Digital Commons Network^™

Computerized Measurement Of Psychological Vital Signs In A Clinical Setting, Ryan K. Russon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Due to the increasing demands of third-party payers to show measurable results in a decreased amount of time, mental health practitioners need new tools and techniques to quickly and efficiently assess their client's current status and progress in treatment. The goal of this study was to develop and validate a brief computerized measure of emotional states and personality traits for use as an assessment tool in a clinical setting. Adapted from the State-Trait Personality Inventory (STPI; Spielberger, 1998), the computerized instrument measured state and trait anxiety, anger, depression, and curiosity. The computerized STPI was examined for equivalence with the traditional …

The Association Of Maternal Pregnancy Complications And Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, Patricia D. Myers

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is the third leading cause of infant mortality between birth and the first year of life in the United States. Along with the identification of various maternal risk factors, the role of fetal hypoxia has been hypothesized to be one of many causal factors associated with SIDS. The purpose of this study was to develop a profile of the SIDS infant and assess whether six pregnancy complications consistent with fetal hypoxia were associated with the increased outcome of SIDS. The secondary data analysis of Florida linked birth to death certificate data specific to Hillsborough County …

Modeling And Characterization Of Polycrystalline Mercuric Iodide Radiation Detectors, Unmesh Khadilkar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The ability of Mercuric Iodide (HgI₂) to function as a highly efficient radiation detector at room temperature has generated great interest and has triggered further studies on this difficult material. This property is expected to enable significant enhancements to a far-ranging variety of applications and systems. HgI₂ devices have shown superior performance at room temperature compared to elemental Si or Ge devices, which require to be cooled down to liquid nitrogen temperature when used as nuclear radiation detectors. While substantial studies have been conducted on single crystal HgI^₂, polycrystalline HgI₂ remains a comparatively less …

An Investigation Of Bga Electronic Packaging Moiré Interferometry, Norman Rivers

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As technology progresses towards smaller electronic packages, thermo-mechanical considerations pose a challenge to package designers. One area of difficulty is the ability to predict the fatigue life of the solder connections. To do this one must be able to accurately model the thermo-mechanical performance of the electronic package. As the solder ball size decreases, it becomes difficult to determine the performance of the package with traditional methods such as the use of strain gages. This is due to the fact that strain gages become limited in size and resolution and lack the ability to measure discreet strain fields as the …

Environmental Ramification Of The Fire Ecology Of Slash Pine (Pinus Elliottii): A Study Of Population Dynamics And Dispersal Following A Fire Event, Kara Elizabeth Teague

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With increasing encroachment on natural communities by anthropogenic activity, it is important to understand the functions of natural ecosystems in an effort to conserve natural areas. A first-hand study of the population dynamics of South Florida Slash Pine (P. elliottii Engelm. var. densa) following a fire event provided insight to its recovery and dispersal following a fire. A natural fire (lightning-induced) occurred in the spring of 2000 at the T. Mabry Carlton, Jr. Reserve, Sarasota County, providing an opportunity to study aspects of slash pine in relation to fire. One objective of my research was to look at …

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: General Education Elementary School Teachers' Knowledge, Training, And Ratings Of Acceptability Of Interventions, Stacey Small M.A.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Given that researchers estimate approximately one child in every classroom has Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and that most of these students are served in the general education classroom, it is imperative that general education teachers know how to effectively teach these students. Seventy-two general education elementary school teachers completed a survey containing demographic information, a knowledge of ADHD questionnaire, and a survey on interventions for students with ADHD. Results indicated that teachers scored an average of 57% correct on the Knowledge of Attention Deficit Disorders Scale (KADDS), scoring statistically significantly higher on the Symptoms/Diagnosis subscale compared to the General and Treatment …

The Role Of Individual Differences In Learning Alcohol Expectancy Associations, Howard R. Steinberg

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol expectancy theory suggests that genetically influenced personality characteristics may lead to differential acquisition of expectancy information, and that this information then may serve as one mediational pathway for alcoholism risk. Research has already shown that expectancy information can predict and even mediate risk, but it has yet to be shown that personality traits can influence the acquisition of alcohol expectancy information. To that end, personality characteristics known to be risk factors for the development of excessive alcohol use were assessed in 83 male undergraduates. In addition, each participant studied, in a paired-associate learning/cued-recall test paradigm, a list of word …

Hazard Vulnerability In Socio-Economic Context: An Example From Ecuador, Lucille Richards Lane

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

How people pereceive the risks associated with natural hazards contributes to their willingness to take protective action. Such action may be constrained by prevailing socio-economic and place-specific conditions that restrict or inform the choice of protective measures available to the individual. Vulnerability to the impacts of extreme geophysical events increases when the range of alternatives is limited or misinformed.

