Digital Commons Network^™

Examining Patient Satisfaction And Treatment Effectiveness For Hispanic Adolescents Receiving Intensive Mental Health Services For Depression, Myesha M. Morgan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Behavioral Activation (BA) is a treatment approach that has demonstrated promising outcomes for the adolescent population (Martin & Oliver, 2019). However, more studies are needed to examine its effectiveness with Hispanic adolescents. The prevalence and severity of depressive symptoms tend to be higher among Hispanic adolescents in comparison to their non-Hispanic White peers (Pratt & Brody, 2014). In addition, depressive symptoms are associated with poor social, academic, and later health outcomes (Naicker et al., 2013; Owens, Stevenson, Hadwin, 2012). Given the lack of prior investigations on the effectiveness of BA for Hispanic adolescents, this study aimed to fill a gap …

Organizing And Communicating Health: A Culture-Centered And Necrocapitalist Inquiry Of Groundwater Contamination In Rural West Bengal, Parameswari Mukherjee

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As a discursive point of praxis, this dissertation project seeks to record knowledge from below around the overlaps between health, water and health interventions emerging from rural communities located in North 24 Parganas and Purulia in West Bengal that are disproportionately impacted by water-insecurity. My dissertation also documents how multiple-stakeholders such as local NGOs, international NGOs, non-profits, and donor agencies organize access to safe water and health interventions for the water-insecure communities located in North 24 Parganas and Purulia. The integration of the CCA and necrocapitalism afford theoretical and methodological guidance in this dissertation to help document the localocentric stories …

“So, I Am Back”: Adjudicated Youths’ School Reentry Experiences, Inita S. Knox

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adjudicated youth face a multitude of barriers when reentering school following incarceration. School administrators and educational personnel know very little about how these students perceive their reentry experiences and what the students identify as needed supports, resources, and barriers throughout the process. This qualitative study used in-depth, semi-structured interviews with photo-elicitation to explore and describe how formerly incarcerated youth perceive their high school reentry experiences. Participants were male adolescents ages 16 to 18 years old. who provided rich and in-depth descriptions of their reentry experiences. Recommendations for policy, practice and future research are provided.

Synthesis Of Constrained N-Heterocyclic Peptidomimetics And Development Of Strain-Release Reagents, Kyle P. Pedretty

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Part 1:The initial portion of this dissertation delves into the enhancement of β-sheet secondary structure stability through modification of the peptide backbone while examining the conformational characteristics of peptides featuring N-amino substituents. The investigation consists of two major studies, presented in separate sections. The first study outlines various approaches to achieve stable β-hairpin folds by introducing N-amino substituents to peptide strands. A novel method utilizing on-resin Mitsunobu cyclization between α-hydrazino acid residues and a serine or homoserine side chain was utilized to incorporate pyrazolidinone and tetrahydropyridazinone dipeptide constraints. To evaluate the impact of cyclic N-amino peptide building blocks on β-hairpin …

Examination Of Domestic Tourists’ Awareness And Attitude Towards Halal Food According To Demographic Variable: The Gaziantep Example, Adem Ademoglu

Journal of Mediterranean Tourism Research

Religion and belief which are among the intangible cultural elements play an essential role in shaping consumer behavior. Among these behaviors, individuals’ increasing religious sensitivity within the context of eating and drinking in particular necessitates the food they consume to be in concordance with religious values. From this point of view, it is envisioned that individuals’ demographic characteristics will cause differences in food consumption demands in accordance with their religiousness values. The purpose of this study is to determine the role of demographic variables in the awareness towards halal food consumption and attitude towards halal food. Moreover, another purpose of …

Novel Genetic Interactions Of The Sgs1 Helicase In The Maintenance Of Genome Integrity, Sonia Vidushi Gupta

