Digital Commons Network^™

Diagnostic Divisions Of Eating Disorders: A Critical Analysis, Channah A. Leff

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this thesis is to critically examine the diagnostic divisions of eating disorders as proposed within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). I focus on Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, Binge Eating Disorder, and Other Specified Feeding or Eating Disorder (OSFED), although there were several new categories issued in 2013. Using person-centered ethnographic interviews, focus groups, participant observation, and autoethnography, I collected qualitative data to highlight how disordered eaters perceive themselves and their behaviors in relation to their diagnoses. I recruited participants in Boston, MA from Eating Disorders Anonymous (EDA), a decentralized network of support groups …

Validation Of The Electronic Kids Dietary Index (E-Kindex) Screening Tool For Early Identification Of Risk For Overweight/Obesity (Ow/Ob) In A Pediatric Population: Associations With Quality Of Life Perceptions, Patricia A. Hall

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite a worsening obesity epidemic and despite the American Medical Association (AMA) declaring Obesity a disease (2013), few assessment tools exist that assist practitioners who are charged with identifying risk for development of OW/OB in children. The Center for Health Statistics (2017) reported a 40% rate in obesity in the adult population and 18.5% in children in the U.S. Successful weight loss maintenance after 1 to 2 years of non-invasive treatment is less than 1%, indicating obesity is nearly incurable, making prevention imperative. Assessing risk for OW/OB in children has proven difficult given the lack of validated tools. The purposes …

Species-Specific Metabolism Of Naphthalene And Phenanthrene In 3 Species Of Marine Teleosts Exposed To Deepwater Horizon Crude Oil, Erin Pulster, Kevan Main, Dana Wetzel, Steven Murawski

C-IMAGE Publications

The 2 most abundant polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) measured in Deepwater Horizon crude oil, naphthalene and phenanthrene, and their associated homologs have both been shown to be acutely toxic in fish. Although fish have a relatively high metabolic capacity for PAHs, hydroxylated PAH (OH-PAH) derivatives formed during the initial metabolic response can negatively impact the health of fish. Species-specific metabolism of naphthalene and phenanthrene was evaluated in 3 marine teleosts, red drum (Scianops ocellatus), Florida pompano (Trachinotus carolinus), and southern flounder (Paralichthys lethostigma). Fish were exposed to Deepwater Horizon crude oil by intraperitoneal injections at time 0 and 48 h, …

Framing Genetically-Modified Foods Communication In China: A Content Analysis Of News Coverage Of People’S Daily And Southern Metropolis, Linqi Lu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Grounded in framing theory, this thesis presents a qualitative content analysis of newspaper coverage of genetically modified foods by two Chinese newspapers- People’s Daily and Southern Metropolis, in 2000-2017. The political, economic, public opinion and legal implications involved have made the reports of genetically modified (GM) foods present different framing, themes, and positions between People’s Daily and Southern Metropolis. This study aims to examine the various frames used in the coverage of GM foods in two major Chinese newspapers that operate within different media frameworks.

Results of the content analysis illustrated that significant differences existed in the newspapers in …

Exploring The Facilitators And Barriers Of Cognitive Engagement Among Ninth Grade Students In Accelerated Curricula, Kai Zhuang Shum

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cognitive engagement has been linked to positive outcomes such as academic achievement (Eccles & Wang, 2012). However, students’ level of cognitive engagement tend to decline as students move into middle childhood and adolescence (Archambault, Janosz, Morizot, & Pagani, 2009; Wang & Eccles, 2012a; Wiley & Hodgen, 2012). In addition, two out of three high school students nationwide reported feeling bored at school because the academic tasks are not interesting or relevant (Yazzie-Mintz, 2006). In regard to this matter, researchers have examined factors that relate to cognitive engagement. Most of the existing research is quantitative in nature and only involves students …

Identifying New Treatment Options And Risk Factors For Type 2 Diabetes: The Potential Role Of Thymoquinone And Persistent Organic Pollutants, Shpetim Karandrea