Many evacuees from a potentially violent volcanic eruption in Ecuador returned to their home town of Banos while it was still under an evacuation order in 2000 and considered to be a high risk area by officials. The research examined four …

Dwellness: A Radical Notion Of Wilderness, Martin J. Wortman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The contemporary concept of wilderness, which is central to environmental theory and activism, is both a help and a hindrance to government policy and to popular environmental beliefs. The Judeo-Christian religious tradition and Locke's property theory provides much of the western cultural and historical basis of humans' environmental attitudes that basically engender exploitation. I argue that a more precise interpretation of Genesis and of Locke reveals that both sources actually promote environmental stewardship while decrying ecological abuse. Next I analyze the history and shortcomings of various wilderness concepts. These shortcomings are all forms of an exclusionist mentality and result in …

Effects Of Bilingualism, Noise, And Reverberation On Speech Perception By Listeners With Normal Hearing, Dashielle M. Febo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The accurate perception of spoken English is influenced by many variables, including the listener's native language, reverberation, and background noise. Few studies of speech perception by bilingual listeners have carefully controlled for second language proficiency and even fewer have presented speech in everyday listening environments that contain noise and reverberation. In the present study, detailed language background, language proficiency information, and individual language samples were collected and the speech stimuli were presented in a variety of quiet, noisy, and reverberant listening environments.

The effects of noise and reverberation on the perception of American English monosyllabic words was examined for two …

Nutrient Uptake By Seagrass Communities And Associated Organisms: Impact Of Hydrodynamic Regime Quantified Through Field Measurements And Use Of An Isotope Label, Christopher David Cornelisen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Seagrass communities are composed of numerous organisms that depend on water-column nutrients for metabolic processes. The rate at which these organisms remove a nutrient from the water column can be controlled by physical factors such as hydrodynamic regime or by biological factors such as speed of enzyme reactions. The impact of hydrodynamic regime on rates of nutrient uptake for seagrass (Thalassia testudinum) communities and for organisms that comprise the community (seagrass, epiphytes, phytoplankton, and microphytobenthos) was quantified in a series of field flume experiments employing the use of ¹⁵N-labeled ammonium and nitrate.

Rates of ammonium uptake for …

Scavenger: A Junk Mail Classification Program, Rohan V. Malkhare

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The problem of junk mail, also called spam, has reached epic proportions and various efforts are underway to fight spam. Junk mail classification using machine learning techniques is a key method to fight spam. We have devised a machine learning algorithm where features are created from individual sentences in the subject and body of a message by forming all possible word-pairings from a sentence. Weights are assigned to the features based on the strength of their predictive capabilities for spam/legitimate determination. The predictive capabilities are estimated by the frequency of occurrence of the feature in spam/legitimate collections as well as …

A Natural Analogue For Long-Term Passivity, Raymond E. Monson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has been engaged in a viability study for a potential underground geological repository in Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The repository is being designed for disposal of high level nuclear waste. A reference design for the repository has focused on the use of natural and manmade barriers to assure that radionucleide release will not be significant though an extended time period on the order of 10,000 years. The reference design utilizes manmade metallic components that are expected to last for this time period. The specified metallic materials depend on a phenomenon known as metallic passivity to …

Choral Music Education: A Survey Of Research 1996-2002, Amber Turcott

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to review and summarize selected choral music education research published between 1996-2002. Four major research surveys in this area were previously published by Gonzo (1973), Hylton (1983), Phillips (1992), and Grant and Norris (1998). Each of these authors stressed a need for research in all areas of choral music education beyond the dissertation level and called for research that mimicked "real-world" experiences that would benefit choral music educators.

