Digital Commons Network^™

Physical And Social Systems Resilience Assessment And Optimization, Daniel Romero Rodriguez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Resilience has been measured using qualitative and quantitative metrics in engineering,economics, psychology, business, ecology, among others. This dissertation proposes a resilience metric that explicitly incorporates the intensity of the disruptive event to provide a more accurate estimation of system resilience. A comparative analysis between the proposed metric and average performance resilience metrics for linear and nonlinear loss and recovery functions suggests that the new metric enables a more objective assessment of resilience for disruptions with different intensities. Moreover, the proposed metric is independent of a control time parameter. This provides a more consistent resilience estimation for a given system and …

Language Educators’ Perceptions Of Their Use Of Social Media For Pedagogical Purposes, Alessandro Cesarano

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Technology has changed the way we communicate, teach, and learn. Today’s generation of college students has never known what it is like to be without a cell phone or a computer. Social media is an integral part of their lives. As technology evolves, so do students’ expectations for a learning experience. This experience goes beyond the traditional classroom boundaries’ constrains. Understanding how to take advantage of the pedagogical potential of new technologies is therefore essential for language educators. Broadly speaking, there is much discussion about the integration of social media in language education. However, little is known about how these …

Exploring Spanish Heritage Language Learning And Task Design For Virtual Worlds, Brandon J. King

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this exploratory case study, I take a constant comparative methods type approach to exploring a shift in second language acquisition (SLA) away from approaches built on the assumption that language participants in the U.S. are monolingual English speakers (Block, 2003; Ortega, 2009, 2013; Thompson, 2013; Valdés, 2005), with little initial investment in the language or its culture (Rivera-Mills, 2012; Valdés, Fishman, Chavéz, & Pérez, 2006). This bias has entrenched a monolingual speaker baseline for statistical analysis within many experimental designs (Block, 2003; Ortega, 2009, 2013; Thompson, 2013; Valdés, 2005). Further, I redress this methodological bias by applying sociocultural theoretical …

Towards Utilization Of Distributed On-Chip Power Delivery Against Em Side-Channel Attacks, Ahmed Waheed Khan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Non-invasive side-channel attacks (SCAs) are potent attacks on a cryptographic circuit that can reveal its secret key without requiring lots of equipment. EM side-channel leakage is typically the derivative of the power consumption profile of a circuit. Since the fluctuations of the supply voltage strongly depend on the topology and features of the power distribution network (PDN), design of the PDN has a direct impact on EM side-channel leakage signature.

In this thesis, we explore the security implications of distributed on-chip voltage regulators against EM side-channel attacks. Extensive HFSS simulations have demonstrated that the maximum EM radiation can be reduced …

A Multiple-Case Study Examining Faculty Members’ Online Course Design And Teaching Experiences In Distance Education, Ahmet Colak

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the advances in technology, there has been a steady and unstoppable expansion in online education, and as technology has kept changing, so has online education. These changes have impacted the experiences of the faculty members, which has led to a growing interest in examining what online faculty members’ lived experiences are. To have a better understanding of the prior status of the research conducted on online education, this dissertation included a systematic literature review between the years 2000-2018. The systematic review of the literature demonstrated that the major issues examined in prior studies included online faculty motivation, inhibitors, online …

The Association Of Size Variation In The Dental Arch To Third Molar Agenesis For A Modern Population, Devin N. Williams

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The frequency with which individuals do not develop their third molars, or wisdom teeth, is increasing worldwide. This current topic of human evolution is relevant to the research of anthropologists, geneticists, dentists, and other researchers involved in the study of human dentition. Many explanations have been offered to account for the prevalence of molar agenesis including, evolutionary, environmental, and genetic theories. The purpose of this research project is to determine the frequency of third molar agenesis and investigate the relationship between third molar agenesis and maxillomandibular jaw dimensions in a sample of orthodontic patients. This research tests the hypotheses that: …

Initial Beam Access Schemes For Millimeter Wave Cellular Networks, Mohammed Jasim

