Digital Commons Network^™

Implementing A Structured Lifestyle Counseling Program To Improve Weight Management In Obese Adults Ages 18–65 Within The Private Primary Care Setting, Ntoge Sone Penda

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Obesity is a major public health concern that affects millions of adults. As a chronic, progressive disease, obesity increases the risk of developing several medical conditions. Although evidence-based clinical practice guidelines recommend comprehensive lifestyle modification as a first-line treatment, implementation of structured lifestyle counseling in primary care remains inconsistent. The practice-focused question guiding this Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) quality improvement project was: Among obese adults aged 18–65 years in a private primary care setting, does implementing a structured lifestyle counseling program improve body weight and body mass index (BMI) outcomes over an 11-week period? An organizational change process guided …

Anthropogenic Food Subsidies And Pack Counts Of Coyotes (Canis Latrans) In Rhode Island: Implications For Long-Term And Non-Lethal Population Control, Numi Mitchell, Kyle R. Hess, Michael W. Strohbach

Cities and the Environment (CATE)

Coyotes regulate fertility, population recruitment, and territory size, based on food competition, all characteristics that might be leveraged for population management initiatives. In Rhode Island, US, anthropogenic food subsidies provide important resources for coyotes. Prior work has shown that when large reliable subsidies are absent or removed, resident coyotes increase territory size. This is potentially significant to management if the expansion does not cause increases in pack size.

We used video camera traps, opportunistic photography, and observation, to make group-size counts. We looked at the influence of levels of anthropogenic food subsidization on pack size. Adult group sizes were smaller …

Structured And Interpretable Representations For Ensemble And Dynamical Systems, Yuan-Hung Kuan

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Precise and robust manipulation of large populations of structurally identical dynamical systems with heterogeneous dynamics, known as ensemble systems, is a central challenge in many emerging applications. These systems are often difficult to analyze and control because of the inherent nonlinearities, high dimensionality, heterogeneity, and incomplete knowledge of the underlying dynamics. To address these challenges, this thesis develops structured and interpretable representations for the analysis, control, and learning of nonlinear ensemble systems. Its central objective is to transform complex heterogeneous dynamics into representations that preserve essential structural and dynamical properties while enabling tractable computation and effective control design. First, the …

Analysis Of Early Menopause And Endometriosis Genetics Merit In Use Of Polygenic Risk Assessments For Prediction, Emily Solomon

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

Endometriosis and Early Menopause are reproductive conditions that are under research in women's health. Both conditions impact a woman’s quality of life through severity of symptoms and associated risk factors and are influenced by genetic, hormonal and environmental elements. Both conditions have extensive and growing genetic knowledge that is being used to calculate either an increased or decreased risk of condition development. The array of genetic data shows promises in predicting risk for both conditions, as well as certain symptoms, to contribute to a personalized predictive tool to guide management of care. Endometriosis benefits from a potential polygenic risk assessment …

The Influence Of Circadian Rhythm Disruption And Apoe4 On The Prognosis And Progression Of Alzheimer’S Disease, Kayla Bradby

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

Alzheimer’s disease is characterized by cognitive decline and memory loss and is the most common form of dementia. Genetic factors such as apolipoprotein E have been significantly associated with AD development and progression, most specifically the APOE4 isoform. Emerging evidence has shown that when the body’s circadian rhythm, the 24-hour dark/light cycle, is disrupted, the potential to develop a neurodegenerative disease such as AD increases. The purpose of this literature review is to examine the relationship between AD, circadian rhythm, and the APOE isoforms. This review puts a particular emphasis on the APOE4 isoform, as it has been shown to …

A Metadata Analysis Of Anthropological Scholarship About Haiti And The Dominican Republic, Tess Kulstad González, Pauline Kulstad González, Zoe Grubbs, Hongyuan Zhang

archipelagos: a journal of Caribbean digital praxis

This article presents the results of a metadata and content analysis of anthropological research about Haiti and the Dominican Republic available in the Anthropological Literature database and in the Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology. This analysis shows that anthropological knowledge about Haiti and/or the Dominican Republic, produced in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, is included less than scholarship published outside the island. In addition, our analysis indicates that research that pertains to both countries, or that considers transnational and/or inter-island processes has been infrequent. Furthermore, that which exists is not as discoverable or visible as research that focuses …

Quantifying Iron Recycling In The Nutrient-Rich North Atlantic Ocean, Adam Jackvony

