Digital Commons Network^™

Performing Narrative Medicine: Understanding Familial Chronic Illness Through Performance, Alyse Keller

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study presents the process of creating a performance ethnography of my family’s narratives about familial chronic illness and disability. I label this process performing narrative medicine. By documenting and granularly analyzing the process of my performance ethnography, the following chapters provide a step-by-step discussion of how families communicate about chronic illness/disability through storytelling and humor, and how/what performance does as a method, metaphor and object of study to further our current communicative practices and understandings of chronic illness and disability in families. I argue that performing narrative medicine is a heuristic for families living with chronic illness and …

An Exploratory Study Of Macro-Social Correlates Of Online Property Crime, Hyojong Song

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite the recent decreasing trend of most traditional types of crime, online property crime (OPC), referring to crime committed online with a financial orientation such as online frauds, scams, and phishing, continues to increase. According to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, the number of reported complaints about OPC have increased by approximately sixteen fold from 16,838 cases in 2000 to 288,012 cases in 2015, and referred financial losses have also increased about sixty times from $17.8 million in 2001 to $1 billion in 2015. The increase in OPC might be directly related to advanced online accessibility due to the accelerated …

Body As Text: Physiognomy On The Early English Stage, Curtis Le Van

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation explores the presence of physiognomy, which is the reading of faces and bodily affects to determine a person’s character. I investigate plays originally produced for the early English stage, ranging from the late Middle Ages to the Restoration. In this work I argue that the bodies within the selected plays exist as texts that are to be interpreted by readers and audience members alike. While embodiment theory has done excellent work in explaining the corporeality of the pre-modern body, it does not consider the body as a textual construction. My work aims to fill such a gap. My …

Health Literacy, Depression, Anxiety, And Posttraumatic Stress Disorder As Predictors Of Biological Markers Of Immune Functioning In Youth And Young Adults With Hiv, Courtney A. Lynn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a virus that affects the body’s immune system (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2016a). HIV is a worldwide epidemic and disproportionately impacts youth in the United States. Youth living with HIV (YLWH) face significant mental health problems, namely depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with rates of these disorders discrepant from those in the general population. In addition to psychological difficulties, health literacy is another factor that influences individuals with HIV and is a priority of research with adolescents (Kalichman et al., 2000; Manganello, 2008). The National HIV/AIDS Strategy: Update 2020 (White House Office …

Role Of Amylase In Ovarian Cancer, Mai Mohamed

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ovarian cancer (OC) accounts for 4% of all cancer cases and 4.2% of all cancer deaths worldwide. OC is the most lethal gynecological cancer because it lacks early disease symptoms and does not have a specific diagnostic marker. As a result, more than 70% of OC patients are diagnosed in later stages when the disease has already metastasized and the 5-year survival rate has decreased to less than 20% compared with approximately 90% survival for women diagnosed with early stage disease. Therefore, I initiated my studies with a computational analysis of the 27 most commonly reported literature-derived ovarian cancer (LDOC) …

Towards Violation Of Classical Inequalities Using Quantum Dot Resonance Fluorescence, Manoj Peiris

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Self-assembled semiconductor quantum dots have attracted considerable interest recently, ranging from fundamental studies of quantum optics to advanced applications in the field of quantum information science. With their atom-like properties, quantum dot based nanophotonic devices may also substantially contribute to the development of quantum computers. This work presents experimental progress towards the understanding of light-matter interactions that occur beyond well-understood monochromatic resonant light scattering processes in semiconductor quantum dots. First, we report measurements of resonance fluorescence under bichromatic laser excitation. With the inclusion of a second laser, both first-order and second-order correlation functions are substantially altered. Under these conditions, the …

Autonomous Vehicles: An Empirical Assessment Of Consumers’ Perceptions, Intended Adoption, And Impacts On Household Vehicle Ownership, Nikhil Menon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Emerging automotive and transportation technologies have provided revolutionary possibilities in the way we might travel in the future. Major car manufacturers and technology giants have demonstrated significant progress in advancing and testing autonomous vehicles in real-life traffic conditions. Governmental agencies are grappling with how to plan transportation systems for a world with autonomous vehicles. Past research has shown that not all technologies are immediately welcomed by the public. Autonomous Vehicles would have to likely go through a similar phase, and would need to overcome not just technological challenges but also social barriers for successful penetration into the marketplace. Most previous …

Latino Mothers’ Responsiveness And Bilingual Language Development In Young Children From 24 Months To 36 Months, Rica Ramirez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This longitudinal study examined the role maternal responsiveness had on shaping Spanish and English language development in bilingual two year-old children. Because children who are bilingual language learners are oftentimes coming from low socioeconomic families it is essential that we investigate the ways in which they develop language in order to better serve this population. Maternal responsiveness is one source in which we can examine early language development of young bilingual children. Eight Latino mother-child dyads were observed and assessed at three time points. Each observation was coded for maternal responsive behaviors. Regression and multilevel modeling was used in order …

