Digital Commons Network^™

Role Of Hla-Drb1 Fucosylation In Anti-Melanoma Immunity, Daniel K. Lester

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Melanoma is the one of the most lethal skin malignancies due to its ability to rapidly metastasize and evade the immune system. One factor that influences melanoma’s ability to metastasize and evade the immune system is the tumor microenvironment. The tumor microenvironment is a complex ecosystem that consists of melanoma cells interacting with different proteins and cell types such as cytokines, extra cellular matrix proteins, and various immune cells. While different immune cells can have various implications in the tumor microenvironment, some tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) have the potential to suppress these tumors. Recent therapeutic strategies aim to enhance TILs …

Bioinformatic Analysis Predicts Microglial Dysfunction In Murine Aging, Amadu Idrisa Jalloh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Age-related disease is a growing concern as the global geriatric population increases. Neurodegenerative diseases scale unfavorably in prevalence with aging and inflict disastrous consequences to human health and well-being. These disorders are challenging to investigate because they arise from complex molecular origins. The neuroimmune system is a common factor among these diseases and microglia play an important role in maintaining homeostasis in the central nervous system. Aging progressively impairs microglia by decreasing their ability to adapt and respond to noxious environmental stimuli or injury. Microglial dysfunction aggravates neurodegenerative pathology when microglia are unable to regulate neuroinflammation effectively. We investigated aging …

Diet And Salivary Microbiome On Cardiovascular Risk And Glycemic Control In Participants With And Without Type 1 Diabetes: The Cacti Study, Tiantian Pang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: The prevalence of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) has been increasing drastically in the United States. People with T1DM are at a higher risk of developing diabetes-related complications, including cardiovascular disease (CVD). Diet is one of the most modifiable factors and healthy eating could reduce CVD risk among individuals with T1DM. The current 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans focus on overall healthy eating patterns rather than individual foods and nutrients. A healthy dietary pattern or high-quality diet can be measured by diet quality indexes, and generally contains minimal ultra-processed foods (UPF). Although substantial evidence has linked poor diet quality …

Histone Deacetylase 8 Is A Novel Therapeutic Target For Mantle Cell Lymphoma And Preserves Natural Killer Cell Cytotoxic Function, January M. Watters

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study demonstrates for the first time that HDAC8 function is critical for MCL survival, and abrogating its activity in human primary NK cells does not interfere with NK IgG antibody directed ADCC therapies ex vivo. Human NK cells, isolated from healthy donors, are highly resistant to HDAC8 inhibitor treatment with PCI-34051. Even at the highest concentration, 20uM, no toxicity was observed. Conversely, MCL cell lines representative of the aggressive MCL subtype, classical MCL, were especially sensitive to PCI-34051, an HDAC8 selective inhibitor, treatment. Blocking HDAC8 activity and/or abrogating expression through shRNA silencing induced significant DNA damage, hyperacetylation of SMC3, …

Understanding And Measuring Family–Teacher Partnerships, Emily L. Baton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

It has long been acknowledged that there is an important bond between families and schools that enriches the child’s behavior and academic life. The benefits of parent–school partnerships in a child’s education extend beyond the child, benefitting the families and educational staff as well. Terminology, definitions, and practices within the continuum of parent–school partnerships (Goodall & Montgomery, 2014) currently vary. The three most common term of the continuum are (a) family involvement, (b) family engagement, and (c) parent–school partnerships.Firstly, this dissertation sought to build upon the knowledge around the terminology and definition used to explain families and the education system …

How Feeling Like A Minority Affects Preferences For Autonomous Digital Interfaces, Ye Seul Kim

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines the novel aspect of minority perception and how feeling-like-a-minority influences the consumption of digital interfaces in a service context. The focus on the perception of minority consumers is important given greater emphasis on minority-related issues catalyzed by recent social events. Examining the effects on the choice likelihood for digital interfaces such as service robots is also relevant given the increasing widespread use of such technology. The findings across eight studies including six online studies and two field experiments demonstrate that individuals who perceive themselves as a minority in a service setting show defensive behavior by choosing a …

Natural Disasters And Human Capital: Empirical Evidence From Indonesia, Lei Lv

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In developing countries, natural disasters could destroy physical capital and adversely affect human capital accumulation by disrupting individual decisions. Such decisions play a critical role in determining individuals' human capital accumulation process and have a lifelong effect on their happiness and economic prosperity. To better understand how natural disasters affect human capital in developing countries, this dissertation uses the earthquakes in Indonesia as a natural experiment to study how this earthquake affects health, child marriage, and education. For the first chapter, I study how the 2006 Yogyakarta Earthquake a affects water-related acute disease symptomsin the short and long run. By …

