Digital Commons Network^™

Role Of Viruses Within Metaorganisms: Ciona Intestinalis As A Model System, Brittany A. Leigh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Marine animals live and thrive in a literal sea of microorganisms, yet are often able to maintain specific associations that are largely dictated by the environment, host immunity and microbial interactions. Animal-associated microbiomes include bacteria and viruses that vastly outnumber host cells, especially in the gut environment, and are considered to be integral parts of healthy, functioning animals that act as a metaorganism. However, the processes underlying the initial establishment of these microbial communities are not very well understood. This dissertation focuses on the establishment of a well-known developmental animal model, Ciona intestinalis (sea squirt), to study the establishment and …

Enhancing The Internet Of Things Architecture With Flow Semantics, Allen Ronald Deserranno

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Internet of Things (‘IoT’) systems are complex, asynchronous solutions often comprised of various software and hardware components developed in isolation of each other. These components function with different degrees of reliability and performance over an inherently unreliable network, the Internet. Many IoT systems are developed within silos that do not provide the ability to communicate or be interoperable with other systems and platforms. Literature exists on how these systems should be designed, how they should interoperate, and how they could be improved, but practice does not always consult literature.

The work brings together a proposed reference architecture for the IoT …

Statistical Analysis And Modeling Of Ovarian And Breast Cancer, Muditha V. Devamitta Perera

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of the present study is to investigate key aspects of ovarian and breast cancers, which are two main causes of mortality among women. Identification of the true behavior of survivorship and influential risk factors is essential in designing treatment protocols, increasing disease awareness and preventing possible causes of disease. There is a commonly held belief that African Americans have a higher risk of cancer mortality. We studied racial disparities of women diagnosed with ovarian cancer on overall and disease-free survival and found out that there is no significant difference in the survival experience among the three races: Whites, …

Analyzing Indoor And Outdoor Heat Index Measurements In Kitchens, Allison Welch

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Occupationally induced heat-related illnesses (HRI) can play a huge part in the lives of employees working within outdoor kitchens. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health [NIOSH] (2016), “exposure to heat can result in injuries, disease, reduced productivity and death”. When working in outdoor environments, it is important to limit exposure time of direct sun or heat as well as to stay properly hydrated. One way to ensure limited occupational heat exposure is by measuring the Heat Index of the worker's environmental conditions.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether there was a difference between …

Leaders Who Learn: The Intersection Of Behavioral Science, Adult Learning And Leadership, Natalya I. Sabga

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines if a relationship exists among three rich research streams, specifically the behavioral science of motivation, adult learning and leadership. What motivates adult professionals to continue learning and how is that connected to their style and efficacy as leaders? An extension of literature to connect Andragogy, Self-determination and Transformational Leadership Theory is explored. Responses to questions adapted from the Carré Model of Adult Orientation and Implication on Learning and Training Activities (Carré, 1997) and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Avolio & Bass, 2000) are compared among a sample of adult professionals in leadership positions. Results indicate that learning motivation …

Lung Ct Radiomics: An Overview Of Using Images As Data, Samuel Hunt Hawkins

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States and worldwide. Early detection of lung cancer can help improve patient outcomes, and survival prediction can inform plans of treatment. By extracting quantitative features from computed tomography scans of lung cancer, predictive models can be built that can achieve both early detection and survival prediction. To build these predictive models, first a detected lung nodule is segmented, then image features are extracted, and finally a model can be built utilizing image features to make predictions. These predictions can help radiologists improve cancer care.

Building predictive models based …

An Examination Of Innovation Idea Selection Factors In Large Organizations, Troy A. Montgomery

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A review of the innovation literature reveals theoretical models and success factors that pertain to the front end of innovation. However these models and factors fail to offer insight into factors large organizations consider when specifically performing the activity of idea selection. To bridge this gap, a grounded theory method was used to extract knowledge on innovation idea selection from 28 senior executives and innovation directors from 10 different, large organizations (defined as annual revenues greater than $1 billion). Analysis of the interview data resulted in the identification of 5 systemic and 4 implementation factors that large organizations consider when …

The Fate Of Fecal Indicator Bacteria In Passive Nitrogen Reduction Systems, Michelle B. Henderson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The sustainability of water resources is an international and national concern. With increased human activity, water distribution on a global, regional, and local scale has been negatively impacted. Managing water resources also includes managing wastewater. A promising solution to the issues of water scarcity and distribution in the environment is the reuse of wastewater. Wastewater is produced from various sources (domestic, industrial, and commercial); however, if this water is able to be reused closer to the source of generation it could positively impact water distribution. In the United States, approximately 25% of domestic wastewater is treated in onsite wastewater treatment …

