Digital Commons Network^™

An Assessment Of Retractions As A Measure Of Scientific Misconduct And Impact On Public Health Risks, Alison J. Abritis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research misconduct has been generally considered a limited issue, occurring in a small percentage of research studies. Studies of the number of article retractions use retraction percentages to perpetuate the idea that research misconduct is not a common event, and use information in the retraction notice to quantify types of research misconduct and types or research error. However, retractions appear to be the wrong variable with which to assess misconduct rates and characteristics. Using final misconduct findings in hard science research from the Office of Research Integrity (ORI) for investigations closed from 1993 through 2013, the number of publications and …

Fabrication Of Tissue Precursors Induced By Shape-Changing Hydrogels, Olukemi O. Akintewe

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Scaffold based tissue reconstruction inherently limits regenerative capacity due to inflammatory response and limited cell migration. In contrast, scaffold-free methods promise formation of functional tissues with both reduced adverse host reactions and enhanced integration. Cell-sheet engineering is a well-known bottom-up tissue engineering approach that allows the release of intact cell sheet from a temperature responsive polymer such as poly-N-isopropylacrylamide (pNIPAAm). pNIPAAm is an ideal template for culturing cell sheets because it undergoes a sharp volume-phase transition owing to the hydrophilic and hydrophobic interaction around its lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of 32°C, a temperature close to physiological temperature. Compared to …

Hesitation Rate As A Speaker-Specific Cue In Bilingual Individuals, Jamie Lynn Armbrecht

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hesitation use is common among all speakers, regardless of whether they are engaged in their dominant or non-dominant language (Fehringer & Fry, 2007; Reed, 2000). The question is whether a bilingual speaker will engage in the same types of hesitations in both languages. If hesitation patterns can be identified consistently across speakers regardless of language, their use as an acoustic cue for speaker identification may be possible. This study examines differences in hesitation use across languages and speaking contexts (reading vs. conversation) in bilingual speakers.

Twenty Spanish-English bilinguals (ages 19 -31 years) were tested as part of a larger speaker …

Obesity As A Disease: Effects On Weight-Biased Attitudes And Beliefs, Rheanna Nichole Ata

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In June 2013, the American Medical Association (AMA) made the highly controversial decision to designate obesity a disease. Proponents predicted the decision would lead to reduced weight-related stigma, whereas opponents predicted designating a third of the population as “diseased” would exacerbate stigma. To determine the effects of defining obesity as a disease on explicit and implicit weight-biased attitudes and explicit weight-biased beliefs, female undergraduate students (N = 146) were randomly assigned to one of two groups: disease or lifestyle. Participants in the disease group (n = 71) were asked to read an article describing obesity as a disease caused by …

Anticipatory Coarticulation And Stability Of Speech In Typically Fluent Speakers And People Who Stutter Across The Lifespan: An Ultrasound Study, Alissa Joy Belmont

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study uses ultrasound to image onset velar stop consonant articulation in words. By examining tongue body placement, the extent of velar closure variation across vowel contexts provides for the measurement of anticipatory coarticulation while productions within the same vowel context provide measurement of extent of token-to-token variation. Articulate Assistant Advanced 2.0 software was used to semi-automatically generate midsagittal tongue contours at the initial point of maximum velar closure and was used to fit each contour to a curved spline. Patterns of lingual coarticulation and measures of speech motor stability, based on curve-to-curve distance (Zharkova, Hewlett, & Hardcastle, 2011), are …

A Comparative Evaluation Of The Learner Centered Grading Debriefing Method In Nursing Education, Marisa J. Belote

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The nursing discipline lacks a consensus on a best practice method for debriefing students following simulation-based training. A recognized, standardized method does not exist and various methods are utilized within the domain. The similarities between aviation and healthcare are well documented. Training members of both disciplines require standardization and methods of best practice. The aviation industry through the Federal Aviation Administration has found Learner Centered Grading (LCG) to be a successful educational format. The utilization of the LCG Debriefing method in simulation-based training is the standardized debriefing format for a technologically dynamic industry.

