Digital Commons Network^™

Using Online Reviews To Identify How Hotels Can Satisfy Travelers With Pets While Making Money, Sonia Weinhaus

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A Qualitative Content Analysis of user generated content in the form of online reviews reveals an opportunity for hotels to better serve Travelers With Pets and collect partitioned fees. Examining more than 3,000 reviews of 92 hotels from five geographical regions of the United States identifies how to close the gap between what customers want and what hotels offer. This study derives the Minimum and Maximum Typologies of pet policy structures from the coding of online reviews. Travelers With Pets are willing to pay partitioned fees if the fee is viewed as fair. Improving saliency of pet fees is revenue …

Reviving The Christian Left: A Thematic Analysis Of Progressive Christian Identity In American Politics, Adam Blake Arledge

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While Christianity in American politics today is mostly dominated by the voice of the Religious Right, many are unaware that there also exists a significant number of progressive Christians throughout the country. This diverse group, often referred to as the Christian Left, is not as organized or outspoken as conservative Christians and tends to shy away from the restrictive influence of identity labels. However, members all share in common a passion for social justice issues. This study aims to gain a deeper understanding of the identity of Christian Left individuals through a thematic analysis of interviews. By interrogating participants’ identity …

Communicating Breast Cancer Awareness: Using The Health Belief Model To Develop Mass Communication Themes To Influence Early Detection Behaviors, Srisai Kamakshi Ramya Harika Pucha

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Breast cancer (BC) is the most fatal cancer in India and has affected more than 1.3 million people in the year 2020 alone, making it a national public health priority. The reason for this alarming increase in BC incidences and mortality rates stems from a severe lack of awareness and the absence of targeted interventions. Considering the absence of a national level breast cancer awareness program, the following study sought to understand Indian women’s preconceived notions about the disease and the available screening methods to contribute to future mass communication campaigns in India. The study used a pre-designed interview guide …

Breaking The Glass Ceiling In Higher Education: Latina Administrators Overcoming The Invisible Barriers To Succeed In Medical Schools, Ana J. Bonifacio

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, one in four girls attending K-12 is a Latina (Gándara, 2015). However, Latinas only make up 2% of all higher education administrators (Pritchard et al., 2019). Although the Latina population and medical school enrollment have increased in the past three decades, graduation rates have declined while the percentage of Latina administrators has remained stagnant for the past fifteen years. Consequently, this study aimed to examine the experiences of eight successful Latina administrators from various medical schools. A qualitative research study design was used with a narrative inquiry approach to explore the experiences of Latina administrators in …

Design And Assessment Of A Novel Edna Survey Method For The Eastern Indigo Snake (Drymarchon Couperi), Emily K. Galbraith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

1. Accurate information about species range declines is the cornerstone of effective conservation when habitat loss drives biodiversity loss. The Eastern Indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi) is an apex predator in Florida and, like many other native Florida species, is threatened by widespread habitat destruction. Environmental DNA (eDNA) monitoring of this elusive snake would provide a low-risk and low-cost approach to expand our knowledge of the species’ range and distribution.

2. We designed and tested an eDNA assay that can detect the presence of Eastern Indigo snake from soil samples of their natural habitat. This assay was …

Exploring The Vulnerability Of A Neural Tangent Generalization Attack (Ntga) - Generated Unlearnable Cifar-10 Dataset, Gitte Ost

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nowadays, a massive amount of data is generated and stored on servers and cloudsfrom various applications daily. Preventing these data from unauthorized use often becomes necessary and critical in various real-world applications. Many researchers have studied this crucial problem and developed different methods for this purpose. Among them, Neural Tangent Generalization Attack (NTGA) is one of the most efficient methods to make a dataset unlearnable, which means that the dataset is not learnable by machine learning/deep learning methods. That is, the NTGA-generated dataset is protected against unauthorized use. In this thesis, we explore the vulnerability of an NTGA-generated unlearnable CIFAR-10 …