The Effects Of Loneliness On Consumers’ Digital Engagement With Social Media Ads, Yu Qin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Social media has become an integral part of consumers’ lives and a popular platform for interactive marketing communication. In an age boasting of unprecedented digital connectivity, loneliness (defined as perceived social isolation) has, paradoxically, becoming widespread, affecting consumers’ preferences for products and brands in the marketplace. The present research extends the feelings-as-information theory and develops a conceptual framework in which loneliness modifies people’s cognitive processing style and induces concrete thinking in the context of evaluating social media messages. Using a mixed methods research approach, I first take a close look through the lens of a qualitative study at what it …

Agency-Wide Positive Behavioral Interventions And Supports For Residential Care, Rocky Dean Haynes Jr.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Residential care has evolved overtime from a system of supporting indigent children to care for those youth with mental health, behavioral, or medical disability diagnoses. Currently, in the United States there are 57k children involved in the child welfare system with approximately 14% residing in residential care. These systems have a long history of utilizing punishment-based, coercive techniques for managing problem behavior. Although these methods are thought to be further traumatizing for youth who have already been traumatized throughout their lives, the punishment-based techniques are ubiquitous throughout residential care. This study sought to evaluate the feasibility of adopting the School-Wide …

The Effects Of Maternal Folate On Fetal Brain And Body Size Among Smoking Mothers, Korede K. Adegoke

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The adverse effects of maternal smoking on infant mortality and morbidity has been well documented in the literature. Maternal tobacco use is causally associated with fetal growth restriction and correlates negatively with folate intake and metabolism. Studies have examined the association between smoking and folate levels during pregnancy, but very few have assessed this relationship using objective and accurate measures of both variables. Furthermore, despite evidence of a causal association between smoking in pregnancy and intrauterine growth restriction, and a plausible relationship between tobacco use and low maternal folate which is required for optimal fetal growth, no experimental study has …

Osteopontin Plays A Pivotal Role In In Increasing Severity Of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection, Viviana Sampayo-Escobar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The molecular mechanisms underlying susceptibility to severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection remain poorly understood. Herein, we report on the role of osteopontin (OPN) in regulation of RSV infection in human epithelial cells and how interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β), a cytokine secreted soon after RSV infection, when persistently expressed can induce OPN expression leading to increased viral infection. We first compared OPN expression in two human epithelial cell lines: HEK-293 and HEp-2. In contrast to HEp-2, HEK-293 expresses low levels of pro-caspase-1 resulting in decreased IL-1β expression in response to RSV infection. We found a correlation between low IL-1β levels and …

Magnetic Nanostructure Application In Sers Detection Of Melatonin And Resonance Raman Characterization Of Binding Of Catechol Moieties With Antibiotic, Siqi Sun

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Raman spectroscopy provides characteristic peaks of the target molecules that can be observed with appropriate laser, spectrometer and detector. These characteristic peaks can reveal ‘fingerprint’ information of a molecule even in a myriad of cases and combinations. It makes Raman spectroscopy a highly sensitive and selective analytical technique. Raman spectroscopy has a variety of chemical, environmental and biological applications. In this dissertation, modified Raman method are applied in life sciences and pharmaceutical studies.

The major challenge against development of Raman spectroscopy is how to improve the intensity of Raman signal. Surface Enhance Raman Scattering (SERS) and resonance Raman(RR) are utilized …

Ambient Benzene And Pm2.5 Exposure During Pregnancy: Examining The Impact Of Exposure Assessment Decisions On Associations Between Birth Defects And Air Pollution, Jean Paul Tanner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, approximately 3% of infants are diagnosed with a major birth defect each year. Whereas prevention efforts have led to decreases in some birth defects, the cause of approximately 70% of birth defects remains unknown. More recently, there has been increasing concern regarding exposures to environmental agents, such as air pollution during pregnancy, and the risk of birth defects. Over the past decade, there has been an increase in research studies examining the association between air pollution and birth defects. The results have been inconsistent, with some studies reporting that higher levels of exposure from the same …

Viruses In Marine Animals: Discovery, Detection, And Characterizarion, Elizabeth Fahsbender

