Digital Commons Network^™

Use Of Silica Dust And Lunar Simulants For Assessing Lunar Regolith Exposure, Layzamarie Irizarry-Colon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The utilization of the lunar regolith holds immense potential for future space exploration, but the potential health risks associated with lunar regolith are a significant concern. This literature review seeks to critically assess the use of silica and lunar simulants standards and permissible exposure limits (PELs) to evaluate the adverse health effects of lunar regolith. The literature review covers an extensive analysis of existing research, health risks, toxicological properties, and physical and chemical composition associated with silica, lunar simulants, and lunar regolith by using three main sources: regulations, scholarly articles, and Kennedy Space Center (KSC) discussion. This comprehensive analysis forms …

The Aging Workforce: How It Relates To Incident Rates Within A Distribution Warehouse And A Chemical Manufacturing Building, Elisabeth V. Jones

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over the past 20 years or so, the average age of the global population has slowly increased. This is due to low birth rates as well as increased life expectancy. With this global population aging, there has also been a shift in the global labor market causing a trend termed the “aging workforce.” However, with the aging workforce comes a new set of issues for the health and safety professional because they create new hazards. This is due mostly because of the body undergoing physical, psychological, and cognitive decline as someone ages which causes decreased capabilities. Thus, the purpose of …

Developing A Point-Of-Care Detection Kit For Parkinson’S Disease Using Gold Nanoparticle-Based Lateral Flow Assay, Ali Aljassabi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease after Alzheimer’s disease and the fastest-growing neurodegenerative disorder in the world. The major issue with PD is that it takes several years of biological changes until the patient starts to experience physiological symptoms that could affect their daily lives. The major hallmark of PD is the appearance of Lewy body inclusions in the neuron’s cytoplasm, which is rich in a protein called α-Synuclein (α-Syn). Several studies have shown that the levels of α-Syn in blood increase because the excess α-Syn is released from neurons into the bloodstream through extracellular vesicles. …

Damned & Damned: Examining Vexatious Litigation And The Vexatious Litigant Statute In Florida Courts, Sarah L. Harper

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines self-represented litigants subjected to limitations under the Vexatious Litigant statute (F.S. 68.093) and related case law. It draws data from official records, surveys, interviews with judges, and a thematic analysis of court orders. The present research consists of two studies: Study I focuses on the application of Florida's Vexatious Litigant statute and similar sanctions, and Study II explores judges' decision-making in cases involving challenging self-represented litigants. Restrictions on litigants' court access raise concerns about due process rights, and an assessment of the use of these sanctions and litigants' practices is vital for understanding their application. The findings …

Entanglements Of Teenage Food Security Within High School Pantries In Pinellas County, Florida, Karen T. Díaz Serrano

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Food insecurity has the ability to shape an individual’s or a family’s everyday life and take emotional, psychological, and physical tolls. Among adolescents, not having access to nutritious food could lead to physical effects during growth and development. Moreover, the stress and anxiety of not knowing where their next meal is coming from and the social stigma associated with being food insecure can have negative effects on mental health. A recent solution to these issues is locating food pantries in high schools. Purpose: This exploratory study examined how high school students in Pinellas County, Florida perceive the use of a …

Gender Differences In Episodic Memory In Later Life: The Mediating Role Of Education, Sara Robinson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the United States (U.S.), 14 million individuals aged 65+ are expected to be diagnosed with dementia by 2060, and women are nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed. Low education is a well-established risk factor for dementia and is hypothesized to partly explain the gender differences in late-life cognition. However, few studies have investigated education as a mediator of these gender differences. This study aims to investigate education as a mediator of gender differences in episodic memory using longitudinal data from the U.S. Health and Retirement Study (HRS). I used a sample of 35,721 respondents (20,190 women and 15,531 …

Clinically Applied Anthropology: A Syndemic Intervention., Jason W. Wilson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation demonstrates that a critical, clinically applied anthropology is possible by testing a hypothesis that a syndemic intervention, and use of a structural vulnerability assessment tool, can achieve improved healthcare outcomes. A critical, clinically applied anthropology integrates social scientists into healthcare delivery, alongside biomedical providers, through the co-creation of new diagnostic and patient care pathways that utilize anthropological methods (ethnographically informed care, syndemics, thematic/mixed methods data analysis) and advance anthropological theory (biomedicine and culture, structural violence, structural competency/vulnerability, ontology, assemblage theory, and entanglements) to decrease healthcare inequities.

