Digital Commons Network^™

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 …

A Multivariate Approach For An Improved Assessment Of Pre-Erythrocytic Stage Therapies Targeting Plasmodium Vivax And Plasmodium Falciparum, Alison E. Roth

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The malaria pre-erythrocytic stages have been identified as an ideal therapeutic target, but complex in vitro models for Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum lack the efficiency needed for rapid screening and evaluation of new vaccines and drugs, especially targeting the P. vivax hypnozoite. To address this challenge, we employed a multi-parameter approach using “omics’” to identify pre-erythrocytic targets and biomarkers, guide phenotypic therapeutic screening, and study parasite functionality with innovative bioassays using highcontent screening. Herein, we discuss three novel bioassays formatted in 384-well plate systems with utilization of commercially-available materials and application of high-content imaging for rapid bio-image analysis. 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, …

Two Essays On String Of Earnings Benchmarks, Yiyang Zhang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Essay 1 Abstract

Prior research indicates that equity markets assign a higher valuation to firms that sustain a string of earnings increases (earnings string) and a string of meeting or beating analysts’ earnings expectations (MBE string). However, to date, there is little evidence on the response of debt investors when firms sustain a long string of meeting/beating earnings benchmarks. This study fills the gap in the literature by analyzing the impact of sustaining an earnings string/MBE string on the cost of debt. I find evidence of a positive (negative) association between the length of the earnings string/MBE string and the …

An Intersectional Examination Of Disability And Lgbtq+ Identities In Virtual Spaces, Justine E. Egner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a multi-methodological project that examines the experiences of being both LGBTQ+ and disabled from an intersectional perspective through narratives constructed in virtual spaces. In this project, I address the question ‘how do individuals who identify as both disabled/chronically ill and LGBTQ+ negotiate these often contradictory identities?’ I also complexify this intersectional analysis by examining how LGBTQ+/disabled identities are constructed in relation to race, class, and gender. Additionally, by conducting virtual ethnography as the primary method of data collection, I explore questions pertaining to how members of LBGTQ+ and disability online communities engage in virtual identity construction and …

Synthesis Of Novel Agents For The Treatment Of Infectious And Neurodegenerative Diseases, Benjamin Joe Eduful

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Infectious and neurodegenerative diseases continue to be a major concern worldwide. In spite of the great advances in drug therapy for treating various infectious and neurodegenerative diseases, there is still an urgent need for new and improved drugs due to increasing drug resistance among pathogens, emergence of new pathogens, ease of transmission of infections, ineffective available treatments, toxicity associated with current standard of care, aging populations and the lack of better alternative treatment options.

The first part of this manuscript (chapters 1 - 5) describes the synthesis of novel agents active against Leishmania donovani. According to the World Health Organization …

Neural Mechanisms Of Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation In The Treatment Of Tinnitus, Andrea S. Lowe

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Millions of people suffer from tinnitus, a disorder for which there is currently no effective treatment or cure. My dissertation work provides insight into the neural correlates of this pervasive hearing disorder and examines how a newly emerging therapy, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), affects the central auditory system in the generation of the tinnitus percept. This work has a multifold focus of: i) developing and modeling the function of a miniature magnetic coil that can be used for TMS in rodents, ii) establishing a reliable mouse model of tinnitus that can be used for assessing TMS treatment-induced changes, iii) measuring …

Climate Change: Aristotelian Virtue Theory, The Aidōs Response And Proper Primility, John W. Voelpel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Climate change is the first anthropogenic alteration of a global Earth system. It is globally catastrophic in terms of food production, sea level rise, fresh water availability, temperature elevation, ocean acidification, species disturbance and destruction to name just a few crisis concerns. In addition, while those changes are occurring now, they are amplifying over decadal periods and will last for centuries and possibly millennia. While there are a number of pollutants involved, carbon dioxide (CO2) which results from the combustion of any fossil fuel is the primary pollutant. It has not been considered a pollutant until recently because of its …

A Fall Prevention System For The Elderly And Visually Impaired, Yueng Santiago De La Hoz Isaza

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The World Health Organization claims that there are more than 285 million blind and visually impaired people in the world. In the US, 25 million Americans suffer from total or partial vision loss. As a result of their impairment, they struggle with mobility problems, especially the risk of falling. According to the National Council On Aging, falls are among the primary causes for fatal injury and they are the most common cause of non-fatal trauma-related hospital admissions among older adults. Visibility, an organization that helps visually impaired people, reports that people with visual impairments are twice as likely to fall …

