Digital Commons Network^™

The Dynamics Of Black-Capped Chickadees At Bird Feeders, Herb Wilson

Bird Observer

No abstract provided.

Book Review: A Naturalist In New Guinea By Bruce M. Beehler, William E. Davis Jr.

Bird Observer

No abstract provided.

Sparrows And Weeds, John W. Andrews

Bird Observer

No abstract provided.

Nocturnal Birding, Neal C. Clark

Bird Observer

No abstract provided.

Reflections On Norton Reservoir -- Late Summer And Early Autumn 1977, John C. Kricher

Bird Observer

No abstract provided.

Community-Based Cultivation Of Medicinal Plants: Preserving Florida's Native Plants, Shayna Dimmer

USF St. Petersburg campus Honors Program Theses (Undergraduate)

This thesis explores the role of community-based cultivation of native medicinal plants as a strategy for promoting conservation, cultural awareness, and public health in Florida. Through a review of ethnobotanical literature and a hands-on case study conducted in a St. Petersburg community garden, the research documents the process of identifying, sourcing, propagating, and integrating two Florida native medicinal species, Passiflora incarnata (purple passionflower) and Callicarpa americana (American beautyberry), into a community setting. The study examines the historical and contemporary significance of medicinal plants, the challenges posed by overharvesting and habitat loss, and the growing need for sustainable cultivation practices. Findings …

The Social Determinants Of Health And Genocide: Towards A Public Health Integrated Framework Of Genocide And Mass Violence, Sian Persad, Cheng Xu

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This paper makes a normative argument about transformations of public health as a necessary condition required in any transitional justice process. We seek to bridge the gap between the fields of genocide and public health to understand the recursive relationship between genocide and the social determinants of health. We show that structures and institutions established during genocide create enduring impacts on the public health outcomes of victim and survivor groups even after the ousting of the original perpetrators. Our comparative analysis of the Rwandan Genocide and the colonial genocide of Indigenous communities in Canada surveys the available public health literature …

January 2014 Botteri's Sparrow Surveys, With Winter Habitat Considerations, Alan Schmierer

Arizona Birds

No abstract provided.

Feasibility And Acceptability Of A Dance Fundamental Movement Skill Intervention For Symptoms Of Depression And Anxiety In Children, Juanita Patterson-Price

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Anxiety and depression are highly prevalent mental health conditions in children. Rates of both disorders are rising, surpassing the capacity of available treatment services (albertapatients, 2022; Edwardson, 2022; Statistics Canada, 2020). Lack of treatment can often result in worsening of symptoms towards serious long-term effects (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2023). Additional treatment supports must be made available. The goal of this doctoral research is to examine the feasibility and acceptability of genre-inclusive dance as a psychosocial intervention for anxiety and depression in children. The first manuscript of this doctoral work shares lessons learned in a program evaluation using …

Multi-Model Digital Twins With Ai Forecasting For Seed To Stand Supply Chain, Rania Sherif Elashmawy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present dissertation embodies a multi-faceted investigation aimed at enhancing strawberry production pre-harvest and post-harvest quality through data-driven approaches. It unfolds multi-stages framework.

The first stage presents a complete data collection and its preliminary statistical analysis obtained from the first phase of a large-scale soil study on how to improve strawberry production and achieve sustainable and high-quality harvests through sensor-assisted real-time field monitoring. Six real-time loggers were placed in an operational commercial strawberry farm in Central Florida for the entirety of a harvest season from soil preparation to planting to harvesting. Along with high-resolution soil sensory measurements including water content, …

Employing The Use Of Molecular Dynamics To Explore Protein Stability And Optimize Free Energy Protocols, Taylor A. Rodman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Molecular dynamics (MD) is a powerful technique that can be used to provide informationabout a system over time. MD simulations can be used to explore behaviors of many systems such as protein-ligand interactions protein-protein interactions. Additionally, these simulations can be used to generate trajectories of a system to further be used for free energy simulations. The work discussed in Chapter 2 involves the use MD simulations to identify potential drug candidates capable of binding to and stabilizing the nuclear binding domain of the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator protein. Using ProBiS, we were able to find a potential binding site …

