Digital Commons Network^™

Voices Of Success: Exploring Black Male Students’ Perspectives On Their Academic Success, Carmen Goldsmith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Higher education enables individuals to be prepared to make an impact in the global society through enhanced skills and the ability to understand their community and the world in which they reside. According to EVERFI (2019), studies showed that diversity in education, specifically on college campuses, improve a student’s intellectual engagement, motivation, citizenship, and cultural engagement, while enhancing their critical thinking, problem-solving, and writing skills. It is advantageous for students to work with people from other races, ethnicities, and varying socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. These differences prepare students to succeed in a diverse world and broaden their understanding and awareness …

Luciferase Reporter Crc Cell Line For Bioluminescence Imaging In Orthotopic Tumor Model, Pratik Chopade

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

CRC is the second most common type of cancer in women and the third most common type of cancer in men. It accounts for 9.7% of all cancers in terms of people diagnosed. Measuring the real-time effect of chemotherapeutic drugs has been a major obstacle in developing a tumor model mouse. Tracking the regression of cancer cells after chemotherapy could be an effective way to resolve this issue. Therefore, cancer cells expressing the constitutive luciferase reporter gene can be a potential solution. The biggest advantage of the luciferase (Luc) reporter is that it is detectable at very low concentrations in …

Identification Of Snps Associated With Multiple Antibiotic Resistance Genes In Eight Clinical Variants Of Enterococcus Faecium., Krishna S. Karia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The evolution of multi drug resistant (MDR) bacteria has been well documented these last decade, suggesting that resistance to antibiotics is most commonly associated to single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) mutation. To this aim, several molecular methods have been performed to elucidate SNPs in the increasing number of resistant microorganisms. Early detection of MDR bacteria has become of prime necessity in order to combat the disease and ensure public health. Therefore, this research was conducted to screen for SNP mutations correlated to drug resistance in some nosocomial MDR bacteria strains donated from Moffitt Cancer Center (MCC) hospital. Blood, stool, urine, and …

A Micro-Nano Particle System For Sustained Drug Release In Lung Cancer Therapy, Heta N. Jadhav

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in men and women worldwide (National Comprehensive Cancer Network). Hence, developing an effective new therapy to treat lung cancer is under intense investigation. Specifically, the sustained release of a drug in lung tumors is critically important. Previous studies at the USF have shown that telmisartan exhibits synergistic properties when combined with Actinomycin-D for lung cancer treatment. The objective of this study is to develop a novel micro/nano system consisting of lipids and chitosan polymers that would be able to deliver Tel directly to the lungs and release its payloads in a …

Trauma Detection Personal Locator Beacon System, Sakshi Sharma

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis details the development of an automatically-activated personal locator beacon system to facilitate search and rescue of injured users in remote locations. Trauma in the wilderness can result in brain injuries caused by falling from heights, the onset of bad weather condition, cardiological, pulmonary diseased condition, etc. This thesis initially describes the concept of a low-power trauma detection Personal Locator Beacon system and later focuses on detecting the traumatic condition, through four (4) physiological parameters: skin conductance, pulse oximeter, user movement via Freefall and activity/inactivity and impact detection, and finally body temperature. For these four physiological parameters respective sensor …

Enhanced Fluoride Removal In Biosand Filters Using Aluminum Oxide Coated Media And Modified Filter Design, Madison Leigh Rice

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 2010, the UN formally stated that access to safe drinking water and sanitation is a human right. Yet, one in three people globally do not have access to safe drinking water. Contaminated drinking water can negatively impact the health of consumers. This is a challenge that disproportionally affects developing regions, where limited access to resources exacerbates the problem. One drinking water contaminant of concern is fluoride. Fluoride is often added in low concentrations to drinking water to enhance consumers’ dental health. However, when water with high concentrations of fluoride is consumed frequently, it can have negative health effects, such …

Testing The Efficacy Of Recompression Tools To Reduce The Discard Mortality Of Reef Fishes In The Gulf Of Mexico, Oscar E. Ayala

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In order to enhance the recovery of overfished stocks, fishery managers have implemented increasingly restrictive harvest regulations. However, discarded fish are susceptible to mortality from barotrauma when retrieved from depth. Venting tools are commonly used to enable fish to return to their depth of capture. An alternative method has been developed that involves the rapid descent of fish to their depth of capture to reduce buoyancy. In the Gulf of Mexico, the released portion of Red Snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) and Red Grouper (Epinephelus morio) has exceeded 80% of total catch. I tested the survival of these two economically important species …

Composition Of Atomic-Obligation Security Policies, Yan Cao Albright

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Existing security-policy specification languages allow users to specify obligations, but open challenges remain in the composition of complex obligations, including effective approaches for resolving conflicts between policies and obligations and allowing policies to react to the obligations of other policies.

