Digital Commons Network^™

The Molecular Determinants Of Deglycation And Substrate Specificity In Fructosamine Kinases, Jenet Matlack

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Protein glycation is a universal, non-enzymatic modification that occurs when a sugar covalently attaches to a primary amine. These spontaneous modifications may have deleterious or regulatory effects on protein function, and their removal is mediated by the conserved metabolic kinase fructosamine-3-kinase (FN3K). Despite its crucial role in protein repair, we currently have a poor understanding of how FN3K engages or phosphorylates its substrates. Additionally, the molecular basis for the distinct yet overlapping substrate specificities of FN3K and its paralog, ketosamine-3 kinase (KT3K), remains unresolved. By integrating structural biology, biochemistry, and ancestral protein reconstruction (APR), this thesis elucidates the catalytic mechanism …

The Evolution Of Self-Awareness In Conscious Organisms, Robert A. Dielenberg

Journal of Conscious Evolution

Self-awareness in conscious organisms remains an enduring puzzle for philosophers and neuroscientists. This paper proposes a tripartite evolutionary model tracing its emergence through three sequential types: the sensory self (primitive egocentric, valence-tagged awareness of sensory states), the bodily self (external objectification of the body as a distinct entity, evidenced by mirror self-recognition in select species), and the cognitive self (internal objectification of the mind enabling recursive self-transformation). Adopting a monist framework, the model treats consciousness as the biological substrate of delayed neural apperception (the “Delayed Present”), within which selves emerge as increasingly sophisticated models. It distinguishes non-human metacognition—implicit, online regulation—from …

Spatial Narrative Beyond The Proscenium: Set Design As A Tool For Wellness, Christina Griffey

LSU Master's Theses

Inspired by a health crisis that led to spending time in medical settings, this thesis examines how our surroundings impact our well-being. By developing a framework that explores the topics of storytelling, space, place, theatre, and expanded scenography, I propose that set design can be used as a tool for wellness. I explore several disciplines through the lens of set design and highlight the disciplines, professionals, and designers that are contributing to the creation of therapeutic environments using scenographic practices.

Qualitative Versus Quantitative Analysis Of Entheses: Using An Ordinal Scale And 3d Scanned Metrics To Understand Entheseal Differences In The Charity Hospital Cemetery (16or108), Gillian Stewart

LSU Master's Theses

Using a sample from New Orleans’ Charity Hospital Cemetery (16OR108), an analysis between ordinal scores and digital quantitative analysis (DQA) measurements of the entheses (muscle attachment sites) was performed. The skeletal elements (n = 235) examined were the humerus, radius, femur, and tibia. The entheses were 3D scanned using an Artec Space Spider scanner and processed with the Artec Studio Professional© v.2018 and Geomagic Wrap® v.2021 software. Entheses were analyzed by: left and right sides, male and female, and distribution of scores across elements. The analyses yielded significant differences between proliferative and erosive score distribution. Scores between elements exhibited variation. …

“Why Does My White Coat Feel So Tight?”: A Program Evaluation Of Well-Being Support For Physician Assistant Students, Danielle Castro

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents a program evaluation of the Wellness Initiatives (WI) Program in the University of South Florida’s Physician Assistant (PA) Program, an accelerated 24-month graduate curriculum. The problem of practice is that PA students reported burnout, feeling overwhelmed, and difficulty navigating support within a year-round structure that did not consistently align with centralized university services. Guided by Theory of Change as the theoretical framework and Improvement Science as the conceptual framework, the evaluation examined how iterative wellness supports shaped students’ perceptions of well-being across six implementation cycles (May 2023–March 2025). A convergent parallel mixed methods design integrated survey data …

Mentoring Mentalities Made Manifest: Toward A Better Understanding Of Secondary Teacher Mentor Professional Learning, Practice, And Self-Efficacy, Maggie L. Wilson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Teacher shortages are becoming increasingly problematic nationwide. Teacher mentoring has been found to be an effective method of curbing teacher attrition, but little attention has been addressed to ensuring that teacher mentors are receiving the most relevant professional learning experiences to bolster their self-efficacy and mentoring practice. This qualitative study, drawing on research traditions such as grounded theory and case study, seeks to illuminate the mentor self-efficacy and practice of secondary teacher mentors and to understand the role their professional learning plays in how and how well they enact their mentor roles. Through qualitative interviews, including artifact-based interviews, this study …

The Impact Of The Two-Way Immersion Model On Hispanic Pre-Service And In-Service Teachers’ Understanding Of Curriculum Implementation In Early Childhood Field Placements, Omar J. Vigo