Small Molecule Inhibitors Targeting Clostridioides Difficile Sporulation, Yu Chen, Michael Sacco, James Leahy, Elena Bray, Xingmin Sun, Xiujun Zhang

USF Patents

Disclosed herein are compounds that can prevent and treat C. difficile by inhibiting sporulation. Also disclosed herein are compositions and formulations comprising the compound disclosed herein. Methods of preventing and treating C. difficile comprising administering the compounds described herein are also disclosed.

Synthetic Studies Of Potential New Ketogenic Molecules, Mohammad Nazmus Sakib

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The ketogenic diet has gained popularity in the past few decades among people and physicians due to its various health benefits. A significant amount of research has been done for the modification of the original ketogenic diet and investigation of its potential health benefits. However, synthesis of novel ketogenic compounds as a dietary supplement has not received the same level of attention. That is the primary objective of this research project. The first chapter of this manuscript describes the synthesis of various short and medium chain esters of different polyols that have been done so far, and areas of their …

Psychological Distress, Resilience, And The Impact On Quality Of Life In Breast Cancer Survivors With Taxane-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy, Lauren Schwab

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation study was to longitudinally examine psychological distress (depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms), resilience, and the impact on quality of life (QOL) in breast cancer survivors (BCS) with taxane-induced peripheral neuropathy (TIPN). The specific aims were 1) to describe psychological distress (depressive and anxiety symptoms) in BCS with TIPN and the impact on QOL using a scoping review; 2) to determine the relationship between psychological distress, QOL, and resilience in BCS with TIPN over time in a 16-week randomized controlled trial (RCT); and 3) to determine if resilience moderates psychological distress and QOL in BCS with …

Learning After Retirement: The Stories Of Three Chinese Senior Citizens, Yanan Li

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

China, with its vast population, has qualified as an aging society. As a response to this, education and learning have become an important means of improving the quality of life for older people in China. The primary objective of this study is to uncover what stimulates three older Chinese individuals to engage in learning activities by exploring their personal stories. The two research questions guiding the study are: (a) How do three senior Chinese citizens describe their life and learning experiences? and, (b) What factors motivate and influence these three senior Chinese citizens to participate in learning activities? In this …

Big Data Analytics For Healthcare Social Media: New Algorithms And Insights, Negar Maleki

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over the last two decades, there has been a rapid evolution in information and communication technology, including the emergence of social media. Social media has a significant impact on various fields such as politics, business, culture, education, careers, innovation, and especially healthcare. This influence is not a new phenomenon since a survey from ten years ago showed that up to 78\% of American adults used the internet to look for health-related information for themselves or someone else. With the shift towards on-demand services in society, healthcare is also affected by this trend. Instead of waiting for weeks or months to …

Metabolic Therapy For Wound Healing, Dominic Paul D'Agostino, Shannon Kesl

USF Patents

Ketone supplementation, such as through use of precursors of beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) and acetoacetate (AcAc), increased blood levels of ketone bodies, increases blood flow and wound closure in ischemic young and aged fisher rats significantly earlier compared to standard diet in aged rats. In vitro experiments with ketone bodies demonstrate decreased mitochondrial and cytosolic ROS in young and aged primary human dermal fibroblasts (PHDF). Ketone bodies increased migration in young and aged PHDFs.