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is a metabolic disorder characterized by chronic hyperglycemia, which develops as a consequence of peripheral insulin resistance and defective insulin secretion from pancreatic β-cells. A high calorie diet coupled with physical inactivity are known risk factors for the development of T2DM; however, these alone fail to account for the rapid rise of the disease. Recent attention has turned to the role of environmental pollutants in the development of metabolic diseases. PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers) are environmental pollutants that have been linked to the development of type 2 diabetes (T2D), however, the precise mechanisms are not …

An Evaluation Of The Water Lifting Limit Of A Manually Operated Suction Pump: Model Estimation And Laboratory Assessment, Katherine C. Marshall

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With 663 million people still without access to an improved drinking water source, there is no room for complacency in the pursuit of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 6.1: “universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all” by 2030 (WHO, 2017). All of the current efforts related to water supply service delivery will require continued enthusiasm in diligent implementation and thoughtful evaluation. This cannot be over-emphasized in relation to rural inhabitants of low-income countries (LICs), as they represent the largest percentage of those still reliant on unimproved drinking water sources. In that lies the motivation and …

A Study On The Efficacy Of The Medicare Bundled Payments For Care Improvement Initiative At A Large Community Hospital In The Southeast United States, Elizabeth E. Kerns

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 2013, Medicare launched the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) Initiative which linked payments for multiple services for a complete episode of patient care. With this innovative reimbursement model, hospitals accepted fixed target payments for certain types of clinical diagnoses that were intended to support better care coordination and better outcomes for patients at lower cost to Medicare. This was one of many programs aimed at addressing the serious challenges facing United States healthcare, including costs that are skyrocketing to unsustainable levels and lack of coordination of care across venues.

Preliminary Medicare results showed that bundled payments might lead …

The Weekly Challenger, October 12, 2017, The Weekly Challenger, Et Al

Weekly Challenger Newspaper Collection

The October 12, 2017, issue of The Weekly Challenger.

Crow's Nest, October 9, 2017, Crow's Nest Staff

Crow's Nest

The October 9, 2017, issue of the Crow's Nest.

Microfluidic Biopsy Trapping Device For The Real-Time Monitoring Of The Tumor Microenvironment, Angela Holton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The tumor microenvironment is composed of cellular and stromal components such as tumor cells, mesenchymal cells, immune cells, cancer associated fibroblasts and the supporting extracellular matrix. The tumor microenvironment provides crucial support for growth and progression of tumor cells and affects tumor response to therapeutic interventions. To better understand tumor biology and to develop effective cancer therapeutic agents it is important to develop preclinical platforms that can faithfully recapitulate the tumor microenvironment and the complex interaction between the tumor and its surrounding stromal elements. Drug studies performed in vitro with conventional two-dimensional cancer cell line models do not optimally represent …

Obesity And Cardiometabolic Defects In Heart Failure Pathology, Ganesh V. Halade, Vasundhara Kain

Internal Medicine Faculty Publications

Obesity is a major global epidemic that sets the stage for diverse multiple pathologies, including cardiovascular disease. The obesity-related low-grade chronic inflamed milieu is more pronounced in aging and responsive to cardiac dysfunction in heart failure pathology. Metabolic dysregulation of obesity integrates with immune reservoir in spleen and kidney network. Therefore, an integrative systems biology approach is necessary to delay progressive cardiac alternations. The purpose of this comprehensive review is to largely discuss the impact of obesity on the cardiovascular pathobiology in the context of problems and challenges, with major emphasis on the diversified models, and to study cardiac remodeling …

The Relationship Between Chronic Health Conditions And Health Literacy, Resiliency And Support/Self-Advocacy In Youth, Mercedes N. Cambric

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over the past several decades the number of youth living with a chronic health condition has drastically increased. A chronic health condition can be defined as an illness that lasts three months or more that can be controlled but not cured (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2010). Although there is existing literature on youth with chronic health conditions, there are very few studies that examine the levels of health literacy, resiliency and support/advocacy within this population. The current study is a secondary analysis that utilized data collected from the 37-item Youth Health Literacy and Resiliency Scale (HLRS-Y version) …

Role Of Viruses Within Metaorganisms: Ciona Intestinalis As A Model System, Brittany A. Leigh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Marine animals live and thrive in a literal sea of microorganisms, yet are often able to maintain specific associations that are largely dictated by the environment, host immunity and microbial interactions. Animal-associated microbiomes include bacteria and viruses that vastly outnumber host cells, especially in the gut environment, and are considered to be integral parts of healthy, functioning animals that act as a metaorganism. However, the processes underlying the initial establishment of these microbial communities are not very well understood. This dissertation focuses on the establishment of a well-known developmental animal model, Ciona intestinalis (sea squirt), to study the establishment and …

Wellness Center Receives Accreditation For Counseling, September 5, 2017, University Of South Florida St. Petersburg Office Of University Advancement.

