Digital Commons Network^™

Drowning In Data, Starved For Insight: How Leadership Decision-Making Shapes Prescriptive Analytics Adoption In Traditional Retailers, Erica Mangino Giuliani

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Traditional retail organizations are increasingly investing in data collection and analytics, yet they often remain at the descriptive and diagnostic levels, lacking the prescriptive capabilities necessary for actionable recommendations. This research examines the influence of leadership on the adoption of prescriptive analytics within U.S.-based brick-and-mortar retail establishments. Utilizing surveys from 329 respondents, including management personnel, departmental leaders, and analytics professionals, and conducting qualitative analyses of open-ended responses, key leadership factors such as Decision Maturity & Support, Resistance, Data-Driven Commitment, and Analytics Proficiency were identified. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) results revealed that leadership behaviors significantly forecast analytics maturity, with executive analytics …

The Impact Of Storyline Curriculum On Student Engagement And Scientific Literacy: A Phenomenological Study Of High School Biology Teacher’S Experiences, Nicole Holman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study looks at how using a storyline curriculum affects student engagement and scientific literacy in high school biology classes. It focuses on constructivist learning theory and explores the experiences of thirteen biology teachers who moved from traditional, teachercentered methods to student-centered, inquiry-based approaches. The teachers noticed a significant change in classroom participation; students took more ownership of their learning and showed increased interest and curiosity. As students engaged more in building their understanding, their critical thinking skills and ability to analyze and assess scientific data improved.

The results reveal that storyline curricula do more than help students grasp biology; …

Mosquito Classification And Explainability From Image Data Via Deep Learning Techniques, Farhat Binte Azam

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mosquitoes are the deadliest animals on Earth, responsible for more human deaths annually than any other species. Mosquito-borne illnesses continue to pose severe risks to global health. In 2015 alone, there were an estimated 214 million malaria cases worldwide. Similarly, a 2016 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that Puerto Rico’s Department of Health received over 62,500 suspected cases of Zika, with 29,345 confirmed positive cases. In 2019, Southeast Asia experienced its worst dengue outbreak in recorded history. Of the approximately 4,500 mosquito species distributed across 34 genera, …

Cross-Linked Cellulose Ester/Linseed Oil Composites For Controlled Release Fertilizers, Ian Stark

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Food scarcity is an ever-present concern for a growing population but can be mitigated through innovations in agriculture. Fertilizers are required to produce a sufficient amount of food, and while they contain key nutrients for crop growth, these nutrients can leech into the surrounding environment. Controlled release fertilizers slow the release of nutrients, encasing the prills in a semi permeable coating. Current coatings are non-biodegradable, causing microplastic soil contamination, which is very difficult to remove. Cellulose esters offer a compelling alternative, with an ability to cross-link into thin films that can be applied as coatings. The cellulose esterification was completed …

A Political Ecological Exploration Of The Caracol Road Project In Belize, Lorenzo A. Pantano

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Caracol Road Project is a new BZ$148,100,000 (US$74,050,000) road infrastructure development in the Cayo District of Belize and financed largely by foreign sovereign wealth funds. The areas adjacent to the road, broken into two phases include: communities, forest reserves, national parks, recreational areas, private lands and estates, and archaeological sites. This paper seeks to ask the questions: (i) For whom is the CRP being developed? (ii) For what is the CRP being developed? (iii) What visual evidence exists of sacrifice zones because of the production of the CRP? I sought to answer these questions through ethnographic observations, interviews, and …

Metabolic Insights Into Cyst Fluid Composition And The Role Of Taurine In Polycystic Kidney Disease, Vineetha Garimella

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Polycystic kidney disease (PKD) is the most common genetic disorder affecting kidneys and the fourth leading cause of kidney failure. It occurs in two major forms, autosomal dominant PKD (ADPKD), and autosomal recessive PKD (ARPKD). ADPKD is typically adult-onset and caused by mutations in the PKD1 and PKD2 genes, and ARPKD generally manifests in utero and is caused by mutations in the PKHD1 gene. Despite the severity of the disease, only one FDA-approved drug, tolvaptan, is currently available for ADPKD and remains under clinical investigation for ARPKD. However, its use is limited by adverse side effects including polyuria, polydipsia, and …

Ai-Assisted Spectral Fingerprinting Of Mg-Doped Zno Tracer Phosphors: Tuning Photoluminescence Emission And Investigating Lifetime Via Sol-Gel Synthesis Parameters, Thomas M. Brandte

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Plastic sorting remains a major driver of recycling costs, and existing infrared (IR) optical identification systems cannot determine material prominence or quality, nor reliably identify dark polymers [1]. This work explores a PVA-stabilized sol–gel and thermal synthesis route for magnesium-doped zinc oxide (Mg:ZnO) as a tunable photoluminescent tracer phosphor.

