Digital Commons Network^™

The World Bank's New Approach To Human Capital Model And Education, Ozlem Kucuk, Cihan Cobanoglu

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

The human capital approach, introduced in 1960, has been used by economists to establish connections between education, skills, and personal income. It resulted in a redistribution of public expenditure by viewing education not only as a cost but also as an economic input, a way to increase revenue in the medium and long term. Human capital theory highlights the crucial role of education in the economy. With the rise of the knowledge society, scientists have debated the potential end of poverty, inequality, and social exclusion. They envisioned a new knowledge economy and a more egalitarian society. The significant increase in …

Training In Ecological Thinking: Narrative Practices For Educational Professional, Cristina Trovato

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Since the 1970s, the issue of environmental education has assumed relevance in the context of a theory of training towards new forms of sustainability education. Literary ecology, a discipline born from the contamination of ecology and literature, proposes itself as a critical response to environmental distress, enhancing the implicit dialogue and interconnections between the text and the circumstances of the environment. The literary heritage constitutes a precious resource for promoting, in educational contexts from early childhood, dimensions that range from the cognitive to the emotional and for activating sustainable processes, through ecological paths that develop a civic conscience, capable of …

Γ -Aapeptides Targeting Amyloid-Β Pathway And Neural Repair For Alzheimer’S Disease Treatment, Ning Shen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the accumulation of amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques and progressive neuronal degeneration. Despite extensive research, no treatments have been able to effectively halt or reverse the progression of the disease. This study aimed to evaluate the therapeutic potential of two novel γ-AApeptides, HW-C9 and 125-6b, in AD treatment, assessing both their individual and combined effects. HW-C9 was designed to inhibit Aβ aggregation, while 125-6b was developed to promote neuronal growth and repair. Initially, the therapeutic effects of HW-C9 and 125-6b were assessed both in vitro and in vivo. The results showed that HW-C9 …

Reflections On The Teacher Evaluation Process: Experiences Told By K-12 Teachers, Trinicia S. Murphy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In education, it is essential for stakeholders like district leaders, teachers, and government officials to collaborate and create a plan of action that would support K-12 instruction. Collaborations as such have been used for decades by policymakers and researchers to express philosophies, values, and beliefs about education to make improvements and/or push for change. Therefore, the educational system will continue to evolve with current and upcoming research findings. For example, evaluating teachers effectively has been one of the most controversial topics in education. According to Boyd (1989), teacher evaluations were constructed to measure teachers’ competences and promote professional development. Today, …

Hurricane Evacuation: Navigating Uncertainty During Covid 19 And With Existing Communication Scales, And Considering Public And Expert Perception Of Alternative Scales, Leilani D. Paxton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the effectiveness of current hurricane warning products and communication strategies, exploring factors influencing public perception of risk and decision-making during evacuations. The study employs a mixed-methods approach, combining survey data, focus group discussions, and interviews with meteorologists and emergency managers. The first paper examines the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hurricane risk perception and evacuation decisions. Findings indicate that while COVID-19 concerns played a role in some individuals' decisions, particularly those with pets or concerns about shelter conditions, the majority of participants evacuated for Hurricane Ian. The study highlights the importance of providing clear, consistent, and …

Towards An International, Generalizable Marketing Strategy Maturity Model, Juan Manuel Harraca

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In an increasingly dynamic business environment, organizations face relentless pressure to adapt their strategies and optimize value propositions to maintain competitiveness. The formulation of effective marketing strategies has emerged as a critical factor in achieving sustainable competitive advantage and ensuring long-term success. However, many firms struggle to refine their marketing capabilities in response to evolving market demands. Addressing this challenge, the Marketing Strategy Maturity Model (MSMM), introduced by Harraca in 2023, offers a structured framework to assess and improve a firm’s marketing strategy formulation processes.