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mutagenesis and genome instability are characteristics of cancer cells. People afflictedwith Bloom’s syndrome due to mutations in the BLM gene suffer from reduced life expectancy, accelerated aging, sensitivity to sun exposure, immune system abnormalities and increased risk of cancer. The predisposition to cancer is typically due to abnormal DNA repair that results in chromosome breakage and rearrangements. The homologous recombination factor Sgs1, which is a RecQ-like helicase and an ortholog of the human BLM helicase, functions primarily in DNA repair, but has also been implicated in other cellular functions like replication. Several functions of BLM such as its involvement in …

Travel And Migration Behaviors Of Migrants From Puerto Rico During Disasters, Lauren C. Carter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

COVID-19 and Hurricane Maria were both unprecedented disasters in Puerto Rico. Hurricane Maria caused of billions of dollars in damage and took thousands of lives in 2017, while COVID-19 challenged Puerto Rico’s already crippled healthcare infrastructure in 2020. In the literature, there were few studies that explored how compound disasters affect island nations, let alone in a hypothetical worst-case scenario of a major hurricane during a novel (pre-vaccine) pandemic. In this dissertation, I studied how such a compound disaster would impact travel behaviors of migrants from Puerto Rico to the US in three distinct studies. The first study analyzed the …

Exploring Strain Variation And Bacteriophage Predation In The Gut Microbiome Of Ciona Robusta, Celine Grace F. Atkinson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Current microbiome studies have shown that the maintenance of homeostasis betweenmicrobial populations (e.g. bacteria, viruses) and the host immune system (e.g. innate immune molecules) is necessary for balancing health and disease outcomes within the host. These studies most often utilize vertebrate models; however, research in this field can benefit from diverse model systems that facilitate our ability to conduct experiments to identify phylogenically conserved rules influencing homeostasis in the gut of animals. The Dishaw has developed the use of a filter-feeding marine invertebrate chordate, Ciona robusta, to model such fundamental interactions[1]–[6]. While most biological diversity and functional contribution within microbiomes …

Resource Recovery From Crew Metabolic Wastes In Lunar And Martian Habitats: Reuse Of Effluent From An Anaerobic Membrane Bioreactor Treating Fecal Organic Matter As Fertilizer Source For Plants, Alexandra A. Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As humans set their sights on exploration of the Moon and Mars human focused challenges like providing potable water, supplying nutritious food to the astronaut crew, and managing their waste present themselves. There are no readily available resources on the Moon and Mars, therefore nothing should be considered unusable including the organic wastes (i.e., feces and urine) produced by the crew. Fecal matter is not currently recycled and is treated as solid waste. After collection, it is discarded out of the International Space Station where it is incinerated upon re-entry. This approach will not work on the Moon’s surface. There …

“I Don't Know Where The Lesbians Are”: Exploring Lgbtq+ Women’S Experiences Of Place And Community, Ashley M. Green

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines LGBTQ+ women’s experiences of place and community in Central Florida. Through the use of in-depth interviews and virtual ethnography, I begin to answer the following questions: 1. To what extent does geographic location contextualize how LGBTQ+ women experience place and community?, 2. How do LGBTQ+ women within a similar geographic location utilize virtual spaces for the purpose of building community?, and 3. How are the intersections of gender, race, and sexuality significant to LGBTQ+ women’s experiences of place and community? This project provides a glimpse into the phenomenon of consuming community, which speaks to the ways in …

Evaluating The Effects Of Academic And Social Breaks On Off-Task Behavior In A College Classroom, Allison K. Fisher

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Educators and researchers aim to develop effective teaching practices to increase on-task behavior and decrease off-task behavior during class time to ensure positive outcomes for students. The types of off-task behavior observed in classrooms with high school and college populations have changed in recent years due to the prevalence of accessible technology. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of social and academic breaks on off-task behavior in the college classroom. The social break allowed for a time for students to socialize and/or engage with a mobile device, and the academic break allowed for students to take …

