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Exploring The Use Of Neural Transformers For Psycholinguistics, Antonio Laverghetta Jr.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Deep learning has the potential to help solve numerous problems in cognitive science andeducation, by providing us a way to model the cognitive profiles of individual people. If this were possible, it would allow us to design targeted tests and suggest specific remediation based on each individual’s needs. On the flip side, employing techniques from psychology can give us insight into the underlying skillsets neural networks have acquired during training, addressing the interpretability concern. This thesis explores these ideas in the context of transformer language models, which have achieved state-of-the-art results on virtually every natural language processing (NLP) task. First, …

Case Studies In Applied Behavior Analysis: Brain Breaks For Elementary Students And Using The Prevent-Teach-Reinforce (Ptr) Model To Increase On-Task Behavior In A Classroom Setting, Peyton L. Stipes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Disruptive behavior in the classroom can harmfully impact students learning and hinder academic growth (Austin & Agar, 2005; Hartman & Gresham, 2016). The term disruptive behavior encompasses many different behaviors, but when used in the classroom it focuses on off-task behavior, noncompliance, talking out in class, aggression, leaving designated areas, and stereotypy (Celebreti et al., 1997; Folino et al., 2014 & Kern et al., 1982). Both antecedent and consequence-based interventions have been conducted in school settings in attempts to decrease disruptive behaviors and increase appropriate on-task academic behavior. Physical activity and antecedent manipulations have demonstrated empirical evidence that both interventions …

Politics Vs. The Environment: The Spatial Distributions Of Mississippian Mound Centers In Tampa Bay, Adam J. Sax

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Safety Harbor culture that resided in West-Central Florida during the Mississippian period (~1000-1500 CE) was distant from the Mississippian heartland but built similar platform mound complexes and exhibited social hierarchies despite practicing an estuarine lifestyle that likely did not rely on extensive agriculture. To determine whether this coastal culture exhibited similar spatial patterns of platform mound centers to traditional inland cultures, GIS spatial analyses including distance matrices, density analyses, and least cost analyses (LCA) were performed within the Safety Harbor geographical nexus of Tampa Bay. The results were able to detect temporal changes in settlement patterns and estimate the …

Eating And Body Image Disorders In The Time Of Covid19: An Anthropological Inquiry Into The Pandemic’S Effects On The Bodies, Theresa A. Stoddard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated lifestyle changes are impacting the experiences of self-identifying women and females with body image disorders (BIDs) and/or eating disorders (EDs), focusing on the mental, physical, and emotional health of participants. Using surveys, person-centered semi-structured interviews, and autoethnography, I collected qualitative and quantitative data regarding the challenges, triumphs, hopes, and fears of participants regarding their EDs/BIDs during the pandemic and situated their experiences within their sociocultural context. Drawing on anthropological and psychological theory, I examine the data through the lenses of Scheper-Hughes’s and Lock’s “The Three Bodies” (the body politic, body …

The Influence Of Hate Speech On Tiktok On Chinese College Students, Tengyue Chen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the research is whether Chinese college students' attitudes to hate speech and hate speech censorship systems will be affected by the hate speech in TikTok. Meanwhile, the research could explore the third-person effect of hate speech on TikTok on Chinese college students. An online survey was designed for this research. 658 participants who are college students in China completed the online survey. The results showed that Chinese college students believed hate speech on TikTok would affect themselves, while others will affect less by hate speech. The results also stated that the attitude toward the censorship system affects …

Evaluating The Use Of Behavioral Skills Training To Teach Assertiveness Skills To College Students, Kayla Rogover

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research on assertiveness skills has mostly involved the use of self-report measures. However, self-report has been noted to be highly inaccurate (Bernard et al., 1984). Only one unpublished study has explored a behavioral analytic perspective of assertiveness demonstrating behavioral skills training (BST) to be effective in teaching assertiveness skills. Thus, this study evaluated the effectiveness of BST to teach assertiveness skills to college students and whether the skills would generalize to novel therapist. Results of the study suggest BST was effective for teaching assertiveness skills to college students, the skills generalized to a novel therapist, and maintained at follow-up.

