Digital Commons Network^™

The Roles Of Emotional Cues And Purchasing Incentives In Wechat Commerce: A Content Analysis, Xuezhu Hao

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In recent years with the development of social media, a variety of business forms have also developed. In the United States, there are advertising and business forms based on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. However, in China, WeChat is the mainstream social media platform with a staggering number of active online users. As a mainstream social media platform, WeChat has extended a new business form, which is the Micro-business. With the changes in purchasing needs and economic forms, more and more people are participating in Micro-business buying and selling transactions. The formation of a new type of …

Evaluating Effects Of Cancer Genetic Counseling On Several Brief Patient Impact Measures, Alyson Kneusel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many outcomes for assessing cancer genetic counseling (GC) utility have been proposed, with few studies evaluating multiple, theory-based, brief patient-reported experience and outcome measures simultaneously as part of a single study. We conducted a pilot study in which patients seen for pre-test cancer GC took a survey before and after their GC session to evaluate the session’s impact on multiple patient impact measures and assess the relationship between these measures. Measures based on the self-determination theory (SDT) assessed three basic needs including: 1) perceived autonomy support, 2) relatedness to the provider, and 3) competence to make a decision. SDT posits …

The Ecology And Conservation Of An Urban Karst Subterranean Estuary, Robert J. Scharping

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sulphur Springs is an artesian spring and part of the limestone karst topography of metropolitan Tampa, Florida, USA. Underlying this spring is an extensive cave system that hosts saltwater vents and conspicuous microbial biofilm communities. For decades, water from Sulphur Springs has been extracted and used to supplement public water supply and dry season flows in the Hillsborough River Estuary. This dissertation describes research conducted at Sulphur Springs to determine the impacts of urban land use on the underlying cave and downstream estuary ecosystems, and presents the use of this system as a model to fill certain ecological knowledge gaps. …

Instrumentalization Theory: An Analytical Heuristic For A Heightened Social Awareness Of Machine Learning Algorithms In Social Media, Andrew R. Miller

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

New innovations in information management and communication technologies have produced technological assemblages which have radically altered the way people socialize and interact with the world. The most significant and ubiquitous of these technologies is what is colloquially referred to as ‘machine learning.’ Like most, if not all, technologies, machine learning models are neither wholly good nor bad. Their functional ethics are largely determined by the context in which they are employed. However, their ubiquity demands that we develop a heightened social consciousness of the way machine learning simultaneous constrains, manipulates and democratizes social processes. In order to develop better social …

Analysis Of Malicious Behavior On Social Media Platforms Using Agent-Based Modeling, Agnieszka Anna Onuchowska

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The following dissertation focuses on the problem of malicious accounts actions on social media. The dissertation proposes an artifact in a form of an agent-based model of Twitter network. The model is then deployed to investigate a policy intervention that aims at controlling malicious behavior on social media outlets. The main research question is: How can we best intervene in social networks to minimize the effects of malicious actors? The dissertation consists of four studies that are organized as follows. First study is designed as an exploratory investigation that deploys descriptive analysis and unsupervised methods to analyze the types of …

The Development And Testing Of The Genetic Counseling Communication Checklist (Gcc): A Novel Process Measure, Katherine N. Hehmeyer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Given that genetic counseling (GC) is a discipline that relies on communication to help people understand and adapt to the genetic contribution of disease, a practical method of comprehensively documenting GC communication strategies is needed to better understand the communication strategies utilized by genetic counselors and the variability that exists within the process. To this end, we created a novel process measure called the Genetic Counseling Communication Checklist (GCC), utilizing previously validated measures, communication/counseling theories, and research findings. Two researchers independently coded six video-taped mock GC sessions using the GCC. Following each session, the GCC was further modified to improve …

Developing And Facilitating Socioscientific Issues Based Science Lessons: Elementary Preservice Teachers’ Experiences, Melanie Kinskey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Instruction focused around socioscientific issues (SSI) has been found to improve skills for scientific literacy among K – 12 students. Unfortunately, teachers and preservice teachers are reluctant to implement SSI during science instruction due to a lack of self-efficacy or fear of the nature of controversial issues. In response to this obstacle, many researchers have begun work with helping preservice teachers become prepared to facilitate SSI. While there are findings from existing research that contribute to the overall state of preparing preservice teachers to facilitate SSI, perhaps the most influential is the assertion that preservice teachers need formal SSI training …

"The Fiery Furnaces Of Hell": Rhetorical Dynamism In Youngstown, Oh, Joshua M. Rea

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation seeks to define the theory of rhetorical dynamism and illustrate how this theory can be applied to studies of rhetoric and place. The study builds on current rhetorical scholarship and adds to it with the four characteristics of rhetorical dynamism: that places are rhetorically invented, that they hold rhetorical tensions, that they are fluid and constantly evolving, and that they are active participants in a reciprocal rhetorical process. Rhetorical dynamism is illustrated in two places, Westlake Terrace and Idora Park, each in Youngstown, OH. By building a rhetorical history of each site, the study shows how each place …