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Diseases in marine animals are emerging at an increasing rate. Disease forecasting enabled by virus surveillance presents a proactive solution for managing emerging diseases. Broad viral surveys aid in disease forecasting by providing baseline data on viral diversity associated with various hosts, including many that are not associated with disease. However, these viruses can become pathogens due to expansion in host or geographic range, as well as when changing conditions shift the balance between commensal viruses and the host immune system. Therefore, it is extremely valuable to identify and characterize viruses present in many different hosts in a variety of …

The Structure Of Resilience: An Empirical Examination Of Resilience Factors, Matthew R. Grossman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although most researchers agree that resilience is defined as the extent to which an individual bounces back and recovers from stress and adversity, the field has not yet settled on the underlying structure of the resilience construct; its lower-order factors remain in dispute and undefined. In this study, five of the most prominent resilience measures (i.e., Ego Resilience, Block & Kremen, 1996; The Resilience Scale, Wagnild & Young, 1993; The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, Connor & Davidson, 2003; The Resilience Scale for Adults, Friborg, Hjemdal, Rosenvinge, & Martinussen, 2003; The Brief Resilience Scale, Smith, Dalen, Wiggins, & Tooley, 2008) were administered …

A Phenomenological Approach To Clinical Empathy: Rethinking Empathy Within Its Intersubjective And Affective Contexts, Carter Hardy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation contributes to the philosophy of empathy and biomedical ethics by drawing on phenomenological approaches to empathy, intersubjectivity, and affectivity in order to contest the primacy of the intersubjective aspect of empathy at the cost of its affective aspect. Both aspects need to be explained in order for empathy to be accurately understood in philosophical works, as well as practically useful for patient care in biomedical ethics.

In the first chapter, I examine the current state of clinical empathy in medicine including professional opinions about empathy, the dominant definition being employed, and the problems that arise from this definition. …

Distribution Of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers Among Demographic Categories, Giorvanni Merilis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) are flame retardants widely used within the United States in various products such as plastics, electronics, textiles and furniture. With an increase in production and usage, PBDEs have recently emerged as a contaminant of concern. Due to their chemical structure, PBDEs have the propensity to bioaccumulate in mammals. In fact, elevated PBDE concentrations have been recorded in human breast milk. Due to the potential widespread exposure to PBDEs, this study investigates human blood concentrations of PBDEs generated through the 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Through the use of statistical modeling, a comparison of mean …

Advanced Treatment Technologies For Mitigation Of Nitrogen And Off-Flavor Compounds In Onsite Wastewater Treatment And Recirculating Aquaculture Systems, Laura C. Rodriguez-Gonzalez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Non-point sources (NPS) of pollution are non-discernable, diffuse sources of pollution that are often difficult to localize and in turn mitigate. NPS can include stormwater runoff, agricultural/aquaculture wastes and wastes from small decentralized wastewater treatment systems, such as conventional septic systems. The mitigation of these NPS is imperative to reduce their potential detrimental effects on the water environment. This dissertation addresses novel treatment technologies for the mitigation of nutrients, particularly nitrogen, in Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) and onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS). The removal of trace organics limiting RAS production and water reuse were also investigated.

The first question this …

S1p-Mediated Endothelial Barrier Enhancement: Role Of Rho Family Gtpases And Local Lamellipodia, Xun E. Zhang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The endothelial cells lining the inner surface of the tissue capillaries and post-capillary venules form a semi-permeable barrier between the blood circulation and interstitial compartments. The semi-permeable barrier in these vessels is the major site of blood-tissue exchange. A compromised endothelial barrier contributes to the pathological process such as edema, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and tumor metastasis. Sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), an endogenous, bioactive lipid present in all cells, is a potential therapeutic agent that can restore compromised endothelial barrier function. On the other hand, S1P also has pleotropic effects and can either increase or decrease arterial tone and tissue perfusion …

It’S Not All Sunflowers And Roses At Home: A Narrative Inquiry Of At-Risk Girls And Their Perceptions Of Their Educational Experiences, Jessica Aggeles Curtis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The population of girls being incarcerated continues to grow amid the decline of boy offenders. While society has seen an increase in violent offenses perpetrated by these girls, the majority are still detained on status offenses or for non-violent crimes. For many girls, school is a place to seek solace and safety. Yet, for a growing population of girls, the bond they once shared with school is disintegrating. This disconnect has proven to be a critical turning point in their lives. The purpose of this study is to give girls who have been removed from the general education setting a …

Psychosocial Mechanisms Of Outcome In Pediatric Psychiatry, Alessandro S. De Nadai