Medical anthropology has previously engaged biomedicine and other attempts at a clinical …

Ay 2023/2024 Fs Meeting Minutes, 2023-10-18, Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Archives

No abstract provided.

Ay 2023/2024 Fs Agenda, 2023-10-18, Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Archives

No abstract provided.

Lung Microbiome Isolation And Cultivation, Andreas Seyfang, Nirmal S. Sharma

USF Patents

Disclosed herein is a method to isolate and cultivate the lung microbiome obtained from bronchoalveolar lavage. The disclosed method involves lung microbiome culturomics based on three different media for both aerobic and fastidious anaerobic bacteria. The disclosed method allows for amplification of the lung microbiome, which can be used, for example, for subsequent testing of antibiotic sensitivity, drug resistance, or for lung microbiome transplantation.

Synthetic Plasmodium Antigens, Compositions, And Uses Thereof, John H. Adams, Christopher L. King, Niraj H. Tolia, Edwin Chen, Nichole Diane Salinas, Miriam Thankam George, Francis B. Ntumngia, Samantha Jones Barnes

USF Patents

Provided herein are synthetic P. vivax antigens, antibodies and pharmaceutical formulations and vaccines thereof. Also provided herein are methods of treating and/or preventing Plasmodium infection and/or disease by administering the synthetic P. vivax antigens, antibodies and pharmaceutical formulations and vaccines thereof.

Thermodynamic Frustration Of Tad2 And Prr Contribute To Autoinhibition Of P53, Emily Gregory

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The intrinsically disordered transcription factor and tumor suppressor p53 binds to promoter response element DNA upon cellular stress and activates genes associated with cell cycle arrest, senescence, and apoptosis. Disruption of sequence specific binding to target gene promoters is heavily implicated in human health, where a majority of cancers contain mutations localized to the DNA binding domain (DBD) of p53. p53 DNA binding is regulated by posttranslational modifications, associations with cellular factors, and by an autoinhibitory intramolecular interaction. The autoinhibitory intramolecular interaction occurs when the disordered N-terminal transactivation domain (TAD) interacts with the ordered DBD. Previous work in the Daughdrill …

The Effect Of Psychopathy Trait Descriptions On Mock Juror Decision-Making, Bailey A. Hall

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Layperson misconceptions and stigma surrounding mental illness can have devastating consequences in criminal trials, especially capital (death penalty) cases. Psychopathy is a particularly stigmatizing disorder often used as an aggravating factor in capital cases. The present experimental study examined how case vignettes that included descriptions of psychopathic traits (i.e., criterion effects) differentially influenced juror decision-making. Specifically, undergraduate participants read case facts about a convicted defendant and were randomly assigned to read one of five expert witness testimony conditions describing the defendant using: interpersonal-affective psychopathy traits (e.g., superficially charming, manipulative), antisocial-lifestyle traits (e.g., reckless, aggressive), combined interpersonal-affective and antisocial-lifestyle traits, or …

The Social Anxiety Stigma Scale (Sass): Development, Factor Structure, And Validation, Ruba Rum

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The primary reason people with social anxiety disorder (SAD) do not seek treatment is due to stigma concerns. Yet, our understanding of SAD stigma hinges heavily on measures that assess general mental illness stigma, which may not capture the distinct aspects of SAD. The goal of this research program was to develop and validate a measure of social anxiety stigma that assesses personal stigma towards people with SAD: the Social Anxiety Stigma Scale (SASS). The SASS was evaluated across three studies. In Study 1 (N = 221), an initial item analysis was conducted on 33 items to remove weak items …

Cervical Cancer Screening Modalities: A Study Of Decision-Making Processes, Heather N. Owens

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation includes three studies, and the purpose was to explore cervical cancer screening adherence and factors related to screening behaviors among women.

