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On The Involvement Of The Low-Density Lipoprotein Receptor In The Pathogenesis And Progression Of Alzheimer’S Disease, Jose Francisco Abisambra Socarras

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent form of age-associated dementia. Cholesterol dysregulation is linked with AD onset. Besides age, the most important risk factor associated with AD is the inheritance of the epsilon-4 allele of apolipoprotein E, a cholesterol transporter. In addition, while hypercholesterolemia has been shown to be an independent risk factor for AD, the nature of the cholesterol-AD link is still not clear. This gap in our understanding is partly due to a lack of knowledge about cholesterol metabolism in the central nervous system (CNS).

The low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) is the main receptor of apoE and …

Ecotourism As An Alternative To Fishing In Yucatan, Mexico, Abigail E. Bennett

USF St. Petersburg campus Honors Program Theses (Undergraduate)

Small-scale fisheries account for a vast majority of fisheries globally. Their overexploitation threatens coastal environments, including the people living there, throughout the world (Basurto, 2008). Finding productive alternatives to unsustainable levels of fishing is a necessary part of curbing this probl em. Ecotourism has offered such an alternative to coastal communities, and there are already some successful examples of community-managed ecotourism groups in Mexico. Beyond providing a source of income for community members, these programs also facilitate environmental education, thus fostering local community involvement in conservation goals. This study focuses on ecotourism programs that have been started in three towns …

The Security And Foreign Policy Of The Islamic Republic Of Iran: An Offensive Realism Perspective, Bledar Prifti

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study argues that security and foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is mainly driven by the main principles of the Offensive Realism theory of international relations. While the Iranian political system is considered a theocratic system, based on the Islamic Shi'a ideology, its survival is defined as the ultimate ideology-an ideology that is paramount to any other ideology. Iran's security and foreign policy is determined and shaped by its need to survive in an anarchic international system. Iran's cooperation with "two Satans", Israel and the United States, during the Iran-Iraq war demonstrates that the ultimate ideology of …

Active Surveillance And Incidence Rate Of Dengue Infection In A Cohort Of High Risk Population In Maracay, Venezuela., Carlos Espino

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the absence of an effective vaccine, vector control and surveillance of dengue fever (DF) and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) are the most important strategies currently used to reduce the impact of these diseases in affected population. The objectives of this study were to estimate the incidence of symptomatic and asymptomatic dengue cases, the prevalence of antidengue antibodies, and to evaluate the laboratory and clinical aspects related to an active surveillance of dengue cases. In this study, active surveillance was incorporated as a part of the study design. At total of 3,255 people from four high risk neighborhoods were followed …

The Effectiveness Of Prevent-Teach-Reinforce: Does The Presence Of Comorbid Internalizing Behavior Problems Moderate Outcomes For Children With Externalizing Behavior Problems?, Bonnie Saari

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effectiveness of a school-based intervention process known as Prevent-Teach-Reinforce for children with a combination of externalizing and internalizing behaviors compared to children with only externalizing behaviors. The dependent variables examined were social skills, problem behaviors, and academic engaged time. Data for the current study were taken from archival data collected by the Florida Mental Health Institute that included students in kindergarten through 8th grade. A series of repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to identify differences in improvement on the dependent variables for the two groups of students.

Research questions focused on the main effects …

Synthesis Of Local Thermo-Physical Models Using Genetic Programming, Ying Zhang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Local thermodynamic models are practical alternatives to computationally expensive rigorous models that involve implicit computational procedures and often complement them to accelerate computation for real-time optimization and control. Human-centered strategies for development of these models are based on approximation of theoretical models. Genetic Programming (GP) system can extract knowledge from the given data in the form of symbolic expressions. This research describes a fully data driven automatic self-evolving algorithm that builds appropriate approximating formulae for local models using genetic programming. No a-priori information on the type of mixture (ideal/non ideal etc.) or assumptions are necessary.

The approach involves synthesis of …

Saving Energy In Network Hosts With An Application Layer Proxy: Design And Evaluation Of New Methods That Utilize Improved Bloom Filters, Miguel Jimeno

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

One of the most urgent challenges of the 21st century is to investigate new technologies that can enable a transition towards a society with a reduced CO₂ footprint. Information Technology generates about 2% of the global CO₂, which is comparable to the aviation industry. Being connected to the Internet requires active participation in responding to protocol messages. Billions of dollars worth of electricity every year are used to keep network hosts fully powered-on at all times only for the purpose of maintaining network presence. Most network hosts are idle most of the time, thus presenting a huge …

Filtration Performance Of A Niosh-Approved N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirator With Stapled Head Straps, Daniel E. Medina

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Certain models of NIOSH-approved filtering facepiece air purifying respirators are manufactured with stapled head straps. Depending on the manufacturer, these head straps may be stapled to the filter media itself. This may cause leakage through the filter media of the respirator, potentially exposing the user to an unacceptable level of contaminant. In this study, monodisperse polystyrene latex (PSL) spheres were generated to challenge four replicates of a N95 single use respirator model made by the same manufacturer.

