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Spatial And Temporal Trends In Water Quality In The Alafia River Watershed, Jennifer M. Aragon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Water quality data and land use information were analyzed within the Alafia River watershed in Florida to determine spatial and temporal trends in these variables over a 16 year time period from 1991-2006. Monthly water quality data (for dissolved oxygen, turbidity, fecal coliform, total phosphorus, and total nitrogen) were statistically analyzed using the modified seasonal Kendall nonparametric test for trends that accounts for serial correlation. The statistical trend analysis was conducted for the entire study period, but monthly, seasonal, and land use trends were also examined. Land use information was examined using Geographic Information Systems to determine the percent change …

Tracing Anthropogenic Wastes: Detection Of Fluorescent Optical Brighteners In A Gradient Of Natural Organic Matter Fluorescence, Laura Kellie Dixon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A dual wavelength method was developed for the field detection of optical brighteners

(OBs), fluorescent laundry additives used as indicators of anthropogenic wastes. The

method was quantitative for OBs under variable levels of fluorescent colored dissolved

organic matter (CDOM). Based on excitation at 300-400 nm and 440 and 550 nm

emission, the method assumed a constant ratio of fluorescence due to CDOM alone, even

if absolute amplitude varied. Concentrations of OBs were computed as the difference

between the observed 440 nm emission and the expected CDOM fluorescence at 440 nm,

as extrapolated from the 550 nm fluorescence and established CDOM …

Living With Sugar: Socioeconomic Status And Cultural Beliefs About Type 2 Diabetes Among Afro-Caribbean Women, Chrystal A.S Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the U.S., individuals of Afro-Caribbean and Latino descent are two to three times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than non-Hispanic whites. Caribbean and Latin America migrants, particularly minority women bear a disproportionate burden of type 2 diabetes and its risk factors. The purpose of this research is to investigate if Afro-Caribbean women share a cultural belief model about type 2 diabetes and how this belief model, along with structural barriers to health care, influence disease risk and management.

A sample of 40 women, primarily Jamaican and Trinidadian, 35 to 90 years of age previously diagnosed with type …

Proxy Records Of Climate Change In Subtropical And Tropical Karst Environments, Jason Samuel Polk

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the paleoclimate of a region is important, especially when trying to determine the extent of natural climate variability within the context of anthropogenic impacts. Recent anomalous periods of climate change in the Late Holocene, including the Little Ice Age and Medieval Warm Period, could possibly repeat in the future, having significant worldwide consequences. This holds especially true for tropical and subtropical karst environments, where limited paleoclimate proxies provide minimal data regarding past climate change. An investigation into past climate change in Belize using fulvic acids from cave sediments shows periods of drought during the collapse of the Maya society …

Age, Growth, And Reproduction Of Calamus Proridens The Littlehead Porgy, From The Northeast Gulf Of Mexico, Amanda J. Tyler-Jedlund

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A total of 1814 Calamus proridens ranging from 76 mm - 361mm fork length (FL) were collected and processed along the central and northwest coasts of Florida between 2000 and 2007 to determine size, sex, age, and reproductive condition. Females ranged from 76-297 mm FL (mean FL=156 mm, n=1420), males ranged from 141-361 mm FL (mean FL=244 mm, n=297), and transitionals ranged from 131-307 mm FL (mean FL=207 mm, n=42). Sex ratios sorted by length class, age, and overall were significantly different from the 1:1 ratio for gonochoristic species (P is less than 0.0001). Sagittal otoliths (sectioned and whole) from …