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Dry Needling For Myofascial Trigger Point Pain: A Clinical Commentary, Casey Unverzagt, Kathleen Berglund, J J. Thomas

Faculty Publications

Sports and orthopaedic physical therapists have long used a multitude of techniques in order to address pain and dysfunction associated with myofascial trigger points. One technique in particular has recently received overwhelming attention: trigger point dry needling (DN). Despite its efficacy and low risk, questions remain as to its effectiveness, safety, and whether the technique is within the scope of practice of physical therapists. Therefore, the purpose of this clinical commentary is to summarize the current literature related to the associated mechanisms of action of DN, the safety of DN, as well as to discuss relevant scope of practice concerns.

The Equity Baseline Report: A Framework For Regional Equity, Jared Franz, Cat Goughnour, Duncan Hwang, Kayse Jama, Meg Merrick, Andre Riley, Gerardo Vergara-Monroy

Institute of Metropolitan Studies Publications

The Equity Baseline Report: A Framework for Regional Equity is an authentic community-led report resulting from a yearlong collaborative effort conducted by six local community based organizations (CBOs). The organizations were selected competitively to work under contract with Metro staff to identify, inventory, classify and recommend quantitative and qualitative evidence-based indicators and corresponding data sets that measure the varying degrees by which people experience equity in our region.

Work With Me People! An Interview With Mike Weatherby, Recently Retired Mayor Of Fairview, Oregon, Sheila A. Martin

Metroscape

Mayor Mike Weatherby was first sworn in as Mayor of Fairview on January 2, 2003. He was re-elected in November of 2006 and 2010. Sheila Martin sat down with him to discuss how the town and the region have changed over hsi twelve years in office and his hopes for the future.

Values & Beliefs, Sheila A. Martin, Carolyn N. Long

Metroscape

hat values are commonn to residents of the metroscape? Sheila Martin and Carlolyn N. Long examine recent survey results on topics ranging from government priorities to economic development.

Development Of The Professional School Social Work Survey: A Valid And Reliable Tool For Assessment And Planning, Catherine E. Randall

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

School social workers are currently in a unique position to support and lead schools through the change process initiated by districts' adoption of a Response to Intervention model. This dissertation describes an exploratory study to develop and pilot-test a self-administered survey for use by school social workers for the purpose of assessing the effectiveness of school social work practice. The survey was developed using DeVellis' 8-step process for survey design. The survey consisted of four subscales theorized to measure school social worker effectiveness as determined by a review of current literature in the field: Response to Intervention, Evidence-Based Practice, School …

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 …

Representations Of Gatsby: Ninety Years Of Retrospective, Christine Anne Auger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Jay Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s most famous character, has starred in a variety of stage and screen adaptations in the ninety years since he was first introduced in The Great Gatsby (1925). This dissertation explores the Gatsby character as depicted in six important adaptations of the novel, including two Broadway productions, Owen Davis’ 1926 drama and John Collins’ 2010s play, Gatz, and four major motion pictures: Herbert Brenon’s 1926 lost silent film (starring Warner Baxter); Elliott Nugent’s 1949 black and white film (starring Alan Ladd); Jack Clayton’s 1974 color film (starring Robert Redford); and Baz Luhrmann’s 2013 3-D film (starring …

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 …

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.

Straight Benevolence: Preserving Heterosexual Authority And White Privilege, Robb James Bruce

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes three current and popular media sites, exploring a term I coin “straight benevolence.” An ostensibly supportive and progressive attitude adopted by heterosexuals and expressed toward gay men in the United States, straight benevolence surreptitiously subordinates gayness and further entrenches white masculine heterosexual privilege. In my examination of hip-hop artist Macklemore’s “Same Love,” seven Major League Baseball “It Gets Better” gay-advocacy videos, and the “Suddenly, Last Summer” episode of ABC’s primetime U.S. television series Modern Family, I take an intersectional approach to address the interanimation of sexuality, gender, and race. I ask: In what ways is gay male …

Functional Analysis Of The Ovarian Cancer Susceptibility Locus At 9p22.2 Reveals A Transcription Regulatory Network Mediated By Bnc2 In Ovarian Cells, Melissa Buckley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