Nominal particle sizes of the PSL spheres used to challenge the respirators were 0.5, 1, and 2 micrometers in diameter. All respirators were …

A Program Evaluation Of A Literacy Initiative For Students With Moderate To Severe Disabilities, Carrie F. De La Cruz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recently the National Reading Panel concluded that systematic and direct instruction in phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension that is informed by ongoing assessments of student progress results in positive student achievement (NICHHD, 2002). For students with moderate to severe disabilities and students with autism, reading instruction has historically focused on functional sight words. Unfortunately, very little research exists that has examined how the literacy achievement of students with moderate to severe disabilities can be impacted by a more comprehensive, data-driven instructional model.

A special education program that serves students with moderate to severe disabilities and students with autism …

Detailed Stratigraphy And Geochemistry Of Lower Mount Rogers Formation Metavolcanic Units Exposed On Elk Garden Ridge, Va, Meghan Marie Lindsey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The lower Mount Rogers Formation (LMRF) is described by Rankin (1993) as a sequence of intercalated metabasalts and volcanogenic sediments with minor metarhyolite. We have chosen to examine the sequence of the LMRF units exposed along Elk Garden Ridge, a high shoulder between the summits of Whitetop Mountain and Mount Rogers in the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area in SW Virginia. This sequence represents an uplifted block of LMRF units enclosed by exposures of Whitetop and Wilburn metarhyolites.

In the field, progressive lithologic changes can be observed walking up-section along Elk Garden ridge that are indicative of changes in lava …

Developing The Nomological Network Of Perceived Corporate Affinity For Technology: A Three Essay Dissertation, David Earl Fleming

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Technology is changing the face of both the sales and service domains. Honebein and Cammarano (2006) note that properly implemented self-service technologies serve dual purposes of decreasing firm overhead costs, while simultaneously engaging the customer in a way encourages the co-create of value for both parties. To get these benefits stakeholders must be willing to adopt and use the technologies that are available.

Traditionally, this has lead to the research question "How do firms do this?" However, according to a recent article by Woodall, Colby and Parasuraman (2007), consumers are now demanding more technology-based options and becoming more technologically savvy. …

Stat3 Contributes To Resistance Towards Bcr-Abl Inhibitors In A Bone Marrow Microenvironment Model Of Drug Resistance In Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Cells, Nadine N. Bewry

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Imatinib mesylate (imatinib) represents a potent molecularly targeted therapy against the oncogenic tyrosine kinase, BCR-ABL. Although imatinib has shown considerable efficacy against chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), displaying high rates of complete hematological and complete cytogenetic responses, treatment with imatinib is not curative and overtime advanced-stage CML patients often become refractory to further treatment. Acquired resistance to imatinib has been associated with mutations within the kinase domain of BCR-ABL, BCR-ABL gene amplification, leukemic stem cell quiescence as well as over-expression of the multidrug resistance (MDR1) gene. However, in vitro resistance models often fail to consider the role of the tumor microenvironment …

Linear And Nonlinear Control Of Unmanned Rotorcraft, Ioannis A. Raptis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The main characteristic attribute of the rotorcraft is the use of rotary wings to produce the thrust force necessary for motion. Therefore, rotorcraft have an advantage relative to fixed wing aircraft because they do not require any relative velocity to produce aerodynamic forces. Rotorcraft have been used in a wide range of missions of civilian and military applications. Particular interest has been concentrated in applications related to search and rescue in environments that impose restrictions to human presence and interference.

The main representative of the rotorcraft family is the helicopter. Small scale helicopters retain all the flight characteristics and physical …

Addressing The Problem Of Land Motion At Tide Gauges, Kara J. Doran

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Estimation of global mean sea level change has become an area of interest for scientists in recent decades because of its importance as an indicator of climate change. Climate models predict varying degrees of change in global temperature and global sea level over the next 100 years. One way to check the validity of the models is to estimate sea level change over the last century and constrain the models to match these estimates. Traditionally, sea level change estimates have been calculated using long time series from tide gauges. There are some disadvantages to this approach however, since tide gauges …

Promoting Cultural Experiences Through Responsive Architecture, Shabonni Olivia Elkanah