The MSMM provides a dual approach, emphasizing the enhancement of both the processes and the …

Moral Of The Story: Secondary Language Arts Teachers’ Perceptions Of Students’ Moral Intelligence, Sadia Fauzia Zaman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The literature review reveals a gap in secondary English Language Arts (ELA) teachers’ perception of students’ moral intelligence (MI). While many character education studies examine the student perspective, this study contributes to the limited research on secondary ELA teachers’ perceptions of students’ moral intelligence and how it can be cultivated. This dissertation addresses that gap by collecting and analyzing ELA teachers’ lived experiences and perceptions of students’ MI, as well as exploring how ELA teachers and schools can support students’ moral development by integrating moral and ethical topics into instructional practices. This qualitative study used narrative inquiry to gather interview …

Auction-Based Tolling Systems: Addressing Behavioral Economics And Social Equity Concerns, Tung Huy Vo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The value of time (VOT), or willingness to pay (WTP) to reduce travel time in the context of transportation, is not homogeneous across all road users. Everyone has their own unique VOT and may have multiple values for the VOT associated with factors such as the time of day or the trip purpose. However, the traditional distance-based, time-based, or demand-based congestion pricing methods cannot reflect the true WTP for the use of tolled facilities of the road users. Recent studies have explored and proposed an innovative congestion pricing scheme that integrates auction mechanisms into tolling systems, known as auction-based tolling …

Navigating Critical Incidents As Black Women Assistant Principals In Title I Charter Schools: A Narrative Inquiry, Marsha T. Henry-Lewis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The racial discipline gap and the school-to-prison persist despite contemporary discourse, legislation and trending best practices implemented to reduce exclusionary discipline and its related consequences. However, school leaders are often faced with critical school discipline events, that based on predetermined consequences, end with students being excluded from school. For my study, critical incidents needed not be major incidents, but they hold some level of significance in the lives of those involved. This study examined how Black women assistant principals experienced critical school discipline incidents while they worked in Title I charters schools in Florida. Narratives were captured during individual interviews …

Molecular Mechanisms Governing Osteosarcoma Pulmonary Metastasis, Niveditha Nerlakanti

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Osteosarcoma (OS) is a bone cancer that commonly metastasizes to the lung. Despite advances in the development of targeted therapies for treating solid malignancies, broad-acting chemotherapies remain the first line of treatment for OS. In assaying the efficacy of approved therapeutics for non-OS malignancies, we identified the histone deacetylase 1 and 2 (HDAC1 and 2) inhibitor, romidepsin, as effective for treating established lung metastatic OS. However, romidepsin has noted toxicities in humans, thus we aimed to define the primary mechanisms through which HDAC1/2 mediates OS progression to identify more selective druggable targets/pathways. Microarray and proteomic analyses of romidepsin-treated OS cells …

Beyond The Mask: Veterans Challenging The Strong Black Woman Trope In Their Journey To Heal In The South, Meya J. Hemphill-Hodges

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to emphasize notions of citizenship and accessibility as experienced by Black women Veterans. By expanding our worldview of Veteran identity, the ethnographic data demonstrate issues of displacement, alienation, and longing that contribute to the dissonance Black women Veterans rooted in the U.S. South may experience. To forge belonging through place-making, Black women Veterans may seek sisterhood by building sites of resistance in person or online. Findings are based on in-depth interviews with Black women Veterans and participant observation with community partners who service Veteran needs. Black women Veterans construct their identities often in oppressive …

New Ichnofossil Discovery In Mallorcan Caves: Linking Ancient And Moden Bat-Ectoparasites Coporolites., Antonio Merino Juncadella, Joan J. Fornós, Antoni Mulet, Joaquin Gines

International Journal of Speleology

Bat ectoparasitic ichnofossils can be useful to elucidate microbial mediation in mineralization processes of organic material, supplying valuable information on ancient parasitology and palaeoecology, among other topics. Rod-shaped features found in Cova des Pas de Vallgornera (Mallorca, Spain) are described for the first time. They are related to an ancient bat colony inhabiting the cave in the Early Pleistocene. These micro-morphologies are cylindrical in shape with sizes of a few hundred microns in length and less than one hundred microns in diameter. They are composed by a mash of microscopic calcite particles of different sizes and shapes, lying on deposits …

Six-Year College Graduation Status For High School Students Participating In An Upward Bound Program, Raymond Upward Cabrera