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Millimeter wave technologies present an appealing solution for increasing data throughputs as they provide abundant contiguous channel bandwidths as compared to conventional microwave networks. However, millimeter wave technologies suffer from severe propagation limitations and channel impairments such as atmospheric attenuation and absorption, path and penetration losses, and blockage sensitivity. Therefore, phased arrays and beamforming technologies are necessary to compensate for the degraded signal levels due to the aforementioned factors. Namely, base stations and mobile stations utilize directional transmission in the control- and data- plane for an enhanced channel capacity, which results in initial access challenges due to the absence of …

A Cultural Adaptation Of Functional Communication Training, Anna Rosio Garcia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Disparities in the use, quality, and outcomes of treatments, and the barriers that deter Hispanics from receiving healthcare services have been widely studied. Yet, similar efforts have been slow in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). A way to decrease treatment disparities is to assess the influence of cultural variables in behavior analytic interventions, and to evaluate whether manipulations to these variables improve the overall results of the interventions among Hispanic families. During this study, we adapted functional communication training (FCT) to Hispanic parent’s cultural values, we assessed the preference for culturally adapted and non-culturally adapted functional communication responses …

Intersecting Stories: Cultural Reflexivity, Digital Storytelling, And Personal Narratives In Language Teacher Education, Julie Vivienne Dell-Jones

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This narrative inquiry dissertation explores stories from three students over a two-year trajectory as they develop into language educators in diverse contexts. The study begins in a teacher education course focused on technology for language teaching in English as a second language (ESOL) and foreign language education (FLE) classrooms. As instructor, I implemented a digital storytelling (DS) project with the pedagogical goal of supporting the much-needed practice of reflexivity, and specifically, reflexivity of intercultural competence (IC) and culturally-responsive pedagogy (CRP). The DS, as an autoethnographic multimodal narrative activity, provided a creative outlet for undergraduate and master’s level students to explore …

Discourse, Affinity And Attraction: A Case Study Of Iran's Soft Power Strategy In Afghanistan, Hiva Feizi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a case study of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s approach to soft power with a focus on Iran’s use of soft power in Afghanistan. This dissertation is unique as it a delves into the diverse conceptual prescriptions on soft power, especially from a non-Western perspective. Studies of soft power in the current International Relations discipline ignore the implicit widespread liberal democratic bias in the current understanding of the concept. This dissertation argues that there are certain ontological assumptions lying deep within the soft power model first proposed by Joseph Nye (1990) that make it difficult to use …

Changing Narratives Of Martyrdom In The Works Of Huguenot Printers During The Wars Of Religion., Byron J. Hartsfield

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The aim of my project is to show how the lives, strategies and attitudes of Huguenot printers of the late sixteenth century both reflected and influenced the self-image of Protestant Europeans. Historians of the book such as Roger Chartier and Adrian Johns have argued that the process of printing includes several components which are easily overlooked by historians interested in exploring thoughts and attitudes. My project attempts to put these insights to practical use by demonstrating how printers were as integral to the process of reading as were readers and writers. I investigate the lives, social networks, and business strategies …

Evaluation Of Academic And Social Engagement In A Technology-Based Collaborative Approach To Inclusive Geoscience Field Learning, Anita Marie Stone Marshall

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Field learning is an important aspect of geoscience education to teach or reinforce concepts and skills, and the highly social experience of field work can improve learning outcomes, create networks to support future academic success, and promote a sense of belonging in the geosciences. However, field learning presents significant barriers to participation for students with physical disabilities. The introduction of digital data collection and communication devices into traditional field work settings has created new opportunities to expand access to field learning experiences such as remote collaboration; a method of undertaking field work through collaborative teamwork and the use of digital …

Tgf-Β2 In Human Milk Research: Exploration Of A New Field Methodology And New Findings Of Biosimilar Tgf-Β2 In Non-Human Milk, Chlöe A. Sweetman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Objectives: There are three aims for this thesis: the first is to develop a field and laboratory protocol for the storage and analysis of transforming growth factor–beta 2 (TGF-β2) in human breastmilk; second, to validate this protocol and the immunoassay used to assess this new method; and lastly, to explore the ramifications of biosimilar TGF-β2 across multiple milks on human health, growth, and immunity through the review of laboratory findings and previous literature.

