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From Corruption And State Capture To A Populist Backlash: The Challenges For Democracy In Eastern Europe, Georgi Georgiev

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Employing different research methods in each chapter, this dissertation aimed to shed light on past and present challenges to democracy in Eastern Europe. More specifically: 1) What underlying conditions and factors cause the failure to develop a well-functioning democracy? 2)What is the role of governance on social and economic outcomes for citizens in the former communist countries of what was known as the Eastern Bloc? 3)To assess the extent of the decline of democracy among the Eastern European EU member states, what component of democracy has deteriorated the most, and identify what drives democratic backsliding.I discovered that the failure to …

In The Bodies Of Gods: Bharathanatyam Diaspora Organizing And The Production And Dismantling Of Colonial Logics, Nivethitha Ketheeswaran

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bharathanatyam is a dance form dating back to 300 BCE of what is now Tamil Nadu, South India. Bharathanatyam uses hand gestures, facial expressions, and footwork to narrate stories and demonstrate rhythm. This dissertation explores how the global diaspora of bharathanatyam practitioners organize around bharathanatyam informed by colonial logics. In this dissertation I aim to a) define “diaspora organizing” beyond nation-state identity b) apply this definition of diaspora to the global practice of bharathanatyam, and c) explore practitioners sensemaking of their experiences with bharathanatyam. I approach the first goal by defining diaspora in terms of anti-colonial theorizing and describing its …

The Role Of Spontaneous Activity In Maturation Of The Calyx Of Held Nerve Terminal And Its Synaptic Target In The Medial Nucleus Of The Trapezoid Body, Daniel Tatsuo Heller

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Neural circuit formation is a complex process involving synergistic roles between neurons and glial cells regulated by coordinated genetic and molecular cues and activity-dependent mechanisms. The canonical pathway for synapse formation begins with neurogenesis and migration followed by axonal outgrowth and dendritic arborization allowing for the capture and formation of nascent synapses. These initial synaptic contacts are exuberant in nature ensuring proper neural connectivity and undergo a period of pruning of superfluous inputs followed by maturation and strengthening of the remaining contacts. This maturation includes pre- and postsynaptic specialization of the active zone, localization and clustering of ion channels, and …

Analyzing The Impact Of The Size Of Fluoro And Chloro Substituents On Induced Mesomorphism In Hydrogen Bonded Liquid Crystals, M. K. Sonali, Rajeev K. Sinha, Silpa Elizabeth Peter, N. V.Anil Kumar

Open Access archive

Synthesis of new supramolecules with specific properties and realistic applications requires a sound knowledge of the structure-property relationships of the synthesized molecules. Non-covalent interaction like hydrogen bonding is conducive in realizing mesomorphism. The induction of the liquid crystalline character is associated with the strength of hydrogen bonds formed between the interacting components, which are affected by the change of polarity and polarizability of both components upon change in their terminal polar substituents. When the polar substituents are similar in their reactivity, how does the size of the polar substituent influence the mesomorphism? New hydrogen bonded liquid crystals are synthesized with …

Photodegradation And Microencapsulation Of Organic Thermochromic Material For Application As Building Coating Envelope, Sushant Madhukar Nagare

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Due to exponential urbanization, residential building electrical loads have increased over the past decades. Also, deforestation has led to increased urban heat island effects, due to which summer has been scorching and winter has become freezing. This further increases the load on generation due to the extensive use of heating and cooling systems. New techniques, such as cool building materials and green building concepts, compensate for the load. The building can be coated with a material that has heat reflectivity capability for summer and heat-trapping capability for winter. One such material is thermochromic, which turns white upon heating and black …

Antarctic Atmosphere-Ocean-Ice Interactions During Past Warm Climates: An Ice-Proximal Perspective, Imogen Mireille Browne

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Antarctica’s ice sheets contain 58 m of sea level equivalent ice and thus exert a fundamental control on global sea level on decadal to million-year timescales. Interactions between Antarctica’s ice sheets, regional atmospheric circulation, and the Southern Ocean influence ice sheet mass balance, sea ice formation, and deep water production, which regulate Earth’s climate. At present, Antarctica’s fringing ice shelves and outlet glaciers, particularly in West Antarctica, are losing mass as warm ocean waters move landward across the continental shelves, melting the underside of ice shelves and eroding glacial grounding lines. In East Antarctica, net ice mass gain is occurring …

Investigation Of The Use Of Recycled Concrete Aggregates In Porous Asphalt Mixture, Asad Elmagarhe

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to address the national need for using recycled concrete in road pavements. This is especially important in the governmental and corporate sectors, where reducing the cost and carbon footprint of construction projects is a priority. The long-term goal is to meet the public demand for environmentally friendly infrastructure and minimize the harmful effects of waste disposal on humans and the environment.