Coastal Cities In The Southern Us Floodplains: An Evaluation Of Environmental Equity Of Flood Hazards And Social Vulnerabilities, Lubana Tasnim Mazumder

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Floods are recognized as one of the most common and widespread natural hazards in the United States (US). They are responsible for uncompensated losses and damages. Furthermore, evidence suggests flooding inflicts more harm among socially vulnerable groups, incapable of withstanding hazard events, raising environmental equity (EE) and justice (EJ) concerns. Regrettably, with continuing climate change and urbanization, flooding will not subside in the future; instead, the flooding frequency and intensity will increase in many parts of the US, and the trend of disproportionate impacts will continue to rise.

Since Hurricane Katrina, a considerable amount of research has been conducted on …

The Weekly Challenger, March 23, 2023, The Weekly Challenger, Et Al

Weekly Challenger Newspaper Collection

The March 23, 2023, issue of The Weekly Challenger.

Ay 2022/2023 Fs Agenda, 2023-03-22, Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Archives

No abstract provided.

Ay 2022/2023 Fs Meeting Minutes, 2023-03-22, Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Archives

No abstract provided.

Magneto-Lc Resonance Technology For Real-Time Respiratory Motion Monitoring, Manh-Huong Phan, Ongard Thiabgoh, Tatiana Marie Eggers

USF Patents

A non-contact respiratory monitoring system, method, and sensor are disclosed. The system includes a magnet and a sensor including a coil made of magnetic microwire. The magnetic microwire sensor coil is configured to detect motion of the magnet relative to the magnetic sensor coil. An alternating voltage across the magnetic microwire sensor coil is modified by a change in impedance of the magnetic microwire sensor coil caused by the change in the distance of the magnet from the magnetic microwire sensor coil. The non-contact respiratory monitoring method includes changing a distance of a magnet from a magnetic sensor coil. The …

Early Agricultural Lives: Bioarchaeological Inferences From Neolithic And Early Copper Age Tombs In The Central Po Valley, Italy, Christopher J. Eck Jr.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The current project seeks to illuminate the diets of the earliest farming societies in central Northern Italy. Neolithic peoples who first began settling in the Central Po Valley sometime at the end of the seventh and beginning of the sixth millennium BCE forever changed the landscape from one of expanding sub-continental forests to one of intensive agricultural production and anthropogenic influence. A total of 109 individual burials from 24 separate infrastructure project excavations of 17 sites surrounding the modern city of Mantua, Italy were analyzed utilizing a biochemical approach and a bioarchaeological explanatory theoretical framework based within embodiment and life …

Fuzzy Kc Clustering Imputation For Missing Not At Random Data, Markku A. Malmi Jr.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research has a variety of difficulties, especially when involving human subjects, and one of the most prevalent is the issue of missing data. Missing data will always be present in research due to the fact there is no perfect method for collecting data and protecting against human error or mechanical failure. This requires researchers to be able to mitigate the problems that come along with missing data; reduction in power of an analysis and bias introduced by the missing pattern. This research investigated a non-parametric method using a nested approach of fuzzy K-Modes and fuzzy C-Means clustering to impute missing …

Development And Implementation Of Telemetry Devices To Identify And Characterize Sources Of Intraocular Pressure Variability In Rats, Christina M. Nicou

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Eye health depends partially on intraocular pressure (IOP) as abnormal levels can lead to ocular tissue damage. Glaucoma is a neurodegenerative disease that affects nearly 80 million people worldwide [1]. It is associated with elevated IOP, which can lead to irreversible blindness. Relatively little is known about IOP dynamics and the physiological factors that affect it as IOP is typically monitored using tonometry. Tonometry is a common tool used by clinicians and researchers to measure IOP noninvasively. It provides a good estimate of IOP mean but not variance because data collection takes time. Readings can also be influenced by subject …

Teaching And Learning Together: Situating Information Literacy In The Library Social Services Landscape Of Practice Through Online Scenario-Game-Based Training, Denise R. Shereff

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A scoping literature review and a qualitative case study were conducted in this dissertation research to explore formal information literacy instruction and professional development for librarians and social workers in the context of library social services. This research provides avenues for increasing understanding about how each is prepared to provide mental health and social service information and resources in public libraries.The scoping literature review was conducted on 19 studies published since 2002 focusing on librarians’ roles in information literacy instruction in social worker education. Articles were reviewed according to published Scoping Review guidelines. Trends were described regarding instructional and technological …

Crow's Nest, March 20, 2023, Crow's Nest Staff

Crow's Nest

The March 20, 2023, issue of the Crow's Nest.