Limited Point Of Care Ultrasound Clinical Decision Support Model For Work-Related Injuries Of The Shoulder Utilizing Bayesian Network, Gwen Marie Ayers

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This descriptive retrospective cohort study utilized a large Workers Compensation insurance database. Included in this study were 481 shoulder MRI's performed during calendar year 2017 that were (a) at least 2 weeks after the initial clinic visit, or (b) greater than 6 weeks after injury, but (c) not more than 3 months after the date of injury. Of the 481 cases, 432 were used to evaluate potential associations between the measured variables and generate a Bayesian network prediction model where only a few variables were required to accurately guide clinical decision making for rotator cuff and biceps tendon injuries. The …

Quality Of Life Of Older Adults With Complicated Grief Receiving Accelerated Resolution Therapy: A Mixed Methods Study, Tina M. Mason

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: It is estimated that 10-15% of bereaved people in the general population are experiencing prolonged, complicated grief after a loss. Persons with complicated grief experience a disruption of usual, pre-death activities, destructive thoughts and actions, and can develop or find a worsening of comorbidities and impairments. All of these, in turn, worsen the experience. Complicated grief reactions can compound the stress of the loss, disrupting the normal functioning of the central nervous, immune, cardiovascular, neuroendocrine, and gastrointestinal systems, which in turn can contribute to poor quality of life for the surviving family member. However, due to a paucity of …

The General Psychopathology Factor (P) From Adolescence To Adulthood: Disentangling The Developmental Trajectories Of P Using A Multi-Method Approach, Alexandria M. Choate

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Considerable attention is directed towards studying co-occurring psychopathology through the lens of a general factor (p-factor). However, the developmental trajectories and stability of the p-factor have yet to be fully understood. Study 1 first examined the explanatory power of dynamic mutualism theory — an alternative framework positing the p-factor to be a product of lower-level symptom interactions rather than the inherent cause of them. Predictions of dynamic mutualism were tested using three distinct statistical approaches including: longitudinal bifactor models, random-intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPMs), and network models. Next, given prior suggestions that borderline personality disorder (BPD) could be a marker …

The Relationship Between New Graduate Registered Nurse Knowledge, Experiences, Attitudes, And Age Bias Toward The Older Adult, Michelle Fox

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There had been a lack of research on the relationship between a new graduate Registered Nurses’ knowledge, experiences, attitudes, and age bias toward older adults. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether there was a relationship between new graduate Registered Nurses’ knowledge, experiences, attitudes, and age bias toward older adults.

The researcher used correlational, non-experimental, quantitative design for this study. The instruments used in this study were the Facts on Aging Quiz, the Kogan Attitude Toward Old People scale, and a demographic questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the demographic data and correlation coefficients were used to …

Evaluating The Performance Of Devices Engineering To Quantify The Fars Test, Harsh Patel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Clinical rating scales play a major role in assessing progressive neurological diseases. Neurologists use these rating scales to provide a better diagnosis, to provide a better treatment plan, and to analyze the outcome of clinical trials. Friedreich’s ataxia (FA) is a neurodegenerative disease that causes ataxia in limbs, speech impairment, and polyneuropathy. Since FA is a progressive disease, various rating scales have been standardized to provide an objective assessment of the patient’s current condition. The Friedreich Ataxia Rating Scale (FARS) includes several tests to capture neurological features of FA and to assess the functional stage of ataxia. The rubrics used …

Does Better A1c Control Worsen Osteoarthritis? An Electronic Health Record Cross-Sectional Study, Sarah C. Cattaneo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Obesity is a major risk factor for osteoarthritis (OA). There is evidence that diabetes also increases risk. Our hypothesis is that A1C is a predictor of OA severity. The aim is to investigate the association between A1C, BMI, and knee and hip OA severity. This is a cross-sectional study within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) database containing 818 patients with diagnosed diabetes. Patients at one VHA facility with recorded diabetes in fiscal year 2020 were identified. A1C and BMI data was obtained from the electronic health record. Chart reviews were performed to collect data on imaging reports of weight-bearing joints …

