Contributions Of Information And Communication Technologies To Cultural Tourism Experiences: Toward A Smart Destination, Alexandra Georgescu Paquin, Ainhoa Carballido Risco

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

OVERVIEW

Cultural tourism is a growing sector in which technologies play an important role. Location-based technology, or augmented, virtual and mixed reality, amongst many others, open up new possibilities for managers and at the same time enhance cultural tourism experience in all its stages. In this context, cities, and destinations in particular, need to innovate in order to assure a sustainable and competitive offer that benefits to both tourists and residents by facilitating their daily life through smart initiatives. The purpose of this conceptual chapter is to analyze how the creation of cultural tourism experience with information and communication technologies …

Wearable Technologies: Kinesthetic Dimension In Enriching Tourist Experience, Guzide Z. Egeli, Hulya Kurgun

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

OVERVIEW

Wearable technologies (WTs), started to play an important role within the tourism ecosystem. These technologies open up new possibilities for all types of tourism operators such as Destination Management Organizations (DMOs), airlines, hotels, cruise lines, theme parks, museums and other attractions in terms of offering competitive advantage and assuring a sustainable offer. In this context, tourism-related companies and destinations, in particular, need to employ new strategies and be innovate in order to meet the demand of sophisticated consumers, improve the satisfaction of the tourist and increase the overall tourism experience. Although the role of this technology is still very …

The Importance And Role Of Digital Marketing In The Preference Of Touristic Products In Turkiye, Gul Yilmaz, H. Neyir Tekeli

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

OVERVIEW

The rapid development of technology all over the world, the widespread use of the Internet in all areas has enabled consumers to benefit from digital marketing in their product purchasing activities. Tourism companies use digital platforms and channels for promotional purposes in touristic product marketing to reach potential tourists. Young people who are familiar with the technology make their hotel reservation or car rental preferences for the time period they need through digital platforms. They always take into account the so-called electronic advice (e- WOM) messages before selecting the destination. Tourists can easily examine the virtual images of the …

Virtual Reality Marketing In Hospitality And Tourism, King-Yin Wong

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

OVERVIEW

In the information explosion era, consumers are now better informed about different products and services than ever. It becomes increasingly challenging for every marketer to cater to the needs of these sophisticated consumers, which is their top priority amid the fierce competition. Capitalizing on its novelty and experiential nature, virtual reality (VR) is one of the latest technologies shown to have been effective in attracting and engaging consumers, particularly in the tourism industry. A complete understanding of VR technology and its strengths and weaknesses is conducive to a better assessment of the technological tool for marketers to determine the …

Analytics In Hospitality And Tourism: Online Travel Reviews, Estela Marine-Roig

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

OVERVIEW

User-generated content, shared with other users through social media, has increased considerably in the previous decade. In particular, the content generated by travelers, mainly online travel reviews (OTRs), has grown dramatically. This abundant recorded information has served as a basis for conducting numerous research on big data and social media analytics. Reviewers share their OTRs on travel-related websites including peer-to-peer (P2P) accommodation platforms and online travel agencies (OTAs). The aim of this chapter is to offer an overview of the state of the art of hospitality and tourism analytics based on OTRs, and explore the possibilities of gaining insight, …

Technology In Senior Living Communities, Lu Zhang, Yunying Zhong, Wei Wei

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

OVERVIEW

While the senior living industry has witnessed remarkable growth over the years, the challenges associated with labor shortage are becoming more evident as well. The gap between supply and demand is driving the integration of technological solutions to better support older people and their daily activities. Besides, the senior living industry has increasingly embraced the spirit of hospitality, which emphasizes the importance of enhancing services and amenities. Such a cultural shift also calls for more technologies to assist caregivers in fulfilling their job responsibilities more effectively. Therefore, this chapter delves into six prevalent types of technology adopted by senior …

Digital Marketing In Hospitality And Tourism, Prem Kumar

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

OVERVIEW

Advancements in communication have led to relationship era of marketing from production era. The internet, information and communication technology (ICT) tools, and the Web revolution have played a pivotal role resulting into digital marketing of products and services in hospitality and tourism. Tourism industry is considered to be an information intensive industry where consumers have become co-creators of digital content on different media. The industry has witnessed a power shift form service provider to the consumers who have ability to attract and influence others with their shared experiences on digital platforms. Firms are adopting a digital marketing mix which …