Head Movement Behaviors In Various Communication Environments, Angkana Lertpoompunya

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In a complex environment with only a single-source speech target, modern hearing aids can improve signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) by using directional microphones, and consequently, improve speech intelligibility. However, in many realistic listening situations where there are multiple sound sources, especially in a turn-taking conversation, improving the SNRs in one location may come at a cost of another equally important location. Critically, the hearing aid user is also unlikely to retain a static head orientation to which the hearing aids reference in these complex environments. For this reason, modern premium hearing aids are now equipped with motion sensors (e.g., accelerometers) to …

Employing Individuals With A Criminal Record: How Prior Experience And Belief In Redeemability Impact Hiring Decisions, Kiera O'Connor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study sought to better understand the mechanisms that play a part in employers’ hiring decisions when considering an applicant who has a criminal record. Specifically, two key variables were analyzed as a predictor of an employers’ willingness to hire (WTH): the presence and quality of an employer’s prior experience (PE) having hired an individual with a criminal record, and the extent to which they hold a belief in the redeemability (BiR) of those with a criminal record. Further, the current study aimed to contribute to the body of literature pertaining to WTH, PE and BiR by introducing BiR as …

Apkcs Role In Neuroblastoma Cell Signaling Cascades And Implications Of Apkcs Inhibitors As Potential Therapeutics, Sloan Breedy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Neuroblastoma (NB) is a cancer that develops in the neuroblasts. It is the most common cancer in children under the age of 1 year, accounting for approximately 6% of all cancers. The prognosis of NB is linked to both age and degree of cell differentiation. This results in a range of survival rates for patients, with outcomes ranging from recurrence and mortality to high survival rates and tumor regression. Our previous work indicated that PKC-ι promotes cell proliferation in NB cells through the PKC-ι/Cdk7/Cdk2 cascade. We report on two atypical protein kinase inhibitors as potential therapeutic candidates against BE(2)-C and …

Planning To Behave Impulsively To Feel Better: An Ema Study Of College Students' Nonsuicidal Self-Injury, Binge Eating, And Exercise Behaviors, Rose H. Miller

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Extensive research has demonstrated associations between impulsivity and maladaptive behaviors such as nonsuicidal self-injury and binge eating. Little attention has been paid to the planning that may occur prior to engagement in these behaviors, or to the role the planning might play in allowing individuals to regulate their emotions when they are not immediately able to engage in their chosen behaviors. Including another behavior that is typically considered to be non-impulsive (i.e., physical exercise) as a comparison, we sought to test the hypothesis that planning may serve an affect regulatory role for individuals who engage in so-called “impulsive” behaviors. We …

Eeg Classifier Validation Methods For Neuroprosthetic Hand Development, Keigo Yamauchi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

To date, many challenges have been reported in the development of neuroprosthetic hands using EEG and neural signals. In this study, we report the results of a literature review on Brain Computer Interface (BCI) technology, an investigation of estimation methods using applications in MATLAB, and the results of Electroencephalography (EEG) classification to assist in the development of neural prosthetic hands using biological signals such as EEG. Confusion Matrix was created using Motor Imagery (MI) data as the predictive value, and the average accuracy of more than 90% was obtained for the K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN) and decision tree method. The results …

Young Adult Cancer Patients And Survivors’ Adherence To Healthy Eating And Physical Activity Guidelines, Sandra Soca Lozano

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many Adolescents and Young Adult (AYA) cancer patients/survivors do not engage in healthy eating and physical activity recommendations. The present study assessed the role of race/ethnicity, health literacy, and home environmental influences and its association with adherence to healthy eating and physical activity. AYA patients/survivors from Moffitt Cancer Center (n = 273) completed an anonymous online survey. Self-reported measures about eating habits, physical activity, health literacy, and social support were used. Black/African Americans reported worse eating habits than White and Hispanic participants. Obese participants showed a similar trend compared to all other Body Mass Index groups. Adherence to physical activity …