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Service Access For Children And Adolescents With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities Across Florida, Alyssa N. Hanley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Businesses worldwide closed to lessen the spread of the virus. Due to an increased need for specialized services compared to the general population, individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) may have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 shutdowns. Without access to schools and centers where services are provided, therapeutic progress was halted. Services, such as special education, occupational therapy, and physical therapy, were paused, impacting access and maintenance for individuals with I/DD. In addition, services that continued did so using modified delivery methods such as telehealth. To investigate the impact of the COVID-19 …

Examination Of Microplastics And Organic Contaminants In Tampa Bay’S Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea Virginica) Through Visual And Chemical Analysis, Andrea Murray

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Microplastic pollution is an increasingly alarming concern with widespread global distribution in aquatic environments. Filter feeding organisms such as bivalves, have a heightened risk of microplastic ingestion through free floating particulates in the water. This can lead to bioaccumulation moving up through trophic levels to apex predators and humans. Spatial and temporal differences in microplastic abundance were evaluated in the Eastern Oyster, Crassostrea virginica, at six sites within Tampa Bay. Oyster tissue was digested using 30% hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and microplastics were quantified using Nile Red dye and fluorescent particle excitement. A total of 3025 microplastics were found throughout six …

“I’M Still Suffering”: Mental Health Care Among Central African Refugee Populations In The Tampa Bay Area, C. Danee Ruszczyk

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An estimated 500 Central African refugee families have been resettled in the Tampa Bay Area since 2002 (RPC, 2022). The cycles of trauma that they have endured place them in vulnerable positions regarding their mental health. Struggling to exist within underfunded social programs that are rigid in their expectations and with the current system of reactive care vs preventative care, the refugees in Tampa are put in a difficult situation of navigating their own health and wellbeing in lieu of having the full support of the United States government and their community. I will discuss how these refugees experience and …

Exploring Alternative Electron Donors For Heterotrophic Denitrification At A Water Reclamation Facility In Tampa Bay, Tejas Athavale

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An excess of nitrogen in water can pose problems, ranging from algal blooms to creating toxic environments for marine life. Therefore, wastewater treatment plants need to remove nitrogen from wastewater during the treatment process. Biological nitrogen removal is one process these plants may use, which commonly involves nitrification and denitrification, converting nitrogen in the form of ammonia to nitrate, and then ultimately nitrogen gas. The process of denitrification often requires an electron donor, and methanol is a common choice. However, it is flammable, and therefore there is a need to explore alternative electron donors. Alternative donors can include manufactured chemicals …

Characteristics And Hydraulic Behavior Of Adsorptive Media For Use In Permeable Reactive Barriers, Shelby Rocha

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Cargill ditch is located on the property of Se7en Wetlands, a 1600-ac treatment wetland system in Lakeland, Polk County, Florida. The Se7en Wetlands property was previously utilized for phosphate mining prior to the construction of the system. Nonpoint nutrient sources derived from remnants of abandoned phosphate mines – known as “legacy phosphorus” – become mobilized by stormwater runoff and impair surface water bodies by promoting harmful algal blooms (HABs). Thus, the Cargill ditch likely conveys nutrient rich flow resulting from legacy phosphorus and is thought to be one contributing factor in the occurrence of HABs within the treatment wetland …

Efficacy Of Online Social Movements For Sparking Change: The Case Of The Missing Murdered And Indigenous Women Movement (#Mmiw), Kacy A. Bleeker

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The current study examined the context of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Movement (#MMIW) in the context of activist engagement, media representations, and public awareness and beliefs related to the movement. The present study framed the movement within the context of social movement theory, intersectionality, and feminism, to determine the applicability of these frameworks in explaining an Indigenous social movement. While the use of social media to facilitate and mobilize social movements is not a new phenomenon, limited research has examined the functionality of online social movements, particularly in the context of movements concerned with intersectional identities. Research highlights, …

An Empirical Investigation Of Network Topology On Majority Illusion, Behavior Adoption, And Polarization, Sreeja Sreekantan Nair

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Social influence plays a significant role in shaping opinions and behaviors both online and inthe physical world. The ways in which we interact with others and the information we receive can significantly influence our beliefs and attitudes towards different issues. While online social media provide platforms for such interactions, the underlying network structure can impact various social influence phenomena, including majority illusion, behavior adoption, and polarization.