The aim of this research was to …

Sound Attenuation Performance Of Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composite Circumaural Hearing Protection Devices, Steven Christopher Augustine

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Personnel who work on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier are exposed to extreme levels of jet engine noise often in excess of 140 decibels (dB). The current circumaural hearing protective devices (CAHPD) employed by flight deck crewmen are inadequate for the level of protection required for these extreme levels of noise. Fiber-reinforced thermoset polymer composite (FRPC) materials such as aramid fibers used in body armor, have high theoretical values of acoustic impedance due to a fundamentally high modulus of elasticity and may offer a superior level of hearing protection over original equipment (OE) thermoplastic CAHPDs. The objective of …

Validity Testing Of A Preschool Reading Screening Device For Pediatricians, Erika Elaine Blue

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite efforts to improve access to early literacy intervention in the United States, there are still children entering kindergarten that are not adequately prepared for school and are unlikely to catch up to their peers (National Education Association, 2014). Preschool programs are actively involved in screening their students for potential literacy difficulties; however, there are children who do not attend preschool and may not have their literacy development assessed. One solution to this problem is to involve other individuals who routinely see preschool age children. Pediatricians are one such group as children come to them for their wellness visits and …

Exploring The Underlying Mechanisms Of Comorbid Adhd And Eating Disorders, Jennifer Rebecca Bleck

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Evidence suggests comorbidity of ADHD and eating disorders (EDs) among females. Capitalizing on the comorbidity of ADHD and EDs and subsequent obesity could lead to improved prevention and treatment of all three conditions. However, additional information regarding the comorbidity is necessary to develop such interventions, as little is known about how or why this co-occurrence exists. A comprehensive model of the underlying mechanisms associated with comorbid ADHD and EDs is needed to improve understanding of the development of the comorbidity. Moreover, while there are gender differences within each disorder, literature is limited regarding to the comorbidity among males, leading to …

The Relationship Of Pre-Enrollment Timespans To Persistence And Time-To-Degree Of Transfer Students At A Four-Year, Metropolitan University, Michelle Denise Bombaugh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research study investigated the relationship to the pre-enrollment factors of admissions-to-enrollment and orientation-to-enrollment timespans to transfer student success as measured by persistence and the length of time taken to earn a baccalaureate degree. This quantitative study analyzed secondary data (N = 357) from a large, four-year, public research institution in the southeast United States. A logistic regression analysis was used to explore the relationships between the pre-enrollment timespans and persistence. The relationship between the admissions-to-enrollment timespan and persistence was not statistically significant. The orientation-to-enrollment timespan was found to have a statistically significant relationship to persistence (p < .05). This indicated that students who had increased orientation-to-enrollment timespans were more likely to persist. To further explore this relationship, a multiple logistic regression analysis was conducted to control for possible extraneous demographic, pre-enrollment, and enrollment variables. The relationship of orientation-to-enrollment timespan and persistence continued to be statistically significant. An ordered logistic technique was used to explore the relationship between the admissions- and orientation-to-enrollment timespans and time-to-degree completion. Neither timespan was found to have a significant relationship with time elapsed to complete the degree. Implications for admissions and orientation timespans were discussed in relation to transfer student transitions.

Sigma Receptor Activation Mitigates Toxicity Evoked By The Convergence Of Ischemia, Acidosis And Amyloid-Beta, Adam Alexander Behensky

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States and a major cause of long-term disability in industrialized countries. The core region of an ischemic stroke dies within minutes due to activation of necrotic pathways. Outside of this core region is the penumbral zone, where some perfusion is maintained via collateral arteries. Delayed cell death occurs in this area due to the triggering of apoptotic mechanisms, which expands the ischemic injury over time. The cellular and molecular events that produce the expansion of the ischemic core continue to be poorly understood. The increases in the amyloid precursor …

Sleep, Depressive Symptoms And Cognition In Older Adults And Caregivers Of Persons With Dementia, Glenna Shemida Brewster