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Dance, costume, and music are all reflective of a heritage that has been intact over three hundred years. The street activities during carnival season on the island of St. Kitts can be described as dynamic excitement between the onlookers, the Masqueraders, a local folklore group, and other carnival players. The interactive play amongst group members of the Masqueraders is one that tells a story of the colonization and perseverance of a nation influenced by Indian, European and African past. There is often, however a disconnection between an outsider, 'the audience', and the culture of the island. Only when the interactive …

An Absence Of Presence: The Voices Of Marginalized Communities In The Development And Implementation Of Cultural Resource Management Initiatives In The British West Indies: A Case Study, Kelley Scudder-Temple

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation research is the study of cultural resource management initiatives and

the extent to which archaeological surveys and excavations include or exclude African

Caribbean contemporary and historic communities, throughout these processes. Varying

types of archaeological sites identified by archaeologists, along with community

inclusionary measures are examined to determine as to the degree to which

archaeological surveys and excavations are reflective of historic and contemporary

African Caribbean communities.

Data were collected through archival research, interviews and surveys and analyzed

qualitatively to examine the degree to which stakeholders, particularly those who have

been historically marginalized, have been incorporated into these processes. …

The Effect Of Stress On Hedonic Capacity In Generalized Anxiety Disorder: A Prospective Experimental Study Of One Potential Pathway To Depression, Bethany H. Morris

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A growing body of work links psychopathology to changes in hedonic capacity following stressors. This was the first experimental study of the effects of stress on hedonic capacity in an analog generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) sample (a high worry group). Specifically, we utilized an experimental manipulation of stress and a behavioral index of anhedonia to test the hypothesis that individuals with GAD, who are at higher risk for developing depression symptoms, exhibit greater stress-related deficits in hedonic capacity than do nonanxious controls. Further, this study assessed whether stress-induced hedonic deficits predicted future depression. Controls exhibited the expected reward learning pattern …

Relife: Transitional Housing For Victims Of Natural Disaster, Alexander B. Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent natural disasters around the globe have left individuals without shelter. Governments have shown slow response for these victims with examples seen from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. People are still living in structures that are hazardous to their health, insufficient for normal day activity, and socially unacceptable. With the rising numbers of victims and the slow response of governments to provide solutions, a new typology must be designed.

This thesis proposes a new typology that will create a responsive design that is efficient, aesthetic, environmentally conscious, and ready for implementation. Transitional housing can be defined as housing that is …

Aquatecture: Architectural Adaptation To Rising Sea Levels, Erica Williams

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Our world is drastically changing. Temperatures are rising, skies over cities are blanketed with smoke, and melting glaciers are raising sea levels at alarming rates. Although the destruction we face is already threatening the quality of life for billions around the world, it could just be the beginning. What is projected to come in the future could be catastrophic.

It is crucial to realize that climate change is already happening. One of the main concerns relating to climate change is that as the polar ice caps continue to melt, rising water will invade our coastal cities around the world. In …

Community Service Through Architecture: Social Housing With Identity, Karina Cabernite Cigagna

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite reasonable advances in public policies for housing in the last two decades, Brazil's current housing deficit is 5.6 million housing units. In São Paulo, Brazil's largest city, an estimated one fifth of the population of 17.5 million is currently living in inadequate housing conditions, like the "favelas" (Shanty Towns) (IBGE). The favelas' houses are made from scrap materials such as wood and metal sheeting, they do not have services such as sanitation, water or electricity, and the settlements are usually very overcrowded. The gigantic rate of illegal occupation of urban land has lead to disastrous consequences not only to …

Dyna-Mod Constructing The Modern Adaptable Home, Sarah Deardorff

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The modern home has become a static fixture in society that is not reflected in the growing populous that is becoming an ever increasing mobile society. Many are not able to stay to the same place that they call home for long periods of time. Changing jobs, markets and neighborhoods force those to continue their movement around leaving what it is that they call their home to try and reproduce it within another location. The home finds itself lost in this transition and must now function on a greater adaptability than ever before and reflect the growing demand placed upon …

The Sleeping Giant: Revealing The Potential Energy Of Abandoned Industry Through Adaptive Transformation, Wesley A. Bradley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the downfall of industry, cityscapes have become speckled with post-industrial building fragments. Skeletons, left as the evidence of a past generation are waiting patiently for their chance to reemerge as active elements. Furthermore, they are ever-present but remain out of touch within the thriving urban organism that has engulfed their surroundings. These condemned giants, rich in history, location, aesthetics, and vigor sleep underneath the growth. Their post-industrial urban sites are generally discarded and forgotten. On these sites the fragments of the massive and extraordinary crumble. These large industrial buildings have become a burden to their communities. Not realizing what …

The Experience Of Fatigue And Quality Of Life In Patients With Advanced Lung Cancer, Andrea Shaffer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fatigue is the most prevalent and distressing symptom experienced by patients with advanced lung cancer and especially among those patients undergoing therapy. Advanced lung cancer and its associated symptoms can significantly impact the quality of life (QOL) of those who have the disease. The primary purpose of this study was to measure fatigue levels, characterize the fatigue experience, and assess for gender differences in perceptions of fatigue and QOL in patients with advanced lung cancer receiving chemotherapy. The secondary purpose of the study was to examine practice patterns in the ambulatory setting regarding the routine assessment of fatigue.