The project focuses on using recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) in porous asphalt pavement to reduce stormwater runoff, a popular environmentally friendly road design. However, compared to regular dense asphalt mixtures, porous asphalt mixtures (PAM) are more …

Examining Tradeoffs Of Exposure Control And Collateral Information With Multidimensional Forced Choice Computerized Adaptive Testing, Naidan Tu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Multidimensional forced choice (MFC) testing has been proposed as an alternative to single statement (SS) Likert-type measures to reduce response biases in noncognitive measurement. Research progress has been made on MFC computerized adaptive testing (CAT) to improve testing efficiency. CAT enhances efficiency by successively selecting items that are most informative at each respondent’s estimated trait score. In MFC CAT, this causes some forced choice items and the statements composing them to be frequently exposed while others are rarely used, which adversely affects test security and costs. This research develops an exposure control method for MFC CAT based on the Multi-Unidimensional …

Walkabout, Roots In Wisdom, Charles Barr

College of Business and Management Faculty Publications & Presentations

Album theme: The Australia album: Bondi sunrises, Uluru nights, and the Great Ocean Road, with Australian authors (Chloé Hayden, Wendy Syfret) alongside global wisdom — a walkabout of the mind, coast to coast.

# | Track | Inspired by (Book)

• 1 | Red Dust | Man's Search for Meaning
• 2 | Prime Time | Prime Time
• 3 | Bush Fire | The Obstacle Is the Way
• 4 | Long Way Home | The Road Less Traveled
• 5 | Unstopable | Unstoppable: The Incredible Power of Faith in Action
• 6 | Right Here | The Power of Now
• 7 | The …

Mathematical Modeling Of Tumor Response Dynamics To Predict Progression-Free Survival In Patients With Recurrent High-Grade Glioma, Daniel James Glazar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I aim to develop a mathematical model describing tumor volume response dynamics to perform individual dynamic predictions of progression-free survival (PFS) on patients with recurrent high-grade glioma (rHGG).

Patients with rHGG have a dismal prognosis with median overall survival (OS) of <12 months and median PFS of <7 months. However, there is a wide heterogeneity in treatment responses. Therefore, to aid clinicians with making decisions to alter therapeutic protocol, I would like to predict patient-specific PFS.

To perform individual dynamic predictions, I employ the Claret tumor growth inhibition (TGI) model. I further develop this model by coupling it with two different survival models. Inter-patient heterogeneity is also taken into account through mixed effects, including covariate effects. Model PFS predictions were evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis as well as Brier …

Economic Planning And Operation Of Ev Charging Infrastructure Participating In Electric Power Markets, Diwas Paudel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming more common, there are not enough charging infrastructures to keep up with the projected EV charging demands. This necessitates investment from private enterprises in the charging infrastructure, along with additional government investments, to support the expected EV growth. The profit potential of the EV charging business will be crucial in attracting private enterprises to invest in the infrastructure. The profitability of these infrastructures depends on their location and effective operation. The charging infrastructure needs to be strategically placed and sized in the service area of interest. Once built, they need a robust strategy to …

Transforming Organizational Cyber Security With Artificial Intelligence And Data-Driven Optimization, Soumyadeep Hore

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents a comprehensive framework for enhancing organizational cybersecurity through data-driven intelligence. The research integrates multiple methodologies to tackle challenges in network intrusion detection and vulnerability management within cybersecurity operations centers (CSOCs). First, the research investigates vulnerability prioritization and mitigation techniques currently employed by CSOCs. To further streamline the vulnerability prioritization and mitigation process a machine learning (ML)-based Vulnerability Priority Scoring System (VPSS) is introduced, significantly improving the prioritization and mitigation of context-sensitive vulnerabilities. The VPSS outperforms traditional methods, reducing the cumulative vulnerability exposure score by up to 30% by considering both organizational context and vulnerability severity. Next, the …

