Digital Commons Network^™

Local Food Festivals Within The Scope Of Destination Branding, Hatice Akturk, Atilla Akbaba

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

The perceptions and desires of individuals for touristic products are constantly changing in accordance with the changing conditions of the time. Today, while interest in mass tourism is decreasing, interest and searches for alternative types of tourism tend to increase steadily. In addition, in increasingly competitive conditions, destinations show their differences and attach importance to branding activities to create identity for themselves. In recent years, one of the most important tools used by destination (country, region, city, etc.) managers to differentiate their regions from their competitors and to achieve sustainable competitive advantage is destination branding. Activities in the region are …

Perceived Usefulness, Ease Of Use, Online Trust And Online Purchase Intention: Mediating Role Of Attitude Towards Online Purchase, Muhammed Yazeed, Mohammed A. Dantsoho, Adamu A. Abubakar

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Despite this significant breakthrough on the emergence of e-commerce due to the proliferation of the Internet, little work has explored whether attitude towards online purchase can mediate the relationship between perceived usefulness (PU), Ease of Use (EU), Online Trust (OT) and Online Purchase Intention (OPI). This study was set to examine the mediating role of attitude towards online purchase on the relationship between PU, EU, OT and OPI. A cross-sectional research design was used to gather data from the research respondents using a simple random sampling procedure. 441 useful responses were used to analyse the data using partial least square …

Social Media Marketing The African Door Of Return Experience In Badagry-Nigeria, Huseyin Arasli, Maryam Abdullahi, Tugrul Gunay

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

This study examines the role of social media in promoting the standard of return festivals and revisiting intentions in Badagry, Lagos, Nigeria. The festival, also known as the Door of Return festival, is a cultural event commemorating 400 years of African ancestors who were forcibly taken away as slaves and are now back to their mother land as queens and kings. The African ‘door of experience’, which took place in Lagos Nigeria is the 3rd door of return ceremony reflecting the significance of the slave trade activities that took place in the ancient town of Badagary. Data was collected in …

The Effect Of Corporate Social Responsibility On Consumer-Based Brand Equity: A Research On Automobile Brands, Ali Koroglu, Ibrahim Avci

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

One of the important issues that businesses emphasize in order to gain advantage in today's competitive environment is corporate social responsibility. Because the consumers' expectations from businesses are not only products and services, but also they expect them to behave responsibly towards society. Consumers care about the corporate social responsibility of businesses and brands of businesses with corporate social responsibility are more accepted by consumers. The aim of the research is to examine the effect of corporate social responsibility on consumer-based brand equity dimensions and the effects of these dimensions on purchasing intention. In this context, an online survey form …

Virtual Influencer As Celebrity Endosers, Fanny Cheung, Wing-Fai Leung

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Human-like virtual influencers frequently appeared on various online platforms in recent years because of the rapid development of information technology and artificial intelligence. It is of interest to find out customers attitude and effectiveness of using virtual celebrity in advertising, and the preferred form of virtual celebrity. Celebrity model which comprises of attractiveness, trustworthiness and expertise has been adopted in this study to assess whether virtual celebrity has similar characteristics of real-person celebrity. An online survey has been conducted to examine whether customers have positive views on virtual celebrities and their opinions on virtual celebrity’s attractiveness, trustworthiness and expertise. Survey …

Extending The Theory Of Planned Behavior To Explain Intention To Use Online Food Delivery Services In The Context Of Covid -19 Pandemic, Ahmed C. Bouarar, Smail Mouloudj, Kamel Mouloudj

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

The increased fear of getting COVID-19 led to significant changes in foodservice delivery and shoppers' behaviors. This paper incorporated trust and fear of COVID-19 into the theory of planned behavior (TPB) model to explore shopper’s intention to use online food delivery (OFD) services in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. A self-administered questionnaire was developed to collect data from 278 respondents intercepted at the three largest shopping centers located in Algiers city (Algeria). A multiple regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses of the model. This research found that intention to use OFD is significantly and positively affected by …

Affective Commitment In New Hires’ Onboarding? The Role Of Organizational Socialization In The Fashion Retail Industry, Pui S. Chan, Ho C. Ching, Pui Y. Ng, Annie Ko

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Fashion retail companies often lack a well-structured onboarding program which consequently result in lower staff commitment and a higher turnover rate. Organizational socialization plays an important role to acculture new hires learn about their work, organizational value, and adjust to the workplace. This study examined the content dimensions of organizational socialization and investigated new hires’ attitudes towards such areas. The results of exploratory factor analysis revealed seven dimensions of organizational socialization in the domain of the fashion retail industry. Regression analysis suggested a 4-factor model for improving new hires’ affective commitment to the organization. These factors are permeation with organizational …