Advancing Equity And Congestion Relief: An Investigation Of On-Demand Shared Rides For Underserved Populations, Ipek Nese Sener, Austin Sibu, Audrey Cabay

Research Reports

Transportation network companies (TNCs) and microtransit are changing the way people travel by providing dynamic, on-demand mobility that can supplement public transit and personal vehicle use. However, heavy use of such motorized vehicles among all sociodemographic populations could contribute to increased vehicle miles traveled, congestion, and/or greenhouse gas emissions. To balance the objectives of increasing mobility and access for underserved communities while simultaneously mitigating the potential adverse impacts of increased motor vehicle use, well-designed policy strategies, such as pooling and first-mile/last-mile linkages, are needed. In this study, we applied a mixed-method approach to examine on-demand transportation services for underserved populations …

“I Was Doing The Best With What I Had”: Exploring Student Veterans’ Experiences With Community Reintegration, Food Insecurity, And Health Challenges, Jacquelyn N. Heuer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Food insecurity is a concern for many populations, including college students and military veterans. The impacts of food insecurity on student veterans are understudied, especially in relation to community reintegration and health. Employing the theoretical frameworks of structural violence and embodiment, this dissertation explores how community reintegration, food insecurity, diet quality, and health interact and influence one another among post-9/11 student veterans in Florida. In doing so, this dissertation considers how the experiences of student veterans are shaped by social inequities (i.e., structural violence) and how these experiences become embodied, thereby shaping student veterans’ health outcomes.

Utilizing findings from surveys …

A Gis Workflow For Analyzing Spatiotemporal Variance In Food Pantry Access: A Case Study For Hillsborough County, Florida, Molly J. Darby

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Researchers often use geographic information systems (GIS) to measure accessibility to food pantries, but the impact operating hours have on accessibility remains understudied. Unlike grocery stores or healthcare facilities, food pantries have irregular distribution schedules, therefore, measuring geographic accessibility alone potentially creates an inaccurate or inflated representation of access. This study proposes a GIS workflow for analyzing food pantry accessibility over space and time by considering hours of operation and location, allowing researchers to examine when and where access to food assistance is most limited over the span of a typical week. The method was applied to Hillsborough County, Florida …

Regulated Intramembrane Proteolysis By M82 Peptidases: The Role Of Prss In The Staphylococcus Aureus Stress Response, Baylie M. Schott

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Staphylococcus aureus is a major threat to human health, which is only exacerbated by its resistance to methicillin and other frontline antibiotics. Consequently, annual hospitalizations resulting from methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) have been recorded in the hundreds of thousands for decades. However, the global impact of this opportunistic pathogen cannot solely be attributed to its antibiotic resistance, as S. aureus is also an expert at adapting to host conditions and responding to external stress. Here we attempt to gain a better understanding of a S. aureus factor that aids in circumventing such external insult - PrsS - a membrane protease …

Entanglements Of Teenage Food Security Within High School Pantries In Pinellas County, Florida, Karen T. Díaz Serrano

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Food insecurity has the ability to shape an individual’s or a family’s everyday life and take emotional, psychological, and physical tolls. Among adolescents, not having access to nutritious food could lead to physical effects during growth and development. Moreover, the stress and anxiety of not knowing where their next meal is coming from and the social stigma associated with being food insecure can have negative effects on mental health. A recent solution to these issues is locating food pantries in high schools. Purpose: This exploratory study examined how high school students in Pinellas County, Florida perceive the use of a …

Lung Microbiome Isolation And Cultivation, Andreas Seyfang, Nirmal S. Sharma

USF Patents

Disclosed herein is a method to isolate and cultivate the lung microbiome obtained from bronchoalveolar lavage. The disclosed method involves lung microbiome culturomics based on three different media for both aerobic and fastidious anaerobic bacteria. The disclosed method allows for amplification of the lung microbiome, which can be used, for example, for subsequent testing of antibiotic sensitivity, drug resistance, or for lung microbiome transplantation.