Lattice-defect control forms the foundation of phosphorescent emission tuning, enabling unique spectral fingerprints to be generated based on synthesis parameters—Mg molar ratio (Mg%), PVA mass (g), and calcination temperature (°C). Photoluminescence (PL) spectra (400–850 nm) were analyzed using Gaussian peak fitting and principal component analysis (PCA), reducing hundreds of spectral features …

Design And Implementation Of A Cross-Platform, Modular Electronic-Nose System, Kaushika Rudraraju

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Electronic noses (e-noses) are a subject of great research. They are useful in multiple platforms and serve a great purpose in both studies and safety. This thesis presents a portable, modular e-nose platform that spans the full pipeline from sensing to visualization, with emphasis on scalability, repeatability, and straightforward integration. The hardware is organized as swappable sensor modules each hosting multiple commercial sensors and local signal-conditioning networked to a master microcontroller via structured communication protocols. High-resolution acquisition, time alignment, and efficient streaming to a host enable reliable logging and analysis. A controlled exposure chamber and a repeatable sampling protocol (baseline-exposure-purge …

Building From Within: Hr And Leadership As Strategic Resources In Micro And Small Business Growth Across Generations And Partnerships, Angelia Mathews Payne

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Micro and small businesses (MSBs) with 1-19 employees represent 99.9% of all U.S. private sector businesses and contribute nearly $4 trillion to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), yet academic research on their internal growth strategies remains limited. This study examines how human resources (HR) and leadership function as strategic resources for growth across successive generations and partnerships in MSBs, addressing a critical gap in understanding how these internal capabilities create competitive advantages in resource-constrained environments.

Grounded in Resource-Based View (RBV) theory, this research investigated how HR and leadership capabilities meet the criteria for strategic resources—being valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable …

Graphene Screen-Printed Electrode For Wound-Related Biosensing, Chanyapat Sriviroch

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Monitoring wound healing is critical for improving patient outcomes, especially for chronic wounds, which often have complications like delayed healing and infections. Current methods for monitoring wound healing are invasive and costly. Also, these methods have a limited ability to provide real-time, continuous data. This study seeks to explore a graphene screen-printed electrode (SPE) electrochemical biosensor that is non-invasive and efficient to constantly monitor wound healing in real time. This research study focuses specifically on the electrochemical detection of the Human Neutrophil Elastase (HNE) and Secretory Leukocyte Protease Inhibitor (SLPI), which is one of the most abundant neutral proteinases in …

Mapping Seagrass Extent Using Sentinel-2 Satellite Imagery: A Case Study In Salt River Bay, United States Virgin Islands, Chelsea O. Bryant

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Seagrass beds provide important services in many coastal ecosystems. They provide habitat and food for a wide range of marine species, stabilize sediments, and prevent coastal erosion. These services support local fisheries and tourism-driven economies. Yet, seagrass ecosystems are threatened by changes in water quality, sedimentation, and other stressors. This study investigated the interannual variability in seagrass extent in Salt River Bay, United States Virgin Islands (USVI), from 2018 to 2024. The goals were to better understand temporal dynamics in seagrass extent and evaluate the influence of turbidity as a driver of seagrass health and distribution. The overarching research question …

Dissolved Inorganic Carbon Metabolism In Bacteria, Jana Wieschollek

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC: CO2, HCO3⁻, CO32⁻) plays a central role in the metabolism of all living organisms. DIC is necessary for steps in essential biosynthetic processes, such as the synthesis of amino acids and nucleobases; in autotrophic bacteria, organic molecules are synthesized entirely from DIC. To ensure a steady supply of CO2 and HCO3 - needed for biosynthesis and/or autotrophy, organisms use bicarbonate transporters to increase the cytoplasmic concentration of this anion, and carbonic anhydrase (CA) to speed the interconversion of CO2 and HCO3 -, both in the cytoplasm and at the cell surface. This dissertation investigates DIC metabolism …