Covid-19 Effect On Fdi Motivation And Their Impact On Service Sector: Case Of Georgia, Vakhtang Charaia, Mariam Lashkhi

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Based on the Scott-Kennel’s model of local industry upgrade through foreign direct investments, this paper analyses if investments are always positively benefiting the host economy, or if they are not promoting local/host economies at all, or to which exact level. This paper is focused on service sector oriented investments and answers the questions important to analyse for the successful investment policy creation, which could benefit both the local economy and foreign investors. In other words, only aggregated per year foreign investment numbers are not enough for the comprehensive picture creation and in some cases could even suggest incorrect strategic decisions. …

The Coverage Of Aiot Based Functional Service: Case Study Of Asian Futuristic Hotel, Gege Wang, Irini L. F. Tang, Eric Chan, Wai H. W. Chan

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

The combination of Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things (AIOT) have been developing as a prevalent technology for applications in many industries and buildings. This research deliberately chooses a leading hotel in the application of automation to examine the coverage of using the AIOT. A recent functional framework of AIOT was used to investigate the functional attributes via observation to confirm the availability. Then the study proceeded to interview with 10 professionals in the hospitality businesses to solicit their views about the implementation of the same AIOT facilities in other hotels based on the tabled analytical results.

Decentralized Approach To Deep-Learning Based Asset Allocation, Sarthak Sengupta, Priyanshu Priyam, Anurika Vaish

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Investment is an artistic science. The study discusses deep learning-based techniques for asset allocation. Deep learning is a subset of machine learning. The majority of the population lacks either the skills or the time to self-analyze the different financial investment options available to them and therefore they seek the help of the portfolio managers who make trading decisions on behalf of their clients depending on their risk appetite. Besides, portfolio managers analyze different assets, compare the strengths and weaknesses of each option before making a decision about which equities are suitable, to optimally balance profit and risks. This makes portfolio …

A Gap Analysis Of Satisfaction Among International Students Studying In The United States, Sandy C. Chen

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

International students brought a broad range of benefits to the United States before the COVID-19 pandemic, from billions of dollars of tuition and fees directly paid to host universities to economic impacts on the country’s inbound tourism made by the students’ families. Nevertheless, the choice to study in the United States presented many challenges and problems for them. A survey of the existing literature showed that expectations of and perceptions toward their academic studies and professional development of these students, particularly those from mainland China, has been less explored. This paper was thus designed to fill this void by collecting …

Indigenous Women In Science: A Proposed Framework For Leadership, Knowledge, Innovation, And Complexity, Tracy Woodroffe, Ruth Wallace, Kathy Guthadjaka, Johanna Funk, Elaine L. Maypilama, Sarah Ireland, Renee Adair, Robyn Ober, Samantha Armstrong, Anne Lowell, Kellie Pollard

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Indigenous engagement in tertiary education has been contentious in Australia for many years. This was brought sharply into focus with the 2012 review into higher education, which highlighted a lack of parity for Indigenous Australians. One of the solutions to a lack of parity in participation could be the concept of a dual academy. A dual academy approach to higher education would incorporate both Indigenous and Western knowledge systems equally. Conversations and thinking about Indigenous participation and engagement in higher education led to an opportunity to coordinate a series of workshops. These workshops, conducted in Darwin, Alice Springs, and Galiwin’ku …

Significance Of Vr In The Spa: A Spatial Analysis, Irini L. F. Tang, Schultz Z. B. Xu, Eric Chan

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

The pandemic became a real part of daily life. We do not know whether it was God’s will or fate to halt worldwide travel. Both worldwide travelers and those who prefer to stay close to home were made more hyper aware of their physical and mental well-being. Keeping healthy and remaining well in terms of living a quality life became a priority. In this regard, spa visitors also desired to visit or travel somewhere else when the opportunity arose and the cost is affordable. Virtual Reality (VR) was one of the Smart Technologies that helped serve this wanderlust need when …

Effect Of Social Media Marketing On Online Retail Performance Of Konga Nigeria Ltd, Abubakar A. Adamu, Muhammed Yazeed, Mohammed A. Dantsoho, Jamilu Abdulkadir, Aliyu A. Gemu

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

In Nigeria, e-commerce companies treat estimated delivery dates with a lack of confidence, as some industry insiders suggested. In an already small and addressable market, potential customers can shop on international e-commerce platform alternatives far more conveniently than on local, fragmented ones. With a market unsuitable for e-commerce, underdeveloped digital payment services and poor logistics and shipping infrastructure have resulted in high operating costs. With that in mind, this study examines the effect of social media marketing on the online retail performance of Konga Nigeria Ltd. In this study, data was collected using a questionnaire technique and a sample size …