This study investigated the following: (a) whether research studies in choral music education have increased beyond doctoral dissertation studies; (b) whether previous research studies have been …

Leading Learning Through Imposition Of Leadership Learning Standards, Raymond D. Jorgensen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the impact of an imposed standards movement on attitudes and behaviors of a team of line leaders. A case method was employed to describe, to explain, and to draw conclusions about results of standards imposition. Standards were designed and implemented by an executive leadership team frustrated with lack of effective leadership practices of a line leaders team under their supervision. The investigation took an historical perspective, chronicling the story of the company, emerging leadership challenges, and executive leadership responses leading up to the research.

The line or team leaders of an educational software company served as participants. …

Body Image As A Function Of Colorism: Testing A Theoretical Model, Alicia V. Hall

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A Covariate Structure Model was used to examine a possible relationship between colorism as a component of body image and global psychological functioning in the hypothesized model. Two hundred-fifty-five African-American women were recruited from undergraduate psychology and social work classes to participate in the current study from state and community colleges in the southeastern United States, and from social groups and church organizations. The results indicated that the hypothesized model was not a good fit to the data; therefore, the model was re-evaluated. The results of the analysis of the revised model indicated that the revised model was not plausible. …

Evaluation And Implementation Of A Molecular-Based Protocol For The Identification Of Enteroviruses At The Florida Department Of Health – Tampa Laboratory, Matthew Adams Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Enterovirus genus within the family Picornaviridae contains over 100 serotypes, of which sixty-four are known to be human pathogens. Infection with this group of RNA viruses produces a myriad of clinical conditions including poliomyelitis, meningitis, encephalitis, respiratory illnesses, and hand-foot-and-mouth disease. Outbreaks have been documented worldwide; significant morbidity and mortality exist to warrant laboratory surveillance.

Traditionally, enteroviruses have been identified to the level of serotype by the serum neutralization assay. However, numerous problems are associated with this assay. The serum neutralization assay is labor intensive, results are often ambiguous, and reagents are becoming difficult to obtain. Recently, molecular-based typing …

Performance Verification Of Personal Aerosol Sampling Devices, Steven T. Luecke

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

International standards establish criteria for size-selective aerosol sampling for industrial hygiene. Commercially available aerosol samplers are designed to conform to these criteria. This study uses semi-monodispersed aerosols generated in a vertically aligned test chamber to compare the performance of three commercially available respirable dust samplers, one of which can simultaneously sample for thoracic and inhalable dust fractions. Comparison methods are used to calculate a theoretical fractional value based on the appropriate sampling conventions of the total dust concentration and size distribution of test materials. Performance of actual samplers can be conducted by comparing observed results to the theoretical value. Results …

Factors Associated With Adolescent Suicidal Gestures, Heidi Jennifer Liss

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Incidence of suicide has been shown to increase dramatically during adolescence. Despite an established pattern of depression and hopelessness leading to suicide in adults, no such pattern emerges in the adolescent literature. Recent investigations suggest that impulsivity may play a key role in adolescent suicide attempts. This study examined the role of impulsivity in adolescent suicidal gestures, as well as the relationships among demographic variables, anger expression, impulsivity, and suicidal behavior. A total of 100 participants (ages 11-17; 71 females and 29 males) were recruited from 2 inpatient crisis centers for children. The Children’s Depression Inventory, Hopelessness Scale for Children, …

Evaluation Of Differences In Depression, Defensiveness, Social Support, And Coping Between Acute And Chronic Chd Patients Hospitalized For Myocardial Infarction Or Unstable Angina, Ashley Ellen Owen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study was to examine differences in the psychological characteristics of patients admitted to the hospital for acute or chronic Myocardial Infarction (MI) or Unstable Angina (UA). Depression, anger, anxiety, curiosity, defensiveness, social support, and coping were evaluated for 165 patients (86 MI and 79 UA), who were tested on the Cardiology Stepdown Ward of Tampa General Hospital. The following psychological measures were administered to these patients: the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI-2), the Rationality/Emotional Defensiveness (R/ED) Scale, the Adult Form of the Coping Responses Inventory (CRI-Adult), the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List …