, Availability, Maintainability, and Safety (RAMS) risk assessments are normally used to compare the risks associated with different technologies on process units. Sanitation solutions are split into traditional wastewater treatment which is centralized treatment and can be classified as an established industry, and decentralized treatment such as pit latrines and septic tank systems which are on much smaller scales. Also they can be classified as non-conventional methods such as reinvented advanced decentralized non-sewered sanitation solution techniques exist mainly in two forms as “Single-User Reinvented Toilet (SURT)” systems or “Multiple-User Reinvented Toilet (MURT)” systems. Advanced decentralized non-sewered …

Laser-Induced Modifications In Two-Dimensional Materials, Tariq Afaneh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) materials have attracted a growing interest in the lastdecade from the fundamental point of view as well as their potential applications in functional devices. Due to their high surface-to-volume ratio, the physical properties of 2D materials are very sensitive to the environmental factor such as surrounding media and illumination conditions (e.g. light-mater interaction). In the first part of this dissertation I will present recent advances in developing laser-assisted methods to tune the physical properties of 2D transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). We demonstrate laser-assisted chemical modification ultrathin TMDs, locally replacing selenium by sulfur atoms. The photo-conversion process …

Controlling Properties Of Light: Metamaterials Design And Methodology, Darrick Hay

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Electromagnetic metamaterials are materials that have designed electromagnetic properties. In general metamaterials are subwavelength and can be treated as homogeneous media with an effective permittivity and permeability. Early metamaterial designs were developed to exhibit electromagnetic responses not typically found in naturally occuring materials, but this is not a strict requirement. Metamaterials have shown promise for applications throughout the electromagnetic spectrum. The goal of this work is to present a coherent methodology for metamaterials design, fabrication and application while also describing all of the relevant physics of the designed metamaterials.

Chapter 1 is comprised of an introduction into the field of …

Transformational School Leadership And Students' Gaokao Performance In China: A Multilevel Mediation Analysis, Yanzheng Li

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine how teachers’ psychological contract fulfillment (PCF) and organizational commitment (OC) mediated the effects of principals’ transformational school leadership (TSL) on students’ Gaokao performance in China by testing a hypothesized multilevel model. Survey data were collected online from 893 teachers at 10 public senior high schools in a city located in Northern China. The first city-wide mock Gaokao exam results were used as the indicator of students’ Gaokao performance. Data analysis techniques included correlational analysis, multiple regression analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling analysis, and multilevel mediation analysis. Results indicated a relatively …

Education Reporters And Trauma-Informed Interviewing, Mallory Hlava

Scholars Week

No abstract provided.

Origins Of Amyloid Oligomers And Novel Approaches For Their Detection, Jeremy Barton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer’s disease, type II diabetes, and other amyloid diseases are known to be associated with the formation of amyloid aggregates. It has been thoroughly researched whether amyloid fibrils or oligomers are the main culprit for these diseases, and recent evidence has connected oligomers as the most disease relevant aggregate species. However, many difficulties have arose in confirming this hypothesis. Techniques for oligomer detection are often limited in their sensitivity, and in many cases are unable to distinguish oligomers from rigid fibrils. Additionally, the role oligomer splay in fibril assembly is still unclear, and has led to the belief that different …

Interrogating What We Mean By "Making": Stories From Women Who Make In Community, Bibhushana Poudyal, Tetyana Zhyvotovska, Estefania Castillo, Nora Rivera, Ann Shivers-Mcnair, Joy Robinson, Laura Gonzales

English Faculty Books and Book Chapters

"In recent years, innovation, entrepreneurship, and globalization have become popular concepts in relation to technology design. While some major corporations and other entities continue pushing for globalization through the design and dissemination of digital technologies, researchers also caution against the biases and oppression that can be embedded in US culture’s 'near-ubiquitous use of algorithmically driven software.'¹ Countering some previously established orientations to globalization and entrepreneurship, this chapter highlights the importance of building technological innovation with (rather than just for or about) historically, structurally, and systematically marginalized and underrepresented communities. The overall purpose of this chapter is to showcase how …

Career And Technical Education Teachers’ Beliefs About Developing Students’ Motivation To Write, Katie Graham

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

Students in the U.S. write poorly. Although postsecondary and workplace writing expectations continue to rise, writing instruction has largely remained unchanged over time. As a result, student writing outcomes continue to fall below expectations from both an assessment and hirable proficiency standpoint. Career and Technical Education (CTE) provides a unique opportunity to motivate students who are otherwise disengaged in writing (ACTE, 2009). The benefits of helping students develop their writing-self efficacy has well-documented support (Bruning & Horn, 2009; Bandura, 1997; Pajares 2003; Pajares & Valiante, 2006). However, little is known about the writing opportunities provided in CTE classes or CTE …

Three Blended Librarians' Narratives On Developing Professional Identities, Adonis Amparo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A blended librarian holds two separate and distinct responsibilities in the academic institution. One relates to instructional technology, the other relates to the information professional. In this narrative inquiry, I explore the constructed identity of three blended librarians and offer insight to inform current and future blended librarians, instructional technologists and designers, and their academic institutions. Each librarian was hired between 2012 and 2013. Each participant was the first blended librarian at each of their universities. I explored themes of transformation, inclusiveness, and connectedness. I used Mezirow’s transformational learning theory with support from secondary theories, universal instructional design and TPACK …

Assessing Many-Body Van Der Waals Contributions In Model Sorption Environments, Matthew K. Mostrom

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The energy used in the separation and purification of small volatile atoms and compounds represents a sizablefraction of the world’s energy consumption as a whole 1 Noble gases in particular represent a unique challenge as their separation currently relies on distillation methods that work by virtue of small differences in the density of their pure phases. Highly porous Metal-Organic Materials (MOMs) offer a cheaper, more efficient alternative to cryogenic distillation, and studying their properties using various simulation methods has become an important and active area of research. The family of Potentials with “High Accuracy, Speed and Transferability” (PHAST) have been …