Ai As A Boost For Startups Companies: Evidence From Italy, Irene Di Bernardo, Marco Tregua, Greco Fabio, Ruggiero Andrea

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Innovative startups are growing everywhere; clearly, digital transformation is imperative for all businesses to compete, or better survive. Institutions prompt companies and businesses to adopt digital transformation tools, providing funds too, especially to startups (MISE, 2019).In particular, this study analyzes Artificial Intelligence, understanding its implications, ties and features in startups. No commonly agreed definitions are given about AI and startups, thus the tie between them should be deepened. One of the most cited definitions considers startup as a temporary organization looking for scalable business models (Blank, 2013). In literature little attention has been paid to the connection between startup and …

The Is Social Continuance Model: Using Conversational Agents To Support Co-Creation, Naif Alawi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the rise of Agentic IS Artifact and the increasing integration of this technology within organizations, our understanding of the impact of this technology on individuals remains limited. Although IS use literature provides important guidance for organization to increase employees’ willingness to work with new technology implementations, the utilitarian view of prior IS use limits its application in light of the new evolving social interaction between humans and Agentic IS Artifacts. To that end, we contribute to the IS use literature by implementing a social view to understand the impact of Agentic IS Artifacts on an individual’s perception and behavior. …

Water Regulation For Enhancing Soil Quality Using Cactus Mucilage: A Theoretical And Experimental Analysis, Khuloud Alrashdi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As water is one of the primary sources of life, it is essential in an endless number of systems and processes to be utilized efficiently in nature and in practical applications. One of these applications includes farming, which depletes a lot of water as the water irrigation systems cover large soil areas. While water is a critical factor in growing crops, a question here stands, can the irrigation process be transformed? This is the overarching goal of my work since it is centered on studying if cactus mucilage, a natural substance, is capable of improving water absorption processes on crops …

Riemann-Hilbert Problems For Nonlocal Reverse-Time Nonlinear Second-Order And Fourth-Order Akns Systems Of Multiple Components And Exact Soliton Solutions, Alle Adjiri

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

We first investigate the solvability of an integrable nonlinear nonlocal reverse-time six-component fourth-order AKNS system generated from a reduced coupled AKNS hierarchy under a reverse-time reduction. Riemann-Hilbert problems will be formulated by using the associated matrix spectral problems, and exact soliton solutions will be derived from the reflectionless case corresponding to an identity jump matrix. Secondly, we present the inverse scattering transform for solving a class of eight-component AKNS integrable equations obtained by a specific reduction associated with a block matrix spectral problem. The inverse scattering transform based on Riemann-Hilbert problems is presented along with a jump matrix taken to …

The Weekly Challenger, July 22, 2021, The Weekly Challenger, Et Al

Weekly Challenger Newspaper Collection

The July 22, 2021, issue of The Weekly Challenger.

Video-Based Intelligent Road Traffic Universal Analysis, Xiaopeng Li, Dongfang Zhao

USF Patents

Disclosed are various embodiments that extract vehicle trajectories from aerial videos. A vehicle track comprising pixel coordinate points is obtained. The pixel coordinate points are converted to relative coordinate points. At least one vehicle trajectory is extracted based at least in part on the vehicle track and the relative coordinate points. A lane structure is generated that is based on the at least one vehicle trajectory.

Measurement Apparatus Of Wavefront And Polarization Profile Of Vectorial Optical Fields, Zhimin Shi, Darrick Hay, Ziyi Zhu, Yiyu Zhou, Robert W. Boyd

USF Patents

An apparatus measures the transverse profile of vectorial optical field beams, including both the phase and the polarization spatial profile. The apparatus contains a polarization separation module, a weak perturbation module, and a detection module. Characterizing the transverse profile of vector fields provides an optical metrology tool for both fundamental studies of vectorial optical fields and a wide spectrum of applications, including microscopy, surveillance, imaging, communication, material processing, and laser trapping.

Learning From The Seed: Illuminating Black Girlhood In Sustainable Living Paradigms, Toni Powell Powell Young

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The contemporary image of sustainable living presents a culturally narrow view of its participants and the manner of engaging in sustainable living paradigms. Through crystallization (Ellingson, 2009) I present a mixed methods approach that emphasizes participant observation, visual, mediated, and discursive analyses, as well as demonstrates the efficacy of Culture Centered Black Feminist Auto/Ethnography. This project seeks to highlight and place within historical context, the ways in which African American girls, who are largely left out of the prevailing image of sustainability, perform and articulate sustainability for themselves, in their homes, and throughout their home communities.