An atomic obligation requires that either all or none of the included actions are executed. Atomicity can be extended to include the decision to permit or deny an event after the obligation executes. For many practical policies, obligation atomicity is necessary for correctness. Executing only the parts of such an obligation violates its atomicity which can lead to an undesirable …

Implementation Of Large-Scale Anaerobic Digestion Of Food Waste At The University Of South Florida, Karamjit Panesar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Food waste represents a major sustainability issue in the United States. Food waste represents 18% of landfill space and is the largest contributor of landfill methane emissions. US EPA’s Food Recovery Hierarchy recommends alternatives to landfilling food waste, including source reduction, food donation and anaerobic digestion.

The Student Green Energy Fund (SGEF) Food Recovery Project aims to follow suggestions outlined by the US EPA Food Recovery Hierarchy to encourage the University of South Florida (USF) to become a zero-waste campus. A multi-disciplinary approach aims to source reduce wasted food, look for opportunities for source reduction and anaerobically digest any remaining …

A Multidisciplinary Approach To Trauma Analysis In Cases Of Child Fatality, Jaime D. Sykes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Child fatality is an issue of social and forensic significance. Due to the complex nature of these cases, it can be difficult to determine the cause and manner of death (referred to as equivocal death), particularly when differentiating between accidental and inflicted traumatic fatalities. Finite Element Modeling is a tool typically used to elucidate the etiology of fractures. This thesis utilizes a multidisciplinary approach to research the frequency of equivocal deaths among juveniles and the usefulness of FEM as a solution to diagnosing skeletal trauma. The first component examines the problem of misdiagnosed manner of death through retrospective case examinations …

The Design And Development Of A Wrist-Hand Orthosis, Amber Gatto

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Individuals with an incomplete C5-C7 spinal cord injury (SCI) lose grasping abilities but wrist function is almost universally retained. Most rehabilitation techniques apply the tenodesis effect, however, current tenodesis wrist-hand orthoses (WHOs) engage only the thumb and index finger, meaning that only 20% of activities of daily living (ADLs) can be completed.

This study tested the feasibility of a student-designed powered WHO by testing the device on healthy subjects to see if they could complete a variety of ADLs. A simulation software was then used to analyze wrist, thumb, and index finger joint angles. Additionally, an Assistive Technology Survey was …

Role Of Serum Amyloid P Component In The Pathogenesis Of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, Brittany Urban

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Serum amyloid P (SAP) component is a glycoprotein that is a major constituent of human serum. SAP has been recognized to stimulate amyloid fibrillogenesis. One way that SAP can be transported to the brain is by passing through the blood brain barrier (BBB). Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and repeated or severe non-penetrating head injury, can escalate the exposure of the brain to SAP, which in turn can contribute to neurodegeneration. TBI can lead to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) which is a neuropathological condition that has been found in people who have been exposed to repeated head injuries or impacts. In …

Enhanced Nitrogen, Organic Matter And Color Removal From Landfill Leachate By Biological Treatment Processes With Biochar And Zeolite, Bisheng Gao

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Leachate percolating through landfills must be collected and properly treated. However, high concentrations of ammonia (NH4+), refractory organic matter [measured as chemical oxygen demand (COD)], water color and heavy metals in leachate interfere biological processes in conventional wastewater treatment plants. Constructed wetlands (CWs) have been used in the past to treat leachate, but their design and performance has not been properly optimized. In particular, low cost adsorbent materials, such as zeolite and biochar, have the potential to adsorb ammonia and organic compounds, respectively. This increases their retention in the wetland and reduces their toxicity to microorganisms and plants in the …

Van Hiele Problem Solving Logic Levels Applied To Force Concept Inventory Problems Using The Resources Framework, Charles Mason Hemphill

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Students bring their logical reasoning and previous knowledge to the study of physics. Previous studies have examined types and levels of students’ reasoning as applied to answering conceptual physics questions. This study compared the van Hiele theory of levels of logic in two different disciplines: school geometry and conceptual physics. Two research approaches were employed: quantitative and qualitative analysis. In a quantitative approach, the van Hiele geometry test’s correlation to gains in conceptual physics understanding, as measured by the Force Concept Inventory (FCI), was compared to Lawson’s Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning (CTSR), SAT, ACT, and a general algebra facility …

Archaeology And The Philosopher's Stance: An Advance In Ethics And Information Accessibility, Dina Rivera

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ancient Greek scholars have scaffolded ethical examination for several fields beyond philosophy, providing essential guidance for management and practicum within professions. From the Society of Antiquaries of London (1718) to the Society of American Archaeology (1934), the professional study has continued to evolve as new translations of the past and new models for predicting human behavior in the future would underpin the development of ethics in academic archaeology. Database enabled study creates opportunities for open research, expanding data pools and scientific perspectives and becomes essential for providing inclusivity, respect, and cooperation in order to build and rebuild paradigms.

