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Acclimatization Protocols And Their Outcomes, Ayub M. Odera

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Heat acclimatization provides the opportunity to better tolerate heat stress. Different methods are used to acclimatize participants as part of heat stress studies in the laboratory. The usual acclimatization protocols are greater than the occupational exposure limit represented by the ACGIH TLV® and NIOSH REL. The purpose of this paper was to examine the acclimatization state prior to and at the end of a one-week acclimatization program using two acclimatization protocols.

Prior heat stress studies at the University of South Florida (USF) used two heat stress conditions for participants’ acclimatization. Participants (n = 43) were evaluated using four different studies …

This Is It: Latina/X Representation On One Day At A Time, Camille Ruiz Mangual

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the tensions between contemporary Latina/x representations and problematic tropes in the sitcom, One Day at a Time (2017-2020) [ODAAT]. ODAAT centers of Elena, Penelope, and Lydia, three generations of a Latina/x family. Many entertainment reviewers and fans praised the series for its progressive and nuanced portrayals of Latina/x characters. However, I argue that while ODAAT depicts Latina/x characters that transcend some United States mainstream media tropes about Latinas/xs, the series also relies on conventional markers of Latina/x identity as tools with which to communicate progressive messages around identity. I expand upon scholarship in Latina/o media …

Assessing Prompting And Prompt-Fading Strategies In Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Ashley L. Frankenfield

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by restricted interests, repetitive behaviors, and deficits in social and communication skills. In order to help a person with ASD improve their communication skills, behavior analysts should place emphasis on teaching intraverbal skills. Each person has a unique learner history, meaning that different prompts and prompt-fading techniques will result in the most accurate and efficient mastery of intraverbal skills for different people. Assessments were used to identify each participant’s most efficient combination of prompt and prompt-fading procedures in order to maximize one’s potential for learning new skills. Participants’ most efficient prompt/prompt-fading combinations resulted in …

Inhibition Of Formation Of Amyloid B-Protein Fibrils Using Cactus Mucilage Extracts, Norma A. Alcantar, David Morgan, Zeinab Veisi, Leonid Breydo, Vladimir N. Uversky, Ryan G. Toomey, Tunan Peng, Eva Stephanie Lobbens

USF Patents

A method of slowing progression of an amyloid disease by administration of cactus mucilage extract from Opuntia ficus-indicia is presented. Both gelling and non-gelling cactus mucilage extracts were found to induce changes in the secondary structures of the amyloid beta peptides thus interfering with formation of Aβ fibrils and aggregation of Aβ fibrils into plaques.

Glutathione-S-Transferase Mu 1 (Gstm1) Gene Augmentation Attenuated Oxidative Stress Induced Changes In Retinal Pigment Epithelium Cells (Rpe), Riddhi Sandeep Vichare

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: Loss of Retinal Pigment Epithelial (RPE) cells and photoreceptors leads to Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), one of the leading causes of blindness in the elderly worldwide. Oxidative stress-mediated damage is one of the factors that impair the survival of RPE and photoreceptors in dry-AMD. We sought to determine the role of human Glutathione S-Transferase Mu-1 (GSTM1) in protecting RPE cells from oxidative stress-induced changes.

Method: We cloned human GSTM1 cDNA with P2A tag into a lenti-plasmid vector and later made a lentivector to express GSTM1. After that, we infected human retinal pigment epithelial cells (ARPE-19), screened stable ARPE-19 cells …

A Systems Approach For Improving The Performance Of Rural Community-Managed Water Systems Using Siasar: Case Studies In Bolivia And Colombia, Rachel A. Cannon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Globally, the focus of environmental engineers and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) professionals in the rural water sector has shifted from building new technology to ensuring long-term functionality of water systems and closing the access gap between urban and rural residents. In Latin America and the Caribbean, the main challenges to ensuring clean water for all rural residents is poor service delivery quality and limited sustainability over time. A common management strategy in the region, and globally, is community-management, where community members manage, operate, and maintain the water system through cost sharing and financial management. The failure of community-managed water …

Identification Of Entrepreneurial Competencies In I-Corps Site Teams At The University Of South Florida, Mark A. Giddarie

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Innovators to Entrepreneurs Act was introduced by Congressman Daniel Lipinski of Illinois and several other congressional colleagues in January of 2019. This bill enables broader participation in the successful National Science Foundation Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program and provides additional training for innovators to learn how to turn their research into new products and businesses. I-Corps connects scientists and engineers within the technological, entrepreneurial, and business communities to move discoveries from the laboratory to the market.