The study …

The Politics Of Space And Place In Virginia Woolf’S The Years, Three Guineas And The Pargiters, Ángel Luis Jiménez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A critique of the social construction of space was fundamental to Virginia Woolf's overall feminist project of decentering patriarchal and imperial values. In A Room of One's Own (1929) Woolf famously emphasized that financial independence and a private space were vital to female creativity. But Woolf was concerned with the politics of space throughout her writing, an aspect of her thought that has not been widely addressed. My thesis examines Woolf's ongoing preoccupation with spatiality in two closely related works of her late career, The Years (1937) and Three Guineas (1938). In these texts, Woolf interrogates the cultural construction of …

Striving And Surviving: The Phenomenology Of The First-Year Teaching Experience, Michael D. Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite the enduring relative popularity of teaching as a career, the research literature on teacher preparation suggests that there is growing concern about the state of the field. With each passing year, the demographic realities within k-12 classrooms bring new challenges for the teacher preparation enterprise. Shortages in high need communities and increasing numbers of provisionally certified (or uncertified) teachers represent two areas of concern. Notwithstanding the extraordinarily increasing cultural and linguistic diversity now found among the student population, the teacher population has failed to diversify in kind. The number of new teachers who are ill-prepared to respond to this …

Redesigning The Megachurch: Reintroduction Of Sacred Space Into A Highly Functional Building, Javier Valencia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

"Megachurches offer a unique way of being religious in modern society; one that fits the social and religious context of many people says Scott Tumma “Beyond Megachurch myths”. These Massive congregations of two to fifteen thousand participants occupy an undeniable space in the religious and social landscape. It is not only their massive buildings, locations, activities or television broadcasts that make these churches important. It is the role that they play in changing society (Hartford, 2006)” Architecturally the Megachurch has failed today, it has become a “big box”, a well developed building which houses thousands of members and provides them …

An Intermediate Extended Literacy Routine To Support Struggling Third Grade Readers, Jeani Z. Fullard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Large numbers of children in the United States are not functioning at adequate levels of literacy. Students who have weak reading proficiency skills are identified as at-risk; failure to acquire competency early in their schooling adversely affects performance in all academic fields and limits their potential for achievement in life. There is an extensive knowledge base about the skills and strategies children must learn in order to read well. Effective fluency and comprehension strategies need to be taught to help students become powerful, active readers who are in control of their learning.

This study evaluated a structured classroom model …

True North Or Traveled Terrain? An Empirical Investigation Of Authentic Leadership, Matthew D. Tuttle

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Authentic leadership is a new concept that is gaining both popularity and notoriety in the leadership literature. It is argued as a positive form of leadership that goes beyond traditional leadership styles in order to influence followers through genuine, ethical behavior. However, as a concept in its infancy, authentic leadership has yet to receive much empirical attention, and many researchers are skeptical of its value in what is seen as a saturated domain of leadership styles. This study offers a comprehensive approach to addressing this need. A new measure for authentic leadership was developed and validated through pilot testing. Through …

Non-Calanoid Copepods At The Bermuda Atlantic Time-Series Study (Bats) Station: Community Structure And Ecology, 1995-1999, Hussain Ali Al-Mutairi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Zooplankton were sampled on a monthly basis at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) site from January 1995 to December 1999. Samples were collected using a 1-m², 200 µm mesh net. The net sampled the water column in an oblique manner from the surface to a mean depth of 200 m. One day and one night tow from each cruise was examined microscopically to determine the community structure of the non-calanoid copepods. In addition, a three year set of nighttime samples were examined taken by 0.5-m², 20 and 35 µm mesh nets (1995-1996 and 1997, respectively) towed obliquely to 150 …

Defining A Community: Controlling Nuisance In Late-Medieval London, Natalie J. Ciecieznski

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Using municipal sources from late medieval London, this study examines nuisance as a sub-topic of social regulation. In addition to defining nuisance, it analyzes who controlled nuisance and how it was controlled from the late thirteenth through the early fifteenth centuries. During this period, nuisance comprised building and boundary disputes between neighbors, such as conveying rainwater onto a neighboring property instead of to the street; environmental issues, such as blocking passageways with rubbish and not properly disposing of waste; certain groups of people and places, such as vagrants and brothels; and certain forms of speech, such as insults and threats. …