GWAS have identified several chromosomal loci associated with ovarian cancer risk. However, the mechanism underlying these associations remains elusive. We identify candidate functional Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) at the 9p22.2 ovarian cancer susceptibility locus, several of which map to transcriptional regulatory elements active in ovarian cells identified by FAIRE-seq (Formaldehyde assisted isolation of regulatory elements followed by sequencing) and ChIP-seq (Chromatin Immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing) in relevant cell types. Reporter and electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSA) determined the extent to which candidate SNPs had allele specific effects. Chromosome conformation capture (3C) reveals a physical association between Basonuclin 2 (BNC2) and …

Crisis Communication And Celebrity Scandal: An Experiment On Response Strategies, Leah Champion

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent allegations surrounding Bill Cosby presented an opportunity to combine, test, and extend situational crisis communication theory typology and image repair theory response strategies for celebrity use. Because Cosby did not respond to the numerous allegations against him, it presented an opportunity to experiment with new and existing typologies using a real case, as opposed to analyzing past response attempts or using a hypothetical case. This study used a 2 X 4 factorial design to test veracity of claims, a proposed concept, and response strategies via survey. Even though none of the hypotheses were supported, the present study opened up …

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. …

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 …

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 …

Two Essays Examining Organizational Performance, Stacey Alexis Gelsheimer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In highly competitive industries where firms aren’t protected by barriers to entry and consumers’ preferences are constantly changing, the willingness and ability to adapt and continually improve operations may be critical for continued success. However, the internal exchanges between employees and managers that may be an integral part of the development and implementation of new ideas are often not modeled or included in our standard economic theories. In this research I investigate whether a higher level of employee voice (or employee input) predicts higher levels of continual improvement, and whether this continual improvement predicts higher levels of firm performance. Additionally, …

Community Identity And Social Practice During The Terminal Classic Period At Actuncan, Belize, Kara Ann Fulton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the relationship between the ways in which urban families engaged local landscapes and the development of shared identities at the prehispanic Maya city of Actuncan, Belize. Such shared identities would have created deep historical ties to specific urbanized spaces, which enabled and constrained political expansion during the Terminal Classic period (ca. A.D. 800–900), a time when the city experienced rapid population growth as surrounding centers declined. This research contributes to the understanding of urban processes of growth and decay in this region, and how they are linked to the behaviors of social factions in settlements.

For communities, …

Minocycline Treatment And The Necessity To Develop A Novel Outcome Measure For Children With Angelman Syndrome, Joseph Christopher Grieco

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Angelman syndrome (AS) is a rare genetic disorder affecting 1/10,000 to 1/20,000 births. This disorder arises through the genetic disruption of the maternal UBE3A allele, which when coupled with epigenetic silencing of the paternal allele UBE3A allele, gives rise to an absence of UBE3A protein in the central nervous system. Clinical manifestations of the syndrome vary in severity and include poor motor function, deficits in language and severe intellectual impairments. Previous research in the Angelman syndrome mouse model revealed abnormalities in dendritic spine density and morphology of hippocampal pyramidal cells. As seen in humans with AS, mice show abnormal behavioral …

Iwitness And Student Empathy: Perspectives From Usc Shoah Foundation Master Teachers, Brandon Jerome Haas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative interview study explores the perceptions of five USC Shoah Foundation Master Teachers who integrate IWitness in teaching about the Holocaust. The study focused on the perceptions of teachers as their students interact with survivor and witness testimony in IWitness as well as how IWitness provides a framework for moral education in comparison to other primary sources. Data gleaned from this study demonstrates the influence of personalized learning through testimony-based education on the development of empathy in secondary students. As IWitness is a new resource that engages students with Holocaust survivor testimony in innovative ways, this study fills a …

The Role Of The Interruption In Young Adult Epistolary Novels, Betty J. Herzhauser

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Within the genre of young adult literature, a growing trend is the use of epistolary messages through electronic methods between characters. These messages are set apart from the formal text of the narrative of the novel creating a break in the text features and layout of the page. Epistolary texts require a more sophisticated reading method and level of interpretation because the epistolary style blends multiple voices and points of view into the plot, creating complicated narration. The reader must navigate the narrator’s path in order to extract meaning from the text. In this hermeneutic study, I examined the text …