Discovering Antibacterial And Anti-Resistance Agents Targeting Multi-Drug Resistant Eskape Pathogens, Renee Fleeman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Antibiotic resistance has been a developing problem for mankind in recent decades and multi-drug resistant bacteria are now encountered that are resistant to all treatment options available. In 2014, the World Health Organization announced that this problem is driving us towards a “post-antibiotic era” that will change the face of modern medicine as we know it. If lack of novel antibiotic development and FDA approval continues, by the year 2050, 10 million people will die each year to an antimicrobial resistant bacterial infection. With lack of pharmaceutical industry involvement in developing novel antibiotics, the responsibility now lies within the academic …

The Common Uncanny: Ghostlore And The Creation Of Virginia History, Alena R. Pirok

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ghost stories have a long and diverse history, they appeared in religious contexts, in secular traditions, in entertainment, and in therapy and healing. Few elements of human culture have been as dynamic as the idea that the dead return to the living world as immaterial beings. Since the late nineteenth century Virginians have used ghost stories to talk about, interpret, and understand the historical significance of place. This dissertation argues that Virginians have used ghost stories to identify and make meaning of historical sites since the turn of the last century. These historical ghost stories sought to highlight the presence …

On Axon-Axon Interaction Via Currents And Fields, Aman Chawla

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we investigate coupling between axons in a tract, when the tract has an arbitrary cross-section, with the coupling being mediated by currents as well as electric fields. Under the current mediated setting, we develop a new master equation which captures the relative axonal geometry, specifically, the axon inclinations θ_i and the inter-axon distances W_ip and perform a number of simulations. We observe synchronization in our simulations of axons with differing diameters and separation-dependent coupling delays in the case of non-trivial tract geometries. For the field-mediated interaction setting, we determine the electric near-field of a firing …

Understanding The Experience Of Early-Onset Bipolar Disorder: A Phenomenological Study Of Emerging Adults, Kristin M. Smyth

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While early-onset bipolar disorder (EOBD) has increased in prevalence, much remains to be understood about its phenomenology. Research and treatment models remain rooted in neurobiological conceptualizations of the illness that borrow heavily from models for the traditional adult-onset form of bipolar disorder. This study utilized a transcendental phenomenological design as a first step in obtaining an understanding of the lived experience of EOBD. A purposive sample of eight participants ages 18-25 participated in semi-structured interviews that elicited information on experiences of EOBD symptomatology and course of illness, stigma, experience with healthcare and treatment, and impact on identity, interpersonal relationships, and …

Reappropriating Public Space In Nanchang, China: A Study Of Informal Street Vendors, Bryan C. Winter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Since China's shift to market socialism, many marginalized by this process work as informal street vendors where they reappropriate public space in order to survive―a practice at odds with urban authorities' modernizing agenda. In relation to these competing logics concerning public space's use value versus its exchange value, this dissertation examines the practices, experiences, and agency of informal street vendors working in Sanjingwuwei, an ordinary, yet rapidly gentrifying, neighborhood of Nanchang, capital and largest city of southeastern China's Jiangxi Province. After describing the growth of an informal economy in modern China and providing a history of street vending, I describe …

Learning Style Patterns Among Special Needs Adult Students At King Saud University, Abdulrahman Alshuaibi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Few studies of learning styles among adults with special needs exist worldwide. Even though there are large numbers of adults with special needs, this population in university education has been largely ignored in educational research. Therefore, this study aimed to gather and analyze learning styles of adult special needs students and to provide data for researchers interested in the fields of learning styles, adult education, and special education. This study examined the learning style patterns among special needs adult students at King Saud University as measured by the dimensions of the Index of Learning Styles, which include active/reflective, sensing/intuitive, …

Benchmarks Of Equality? School-Wide Positive Behavior Interventions And Supports And School Discipline Risk And Disparities For Black And Hispanic Students, Christopher M. Barclay

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In U.S. schools, Black and Hispanic youth receive discipline in the form of office discipline referrals and out-of-school suspensions at a rate greater than their White peers. Contributing factors to this “discipline gap” may be found across a number of ecological variables. Therefore, multifaceted and systemic interventions such as school-wide positive behavior interventions and supports (SWPBIS) should be evaluated for their effectiveness in producing more equitable school discipline rates. In light of mixed evidence for the relationship of SWPBIS with discipline equity, the purpose of this study was to examine the merits of five critical elements of SWPBIS for reducing …

How Teachers’ Beliefs About Climate Change Influence Their Instruction, Student Understanding, And Willingness To Take Action., Molly Trendell Nation