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Dual language education, also known as Two-Way Immersion (TWI), is a teaching method that puts native English speakers and native speakers of another language in the same classroom. This helps both groups become bilingual and biliterate (Christian, 1996; Lindholm-Leary, 2001). The TWI approach highlights several benefits, including bilingualism and biliteracy, academic achievement, cross-cultural competence, cognitive improvements, and equity and accessibility (Lindholm-Leary, 2001). Research on the TWI model in adults is limited, although it has demonstrated effectiveness in supporting Hispanic teacher candidates, unlike studies conducted in primary education. This demonstrates that the TWI methodology benefits students (Van Booven, 2012). This …

Newsletter 2026.03.25, Fcrh Honors Program

What's Going On, Honors? (2025-26)

No abstract provided.

What Is The Contribution Of Thermal Selection To The Maintenance Of A Shell Color Cline In Littorina Saxatilis?, Ramón Vigo, Sarah L.Y. Lau, Juan Gefaell, Juan Galindo, Gray A. Williams, Manuela Truebano, Emilio Rolán-Alvarez

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

The study of clines, or geographical variations of a given trait, can help understand how the interactions of genetics and local environments determine phenotypic diversity. The marine snail Littorina saxatilis (Olivi, 1792) exhibits a gradual change in the relative frequencies of shell color morphs across populations in the estuary system of the Rias Baixas (Galicia, NW Iberian Peninsula). A consistent pattern of distribution occurs across these four Rias, with the interior, sheltered regions dominated by a light fawn-like morph (fulva), and the exterior, wave-exposed locations by a darker lineated morph (lineata). Measurements of rock surface temperature along one of the …

Recent Advances In Graphene-Based Field-Effect Transistor Biosensors For Disease Biomarker Detection And Clinical Prospects, Deeksha Nagpal, Anup Singh, John Link, Abijeet Mehta, Ashok Kumar, Vinay Bhudhraja

Health & Biomedical Sciences Faculty Publications

Field-effect transistor (FET) biosensors using graphene have become one of the most promising biosensing platforms for the early diagnosis of diseases with features such as high sensitivity, label-free detection and application compatibility with point-of-care systems. Herein, we critically discuss recent advances in graphene FET (GFET) biosensor development toward clinically relevant biomarkers associated with representative diseases including cancer, neurodegenerative disease, infectious disease, and inflammatory conditions. Recent progress was reviewed to evaluate GFET architectures, surface functionalization methods, and detection quality. The biomarkers explored were clusterin in Alzheimer’s disease, thrombin in coagulopathy, estrogen receptor α (ER-α) in breast cancer, Carcinoembryonic antigen in lung …

The Rural Minnesota Principalship: Commitment Amid Challenge Interpreting The Minnesota Principals Survey Through A Rural Leadership Lens, Brennan Kent

Essays in Education

School principals occupy one of the most complex leadership roles within public education, particularly in rural communities where schools often serve as central institutions for both learning and community life. This paper interprets findings from the 2023 Minnesota Principals Survey (MnPS) through a rural leadership lens. While the survey reflects statewide perspectives on principal workload, leadership efficacy, and barriers to student learning, several findings carry particular relevance for rural districts where staffing capacity and access to services may be more limited. MnPS results indicate that principals work an average of 57 hours per week and that only 52% perceive their …

A Letter To My Juror, Michael Anthony Mariscal

CouRaGeouS Cuentos: A Journal of Counternarratives

No abstract provided.

No Forget, Brah!, Samuel Nault

CouRaGeouS Cuentos: A Journal of Counternarratives

No abstract provided.

Drops In A Collective Monsoon, Jason A. Martinez

CouRaGeouS Cuentos: A Journal of Counternarratives

No abstract provided.

Research Proposal, William H,

CouRaGeouS Cuentos: A Journal of Counternarratives

No abstract provided.

Childhood Memories Of Resistance, Steven Corotan

CouRaGeouS Cuentos: A Journal of Counternarratives

No abstract provided.

Madrecita Querida, Jaime Navarro

CouRaGeouS Cuentos: A Journal of Counternarratives

No abstract provided.

For My People, Irma Rodriguez

CouRaGeouS Cuentos: A Journal of Counternarratives

No abstract provided.

My Life Is An Obstacle, Alberto Carbajal

CouRaGeouS Cuentos: A Journal of Counternarratives

No abstract provided.

I Come From..., Steven Corotan

CouRaGeouS Cuentos: A Journal of Counternarratives

No abstract provided.

Memories Fade, Samuel Nault

CouRaGeouS Cuentos: A Journal of Counternarratives

No abstract provided.