The most successful federal program of its kind, I-Corps has trained over 1,300 teams, led to the formation of 644 startup companies and resulted …

Cultivating Courage: Medical Dramas And Portrayals Of Patient Self-Advocacy, Alyssa H. Harrell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the influence of medical dramas on perceptions of patient self- advocacy. With a purposeful sample of college students, the study explored perceptions of information seeking preferences of a medical drama patient. With a quasi-experimental design using an online questionnaire containing both qualitative and quantitative measures, the study was able to compare four unique variables to perceptions of the information seeking preferences of a medical drama patient. The study analyzed the influence that (1) medical drama exposure, (2) patient advocacy rating, (3) perceived realism of medical dramas, and (4) previous experience healthcare each had on college students’ perceptions …

The Distribution In Native Populations From Mexico And Central America Of The C677t Variant In The Mthfr Gene, Lucio A. Reyes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Objectives: To explore evolutionary hypotheses for the high frequencies of a substitution in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene, in Mexican and Central American Indigenous populations.

Materials and methods: We obtained allele frequencies for the C677T variant in the MTHFR gene and ecological information for 37 indigenous samples from Mexico and Central America. We calculated Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium and computed Fst statistics. We computed correlations between the samples' allele frequencies and ecological and geochemical variables.

Results: Many of the samples have extremely high frequencies of the T allele (q̄ = 0.62, median = 0.66). In this region, the frequency of the T …

Heterogeneous Performance Modeling With Applications In Healthcare And Reliability Engineering, Xuxue Sun

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In both health systems engineering and reliability engineering, individual units, such as patients and product units, often exhibit highly heterogeneous performance due to the influences of various observed individual characteristics and unobserved/unknown factors. Successful modeling of the heterogeneous performance of individual units is of great importance. It will not only facilitate the identification and quantification of influencing factors for improving performance of individual units, but also improve prediction accuracy of their future performance. This will further facilitate better decisions, such as cost-effective and adaptive healthcare resource planning decision, and proactive maintenance policy at reduced cost. However, due to the highly …

Exploring The Use Of Neural Transformers For Psycholinguistics, Antonio Laverghetta Jr.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Deep learning has the potential to help solve numerous problems in cognitive science andeducation, by providing us a way to model the cognitive profiles of individual people. If this were possible, it would allow us to design targeted tests and suggest specific remediation based on each individual’s needs. On the flip side, employing techniques from psychology can give us insight into the underlying skillsets neural networks have acquired during training, addressing the interpretability concern. This thesis explores these ideas in the context of transformer language models, which have achieved state-of-the-art results on virtually every natural language processing (NLP) task. First, …

Case Studies In Applied Behavior Analysis: Brain Breaks For Elementary Students And Using The Prevent-Teach-Reinforce (Ptr) Model To Increase On-Task Behavior In A Classroom Setting, Peyton L. Stipes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Disruptive behavior in the classroom can harmfully impact students learning and hinder academic growth (Austin & Agar, 2005; Hartman & Gresham, 2016). The term disruptive behavior encompasses many different behaviors, but when used in the classroom it focuses on off-task behavior, noncompliance, talking out in class, aggression, leaving designated areas, and stereotypy (Celebreti et al., 1997; Folino et al., 2014 & Kern et al., 1982). Both antecedent and consequence-based interventions have been conducted in school settings in attempts to decrease disruptive behaviors and increase appropriate on-task academic behavior. Physical activity and antecedent manipulations have demonstrated empirical evidence that both interventions …

Crow's Nest, March 15, 2021, Crow's Nest Staff

Crow's Nest

The March 15, 2021, issue of the Crow's Nest.