Surveying The Landscape Of Numbers In U.S. News, John Voiklis, Jay Barchas-Lichtenstein, Bennett Attaway, Uduak G. Thomas, Shivani Ishwar, Patti Parson, Laura Santhanam, Isabella Isaacs-Thomas

Numeracy

The news arguably serves to inform the quantitative reasoning (QR) of news audiences. Before one can contemplate how well the news serves this function, we first need to determine how much QR typical news stories require from readers. This paper assesses the amount of quantitative content present in a wide array of media sources, and the types of QR required for audiences to make sense of the information presented. We build a corpus of 230 US news reports across four topic areas (health, science, economy, and politics) in February 2020. After classifying reports for QR required at both the conceptual …

System And Method For Non-Invasive Blood Glucose Monitoring, Stephen E. Saddow, Fabiola Araujo Cespedes, Gokhan Mumcu, Christopher Leroy Frewin

USF Patents

A system and method for continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) of blood in a blood vessel of a patient using a non-invasive sensor composed of a patch antenna operating in the Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) Radio band (5.725 GHz-5.875 GHz). The device determines the blood glucose concentration of the blood in the blood vessel based on the measured shift of the resonant frequency of the non-invasive antenna patch sensor. A radio frequency (RF) synthesizer is used to drive the patch antenna with a fraction of its output coupled to both the antenna and receiver through a directional coupler. In this …

Alda-1 Treatment And Prevention Of Pulmonary Disease, Narasaiah Kolliputi, Richard F. Lockey, Lakshmi Galam

USF Patents

Methods of treating or preventing allergic or pulmonary diseases characterized by endothelial dysfunction with Alda-1 are presented. Treatment of pulmonary endothelial cells subjected to hyperoxia with Alda-1 showed an increase in ALDH2 activity and expression. Treatment with Alda-1 also illustrated a decrease in oxidative stress, a decrease in reactive oxygen species (ROS), a decrease in apoptosis, a decrease in inflammation and an enhancement of mitochondrial membrane potential.

Listening To Queens: Ghana's Women Traditional Leaders As A Model For Gender Parity, Kristen M. Vogel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A movement begun in 2011 inspired multilateral organizations such as the United Nations to collaborate with Ghana’s women traditional leaders on an inherently postcolonial indigenous and transnational feminist project, promoting Queens’ national recognition. Despite the initial power of the movement, it faded over time. Yet it spurred the formation of various new Queens’ associations throughout Ghana. The associations have grown and continue to grow, and the National Council of Women Traditional Leaders that spurred the first movement has returned stronger and with new strategies. As Ghana’s Queens seek their traditional right, an equal voice at all levels of leadership, it …

The Weekly Challenger, November 25, 2021, The Weekly Challenger, Et Al

Weekly Challenger Newspaper Collection

The November 25, 2021, issue of The Weekly Challenger.

The Debate On Physician-Assisted Death In The United States: A Narrative Analysis Of Formula Stories, Rebecca Blackwell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Public policy discussions can be viewed as empirical windows into broadly shared culturalvalues and emotions of the social contexts in which the policy discussions take place. This project is a narrative analysis of the public debate on physician-assisted death (PAD), drawing from three data sources: newspaper articles, the websites of social movement organizations, and testimonies from a state legislative hearing. This analysis explores ways in which social actors deploy personal stories that contribute to shape the policy-making process by appealing to cultural beliefs and broadly shared emotions. The findings of this project constitute a contribution to the study of emotions …

Proactive Congestion Management, Sisinnio Concas, Mohsen Kamrani, Vishal C. Kummetha

Research Reports

This report details the development and implementation of a method to proactively detect and mitigate congestion on freeways and arterials. To accomplish this goal, the research utilizes data fusion between conventional sources, such as radar detectors and traditional probe-based data, with newer sources, such as Bluetooth and connected vehicle (CV) data, to identify conditions that signal impending congestion. Data-driven and signal processing techniques are explored and developed to produce an algorithm that relies on near-real- or real-time traffic measurements capable of generating predictions proactively, using complex and often subtle factors that trigger congestion. The algorithm is validated and calibrated using …