Front Matter, Courageous Cuentos

CouRaGeouS Cuentos: A Journal of Counternarratives

No abstract provided.

Full Issue, Courageous Cuentos

CouRaGeouS Cuentos: A Journal of Counternarratives

No abstract provided.

Taruskin’S Great Contributions And A Few Shortcomings, Ralph P. Locke

Music & Musical Performance: An International Journal

Among the most needed, and durable, features of Richard Taruskin’s life’s work was his consistent interpretation of music and music-making within and against their societal and cultural contexts. This stood in contrast to the positivistic methodologies that German, British, and American musicology valued in the 1960s–70s: instances of the latter include the making of reliable critical editions and, in a very different sense, various “the notes only” methods of music analysis.

The breadth of Taruskin’s vision and his command of musical and cultural history are apparent in the enormous “Nationalism” entry in the 2001 edition of Grove (now available at …

Richard Taruskin And The Early Music Movement, Uri Golomb

Music & Musical Performance: An International Journal

Richard Taruskin’s writings on the Early Music Movement had a pivotal influence on debates surrounding the concept of historical authenticity in musical performance. Taruskin championed the thesis that historically-informed performance (HIP) is only tenuously connected to actual past practices, that “a specious veneer of historicism clothes a performance style that is completely of our own time, and is in fact the most modern style around” (as Taruskin wrote in a 1988 essay, reprinted in his seminal collection Text and Act). In arguing his case, he correctly diagnosed the practices and motivations of a major group of performers within the Early …

Using Bloom’S Taxonomy To Help Guide Technology Decision-Making In Schools, Jeremy Dickerson, Howard V. Coleman

Teacher Education Journal of South Carolina

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) provides a clear understanding of what students are expected to learn and are designed to reflect the knowledge and skills that young people need for success in college and careers (2013). The CCSS are intended to make all students ready for life in a technological society. Technology proficiency is a key expectation that is embedded throughout the content standards (Center for Digital Education, 2013). Transitioning to the CCSS means taking a more structured approach to integrating technology and a dedication to instruction that is based upon higher-order critical thinking. This paper presents the formal …

A Cooperative Approach For Improving A Culminating Teacher Education Assessment: Revising The Teacher Work Sample, Rebecca Stobaugh, Janet Tassell, Lisa D. Murley, Pamela M. Jukes, S. Kay Gandy

Teacher Education Journal of South Carolina

The purpose of this article is to provide a synopsis of the evaluation and revision process of a senior capstone project, the Teacher Work Sample (TWS). One university developed a task force to develop and implement goals to revise this capstone project. The revision process forced the task force members to examine institutional data from multiple program assessments. This process can serve as a model for other institutions as they seek to improve assessment rigor.

Using Stress Management Techniques To Support Inclusionary Education Students With Emotional And Behavioral Disabilities, James T. Jackson, Katina January-Vance, Morgan Freeman

Teacher Education Journal of South Carolina

Successful inclusion of students with behavioral challenges in mainstreamed classrooms is predicated on healthy social-emotional development. Students who are able to effectively engage self-regulatory skills will be better prepared to interface socially. This paper details how stress management techniques can be used by teachers to promote inclusion of students with behavioral challenges into mainstreamed classrooms. Strategies to help students cope with stress are presented in the paper. The article concludes with recommendations for teachers to implement strategies and how they will be useful in promoting a sense of inclusion rather than exclusion.

Teacher Educator, Know Thyself: Lessons Learned From Completing The Edtpa, Stacy Furness

Teacher Education Journal of South Carolina

In this study, teacher education faculty from a Midwestern state university completed the Education Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA), a recent state legislative requirement for teacher licensure and program review. The purpose of the study was to improve teacher preparation practices in anticipation of the newly required teacher performance assessment. In addition to addressing teacher preparation practices and supporting teacher candidate success in completing the assessment, the research had unintended benefits including reducing faculty fears around anticipating the use of the instrument, increasing faculty buy in and increasing awareness about the function and purpose of the assessment.

Collaborative Problem Based Learning: One Teacher Education Program’S Journey, Tracy West, Carol Hoyle

Teacher Education Journal of South Carolina

Teacher preparation continues to be part of an ongoing discussion surrounding teacher quality (Darling-Hammond, 2000; Boe, Shin & Cook, 2007). A rationale and plan for the implementation of a Collaborative Problem-Based Learning model is presented in response. Our model provides a framework for strengthening communication and collaboration between teacher education programs and local school partners that we propose will positively impact the translation of research into practice in teacher education through the use of problem-based learning (PBL).