The Differential Effects Of Navigational Aids On Adults With Intellectual Disabilities, Virginia Morash-Macneil

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the differential effects of a GPS based navigational app displayed on a smartwatch and a paper map on the ability of individuals with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities (ID) to independently navigate unfamiliar walking routes. A single case alternating treatment design was used to compare the effectiveness of these navigation supports on independent pedestrian navigation. Five adults ranging in age from 26 to 45 with mild to moderate ID participated in the study. Visual analysis and the comparison of means between treatments indicate an increase in performance during the app treatment phase for all participants. Overall, all …

Credibility Of Spokespersons And E-Cigarette Prevention Messages: Elaboration Likelihood Model And The Moderating Role Of Perceived Risk, Emmanuel Maduneme

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

E-cigarettes also referred to as vapes or Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) were developed as a safer alternative to tobacco smoking, but the prevalent usage among young adults has led to deleterious mental and physical health challenges. Communications interventions against e-cigarette use have employed a variety of message strategies, but one that has not received a lot of attention is the credibility of a spokesperson and the impacts it could have. Grounded in the Elaboration Likelihood Model, the current study aimed to examine the impacts of spokesperson credibility in e-cigarette prevention messages, and the moderating role of perceived risk.

The …

Saudi Teachers’ Perceptions Of Rough-And-Tumble Play In Early Learning, Rana Alghamdi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explored teachers’ perceptions of rough-and- tumble (R&T) play in early childhood education in Saudi Arabia. The literature on rough-and-tumble play in Saudi Arabia is limited in scope, and more research is needed to explore teachers’ perceptions on this type of play for early learners. The pertinent literature reveals that R&T play, which includes running, jumping, fighting, wrestling, chasing, pulling, pushing, and climbing, among other rough playful activities, can positively impact learning and development across psychosocial, emotional, and cognitive domains. Teachers’ understanding of R & T play is key, and the attitudes of Saudi early childhood teachers who are …

Plastic Pollution In Urban Rivers: Spatial And Temporal Patterns Of Plastic Release And Transport, Charlotte Juliane Haberstroh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigates plastic release and transport in urban rivers with a focus on the driving spatial and temporal factors. Plastic is a key pollutant of this century that affects humans and the environment around the world. Rivers are a focal point of release and management, as they concentrate and accumulate plastics from urban watersheds and convey them to the world’s oceans.

This research assessed cross-sectional, longitudinal, and seasonal patterns of plastics in rivers, and evaluated the role of urban pollution and watershed hydrology. A detailed background is provided in the literature review. This work is built on two case …

Bone Microenvironmental Control Of Skeletal Malignancy, Chen Hao Lo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bone is a common site of metastasis for many solid malignancies. Bone-metastatic cancers pose a significant clinical problem worldwide and is among the main causes for cancer patient morbidity and mortality. Patients with advanced bone-metastatic diseases often present with either osteolytic or osteogenic bone diseases as their cancers progress. These bone pathologies are products of the cancer co-opting the local bone remodeling stroma to yield important growth nutrients and factors. Unfortunately, skeletal metastases remain incurable and are fatal. Identifying and understanding the causal multicellular and molecular interactions underlying skeletal malignancies can yield crucial ideas for targeting and inhibiting disease progression. …

Formation Of Gas Jets And Vortex Rings From Bursting Bubbles: Visualization, Kinematics, And Fluid Dynamics, Ali A. Dasouqi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The bursting of bubbles at an air-liquid interface is an important physical process in many environmental and industrial applications. Bubble bursting has implications for climate (e.g. marine aerosol formation; Veron 2015), human respiratory health (e.g. aerosolization of harmful substances; Prather et al 2013), food science (e.g. beer and champagne bubbles; Liger-Belair et al 2009), industry (e.g. processes such as gas fluxing and electrowinning; Zhang et al 2011), and volcanology (e.g. Strombolian eruptions; Chojnicki et al 2015). Much of the previous research into bubble bursting has focused on the fluid dynamics of the liquid component, namely the bubble cap film rupture …