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the impact of high school academic indicators and participation in the federally funded Upward Bound program on college graduation rates for first-generation, low-income students. Specifically the extent to which participation in the federally funded TRIO Upward Bound program and related factors—high school GPA, course rigor, program involvement, gender, race, and college type—predict 6-year college graduation rates for first-generation, low-income students. Using stepwise logistic regression analysis on data of 163 students in an Upward Bound program in the Southeast, the results show that students with higher GPAs, active engagement in the program, and females were significantly more likely …

Monsters, Multiplicities, And Liminal Experiences In Doctoral Education: Fabulation As Research Methodology, Anna V. Gonzalez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to experiment with qualitative research methodologies while exploring the complexities of doctoral education, research practices, philosophies of inquiry, and other topics intersecting with(in) educational scholarship. My vision for this work was fueled by postmodernist critiques of humanist education, frustrations with the methodological status quo pervasive in educational research, and deep concerns about the unsustainability of performance-focused teaching and learning.

The logic I follow in this project is simple: if we—researchers and academics—are to contribute solutions for challenges and ongoing crises in our world, then we must start thinking relationally and in ways more complex …

Multi-Sided Information Asymmetry In A Single Contract: Why Revocable Living Trusts Go To Court, James P. Wells

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Revocable living trust documents (trusts) are among the most important documents created in contemporary estate planning. One of the trust’s objectives is to provide clear guidance to the trustees on how to carry out the grantor's intent. When a trust is contested in court, the objective of the trust has clearly failed. Consequently, understanding why trusts go to court and developing approaches that reduce or eliminate the number of trusts in our courts is an endeavor worthy of research and the primary objective of this research effort.

Ideally, with a clearly stated grantor’s intent and clearly executed interpretation of the …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Edge Line Sinusoidal Rumble Strips On Lane Departure Crash Prevention And Injury Severity, Shubhankar Chintamani Shindgikar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Lane departure crashes are one of the most prevalent accidents in Florida and the United States. Various forms of rumble strips have been employed to mitigate and decrease these incidents. The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) recently adopted a new sinusoidal rumble strip pattern for statewide implementation of audible and vibratory treatment (AVT). Recent research indicates sinusoidal rumble strips are highly effective in alerting drivers audibly and through tactile vibrations, thus aiding lane departure prevention. Moreover, they generate less external noise compared to other rumble strip textures.

However, a systematic assessment of the safety effectiveness of sinusoidal rumble strips in …

Cactus Infused Beads For Off-Flavor Mitigation In Aquaculture Systems, Rama Mahita Kambhampati

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Aquaculture has become a vital component of global food production, now providing 50% of the world's fish supply. However, the industry encounters major challenges due to off-flavor compounds like Geosmin and 2-Methylisoborneol (MIB), which give fish an unpleasant earthy or musty smell. These compounds are detectable by humans at extremely low levels 0.7 parts per billion (ppb) for MIB and ten parts per trillion (ppt) for Geosmin—making them a persistent problem. Their presence not only reduces the sensory quality of aquaculture products but also results in significant economic losses, with U.S. catfish production incurring an additional $15–$23 million annually due …

Phosphoglycerate Dehydrogenase Regulated By The Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Pathway Is An Actionable Vulnerability In Cutaneous Melanoma, Neel Jasani

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Metabolic alterations play a critical role in shaping tumor growth and development. Many metabolic enzymes are shown to play an important role in different aspects of tumor development, growth, and metastasis. One such enzyme that we are investigating in this project is the Phosphoglycerate Dehydrogenase (PHGDH). The PHGDH gene, encoding the rate-limiting enzyme of the serine synthesis pathway, is located at chromosome locus 1p12 and frequently amplified in melanoma. PHGDH is required for the proliferation of melanoma cells with chromosome 1p12 amplification. However, the role of PHGDH in chromosome 1p12 non-amplified melanoma is poorly understood. In this project, we sought …

Communication Resilience In Suicide Prevention (Crisp): An Institutional Ethnography Of Community-Based Suicide Prevention In Florida, Kelli R. Agrawal