Optimizing Cybersecurity Operations Using Data-Driven Intelligence, Jalal Ghadermazi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cybersecurity operations centers (CSOCs) play a crucial role in safeguarding organizations from cyber threats. CSOC operations are divided into two main areas: Intrusion detection systems (IDS) and security response team (SRT) operations. Machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) advancements have significantly improved IDSs. IDS can be either flow-based, suitable for offline analysis, or packet-based, which analyze traffic in real-time. However, packet-based IDS often treat packets independently, ignoring the sequential nature of network communication. Additionally, recent ML/DL approaches also struggle with capturing global and structural information and novel attack detection due to their reliance on labeled data. The SRT within …

Stochastic Analytical Predictive Models For Life Sciences And Crop Production Process, Erasmus Tetteh-Bator

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Analytical predictive modeling uses algorithm-based mathematical, probabilistic and statistical methods to anticipate future events by identifying patterns in past data. It is a technique for predicting outcomes and a key application of statistical analysis in real-world scenarios. Real data-driven predictive models in various fields, such as life sciences, economics,or production industry, help individuals and institutions make data-driven informed decisions, which is essential for business success, providing companies with a competitive edge.

One of every five adult deaths is caused by heart disease and one person dies every 33 from cardiovascular disease in the United States according to the Center for …

Assessing Roman Catholics’ Modern Beliefs And Behaviors Surrounding Genetics Counseling Services, Mary S. Shinaberry

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Currently, there is limited knowledge about the contemporary beliefs of Roman Catholics regarding genetic healthcare, and concerns exist that they may be less comfortable accessing genetic counseling services. To better meet the needs of this population, we interviewed 18 adult Roman Catholics living in the United States. A novel method of thematic analysis was utilized, combining traditional qualitative techniques with the assistance of ChatGPT-4, following best practices proposed to improve the trustworthiness of AI-assisted qualitative analysis. The majority of participants were college-educated women aged 25-40, none of whom had seen a genetic counselor. Most participants associated the term “genetic counseling” …

Supplementary Files For "Using Digitized Building And Weather Records To Improve The Accuracy Of Ground To Roof Snow Load Ratio Estimations", Gideon Parry, Brennan Bean

Browse all Datasets

Reliability targeted snow loads (RTLs) measure the weight in accumulated snow (i.e. snow load) that a roof is required to support to ensure the probability of failure is suf- ficiently low. This calculation has historically relied upon a probability distribution that characterizes the ratio between the annual maximum ground snow load to the annual max- imum roof snow load, a quantity referred to as Gr. The best available data for estimating Gr comes from Canadian case studies from the 1950s and 1960s. However, much of the data was never digitized, with only approximations of data being made available in scanned …

An Analysis Of (Hu)Manid Using The Usf Donated Skeletal Collection: Estimating Sex And Ancestry For Edentulous Individuals, Natalie S. Wise

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Human Mandible Identification program, (hu)MANid©, enables anthropologists to estimate the sex and ancestry of unidentified skeletal remains from metric and morphoscopic variables from the mandible. The program is suitable for a variety of anthropological contexts, including forensic casework and bioarchaeological or paleoanthropological analyses. The purpose of this research project is to test the accuracy and applicability of the (hu)MANid program on edentulous mandibles. While the authors of (hu)MANid warn against data collection for edentulous mandibles, there are many circumstances in applied forensic casework where the unidentified person is edentulous. Edentulous individuals experience alveolar resorption, which is the loss of …

Painting A New Perspective On Ordovician Echinoderm Diversity Patterns, Ohav Barak Harris

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Ordovician Period was a time of great biotic and environmental change, encompassing two important biotic events: the Great Ordovician Biodiversification Event (GOBE) and the Late Ordovician Mass Extinction (LOME). The GOBE occurred during the Middle Ordovician and was a period of rapid diversity increase for marine invertebrate groups, as lower-level taxonomic groups like families and genera came into the forefront. The Ordovician ends with the LOME, an extinction event that is thought to have occurred in two phases: an initial glaciation followed by a subsequent warming. Approximately 85% of marine species went extinct during the LOME, making it the …