Performance Enhancement Techniques For Next-Generation Multi-Service Communication And Medical Cyber-Physical Systems, Ali Fatih Demir

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Advances in science and technology have significantly improved our quality of life over the past decades. For example, wireless communication systems have evolved from basic voice services to delivering high-definition video for entertainment or business conferences at an accelerating pace. Furthermore, progress in cyber-physical systems has led to the development of brain-computer interfaces and wireless body area networks with the vision of advanced pervasive healthcare, anytime and anywhere. The primary motivation of this dissertation is to improve the performance of the next-generation multi-service communication and medical cyber-physical systems.

The research has been concentrated in physical (PHY)/medium access control (MAC) layer …

Mystic Medicine: Afro-Jamaican Religio-Cultural Epistemology And The Decolonization Of Health, Jake Wumkes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The underlying motivation for this thesis is the position that colonialism, or coloniality, continues to thrive as an ideological and institutional framework all over the world, to the detriment of the majority of the population of the earth, and particularly of indigenous peoples and the African diaspora. Thus, what is sought here is a decolonization both of mind and institutions. Looking at the case of Jamaica, one can see how coloniality continues to undermine the beliefs, behaviors, institutions, and overall well-being of the majority African-descended population of the island in many ways both culturally and economically. I narrow my focus …

Elemental Climate Disaster Texts And Queer Ecological Temporality, Laura Mattson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis approaches climate disaster texts as an opportunity to challenge constructions of the body, space, and time. Developed from embodied experiential knowledge about hurricanes, my work will explore how climate disasters can teach us to reimagine human-nature relationships. In my two analysis chapters, I use critical textual analysis and autoethnography to challenge particular representations of the human-nature relationship as a binary between nature and culture. By intervening in the nature-culture binary, I theorize queer ecological temporality as an opportunity to reveal and challenge constructions of nature and time. Working at the intersections of queer and ecocritical theory, this thesis …

The Role Of Financial Insecurity And Expectations On Perspectives Of Mental Health Services Among Refugees, Jacqueline M. Siven

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how perspectives of mental health among refugees are situated within the realities of the refugee resettlement system, a population for which information on this issue is quite limited. Through in-depth interviews and participant observation with Congolese refugees and non-Congolese refugee-serving professionals in a major Florida city, this dissertation examines how perceptions of mental health and mental health services among refugees were affected by financial insecurity and disparities in expectations. Local Congolese refugees expected the American Dream; they believed that once they arrived they would find prosperity through hard work. Instead they experienced frustration and distress because the …

Kinesthetically Speaking: Human And Animal Communication In British Literature Of The Long Eighteenth Century, Dana Jolene Laitinen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While scholars have studied talking animals in British children’s literature of the long eighteenth century, little attention has been given to cross-species conversations. Thus, my research starts with the following questions: what does it mean when humans talk to animals in literary texts? What do representations of interspecific communication in eighteenth-century British literature accomplish? Interspecific communication in the literary works of this study may be understood in the context of the philosophy of sensibility’s debt to French Renaissance humanist Michel de Montaigne, particularly his arguments about animal semiosis in An Apology for Raymond Sebond. I argue that interspecific conversations challenge …

Reliability Analysis Of Power Grids And Its Interdependent Infrastructures: An Interaction Graph-Based Approach, Upama Nakarmi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Large blackouts with significant societal and economic impacts result from cascade of failures in the transmission network of power grids. Understanding and mitigating cascading failures in power grids is challenging due to the large number of components and their complex interactions, wherein, in addition to the physical topology of the system, the physics of power flow and functional dependencies among components largely affect the spatial distribution and propagation of failures. In this dissertation, data-driven interaction graphs, which help in capturing the underlying interactions and influences among the components during cascading failures, are used for capturing the non-local nature of propagation …

Algorithms To Profile Driver Behavior From Zero-Permission Embedded Sensors, Bharti Goel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we design algorithms to profile driver behavior from zero-permission sensors embedded in modern smartphones and wearables. These sensors are typically the accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, pressure sensor and a few more than are now available in most modern smartphones and wearables. In order to profile driving behavior, we devised algorithms for detecting distraction while driving due to the use of modern-day smartphones (e.g., calling, texting and reading while driving) in real-time.