Heart Of The Beholder: The Pathos, Truths And Narratives Of Thermopylae In _300_, James Christopher Holcom

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis argues that critical understanding of historical narratives needn’t be limited to cold, clinical applications of logic and reason. By doing a close textual reading of Frank Miller and Lynn Varley’s graphic novel, 300 and Zack Snyder’s 2007 film adaptation, I posit that critical analysis of popular narratives is better served when pathos takes a central role. Traditional rhetorical criticism tends to favor empirical evidence and fact over emotional, narrative truth. Yet, the writing, recounting and interpretation of history are more akin to arts than sciences. Historical narratives are subject to the same influences and techniques that make poetry, …

Tampa Electric Company's Big Bend Utility Plant In Hillsborough County, Florida: A Case Study, Lynne M. Hodalski-Champagne

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This is an in-depth analysis of coal fire burning power plants, their effects on human health and the environment. It also employed case study data from Tampa Electric Company’s Big Bend facility to examine environmental infractions at that facility. Tampa Electric Company’s Big Bend Utility Plant, violated the Clean Air Act, which led to a lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice on behalf of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in 1997. This case study details the lawsuit, and subsequent settlement as well as Tampa Electric Company’s record of compliance since 2000. …

Evidence Of Things Not Seen: A Semi-Automated Descriptive Phrase And Frame Analysis Of Texts About The Herbicide Agent Orange, Sarah Beth Hopton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

From 1961 to 1971 the United States and the Republic of South Vietnam used chemicals to defoliate the coastal and upload forest areas of Viet Nam. The most notorious of these chemicals was named Agent Orange, a weaponized herbicide made up of two chemicals that, when combined, produced a toxic byproduct called TCDD-dioxin. Studied suggest that TCDD-dioxin causes significant human health problems in exposed American and Vietnamese veterans, and possibly their children (Agency, U.S. Environmental Protection, 2011). In the years since the end of the Vietnam War, volumes of discourse about Agent Orange has been generated, much of which is …

Equifinality And Multifinality In Psychopathology: Can Cognitive And Emotional Processes Differentiate Internalizing, Externalizing, And Co-Occurring Psychopathology, Brittany Jordan-Arthur

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite our knowledge of environmental risk factors for psychopathology, the equifinality and multifinality observed in the extant literature reveals how little is known about the role of these risk factors in the development of psychopathology. The purpose of this study was to identify processes that differentiate internalizing, externalizing and co-occurring psychopathology. Specifically, emotion identification skill and cognitive appraisal style were examined as processes where individual differences may contribute to the development of mental illness. To date no study has been conducted to examine whether emotion identification and appraisal style may differentiate forms of internalizing, externalizing and co-occurring psychopathology and lack …

Tornado Fatalities: An In-Depth Look At Physical And Societal Influences, Heather Joann Key

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to model and determine significant predictors of tornado death index values, and to investigate these significant predictors and what makes people vulnerable to tornado fatalities through expert interviews. This study also provides an understanding of the study participant’s perceptions of their county’s vulnerability to tornado fatality and demonstrates a true integration of methods and fields by studying geographic, meteorological, and sociological phenomena by use of quantitative and qualitative methods. The study consists of two parts: 1) A quantitative exploration of variables hypothesized to predict Tornado Death Index (TDI) values, 2) A qualitative investigation to …

How You Categorize Influences How Helpful You Are: The Effect Of Categorization Mindset On Consumers’ Social Decisions, Hsiao-Ching Kuo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation demonstrates how categorization mindsets (introduced by Ulkumen et al., 2010) moderate the altruistic behavior of consumers in decisions that have consequences to others besides oneself. Categorization mindset refers to a way of thinking about options, and is induced by simple sorting or categorization tasks. Ulkumen et al. (2010) has shown that mindsets can be unidimensional (in terms of being focused on a single, salient dimension) or multidimensional (in that both salient and non-salient dimensions are processed). Across three experiments, this dissertation finds that a multidimensional mindset (compared to a unidimensional mindset) enhances the preference for other-oriented options among …