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Climate change science is complex and controversial in nature, yet seen by educators and policy makers as an important topic to be taught within secondary science education. This is becoming increasingly evident with the inclusion of climate change into the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for Earth and Space Sciences as well as Life Science courses (NGSS, 2013). An overwhelming amount of information is available to students; however, it is often misrepresented, politically inflated and falsified, and littered with misconceptions (Dawson & Carson, 2014; Gayford, 2002). It is critical to engage students in discourse that challenges them ethically in order …

The Effect Of Androstenone As A Mating Prime On Drinking And Approach Behavior, Robin Tan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent research has shown that sexual activity may be influenced by variables suggested by evolutionary theory, such as pheromonal cues. A recent study in our laboratory indicated that female pheromones influence men’s drinking and approach behavior based on hidden pathways of behavioral influence caused by chemosensory signals. The current study sought to examine whether a link exists between male pheromones and women’s drinking and approach behavior, through the use of a possible male sex pheromone called androstenone, and sought to examine this link within the context of a women’s ovulation cycle. One hundred and three female participants were primed with …

Emotional Memory For Affective Words In Manifest And Prodromal Huntington’S Disease, Patricia Lynn Johnson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Huntington’s disease (HD) patients have been found to have specific deficits in emotional processing, most consistently demonstrating impairment recognizing the emotion expressed on a static face. The purpose of this study was to examine emotional memory in HD, which has not yet been investigated, and its relationship with executive functioning, emotional facial recognition, and the disease progression in HD. An emotional memory task with pleasant, neural, and unpleasant words was administered to control (n=26), prodromal HD (n=26), and manifest HD (n=29) participants in addition to executive function measures, an apathy scale, and emotional facial recognition task. Free recall was not …

Social Story Tm And In-Situ Training At Home: Effects On Household Chemical Safety Skills In Young Children, Courtney Ek

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to expand the literature on Social Story^TM and in-situ training by targeting household chemical safety skills in typically developing young children. The study involved three children, ages 2 and 3 years old who had difficulty performing household chemical safety skills at home. A multiple-baseline across participants design with an ABC sequence was used to examine the effects of the Social Story^TM and in-situ training interventions on the children’s household chemical safety skills. The investigation focused on examining whether the Social Story^TM alone would be effective in teaching targeted safety skills to …

Adverse Childhood Experiences And Their Role As Mitigators For Youthful And Non-Youthful Offenders In Capital Sentencing Cases, Jessica R. Trapassi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and their role as mitigators in capital sentencing is an important, yet relatively unexplored, topic in criminological literature. Using data from the North Carolina Capital Sentencing Project, this study explores the role of ACEs as mitigating factors for youthful and non-youthful capital offenders: whether youthful offenders are less likely to be sentenced to death, whether or not ACEs are effective as mitigating factors, and whether ACE mitigators are more effective for youthful or non-youthful offenders. Results show that youthful capital offenders are less likely to be sentenced to death than adult capital offenders, and while ACE …

Treatment Of Food Selectivity: An Evaluation Of Video Modeling Of Contingencies, Erin O'Connor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of video modeling of contingencies alone and/or combined with direct exposure to the contingencies in the treatment of food selectivity. Treatment procedures included sequentially introducing videos in which models consumed nonpreferred food, were exposed to differential reinforcement, or exposed to escape extinction and differential reinforcement. In addition, participants were exposed to differential reinforcement. Results indicated video modeling of differential reinforcement plus differential reinforcement may be effective at increasing consumption of some nonpreferred foods, but the results were not replicated across all foods. For one participant, consumption of one food increased …

Breach: Understanding The Mandatory Reporting Of Title Ix Violations As Pedagogy And Performance, Jacob G. Abraham

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how institutions generate, teach, and authorize normative performances through texts and/as pedagogical practices. Through an analysis of the University of South Florida’s mandatory reporting policy, training, and Title IX Incident Report Form, this project examines how institutions construct and privilege certain values, performances, and individuals as means of generating the legal compliance of the institution independent. These practices are valued independent of how such compliance enables and limits the relationship between students and teachers. I argue the University’s texts and pedagogical practices serve to substantiate, authorize, and perform the materialization of certain privileges and the normative standards …

Chemotherapy-Induced Alopecia And Quality-Of-Life: Ovarian And Uterine Cancer Patients And The Aesthetics Of Disease, Meredith L. Clements

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study is an examination of ovarian and uterine cancer patients’ perceptions of chemotherapy-induced alopecia and how it impacts quality-of-life over the course of chemotherapy. The chapters in this dissertation address the following research questions: How do ovarian and uterine cancer patients communicate about their experiences of alopecia over the course of chemotherapy? How does chemotherapy-induced alopecia influence patients’ understandings of quality-of-life? Longitudinal interviews were conducted with a patient population of twenty-three, and each patient was interviewed at least twice over the course of chemotherapy. The data set was composed of fifty-five interviews, and a thematic analysis was performed across …