Daily Fatigue And Subjective Cognitive Function: What Influences Daily Quality Of Life Issues Among Breast Cancer Survivors?, Sarah L. Eisel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There are over 15.5 million cancer survivors in the U.S. currently, increasing to over 20 million by 2026. Long-term cancer survival has raised awareness for the issues that affect quality of life (QoL) after treatment. Fatigue and subjective cognitive dysfunction are common quality of life concerns for survivors but little is known regarding prevalence of these problems in daily life. The purpose of the current project is to examine these concerns after treatment using data from a 2 week daily diary study of breast cancer survivors up to 3 years post-treatment. Of importance is determining the factors that contribute to …

In Situ Extrinsic Doping Of Cdte Thin Films For Photovoltaic Applications, Imran Suhrid Khan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Cadmium Telluride thin film solar cell is one of the leading photovoltaic technologies. Efficiency improvements in the past decade made it a very attractive and practical source of renewable energy. Considering the theoretical limit, there is still room for improvement, especially the cell’s open circuit voltage (VOC). To improve VOC, the p-type carrier concentration and minority carrier lifetime of the CdTe absorber needs to be improved. Both these parameters are directly related to the point defect distribution of the semiconductor, which is a function of deposition stoichiometry, dopant incorporation and post-deposition treatments.

CdTe films were deposited by the Elemental …

Assessing Readiness To Seek Formal Mental Health Services: Development And Initial Validation Of The Mental Health Belief Model Assessment (Mhbma), Jennifer A. Greene

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Only a small percentage of people with mental health issues utilize mental health services. This would seem contradictory given the increasing understanding of mental disorders, their high prevalence, and associated disability and distress. Research shows that individual level factors, such as perceptions of need, mental health knowledge, mental health attitudes, and mental health literacy, are related to individuals’ decisions to seek mental health services. The Health Belief Model (HBM) posits four types of health beliefs that affect an individual’s health behavior, in this case, the decision to seek mental health services. To date, researchers and clinicians have no assessment tool …

Signal Detection Of Adverse Drug Reaction Using The Adverse Event Reporting System: Literature Review And Novel Methods, Minh H. Pham

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

One of the objectives of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is to protect the public health through post-marketing drug safety surveillance, also known as Pharmacovigilance. An inexpensive and efficient method to inspect post-marketing drug safety is to use data mining algorithms on electronic health records to discover associations between drugs and adverse events.

The purpose of this study is two-fold. First, we review the methods and algorithms proposed in the literature for identifying association drug interactions to an adverse event and discuss their advantages and drawbacks. Second, we attempt to adapt some novel methods that have been used in …

School Counselors' Role In Reducing Aggression In Children In Alternative Education Programs, Deirdra Sanders-Burnett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite efforts to reduce the occurrence of physical aggression in traditional school environments, some students persist in engaging in physical aggression and are assigned to alternative education programs as an alternative to expulsion. However, relatively little is known about the types of services that school counselors provide to help these students. This case study investigated the services that school counselors provide to the young children attending disciplinary alternative education programs in a public-school district in central Florida. The participants consist of two school counselors who provided services to the students assigned to the alternative disciplinary programs and two district-level administrators …

The Relationship Between Sleep Quality And Motor Function In Hospitalized Older Adult Survivors Of Critical Illness, Maya N. Elías

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The primary, descriptive aim of this dissertation was to describe the nighttime sleep quality of previously mechanically ventilated older adult patients within 24-48 hours of transfer out of the intensive care unit (ICU) to a medical-surgical floor. The secondary, exploratory aim was to examine the relationships between post-ICU sleep efficiency (SE) and wake after sleep onset (WASO) with grip strength in previously mechanically ventilated older adult patients within 24-48 hours of transfer out of the ICU.

