Digital Commons Network^™

Internship And Job Acquisition Experiences Of Veterans In A Graduate Cybersecurity Degree Program, Stephen P. Gary

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My purpose in this qualitative inquiry was to explore how student veterans experience cybersecurity internships and job acquisitions. I chose Schlossberg’s individual transition theory viewed through a constructivist lens to support the inquiry. Five participants, who completed graduate cybersecurity internships and acquired cybersecurity positions, provided responses. I employed semi-structured interviews to collect data from the participants. I engaged reflexive thematic analysis to guide my data analysis. Based on my analysis, I generated the following discoveries applicable to the inquiry: (a) opportunities for developing practical experience are regarded as essential for successful participation in an internship; (b) a flexible internship program …

Online Perceptions Of Panamanian Prisons And Incarcerated Persons: An Analysis Of Youtube User Comments, Mahaleth J. Sotelo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to explore and understand the frameworks in which prisons and incarcerated persons are discussed amongst commenters under YouTube videos displaying media on Panamanian prisons. The study incorporates a mixed methods approach by conducting a general content analysis of YouTuber comments to address themes within the discussion. Additionally, these themes were quantified and modeled using predictive variables collected such as number of comment likes, number of comment dislikes, and number of comment replies, alias type (screen name or name-like), presence of profile picture, and profile picture type. The themes found were 1) punitive, 2) justifying …

Sanitation Marketing In Uganda: The Impact Of Gender On Participation And Outcomes, Elizabeth Vicario

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Uganda aims to reach universal access to basic sanitation under Sustainable Development Goal #6, but achieving this target by 2030 would require doubling the annual rate of progress. Women are disproportionately affected by poor sanitation due to their health needs and risk of facing violence, but they have historically been excluded from sanitation planning. Low household demand and poor service delivery have stalled progress in Uganda. Market-based sanitation (MBS) is a novel method of developing a sanitation market through stimulating demand and supporting a competitive atmosphere for product and service providers. This research studies the sanitation marketing activities implemented by …

Mobile Response Teams And The Youth Emergency Behavioral Health System, Paige J. Alitz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: This dissertation includes three separate manuscripts that coalesce under the shared topic of mobile crisis response and the emergency behavioral health system. Method: The first manuscript includes a synthesis of the research on mobile crisis response from the 1960s to present day to assess whether mobile crisis services can improve mental health care access in the U.S. for youth and adults. The second manuscript includes bivariate and multivariate analyses of MRT participant data to characterize participants who receive an involuntary psychiatric evaluation versus those who do not, and to assess factors associated with involuntary psychiatric evaluation or referral to …

The Use Of Video Games In Teaching Efl Students To Write Arguments, Dalal Boland

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to investigate how playing an online digital video game, Quandary, during a university writing course affect the quality of argumentative writing produced by adult EFL students in Kuwait and how playing the same video game is different between male and female adult EFL students when learning how to write argumentative essays. The sample of the study consisted of 42 students who were enrolled in English composition 2 at Gulf University for Science and Technology, Kuwait. The students were divided to control and experimental group and were part of the study for 3 weeks. Students in the control …

An Ecology Of Learning: Secondary Mathematics Teacher Candidate Learning While Co-Teaching In Early Clinical Practice, Cynthia A. Castro-Minnehan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have called for more empirical research exploring better ways to organize clinical practice around teacher candidate (TC) learning and the coursework-fieldwork gap. This study responds to their call by exploring secondary mathematics TC learning in early clinical placements that use co-teaching. Further, this study views co-teaching in clinical practice through the lens of an activity system. An activity system conceptualizes co-teaching in clinical practice as a complex learning environment or a learning ecology. This study uses a convergent mixed methods design. Findings reveal evidence of TC learning of eight key practices associated with co-teaching in their early clinical placements. …

Investigation Of An Alternative Protocol For The Production Of Sars-Cov-2 Antigenic Proteins, Nichole Ninaltowski

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the COVID-19 pandemic showing no signs of slowing down, large-scale antigenic protein production is still needed for surveillance using serologic assays. From screening to vaccines to biotherapeutics, being able to produce the proteins for these assays is essential; however, the current gold standard method for producing SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins is prohibitively expensive for most research groups.