To do so, we conduct an experiment with 16 subjects on a realistic driving simulator, where each subject, where each subject carries a smartphone and a wearable …

Differential Reinforcement Without Extinction: An Assessment Of Sensitivity To And Effects Of Reinforcer Parameter Manipulations, Hannah Lynn Macnaul

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Individuals with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often engage in problem behavior (e.g., aggression, property destruction, self-injurious behavior; Horner, Carr, Strain et al., 2002) that may limit access to traditional social and education settings, impact their health, and pose a risk to their safety and the safety of others. One of the most common interventions used to treat problem behavior is differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA; Cooper, Heron, & Heward, 2007), which are often used in combination with other interventions such as extinction (Shirley, Iwata, Kahng, Mazaleski, & Lerman, 1997). However, implementation of extinction may pose an ethical dilemma …

How Audiovisual Composition Reveals Gendered Limitations And Possibilities In Lady Bird In The Wake Of #Metoo, Chandler Micah Reeder

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on the film Lady Bird and the historical coincidence of its release one month after the online movement #MeToo began. By giving frame and sound equal importance in my analysis of the film, rather than opposing these elements, I emphasize audiovisual composition and reveal the mutual dependence within what are considered traditional divisions of theory in cinema. These oppositions relate to control and escape, as they are portrayed through the mother and daughter characters, Marion and Lady Bird, as well as through image and sonic elements. My work demonstrates how the audiovisual composition of the film mediates …

Towards Safe Power Oversubscription And Energy Efficiency Of Data Centers, Sulav Malla

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Data centers contribute to approximately 1% of the global electricity consumption, and billions of dollars are spent annually worldwide in construction of new data centers to meet the rising demand for cloud-based services. Given the high cost of construction, the power infrastructure in a data center is typically oversubscribed. Power oversubscription leads to efficient use of data center power hierarchy while simultaneously reducing the power provisioning cost. Power overload situations can occur in oversubscribed data centers. Power overload can lead to power capping of servers or even power outages – both of which degrade the performance of the services offered …

A Plan For Progress, Preservation, And Presentation At The Safety Harbor Museum And Cultural Center, Amanda L. Ward

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There are numerous ways in which heritage can be managed and presented to the public, such as: physical museums, virtual museums, tours of historic homes, and archaeological parks. For this project, I participated in and observed heritage preservation management under a unique partnership of the City of Safety Harbor recreation department and the Safety Harbor Museum Board in Safety Harbor, Florida. My internship was with the Safety Harbor Museum and Cultural Center, primarily under the direction of Shannon Schafer and Christine McWilliams. My initial focus was assisting these two groups with projects specific to the needs of the museum. I …

Low-Grade Kaolin Clay Natural Resource For Use As A Supplementary Cementitious Material In Structural Concrete Elements, Brandon X. Lorentz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

At the turn of the century, low-grade kaolin clay (LGK) was presented as a widely available and potential natural resource of supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) for producing high performance concretes. In using LGK as an SCM, clinker production is reduced, aiding environmental concerns with associated CO2 emissions. These types of clays have very heterogeneous mineralogy and microstructural characteristics, causing unique influences on concrete structural and flow performance, although these influences are not well understood. This research studies LGK natural to the state of Florida and assesses their potential use as high performance SCM.

Ten kaolin clays were obtained through a …

Orders Of Normativity: Nietzsche, Science And Agency, Shane C. Callahan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation I set out to address the “scope problem” in Nietzsche scholarship. In the secondary literature, the scope problem is characterized as a problem for Nietzsche, who seems deeply skeptical about nearly every item of his inherited western metaphysical toolkit. If his skepticism about western metaphysics penetrates all dimensions of his thought, how can he motivate a reader to also reject western metaphysics without himself committing to some of it? I stipulate that answering the scope problem means explicating what Nietzsche views as the general source of normativity—it is there that we can understand the resources Nietzsche is …

The Effects Of Socioscientific Issues On Informal Reasoning And The Transference To Controversial Issues In A Social Studies Context, Thomas J. Dolan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if informal reasoning skills associated with socioscientific issues (SSI) transferred to controversial issues in a social studies context. The principal researcher developed three controversial issues derived from social studies education to create social studies context issues (SSCI). This acronym has been termed by the principal researcher, as controversial issues in social studies have not been evaluated beyond the social studies classroom. Twenty-one, fifth grade students participated in this three-month study, which featured three specific SSI units (A Need for Speed? – speed limit reduction, Roller Coaster Ban – preventing injuries to children, …

Microfluidically Reconfigurable Millimeter-Wave Switches, Antenna Arrays And Filters With Fast-Actuation Using Movable Metallized Plates And Integrated Actuation, Enrique J. Gonzalez Carvajal

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Microfluidic reconfiguration of microwave devices has emerged as a potentially attractive alternative to integrated semiconductor (ICs/MMICs) and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) based technologies. On the one hand, MMICs suffer from low power handling capabilities, high IL, non-linear effects, and elevated costs; on the other hand, MEMS are limited by their complex packaging requirements, and relatively low reliability from stiction-based effects. However, microfluidic reconfiguration provides low insertion loss (IL) due to its mechanical nature and it is not limited by power saturation effects. These attributes are especially valuable for applications at mm-waves, potentially reducing costs and increasing power efficiency capabilities. Microfluidic reconfiguration …

Global And Stochastic Dynamics Of Diffusive Hindmarsh-Rose Equations In Neurodynamics, Chi Phan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consisting of three parts is the study of the open problems of global dynamics of diffusive Hindmarsh-Rose equations, random dynamics of the stochastic Hindmarsh-Rose equations with multiplicative noise and additive noise respectively, and synchronization of boundary coupled Hindmarsh-Rose neuron networks.

