Digital Commons Network^™

The Dynamics Of The L2 Motivational Self System Among Saudi Study Abroad Students, Fahad Alharbi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adult second language acquisition takes time over an extended period of time during which the L2 motivation of learners goes through periods of ups and downs. Dörnyei, MacIntyre and Henry (2015) recognized the inherently dynamic nature of L2 motivation and called for adopting the Complex Dynamic System Theory (CDST) when studying this phenomenon. While using a CDST perspective, this mixed method study drew on Dörnyei’s (2009b) model of the Motivational Self System to examine the L2 motivation of 86 Saudi study-abroad students. Also, the construct of the Anti-ought to Self (Thompson, 2015) and aspects of the Appraisal Theory (Schumann, 2001) …

Tau-Directed Immunotherapy For Alzheimer’S Disease, Sulana Kay Schroeder

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia, accounting for 50 to 80 percent of dementia cases, and the prevalence of the disease is projected to increase significantly with time. AD is characterized by severe cognitive decline with age, ultimately requiring continued caregiving and eventually death. The pathology of AD is characterized by the presence of extracellular amyloid plaques, intracellular neurofibrillary tangles (NFT) composed of hyperphosphorylated tau protein, neuron loss, and evidence of inflammation indicated by the presence of reactive microglia and astrocytes. Frontotemporal Lobe Dementia (FTLD) is a rare form of dementia that is related to AD, most …

Mass-Spectrometry Based Proteomics Of Age-Related Changes In Murine Microglia, Antwoine Flowers

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The last century has seen a steady increase in the extension of the average lifespan. This has concomitantly produced higher incidences of age-related chronic degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Age is the single greatest risk factor for the development of not just these degenerative conditions but cancer as well. The aged niche undergoes a number of maladaptive changes that allow underlying conditions to present and progress. Exactly which changes, contribute to the progression of which disease is currently an area of intense study. However, these answers often present therapeutic targets for disease prevention. Age is characterized by a …

The Dislocated Spectator's Relationship To Enchanted Objects In Early Film And Modernist Poetry, Rachel Christine Ekblad

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the early 1900s, industry and new technologies dislocated our sense of selfhood. Since the Industrial Revolution, the world had become increasingly crammed with material objects, leading up to when the invention of radio and the rise of electricity perpetuated and evidenced an interest in the immaterial. A similar fascination with magic as expressed in cultural forms such as the traveling show and the séance pointed to our new relationship to the object world: the self, dislocated from the body, could relocate in objects, forming a circuitous relationship akin to electricity. This phenomenon is encapsulated by the representation of enchanted …

Abundance And Habitat Preferences Of Introduced Muscovy Ducks (Cairina Moschata), Jacqueline Marie Perry Cahanin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Muscovy ducks are native only to Central and South America, Mexico, and parts of southern Texas and are considered invasive in some areas outside of their native range. Although they have been introduced worldwide, they remain largely unstudied. The primary focus of this study was to relate Muscovy duck abundance to habitat characteristics of wetlands in Tampa, Florida. Muscovy abundance was measured using point count methods at 21 wetland sites that occur within an eight km radius of the University of South Florida’s main campus. Habitat features at these sites were assessed using field methods and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) …

A Novel Approach To The Discovery Of Natural Products From Actinobacteria, Rahmy Tawfik

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Actinobacteria, primarily the genus Streptomyces, have led to the development of a number of antibiotics, which result from their secondary metabolites or modified derivatives. Secondary metabolite production can result from competition with neighboring microbes in an effort to disrupt growth, aiding in the competition for vital nutrients in impoverished conditions. Such secondary metabolites have the potential to affect a plethora of cellular functions in target cells, including, cell wall development, protein synthesis, protein function and fatty acid synthesis/metabolism. Due to the pandemic spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria, it is imperative to continue the search for new therapeutic agents …

Volunteer Tourism: Fulfilling The Needs For God And Medicine In Latin America, Erin Howell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study seeks to understand how short-term medical missions fulfill health needs for their recipients in Honduras, and how in turn, mission participants experience need fulfillment as well. By using the theoretical concept of co-construction of health to see how health needs are or are not met, I conducted a thematic analysis of the Baptist Medical and Dental Mission International (BMDMI) resulting in the following themes: 1.) Mission workers receive fulfillment from their experiences in the mission field. 2.) Mission recipients receive partial fulfillment of needs from the mission. 3). Through a calling, missions are a means to an end. …

Development Of Tools For Stable Transfection In The Human Filarial Parasite Brugia Malayi Via The Piggybac Transposon System, Johan Chabanon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Brugia malayi is one of three species of nematode known to cause lymphatic filariasis (LF) in humans. LF infects over 120 million people, causing debilitating disease. Various global programs have been launched in the past 20 years to eliminate LF. These programs have greatly scaled up the resources and efforts allocated to halting the transmission and reducing disease burden. Only a few drugs are used to treat LF, and resistance is thus a devastating possibility. Research aimed at identifying new drug targets could therefore prove essential in elimination of LF.