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

The North Atlantic is a volatile region with low iron availability, where diatoms make up a majority of the phytoplankton. Due to iron’s low supply and high demand, it is often retained within the system and reused through iron recycling. Iron recycling helps predict fluctuations in diatom biomass, which directly impacts the biological carbon pump, transporting carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into the deep ocean. Estimating recycling rate allows for comparisons to other regions that have previously been studied creating a better understanding of the ocean-climate system and how different environmental factors influence the climate. Using assumed source water iron …

Abundance Of Free-Living Cyanobacterial Nitrogen Fixers On The West Florida Shelf, Ashley S. Gielazyn, Emma Graves, Christa Baranowski, Dreux Chappell, Kristen Buck, Salvatore Caprara

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Trichodesmium is a free-living, marine cyanobacterium that acts as a biological nitrogen fixer, capable of using typically unavailable dissolved nitrogen gas. It is responsible for producing up to half of the usable nitrogen that is necessary for the survival of marine organisms and environments. Researching the abundance of different nitrogen-fixing species allows for a greater understanding of the importance of nitrogen fixation in certain environments. Specifically on the West Florida Shelf (WFS), where nutrient levels are low, it is hypothesized that nitrogen fixers support a significant portion of primary productivity. This study used qPCR of the rnpB housekeeping gene to …

Necropsy Findings Reveal Potential Threats To Native Florida Chelonian Species, Paige A. Spurlock

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Necropsies are vital for providing researchers with more information on the underlying conditions that cause disease and death in wildlife. A standard herpetological necropsy, like any necropsy, requires one to look objectively at each specimen, without preconceived expectations as to the cause, beginning with thorough internal and external examination of organs and tissues. This summer, I conducted 15 Chelonian (turtle and tortoise) necropsies. Species included gopher tortoise (n=11), and seral freshwater turtle species (n=4). Beyond gross examination, I collected cloacal/oral swabs, liver, lung, kidney, spleen, and brain for potential testing. Most were in good condition. We found a range of …

Pyrodinium Bahamense Environmental Growth: A Study Of How Local Salinities Affect P. Bahamense Growth And Toxicity, Elsa M. Kusek, Valentina Arnold Villarreal

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

The Steidinger Scholar Internship at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute provides a unique and valuable research experience for undergraduate students through experiential learning. Over the summer of 2026, we’re integral team members of the Harmful Algal Blooms Biotoxins Team, helping to monitor the presence of Pyrodinium bahamense, a saxitoxin producing dinoflagellate, and its associated toxins in scallop tissues throughout the Pasco County Recreational Scalloping Zone. This monitoring is crucial to protecting human health, preserving Florida's resources, and informing management decisions. To further our understanding of P. bahamense, we explored the impact of salinity on growth, pH, stress, and …

Optimizing Cannabinoid Exposure In An In Vitro Alzheimer's Disease Model: A Dose- And Time-Dependent Analysis Of Δ9-Thc, 11-Oh-Thc, And Thc-Cooh, Janiellys Brito, Chuanhai Cao

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the accumulation of amyloid-β plaques and neurofibrillary tau tangles, leading to progressive cognitive decline and synaptic dysfunction. Because current disease-modifying therapies for AD are extremely limited, there is a pressing need to investigate compounds that may influence underlying disease-related cellular processes. This study investigated the dose- and time-dependent effects of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC), 11-hydroxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (11-OH-THC), and 11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC-COOH) to identify cannabinoid exposure conditions and to establish a framework for future AD research. N2a-APP cells, a mouse neuroblastoma cell line genetically modified to overproduce human amyloid precursor protein (APP) and serve as an …

Role Of She In Vascular Tubulogenesis, Jaylen E. Moore

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Vascular tubulogenesis is the process by which endothelial cells organize into hollow tubes that permit blood flow. Despite its importance, the molecular mechanisms governing tubulogenesis remain poorly understood, and defects in this process underlie a range of diseases. 
   