USF St. Petersburg Campus News and Press Releases

No abstract provided.

Agenda And Reports, Juvenile Welfare Board, September 5, 2017, Juvenile Welfare Board Of Pinellas County

Juvenile Welfare Board Agendas, Minutes, and Historical Audits

Agenda for the September 5, 2017, meeting of the Juvenile Welfare Board. Also included are previous meeting minutes and reports to review before the meeting.

Outdoor Enthusiasts’ Perspectives On Livestock Animal Treatment, Elizabeth S. Byrd, Nicole Olynk J. Widmar

Journal of Global Business Insights

Demand for pork chops and chicken breasts were analyzed using best-worst scaling and consumer choice experiments. Outdoor enthusiasts (who regularly hunt, fish, or participate in outdoor activities), which represent a unique consumer group with respect to livestock animal welfare, were surveyed with respect to meat purchasing attributes. Six meat attributes were analyzed for relative levels of preferences with safety having the largest share. Nutrition and taste were more important to outdoor enthusiasts than a representative sample of U.S. residents. Positive and significant mean willingness to pay estimates were obtained with the exception of locally produced pork chops. Outdoor enthusiasts were …

Agenda And Reports, Workshop, Juvenile Welfare Board, August 22, 2017, Juvenile Welfare Board Of Pinellas County

Juvenile Welfare Board Agendas, Minutes, and Historical Audits

Agenda for the August 22, 2017, workshop for the Juvenile Welfare Board. Also included are reports that will be used during the workshop.

The Weekly Challenger, August 10, 2017, The Weekly Challenger, Et Al

Weekly Challenger Newspaper Collection

The August 10, 2017, issue of The Weekly Challenger.

White-Nose Syndrome Pathology Grading In Nearctic And Palearctic Bats, Jiri Pikula, Sybill K. Amelon, Hana Bandouchova, Tomáš Bartonička, Hana Berkova, Jiri Brichta, Sarah Hooper, Tomasz Kokurewicz, Miroslav Kolarik, Bernd Köllner, Veronika Kovacova, Petr Linhart, Vladimir Piacek, Gregory G. Turner, Jan Zukal, Natália Martínková

KIP Articles

No abstract provided.

The Weekly Challenger, July 20, 2017, The Weekly Challenger, Et Al

Weekly Challenger Newspaper Collection

The July 20, 2017, issue of The Weekly Challenger.

Clinician Numeracy: Use Of The Medical Interpretation And Numeracy Test In Foundation Trainee Doctors, Anne A. Taylor, Lucie M. Byrne-Davis

Numeracy

Patient safety is a priority in healthcare today. Good clinician numeracy in doctors contributes to patient safety, since it is essential for accuracy in prescribing, and in data interpretation. Evidence, however, suggests that although doctors are assumed to be highly numerate, they often make errors in drug dose calculation and struggle to interpret medical statistics. Having developed a new assessment measure, the Medical Interpretation and Numeracy Test (MINT), we describe its use to evaluate clinician numeracy in 135 recently qualified doctors in the UK ("foundation trainees," i.e., in their first two years post-graduation). The maximum possible test score was 43; …

Distribution Of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers Among Demographic Categories, Giorvanni Merilis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) are flame retardants widely used within the United States in various products such as plastics, electronics, textiles and furniture. With an increase in production and usage, PBDEs have recently emerged as a contaminant of concern. Due to their chemical structure, PBDEs have the propensity to bioaccumulate in mammals. In fact, elevated PBDE concentrations have been recorded in human breast milk. Due to the potential widespread exposure to PBDEs, this study investigates human blood concentrations of PBDEs generated through the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Through the use of statistical modeling, a comparison of mean …

The Weekly Challenger, July 6, 2017, The Weekly Challenger, Et Al

Weekly Challenger Newspaper Collection

The July 6, 2017, issue of The Weekly Challenger.