Alternative methods of transfecting mammalian cells to produce recombinant proteins that are relatively inexpensive have been used for years. Unlike the expensive, commercially available lipid-based methods, other established methods such as polyethyleneimine (PEI), are considerably easier, and cheaper to meet the needs of …

Community Assessment Of Water Perceptions And Household Point-Of-Use Treatment Methods In Madagascar, Isabella Rose Silverman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

One in four people around the world do not have access to safe drinking water, which means that two billion people globally lack access. In high-income countries, 0.02% of yearly deaths are attributed to unsafe water sources; however, an alarming 10.6% of deaths occur in Madagascar, for the same reason.

To achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6: Ensure access to water and sanitation for all, a collaboration between public health and engineering is critical. Within the public health sector, social marketing is commonly utilized to address a problem by using commercial marketing principles to change behavior for the good of society. …

Laboratory Examination Of Lead Weights Harvested From Pitcher Pumps In Eastern Madagascar, Madelyn Wilson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Previous sampling campaigns in Tamatave, Madagascar, conducted by the University of South Florida (USF) have identified lead contamination in drinking water sourced from self-supply pitcher pumps. The pitcher pump piston and foot valves were identified as the primary source of lead contamination since they are often manufactured from recycled lead acid batteries. The previous field sampling technique consisted of collecting an aliquot of a 10-15-liter composite sample from the pitcher pump for dissolved lead analysis; however, this technique (1) neglects the contribution of particulate lead, (2) does not properly account for the effects of water stagnation inside the pitcher pump …

Online And Adjusted Human Activities Recognition With Statistical Learning, Yanjia Zhang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Wearable human activity recognition (HAR) is a widely application system for our daily life. It hasbeen built in many devices, such as smartphone, smartwatch, activity tracker, and health monitor. Many researchers try to develop a system which requires less memory space and power, but has fast and accurate classification results. Moreover, the objective of adjusting the classifier by the system self is also a study direction. In the present study, we introduced the machine learning methods to both smartphone data and smartwatch data and an adjusted model with the continuous generating data. Further, we also proposed a new HAR system …

Use Of Biochar And Zeolite For Landfill Leachate Treatment: Experimental Studies And Reuse Potential Assessment, Thanh Thieu Lam

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Leachate is a highly colored liquid waste product of landfills that contains high concentrations of ammonia nitrogen (NH4+-N), refractory organic matter, and heavy metals. It is commonly disposed to local publicly owned treatment works (POTWs). With these potent characteristics, it interferes with the physical, biological, and chemical treatment processes within POTWs. Sequencing batch biofilm reactors (SBBR) and hybrid subsurface flow constructed wetlands (CW) have been used in the past to treat landfill leachate, but their design and performance can still be optimized. Addition of low-cost adsorbent materials to SBBRs and CWs, such as biochar and zeolite, have the potential to …

A Functional Characterization Of The Omega (Ω) Subunit Of Rna Polymerase In Staphylococcus Aureus, Shrushti B. Patil

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In bacteria, RNA polymerase (RNAP) is a well-characterized and highly conserved multi-subunit enzyme complex responsible for transcription of DNA into RNA. The ω subunit (rpoZ/RpoZ), one of the smaller accessory subunits of RNAP, is often overlooked and under-studied, however, particularly in Gram-positive species. We have previously shown that deleting ω impacts the integrity of RNA polymerase in S. aureus, especially the β' subunit, and alters preference of the core enzyme for sigma factors, skewing heavily towards σB instead of the housekeeping σ factor. Consequently, this causes deregulation of myriad transcriptional processes, strongly rewiring gene expression circuits, and ultimately impairing the …

Development Of Small-Scale Power Supplies For Wearable Medical Diagnostic Devices, Donny Stiner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As devices continue the trend of becoming increasingly smaller in scale to allowfor wearability, the power supply modules driving these technologies will in turn become reduced in size as well. This progression will call for advanced techniques to fabricate power supplies on wearable device platforms which still permit the circuit to operate effectively. One such crucial technique, which is discussed in this thesis, is the implementation of power saving measures to increase battery lifespan on wearable devices.