The study included 30 adults ages 65 and older (11 women, 19 men; age 71.37 ± 5.35, range 65-86 years), who were functionally independent …

Remote Sensing And Spatial Metrics For Quantifying Seagrass Landscape Changes: A Study On The 2011 Indian River Lagoon Florida Seagrass Die-Off Event, René Dieter Baumstark

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Florida’s seagrasses are ecologically important marine environments which have suffered major degradation caused by increasing anthropogenic pressures. A 2011 seagrass die-off event caused by an algal bloom in the Florida Indian River Lagoon (IRL) was particularly severe with a majority of seagrass lost in areas such as the Banana River. An understanding of how this coastal marine environment changed is an important step toward better managing resources for conservation. Modern tools and methods provide new opportunities to study these changes at the landscape scale, a scale that informs on the larger more comprehensive state of a system. Classified satellite imagery …

The Moderating Effect Of Religion On Death Distress And Quality Of Life Between Christian Cancer Patients In The United States With Muslim Cancer Patients In Saudi Arabia, Doaa Almostadi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cancer is an illness that knows no international boundaries. There are more than eight million global cancer deaths each year. A life-threatening diagnosis generates significant emotional problems for many patients across cultures. Death distress—consisting of death depression, death anxiety and death obsession—often results in poorer treatment adherence and lower overall health and quality of life. The purpose of this study was to determine whether religiosity has a moderating effect on the relationship between death distress and quality of life among patients facing a life-threatening cancer diagnosis.

The study sample consisted of 118 cancer patients: 82 cancer patients from a National …

Synthesis, Modification, Characterization And Processing Of Molded And Electrospun Thermoplastic Polymer Composites And Nanocomposites, Tamalia Julien

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the versatility and integrity of a novel, ultrasoft polycarbonate polyurethane (PCPU) by the introduction of nanoparticles and lithium salts. Additionally, the research takes into account the use of electrospinning as a technique to create PCPU and polyimide (PI) fibers. These polymers are of interest as they offer a wide range of properties and uses within the medical and industrial fields.

An industrial batch of an ultrasoft thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) was synthesized using a two-step process. The first was to create an end capped pre-polymer from methylene bis (4-cyclohexylisocyanate), and a polycarbonate polyol made up of 1,6- …

Transition Of Persons With Developmental Disabilities From Parental To Sibling Co-Residential Care: Effects On Sibling Caregiver Well-Being And Family Functioning, Richard Steven Glaesser

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Comprehensive improvements in medical care, technology and residential settings have resulted in persons with developmental disabilities (DD) advancing to older age and outliving parental caregivers (Heller & Arnold, 2010). Typical siblings are expected to become the primary caregiver to their sibling with DD when parents become ill or die and unable to provide care (Burke, Fish, & Lawton, 2015; Heller & Arnold, 2010). This dissertation looks at the wellbeing and family functioning of siblings who become the co-residential caregiver following the transition of a brother or sister with DD from parental to sibling co-residential care. The family systems framework was …

Operationalizing The Pressure And Release Theoretical Framework Using Risk Ratio Analysis To Measure Vulnerability And Predict Risk From Natural Hazards In The Tampa, Fl Metropolitan Area, Jessica A. Wilder

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Significant damage and loss is experienced every year due to natural hazards such as hurricanes, tornadoes, droughts, floods, wildfires, volcanoes, and earthquakes. NOAA’s National Center for Environmental Information (NCEI) reports that in 2016 the United States experienced more than a dozen climate disaster events with damages and loss in excess of a billion dollars (NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, 2017). Identifying vulnerabilities and risk associated with disaster threats is now a major focus of natural hazards research. Natural hazards research has yielded numerous theoretical frameworks over the last 25 years that have explained important elements of risk and vulnerability …

Using In-Vivo Audio Feedback To Improve Cycling Performance, Andrew Lee Coet

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many behavioral interventions have attempted to increase sports performance. These interventions include: goal setting and feedback, behavioral coaching, and acoustical guidance. The use of technological devices in all areas of life continues to steadily increase. Therefore, behavioral interventions should also adapt to meet these changes in technology. One such intervention is in-vivo audio feedback in which participants receive live feedback about their current performance while practicing the skill. In-vivo audio feedback has not yet been rigorously evaluated as a means of improving sports performance. This study used a multiple baseline across participants design to evaluate the effects of in-vivo audio …

The Effects Of A Task Analysis And Self-Evaluation On The Acquisition Of Yoga Postures, Elizabeth Ortega

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There is a growing amount of research evaluating behavioral approaches for skill acquisition in sports. Few of these studies have focused on yoga and skill acquisition. There is a need for a low effort yet effective way to teach yoga postures to individuals who do not take private yoga classes and may practice at home. This study evaluated the effects of using a picture-based task analysis and self-evaluation on the skill acquisition of yoga postures. A multiple baseline across yoga postures was used. During the task analyses intervention, the participants received a task analysis, performed the posture, and scored the …