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Caregivers of persons with dementia, who are often older adults, report sleep disturbance, high rates of depressive symptoms and may be at risk for impaired cognition. This dissertation examined sleep, depressive symptoms, and cognition in older adults and caregivers of persons with dementia. The aims of the review of literature were to understand, in community dwelling adults 60 years and older, the relationships among sleep parameters (sleep onset latency, wake after sleep onset, sleep efficiency, total sleep time, and general sleep complaints), and the domains of cognition (Executive Function, Attention, Episodic Memory, Working Memory, Processing Speed), and global cognition. Based …

The Relation Between Adiposity And Anxiety In Youth: Analysis Of Peer Victimization, Teasing, Sociocultural Influences, And Internalization Of Appearance Ideals As Explanatory Variables, Natasha L. Burke

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to examine putative mediators and moderators in the association between adiposity and anxiety in a sample of overweight and obese youth. In addition, anxiety was examined as a potential moderator between adiposity and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Participants were youth (N = 137) between 8 and 17 years old (M = 13.09, SD = 2.61) and their legal caregivers recruited from four medical clinics affiliated with the University of South Florida. Youth were primarily overweight (28.5%) or obese (64.2%) and ethnically diverse. Data were analyzed by path analysis. Weight-related teasing significantly mediated …

Communication Of Lava Flow Hazards At The San Francisco Volcanic Field, Flagstaff, Arizona, Catherine St. John Carter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines different methods of communicating volcanic hazards to the population of Flagstaff, Arizona using the results of a recent lava flow hazard assessment of the nearby San Francisco Volcanic Field (SFVF). Harburger (2014) determined that given a lava flow originating in the SFVF, there is a statistical probability that it will inundate the city of Flagstaff or even originate from a vent within the city limits. Based on the recurrence rates for the most recent eruptions (3 x 10-4/year), the probability of lava flow inundation in Flagstaff is 1.1 x 10-5 per year.

This study considers the effects …

Latino Immigrant Workers’ Search For Justice After Occupational Injury, Carla Gabriela Castillo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Latino immigrants encounter an entanglement of rights and policies after occupational injury or illness. In collaboration with an immigrant worker center, ethnographic research and a survey are used to analyze injured workers’ experiences. The center uses survey results to identify common threads and systematic problems, and to explore potential direct action. Through interviews with workers and medical and legal professionals, I investigate the barriers Latino immigrants face following occupational injury or illness, how their lived experiences relate to the greater medicolegal frameworks that demarcate most formal processes of compensation and treatment, and the experiences of professionals who mediate these structures. …

Effects Of Occupational Stressors On Nurses’ Safety Performance And Well-Being: A Within-Individual Study, Xinxuan Che

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Occupational stressors have been extensively studied as predictors of safety performance and employee well-being in previous research. However, many newly introduced organizational constructs that have the characteristics of an occupational stressor have rarely been studied as such, especially from a within-person perspective. The current study focused on three occupational stressors in relation to safety performance. Based on previous literature, I proposed that within individuals, compulsory citizenship behavior, illegitimate tasks, and interpersonal conflict at work as occupational stressors would have negative effects on employees well-being and safety performance through negative emotions (anger), job attitudes (job satisfaction and organizational commitment) and role …

Script Training: The Role Of Written Cues, Hallie Cohen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Script training is a technique that allows persons with acquired speech and language disorders, such as nonfluent aphasia, to have islands of fluent speech during which they can speak about a topic without pausing or having word-finding errors. Scripts relevant to specific functional situations are written and practiced until memorized. Script training delivered verbally has been effective with clients with aphasia but the role of written cues in the training has not been explored. Therefore the purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of script training taught verbally, or verbally with a written script, in persons with aphasia. …

An Experimental Evaluation Of The Relationship Between In-Vivo Stimuli And Attentional Bias To Smoking And Food Cues Among Female Smokers, John Bernard Correa

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: Cross-sectional and experimental research has shown that female smokers more frequently report using cigarettes to control negative affect, manage dietary restraint, and suppress body image dissatisfaction. However, there has been little research to identify cognitive mechanisms that may underlie these effects. Cross-stimulus attentional bias is one such mechanism.