A Program Evaluation Of A Worksite Wellness Initiative For Weight Loss, Nicholas Martinez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to conduct a program evaluation of ACME’s worksite weight loss initiative and collect evidence relative to the efficacy of the program. An anonymous online survey was administered to participants of the weight loss initiative. The survey was designed to gather information relative to the research questions, which explored the initiative’s barriers to participation, alignment of initiative with the goals of participants, utilization of initiative resources, overall strengths, weaknesses, and areas of improvement for the weight loss initiative, as well as the respondents’ general profile for the six dimensions of wellness. Reporting of data included …

Beyond Age And Stage: Consequences Of Individual Variation In Demographic Traits, Erin Elizabeth Feichtinger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Within natural populations, individuals vary in their propensity to grow, survive and produce offspring. Additionally, fates of individuals are often correlated and non-independent as a result of shared genes, rearing environment or both. Variation in demographic traits can change population dynamics over time. The effects of variation in individual growth rate on population growth rate, net reproductive rate and generation time are examined, along with quantifying the sources of variation in survival of a long-lived cooperatively breeding bird, the Florida Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens). I built a 2 stage population model with two growth phenotypes, fast and slow, and …

Health Literacy, Depression, Anxiety, And Posttraumatic Stress Disorder As Predictors Of Biological Markers Of Immune Functioning In Youth And Young Adults With Hiv, Courtney A. Lynn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a virus that affects the body’s immune system (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2016a). HIV is a worldwide epidemic and disproportionately impacts youth in the United States. Youth living with HIV (YLWH) face significant mental health problems, namely depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with rates of these disorders discrepant from those in the general population. In addition to psychological difficulties, health literacy is another factor that influences individuals with HIV and is a priority of research with adolescents (Kalichman et al., 2000; Manganello, 2008). The National HIV/AIDS Strategy: Update 2020 (White House Office …

Essays In Health Economics, Olga Petrova

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over the past two decades, a growing body of literature within health economics has provided evidence of the impact of fetal conditions on individual’s health and economic outcomes over the entire life course. This dissertation contributes to the field of health economics by investigating the effects of two distinct types of public policies, antimalarial interventions in sub-Saharan Africa and medical marijuana laws in the United States, on early-life health.

Chapter 1 adds to the increased understanding of the impact of in utero exposure to large-scale interventions to combat endemic diseases by examining the effects of antimalarial interventions aimed at preventing …

Investigating Students’ Basic Needs And Motivation In College Chemistry Courses With The Lens Of Self-Determination Theory, Yujuan Liu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

More graduates in science, technology, engineering, and mathmetics (STEM) fields are needed to keep our nation’s preeminance in the global fields of technology and science. However, fewer than 40% of students who intend to major in STEM fields when entering college complete a STEM degree. Therefore, it is important to explore factors to improve student persistence in STEM fields at the college level as well as to understand the interrelationship between student motivation, academic achievement, and persistence. Motivation is strongly associated with student achievement and persistence; meanwhile, academic achievement can also affect persistence. Self-determination theory (SDT) represents a framework of …

Parent Perceptions Of Treatment Effectiveness And Attendance Rates In A Behavioral Parent Training Program: Do They Predict Treatment Outcomes For Children?, Natalie A. Hofmann Leedy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Young children who display disruptive behaviors are at risk for negative outcomes in later development such as school dropout, early pregnancy, and unemployment (Bradshaw, Schaeffer, Petras, & Ialongo, 2010). For this reason, it is imperative parents of children with disruptive behaviors seek early intervention to reduce problem behaviors and prevent negative effects (Breitenstein, Hill, & Gross, 2009). Parent behavioral training interventions are effective for reducing problem behaviors in young children. Attrition from parent training interventions, however, is a common problem that reduces positive outcomes for children with challenging behaviors (Kazdin, Holland, & Crowley, 1997; Prinz & Miller, 1994). Barriers to …