Music And Linguistic Semantic Anomalies: An Erp Study Of Integration And Expectancy On Predictive Processing Of Harmonic Music During A Self-Paced Reading Task, Jason Schmidt Avendaño

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Music, like language, is widely known to communicate emotional meaning. Yet, much debate is still on whether musical information uses shared neural resources similar to language. Past experiments using only Reaction Time (RT) measures have found that when syntactic complexities in language coincide with harmonic music violations, enhanced processing difficulties suggest shared neurocognitive resources. However, researchers failed to find similar interactions in semantic word conditions. This experiment examined event-related potentials (ERPs) to index word recognition processes related to semantic expectancy generation (N400) and integration (LPC & FP) in musicians and nonmusicians. Unlike RT measures, ERP components allow us to understand …

Communicating Animals: A Doctor Dolittle Story, Andrew Rowan

Tales of WellBeing

Artificial intelligence and machine learning approaches are opening new opportunities to understand what animals say.

A Transtheoretical Model Of Open Science Adoption: A Survey Among Researchers Within Psychology, Julia B. Mcdonald

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Open science refers to practices that aim to improve the accessibility, transparency, inclusivity, and reproducibility of science. These practices can accelerate scientific innovation by increasing the accuracy and efficiency of the scientific process and by enhancing the translation of scientific knowledge beyond academia. However, inspiring researchers to adopt open science practices and make sustainable changes in their workflows remains a challenge. Even within psychology, a field that has been central to discussions of open science reform, there seems to be varying levels of readiness to adopt open science practices. This study aimed to support open science efforts by providing a …

A Cca Analysis Of How Media Cover Military Policies Regarding Trans Service Members And Veterans: Implications For Policy, Healthcare, And Wellbeing, Jonathan T. Baker

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The military is the leading employer of transgender and gender diverse (trans) people in the United States, and trans people are twice as likely to serve in the U.S. Military compared to the national average. This dissertation analyzes newspaper coverage of transgender service members and veterans between the end of President Obama’s administration and the early months of President Biden’s administration. Guided by the Culture-Centered Approach (CCA) this dissertation focused on cross-paradigmatic questions regarding the role of voice (e.g., quoting or paraphrasing various sources) in this coverage. Specifically, I assessed (a) which groups of people are being cited most often, …

Peritraumatic Distress And Dissociation In People With And Without Disabilities Utilizing Emergency Departments, Sydney C. Hart

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

To date the literature on peritraumatic distress and peritraumatic dissociation in individuals receiving emergency medical treatment has not examined people with disabilities or chronic health conditions as a specified population, despite these populations’ disproportional utilization of medical facilities and additional stressors faced in those environments. Thus, this study assessed and compared the prevalence and averages on the Peritraumatic Distress Inventory (PDI) and Peritraumatic Dissociative Experiences Questionnaire (PDEQ) in people with and without disabilities and/or chronic health conditions after Emergency Department (ED) visits. A sample of 138 participants 18 years of age or older, of which 109 reported disabilities and/or chronic …

Unveiling The Effectiveness Of Antimicrobial Bpj Polymer Coatings In Enhancing Microbial Resistance, Sonali Gupta, Yashoda Malgar Puttaiahgowda, Ananda Kulal

Open Access archive

This article introduces a novel method for combating microbial infections in textiles using advanced polymer coatings, particularly emphasizing formulations incorporating piperazine. We outline the synthesis and characterization of a copolymer consisting of piperazine, jeffamine, and bisphenol-a-diglycidyl ether, engineered to demonstrate robust antibacterial properties. Through rigorous testing, encompassing assessments of structural integrity and thermal resilience, we highlight the remarkable efficacy of this polymer in preventing microbial colonization. Notably, our antimicrobial studies reveal the coating's substantial resistance against various microbiological challenges, with significant zones of inhibition (ZOI) observed against Escherichia coli (14.6 mm), Staphylococcus aureus (9 mm), Mycobacterium smegmatis (10 mm) and …