Nckri Symposium 8 : Proceedings Of The 16th Multidisciplinary Conference On Sinkholes And The Engineering And Environmedntal Impacts Of Karst National Cave And Karst Reseaarch Institute Symposium 8 [Web Format], Lewis Land, Clint Kromhout, Michael J. Byle

KIP Talks and Conferences

online resource

Crow's Nest, November 22, 2021, Crow's Nest Staff

Crow's Nest

The November 22, 2021, issue of the Crow's Nest.

Where Does Sustainability Stand In Underground Tourism? A Literature Review, Piera Buonincontri, Roberto Micera, María Murillo-Romero, Tommasina Pianese

KIP Articles

Underground sites have become an attractive tourist destination for an increasing number of visitors. This flow of visitors has made sustainability a major issue, that is, the way in which tourism development ensures economic benefits for host communities and respects local identity without compromising the environmental resources. Many studies have explored sustainable tourism in the Underground Built Heritage (UBH), but privilege the analysis of a single perspective, that is, economic sustainability, e.g., potentialities of cultural routes, or environmental sustainability, such as the impact of visitors on the cave climate. However, some attention has been paid to the social implications of …

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

Crow's Nest

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

Multifaceted Approach To Understanding Acinetobacter Baumannii Biofilm Formation And Drug Resistance, Jessie L. Allen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Acinetobacter baumannii is a multi-drug resistant nosocomial pathogen known for causing wound related- and respiratory-infections. It is currently on the WHO’s list of critical pathogens due to its broadly drug resistant nature and the constant appearance of pan-resistant isolates. A majority of the infections caused by this organism are biofilm associated, however there is limited existing knowledge regarding the mechanisms used to engage in this multicellular lifestyle. As such, we set out to explore the factors influencing this behavior using an 10,000+ isolate transposon mutant library of A. baumannii strain AB5075. Of the strains tested, 6.45% demonstrated some level of …

Privies As Portals: A Ceramic And Glass Bottle Analysis Of A Late 19th Century Household Privy In Ellenton, Fl, Shana Boyer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis uses ceramic and glass bottles recovered from a privy feature at the Gamble Plantation site to examine the manifestations of Victorian ideals and health practices of a wealthy white family living in Florida’s “pioneer” landscape. Through the analysis of these artifacts this thesis aims to understand the archaeology of status and consumption while evaluating how class can impact consumer behaviors. Artifacts for analysis were collected in the 2017 and 2018 field seasons using the systematic sampling method which led to the discovery of the privy feature at the end of the 2017 season. From the privy to the …

Hello Traitor: An Examination Of Individual Differences In Perceptions Of Technology-Related Incivility, David J. Howard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Workplace incivility is unfortunately common among employees in today’s workplace. The increase in usage of email, texting, smartphones, and social media for interpersonal workplace communication has led to an increase of these mediums being used in an uncivil manner. While there has been a growth of general workplace incivility research conducted in the past two decades, the extant literature lacks sufficient primary studies that examine technology-related workplace incivility. This research project aims to add to the burgeoning literature in the technology-related incivility content domain. First, it examined the prevalence of email incivility reported by workers and found a much lower …

Instrumental Music Instruction And Executive Functions: A Cross-Sectional Study Of Romanian Children (10-12 Years), Adrian Sorin Iordache

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess the differences in verbal fluency, verbal memory, and processing speed of children (age 10-12) enrolled in a Romanian vocational music school as compared to a group enrolled in vocational visual arts school, and a group enrolled in a regular public school. This is the first study to assess children enrolled in a music school in Romania. A total of 105 participants (43 males and 62 females) 10 to 12 years old (M = 11.13, SD = .34) competed the testing. There were 36 participants (15 males and 21 females) in the music …

