American Studies Commons^™

“Some Marvelous Thing”: Leonardo, Caterina, And The Madonna Of The Rocks, Michael Thomas Jahosky

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Leonardo's Virgin of the Rocks (or Madonna of the Rocks, c.1486) is a masterpiece. Scholars have been unclear, however, about the unconventional cave setting and where Leonardo's inspiration came from. The Song of Songs mentions a beautiful bride being invited to come "into the wall of rocks," and the apocryphal Gospel of James (written around 150 A.D.) tells the story of Jesus being born in a cave outside of Bethlehem. But Leonardo's own personal cave experience in 1481 spurred his desire to find literature that placed Jesus' birth in a cave, or a "wall of rocks." This …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of The Travel Assistance Device On The Bus Riding Behavior Of Individuals With Disabilities, Arica J. Bolechala

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Independence for individuals with disabilities can be facilitated through the use of devices that have been created and adapted for these individuals. Research regarding the use of technology to afford independence to those with disabilities is growing as new devices are being created. One such device is the Travel Assistance Device (TAD) which has undergone conceptual tests to assess if the individual components of the device work as intended. The purpose of this research study was to determine whether the prompts given by the TAD would exhibit stimulus control over the participant's behavior of pulling the cord to stop the …

Characterization Of Unidentified Viruses From Florida, Jessie L. Dyer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Public Health and clinical laboratories occasionally obtain viral isolates that cannot be typed by routine methods. Therefore, the sequence-independent, single primer amplification (SISPA) technique was adapted to rapidly identify and characterize viral isolates of unknown etiology. A panel of known (West Nile virus and St. Louis encephalitis virus) and unknown viral isolates (environmental samples collected in Florida) were used to develop and refine the SISPA technique. Selectivity for viral genomic sequences was obtained through enriching viral particles by centrifugation, removal of cellular debris by filtration and removal of host genomic material by benzonase application. The SISPA method successfully amplified the …

Characterization Of Dielectric Films For Electrowetting On Dielectric Systems, Ajay Rajgadkar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Electrowetting is a phenomenon that controls the wettability of liquids on solid

surfaces by the application of electric potential. It is an interesting method to handle tiny

amounts of liquid on solid surfaces. In recent times, researchers have been investigating

this phenomenon and have reported some unexplained behavior and degradation in the

Electrowetting system performance. Electrowetting systems include the presence of

electric field and different materials from metals to dielectrics and electrolytes that create

an environment in which corrosion processes play a very important role. With the small

dimensions of the electrodes, corrosion can cause failure quickly when the dielectric …

Relationship Between Muscular Strength Testing To Dynamic Muscular Performance In Division One American Football Players, Johnathan Fuentes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to develop a prediction equation for (performance variables) vertical jump, broad jump, 40-yard sprint time, and pro-agility shuttle time using body mass and 1-RM values of strength for bench press and back squat. Participants (n = 76) used in the study were members of the University of South Florida D-1 football team in fall of 2009. Squat/BM demonstrated the strongest relationship in both correlation and multiple regression data for every performance variable. Squat 1-RM and Squat/BP indicated a decreased relationship and negative impact on performance. Results indicate that with increased Squat/BM improvement for all …

N400 Activations In Adults Who Stutter In A Picture-Word Priming Task Requiring Attention To Probe Word Phonology, Angela A. Pizon-Moore

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Objective: A neuroscientific picture-word task was used to investigate semantic and phonological activation spreading in adults who stutter (AWS).

Method: Fourteen AWS and 14 adults who do not stutter (AWNS) participated. On each trial, a picture was named at a delay. Sometimes, an attended probe word was heard before naming. Some probes were Semantically-Related to the labels. Those same probes also appeared following pictures with Unrelated labels. N400 ERPs recorded to these two probe types were compared (Semantically-Related versus Unrelated). Other probes were Phonologically-Related to the labels. Those same probes also appeared following pictures with unrelated labels (P-Unrelated). N400 ERPs …

Late Holocene Climate Variability From Northern Gulf Of Mexico Sediments: Merging Inorganic And Molecular Organic Geochemical Proxies, Julie N. Richey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Accurate reconstruction of natural climate variability over the past millennium is critical for predicting responses to future climate change. In order to improve on current understanding of climate variability in the sub-tropical North Atlantic region over the past millennium, a rigorous study of Gulf of Mexico (GOM) sea surface temperature (SST) variability was conducted using both inorganic (foraminiferal Mg/Ca) and molecular organic (TEX86) geochemical proxies. In addition to generating multiple high-resolution climate records, the uncertainties of the SST proxies are rigorously assessed.