Exploring The Behaviors Of Women Who Are Mentally Thriving With Autoimmune Disease: A Mixed Methods Approach, Emilie Ann Ellenberg

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Autoimmune diseases encompass a variety of conditions that impact millions of Americans, with a higher prevalence among women than men. These diseases involve immune system dysregulation, leading to tissue damage and dysfunction. Despite progress in understanding their underlying mechanisms, important aspects remain inadequately understood, such as the relationships among immune dysregulation, medical outcomes, and psychiatric comorbidities. Preliminary qualitative research indicates that perceived diagnostic invalidation leads to the mental health needs among women with autoimmune diseases often being unmet, and behavioral health help-seeking behaviors being reduced. Although perceived diagnostic invalidation can lead to increased mental health symptomology and decreased help-seeking behaviors, …

Myfoodrx: A Personalized Food-As-Medicine Mhealth Application For Food-Insecure Adults With Chronic Conditions, Jay Hiteshkumar Jariwala

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Food insecurity (FI) remains a persistent public health challenge in the United States, disproportionately affecting underserved populations and contributing to higher rates of chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and obesity. Traditional Food-as-Medicine programs have emerged as promising interventions, but often follow a generalized, non-personalized approach that limits long-term effectiveness, especially among diverse, high-risk communities. This thesis presents MyFoodRx, a personalized mobile health (mHealth) application designed to address the intersection of food insecurity and chronic disease through tailored nutritional guidance, real-time pantry integration, and adaptive educational content.

Developed through a User-Centered Design (UCD) process, MyFoodRx leverages a modular client–server architecture, …

Marigold-Silver Nanoparticles (Agnps) Complex: Characterization, Therapeutic Potential, And Future Approaches For Lung Injury Via Antioxidant And Anti-Inflammatory Effects, Navdeep Kaur

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) and other lung conditions are a key cause of the problems facing global health, as they greatly increase morbidity, death, and the financial burden. In order to achieve the third Sustainable Development Goal of the United Nations, which is to reduce premature mortality from non-communicable illnesses by one-third by 2030, updated epidemiological statistics are crucial for directing prevention, control, and treatment measures. One of the major reasons of illness and death globally is chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Lung damage and the emergence of CRDs, such as asthma, emphysema, COPD, and other respiratory disorders, are largely …

Formulation And Characterization Of Albumin Nanoparticles For Nsclc Photochemotherapy, Faisal Mohammad Shamim Khan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) is the most common type of lung cancer and is a leading cause of worldwide cancer-related death, which is a strong motivation to develop more efficacious approaches to its treatment. This thesis outlines the construction of folate-targeted bovine serum albumin (FA-BSA) nanoparticles co-loading Chlorin e6 (Ce6), a photodynamic therapy photosensitizer, and Evofosfamide (EVO), a hypoxia-activated prodrug, to enable synergistic photochemotherapy. The 1-Ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide (EDC) is a water-soluble carbodiimide coupling reagent and used for amide bonds between carboxylic acid and amines. FA-BSA nanoparticles were prepared through a desolvation approach and stabilized through crosslinking by the carbodiimide reagent …

The Orange Glow In The Sunshine State: Three Visions Of Plato In Florida (1970-1990), Ryan Mcgahan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The PLATO network, a collection of mainframe computers, terminals, and educational software, has received an increasing amount of scholarly attention in the last decade as a social precursor to the modern internet. Existing histories have neglected to investigate the ways in which PLATO and its related business enterprise worked to accelerate the shift in university governance away from classical liberal ideas centering the public good and towards a more profit-centered neoliberal rationality. By tracing the rise of PLATO in Florida universities, this paper argues that PLATO aided and was aided by the shifting priorities of American universities in the 1970s …

Barriers To Machine Learning Adoption In Regulated Electric Utilities, Donald R. Shiflet Jr.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Machine learning (ML) technologies have the potential to revolutionize regulated electric utilities by improving operational efficiency, enabling predictive maintenance, and optimizing energy management. Despite these advantages, the adoption of ML in this sector lags other industries due to technical, organizational, and regulatory barriers. This research, grounded in the Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE) framework, explores these barriers to uncover actionable solutions for integration. The study identifies key challenges, including explainability, cybersecurity, workforce resistance, and regulatory ambiguity to ML adoption in electric utilities. Utilizing an exploratory qualitative methodology, this approach integrates insights from the literature and industry interviews to rank barriers by frequency, severity, …