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The concept of Communication Resilience in Suicide Prevention (CRISP) offers a conceptual framework for exploring communication strategies in community-based suicide prevention. A constructivist paradigm informs this study and utilizes an approach heavily influenced by Dorothy Smith’s critical feminist sociological work of institutional ethnography (IE). The study intentionally interweaves critical research praxis with a dual etic/emic positionality through constructivist understandings of dialectical sensemaking. It uses the Communication Theory of Resilience (CTR) and Institutional Logics Theory (ILT) as analytic tools of inquiry. The study includes purposive sampling and multiple qualitative methods, including unstructured interviews, text analyses, and observational data. Fifteen unstructured interviews …

Deep Reinforcement Learning For Adaptive Network Slicing In 5g For Intelligent Vehicular Systems And Smart Cities, Almuthanna Nassar, Yasin Yilmaz

USF Patents

Systems and methods for processing a service request within a network environment can include a first cluster of fog nodes that execute service tasks. The cluster can include a primary fog node and nearest neighbor fog nodes. The primary fog node can receive, from the network, a service request, determine service request resource data that includes a first time, quantity of resource blocks required to serve the request, and a hold time required to serve the request locally. An edge controller, connected to the network and the first cluster, can receive, from the primary fog node, the service request resource …

The Mediating Effect Of Self-Efficacy And Symptom Distress In The Relationship Between Symptom Occurrence And Quality Of Life Among Cancer Patients, Kailei Yan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cancer symptoms significantly impact the quality of life (QOL) among cancer patients. Self-efficacy plays a key role in managing symptoms and improving QOL. Also, as a suffering from symptom occurrence, symptom distress predicts QOL. However, it is not clear whether self-efficacy and/or symptom distress mediate the effects of symptoms on QOL. This dissertation seeks to explore if and how self-efficacy and symptom distress mediate the relationship between symptom occurrence and QOL among 534 cancer patients. The specific aims were to: 1) test the factor structure and the longitudinal invariance of the Cancer Behavioral Inventory in our sample of cancer patients …

Zooplankton Abundance, Composition, And Diversity And Associated Environmental Factors Across The Gulf Of Mexico And Along The Northwestern Coast Of Cuba, Shaniqua J. Gladney

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My research focused on characterizing the zooplankton community of two regions in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) along two transects, one across the middle of the GOM from Tuxpan, Mexico, to St. Petersburg, FL, and one along the northwestern coast of Cuba. Zooplankton bongo samples and associated environmental and physical processes were examined. These data were collected during two Center for Integrated Modeling and Analysis of Gulf Ecosystems (C-IMAGE) expeditions aboard the R/V Weatherbird II, during September 2015 (GOM) and May 2017 (Cuba). A Zooscan imaging system was used to identify and enumerate zooplankton taxa. Then zooplankton abundance, composition, and …

Design Of End Bent Piles For Downdrag, Tanna Frye

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Embankments are commonly used for bridge approaches, with mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls being the preferred choice in Florida. However, the construction of embankments leads to the settlement of the underlying soil, regardless of soil type. When piles are driven before embankment construction, the initial settlement of the original soil creates relative movement between the pile and the surrounding soil, introducing frictional forces. When the existing soils move downward relative to the pile, a downward-oriented side shear known as downdrag is introduced. While downdrag is addressed in current codes and textbooks, it is often only briefly mentioned and primarily in …

Selective Pericyte Recruitment To Ec-Lined Tubes, Vessel Assembly Enhancement Through Pericyte Timp-3 Induction, And Pericyte Tbx2 In Capillary Formation And Maturation, Ksenia Marilyn Yrigoin Kaluguina

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Capillaries, the smallest blood vascular networks, are formed by narrow and elongated endothelial cell (EC)-lined tubes with associated pericytes anchored to the abluminal tube surface. Our laboratory demonstrated that dynamic interactions between ECs and pericytes during capillary tube network assembly are required for basement membrane matrix deposition and maturation. We have also shown that key EC-derived factors promote pericyte recruitment, proliferation, and pericyte-induced basement membrane formation during capillary assembly. In the first section, we aim to identify if vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) respond to the same factors and have the same invasive ability as pericytes since they are both …