There are 3 major research questions addressed: (1) What was the magnitude of GOM SST variability during the …

Walking Box Ranch Custodianship Quarterly Progress Report: Period Ending July 10, 2010, Margaret N. Rees

Walking Box Ranch

• UNLV provides stewardship of Walking Box Ranch (WBR) by providing a caretaker who oversees the property, facilitating use of the property by researchers and educators, developing a use and research policy for the property, and coordinating these activities with BLM and in accordance with TNC restrictions.
• UNLV currently addresses security issues for the property through the presence of the caretaker and two Metro Officers who reside on the property in two recreational vehicles. UNLV has prepared a draft document outlining this agreement that will be signed by UNLV and participating officers. This agreement is now under review by UNLV solicitors. …

Literacy And Behavior In Early Childhood: Exploring The Factors That Impact Achievement, Melissa Farino Todd

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Academic achievement has been the focal point in education for decades. In 2001, an Act of Congress was proposed to improve individual outcomes in education through evidenced based research using measurable goals, higher standards, and accountability. This federal legislation, known as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, mandates that all teachers be highly qualified by 2006 and that all students become proficient by the 2013/14 school year, specifically in the area of literacy. Consequently, kindergarten readiness has become an area of concern, thus placing preschool teachers under pressure to prepare children for school. The purpose of this study …

The Role Of Rater Motivation In Personnel Selection Validation Studies, Dan Ispas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Personnel selection validation studies are routinely conducted in contemporary organizations for selecting and placing employees. Although numerous studies have been conducted with the goal of identifying new predictors, less research was focused on the criterion side. In the current paper, across three studies and five samples, I examined the role played by rater motivation in validation studies. I proposed that rater motivation would impact criterion-related validity of various predictors, the reliability, and the variance of performance ratings. In Study 1, these hypotheses were tested in two samples with varied operationalizations of predictors and of rater motivation. In Study 2, I …

Identifying And Addressing Health Disparities In Black Older Adults With Osteoarthritis, Chivon A. Mingo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Osteoarthritis (OA), the most common form of arthritis in older adults, often results in pain, disability and poor psychological well-being. Compared to White adults, Black adults consistently report more pain, more activity limitations, and have different perceptions about OA. Racial disparities also exist in treatments, and prevalence of arthritis. It is imperative to have effective interventions and treatment options for older Blacks. Yet, few arthritis interventions have included Black participants in their samples, and nearly all of those have failed to report separate analyses indicating the effectiveness for Black adults, thus leaving a gap in the literature. The purpose of …

Mcnulty, Sara Jane (Fa 529), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

FA Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 529. Interviews, conducted by Sara Jane McNulty, with Logan County, Kentucky residents about their memories and association with the Shakers or the subsequent Shaker Museum at South Union, Kentucky. An index and transcription accompanies each interview.

Trials And Verdicts: Narratives Of Recollection In The Good Soldier And Lolita, Constance Elizabeth Holmes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation will apply the structure of a legal trial’s procedures to two Modernist novels: Ford Madox Ford’s The Good Soldier (1915) and Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita (1955). These novels position themselves as renderings of legal proceedings, the written memoriam of metaphorical trials conducted by first person narrators who alternatively and simultaneously function as Plaintiff’s counsel, Defense Counsel and finally as witnesses to the events of the story. All of these personae reveal evidence and testimony presented in the forum of a trial of the central characters who recollect legal events and whose narrations develop moral questions. Thus these narrations are …

Visionary Of Control: The Efficiency, Expertise, And Exclusion Of Alexander James Inglis, Heidi Tilney Kramer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alexander James Inglis was the key contributor to changes enacted in education during the Progressive era. He instituted an administrative and curricular hierarchy in order to create social organization during a chaotic time in American history, thus advancing professionalism in teaching and systematizing a future workforce - teaching previously had no standards, and throngs of immigrants overwhelmed the school system. While necessary at the time, this system of centralization, homogenization, and sorting continues to result in exclusion in secondary education and middle schools. Categorization is Inglis' hallmark in his work in education, following Frederick W. Taylor's managerial practices, and he …