Genetic manipulation of B. malayi has been limited to transient …

"You Want It All To Happen Now!": The Jinx, The Imposter, And Re-Enacting The Digital Thriller In True Crime Documentaries, Brett Michael Phillips

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I outline the changing shape of the reenactment in the contemporary true crime documentary to illustrate a burgeoning crisis of epistemology and anxieties about the authority of evidence in the Digital Age. I examine two works—The Jinx and The Imposter—that deal with evidence in formally similar but ideologically opposite ways.

Logic in the Digital Age prioritizes an ever-widening collection of increasingly more precise artifacts and details, which supposedly paint a more complete picture but end up highlighting what is unknown more often. Key to this examination is the adoption of classic Hollywood thriller techniques (e.g., non-traditional narrative …

Development Of A Transfection System For The Free-Living Amoeba Naegleria Fowleri Using The Piggybac Vector, Kati Räsänen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Naegleria fowleri is a free-living amoeba that causes primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). In the United States, there are between 0-8 cases of PAM per year, with approximately 98% of cases resulting in death. High case fatality and limited treatment options highlight the need for better understanding of this organism in terms of its biology and pathogenicity. Transfection is a useful tool that allows for the study of gene function, but at present no transfection systems have been established for N. fowleri. This study attempts to establish a transfection system for N. fowleri using the piggyBac vector, with the hope of …

Simulation Studies On Ecg Vector Dipole Extraction In Liquid Medium, Pratheek Michael

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

To circumvent some inherent problems in the conventional ECG, this research reinvestigates an ‘unassisted’ approach which enables ECG measurement without the placement of leads on the body. Employed in this research is a widely accepted assumption that the electrical activity of the heart may be represented, largely, by a 3-D time-varying current dipole (3D-CD). From the PhysioBank database, mECG and fECG data were obtained, and Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) was performed to estimate the time-varying Vector ECG dipole. To determine the sensing matrix responsible for transforming the activity of the 3D-CD into the potential distribution on the surface of the …

Effects Of Microstructure And Alloy Concentration On The Corrosion And Tribocorrosion Resistance Of Al-Mn And We43 Mg Alloys, Hesham Y. Saleh Mraied

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The design of new engineering materials resistant to both wear damage and corrosion degradation becomes increasingly demanding in complex service conditions. Unfortunately, there is typically a tradeoff between wear and corrosion resistance, even for important passive metals such as Al alloys. This is because the presence of precipitates hardens the material but at the same time lead to unfavorable galvanic coupling between the precipitates and the matrix, resulting in accelerated corrosion. This work showed that Al (or Mg) supersaturated solid solution formed using non-equilibrium methods exhibited enhanced corrosion resistance without compromising strength. For Al, alloying with Mn up to ~ …

Stormwater Infiltration And Groundwater Integrity: An Analysis Of Bmp Siting Tools And Groundwater Vulnerability, Kristopher Craig Gallagher

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nonpoint source pollution captured by urban stormwater runoff is the greatest challenge for surface water quality improvements. Computer-based design tools have been developed to help mediate this issue by guiding end users through the implementation of decentralized stormwater management. The majority of these tools focus on treatment via biofiltration, yet concern regarding this treatment regime is rising. Case studies from research past clearly indicate the susceptibility of groundwater to contamination from extensive anthropogenic activity at the surface. Contaminants, such as nitrates and pathogens, are not completely removed before runoff enters the underground watercourse. Additionally, national and state legislation, which explicitly …

Playing-With The World: Toy Story's Aesthetics And Metaphysics Of Play, Jonathan Hendricks

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Pixar’s Toy Story (John Lassiter, 1995) is not just a story about toys and the children that play with them, but a demonstration of how we interact with the world. This thesis looks at the way in which both main children, Andy and Sid, interact with their toys and how this interaction is one that is structured by way of what Martin Heidegger calls “Enframing.” In this modality of playing, toys and other things and entities in the world, and the world itself, appear to the children as on-hand resources for use at any time and can be molded, as …

L’Évolution Du Petit Chaperon Rouge, Sophia Boules

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Creating and writing fairy tales is a literary exercise that was introduced in the salons of the XVII century. Madame d'Aulnoy and Charles Perrault began to write the fairy tales that became fashionable at the court of King Louis XIV. Despite the simplicity of their narrative patterns, the tales carry messages that affect all readers. First addressed to adults, fairy tales dealt with anxieties, fears and desires of the human being.