Rational: Little anthropological research has been done on TGF-β2 in human milk. Anthropology as a discipline is well positioned to provide insight into TGF-β2, combining biocultural, evolutionary, …

From Florida To Antarctica: Dereplication Strategies And Chemical Investigations Of Marine Organisms, Matthew A. Knestrick

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the fight against disease and illness, nature has provided mankind some of our best therapeutics in the form of secondary metabolites. The plant, fungi and animal phyla inhabiting the Earth produce diverse and unique chemistry that can be used in our fight against disease. In the growing threat of drug resistance and pathogen evolution, the field of natural products chemistry strives to explore new biological and chemical diversity sources, and develop innovative methodology to identify and isolate new chemistry faster than ever.

The dissertation herein presented is one such effort to find new, bioactive chemistry from the marine environments. …

Seeing Trauma: The Known And The Hidden In Nineteenth-Century Literature, Alisa M. Deborde

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Trauma as an official diagnosis first entered the DSM in 1980 and literary theorists began employing the term to discuss literature not too long after. Since the 1990s, theorists have largely focused on twentieth-century trauma literature with Holocaust and Modernist texts garnering much of the critical interest. Yet, Victorian life was also marked by trauma-causing events. From railway catastrophes, to industrial accidents, to premature deaths, and infectious diseases, Victorians reckoned with wounds to the mind through their lived experience. Trauma scholars who do work with nineteenth-century texts, with few exceptions, consider trauma in terms of its modern theories. While the …

Case Study Of A Collaborative Approach To Evaluation Within A School District Central Office, Oriana Eversole

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This instrumental case study (Stake, 1995) provides an in-depth examination of a collaborative approach to evaluation within a school district’s central office. This study analyzes the implementation of collaborative approaches to evaluation (CAE) within a school district’s central office with an emphasis on evaluation use from the evaluators’ perspectives. It also explores the role and evolution of the evaluators throughout the evaluation process. Furthermore, this study adds to educational research on how to support the implementation and use of improvement processes in school district central offices. The analysis focuses on the evaluation activities that my colleagues and I led as …

“Neither East Nor West”: Shia Women Negotiating Gender Norms In America, Raheleh Dayerizadeh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With growing hostilities towards the Ummah (Muslim global community and Diaspora) in Western countries and the fear of Sharia laws, the socialization of international human rights norms within religious institutions, makes for a timely case study. Specifically, this dissertation project aims to capture the process of norm transformation at the grassroots level by investigating the religious, cultural, and social encounter between Islam and the West by interviewing Shia women at a local mosque in Florida. Critical constructivism, post-colonial feminism, and qualitative interpretive methods, are used to address the following: how practicing Shia women are navigating between competing liberal gender equality …

Beyoncé As A Semiotic Resource: Visual And Linguistic Meaning Making And Gender In Twitter, Tumblr, And Pinterest, Addie L. Sayers China

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

At the intersection of digital identities and new language and social practice online is the concept of searchable talk (ST). ST describes the process of tagging discourse in a social networking service (SNS) with a hashtag (#), allowing it to be searchable by others. Although originating in Twitter, ST has expanded into other SNS, and is used therein not only to mark language-based posts, but also multimodal posts and images. While scholars have elucidated the structure and function of ST, their studies have primarily examined ST within language-based posts; few have researched ST with respect to images and other types …

As Good As It Gets: Redefining Survival Through Post-Race And Post-Feminism In Apocalyptic Film And Television, Mark R. Mccarthy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Concentrating on six representative media sites, 28 Days Later (2002), Dawn of the Dead (2004), Land of the Dead (2005), Children of Men (2007), Snowpiercer (2013), and one television series The Walking Dead (2010-present), this dissertation examines the strain of post-millennial apocalyptic media emphasizing a neo-liberal form of collaboration as the path to survival. Unlike traditional collaboration, the neo-liberal construction centers on the individual’s responsibility in maintaining harmony through intra-group homogeny. Through close textual analysis, critical race theory, and feminist media studies, this project seeks to understand how post-racial and post-feminist representational strategies elide inequality and ignore tensions surrounding racial …