Politics Vs. The Environment: The Spatial Distributions Of Mississippian Mound Centers In Tampa Bay, Adam J. Sax

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Safety Harbor culture that resided in West-Central Florida during the Mississippian period (~1000-1500 CE) was distant from the Mississippian heartland but built similar platform mound complexes and exhibited social hierarchies despite practicing an estuarine lifestyle that likely did not rely on extensive agriculture. To determine whether this coastal culture exhibited similar spatial patterns of platform mound centers to traditional inland cultures, GIS spatial analyses including distance matrices, density analyses, and least cost analyses (LCA) were performed within the Safety Harbor geographical nexus of Tampa Bay. The results were able to detect temporal changes in settlement patterns and estimate the …

Microbiological Study In A Gneissic Cave From Sri Lanka, With Special Focus On Potential Antimicrobial Activities, Ethige Isuru P. Silva, Pathmakumara Jayasingha, Saman Senanayake, Anura Dandeniya, Dona Helani Munasinghe

International Journal of Speleology

The emergence of antibiotic resistance is a global health crisis, thus the search for novel antimicrobial compounds has become a continuous necessity. Underexplored and extreme environments, such as cave ecosystems, have been identified as a promising potential source for the discovery of novel microorganisms with novel antimicrobial compounds (AMC). This study presents the first cave microbiological investigation in Sri Lanka, with a special preference for bioprospecting of novel AMC. The cave sediment characterization demonstrated the presence of close to strong acidic conditions (pH 3.1 – 3.3) and thus indicates the possibility of isolating acidophilic microorganisms. Eight cave wall/ceiling fungal strains …

Eating And Body Image Disorders In The Time Of Covid19: An Anthropological Inquiry Into The Pandemic’S Effects On The Bodies, Theresa A. Stoddard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated lifestyle changes are impacting the experiences of self-identifying women and females with body image disorders (BIDs) and/or eating disorders (EDs), focusing on the mental, physical, and emotional health of participants. Using surveys, person-centered semi-structured interviews, and autoethnography, I collected qualitative and quantitative data regarding the challenges, triumphs, hopes, and fears of participants regarding their EDs/BIDs during the pandemic and situated their experiences within their sociocultural context. Drawing on anthropological and psychological theory, I examine the data through the lenses of Scheper-Hughes’s and Lock’s “The Three Bodies” (the body politic, body …

Ay 2020/2021 Fs Meeting Minutes, 2021-03-10, Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Archives

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Hate Speech On Tiktok On Chinese College Students, Tengyue Chen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the research is whether Chinese college students' attitudes to hate speech and hate speech censorship systems will be affected by the hate speech in TikTok. Meanwhile, the research could explore the third-person effect of hate speech on TikTok on Chinese college students. An online survey was designed for this research. 658 participants who are college students in China completed the online survey. The results showed that Chinese college students believed hate speech on TikTok would affect themselves, while others will affect less by hate speech. The results also stated that the attitude toward the censorship system affects …

Evaluating The Use Of Behavioral Skills Training To Teach Assertiveness Skills To College Students, Kayla Rogover

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research on assertiveness skills has mostly involved the use of self-report measures. However, self-report has been noted to be highly inaccurate (Bernard et al., 1984). Only one unpublished study has explored a behavioral analytic perspective of assertiveness demonstrating behavioral skills training (BST) to be effective in teaching assertiveness skills. Thus, this study evaluated the effectiveness of BST to teach assertiveness skills to college students and whether the skills would generalize to novel therapist. Results of the study suggest BST was effective for teaching assertiveness skills to college students, the skills generalized to a novel therapist, and maintained at follow-up.

Factors Influencing Fixed-Route Transit Decision-Making: Exploring Differences By Disability And Community Type, Jordana L. Maisel, Molly E. Ranahan, Jimin Choi

Journal of Public Transportation

Transit agencies utilize the following complementary initiatives to encourage greater fixed-route transit usage by people with disabilities: (1) implement more rigorous paratransit eligibility determination practices and (2) address the factors that deter people with disabilities from using fixed-route transit. This research focuses on the latter and uses previously conducted survey data to determine the most important factors individuals with disabilities consider when deciding to use various transportation options, and how these factors vary by disability and community type. Findings indicate that individuals with mobility impairments consistently rated the built environment factors as more important to their transit mode decision-making than …

Limited Point Of Care Ultrasound Clinical Decision Support Model For Work-Related Injuries Of The Shoulder Utilizing Bayesian Network, Gwen Marie Ayers

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This descriptive retrospective cohort study utilized a large Workers Compensation insurance database. Included in this study were 481 shoulder MRI's performed during calendar year 2017 that were (a) at least 2 weeks after the initial clinic visit, or (b) greater than 6 weeks after injury, but (c) not more than 3 months after the date of injury. Of the 481 cases, 432 were used to evaluate potential associations between the measured variables and generate a Bayesian network prediction model where only a few variables were required to accurately guide clinical decision making for rotator cuff and biceps tendon injuries. The …

Crow's Nest, March 8, 2021, Crow's Nest Staff

Crow's Nest

The March 8, 2021, issue of the Crow's Nest.