The purpose of the first study was to examine cervical cancer screening recommendation adherence trends in a nationally representative sample using Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 1995-2018 data. Adherence rates declined for every definition of adherence evaluated over time. Social determinants of health predictors and their impacts varied based on the years of data included in and the data source.

The second study examined the hypothesized factor structure underlying multiple scales (i.e., Health Belief Model constructs and …

Distinct Nrf2 Signaling Thresholds Mediate Lung Tumor Initiation And Progression, Janine M. Deblasi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

NRF2 is a redox-responsive transcription factor the directs the antioxidant program and several critical metabolic processes. Mutations in NRF2 or its negative regulator KEAP1 occur in up to one third of non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs) and are often associated with resistance to therapy and poor outcomes. In the present studies, murine alleles of the Keap1 and Nrf2 mutations found in human NSCLC were developed and I comprehensively investigated their impact on tumor initiation and progression. I observed that chronic Nrf2 stabilization by Keap1 loss-of-function or Nrf2 activating mutation was not sufficient to cause lung tumor initiation, even when p53 …

Antithrombotic Nanoparticles And Methods For Treating Necrotizing Enterocolitis, Akhil Maheshwari, Samuel Wickline, Kopperuncholan Namachivayam, Hua Pan

USF Patents

The present disclosure is directed to antithrombotic nanoparticles and methods of treating necrotizing enterocolitis.

#1 On The U.S. Most Wanted List: Why The Push Is On To Ban The World’S Most Successful Startup From Academic, Government And Military Devices In The United States, Tom Waters

GNSI Publications

TikTok is a social media application that has amassed over 100 million users in the United States. Yet the Biden White House, like the Trump Administration before it, seeks to ban TikTok, or at least force it’s divestment from the parent company, Bytedance. For many the question is how can an app for sharing silly dance videos among teenagers be a national security threat? Unfortunately, the problem is considerably more complex than this simple question. TikTok’s unprecedented success comes from its powerful artificial intelligence-based algorithm.

That activity produces a comprehensive psychological profile of each user and tailors the queue of …

Gnsi Decision Brief: Who Will Rebuild Ukraine's Public Health And Disease Research Laboratories?, Kelli L. Barr, Eric Bortz, Anton Gerilovych, Oleksii Solodiankin

GNSI Decision Briefs

Amid the devastating war in Ukraine, a parallel battle rages on – that against infectious diseases. The COVID-19 pandemic starkly underlined the vital importance of global health surveillance for emerging and re-emerging human and animal pathogens. This challenge has become even more acute in war-torn regions like Ukraine, where healthcare infrastructure is under siege. For viruses with pandemic potential, such as the influenza virus, worldwide surveillance initiatives are essential in tracking the virus’s movement and spread among both animals and humans. Such monitoring serves dual purposes. Firstly, it guides the formulation of the yearly vaccine, ensuring it remains effective against …

Ay 2023/2024 Sec Meeting Minutes, 2023-10-04, Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Archives

No abstract provided.

Ay 2023/2024 Sec Agenda, 2023-10-04, Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Archives

No abstract provided.