Little Red Riding Hood is one of the most famous tales in the world. Universally loved, this cautionary tale has experienced much evolution through the centuries. There are some …

Evaluating A Graduate Professional Development Program For Informal Science Educators, Jeremy Paul Lake

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study is an examination and evaluation of the outcomes of a series of courses that I helped build to create a graduate certificate. Specifically, I wanted to evaluate whether or not the online iteration of the Informal Science Institutions Environmental Education Graduate Certificate Program truly provided the long term professional development needed to enhance the skills of the formal and informal educators participating so that they could contribute meaningfully to the improvement of science literacy in their respective communities.

My role as an internal evaluator provided an extraordinary opportunity to know the intent of the learning opportunities and why …

Something Looks Phishy Here: Applications Of Signal Detection Theory To Cyber-Security Behaviors In The Workplace, Jaclyn Martin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cyber-security is an ever-increasing problem in the 21^st century. Though the majority of cyber-security breaches are a direct result of human error (Hu, Dinev, Hart, & Cooke, 2012), there is a dearth of research in psychology on the application of human decision-making for cyber-security compliance. Through an online inbox simulation, the present research examined the utility of a robust psychological model for decision-making, signal detection theory (SDT) for modeling decision-making in the context of receiving and responding to phishing and spear-phishing email scams. The influence of individual differences, specifically conscientiousness, on phishing email detection was also examined. The results …

Initial Comparative Empirical Usability Testing For The Collaborative Authentication System, Kim Bursum

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Collaborative Authentication (co-authentication) system is an authentication system that relies on some or all members of a pre-registered set of secure hardware tokens being concurrently present to an authentication server at the moment of authentication. Previous researchers have compared various embodiments of the co-authentication system to each other including using Quick Response (QR) codes/cellphone cameras and Near Field Communication (NFC) between tokens. This thesis concerns the initial design and implementation of empirical comparative testing mechanisms between one embodiment of the co-authentication system and other commonly used authentication systems. One contribution is the simulated standard user ID and password login …

Social Supports, Stress And Birth Outcomes Among Latina Mothers In Pinellas County, Florida, Maridelys Detres

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Social supports are linked in public health research to improved birth outcomes. This study explored the relationship of social supports, stress and birth outcomes among pregnant Latinas in Pinellas County, Florida. A sample of 411 Healthy Start women at risk of poor birth outcomes participated in this study (99 Latinas, 142 Black, and 158 White). Study methods included ANOVA, Principal Component Analysis, multivariable regression, logistic regression, and structural equation modeling to identify significant associations between social support scores, stress scores, demographics and health risk factors with infant birth weight, preterm and small for gestational age by ethnic group. Study findings …

Neighborhood Deprivation, Food Insecurity And Gestational Weight Gain, Sabrina Luke

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Gestational weight gain outside the recommended ranges puts women at risk for pregnancy complications and adverse birth outcomes. Food insecurity and environmental factors including neighborhood deprivation may influence gestational weight gain. This research 1) examines the impact of neighborhood deprivation on gestational weight gain, 2) identifies if the association varies by selected maternal characteristics, 3) examines the relationship between food insecurity and gestational weight gain, 4) determines if stress mediates the relationship between food insecurity and gestational weight gain, and 5) examines whether selected maternal characteristics mediate this relationship. The research was conducted through the analysis of the Pregnancy Risk …

From The Panels To The Margins: Identity, Marginalization, And Subversion In Cosplay, Manuel Andres Ramirez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In investigating the ways social actors experience and interact with mass media texts, I examine how cosplay, as a performative practice of identity in relation to popular culture, enables social actors to subvert and reproduce marginalization towards minority status groups. Theoretical arguments apply a constructionist framework in order to examine the participants’ meaning making processes. The study addresses the following research questions: (1) what social function does cosplay serve for participants; (2) how do cosplayers perform race and gender; (3) how do cosplayers resist, negotiate, or reinforce race and gender-based marginalization? Drawing upon qualitative data gathered from observing two large …

Effects Of Anthropogenic Activity On The Green Swamp Preserve Ecosystem, Barbara Ann Nordheim-Shelt

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Green Swamp Preserve is a large geographic area that has sustained many changes since Europeans settled in Florida. There has been little published research on the impacts of anthropogenic activity on this system. This thesis research seeks to document more recent changes in the Green Swamp and to evaluate the effects of various human activities on the system. The study period is from 1985 to 2015. For this time period changes in land use and landcover were examined using neural network classifications. Changes in vegetation health were evaluated by examining Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Green Vegetation Index …

Impact Force Reduction Using Variable Stiffness With An Optimal Approach For Jumping Robots, Juan Manuel Calderon Chavez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Running, jumping and walking are physical activities that are performed by humans in a simple and efficient way. However, these types of movements are difficult to perform by humanoid robots. Humans perform these activities without difficulty thanks to their ability to absorb the ground impact force. The absorption of the impact force is based on the human ability to vary muscles stiffness.