The Positive- And Negative-Right Conceptions Of Freedom Of Speech And The Specter Of Reimposing The Broadcast Fairness Doctrine ... Or Something Like It, Adam Fowler

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A key theoretical debate underlying the now defunct Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulation known as the Fairness Doctrine is conflict over what constitutes the right to freedom of speech: a positive or negative conception. Similarly, since repeal of the Doctrine, other FCC measures to uphold the “public-interest” standard in broadcasting have relied on a positive conception of speech. This thesis demonstrates the history of this debate through court cases, news reports, scholarly articles and historical documents. It then is argued that the positive-right nature of these regulations is problematic philosophically, constitutionally and practically. The positive-right conception lends itself to an …

Modeling And Analysis Of Cooperative Search Systems, Carlos A. Portilla

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The analysis of performance gains arising from cueing in cooperative search

systems with autonomous vehicles has been studied using Continuous Time Markov

Chains; where the search time distributions are assumed to follow the exponential

distributions. This work proposes the use of Petri Nets to model and analyze these

systems. The Petri Net model considers two types of autonomous vehicles: a search-only

vehicle and n search-engage vehicles. Specific performance metrics are defined to

measure system’s performance. Through simulation, it is shown that the search time with

stationary targets and cues that provide exact target location follows a triangular

distribution. A methodology …

How Does Mobility Change Over Time For Older Adults, And How Are Changes Influenced By Cognitive Functioning?, Melissa Lunsman O'Connor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mobility, which includes life space and driving behaviors, is an important functional domain for older adults (e.g., Webber, Porter, & Menec, in press). Low mobility is associated with sensory, physical, and cognitive deficits (e.g., Anstey, Wood, Lord, & Walker, 2005). However, few studies have investigated how mobility changes over time. This dissertation contains three longitudinal articles that explored mobility changes, with an emphasis on driving and cognition, among community-dwelling older adults.

The first paper investigated patterns of driving self-regulation (i.e., adjustment of driving behaviors) among control-group participants from the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) study (N=548). …

Upper Elementary Boys’ Participation During Group Singing Activities In Single-Sex And Coeducational Classes, Zadda M. Bazzy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As boys in the upper elementary grades become increasingly influenced by peer pressure, many are less likely to participate in singing activities because singing is considered a "feminine" activity. The purpose of this research was to explore if there was an effect on upper elementary boys' level of participation during group singing activities when they attended music classes in a single-sex setting.

This study employed a true experimental design and a mixed method. Boys (N = 186) were videotaped during their regular coeducational music classes on two occasions to establish baseline data. Then the students were randomly assigned to …

Self-Potential Response To Rainfall Changes Over Plugged And Unplugged Sinkholes In A Covered-Karst Terrain, Peter B. Bumpus

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

For the protection of wetland and water resources it would be beneficial to understand when collapse conduits function as recharge points to the underlying aquifer. Inexpensive, noninvasive methods to detect recharge are desirable. Previous studies show negative self-potential (SP) anomalies over sinkholes that correspond to the expected electrokinetic effects of groundwater flowing downward through a conduit. SP surveys are less labor-intensive than high-resolution 3D GPR and resistivity, and continuous long-term monitoring is possible. However, before SP surveys can be reliable indicators of flow, SP contributions from ET, conductivity changes, redox reactions, thermoelectric effects, cultural noise, and lateral flow must be …

Influence Of Misperceptions About Gay Affluence On Support For Pro-Gay Legal Reform, Vanessa E. Hettinger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The deleterious impact of negative stereotypes toward gays has been established, but less thoroughly examined are the potentially harmful effects that positive stereotypes may carry. Gay Americans lack multiple legal rights enjoyed by heterosexual citizens, yet many people do not see gays as a genuinely disadvantaged group. One possible reason for this is the popular misconception that gays are wealthier than the average American. Drawing on previous research regarding popular support for underdogs, it was predicted that, to the extent people endorsed the conception of gay affluence, they would be less likely to support legal reform benefiting gays. This hypothesis …