Sunitinib-Loaded Mpeg-Pcl Micelles For The Treatment Of Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Jarriaun D. Streets

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Age-related Macular Degeneration, or AMD will be responsible for the vision impairment of more than 5 million late-aged adults in the next 30 years. Current treatment options include frequent intravitreal injections which report high levels of pain resulting in a low patient compliance. However, there are methods of drug delivery that can decrease the amount of intravitreal injections by sustaining drug release. Polymeric micelles, specifically MPEG-PCL have reported superb biocompatibility and more efficient ways of delivering anti-VEGF drugs such as Sunitinib to the posterior segment of the eye. In this study, the novel micellar formulation exhibited an average DLS particle …

Toward Culturally Relevant Emotion Detection Using Physiological Signals, Khadija Zanna

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research shows that emotional distress has a statistically significant impact on a student’s grade point average and intent to drop out of college. Because students of different races have varying college experiences, it is important to understand the emotional experiences of different racial groups to better support students’ needs and academic success. In this work, we explore several physiological responses to ten different emotional stimuli captured from 140 students. We employ unsupervised learning via the Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBSCAN) algorithm and supervised learning via Random Forests and Support Vector machines to analyze clustering partitions and classification …

The Athletics Behind The Academics: The Academic Advisor’S Role In The Lives Of Student Athletes, Max J.R. Murray

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

College athletics is a mainstay in the United States entertainment market. The public will often recognize the names of high-profile college athletes as they move from college sports to professional sports. However, while they are in college, sports is not the only focus of their attention. Student athletes are in college to get an education. The academic advisor is someone that works with the student to better facilitate the academic aspects of college. Using in-depth, semi-structured interviews, I find out how an academic advisor views their formal and informal roles and responsibilities and how they accomplish them. Among prior research …

Synthesis Of A Targeted Ph Responsive Nanoparticle For Controlled Release Of Actinomycin D, Alejandro Jesus Gonzalez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Out of all cancer diagnosis’s, lung cancer has the highest mortality in both sexes making it the leading cause of cancer deaths. Current therapeutic and clinical methods fail to successfully treat the disease, contributed to the development of multi-drug resistance (MDR). Hence, new therapies are needed that can exploit the tumor microenvironment (TME) to target Cancer Stem Cells (CSC). CSCs constitute a key population of the TME, promoting hypoxia, low intracellular pH, and angiogenesis. Actinomycin D (ACD) is a potent CSC inhibitor, but due to its high toxicity and lack of specificity towards cancer cells presents a need for a …

Instrumentalization Theory: An Analytical Heuristic For A Heightened Social Awareness Of Machine Learning Algorithms In Social Media, Andrew R. Miller

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

New innovations in information management and communication technologies have produced technological assemblages which have radically altered the way people socialize and interact with the world. The most significant and ubiquitous of these technologies is what is colloquially referred to as ‘machine learning.’ Like most, if not all, technologies, machine learning models are neither wholly good nor bad. Their functional ethics are largely determined by the context in which they are employed. However, their ubiquity demands that we develop a heightened social consciousness of the way machine learning simultaneous constrains, manipulates and democratizes social processes. In order to develop better social …

Testing Glutathione-S-Transferase Mu 1 (Gstm1) In Protecting Retinal Pigment Epithelium Cells From Oxidative Stress, Inyoung C. Garner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Currently, the most widely available treatment for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) involves the intraocular delivery of biopharmaceuticals, such as anti-VEGF therapy. Drawbacks of this treatment includes a short-term efficacy, requiring repeated injections with additional risks, and a limited availability of options for non-responders. Furthermore, there are no treatments available for patients diagnosed with dry-AMD. The drawbacks and limitations of current therapies represent a need for more effective and permanent therapy as the prevalence of the population affected by AMD is growing. Antioxidant gene therapies are one solution to these implications, protecting the cells from oxidative stress which is one …

Developing And Facilitating Socioscientific Issues Based Science Lessons: Elementary Preservice Teachers’ Experiences, Melanie Kinskey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Instruction focused around socioscientific issues (SSI) has been found to improve skills for scientific literacy among K – 12 students. Unfortunately, teachers and preservice teachers are reluctant to implement SSI during science instruction due to a lack of self-efficacy or fear of the nature of controversial issues. In response to this obstacle, many researchers have begun work with helping preservice teachers become prepared to facilitate SSI. While there are findings from existing research that contribute to the overall state of preparing preservice teachers to facilitate SSI, perhaps the most influential is the assertion that preservice teachers need formal SSI training …

Performance Enhancement Techniques For Next-Generation Multi-Service Communication And Medical Cyber-Physical Systems, Ali Fatih Demir

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Advances in science and technology have significantly improved our quality of life over the past decades. For example, wireless communication systems have evolved from basic voice services to delivering high-definition video for entertainment or business conferences at an accelerating pace. Furthermore, progress in cyber-physical systems has led to the development of brain-computer interfaces and wireless body area networks with the vision of advanced pervasive healthcare, anytime and anywhere. The primary motivation of this dissertation is to improve the performance of the next-generation multi-service communication and medical cyber-physical systems.