The principal objective of this dissertation is to study vertical jumps in order to reduce the impact force in the landing phase of the jump motion of humanoid robots. Additionally, the impact force reduction is applied to an …

The Effects Of Arousal Presented By A Pedagogical Agent On English Language Learners' Situational Interest, Cognitive Load And Reading Comprehension In Online Reading Tasks, Jack Drobisz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research examined how four different animated pedagogical agent implementations, which focus on perceptual and inquiry arousal conditions of attention as defined in Keller’s ARCS model of motivational design (Keller, 2009), impact English language learners' situational interest, cognitive load, and reading comprehension in online readings tasks. Animated pedagogical agents (APA) are computer characters embodied with speech, gestures, or movement (Sweller, Ayres, & Kalyuga, 2011), which according to cognitive-affective theory of learning with media (CATLM; Moreno, 2005; Moreno & Mayer, 2007), can provide a mechanism for triggering situational interest in reading materials through different arousal conditions. In this study, perceptual arousal …

Impedance Optimized Electric Pulses For Enhancing Cutaneous Gene Electrotransfer, Reginald Morley Atkins

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Electric field mediated gene delivery modalities have preferable safety profiles with the ability to rapidly transfect cells in vitro and in vivo with high efficiency. However, the current state of the art has relied on trial and error studies that target the average cell within a population present in treated tissue to derive electric pulse parameters. This results in fixed gene electrotransfer (GET) parameters that are not universally optimum. Slow progress towards the validation of a mechanism that explains this phenomena has also hindered its advancement in the clinic. To date, GET methods utilizing feedback control as a means to …

Mechanisms Of Ikbke Activation In Cancer, Sridevi Challa

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the USA and it is expected to surpass heart diseases making it important to understand the underlying mechanisms of cancer. The efforts to target single signaling molecule showed little success in increasing the patient survival and it can be due to increased compensation for cell survival by alternative pathway activations. Hence comprehensive understanding of the alternative signaling pathways may help us treat cancer better. Chronic inflammation is attributed to increased risk of cancer and emerging studies show the growing importance of both canonical and non-canonical IκB kinases such as IKKα, IKKβ, …

Changing The Pathobiological Paradigm In Myelodysplastic Syndromes: The Nlrp3 Inflammasome Drives The Mds Phenotype, Ashley Basiorka

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Note: Portions of this abstract have been previously published in the journal Blood, Basiorka et al. Blood. 2016 Oct 13, and has been reproduced in this manuscript with permission from the publisher.

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are genetically diverse hematopoietic stem cell malignancies that share a common phenotype of cytological dysplasia, ineffective hematopoiesis and aberrant myeloid lineage maturation. Apoptotic cell death potentiated by inflammatory cytokines has been considered a fundamental feature of MDS for over two decades. However, this non-inflammatory form of cell death cannot account for the inflammatory nature of these disorders. We report that a hallmark of lower-risk …

Catalytic Upgrading Of Biogas To Fuels: Role Of Reforming Temperature, Oxidation Feeds, And Contaminants, Nada Elsayed

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Global energy demands are constantly increasing and fossil fuels are a finite resource. The shift towards alternative, more renewable and sustainable fuels is inevitable. Furthermore, the increased emissions of greenhouse gases have forced a pressing need to find cleaner, more environmentally friendly sources of fuel. Biomass energy is a promising alternative fuel because it offers several important advantages. It is a renewable energy form, it comes from many sources and produces biogas (CH₄ and CO₂). Furthermore, it can have a zero carbon footprint; this is due to the fact that the carbon produced is from the same …

The Apatow Aesthetic: Exploring New Temporalities Of Human Development In 21st Century Network Society, Michael D. Rosen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis offers a critical examination of what I call the “Apatow aesthetic” in order to analyze the social processes of growing up in contemporary neoliberal network society. While doctors, psychologists and social scientists still proffer a model of mid- 20th century human development centered around a chronologically-determined life cycle, the Apatow aesthetic imagines a non-linear reality where traditional life events and social practices don’t always correspond to specific age groups. Specifically, I argue, the Apatow aesthetic subjects the spectator to the pleasures and pains of these life-cycle disruptions, and reveals the unfolding of a new cultural shift which challenges …

A Longitudinal Examination Of A Ssi-Embedded Experiential Environmental Education Course And Environmental Behaviors, Mark H. Newton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A perennial goal of environmental education is to produce a scientifically literate citizenry capable of negotiating and resulting complex environmental problems. Popular methods of environmental education instruction tend to overemphasize scientific content knowledge and neglect to consider ethical and moral aspects of the problem. This qualitative study examines the longitudinal association between an experiential environmental education course infused with SSI instruction and students’ environmental behaviors. The results indicate that several students’ conceptualizations of contentious environmental issues change after completing the course and specifically. Furthermore, students’ willingness to act to resolve contentious environmental issues was most closely associated with their environmental …