"We're Not Going To Talk About That:" A Qualitative Case Study Of Three Elementary Teachers' Experiences Integrating Literacy And Social Studies, Rebecca L. Powell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this interpretive, qualitative multi-case study (Merriam, 2001; Stake, 1995) was to describe the experiences of three elementary classroom teachers as they integrated literacy and social studies during their literacy instruction. This study was grounded in an interpretivist paradigm and a theoretical lens of symbolic interactionism. The guiding questions were: What are the experiences of three elementary teachers when integrating literacy and social studies instruction? What information do teachers use when making decisions about integrated instruction? How do teachers’ beliefs align with their practices? How do teachers organize, plan for, and provide integrated instruction, including how they use …

Parent Perceptions Of Family Quality Of Life Raising A Child With Autism Spectrum Disorder In The Bahamas, Sharlene Monique Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Numerous research showed having a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can affect families in many ways (Brace, 2009; DeGrace, 2004; Fantaroni, 2012). The primary types of impact include family relationship (spousal and sibling relationships), finances, and access to resources and services to assist with caring for the social, emotional and academic development of a child with autism (Grindle & Remington, 2014; Harper et al., 2013; Koydemir & Tosun, 2009; Ludlow, Skelly, & Rohleder, 2011; Montes & Cianca, 2014). While extensive studies have shown similar findings of the impact of autism on family quality of life in America and other …

An Examination Of Underlying Causes For Differences In Affect-Rich And Affect-Poor Choice, Elizabeth M. Fuller

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Real life decision-making frequently involves some level of affect, and research has demonstrated that individuals decide differently when outcomes are more or less rich with feeling. This difference in choice has previously been attributed to probability insensitivity in the presence of affect. In a series of three studies, we explored this possibility, while also testing alternative explanations, namely, that differences exist because of outcome characteristics such as comparability or precision. Individuals made choices between affect-rich side effects and affect-poor monetary lotteries in either a strictly numeric format, or with the addition of an icon array. Across the three studies we …

Evaluation Of The Teaching Tools For Young Children With Challenging Behavior (Ttyc): Improving Classroom Behavior In Young Children, Leann S. Avila

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Teaching Tools for Young Children with Challenging Behavior (TTYC) presents a useful tool to disseminate evidence-based practices into the classroom setting for teachers to create lasting behavioral changes in young children. This study aims to further examine the use of TTYC by classroom teachers for students ages 4-6 years old with and without disabilities who had difficulty engaging in classroom routines or activities. A multiple-baseline across participants design was employed to demonstrate the outcomes of the TTYC in increasing appropriate classroom behavior and reducing problem behavior of the target children. The results indicated that the teachers’ fidelity of implementing …

An Exploratory Study Of Health Promotion And Disease Prevention Communication Among Haitian Mother–Daughter Dyads In West Central Florida, Stacy Eileen Kratz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This exploratory study examined links between health communication and other constructs affecting health promotion and disease prevention among Haitian mother-daughter dyads living in West Central Florida, and the risk or protective factors for HIV. Risky sexual behaviors can be reduced with accurate and effective information provided through parent-adolescent communication (Coetzee et al, 2014; Ogle, Glasier & Riley, 2008; Hadley et al., 2009). In Haiti, a country that bears a disproportionate burden of HIV/AIDS, women are the most vulnerable (UNAIDS, 2016a); In the United States (U.S.), foreign-born Haitian women in the state of Florida experience health disparities in many areas and …