Sports And Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Building A Better Framework For Sustainable Sports Operations, Austin Anahory

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the approach to sustainability of American soccer leagues and provides a Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventory of the Tampa Bay Rowdies. Sustainability and climate change are rising concerns for most industries, especially the sports industry as it will face many immediate and long term impacts. To address these issues, a sustainability analysis was done of each USL Championship team to assess prominence of sustainability topics from their website. To conduct the GHG inventory, the GHG Protocol was followed and resulted in assessing Scope 1, 2, and 3 of the given soccer team. Assumptions were used to estimate missing …

Effect Of Hyperoxia On Cardiac Pathophysiology In Female Guinea Pig Hearts, Chayapatou Chayawatto

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hyperoxia is widely implemented in critical care and ICU patients. The administration of a high concentration of inspired oxygen to the lung can unknowingly cause hyperoxia and thereby damaging the lungs and heart due to oxidative stress. Technically, hyperoxia occurs when the patient receives PaO2 > 200 mmHg. Major research focused on hyperoxia-induced lung injury, but nothing is known on its effect on heart. Our lab is the pioneer in understanding the effect of hyperoxia on cardiovascular remodeling using mice model. Previous results show that mice under 72 hours of hyperoxia present severe cardiac pathophysiology. This research uses Guinea pigs, which …

Impact Of Language Sampling Context On Language Productivity And Complexity, Trina J. Tolentino

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Language sampling is a familiar tool in the speech-language pathologist’s (SLP’s) repertoire, used to assess a student’s language ability and inform treatment targets. The current literature has several studies comparing various dimensions of language sampling context, but with relatively small samples. The goal of this study was to identify what sampling contexts elicit the most productive and complex language, thereby contributing insight into what conditions may yield the most accurate representation of a child’s language skill, as well as the resulting intervention focus.

One-thousand thirty-seven kindergarten, first-, second-, and third-grade students (mean age [years; months] ≈ 7;5; range = 5;0-10;9), …

Evaluation Of Response Modality In Online Discussion Boards, Tatiyanna A. Dunn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Since 2020, over 3 million students have enrolled in a postsecondary distance learning course (National Center for Education Statistics, 2020). One challenge in distant learning is fostering student engagement. Student engagement is a broad construct that refers to increasing contact between three pillars of education. Students, teachers, and course material. Past research has shown increasing engagement leads to improved student performance and instructor evaluations. Unsurprisingly, promoting student engagement is desirable for both students and instructors (Cobb, 2009). Discussion boards allow student engagement between themselves and Instructors while knowledge can still be tested. Few studies have evaluated the modality of student …

Measurement In Chemistry, Mathematics, And Physics Education: Student Explanations Of Organic Chemistry Reaction Mechanisms And Instructional Practices In Introductory Courses, Brandon J. Yik

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The work in this dissertation is presented in two parts. The first part (Chapters 3 and 4) details work relating to students’ explanations of reaction mechanisms in organic chemistry. The second part (Chapters 5 and 6) details work relating to the evaluating the uptake of research-based instructional practices in introductory chemistry, mathematics, and physics courses.

To evaluate learning of organic chemistry reactions, instructors must ask students to construct written explanations of reaction mechanisms. Written assessments should focus on what is happening and why it is happening to promote deeper student understanding. However, for instructors to gain insight into students’ understanding, …

Ambient Athleticism: Politicizing Akira’S Accelerationist Olympiad, Thomas G. Chaplin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis politicizes Katsuhiro Otomo’s 1988 animated cyberpunk film, Akira, specifically through how it stages its myriad neoliberal crises as opportunities for accelerationist solutions mediated by the Tokyo Olympics. Akira’s display of fully animated and intense action physics produces an aesthetic relation to its own athletes that contracts around their bodies in an attempt to transgress classical and oppressive compositions. Akira’s vague utopic promise receives broad acceptance and affirmation by extant scholarship, often relying on the accelerative impulses found in the works of Gilles Deleuze to substantiate Akira’s hopeful ending. Invoking Gilles Deleuze’s notion of athleticism, this thesis critically rereads …