This dissertation examines the role of network topology in three social influence processes:majority illusion, behavior adoption, and polarization. The majority illusion refers to a perception bias that occurs when individuals believe that an opinion …

Socio-Emotional Effects Of Rejection: An Experience-Sampling Examination, Gabriella Silva

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rejection is a detrimental experience that directly threatens people’s fundamental need for social acceptance and connection. Rejection is particularly distressing for people with elevated social anxiety, as it is their core fear. Yet, very few studies have examined the impact of daily rejection in the context of social anxiety. The present research examined the socioemotional effects of daily feelings of rejection in the context of social anxiety across two experience-sampling studies. Study 1 was a 2-week daily diary study with community adults and Study 2 was a 4-week ecological momentary assessment (EMA) study with a clinical sample of adults with …

Metachronal Locomotion: Swimming, Scaling, And Schooling, Kuvvat Garayev

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation deals with one type of underwater locomotion called metachronal swimming in which the organism sequentially beats its multiple appendages allowing phase lag between adjacent neighbors. Metachronally swimming species are widespread and include copepods, shrimp, ctenophores, and tomopterid worms to name few. First, using the high-speed recording and planar particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurement, I report on kinematics of fast metachronal swimmer and constructive vortex interactions among its appendages and discuss its implications for improved performance regarding the swimming. Second, I show how hydrodynamic performance of all metachronal swimmers (paramecia, copepods, tomopterid worms, krill etc.) can be scaled by …

Threats To School Safety: Examining Levels Of Community Violence And Its Relation To School-Related Threats, Dorie Ross

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite significant media attention provided to school-based acts of violence, these tragic incidents are relatively rare across school environments, leading to increasing challenges in identifying students who may pose a threat. Previous approaches to school discipline, including policies such as zero tolerance, resulted in significant racial disparities among students who received disciplinary consequences inconsistent with the severity of their behaviors or threats. Alternatively, a relatively recent approach that emerged following a series of school shootings in the 1990s was school threat assessment, which focuses on prevention rather than prediction. While it is important to determine students who may pose a …

The Effects Of Integral And Incidental Emotions On The Perceived Risk Of Gun Violence, Gloria Laugalis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fearful people are pessimistic when it comes to risk judgments and angry people areoptimistic in their risk judgments (Lerner & Keltner, 2000; 2001). Since this has been supported in studies regarding both incidental and integral emotions, the findings from incidental studies have been broadly generalized to answer research questions regarding integral emotions. This generalization was challenged when Ferrer and Ellis (2021) recently found differing effects of incidental and integral emotions of fear and anger. In this study, we examine the effects of these emotions, both incidental and integral to the target risk, on risk perception to help determine if incidental …

Academic Procrastination Among Chinese International Undergraduate Students In The United States, Yunlu Xiang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research aimed to explore academic procrastination among Chinese internationalstudents, using NVivo 12 to analyze data gathered through interviews with six participants. The study identified both internal and external factors contributing to academic procrastination, with social networking and software being the most significant external factors and disinterest and avoidance being the most significant internal factors. The participants did not identify the COVID-19 pandemic as a significant factor in academic procrastination. The study analyzed gender differences in academic procrastination among Chinese students. The pandemic had different effects on men and women, with men downplaying the concept of time and women experiencing …

The Impacts Of Disability Policy And Its Implementation On Deaf University Students: An Applied Anthropological Approach, Tailyn Marie Osorio

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) has provided legal requirement for universities to provide accommodations for all disabled students, including deaf students. The ADA is intentionally vague to allow flexibility for how institutions implement accommodations provisions. This leads to high variability across universities. Using ethnographic data from policy analysis, semi-structured interviews and focus groups with accommodations coordinators and deaf students from a large-public university, this applied anthropological study aims to investigate the impacts of policy and policy practices on the experiences of deaf students while proposing interventions informed by the coordinators and deaf students themselves.