Aims and Hypotheses: We hypothesized that, when compared to neutral stimuli, in-vivo appetitive stimuli would enhance motivation to obtain a particular substance. More specifically, in-vivo smoking stimuli would increase attentional bias to smoking-related pictorial cues, whereas in-vivo food stimuli would increase attention to smoking-related and food-related pictorial cues. We also hypothesized …

High-Throughput Screening Of Age-Related Changes In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Neil Copes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project was developed to identify novel methods for high-throughput culturing and screening of C. elegans to investigate age-related metabolic changes and to survey the proteomic and metabolomic factors associated with age-related changes. To accomplish these goals we developed a novel way to grow C. elegans in liquid culture in 96-well microplates for several weeks without suffering significant fluid loss due to evaporation and without needing to shake or unseal the plates for aeration. We also developed methods for assaying the total volume of live C. elegans in microplate cultures using a fluorescence microplate reader and for performing RNAi experiments …

The “Other” Side Of Wall Street: Banking, Policies, And Adaptive Methods Of U.S. Migrant Workers, Cassandra Rae Decker

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Migrant farmworkers' social and economic mobility is frequently constrained through the denial of basic resources, such as access to the formal financial sector. This thesis ethnographically examines banking policies as they apply to low-income, mobile, populations that temporarily reside in Florida. It utilizes participant observation, interviews, and participatory mapping with migrant farmworkers. It also considers how policymakers and service providers in the formal and informal financial sectors rationalize control of resources and the effects on mobile populations. Particular attention is paid to adaptive practices in the alternative financial sector – cash checking services, carrying cash, and remittances. By utilizing the …

Strategies For Preventing Age And Neurodegenerative Disease-Associated Mitochondrial Dysfunction, Vedad Delic

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mitochondrial dysfunction plays a pivotal role in the development of aging phenotypes and aging-associated neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Strategies that restore mitochondrial dysfunction may rescue the deficits of central metabolism in these disorders and improve cell survival. For example, we found that modulating the mTOR signaling pathway in a tissue culture model of aging-induced mitochondrial DNA mutation enhanced mitochondrial function as evidenced by increased oxygen consumption. Our previous melatonin studies also led us to hypothesize that caloric restriction and the hormone melatonin would reverse brain mitochondrial dysfunction in animal …

Compassion Fatigue And Self-Care Strategies Among Addiction Professionals: A Qualitative Study, Amanda Depippo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Addiction is a prevalent disorder and is on the rise. Addiction has serious symptomology and can negatively impact an individual’s life in several areas. Not only can the person addicted become negatively impacted, but the addiction professional that treats this disorder can become negatively impacted as well. Because there is often a high co-occurrence of addiction and trauma among addiction clients, this intensifies the clinical profile of such clients which compounds the risk for addiction professionals. It is the addiction professional’s response to this combination of addiction and trauma that can cause these professionals to experience compassion fatigue.

Research has …

The Continuum Of Ethno-Racial Socialization: Learning About Culture And Race In Middle-Class Latina/O Families, Maria D. Duenas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the discursive messages and specific practices that Latino families use to transmit messages about culture, race, and racism. Scholars have not fully explored the complexity and range of practices and discourses that are involved in Latinos’ ethno-racial socialization. The use of the phrase “ethno-racial socialization” is important because it combines the concepts of racial socialization and ethnic socialization in an effort to account for how the lived experiences of Latinos who mostly think of themselves as a racial group, are treated as one race, and thus, discuss race with family members. This research explores this process using …

The Effects Of Supplemented Metabolites On Lifespan And Stress Response Pathways In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Clare B. Edwards

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Understanding how metabolites contribute to anaplerosis, antioxidant effects, and hormetic pathways during aging is fundamental to creating supplements and dietary habits that may decrease age-associated disease and decline, thus improving the quality of life in old age. In order to uncover metabolic pathways that delay aging, the effects of large sets of metabolites associated with mitochondrial function on lifespan were investigated.