Exploring Parenthood And The Influence Of Lived Experiences On Parenting Behaviors Among Child Welfare-Involved Adults, Veronica Howell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The World Health Organization asserts the healthy development of children is essential. Cases of violence and maltreatment impede the development of children worldwide. Six in 10 adults in the general US population have reported at least one adverse childhood experience (ACE), while vulnerable populations, including child welfare-involved adults (i.e., parents and caregivers), often report more. This history is associated with higher morbidity and mortality rates alongside higher economic costs; therefore, preventing ACEs and promoting safe, stable, and nurturing relationships between parents and children is critical. The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study was to understand the meanings and responsibilities associated …

Educating Culturally Relevant Leaders: Experiences In Leadership Identity, Capacity, And Efficacy Development In College Students, Ana C. Maia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation study explored meaningful experiences contributing to students’ identity, capacity, and efficacy development as culturally relevant leaders. In Chapter One, I detailed the importance and relevance of this topic in the field of higher education. Then, I reviewed the literature on college student leadership development; defined leadership identity, capacity, and efficacy development; and culturally relevant leadership learning (CRLL; Bertrand Jones et al., 2016). In the third chapter, I described the qualitative methodological approach to uncovering how college students develop leadership identity, capacity, and efficacy to engage in culturally relevant leadership. I approached this study from a critical constructivist paradigm. …

Microbusinesses Practices During Disruptor Events: Perceptions, Adaptations, And Performance, Debra Lynn Frank

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

During COVID-19 closures, business owners and managers experienced a disruptor event that pushed them to find new ways to navigate their businesses practices. The purpose of this qualitative study was to learn how business owners and managers adapt their business models to survive disruptor events. The objective was identification of factors owners and managers of microbusinesses perceived as critical to avoiding closures, assessment of the effectiveness of the adaptations adopted during closures that enabled businesses to remain open, and analysis of the results of those adaptations. Owners and managers of businesses in the craft brewing industry were interviewed. The four …

Organizing For Here And There: Exploring The Grassroots Organizing Of The Puerto Rican Diaspora In The Tampa Bay Area, Dominique Rivera

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Drawing upon participant observations and semi-structure interviews with 10 Puerto Rican grassroots organizers from the Tampa Bay area of Florida, this project examines the processes by which Puerto Rican diaspora members build, maintain, and utilize social and symbolic ties as resources for organizing and executing grassroot projects and campaigns with a dual focus on the Puerto Rican community in the Tampa Bay area and in Puerto Rico. Complex webs of interlocking social and symbolic ties that transcend region of origin and regions of destination constitute a transnational social field, within which exchanges of ideas, practices, and resources are organized among …

Deceptive Appeals And Cognitive Influences Used In Fraudulent Scheme Sales Pitches, Rafael J. Toledo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fraud schemes exploit the complex interplay that results from utilizing deceptive appeals to activate underlying cognitive influences. This study was designed, first, to identify the deceptive appeals present in the messaging of fraudulent schemes and, second, to identify the underlying cognitive influences being exploited by the deceptive appeals utilized. Findings reveal that effectively used deceptive appeals work to keep viewers’ mental processes in a state of cognitive ease. This state allows cognitive influences--such as heuristics, cognitive biases, and the System 1 mind--to remain in control of mental processing; however, System 1 is prone to accept deceptive beliefs. The results of …

Power Of The Collaborative: A Case Study Of Businesses Engaging In Cross Sector Partnerships To Find Talent, Jacqueline Skryd

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The widening skills gap and growing demand for workers has led to evidenced-based practices to connect the supply and demand to fill the void. Cross-sector partnerships have emerged as an approach to address the workforce skills gap. The purpose of this case study was to understand the experiences of businesses who engaged in cross-sector partnerships to identify common themes, specifically why they engaged, what limited engagement, and how cross-sector partnerships sustained and grew engagement. With businesses playing such a vital role in cross-sector partnerships, it is important to understand these questions to help expand engagement by other businesses in the …