The research has been concentrated in physical (PHY)/medium access control (MAC) layer …

Elemental Climate Disaster Texts And Queer Ecological Temporality, Laura Mattson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis approaches climate disaster texts as an opportunity to challenge constructions of the body, space, and time. Developed from embodied experiential knowledge about hurricanes, my work will explore how climate disasters can teach us to reimagine human-nature relationships. In my two analysis chapters, I use critical textual analysis and autoethnography to challenge particular representations of the human-nature relationship as a binary between nature and culture. By intervening in the nature-culture binary, I theorize queer ecological temporality as an opportunity to reveal and challenge constructions of nature and time. Working at the intersections of queer and ecocritical theory, this thesis …

Asking Why: Analyzing Students' Explanations Of Organic Chemistry Reaction Mechanisms Using Lexical Analysis And Predictive Logistic Regression Models, Amber J. Dood

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In order to evaluate student understanding of chemical reactions and reaction mechanisms, it is necessary to ask students to construct written or oral explanations of mechanistic representations. Studies have shown that students can reproduce pictorial representations of organic chemistry mechanisms without understanding the meaning of the representations. Grading written assessments is time-consuming, which limits their use in large-lecture courses. To address this limitation, lexical analysis and logistic regression techniques can be used to develop models that predict human scoring for constructed-response items. In this dissertation, students’ responses to constructed-response items about what is happening and why in organic chemistry reaction …

Kinesthetically Speaking: Human And Animal Communication In British Literature Of The Long Eighteenth Century, Dana Jolene Laitinen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While scholars have studied talking animals in British children’s literature of the long eighteenth century, little attention has been given to cross-species conversations. Thus, my research starts with the following questions: what does it mean when humans talk to animals in literary texts? What do representations of interspecific communication in eighteenth-century British literature accomplish? Interspecific communication in the literary works of this study may be understood in the context of the philosophy of sensibility’s debt to French Renaissance humanist Michel de Montaigne, particularly his arguments about animal semiosis in An Apology for Raymond Sebond. I argue that interspecific conversations challenge …

Reliability Analysis Of Power Grids And Its Interdependent Infrastructures: An Interaction Graph-Based Approach, Upama Nakarmi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Large blackouts with significant societal and economic impacts result from cascade of failures in the transmission network of power grids. Understanding and mitigating cascading failures in power grids is challenging due to the large number of components and their complex interactions, wherein, in addition to the physical topology of the system, the physics of power flow and functional dependencies among components largely affect the spatial distribution and propagation of failures. In this dissertation, data-driven interaction graphs, which help in capturing the underlying interactions and influences among the components during cascading failures, are used for capturing the non-local nature of propagation …

Algorithms To Profile Driver Behavior From Zero-Permission Embedded Sensors, Bharti Goel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we design algorithms to profile driver behavior from zero-permission sensors embedded in modern smartphones and wearables. These sensors are typically the accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, pressure sensor and a few more than are now available in most modern smartphones and wearables. In order to profile driving behavior, we devised algorithms for detecting distraction while driving due to the use of modern-day smartphones (e.g., calling, texting and reading while driving) in real-time.

To do so, we conduct an experiment with 16 subjects on a realistic driving simulator, where each subject, where each subject carries a smartphone and a wearable …

Assessment Of Land Cover Change In St. Martin’S Marsh Aquatic Preserve, Florida, Usa, Katie Wagner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

St. Martin’s Marsh Aquatic Preserve (SMMAP) is a 28,461 acre (115.18 km2) preserve located on the coast of Citrus County, Florida, USA. There has been no published research that focused on coastal change on this unique coast. This thesis research focuses on coastal land cover change that has occurred within the preserve from 1988 to 2018. Multitemporal Landsat images were classified using a support vector machine (SVM) classification, while changes in vegetation were evaluated using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Field research was conducted to examine nineteen sites for classification training and test data and notes on habitat composition. …

Lung Nodule Malignancy Prediction From Computed Tomography Images Using Deep Learning, Rahul Paul

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Lung cancer has a high incidence and mortality rate. The five-year relative survival rate for all lung cancers is 18%. Due to the high mortality and incidence rate of lung cancer worldwide, early detection is essential. Low dose Computed Tomography (CT) is a commonly used technique for screening, diagnosis, and prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) compared low-dose helical computed tomography (LDCT) and standard chest radiography (CXR) for three annual screens and reported a 20% relative reduction in lung cancer mortality for LDCT compared to CXR. As such, LDCT screening for lung cancer …