In Part I (Chapters 2, 3 and 4) of this dissertation, we study the global dynamics for the single neuron model of diffusive and partly diffusive Hindmarsh-Rose equations on a three-dimensional bounded domain. The existence of global attractors as well as its regularity and structure are established by showing the absorbing properties and the asymptotically compact characteristics, especially …

Efficient Forward-Secure And Compact Signatures For The Internet Of Things (Iot), Efe Ulas Akay Seyitoglu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the modern Internet of Things (IoT) applications, the system entities collect security-sensitive information that must be cryptographically protected. In particular, authentication and integrity, as foundational security services, are essential for any IoT applications. Digital signatures provide both authentication and integrity to these applications. Nevertheless, once an IoT device is compromised, its signature private key is leaked to an adversary. Forward-secure digital signatures mitigate the impact of such key compromises by incorporating a key-evolving mechanism into the authentication process. However, existing forward-secure signatures suffer from large signature/key sizes, heavy computational overhead, and some prominent variants that can only sign a …

Intercessory Power: A Literary Analysis Of Ethics And Care In Toni Morrison’S Song Of Solomon, Alice Walker’S Meridian, And Toni Cade Bambara’S Those Bones Are Not My Child, Kelly Mills

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine post-Reconstruction literature as an intercessor that creates a common memory among readers and activates them as ethical agents who can move through retributive violence rather than enact violence. With the increase of racial violence in the United States, it is essential to find ways to end the cycle of retributive violence and establish a justice system that does not marginalize individuals but forges connections in the midst of oppression. This literary analysis engages three novels—Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon, Alice Walker’s Meridian, and Toni Cade Bambara’s Those Bones Are Not My Child: …

Development And Application Of Computational Models For Biochemical Systems, Fiona L. Kearns

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Chemistry is the study of matter and its transformations. Computational chemistry uses computer models to study chemistry in all its intricate complexity. In this thesis I hope to accessibly introduce fundamental concepts central for computational chemistry including quantum mechanics, molecular mechanics, and multiscale modeling. I then present several works which I have conducted throughout my graduate career employing many different computational methods. The investigations described here can be summarized as follows. Chapter 2.1 modeling proteins involved in crustacean molting, and identifying possible inhibitors to this molting. Chapter 2.2 modeling d-fructose bound to synthetic saccharide receptors with hopes of improving saccharide …

Pathways To Leadership: A Qualitative Study Of Women In Higher Education, Kymia Love Jackson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Women earn degrees at a higher rate than men, yet they are underrepresented in leadership positions in general and more specifically, in executive leadership positions in the areas of finance, operations, and administration (FOA) in higher education. This qualitative study explored the journeys of women in executive leadership positions in finance, operations, and administration at four-year, public colleges or universities. The research question that guided this study was: How do women describe their experiences of securing, transitioning into, and advancing within executive leadership positions in FOA in higher education? Document and content analysis, demographic questionnaire, observations, interviews, and reflection were …

Bayesian Reliability Analysis Of The Power Law Process And Statistical Modeling Of Computer And Network Vulnerabilities With Cybersecurity Application, Freeh N. Alenezi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As most of mankind now lives in an era of high dependence on multiple technologies and complex systems to store and manage sensitive information, researchers are constantly urged to obtain and improve measurements and methodologies that have the ability to evaluate systems reliability and security. The objectives of the present dissertation are to improve the Bayesian reliability estimation of a software package where the Power Law Process, also known as Non-Homogeneous Poisson Process, is the underlying failure model and to develop a set of statistical models evaluating computer operating systems vulnerabilities. Furthermore, we develop a reliability function of a computer …

Classifying Emotions With Eeg And Peripheral Physiological Data Using 1d Convolutional Long Short-Term Memory Neural Network, Rupal Agarwal

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recognizing emotions is very important while building robust and interactive Affective Brain-Computer Interfaces as it allows the machines to have some degree of emotional intelligence with the help of which they can understand the changing emotional state of users. In the past, emotions have been recognized via unimodal data such as electroencephalography (EEG) signals, speech, facial expressions or peripheral physiological signals. However, emotions are complex as they are a combination of human behavior, thinking and feeling. Therefore, as compared to unimodal methods, multi-modal techniques, recognize emotions with more reliability. This thesis aims to recognize and classify human emotions into high/low …