Operational Variations In State-Owned Hotels And International Branded Hotels In China: A Qualitative Analysis Of Practitioners' Perspectives And Implications, Wen Wei

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines experienced hoteliers' perspectives on essential operational practices for delivering consistent, high-quality customer experiences, focusing on operational differences between Chinese State-Owned Hotels (SOHs) and International Branded Hotels (IBHs) in China. Through semi-structured interviews with 24 experienced hoteliers from SOHs and IBHs, the research identifies operational practices in IBHs that are perceived as more effective than those in SOHs. Additionally, the study explores operational practices that SOHs and IBHs could adopt and adapt to succeed in China’s post-pandemic hotel market. The analysis is framed by the Resource-Based View (RBV), Dynamic Capabilities (DCs), Market Orientation (MO), and the role of …

Performance Comparison Of Two Binary Diagnostic Tests With Incomplete Data, Meng Wang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Diagnostic tests are medical examinations essential for patient care, as they help detect the presence of diseases and rule out certain conditions. However, diagnostic tests can make errors, and misdiagnoses resulting from these errors can potentially lead to treatment delays or inappropriate treatments. Therefore, comprehensively evaluating the performance of the diagnostic tests and ensuring test accuracy is a fundamental priority in diagnostic studies. When a new diagnostic test is developed, it is customary to compare it with an existing test in a paired study. However, incomplete test results commonly occur in practice. The maximum likelihood-based method can be used to …

Revision Strategies And Academic Socialization Of Multilingual Graduate Students, Sean E. Farrell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research suggests that revision is a complex practice guided by a variety of factors; however, the nature of the relationship between these factors and the revisions themselves, along with how the revision process contributes to academic socialization, remains understudied. A more comprehensive understanding of revision can lead to a deeper understanding of the support that will be most effective for multilingual graduate students. This study thus aims to determine (1) what revision strategies multilingual graduate students use, (2) what factors mediate these strategies, and (3) the extent to which these revisions index a shift in academic socialization. To answer these …

Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastronomy Tube For Optimized Gastric Sumping, Justin Robert Daggett

USF Patents

An improved percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube that allows continuous suctioning/sumping without occlusion of the tube by the gastric wall. The PEG tube includes a hollow drainage tubing coupled to a ventilated bell cap. The bell cap can be open or closed to the external environment is ventilated via apertures, crenellations and grooves, and hemispherical arches. The PEG tube minimizes, or completely eliminates, the need for a user thereof to frequently flush the tube, thus also curtailing intermittent suctioning and allowing for longer periods of uninterrupted drainage. Furthermore, the PEG tubes of the current invention reduce clogging of the tube …

Perceived Workplace Obstacles And Compensatory Strategies Used By School Psychologists With Disabilities, Gary E. Schaffer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite efforts to recruit and retain school psychologists from diverse backgrounds, there has been little focus on school psychologists with disabilities. This oversight is concerning given that school psychologists deliver extensive support to students with disabilities yet simultaneously remain largely absent from diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. The current study sought to learn about school psychologists with disabilities by providing much-needed demographic information on this population while also focusing on their workplace experiences. Two-hundred-fifty-five participants were asked about their perceptions regarding the systemic challenges they encountered, personal challenges they faced, reasons they disclosed or did not disclose their disability, and …

The Association Between Oral Microbiome, Oral Inflammation, Periodontal Disease, And Systemic Metabolism In Individuals With/Without Type 1 Diabetes, Mianli Xiao

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the associations between oral microbiomes, periodontal disease (PD), and systemic metabolism in individuals with and without Type 1 diabetes (T1D). Data were obtained from 208 participants (99 with T1D, 109 non-diabetic) in the Coronary Artery Calcification in Type 1 Diabetes (CACTI) pilot study and 283 participants from the Oral Microbiome ancillary cohort study. Both studies included the collection of saliva or subgingival plaque samples. Microbial DNA was extracted, and the V4 region of the 16S rRNA gene was sequenced using the Illumina MiSeq platform. Machine learning models, including Random Forest (RF) and Multi-layer Perceptron (MLP), were applied …