Parent Perceptions Of Treatment Effectiveness And Attendance Rates In A Behavioral Parent Training Program: Do They Predict Treatment Outcomes For Children?, Natalie A. Hofmann Leedy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Young children who display disruptive behaviors are at risk for negative outcomes in later development such as school dropout, early pregnancy, and unemployment (Bradshaw, Schaeffer, Petras, & Ialongo, 2010). For this reason, it is imperative parents of children with disruptive behaviors seek early intervention to reduce problem behaviors and prevent negative effects (Breitenstein, Hill, & Gross, 2009). Parent behavioral training interventions are effective for reducing problem behaviors in young children. Attrition from parent training interventions, however, is a common problem that reduces positive outcomes for children with challenging behaviors (Kazdin, Holland, & Crowley, 1997; Prinz & Miller, 1994). Barriers to …

Comparing The Effects Of Static And Dynamic Signals During Multiple Schedules, Lori Kollin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Functional communication training (FCT) is an effective procedure to teach a functional communication response (FCR) and decrease problem behavior. However, there are limitations to FCT. These limitations include excessive manding (e.g., requesting items at a high rate) and manding at inappropriate times (e.g., requesting attention when caregiver is driving). Multiple schedules using static signals (e.g., colored cards) have been used to decrease these limitations while maintaining appropriate levels of the FCRs and low levels of problem behavior. Moreover, dynamic signals have been used to maintain low levels of problem behavior and appropriate levels of alternative responses outside of a multiple …

Countering The Questionable Actions Of The Cpd And Fec, Brian C. Cole

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

For his study, the author determines whether the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) and the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) are sovereign entities, or if they are pawns of the Democratic and Republican parties (Political Duopoly) aimed to prevent smaller candidates from participating in the CPD’s Presidential Debates.

The author’s rationale for his research is based on the fact that, despite a large majority of American voters want to hear other voices in the CPD debates, the CPD has not allowed other voices to participate in the debates since 1992, through use of the CPD’s fifteen-percent support requirement. Every time an …

Laser Machining And Near Field Microwave Microscopy Of Silver Inks For 3d Printable Rf Devices, Anthony J. Ross Iii

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

3D printable materials for RF devices need improvement in order to satisfy the demand for higher frequency and lower loss performance. Characterization of materials that have shown improvements of conductor conductivity have been performed. By using a laser machining technique the loss of a 3D printed 2.45 GHz microstrip Square Open Loop Resonator (SOLR) bandpass filter has been shown to improve by 2.1dB, along with an increase in bandwidth from 10% to 12.7% when compared to a SOLR filter that has not been laser machined. Both laser machined and microwaved silver inks have been mapped for conductivity using a Near …

Evaluation Of The Class Pass Intervention (Cpi): An Application To Improve Classroom Behavior In Children With Disabilities, Taylor Narozanick

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Class Pass Intervention (CPI) is designed to be implemented within school-wide PBIS to decrease disruptive behavior and teach an appropriate replacement behavior for students needing Tier 2 intervention. The purpose of the present study was to extend the literature on the CPI by further evaluating the impact of the first component of the CPI on disruptive behavior and academic engagement of elementary school children with disabilities engaging in mild to moderate disruptive behavior. Three students and their respective teachers participated in the study. A multiple baseline across participants design with an embedded reversal was used to demonstrate the impact …

Product Shadows And Ad Evaluations, Nazuk Sharma

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Prior research shows that stylistic ad manipulations (i.e., the style or manner in which product visuals are presented in an ad) impact consumer perceptions (Yang, Zhang and Peracchio 2010). This dissertation explores the impact of presence (versus absence) of a product’s shadow in the ad frame, as a visual stylistic manipulation influencing consumer ad perceptions. While many stylistic manipulations have been explored in the past, product shadows in how they impact ad perceptions have not been explored.

Drawing on a holistic understanding on object shadows from the visual art, cognition and psychophysics literature streams, this dissertation investigates how product shadows …

Selection Of Memory Book Content: Agreement In Content As A Function Of Informant Relationship To Memory Book Recipient, Rebecca J. Allen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to determine to what extent provision of personally relevant information and sensory cues would agree between Recipient and Informant for selection of memory book content. Six dyads married to each other an average of 29.17 years (SD = 10.03), between the ages of 43 and 70 years (Mean = 57; SD = 8.39), and cognitively competent (i.e., no diagnosis of cognitive impairment) participated. Participants completed questionnaires independently and provided personally relevant information/memories, aversions towards select memories/topics, and sensory cues on behalf of themselves (as “Recipient) and their spouse (as “Informant”). For provision of personally relevant information/memories, …