An Integrated Pcb-Based Heating And Auto-Ranging Platform For Volatile Organic Compound (Voc) Detection Using Carbon Nanotube Based Sensors, Thomas Kalach

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents the development, characterization, and integration of a novel low-cost, high-dynamic-range sensor platform for the detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), leveraging the unique electrical properties of carbon nanotube (CNT) thin films. The platform introduces a fully integrated auto-ranging analog front-end circuit capable of real-time resistance measurement spanning over eight orders of magnitude ranging from tens of ohms to hundreds of megaohms, without compromising signal resolution or precision. This was achieved through a digitally controlled, multi-path feedback architecture and controllable current source.

To further enhance sensor performance, the system incorporates a copper trace heater beneath the sensor array, …

"What's A Computer?" Exploring Insurance Agents' Role In Small Business Cyber Insurance Transactions, Dalton A. Crabtree

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This mixed-methods study examined how insurance agents' role identity impacts cyber insurance transactions, addressing gaps in professional practice and academic literature. Small businesses increasingly rely on cyber insurance for protection as cyber risk continues to evolve. The study employed sequential explanatory methodology with 25 interviews across three groups: insurance agents (n=15), corporate cyber insurance professionals (n=5), and small business owners (n=5). Thematic analysis using Katz and Khan's Role Episode Model informed development of the Cyber Insurance Role Identity Scale (CIRIS), tested with 100 agents. Six themes emerged. Key findings reveal that successful cyber insurance transactions require agents to transition from …

A Discussion Of Community: An Ethnography Of Designing Asynchronous Video Discussions To Reveal Student Perceptions Of Digital Presence In Online Learning, Chad S. Garcia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This mixed-methods digital ethnography investigates how video-based discussions (VBD) influence community building in asynchronous graduate education. Using the Community of Inquiry (COI) framework, this study looks at student experiences in a History of Higher Education class where traditional text-based discussions were replaced with video presentations and peer responses. The research explores how video discussions affect students' sense of presence, how video presence impacts engagement patterns, and which multimedia elements contribute to community development.

Data collection included semi-structured interviews with students and instructors, LMS analytics, video content analysis, and ethnographic observation throughout Spring 2024. Analysis revealed a notable disconnect between traditional …

Introductory Chemistry Student Success: Investigating Study Strategies And Evaluating An Informative Utility Value Intervention, Pallavi Nayyar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Improving retention in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) programs is essential to meet the growing demand for skilled professionals in the domestic workforce. To achieve this, it is critical to understand and address the factors that influence student persistence in STEM degrees. Gateway courses such as general chemistry often serve as early barriers to STEM degree completion, with high rates of attrition that impact not only individual students but also institutions and society. Therefore, the aim of this work was to examine and influence the factors that contribute to student withdrawal from introductory chemistry courses in order to promote …

Investigating Factors Influencing Organic Chemistry Learners' Explanation Sophistication And Representational Competence, Caroline J. Crowder

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The research presented in this dissertation has two themes: organic chemistry learners’ written explanations and representational competence. Chapters 3 and 4 explore how organic chemistry learners construct explanations of reaction mechanisms, specifically focusing on electrophile and nucleophile components. Chapter 5 investigates organic chemistry learners’ representational competence skills and the relationship between these skills and their performance in the course.

Understanding reaction mechanisms is critical for success in organic chemistry, yet learners often struggle to reason beyond explicit, surface-level features. Constructed-response prompts that ask learners to explain what is happening in a reaction mechanism and why it occurs can provide insight …

Mode Engineering And Functional Enhancement In Piezoelectric-On-Silicon Mems Resonators With Magnetic Field Sensing Applications, Ugur Guneroglu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation significantly advances the field of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) resonators by exploring novel post-fabrication tuning techniques, electrode configuration effects, and innovative sensor applications for thin-film piezoelectric-on-silicon (TPoS) resonator devices. Driven by the increasing demand for tunable, high-precision and robust MEMS resonators in radio frequency (RF) applications such as sensing, timing, and filtering, this research aim to provide foundational knowledge and practical solutions for overcoming existing technological limitations. The dissertation is organized into three main research thrusts, each addressing critical challenges and opportunities in the design, fabrication, and application of TPoS MEMS resonators.