Quality Of Life Of Older Adults With Complicated Grief Receiving Accelerated Resolution Therapy: A Mixed Methods Study, Tina M. Mason

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: It is estimated that 10-15% of bereaved people in the general population are experiencing prolonged, complicated grief after a loss. Persons with complicated grief experience a disruption of usual, pre-death activities, destructive thoughts and actions, and can develop or find a worsening of comorbidities and impairments. All of these, in turn, worsen the experience. Complicated grief reactions can compound the stress of the loss, disrupting the normal functioning of the central nervous, immune, cardiovascular, neuroendocrine, and gastrointestinal systems, which in turn can contribute to poor quality of life for the surviving family member. However, due to a paucity of …

The Relationship Between New Graduate Registered Nurse Knowledge, Experiences, Attitudes, And Age Bias Toward The Older Adult, Michelle Fox

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There had been a lack of research on the relationship between a new graduate Registered Nurses’ knowledge, experiences, attitudes, and age bias toward older adults. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there was a relationship between new graduate Registered Nurses’ knowledge, experiences, attitudes, and age bias toward older adults.

The researcher used correlational, non-experimental, quantitative design for this study. The instruments used in this study were the Facts on Aging Quiz, the Kogan Attitude Toward Old People scale, and a demographic questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the demographic data and correlation coefficients were used to …

The General Psychopathology Factor (P) From Adolescence To Adulthood: Disentangling The Developmental Trajectories Of P Using A Multi-Method Approach, Alexandria M. Choate

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Considerable attention is directed towards studying co-occurring psychopathology through the lens of a general factor (p-factor). However, the developmental trajectories and stability of the p-factor have yet to be fully understood. Study 1 first examined the explanatory power of dynamic mutualism theory — an alternative framework positing the p-factor to be a product of lower-level symptom interactions rather than the inherent cause of them. Predictions of dynamic mutualism were tested using three distinct statistical approaches including: longitudinal bifactor models, random-intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPMs), and network models. Next, given prior suggestions that borderline personality disorder (BPD) could be a marker …

The Weekly Challenger, March 4, 2021, The Weekly Challenger, Et Al

Weekly Challenger Newspaper Collection

The March 4, 2021, issue of The Weekly Challenger.

Evaluating The Performance Of Devices Engineering To Quantify The Fars Test, Harsh Patel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Clinical rating scales play a major role in assessing progressive neurological diseases. Neurologists use these rating scales to provide a better diagnosis, to provide a better treatment plan, and to analyze the outcome of clinical trials. Friedreich’s ataxia (FA) is a neurodegenerative disease that causes ataxia in limbs, speech impairment, and polyneuropathy. Since FA is a progressive disease, various rating scales have been standardized to provide an objective assessment of the patient’s current condition. The Friedreich Ataxia Rating Scale (FARS) includes several tests to capture neurological features of FA and to assess the functional stage of ataxia. The rubrics used …

Ay 2020/2021 Sec Meeting Minutes, 2021-03-03, Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Archives

No abstract provided.

Does Better A1c Control Worsen Osteoarthritis? An Electronic Health Record Cross-Sectional Study, Sarah C. Cattaneo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Obesity is a major risk factor for osteoarthritis (OA). There is evidence that diabetes also increases risk. Our hypothesis is that A1C is a predictor of OA severity. The aim is to investigate the association between A1C, BMI, and knee and hip OA severity. This is a cross-sectional study within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) database containing 818 patients with diagnosed diabetes. Patients at one VHA facility with recorded diabetes in fiscal year 2020 were identified. A1C and BMI data was obtained from the electronic health record. Chart reviews were performed to collect data on imaging reports of weight-bearing joints …

The Differential Effects Of Navigational Aids On Adults With Intellectual Disabilities, Virginia Morash-Macneil

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the differential effects of a GPS based navigational app displayed on a smartwatch and a paper map on the ability of individuals with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities (ID) to independently navigate unfamiliar walking routes. A single case alternating treatment design was used to compare the effectiveness of these navigation supports on independent pedestrian navigation. Five adults ranging in age from 26 to 45 with mild to moderate ID participated in the study. Visual analysis and the comparison of means between treatments indicate an increase in performance during the app treatment phase for all participants. Overall, all …