Becoming A Woman Of Isis, Zoe D. Fine

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this study, I examine how terrorism is produced and consumed in communication. Using discourse analysis, I investigate how terrorism is constituted in the accounts of four women described in online news reports as having joined, or almost joined the so-called Islamic State (IS): “Alex,” constructed as having been lonely and flirted with IS; “Khadija,” presented as a schoolteacher turned member of IS’s all-women’s brigade; Laura, described as a woman whose partner abandoned her, who met a man online, and who brought her son with her to join IS; and Tareena, referred to as a health worker who brought her …

Elastin-Like Polypeptide Fusion Tag As A Protein-Dependent Solubility Enhancer Of Cysteine-Knot Growth Factors, Tamina L. Johnson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Elastin-like peptide (ELP) fusions promote therapeutic delivery and efficacy. Recombinant proteins, like neurotrophins, lack bioavailability, have short in vivo half-lives, and require high manufacturing costs. Fusing recombinant proteins with genetically encodable ELPs will increase bioavailability, enhance in vivo solubilization, as well as provide a cost-effective method for purification without the need for chromatography. During expression of neurotrophin-ELP (N-ELP) fusions, dense water-insoluble aggregates known as inclusion bodies (IBs) are formed. Inclusion bodies are partially and misfolded proteins that usually require denaturants like Urea for solubilization. Strong denaturants arrest ELPs stimuli-responsive property and increase unwanted aggregation, making purification difficult, yet possible. The …

Analyzing The Effects Of Ca2+ Dynamics On Mitochondrial Function In Health And Disease, Patrick Toglia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mitochondria plays a crucial role in cells by maintaining energy metabolism and directing cell death mechanisms by buffering calcium (Ca²⁺ )from cytosol. Therefore, the Ca²⁺ overload of mitochondria due to the upregulated cytosolic Ca²⁺ , observed in many neurological disorders is hypothesized to be a key pathway leading to mitochondrial dysfunction and cell death. In particular, Ca²⁺ homeostasis disruptions due to Alzheimer’ s disease (AD)-causing presenilins (PS1/PS2) and oligomeric forms of β-amyloid peptides Aβ commonly found in AD patients are presumed to cause detrimental effects on the mitochondria and its ability to function properly. We begin …

Enrollment And Disenrollment In Voluntary Prekindergarten: A Study Of Educational Leaders’ Decision-Making, Angela Cherie Passero Jones

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative case study focused on how school leaders’ understandings of (dis)ability were implicated in decision-making and affected student (dis)enrollment in Florida’s Voluntary Prekindergarten Program (VPK). More specifically it explored how leaders in private VPK programs invoked conceptions of normality, and subsequently abnormality, during decision-making processes for student (dis)enrollment. Combining a critical poststructuralist approach (critical disability studies, critical policy analysis), decision-making on (dis)enrollment was contextualized within the current policy ecology. This policy ecology was framed as an historical development of policies regarding preschool for children with and without disabilities in a marketplace shaped by the convergence of federal, state, and …

Animated Pedagogical Agent’S Roles And English Learners’ Prior Knowledge: The Influence On Cognitive Load, Motivation, And Vocabulary Acquisition, Fadwa Yasin Flemban

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Researchers and educators have always strived for creating appropriate instructional tools and resources that help students to acquire knowledge. Animated pedagogical agents (APAs) embedded within multimedia learning settings are one of the emerging technologies that provide a powerful and supportive learning environment. According to previous studies, APAs can effectively promote learning and support social interaction with learners (Johnson & Lester, 2016; Lane, 2016). However, APAs also may cause cognitive load without providing motivational benefits in some cases and distract learners during the learning process. In other words, the results of previous studies on APAs do not provide enough evidence to …

A Novel Framework To Determine Physiological Signals From Blood Flow Dynamics, Prashanth Chetlur Adithya

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that more than 11.2 million people require critical and emergency care in the United States per year. Optimizing and improving patient morbidity and mortality outcomes are the primary objectives of monitoring in critical and emergency care. Patients in need of critical or emergency care in general are at a risk of single or multiple organ failures occurring due to a traumatic injury, a surgical event, or an underlying pathology that results in severe patient hemodynamic instability. Hence, continuous monitoring of fundamental cardiovascular hemodynamic parameters, such as heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, …