A New Look At Consumer Responses To Certain And Uncertain Rewards, Aihui Ding

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Both certain rewards, which refer to incentives associated with a 100% probability of receipt, and uncertain rewards, which refer to incentives associated with probabilities of receipt that are less than 100%, are widely employed in marketing. Expected utility theory and prospect theory support the superiority of certain rewards over uncertain rewards. This research aims to investigate whether consumer aversion to uncertain rewards depends on the presence of consumer inference about firm immorality, which refers to the consumers’ belief that the firm could be engaging in unethical practices in promotions. Study 1 identifies two psychological mechanisms that explain why uncertain rewards …

A Blockchain-Based Reliable Federated Meta-Learning For Metaverse: A Dual Game Framework, Emna Baccour, Aiman Erbad, Amr Mohamed, Mounir Hamdi, Mohsen Guizani

Machine Learning Faculty Publications

The metaverse, envisioned as the next digital frontier for avatar-based virtual interaction, involves high-performance models. In this dynamic environment, users' tasks frequently shift, requiring fast model personalization despite limited data. This evolution consumes extensive resources and requires vast data volumes. To address this, meta-learning emerges as an invaluable tool for metaverse users, with federated meta-learning (FML), offering even more tailored solutions owing to its adaptive capabilities. However, the metaverse is characterized by users heterogeneity with diverse data structures, varied tasks, and uneven sample sizes, potentially undermining global training outcomes due to statistical difference. Given this, an urgent need arises for …

Design Of Tiny Contrastive Learning Network With Noise Tolerance For Unauthorized Device Identification In Internet Of Uavs, Tiantian Zhang, Dongyang Xu, Osama Alfarraj, Keping Yu, Mohsen Guizani, Joel J.P.C. Rodrigues

Machine Learning Faculty Publications

Artificial intelligence enhanced Internet of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is a promising network to achieve the complicated vehicular tasks and construct intelligent communication networks. One of the critical tasks is to guarantee a secure network access while achieving tradeoff between accuracy and latency through lightweight deployment on resource-limited and hardware-constrained UAVs. To address this issue, a novel noise-tolerant radio frequency fingerprinting (NT-RFF) based on tiny machine learning (TinyML) scheme is proposed, which amalgamates contrastive learning and data augmentation, aiming to improve the generalization ability of unauthorized device identification (UDI). Particularly, we first exploit the augmentation technique to enhance the legitimate …

Flower Study, Haven Hinds

Undergraduate Theses, Capstones, and Recitals

This project is a study into extinct flowers, their histories, environments, biology, colors, and assigned personalities then manifested in 3D models and a digital book. The goal was to select six flowers with interesting histories and or cultural connections. Since the flowers can, for the most part, not be seen or kept they were created in Blender as accurately as possible. To give people a means of connection with the flowers, each was assigned a personality based on different factors. These factors could be the colors they possess, where geographically they thrived, parts of their history, and biological factors. To …

Empirically Defining Healthy And Maladaptive Exercise: A Nomological Network Approach, Cody B. Staples

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Exercise is generally considered to be healthy and adaptive; however, for some individuals, engagement in exercise is maladaptive and can damage both physical and mental health. Currently, research regarding healthy and maladaptive exercise is siloed, and factors that may result in exercise being maladaptive are unclear. This gap in the research is fueled by the incomplete definitions of what constitutes “healthy” as compared to “maladaptive” exercise behavior. To address this gap, the current study aimed to develop empirical definitions of healthy and maladaptive exercise using a nomological network approach. Theoretically and empirically supported facets of exercise (e.g., frequency, motivation) were …

Evaluation Of Reduced Graphene Oxide For Advanced Thermal Management In Microwave Electronics Packaging, Utkarsh Misra

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The continuous push towards making electronic devices smaller and denser, largely driven by the demand for higher power capabilities, has led to a critical need for innovative and comprehensive methods for managing the heat these devices generate. Traditional cooling solutions for electronics often rely on methods such as copper-based layers or channels to distribute and dispel heat. However, these conventional methods and materials are becoming increasingly insufficient, especially for Radio Frequency (RF) and millimeter-wave electronics. These components are becoming ever more compact while requiring more power, thus presenting unique challenges for thermal management in their packaging.

In this thesis we …