Effects Of Point Visibility On On-Task Behavior And Preference In The Caught Being Good Game, Yudelkis Fuste

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Caught Being Good Game (CBGG) is a classroom management intervention used in schools. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of point visibility on appropriate behavior, to examine the degree to which points earned by the opposing team affected the other team’s behavior, to examine both teacher and student preference for the intervention, the effect of student and teacher choice on appropriate behavior, and to systematically replicate previous research showing the effectiveness of the CBGG relative to business as usual. Consistent with previous research, CBGG increased on-task behavior compared to business as usual. Modest and temporary …

Telling A Rape Joke: Performing Humor In A Victim Help Center, Angela Mary Candela

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the function of humor as a discourse in discussion of sexual battery. In this study, I examine the ways sexual battery, consent, and victimization are social constructed. Humor is a form of discourse where individuals are allowed to speak more freely about taboo topics, including that of sexual battery. I examine humor within presentations given from a Victim Help Center. Using field notes, slides, videos, and audio-recordings, I analyze instances of humor within the presentations. I analyze the data multimodally, in order to provide a richer, qualitative analysis. In this thesis, I argue that humor observed in …

“I Am More Than My Addiction”: Perceptions Of Stigma And Access To Care In Acute Opioid Crisis, Heather D. Henderson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this research is to analyze the stigmatization of opioid addiction within the framework of emergency care from an ethnographic perspective. Interviews with those who have been swept up in the current opioid epidemic indicate that stigma, or a shame or dishonor, and socioeconomic insecurity emerge often as common themes in their emergency care experiences. In many cases, socioeconomic insecurity most intensely translates into a lack of access to healthcare and emergency rooms across the country often function as primary care for uninsured populations. The central field site selected for this study was the emergency department of an …

Assessment Of Drinking Water Quality Management And A Treatment Feasibility Study For Brick By Brick Water Storage Tanks In Rakai Uganda, James V. Murduca

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Reliable access to safe drinking water is one necessity for humans to live without concern for major health risks. The overall goal of this research is to improve the public health, through improved drinking water, for communities in the Rakai District in Uganda, directly, and other communities in the world, indirectly, via dissemination of knowledge. This study specifically assessed the knowledge of drinking water quality in regards to public health, their sanitation measures, and water treatment methods for users of Brick by Brick rainwater harvesting tanks in the Rakai District (N = 28) by using a knowledge, attitudes, and practice …

"He Didn't Mean It": What Kubrick's The Shining Can Teach Us About Domestic Violence, Kelley O'Brien

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With Second Wave Feminism and the Women’s Rights Movement, 1970’s Americans began to see a shift in gender norms affecting how we relate to one another, particularly within a family structure. Scholars have noted an anxiety permeating the decade over the potential negative ramifications of such a drastic cultural shift. We see these issues of gender politics played out in numerous popular films from the 1970s and into the 1980s. Kubrick’s The Shining, like many horror films of the time, preys upon the societal fear for the family, due to these shifting gender norms, by featuring a crumbling patriarch (Jack), …

Self-Esteem, Motivation, And Self-Enhancement Presentation On Wechat, Xiao Qiu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to analyze whether self-esteem stability moderated the association between self-esteem level and the forms of self-enhancement strategies. Previous research has found that self-esteem level can predict the forms of self-enhancement, whereas the advances in the conceptualization of self-esteem recommend that the self-esteem stability is another essential variable in terms of analyzing the relationship between self-esteem and self-enhancement. Depending on the relevant researches on use and gratification theory, which indicate that people use social media for self-enhancement and fulfilling their inner needs. This research focused on examining the forms of individual’s self-enhance on WeChat …

Adolescents’ Perceptions Of Parenting Practices And Their Influence On Success, Academic Motivation, And School Belonging, David Rubio Jr.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although academic motivation and school belonging positively influence student adjustment and experiences in school, early adolescence marks a time when motivation, belonging, and success in school tend to decline. Research has investigated ways that teachers and peers can support school success and student adjustment. However, there is less research on the role that parents play in supporting students’ success, motivation, and belonging in middle school. Additionally, most research examining the role of parents has focused on parenting styles rather than parenting practices (e.g., parental involvement and parental monitoring). Our understanding of the ways that specific parenting practices may support success, …