Equipment found in the medical field today can be quite bulky and requireinconvenient means of transportation and take up an excessive amount of …

Quercetin Loaded Nanoparticles For The Treatment Of Dry Eye Disease, Bassma Sami Nashaat Hamed Eltanameli

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Dry eye disease (DED) is a common condition that affects the eye's anterior surface due to tear deficiency or excessive evaporation. The lack of tears leads to dryness and initiation of an inflammatory response which can irritate the eye and interfere with daily activities. Current treatment depends mainly on artificial tears eye drops which offer temporary relief and require repetitive administration due to frequent blinking. Prescription medications are also available but need around three months to relieve dry eye symptoms. Quercetin is a flavonoid that has an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effect. However, it suffers from low water solubility and low …

Evaluating Daily Systemic Betaine Delivery In Alleviating Dry-Amd Pathophysiology, Dawin Khiev

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

MnSod (Sod2) deletion in the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) of Sod2flox/floxVMD2-cre mice leads to oxidative stress-induced apoptosis of the RPE and photoreceptor cells that show salient features of dry-AMD. The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential antioxidant effect of betaine in protecting retinal health in Sod2flox/floxVMD2-cre mice. Betaine low dose (50mg/Kg Body Weight) and high dose (500mg/kg Body Weight, n=9) were administered intraperitoneally to 8-weeks old male and female Sod2flox/floxVMD2-cre mice daily for four months, while the control group (Sod2flox/floxVMD2-cre mice; n=9) received saline. We used spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), retinal outer nuclear layer (ONL) thickness …

Design Of Acoustic Wave Sensor System For Detection Of Btex In Gas Phase, Veselinka Mitevska

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene are classified as volatile organic compounds (VOC), which if present at higher concentrations can cause acute and/or chronic health effects. To protect people from VOCs, the occupational safety and health agency (OSHA) established short term and eight-hour workday exposure limits. The short time levels of exposure for BTEX materials are 5 ppm, 150 ppm, 125 ppm, and 150 ppm, for benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene respectively. The eight-hour workday exposure for these same materials are 1 ppm for benzene, 200 ppm for toluene, 100 ppm for ethylbenzene and 100 ppm for xylene. Although there are …

The Importance Of Lithologic Variability And Stratigraphic Architecture In The Development Of Eogenetic Karst Systems, Nicholas J. Soto-Kerans

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Integrative characterizations of karst systems on low-lying eogenetic carbonate platforms are rare and often limited to areas of direct observation where caves can be entered and explored. Because hydraulic properties of eogenetic limestones have been implicitly assumed to be homogeneous, classical models of carbonate island karst development stressed the importance of geochemical interfaces in controlling cave and vug development. These studies have explained the largest cavern systems as results of either 1) mixing dissolution at platform margins or 2) microbially-mediated dissolution processes at water tables.