Going Flat: Challenging Gender, Stigma, And Cure Through Lesbian Breast Cancer Experience, Beth Gaines

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper explores the decision-making process of reconstruction surgery among lesbian breast cancer patients to better understand how identity impacts healthcare decisions. Breast cancer patients experience the disease in unique ways due to gender, sexuality, race, and class, impacting their individual decisions regarding treatment plans. Many breast cancer patients face mastectomy surgery as the first plan of treatment after diagnosis. By exploring the impact of gender, sexuality, stigma, and ideas of cure, this research aims to advance research about breast cancer by recognizing why some lesbian breast cancer patients forego reconstruction surgery and instead choose to “go flat.

Harmony Of Difference: Theorizing Rashid Johnson's New Universalism In The Grids Of Antoine's Organ, Mark Fredricks

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My reading of Antoine’s Organ, a sculptural installation created by the artist Rashid Johnson in 2016, explores the artwork as a richly textured response to the limited universalism of modernism. I argue that Antoine’s Organ is a multimodal expression which crafts a harmony of difference using the aesthetic language and forms of both visual art and music. The term “harmony of difference” is taken from and inspired by a composition of the same name by jazz musician Kamasi Washington, and is used within to describe Rashid Johnson’s counterpoint strategy to work differences with and against each other, mobilizing the grid’s …

Beliefs, Identity, And An African American Cemetery: An Exploratory Study Of Difficult History Curricular Decision- Making, Shannon Peck-Bartle

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this qualitative exploratory study, I examine the influence of administrative curricular decision-makers’ beliefs and values towards race and ethnicity, heritage, and place on curricular aims for the inclusion of local difficult history associated with the erasure of a racialized cultural landscape, The Ridgewood Cemetery. I additionally examine the influence of contemporary issues on beliefs and values as administrative curricular decision-makers navigate ways to incorporate local cemetery history into secondary social studies curriculum. Through semi-structured interviews, document analysis, and research’s reflective journaling I shed light on ways beliefs, values, and contemporary issues influenced administrative curricular decision-making for local difficult history. …

Improving Wireless Networking From The Learning And Security Perspectives, Zhe Qu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Due to the high development of wireless networking and artificial intelligence, most of the data are generated from mobile devices, which distribute in different environments. As such, how to improve the performance of machine learning-based networking and its security should be carefully considered. To reduce the communication burden and protect private information from users, Federated Learning (FL) is a possible solution for learning-based wireless networking. Although FL achieves much success until now, it also remains some specific issues to be solved. In this dissertation, we propose two FL wireless networking frameworks and discuss two potential security issues.

In the FL …

A Residents’ Lens To Community Wellbeing, Sarah Combs

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite its location just a few miles from the burgeoning University of South Florida, the University Area Community (UAC) is considered a severely economically disadvantaged neighborhood. When compared to its surrounding counties, the UAC experiences heightened unemployment and poverty rates in conjunction with a significantly lower median income and rate of homeownership. This study utilized a research method of Narrative Inquiry as told through Qualitative Research to gain a better understanding of the UAC residents’ lived experiences and of how community change agents could succeed in impacting community wellbeing in areas like affordable housing, resident employment, and resident engagement. The …

Gender Differences In College Drinkers: The Role Of Masculine Norms, Jared A. Davis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Drinking among college students has remained a prominent problem within the United States, with more than 50% of college students drinking alcohol, 30% considered binge drinkers, and 9% considered heavy drinkers (SAMHSA, 2018). Evidence also shows that males are more likely to partake in risky drinking behaviors (e.g., binge drinking or drinking to intoxication) and are at higher risk to be diagnosed with a alcohol use disorder when compared to women (Iwamoto et al. 2014; Grant et al., 2004). Recent findings suggest that adherence to particular masculine norms as a risk factor for problematic alcohol use among men (Mahalik, 2000; …