Needs Assessment For A Web-Based Support Resource For Patients With A Pathogenic Variant In Lmna, Dylan M. Allen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Pathogenic variants (PV) in the gene LMNA cause autosomal dominant inherited “laminopathies” that can affect multiple different organs, most specifically the heart. Current resources for LMNA patients are sparse and disjointed, leaving a need for a comprehensive resource catering to the wants and needs of the patients. A needs assessment of LMNA support resources was completed through reviewing published literature and existing support resources and conducting 11 semi-structured interviews with individuals who have a PV in LMNA. The Social Support Theoretical Model and thematic analysis of interview transcripts were used to identify discrepancies between the support that affected individuals receive …

A Critical Analysis Of The Graduate Socialization Of Racially Minoritized School Psychology Students, Tatiana J. Broughton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

By centering the voices of racially/ethnically minoritized school psychology graduate students I sought to understand how racially minoritized individuals experience their socialization process into the field, to critique and expose oppressive structures in place in their graduate programs, and to utilize garnered information to provide implications to address and dismantle oppressive structure within school psychology programs. Additionally, I sought to provide insight for school psychology training programs by identifying antiracist practices that minoritized graduate students view as supports in their training programs. Participants were eight racial/ethnic minoritized graduate students who participated in one to two virtual interviews discussing their experiences …

Using The Genetic Counseling Skills Checklist To Characterize Prenatal Genetic Counseling, David A. Cline

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Genetic Counseling relies on communication skills to help patients understand and adapt to a genetic disease or risk. However, little is known about which skills are most commonly used or the extent to which genetic counseling sessions vary. A novel process measure titled the "Genetic Counseling Skills Checklist" (GCSC) was developed in a prior pilot study and includes 8 broad categories each consisting of 5-8 skills. This study is the first to apply the final GCSC to characterize 20 mock prenatal sessions conducted by 5 genetic counselors (GCs) for 2 prenatal indications using 3 trained actors as patients. Two experienced …

Spatial Pattern And Environmental And Social Factors Of Monkeypox In The Contiguous United States, Linbo Han

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Monkeypox is a rare viral disease that is usually transmitted to humans through contact with infected animals, such as rodents or primates. Although its symptoms are similar to those of smallpox, monkeypox is generally less severe and rarely fatal. In recent years, however, there has been an uptick in the number of reported cases, with a large outbreak occurring in several parts of the world in May 2022. This has raised concerns among public health officials and researchers, who are working to better understand the factors that contribute to the spread of the disease. One promising approach to studying the …

Healthcare Decision Makers' Perspectives On Barriers And Facilitators To Hiring Genetic Counselors In Huntington Disease (Hd) Clinic Settings, Bailey Hummel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Huntington disease (HD) is a hereditary, neurodegenerative autosomal dominant disorder for which there are currently no effective options to prevent the onset of symptoms. Although meeting with a genetic counselor (GC) is recommended as part of national guidelines for predictive HD genetic testing and a GC is required for Centers of Excellence, not all HD centers have hired a GC. To explore drivers for, valued outcomes of, and barriers to the creation of GC positions in clinics that treat patients with HD, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 individuals involved with HD clinics and/or hiring decisions at 8 clinics across …

Piloting A Spanish-Language Web-Based Tool For Hereditary Cancer Genetic Testing, Gretter Manso

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cancer genetic services (including genetic counseling and testing) help identify patients and families at increased risk of developing cancer so that steps can be taken to reduce risks or find cancers early. Receipt of genetic services in the Hispanic/Latinx population is low due, in part, to a shortage of Spanish-speaking genetic counselors. To address this concern, a 12-minute online tool designed to inform individuals about cancer genetic services was translated into Spanish. The objectives of this pilot study were to determine if the educational tool improves knowledge and informed decision making and to assess usability and appropriateness of the tool …

Advocating For Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion: A Study Of The Nhl’S #Hockeyisforeveryone Campaign On Twitter, Jessica Martinez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With more than 6.8 million followers on Twitter (as of Feb. 2023), the National Hockey League (NHL) has a large platform that has the potential to influence societal change not only in the United States and Canada, but also globally. This study aims to understand how corporate social responsibility initiatives pair with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. Furthermore, this research seeks to understand how organizations communicate these messages with their publics through social media. This study specifically examines news frames and charity support behaviors implemented by the NHL in messages about its DEI campaign, “Hockey Is For Everyone,” and …