New data from core descriptions and wireline logs obtained in 18 boreholes drilled in the …

Minimum Cut-Sets For The Identification Of Critical Water Distribution Network Segments, Xiliang Mao

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

To ensure adequate performance of water distribution networks, utilities must identify critical segments within the network that will adversely affect users when failures occur. Currently, time consuming hydraulic simulations are used for such criticality analyses. A method can be of great benefit for utilities if it can easily evaluate the criticality of water distribution network segments. This research applies topology-based methods for the preliminary screening of critical segments. This study evaluated the connectivity between sources and each demand segment in water distribution networks using minimum cut-sets. Through topological analysis, the minimum cut -set between the source node and each demand …

Seasonality In Competence To Transmit West Nile Virus For A Widespread Reservoir, Kyle L. Koller

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

All organisms face a central conflict; a limited supply of resources must beoptimally allocated to competing biological functions. Utilizing robust immune defenses can be energetically costly;, thus, immune function is often diminished when other processes, such as reproduction, molt, or migration demand energy. As wild animals residing in temporally dynamic environments face seasonal patterns in resource availability, infectious disease risk, and environmental suitability, many species have evolved endogenous biological rhythms so that the performance of reproduction, molt, or migration and the associated trade-off with immune function be completed when doing so best promotes fitness. In turn, this demand to optimize …

The Media Reproduction Of Racial Violence: A Content Analysis Of News Coverage Following The Death Of George Floyd Jr., Keylon Lovett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The media has played a critical role in reproducing anti-Black violence in the United States, which has often harmed African American communities. Historically, the white press has depicted graphic imagery and descriptions of Black people being brutalized, with little ethical regard to their harmful effects. The Black press has historically challenged negative portrayals in the white media and shown more nuance, to protect the Black audience it represents. This dynamic underpins media depictions of racial violence still seen today. Darnella Frazier’s video capture of George Floyd’s death by Minneapolis police, was widely shared in the weeks following the incident, across …

Expansion-Contraction: Spatial And Temporal Variability In Connectivity In A Stream-Wetland Flow Network, Savannah Fransbergen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The seasonal expansion and contraction in a stream-wetland flow network is often difficult to characterize due to a lack of accurate mapping products, but proper characterization is important for the management of these resources. A new approach to mapping hydrography, resulting in a Regional Hydrography Dataset (RHD), may offer additional insights not provided by the national standard, the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD). The RHD can be customized to provide seasonal or monthly hydrograph, whereas the NHD is static. We conducted field validation (241 sites) and geospatial analyses to assess the accuracy of these products in the northern Tampa Bay Area. …

Effects Of Nitrate On Arsenic Mobilization During Aquifer Storage And Recovery, Hania Hawasli

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Aquifer storage and recovery technology is used to sustain water resources and to prevent saltwater intrusion. The injected water can come from various resources, including treated wastewater. In pilot ASR studies in the Tampa Bay region, researchers found high As concentrations in the recovered water from the oxidation of the arsenopyrite that is embedded in the aquifers. The presence of dissolved O2 in the injected water is a major factor in the arsenopyrite oxidation during ASR, however the effects of NO3- on the arsenopyrite has not been studied yet. This is an important knowledge gap because injected water may contain …

Criminalizing Lgbtq+ Jamaicans: Social, Legal, And Colonial Influences On Homophobic Policy, Zoe C. Knowles

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Based on colonial and neocolonial models of oppression, Jamaica has adopted many laws, policies, and systems mandated by the British monarchy. Many of these laws contain anti-LGBTQ+ policies which remain in effect today. To address the criminalization of LGBTQ+ identities, I used queer theory and queer criminology to analyse the ways Jamaica constructs LGBTQ+ people as criminals and how they are treated in the legal and criminal justice systems from a postcolonial standpoint. Using a qualitative text-based feminist and queer policy analysis, I investigated social, legal, and colonial influences on current anti-LGBTQ+ policy by looking at the Offences Against the …

An Assessment Of Nutrient Improvement In Surface Water Due To The Conversion Of Onsite Sewage Treatment And Disposal Systems To Sewerage, Jenelle A. Mohammed

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Florida represents approximately 12% of all onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems (OSTDS) in the United States. Properly designed, constructed and maintained OSTDS are effective eco- friendly alternatives for the treatment of domestic wastewater from households not serviced by public sewer systems. However, conventional OSTDS are not designed to effectively remove nitrogen. If installed and improperly used, they may contribute other pollutants. OSTDS have also been linked to degraded water quality in some regions. However, it has been difficult to quantify OSTDS impacts on water quality because of various confounding factors such as point and non-point sources of nutrient input. …