Multifunctional Porous Materials For Water Purification And Remediation, Shengqian Ma, Qi Sun, Briana Aguila

USF Patents

A variety of compositions and materials are provided for water purification and remediation. The compositions including multiple functionalities for treating a variety of pollutants or contaminants. The compositions can include a porous organic polymer with one or more of a variety of functional groups for binding the contaminants and with a hierarchical pore size distribution over a range of pore sizes to facilitate enhanced removal of the contaminants. Functional groups can include one, two, or more different functional groups such as amines, halides, ammoniums, pyridiuiums, thiols, imidazoliums, salts thereof, or others. The range of pore sizes can be about 1 …

Understanding Curb Management And Targeted Incentive Policies To Increase Pooling Part B: Examining On-Demand Transportation Services With A Focus On Shared Rides, Ipek Nese Sener, Austin Sibu, Todd Hansen

Research Reports

This study aimed to contribute to the growing body of literature on on-demand transportation services, with a particular emphasis on sharing or pooling a ride when using these services, such as transportation network companies (TNCs) and microtransit. In 2022, an online survey (shared mobility survey) was administered in both English and Spanish to persons 18 years old or older and in selected cities across Texas—ranging from large urban areas to small cities and rural areas. The survey was designed to collect a rich set of data from more than 2,500 participants and offered a reasonably representative sample of adults in …

Nature-Based Solutions Workshop Report: Placencia, Belize (Report No. 3), Maya Trotz, Alex Webb, Amanda Brinton, Rebecca Zarger, Lisa Carne, Nadia Bood, Kris-An Hinds, Rory Mckenna, Sandy Fogg, Juliet Neal, Anne Guerry, C. G. Lasserre, David Gutierrez, Jess Silver, Tiara Moore, Mike Beck

Strong Coasts Collection

No abstract provided.

Come Hell Or High Fever: Readying The World’S Megacities For Disaster. By Russell, W. Glenn. Canberra, Australia: Australian University Press, 2023., Magdalena, A. Denham, Ph.D.

Journal of Strategic Security

No abstract provided.

Megacities And Urban Warfare In The 21st Century: The City As The Cemetery Of Revolutionaries And Resources, José De Arimatéia Da Cruz Ph.D./Mph

Journal of Strategic Security

No abstract provided.

Urban Disaster Wrought By Man: The Battle For Manila, 1945, Russell W. Glenn

Journal of Strategic Security

Urban warfare tends to be intimate. If soldiers do not see the faces of those they kill—and they frequently will—those men and women will hear the screams or muffled groans of the wounded. US forces waging the battle to recapture Manila in 1945 experienced these horrors. Yet it was the noncombatants who suffered far more; 100,000—approximately one of every ten Manileños at the time—died during the fighting. Thousands more suffered wounds, disease, or struggled with hunger and malnutrition. Recent fighting in Syria, Ukraine, Khartoum, and elsewhere tells us too little has changed three-quarters of a century later.

Though urban warfare …

Proceedings Of The Conference On Managing Tourism Across Continents: Volume 3, Fevzi Okumus, Muharrem Tuna, Basak Denizci Guillet

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

This is the third volume of the Conference on Managing Tourism Across Continents Proceedings Series.

ISSN: 2834-4731

Forum, Volume 47, No. 3, Fall 2023, Florida Humanities, Pam Daniel

FORUM: The Magazine of Florida Humanities

Contents: Letter from the Executive Director -- From the Secretary of State -- From the Editor -- Humanities Live -- Oral History -- Treasure -- To Preserve and Protect -- Audubon, Revisited -- Gatorland -- Let's Go Wild! -- A Salty Story -- Taste of Florida -- First Person -- The Quiz

Civil Affairs In Antwerp 1944-1945: Critical Infrastructure And Civil Defense, Louise Tumchewics

Journal of Strategic Security

In the autumn of 1944, as the Allies moved through France and towards Germany, the city of Antwerp became a key logistics hub owing to its large, and for the time, modern port facilities. Owing to its strategic significance, it became a prime target for German V-1 and V-2 rocket strikes. In order to keep the population in the bombarded city, 1st Canadian Army Civil Affairs took on the challenge of Civil Defense to keep the population safe and the port operational.