Success And Sustainability Of Sponsored International Development Programs In Education: A Narrative Inquiry, Sara Beth Leikin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In a 2008 working paper published by the U.S. Agency for International Development, the authors lamented that, despite billions of dollars in investment in global education initiatives, access to education had been improved in targeted areas, but the return on investment with regards to learning outcomes was “much less impressive” (Gillies & Jester Quijada, 2008). From 2012-2017, USAID engaged in the Egypt STEM Schools Project (ESSP) along with four partner organizations with the goal of building model science and mathematics public schools that would challenge the educational status quo by providing students with hands-on, constructivist learning and providing an alternative …

Using Quantitative Methods To Investigate Student Attitudes Toward Chemistry: Women Of Color Deserve The Spotlight, Guizella A. Rocabado Delgadillo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The field of Chemistry Education Research (CER) has been interested in understanding the reasons why students struggle in organic chemistry courses. Reports show that students perceive the material as difficult and have trouble keeping pace with the volume of content taught within the course. Beyond these and other explanations of why students struggle in organic chemistry are affective factors, such as attitude toward chemistry, that influence students’ success and retention in this course. Studies have shown that in many instances, underrepresented groups of students report less positive attitudes than their peers. Of greater concern are the students representing multiple marginalized …

Resilience And Burnout In Second- And Third-Year Medical Students, Chad E. Whistle

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Between their second- and third-years of medical school, students must pass the United States Medical Licensing (USMLE) Step 1 exam. This high-stakes exam is critical to the overall success of medical students; the score has been a determining factor for the student’s residency training and specialty choice. Because medical students are faced with the burden of studying and concept mastery of content for USMLE Step 1, concurrent to ongoing coursework in the medical school curriculum, students may develop symptoms of burnout and be ill-prepared to remain resilient. This study investigated the extent of the relationship between burnout and resilience in …

Persistence Like A Mother: Nursing The Narrative Toward Doctoral Completion In English Education—A Poetic Autoethnography, Krista S. Mallo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this poetic autoethnography, exploration of the feeling and the experience of developing persistence as an English Education doctoral student mother is expressed through analysis of artifacts gathered over a 20-year period inclusive of the years of graduate study, becoming and remaining an English teacher and professor, while paralleling the mothering years. A metaphorical parallel is established between breastfeeding and completing the doctoral degree, thus the phrase "nursing the narrative." Expression is storied through poetry in the voices of the persona of the English teacher, the mother, the doctoral student, and the intersectionality of the roles of each as the …

Negative Performance Feedback And The Self-Regulatory Benefits Of Mindfulness, Jeremiah Slutsky

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Past research on negative performance feedback (NPF) has found that self-regulation is key to buffering against negative well-being and performance outcomes. Using feedback intervention theory and mindful self-regulation theory as framework, this study investigated the regulatory effects of mindfulness following the delivery of NPF. Specifically, the relationships between NPF and changes in self-esteem, negative affect, and task performance were examined, as well as the moderating effects of mindfulness on these relationships. The sample consisted of 164 undergraduate students who participated in the virtual experiment in exchange for course credit. Results from the study found that there was no time by …

Analysis Of The Self-Directed Learning Readiness Of New Graduate Registered Nurses, Denise Hain

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Self-directed learning readiness is the level of ability and willingness to manage one’s own learning. Research has been conducted on the self-directed learning readiness of both student nurses and professional nurses. However, research has not expanded to focus on the self-directed learning readiness of new graduate Registered Nurses entering the workforce. The purpose of this study was to identify the self-directed learning readiness of new graduate Registered Nurses entering the workforce in a hospital setting. The study examined their self-directed learning readiness profile; the differences in scores based on nursing degree, nursing program, and age; and the differences in scores …