   Src homology 2 domain-containing E (She) was originally characterized as an endothelial-enriched adaptor protein that functions downstream of the ETS transcription factor Etv2 / Etsrp in zebrafish embryos. She’s protein sequence was also previously determined to be evolutionarily conserved between different vertebrates, including Homo sapiens. Even so, its role and biological function remained unknown. This study describes the discovery of she’s function …

Biological Regeneration Of Zeolite For Long-Term Nitrogen Management In Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems, Hsiang Yang Shyu, Nicole Norwine, Annette Breton, Robert Bair, Daniel Yeh

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Nitrogen pollution poses serious risks to human and ecological health, driving toxic algal blooms, degrading fisheries, and threatening communities that rely on clean water resources, making sustainable nitrogen removal technologies essential. This study evaluates whether zeolite—a naturally porous, cation‑adsorbing mineral with high NH₄⁺ capacity—can be biologically regenerated through nitrification and denitrification, eliminating the costly chemical regeneration typically required for long‑term use. A lab‑scale Nutrient Capture System (NCS) was constructed using a granular activated carbon (GAC) bed followed by two tidal‑flow zeolite beds to simulate the Modified Ludzack‑Ettinger process. Synthetic wastewater containing approximately 70 mg/L total nitrogen and 260 mg/L COD …

Exploring Biopolymer Nanofibrous Scaffolds For Wound Healing Applications, James Lewis

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Chronic wounds continue to present a significant clinical challenge due to delayed healing, persistent inflammation, and the high risk of infection, creating an urgent need for advanced therapeutic strategies beyond conventional wound dressings. Electrospinning has emerged as a powerful and scalable fabrication technique for developing nanofibrous scaffolds that mimic the native extracellular matrix (ECM) while serving as localized drug delivery platforms. The unique structural characteristics of electrospun nanofibers, including their high surface-area-to-volume ratio, interconnected porosity, and tunable fiber morphology, enable efficient loading, protection, and controlled release of therapeutic agents, promoting a favorable healing environment. In this study, biocompatible and biodegradable …

The Invisible Threat: Traditional Culture-Based Monitoring Misses The Vbnc State, Sarah Fee

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

All living organisms share a fundamental biological drive to survive through adaptation. In drinking water systems, pathogens like E. coli utilize survival mechanisms to withstand the chemical disinfectants designed to eliminate them. While treatment with free chlorine or monochloramine successfully stops bacteria from multiplying into colonies, many cells respond to this oxidative stress by shifting into a viable but non-culturable (VBNC) state. In this state, bacteria remain physically intact and potentially virulent but fail to grow on standard agar plates, effectively “disappearing” from the conventional monitoring used to verify water safety. This investigation resolves this monitoring blind spot by utilizing …

Designing Β-Barrel Membrane Protein Using Distributed Structure-To-Sequence Adapters., Tien Dao

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Membrane proteins, particularly β-barrel membrane proteins, play essential roles in cellular processes and have growing applications in biotechnology, biosensing, and sequencing technologies. However, de novo design of membrane proteins remains underexplored because current inverse folding models, are primarily trained on soluble proteins and have limited exposure to membrane protein structures. The scarcity of experimentally determined membrane protein structures further limits the development of deep learning models for membrane protein design. In this work, we investigate strategies to retrain ProteinMPNN for membrane protein sequence design by retraining the model on a number of membrane protein datasets consisting of α-helical and β-barrel …

Optimizing Silk Fibroin–Polyethylene Oxide Polymer Blends For Electrospun Nanofibrous Scaffold Fabrication, Lucas Niemas

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Cardiovascular disease remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality, often requiring surgical repair or replacement of damaged tissues. Current cardiovascular substitutes, including synthetic grafts, mechanical valve replacements, and biologically derived tissues, have improved patient outcomes but still face limitations such as thrombosis risk, limited remodeling capacity, mechanical mismatch, and durability concerns. Cardiovascular tissue engineering seeks to address these challenges by developing biomimetic scaffolds that support cell attachment, extracellular matrix synthesis, tissue integration, and in vivo adaptation. Silk fibroin is a promising natural biomaterial because of its biocompatibility, tunable degradation, favorable mechanical properties, and anti-inflammatory potential; however, its low solution …

Protocol For Nod Islet Isolation Using A Novel Two-Filter Purification System, Sama Nayakanti

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease characterized by the inflammation and destruction of pancreatic islets by infiltrating immune cells. As T1D incidence continues to surge worldwide, it is necessary to develop therapies capable of strengthening and protecting islet function.

Our prior research has previously demonstrated the protective antioxidant effects of Cornus officinalis (CO), a medicinal herb with known anti-diabetes properties, using 1.1B4 and NIT-1 transformed pancreatic β-cell lines. Although these cell lines are valuable and cost-efficient β-cell models, they are not fully representative of primary β-cell biology, which may affect their antioxidant response to CO.