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nearly half of all youths experience a mental health disorder at some point during childhood (Merikangas et al., 2010). Pediatric psychopathology is associated with a substantial amount of impairment in the school, social, and home domains, and such symptoms can have adverse impacts on subsequent development (Beauchaine & Hinshaw, 2013; Patel, Flisher, Hetrick, & McGorry, 2007). Fortunately, a number of medications have demonstrated efficacy in treating a number of mental health conditions (Martin, Scahill, & Kratochvil, 2010). Despite these demonstrated effects, treatment response is often incomplete, and the mechanisms by which pharmacotherapy lead to behavior change are not well understood. …

Chemical Investigations Of Fungal Natural Products For Drug Discovery, Danielle H. Demers

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Natural products have, historically, played an important role in drug discovery. Nevertheless, drug resistance, pathogen evolution, and global climate change threaten human health and nearly all current anti-infective treatments on the market today. It is undeniable that new drug discovery efforts are needed with increasing urgency.

Bolstered by a rich history of discovering treatments in the world around us, natural products chemists continue to look to the environment with increasing understanding and emerging technologies that allow efficient, effective isolation of new chemical entities. This thesis will describe one such endeavor.

Focusing on fungal natural products, herein is described the isolation …

Problematic Participation And Educational Dilemmas: Ethnography Of The Educational Experiences Of Black Male Youth In Hillsborough County, Florida, Deneia Y. Fairweather

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the social sciences, research on black male youth (BMY) experiences in traditional academic settings has been limited to their failure to achieve due to their perceived dysfunctional family structure, gender and ethnic identity, social class, and social structural constraints. Characterized by the anthropological investigation into youth cultural, Legitimate Peripheral Participation (LPP) framework, a theory of practice that includes an alternative framework of learning, and a mixed method approach with an emphasis on capturing the youth perspective through a PhotoVoice process, this research captures a dimension of BMY educational experiences by describing how exclusion from traditional academic settings is produced. …

Traumatic Brain Injury In Adolescence: The Relationship Between High School Exiting And Future Productivity, Jeffrey S. Garofano

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the leading cause of death and disability among children and adolescents. Brain injury survivors are often left with persistent impairments that have the potential to impede daily functioning, delay or prevent the attainment of developmental milestones, and subsequently limit future productivity in adulthood. A shared goal of both neurorehabilitation and the educational system is to prepare youth for a productive adulthood with both systems of care having substantial, yet independent, literature bases regarding factors associated with productivity (e.g., engagement in employment or post-secondary education). It is currently assumed that because type of high school exiting …

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 …

A Program Evaluation Of A Worksite Wellness Initiative For Weight Loss, Nicholas Martinez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to conduct a program evaluation of ACME’s worksite weight loss initiative and collect evidence relative to the efficacy of the program. An anonymous online survey was administered to participants of the weight loss initiative. The survey was designed to gather information relative to the research questions, which explored the initiative’s barriers to participation, alignment of initiative with the goals of participants, utilization of initiative resources, overall strengths, weaknesses, and areas of improvement for the weight loss initiative, as well as the respondents’ general profile for the six dimensions of wellness. Reporting of data included …

The Role Of Elevated Hyaluronan-Mediated Motility Receptor (Rhamm/Hmmr) In Ovarian Cancer, Stephanie T. Buttermore

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ovarian cancer (OC) has the highest mortality among gynecological cancers. The high mortality is associated with the lack of an accurate screening tool to detect disease in early stage. As a result the majority of OCs are diagnosed in late stage. Further, the molecular events responsible for malignant transformation in the ovary remain poorly understood. Consequently, delineating key molecular players driving OC could help elucidate potential diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic targets.

Receptor for hyaluronan-mediated motility (RHAMM) belongs to a group of hyaladherins, which share a common ability to bind to hyaluronan (HA). Intracellularly, RHAMM is involved in microtubule spindle assembly …

Bisphosphonate Functionalized Gold Nanoparticles For The Study And Treatment Of Osteoporotic Disease, Christopher Conners

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The use of nanoparticles for disease treatment is an increasingly popular area of research. The potential for multi-functionality allows nanoparticles to be used as transport and delivery vehicles for drugs and as diagnostic aides, among other applications, to address the unmet needs of many disease treatments. One such class of disease is osteoporosis including severe disorders, like Paget’s disease, Osteogenesis Imperfecta and Legg Calve Perthes disease. In this dissertation, we discuss a nanoparticle system consisting of gold nanoparticles surface functionalized with primary amine bisphosphonates, which is a classification of pharmaceuticals that is common in the treatment of osteoporosis. Functionalized nanoparticles …

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) …