In their everyday lives, …

Be Careful! That Is Probably Bullshit! Review Of Calling Bullshit: The Art Of Skepticism In A Data-Driven World By Carl T. Bergstrom And Jevin D. West, James B. Schreiber

Numeracy

Bergstrom, C. T., & West, J. D. 2021. Calling Bullshit: The Art of Skepticism in a Data-Driven World. NY: Random House. 336 pp. ISBN 978-0525509189

The authors provide a journey through the numerical bullshit that surrounds our daily lives. Each chapter has multiple examples of specific types of bullshit that each of us experience on any given day. Most importantly, information on how to identify bullshit and refute it are provided so that reader finishes the book with a set of skills to be a more engaged and critical interpreter of information. The writing has a quick and lively …

Considering What Counts: Claims About Nearly-Ubiquitous Social Problems, Joel Best

Numeracy

Press coverage of a recent survey suggests that sexual harassment is nearly ubiquitous in the UK. Thinking critically about claims of nearly-ubiquitous social problems requires: (1) asking how the statistic was produced; (2) considering questions of measurement; and (3) recognizing that the the most severe forms that social problems take tend to be much less common than less serious forms

The Weekly Challenger, July 8, 2021, The Weekly Challenger, Et Al

Weekly Challenger Newspaper Collection

The July 8, 2021, issue of The Weekly Challenger.

System And Method For A Secured Cloud File System, Vivek Kumar Singh, Kaushik Dutta, Balaji Padmanabhan, Shalini Sasidharan

USF Patents

A cloud security system and method designed to protect users' data in case of accidental leaks in a cloud computing environment. Secured hashing of the names of folders stored on the cloud data storage are generated and persisted using multiple iterations of cryptographic hash functions along with a concatenated random number for each of the folder names, thereby providing protection against vulnerability of the folder names. The proposed system is a dual-layer framework consisting of a control layer and a data layer. The control layer is responsible for cryptographic hashing and persistence of the folder name, hashed name, salt, and …

Bad Bunny’S Purplewashing As Gender Violence In Reggaeton: A Feminist Analysis Of Solo De Mi And Yo Perreo Sola, Dairíne Hoban

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bad Bunny has skyrocketed to fame in the past few years, gaining worldwide recognition as one of the best reggaetoneros of his time. His self-promoted image as an ally to women’s movements and the Queer community has garnered him the recognition of being a role model for youth and as an anomaly in the misogynistic genre of reggaeton. However, few have looked beyond the assertion of allyship to see if his work truly does support women and anti-gender violence ideology. While scholarship on reggaeton has well documented the prevalence of gender violence in the lyrics, videos and overall culture of …

Multidimensional Well-Being Across Time Scales In Caregivers And Non-Caregivers, Victoria R. Marino

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Contemporary research on informal caregiving recognizes that, though stressful, providing care for a disabled family member or friend can bring psychological benefits, such as increased meaning or purpose in life, growing closer to the care recipient, and learning new skills. Scales of eudaimonic well-being (EWB – e.g., meaning in life, personal growth, and positive relations with others) developed in positive psychology literature offer an innovative solution to incorporating caregiving benefits into between-groups comparisons of caregiver and non-caregiver well-being, which have typically focused on cross-sectional assessment of hedonic well-being (HWB – i.e., negative/positive affect and life satisfaction). Moreover, using daily using …

Healthcare Data Analytics For Predicting Health Outcomes Of Older Adults And Emergency Responses Of Aged Care Facilities, Nazmus Sakib

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The United States (US) is experiencing rapid growth in its older adult population, who may suffer from multiple chronic diseases, injuries, and impairments. To meet with the excess demand without compromising the quality of care for older adults, the current aged care systems, such as nursing home systems, will face unprecedented challenges of healthcare resource shortage with rising costs. Accurate prediction of health outcomes of individual older adults will facilitate the aged care professionals to better prioritize healthcare resources for the most at-risk individuals with more focused care and provide more proactive and individualized treatment and care delivery. In addition, …

School Nurses’ Attitudes And Perceptions Toward Supporting Students With Chronic Health Conditions In An Ecological System, Destiny L. Singleton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Chronic health conditions impact one in four school-aged youth (Van Cleave, Gortmaker, & Perrin, 2010). Supplemental to the medical challenges that students with chronic health conditions face, they also are at risk for a variety of academic, behavioral, and social-emotional adversities. Using an ecological approach for addressing the diverse needs of students with chronic health conditions has been deemed valuable due to the array of key stakeholders, institutions, policies, and cultural norms that impact the development of the pediatric population. A key stakeholder in supporting the functioning of school-aged children with chronic illnesses is the school nurse. School nurses’ skills …