X-Linked Ubiquitin-Specific Peptidase 11 Increases Tauopathy Vulnerability In Women, Yan Yan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Women experience significantly higher tau burden and increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) than men, yet the underlying mechanism for this vulnerability has not been explained. Here, we demonstrate through in vitro and in vivo models, as well as human AD brain tissue, that X-linked ubiquitin specific peptidase 11 (USP11) augments pathological tau aggregation via tau deubiquitination initiated at lysine-281. Removal of ubiquitin provides access for enzymatic tau acetylation at lysines 281 and 274. USP11 escapes complete X-inactivation, and female mice and people both exhibit higher USP11 levels than males. Genetic elimination of usp11 in a tauopathy mouse model preferentially …

Exploring Unobserved Heterogeneity Of Stated Preferences Through Latent Class Modeling: Application In Health And Insurance Demand, Suzana Karim

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Unobserved heterogeneity is one of the main concerns for applied economists, particularly when modeling preference estimates for health and healthcare in the stated choice experiments. This thesis illustrates the current state-of-the-art in analyzing preference heterogeneity in health-related stated choice experiment studies and four empirical studies on modeling unobserved preference heterogeneity using some recent advancements in latent class models for controlling scale variation. This dissertation contributes to the field of health economics and econometrics. In chapter1, I have described the motivation, thesis objectives, conceptual framework, and contribution of my research to the existing literature.

Chapter 2 is focused on an in-depth …

An Enterprise Risk Management Framework To Design Pro-Ethical Ai Solutions, Quintin P. Mcgrath

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The effective use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has immediate business benefits for an organization and its stakeholders through efficiency and quality gains, and the potential to explore and implement new business models. However, there are risks of unintended ethical consequences. Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) focuses on managing risk while maximizing business value from exploiting opportunities. Using applied ethics as a basis and the perspective that ethics includes both enabling human flourishing and not violating accepted norms, I argue that greater business value is achieved when an organization simultaneously targets the maximization of benefits and the minimization of harms for the …

Remnants Of Educational Leadership And Desegregation Etched In The Memories Of Black Educational Leaders: An Oral History, Janice Barge Clarke

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this study the experiences of Black (a.k.a. African Americans/ Negroes) educationalleaders were explored focusing on the period during the transition to a more desegregated public- school setting in the state of Florida. Using retrospective storytelling and reflections of ‘leading’ during desegregation, the lived experiences of those in educational leadership roles were captured in the form of oral histories and analyzed using critical race theory. The effects of desegregation is recounted from their vantage point, from the dissolution of the ‘all Black’ schools to the impact it had on the communities. The research question was: What are the stories told …

“Good War” On The Cool Medium: The Cold War's Influence On The Portrayal Of World War Ii On American Television, Michael A. Losasso

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a cultural history of the Cold War’s influence on the portrayal of World War II on American television. In it, I chronicle the production, reception, and presentation of the war of three prominent American-produced documentary series from three periods of the Cold War – Victory at Sea (1952-1953), The Twentieth Century (1957-1966), and The Unknown War (1978). The dissertation posits that from the 1940s-1960s, the television portrayal of World War II was an embodiment of the values- that the United Sates was “fighting” for through a “triumphalist” narrative of a “just war” which recast the role of …

Development And Evaluation Of The Values-Centered Assessment Tool (Vcat) To Inform Culturally Responsive Behavioral Parent Training Intervention, Daniel Kwak

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this study, we aimed to develop and evaluate the use of the Values-Centered Assessment Tool (VCAT) intended for use by behavior analysts to design and provide culturally responsive behavioral parent training intervention for children with behavioral difficulties who are from diverse cultural backgrounds. The study was completed in two phases using a mixed methods research approach. In Phase 1, the VCAT was developed through review of literature and interviews with behavior analysts and was validated through an expert panel review. Major revisions made from the initially developed VCAT included the addition of (a) a questionnaire for parents, (b) information …