Slow Slip Events And The Earthquake Cycle, Nicholas K. Voss

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Slow Slip Events (SSEs) represent a new type of strain release along faults, which have onlybeen recognized as a global phenomena with the growth of precision space-borne geodetic techniques. These events represent an important part of the strain budget on faults, sometimes bounding the area of co-seismic release and perhaps limiting the amount of seismic energy release. SSEs have also been suggested to proceed large megathrust earthquakes including the great 2011 Tohoku and 2015 Iquique earthquakes. I document a series of SSE along the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica. These events take place both before and after the 2012 M7.6 …

Modeling The Ambient Conditions Of A Manufacturing Environment Using Computational Fluid Dynamics (Cfd), Yang Liu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As manufacturing equipment evolve to higher speed and require high precision operations, the impact of environmental changes on machine accuracy becomes critical. Due to thermal expansion, the structure of the machine can change when ambient temperature varies. When the airflow in the laboratory changes, this also alters the operator's thermal comfort. Either the change in machine structure or operator comfort can ultimately affect machine accuracy. The manufacturing industry is currently using heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems to regulate the temperature of the working environment. However, since conventional HVAC systems determine whether to activate the HVAC system by collecting the …

Informing Complexity: The Business Case For Managing Digital Twins Of Complex Process Facilities As A Valuable Asset, William Randell Mcnair

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Digital Twins of complex facilities, specifically 3D models created during their design, is a potentially valuable information asset. This three- article dissertation explores the business case for firms in the petrochemical process industry to manage throughout the facility lifecycle. A maturity model is provided to illustrate the stages of digital twin evolution and serves as a tool to help communicate each of the five levels of digital twin maturity achievable in various use cases. An industry analysis reviews existing literature and proposes a model to assess informing or insight value of digital twins from three perspectives. Next, an empirical …

Jane Anger Her Protection For Women And The Emergence Of A Radical Female Voice In Late Sixteenth Century England, Ashley M. Wessel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores how women authors responded to masculine discourses of dominance in late sixteenth-century England. Directly, it concentrates on the pamphlet Jane Anger her Protection for Women, written in 1589 and published under the pseudonym Jane Anger. I argue Anger’s pamphlet was a radical voice within Elizabethan print culture which lends a view into gender politics of the time in which this piece was produced. I also argue that though Anger’s target audience was the gentlewomen of England, she crafted her pamphlet for a broad audience that included any literate man or woman across social station. The importance …

Residential Curbside Recycle Context Analysis, Ntchanang Mpafe

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Curbside recycling as a preferred mode of residential and municipal sustainability goals seems to have an overwhelming acceptance and adoption in the US. About 69.8 million out of 97.3 million (72%) single-family households in the United States have access to curbside recycling services (State of Curbside Recycling Report, 2020). Collectively, the programs divert about nine million tons of recyclables from landfill disposal each year (Cottom, 2019).

For a design that started in the 1980s in the US, its rapid universal adoption seems to have precluded a concerted effort in examining the coproduced nature (Households: service receptors and Municipalities: service providers) …

Texturing In Bi2Te3 Alloy Thermoelectric Materials: An Applied Physics Investigation, Oluwagbemiga P. Ojo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Thermoelectric devices provide the means for direct conversion between heat and electricity. The device conversion efficiency, or performance, is directly related to the thermoelectric figure of merit, ZT, of the working materials. Bismuth telluride alloys are the materials currently in use in most thermoelectric devices for near room temperature solid-state refrigeration and power conversion applications. The vast majority of publications in the literature on thermoelectricity report on investigations towards developing new materials with enhanced thermoelectric properties, however Bi₂Te₃ alloys have been used in thermoelectric devices for decades.

In this thesis, an investigation of crystallographic texturing on large …