Exogenous Ketone Supplements For Reducing Anxiety-Related Behavior, Csilla Ari D'Agostino, Dominic Paul D'Agostino

USF Patents

Methods of treating anxiety disorders or reducing anxiety-related behaviors. The methods include administering a therapeutically effective amount of ketone supplementation, such as butanediol, ketone esters (e.g., 1,3-butanediol-acetoacetate diester) and/or ketone salts (e.g., beta-hydroxybutyrate-mineral salt), chronically, sub-chronically, or acutely, with or without admixture with a medium chain triglyceride or in combination. It was determined herein that ketone supplementation reduced anxiety in rats on elevated plus maze as measured by less entries to closed arms, more time spent in open arms, more distance travelled in open arms, and delayed latency to entrance to closed arms, when compared to control. Along with reducing …

Galloylated Procyanidins For Treating Endovascular Dysfunction And Increasing Blood Flow, Michael Louis Sperduti, Matthew Cleary Nickerson, Jimmy Roy Huddleston, Leigh Anthony West

USF Patents

The present disclosure is directed to compositions, methods of use, and methods of making, wherein the compositions contain one or more galloylated procyanidins having between two and five epicatechin monomers, wherein the one or more galloylated procyanidins include epicatechin-(4-8)-epicatechin-(4-8)-epicatechin-gallate, catechin trimer gallate, catechin dimer digallate, or combinations thereof.

Host Communities: The Foundation Of Regenerative Tourism, Marie Haley

Journal of Sustainability and Resilience

Tourism is a human structure and cannot be equated to natural systems such as farming. While regenerative farming focuses on the health of the natural system starting with the soil, tourism is a human system and must focus on regenerating the human system. This paper argues that the foundation of tourism is the host community. If the host community is vibrant and healthy, dynamic and resilient and has appropriate political systems to manage tourism, tourism will have the social licence and will thrive. Tourism can then have upwardly cascading feedback mechanisms where the host community can restore the natural environment, …

Evaluating Children's Menus In Theme Park Restaurants, Maria Fusté Forné

Journal of Sustainability and Resilience

Children who travel with their families eat in restaurants that usually offer special kid’s menus. The quality of those menus is often questioned and in the present context where children’s obesity and overweight are increasing, it is relevant to pay attention to the different environments where children eat. The present paper wants to analyse if specific restaurants menus in one of the most relevant theme park are healthy or unhealthy. Using a validated instrument to evaluate kids’ menu, restaurants in Disney Village (Disneyland Paris) are analysed. Results show that half of them are unhealthy and none of them are completely …

Online Gastronomy Image: Content Analysis Of Tripadvisor Reviews Of Restaurants In Istanbul, Rana Sat

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Nowadays, where technology forms a large part of our lives, with the increase of comment sites, consumers benefit from these comment pages at the stage of purchasing decision. In this way, they get information about the destination region by reading more reviews or sharing their experiences in the social environment. Evaluations on social networking sites affect individuals’ decision-making and purchasing behaviors, as well as positively or negatively in the mentioned restaurants. Based on this situation, user comments on restaurants in Istanbul on TripAdvisor.com were analyzed in this study. For this purpose, 17921 user comments made in various languages between 01.10.2022 …

Role Of Short Interspersed Nuclear Elements (Sines) Of Maternally Imprinted Microrna Clusters In Hemochorial Placental Antiviral Immunity, Ishani Wickramage

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The evolution of hemochorial placentas in which the fetal trophoblast is bathed in maternal blood has vastly improved fetal development and survival in primates and rodents, due to the enhanced efficiency of nutrient, gas and waste exchange between the mother and the fetus. However, the extensive contact between the fetal tissues and maternal blood in these placentas also poses an increased risk of vertical transmission of pathogens such as viruses from the mother to the fetus. In response to this selection pressure, hemochorial placentas have evolved robust defense mechanisms to protect the immunologically naive fetus. Unlike somatic cells that require …

Exposure Characteristics Of Environmental Chemicals By Life Stages, Nisha Vijayakumar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Environmental chemicals are ubiquitous and can contribute to human exposure. These exposures can result in long-term health consequences if they occur in early life. However, exposures to environmental chemicals are not evenly distributed throughout childhood. As a result, there exists variation in the levels of chemical exposure depending on the developmental stages, pathways of exposure, and broader systemic factors. However, in early life, limited research exists on exposures to environmental chemicals, particularly phthalates, pesticides, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In addition, environmental exposures to phthalates, pesticides, and PAHs, considering life stages, have not been fully explored. Hence it is imperative …