The first research thrust investigates an innovative …

Approximating Data-Driven Combinatorial Search In The Feature Space: Pwfs, Mehmet Bugrahan Ayanoglu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents the development and application of a novel feature selection method, Probability Weighted Feature Selection (PWFS), designed to address key challenges in machine learning involving high-dimensional, noisy, or biased datasets. It is a comprehensive exploration of feature selection strategies to enhance the performance, interpretability, and practicality of machine learning models in both engineering systems and educational data mining. PWFS introduces a structured, probabilistic approach to feature selection that adaptively weights features based on their empirical contribution to model performance. This method not only accelerates convergence to near-optimal feature subsets but also enhances flexibility for ensemble learning by encouraging …

He’S The Kid That No One Wanted: An Autoethnographic Examination Of Preschool Suspensions And Expulsions From A Mother’S Lens, Lisa M. Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This autoethnographic research examines the personal and professional journey of advocating against preschool suspensions and expulsions through the lens of a Black mother. Titled He’s The Kid That No One Wanted: An Autoethnographic Examination of Preschool Suspensions and Expulsions from a Mother’s Lens, " it dives into the complicated challenges faced while confronting exclusionary disciplinary practices in early childhood education. This research aims to illuminate the societal and institutional roadblocks encountered when navigating systems of power and to explore the impact of these challenges on both personal identity and professional advocacy. Using a blend of social media artifacts and memory …

Concentration And Composition Of Organic Contaminants In Blackfin Tuna, Yellowfin Tuna, And The Common Clubhook Squid In The Western Gulf Of Mexico, Lisa Rose-Mann

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cephalopods are an important component of pelagic food webs. They play ecological roles not only as predators but also as prey. However, their role as prey in the trophic transfer of organic contaminants to apex predators such as tunas in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) is not well known. To investigate the importance of cephalopods in tuna diets, stomach samples were collected in February 2020 from tunas caught by rod and reel aboard the F/V Gulf Eagle near two large offshore floating oil/gas platforms in the northwestern GoM. Cephalopod samples were obtained from gut content analysis of 41 tunas caught …

Edge-Streamer: A Lightweight, Self-Supervised Event Segmentation Model, Lucas Miller

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Event segmentation is the practice of autonomously detecting the boundaries of semantically connected sequences of actions within a video. It is connected to many areas of computer vision, including action recognition and event understanding. Nearly all current work requires the entire video to be stored in memory to be processed in multiple passes. This takes up valuable resources, increases processing time, prevents the use of low-power, low-memory devices, and precludes long-form content and live videos from undergoing event segmentation.

This thesis introduces EDGE-STREAMER, a real-time, lightweight, self-supervised, transformer architecture capable of performing event segmentation in a single pass. EDGE-STREAMER uses …

Exploring System Identification Of Non-Linear Dynamics Using The Weighted Composition Operator And The Liouville Operator, Chukwuebuka Amagwula

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

System identification is the process of determining mathematical models that describe the dynamics of a system from data. Dynamic Mode Decomposition (DMD) and Sparse Identification of Nonlinear Dynamical Systems (SINDy) are two distinct approaches used for this purpose.

DMD identifies dominant spatiotemporal modes and eigenvalues that describe the evo lution of a system. It assumes a near-linear representation of dynamics and is closely linked to the Koopman operator, making it ideal for analyzing fluid flows, oscillatory systems, and modal structures. The DMD method uses time series data where each data point is referred to as a snapshot and represents the …

Gender Representation Of Composers In Recommended Wind Band Literature And Prominent Performances, Devon Alexis Gray Porter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to evaluate gender representation in recommended literature in wind band repertoire and prominent performances. I collected data from music lists approved by the National Band Association (NBA) state chapters, programs from the Midwest Clinic and College Band Directors National Association, music vendor catalogues, the Teaching Music Through Performance in Band series, and Florida Bandmasters Association (FBA) Music Performance Assessment (MPA) past performances. I evaluated names of composers to determine the male-female ratios and quantities for recommended works from these sources. I conducted further analysis to determine if trends existed in the relationships between composer …