Decisions And How Doctors Make Them: Modeling Multilevel Decision-Making Within Diagnostic Medicine, Michelle S. Kaplan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Effective decision-making is critical and necessary for organizational success across a wide range of occupations, situations, and industries. However, decision making, by its nature, is not always a direct process of a single decision leading to a direct outcome. Rather, it can often become a multilevel process whereby one decision’s outcome leads to information that is used in subsequent larger or other types of decisions. The decision-making process then becomes progressively more complex and more difficult to navigate as these decisions compound within one another. Thus, decision-makers must find an appropriate way to approach such decisions. Understanding the multilevel nature …

Light Harvesting In Photoactive Guest-Based Metal-Organic Frameworks, Christopher R. Mckeithan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Harvesting sunlight as a clean and renewable energy source has long been a goal of the scientific community. One potential route for developing artificial light harvesters is using a bioinspired approach which utilizes the critical features found in these natural systems. Such features include a way in which to capture a broad range of the solar spectrum, fixed distance and orientation of redox pairs to facilitate efficient directional transfer of electrons, transfer of electrons to a terminal acceptor, and recovery of the systems for repeated use. Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are attractive candidates for developing light harvesting systems due their …

Investigation Of The Effectiveness Of Global Competency-Based Program Modules In Higher Education, Parandoosh Sadeghinia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Global competency-based modules are relatively new in higher education. As a way to measure global competency the USF Global Competency Test (GCT) modules objectively measure global competencies for individuals. The purpose of this study was to investigate the value of three global competency-based program modules and undergraduate student perceptions of the Unite Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the basis for the modules.

This study addressed the questions:

1. What are the change scores based on the Global Competency Test module pre/postassessment scores for students who participated in Operation: Global Action/Academic and Cultural Engagement program during Summer 2021?
2. Are there differences in the …

Computationally Driven Design Of Shape-Controlled Polymeric Nanostructures, Davindra Tulsi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the realm of shape control involving synthetic soft materials, block copolymers are ubiquitously exploited due to their ability to spontaneously self-assemble into a plethora of morphologies. The growing need in areas such as drug delivery, lithography, and microelectronics to generate new nanostructures demands ever finer control of copolymer self-assembly. It is desirable to better control the shape and size of soft nanostructures, with minimal post processing techniques to assert stability.

While there is an abundance of literature on diblock copolymer assembly, few relationships exist for sequence-controlled copolymers. It is well known that biological macromolecules are highly sequence specific and …

"Theology" In The Public University, Sarah T. White

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent studies have suggested the transformative potential of “theological” inquiry anddiscourse in religious studies, particularly, in furthering religious literacy and peace building initiatives through greater understanding of “other”. Yet, “theology” is a relatively new academic approach to peace building and conflict studies and is still marginalized to a large degree in secular universities. Vigorous inquiry into the intrinsic value and potential role of “theological” inquiry and discourse in secular academics, as well as possible pedagogical strategies, are worthwhile and necessary towards achieving the wider aims of the secular university. To those ends, this paper presents a broad survey of the …

Walking The Line: Understanding The History And Development Of The Nhtsa Standardized Field Sobriety Tests, Jon D. Gurney

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the early 1980’s within the United States, state legislatures criminalized the practice of driving under the influence of alcohol due to the efforts of moral entrepreneurs such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving that served to vilify the drunk-driver. During the political culture of the early 1980’s, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration sought to develop field sobriety tests that would assist law enforcement in the detection and arrest of drunk drivers.

This study provided a brief historical account of the development of the NHTSA Standardized Field Sobriety Test battery, which consisted of the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus test, the Walk …

The Weekly Challenger, November 11, 2021, The Weekly Challenger, Et Al

Weekly Challenger Newspaper Collection

The November 11, 2021, issue of The Weekly Challenger.

Revisiting Darwin’S Little Pond As A Method To Liberate Phosphorus From Apatite Under Prebiotic Hadean Earth Conditions, Jennifer Lago

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Phosphorus is an essential element for life as we know it. Phosphorus, mainly in the form of phosphate, is key to biologic functions such as genetic material, energy production, and cellular framework. As phosphorus is key to so many important biological functions it is of no wonder the question of how phosphorus was incorporated into life initially is a fundamental question in how life began.

During this time a prebiotic phosphorus source would need to have originated in rock, as phosphorus has not volatile source on Earth. The most prevalent mineral source on a prebiotic Earth would likely have been …