Malate, the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle metabolite, increased lifespan and thermotolerance in C. elegans. Addition of fumarate and succinate also extended lifespan and all three metabolites activated nuclear translocation of the cytoprotective DAF-16/FOXO transcription factor and protected from paraquat-induced …

Examining Endorsement And Viewership Effects On The Source Credibility Of Youtubers, Stephanie Fred

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The growth of YouTube has resulted in the industrialization of a platform that redefines mainstream success. Success measures such as endorsements and viewership are serving as motivational factors for YouTubers. YouTubers and brands want more views, but are those motivations effecting perception? While much research has focused on the effects that YouTube has on the brand, this study focuses on the effects that the brand has on the YouTuber. It also determines whether viewership affects YouTuber perception and whether it‟s a success measure worth using. Using the constructs of the source credibility theory, this study assessed the main effect of …

Mmv Malaria Box Activity Screening In Dormant Plasmodium Falciparum Phenotypes, Sandra Galusic

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The causative agent of malignant tertian malaria, Plasmodium falciparum undergoes an arrested growth phenotype of its erythrocytic stage when under drug-stress. Recent artemisinin treatment failures seem to be indicative of such induction followed by recrudescence rather than actual therapeutic failure. Likewise, P. vivax hypnozoites are the prototypic dormants and the latent infections for which they are responsible prove most difficult to treat. Dihydroartemisinin, an artemisinin-derivative, can be used to exploit this mechanism by inducing a dormant state in ring-stage P. falciparum parasites and in turn, their recovery may be used as a screening period for compounds that inhibit or foster …

Maternal Stress, Breastmilk Igf-1, And Offspring Growth Among Breastfeeding Mothers-Infant Pairs In The Tampa Bay Area, Lauren Michelle Gottfredson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: Maternal stress during utero has been shown to have negative health consequences on the offspring, including low birth weight and increased risk of adult disease. Variation in breastmilk may act as an environmental cue of maternal stress and continue to program the infant during early life. This research aimed to explore the role of breastmilk on developmental programming of the infant. Specifically, to examine how breastmilk may act as a medium for the exposure of stress between the mother and the offspring, and see if variation in insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) a potential mechanism for the relationship.

Methods: …

Mindfulness Attributes As Predictors Of Treatment Outcomes In Children Who Stutter, Jenna Lee Graepel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A recent U.S.-based survey (Boyle et al,. 2011) estimated stuttering prevalence in American children ages 3-17 years at 1.6% or 1 in 63 children. In comparison to the reported 1 in 68 school age children living with Autism Spectrum Disorder (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010), stuttering affects nearly as many. These estimates suggest that Speech-Language Pathologist (SLPs) should increasingly develop their skill sets for identifying and providing interventions for children who stutter.

The evidence base for school-age fluency intervention, while promising, leaves much room for further development (Nippold, 2011). The majority of current interventions revolve around the traditional …

Theoretically Guided Examination Of Caregiver Strain And Its Relationship With School-Based Mental Health Services Utilization And Parent Engagement In Services, Amy Lynn Green

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Broadly, the purpose of this study was to address the gaps in the knowledge base of caregiver strain through an examination of this and other theoretically related constructs in a sample of parents of high-risk youth. In the last two decades, a growing body of research has pointed to the significance of strain that can result from this caregiving experience, particularly as it relates to patterns of mental health services utilization. Despite the fact that the majority of children who receive mental health receive them from the school, few studies have examined caregiver strain in the context of school-based mental …

Immunological Characterization Of Duffy Binding Protein Of Plasmodium Vivax, Miriam Thankam George

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Plasmodium vivax Duffy binding protein (DBP) is an essential ligand for reticulocyte invasion making it a premier asexual blood stage vaccine candidate. However, strain-specific immunity due to DBPII allelic variation may complicate vaccine efficacy, suggesting that an effective DBPII vaccine needs to target immune responses to conserved epitopes that are potential targets of strain-transcending neutralizing immunity. Anti DBPII monoclonal antibodies, which were previously characterized by COS7 cell binding assay as inhibitory and non-inhibitory to DBPII-erythrocyte binding, were mapped to DBPII gene fragment libraries using phage display. Inhibitory mAb 3C9 binds to a conserved conformation-dependent epitope in subdomain 3 while non-inhibitory …