A Case Study: School Professionals’ Perspectives On Students Exiting Middle School Entering An Achievement High School, Joy Davis Lee

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Each year approximately 1.3 million students dropout of high school and an estimated 40% of minority students do not graduate on time (Roybal, Thornton, & Usinger, 2014). In high school, 22% of students repeat 9th-grade classes because students fail to make a smooth transition. This gives the 9th-grade the highest enrollment rate and the highest dropout rate (McCallumore & Sparapani, 2010). In an effort to increase high school graduation rates, the Peabody County Public School District created Achievement schools, an initiative to recruit highly effective administrators, teachers and staff members to support students with the highest academic and nonacademic needs. …

Designing Next-Generation Transportation Systems With Emerging Vehicle Technologies, Zhiwei Chen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent advances in computing and artificial intelligence have enabled the development of various emerging vehicle technologies, e.g., autonomous vehicles (AV) and modular autonomous vehicles (MAV). These technologies bring new scientific and engineering problems challenging transportation researchers and practitioners. This dissertation aims to develop a suite of scalable computational and analytical tools for designing and analyzing next-generation transportation systems with the MAV technologies. Also, we intend to empirically study the system impacts in terms of the quality of service, energy implications, and inequality impacts.

For MAV system design, we develop a methodological framework centering at theoretical properties of the optimal system …

Biosynthetic Gene Clusters, Microbiomes, And Secondary Metabolites In Cold Water Marine Organisms, Nicole Elizabeth Avalon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Microorganisms and invertebrate animals from cold water marine environments, such as in Antarctica and in Ireland’s deep sea, are a rich source of secondary metabolites. In this dissertation, research was centered around secondary metabolism and natural product biosynthesis. The projects include the delineation of biosynthetic gene clusters hypothesized to be responsible for the biosynthesis of the palmerolides, stratification of the microbiome of the Antarctic ascidian Synoicum adareanum, genomic and peptidomic analysis of a host-associated Antarctic Pseudovibrio sp., and isolation and characterization of secondary metabolites from the Irish deep-sea coral Drifa sp.

Palmerolide A, the principle secondary metabolite associated with S. …

Cognition In Health And Disease: Two Mouse Model Studies, Heather Lynn Mahoney

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cognitive and circadian dysfunction are common aspects of neuropsychiatric disease that are often overlooked in disease models and treatment strategies. In this work, we first evaluated the potential for cognitive enhancement in healthy adult mice by targeting a kinase involved in regulation of the molecular circadian clock. We then developed and characterized a model of neuropsychiatric disease that could present a target for rescuing circadian and cognitive deficits using this treatment.

Time-of-day effects have been noted in a wide variety of cognitive behavioral tests, and perturbation of circadian rhythms impairs hippocampus-dependent learning and memory. We first asked whether casein kinase …

Micro-Architectural Countermeasures For Control Flow And Misspeculation Based Software Attacks, Love Kumar Sah

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Embedded system applications in diverse sectors such as transportation, healthcare, homeautomation, etc., have been gathering, processing, and transporting data using embedded computers connected to vast networks. As the usage of these embedded devices in daily life is increasing exponentially, security of these devices is a growing concern amongst the users. An alarming rise in recent cyber-attacks has deepened such concern. In the recent past, software-based attacks are more sophisticated and larger in scale than previously known. An embedded processor depends on a compiler to use the architecture efficiently. The compiler generates object code to efficiently utilize the micro-architecture for storage …

Dendriplex - Cyclodextrin Conjugates For Gene Delivery To Retina, Durga Deepak Puro

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Gene therapy holds promise for treating a wide range of diseases including cancer and several other polygenic and monogenic disorder arising in different organs. Due to its immune privilege nature, eye is an ideal organ for gene therapy,as various visual pathologies arise from gene defect and can lead to partial or complete vision loss. The last decade, several nanoparticles have been developed and tested for their transfection efficiency in vitro and in vivo. Among them, dendrimers with small size, good physicochemical properties and endosomal escape activity have shown high transfection efficiency in various cell lines. In an attempt to further …