This study is …

A Review Of Farmers/Herders Clashes In Nigerian Environment: Consequences And The Way Forward, Timothy O. Ogunbode, Iyanu-Oluwa A. Ayodele, Victor O. Oyebamiji, Oluwatobi O. Faboro

Journal of African Conflicts and Peace Studies

A peaceful environment is a necessity for meaningful growth and development in human society. This review was thus, carried out to examine both immediate and remote causes of Fulani herdsmen/local farmers’ crises in Nigeria, its consequences and the probable way forward. The review which involved searching for both online and offline information on the theoretical basis for the crises and, also the interview of the stakeholders for hands-on information. The crises which was noted to have dated back to 1960s has resulted into loss of lives and property. Apart from this, many homes have been displaced and means of livelihood …

Peace And Security Challenges: Sadc And Mozambique Conflict Management, Thamsanqa Dangazela

Journal of African Conflicts and Peace Studies

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to investigate peace and security challenges in Mozambique. The paper wants to contribute to research recurrent political conflicts should be evaluated and how their effectiveness can be measured on how peace-making interventions by the Southern Africa Development Committee (SADC) in member states experiencing. Peace-making is understood as a varied approach to resolving conflicts, encompassing negotiation, diplomatic engagement, and mediation. Mediation refers to third party facilitation aimed at resolving conflicts. The main argument is that SADC mediation– which forms the core of its approach to peace-making – is not oriented towards transforming conflicts. Most, …

Identity Boundaries Construction And Its Effects On Vulnerability In The Case Of A Historically Marginalized People (Hmp) In Rwanda: An Examination Of Their Access To Human Rights., Jean Baptiste Ndikubwimana, Kathleen A. Anangwe, Oriare Oriare Nyarwath, Mwimali Jack, Charles Mulinda Kabwete

Journal of African Conflicts and Peace Studies

This paper contextualises the vulnerability of a Historically Marginalized people (HMP) referred to as the Batwa to explain how their moral inferiority resulting from the constructed microaggressions and attitudinal prejudices, jeopardize their full enjoyment and appreciation of human rights. The dilemmas experienced by the Batwa in Rwanda have until recently received little theoretical and empirical attention thereby disregarding ontological and epistemological distinction. This paper contributes to this lacuna by reviewing colonial discourse of histories and hegemonies and investigating ethnic socio-cultural practices and other mythical tales. The foregoing indicates a genuine need for the application of human rights approach to recognize …

An Analysis Of State Sex Education Policies To Explore The Inclusiveness Of School Based Sex Education, Amarah Scott

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to analyze state policies related to sex education proposed between 2018 and 2022 to determine the extent to which sex education needs of LGBTQ youth were being addressed. Previous research has shown that, on average, both abstinence-only and comprehensive sex education curricula do not include information that is relevant to LGBTQ youth. Much of the information included in sex education curricula such as pregnancy prevention and the benefits and disadvantages of condoms are most relevant to youth who identify as heterosexual. Not receiving relevant and accurate sex education puts LGBTQ youth at risk for …

Review Of Carrying All Before Her, By Chelsea Phillips, Jennifer Buckley

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640–1830

A review of Chelsea Phillips’s Carrying All Before Her: Celebrity Pregnancy and the London Stage, 1689-1800, by Jennifer Buckley

Subversive Cartography: Teaching Mary Prince And Saidiya Hartman, Carolina Hinojosa

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640–1830

This chapter utilizes Hartman’s methodology of retrieval to create a map1 in StoryMap JS2 (“the map” or “this map”) that analyzes multiple geographic spaces in The History of Mary Prince: A West Indian Slave Narrative and Saidiya Hartman’s Lose Your Mother: A Journey Along the Atlantic Slave Route. The map is an archive or a witness to some of the geographical spaces Mary Prince lived (and was sold) as an enslaved woman seeking freedom and the places in which Saidiya Hartman has conducted research or visited in Ghana as a “free” woman. Layering the past over present creates a …