To this end, …

Chemical Effects Of Microplastics On Photochemistry In A Coral-Associated Zooxanthella, Meghan A. Hennings, Matz Indergard, John E. Parkinson

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Coral bleaching is the process by which corals lose their symbiotic microalgae in response to stressful conditions. These photosymbionts, known as zooxanthellae, give corals their color and sustain host growth through mutualistic nutritional exchange. Bleaching events are becoming more common and severe, driving research into coral conservation and the resilience of each partner in the symbiosis. Yet it is unknown how certain pollutants, such as microplastics, may affect bleaching outcomes. Previous research in our laboratory has demonstrated that the presence of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) microplastics inhibits bleaching recovery in sea anemones (a coral model), but it remains unclear whether the …

Alterations In Intracellular Pathways By Structured Acoustics Across Mammalian Model Systems, Mary B. Holahan, A'Niya Jackson, Jose Rumbaut-Clark, Elaina Schuler, Arnav Chavda, Thanh Mai Nguyen, Junaina Nazneen, Ana Beatriz-Melgar, Sarah Hedenstad, Emily Hernandez

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Music can be defined as structured sound that serves as a “universal language” capable of influencing emotion, cognition, and social connectivity in humans. Its formal application into the medical profession began in the 20th century, following World War I and II.  Human subject research involving music therapy has since reported a myriad of health benefits such as those on emotional (e.g., anxiety, depression, and stress), neurological (e.g., cognitive impairment, sleep issues, and dementia), and physical well-being (e.g., pain, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia). However, the impact of such structured acoustics on biological processes at the cellular and molecular level remains unclear. Towards …

A Study Of Secondary Metabolites From The Deep Sea Bubblegum Coral Paragorgia Arborea, Nylah Barber

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Marine organisms produce chemically diverse metabolites that have significant pharmaceutical potential which makes them great sources of inspiration for future drug development. However, collecting marine organisms is costly, time-consuming, and ecologically problematic, making preserved museum specimens a valuable alternative for natural products research. In this study, the deep-sea octocoral Paragorgia arborea, obtained from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, was selected for further chemical analysis due to its antiviral activity against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) with no detectable cytotoxicity to healthy cells. The extract was purified through high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and resulting fractions were analyzed using mass spectrometry …

Photophysical Study Of A Cyclopropenium Azobenzene-Based Photoswitch, Amya Culbreath, Gabriella Oliver, Chavdar Slavov

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Ionic liquids are salts that exist as liquids at or near room temperature and are of interest because their structures can be tuned to control properties such as viscosity, polarity, solvation environment, and molecular organization. Incorporating photoswitches into ionic liquids offers a strategy for introducing light-responsive behavior, where reversible structural changes can be used to dynamically modulate liquid structure and function. Here, we present the synthesis of a photoswitchable ionic liquid and investigate its dynamic properties using ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy. Our results provide insight into how molecular photoswitching influences ionic liquid structure and dynamics, guiding the development of ionic …

Towards The Asymmetric Total Synthesis Of The Oxeatamides, Myungkyung Kim

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Darwinolide and membranolide, natural products isolated from Dendrilla membranosa, an Antarctic sponge of the family Darwinellidae, have demonstrated activity against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) biofilm. The oxeatamides, natural products from the New Zealand sponge Darwinella oxeata, are structurally related to membranolide and represent promising candidates for similar biological activity, yet remain synthetically underexplored due to their limited natural abundance and complex structures. Building on prior studies in the Leahy laboratory, which established the asymmetric total synthesis of membranolide and enabled the preparation of key nitrogenous intermediates toward the oxeatamides, efforts are now directed toward the first asymmetric total …

Glycoconjugate Binding: Lectin Affinity For Structurally Differing Sugars On Cavitands, Erica D. Janmey

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Lectins are proteins that interact with sugars on cell membranes and bind with known affinities. Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC) can give insight into entropy (ΔS), enthalpy (ΔH), stoichiometry (n) and the dissociation constant, KD. Resorcin[4]arene cavitand glycoconjugates were synthesized by attaching one of three sugar derivatives of glucose, mannose, and lactose to each of the cavitands for the purpose of comparing binding strength for concanavalin A between the glycosides and their simple sugar. The glycoconjugate structure differs from that of glycans, and therefore the differences in interactions between the sugars on the cavitands must be investigated. The multivalent resorcinarene glycoconjugates …

Multi-Omics Informed Drug Response Prediction For Precision Medicine, Iyioluwa O. Adaramola, Anowarul Kabir

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Motivation: Treating cancer in patients is hard within precision oncology due to the heterogeneity in cancer cells. Developing predictive methods that estimate drug-responses in cancer cell lines can improve our understanding of treatment effectiveness. The goal of this study is to explore the fundamental and data-driven limitations of the existing advanced learning methods for drug response prediction for precision oncology.

Approach & Findings: We examine current state-of the-art methods that utilize multi-omics patient data and/or signaling pathways to predict drug response across various cell lines. Our analysis identifies that models that learn molecular and topological manifolds demonstrate richer representation of …

Computational Modeling Of Electrospinning For Predicting Nanofiber Fabrication And Process Optimization, Jadon J. Orr, Rhidita Rahman Khan

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Electrospinning is a widely used Fabrication technique for producing continuous polymeric nanofibers with application in designing more efficient optoelectronic devices, sensors, producing filtration systems, wound healing, tissue regeneration, drug delivery , forming advanced  functional nanomaterial structures. The successful formation of electro-spun fibers depends on complex interaction among polymer concentration, solution viscosity, molecular chain entanglement, solvent properties, applied voltage, tip-collector-distance, and solution flow rate. Determining the optimum electrospinning condition traditionally achieved through repeated experimental trial and error, makes the process time consuming, costly, and difficult to reproduce across different polymer-solvent systems. Developing computational tools capable of predicting fiber formation can significantly …

Adaptive Control Of A Media Environment Using Synchronized Physiological Data, Rohit Jain

Defensive Publications Series

Media environments can operate without awareness of a user's physiological state, and some integration methods may be limited by factors such as high-latency cloud processing or simplistic control actions. A system is described that can establish a low-latency communication channel between one or more wearable devices, such as a smart watch or fitness tracker, and a media playback system, for example, a smart television or streaming device. With appropriate user consent, physiological data, such as heart rate variability and electrodermal activity, can be transmitted from the wearable device and processed locally on the media system. Based on this real-time analysis, …

Extremophile-Inspired Biomimetics Potential Analysis, Xavier Pillet

Defensive Publications Series

This document, produced with the assistance of ChatGPT o3, GPT-5 Thinking, Gemini and Grok, is released under the Apache License 2.0. It is a voluntary defensive publication (prior art) and therefore enters the prior art upon release under the applicable patent statutes: EPC Art. 54(2) (European Patent Convention), French IPC Art. L 611-11 (French Intellectual Property Code), 35 U.S.C. §102(a) (United States Patent Act), Chinese Patent Law Art. 22(5) (両匡丢氡儡吡嘡丣刡氢), and Japanese Patent Act Art. 29(1) (闘旧避). This defensive disclosure provides enabling embodiments that translate extremophile mechanisms (thermostability, cryo-activity, anhydrobiosis, halotolerance, radiotolerance, barophily) into materials, devices, processes, control algorithms, interoperable …

Folic Acid-Targeted Polymeric Complex Imprinted With Doxorubicin And Quercetin For Controlled Drug Delivery In Cancer Therapy, Ceren Türkcan, Emi̇rhan İşeri̇

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

​Cancer therapy is often limited by the systemic toxicity and dose-dependent adverse effects of conventional chemotherapeutic agents such as doxorubicin (DOX). In this study, a folic acid-functionalized molecularly imprinted polymeric complex based on poly(HEMA) crosslinked with ethylene glycol dimethacrylate was synthesized for the controlled release of DOX in combination with quercetin (QUE), a flavonoid known for its antioxidant and chemosensitizing properties. The aim of this work was to develop and physicochemically characterize a preliminary targeted drug delivery platform at a material-design level. The polymeric complex was synthesized via free-radical polymerization following a DOX–QUE precomplex formation step. Structural characterization was performed …

A Poly-L-Lysine-Functionalized Electrochemical Immunosensor Enables Highly Sensitive Detection Of Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor-Associated Protein 1, Berfi̇n Vural, Mustafa Kemal Sezgi̇ntürk

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

Tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated protein 1 (TRAP-1), a member of the mitochondrial heat shock protein family (HSP90), is essential for protein homeostasis, stress response, and cell cycle. TRAP-1 not only optimizes cellular energy production but also prevents cell death, thereby supporting the survival and proliferation of tumor cells. In addition to cancer, TRAP-1 has been associated with Parkinson’s disease, certain autoimmune disorders, and abnormalities in the kidney and urinary tract. In this study, a unique and useful indium tin oxide-polyethylene terephthalate (ITO–PET)-based electrochemical biosensor is described for detecting the biomarker TRAP-1. The ITO–PET electrode, selected as the working electrode, is …