Digital Commons Network^™

Moderating Effect Of Training Content Complexity On The Relationship Between Training Media And Training Outcomes, Benjamin P. Granger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Web-based training (WBT) and classroom instruction (CI) constitute two training media that are commonly employed by organizations. Although the effectiveness of one medium relative to the other depends on a number of factors (e.g., Sitzmann, Kraiger, Stewart, & Wisher, 2006) this study aims to address several methodological issues common in the extant media research and investigate the moderating role of training content complexity on the relationship between media and important training outcomes. Utilizing a 2x2 experimental design, one hundred forty-two undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of four training courses. Each training course involved a PowerPoint 2007 training tutorial …

The Role Of Image Resolution To Locomotion Tasks In Virtual Desktop Wayfinding, Lisa Dawn Anderson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An experimental study at a large research university evaluated the role of image resolution on 60 participant's locomotion tasks in an interior virtual desktop wayfinding environment. Four virtual environments were developed using different resolutions for wayfinding images including high level 150 ppi, medium high level 100 ppi, medium level 75 and low level 30 ppi images. The environment was designed to accommodate forward, backward, sideways and figure 8 locomotion tasks as defined by the VEPAB. The effects of the different image resolutions on time-on-task performance scores to navigate through the environment, object-based visual attention as recorded by two eye movements …

Sharing The Power Of Words And Changing Lives Through College-Level Instruction In Grammar And Mechanics, Carol Ann Tillema

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Intrigued by the English language and its far-reaching applications worldwide as a standard means of communication, I begin my disquisition with a focus on the meaning and derivation of grammar and its place in the trivium of ancient and modern study. I stress the need to reemphasize college-level instruction in grammar and mechanics as a complement to rhetoric and logic by studying and teaching editing, which involves semantics, syntax, phonology, morphology, conventions, mechanics (spelling, punctuation and format), in writing centers and classrooms. Noting growing nationwide illiteracy, I research the pedagogies and writing of experts in the field of rhetoric and …

The Effect Of A Reasoning Warning On Faking In Personality Testing For Selection And The Perception Of Procedural Justice, T Ryan Dullaghan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A major concern with using personality tests in the selection process is the prevalence of applicant faking behavior which can influence the rank order of applicants such that fakers are hired at an elevated frequency. This study examined the effects of the detection/consequence warning and a more applicant-friendly warning on faking and perceived procedural justice. I hypothesized that a positive warning (reasoning warning) and a detection/consequence warning would show similar mean personality trait levels compared to honest responses, with all means showing less socially desirable responding than no warning prompt. Results suggested that the detection/consequence warning is more effective at …

Naturalism In The Philosophies Of Dewey And Zhuangzi: The Live Creature And The Crooked Tree, Christopher C. Kirby

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation will compare the concept of nature as it appears in the philosophies of the American pragmatist John Dewey and the Chinese daoist Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu) and will defend two central claims. The first of these is that Dewey and Zhuangzi share a view of nature that is non-reductive, philosophically liberal, and more comprehensive than the accounts recurrent in much of the Western tradition. This alternate conception of nature is non-reductive in the way that it avoids the physically mechanistic outlook underwriting much of contemporary Anglo-American thought. It is philosophically liberal in that it accepts a more generous and …

Responding To Crises: A Test Of The Situational Crisis Communication Theory, Courtney Wright

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Crisis management includes efforts designed to prevent and to detect potential crises, and to learn from crisis experiences. The SCCT posits that certain crisis responses (matched) produce better outcomes for organizations than others (unmatched), depending on the situation. In addition, the results from this study attempt to support the situational crisis communication theory in aiding crisis managers in protecting their organizations against crises.

Considerations Of Multicultural Science And Curriculum Reform: A Content Analysis Of State-Adopted Biology Textbooks In Florida, Margaret H. Delgato

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the extent to which multicultural science education, including indigenous knowledge representations, had been infused within the content of high school biology textbooks. The study evaluated the textbook as an instructional tool and framework for multicultural science education instruction by comparing the mainstream content to indigenous knowledge perspectives portrayed in the student and teacher editions of 34 textbooks adopted in Florida within the last four adoption cycles occurring from 1990 to 2006. The investigation involved a content analysis framed from a mixed methods approach. Emphasis was placed, in consideration of the research questions …

The Provision Of Spousal Support: Antecedents, Consequences, And Crossover Effects, Jay M. Dorio

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study had four main objectives. First, the relationship between the provision of spousal support and its theoretical antecedents and consequences was assessed as informed by the conservation of resources theory (Hobfoll, 1989). Second, the crossover of physicians' work interference with family conflict on their spouses' family demands (perceived family demands and family hours) was investigated. Next, the mediating role of social support as an explanation for the crossover process was examined using two distinct pathways. Lastly, the fourth objective of the present study was to investigate the relationships described above across multiple time points and using dual-source data …

My Enemy’S Enemy Is My Friend: Why Holding The Same Negative Attitudes Of Others Promotes Closeness, Jonathan R. Weaver

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Holding the same negative, as compared to positive, attitudes about a third party has been shown to predict increased liking for a future interaction partner (Bosson, Johnson, Niederhoffer, & Swann, 2006). The current work extended past research by examining two possible mediators of this effect: perceptions of "knowing" the future interaction party, and state self-esteem. Participants learned that they held the same positive or negative attitude of a professor with a future interaction partner, and then rated their feelings of "knowing" their partner, their own state self-esteem, and the closeness they felt to their future interaction partner. It was predicted …

Great Apes And Other Stories, Ryan Zimmerman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Thoreau said that, "in wildness is the preservation of the world." The characters in the following collection of stories might be tempted to rephrase that statement to read, "in wildness is the preservation of the criminal world." These stories feature wild places where the natural world often is not as dangerous as the people who seek refuge in the borderlands between wilderness and civilization.

Many crime stories take place in cities-for good reason. More people usually equates with more crime. However, anywhere that people choose to live, crime is sure to follow-crime against each other, crime against themselves, and even …

Daughter Of The Moon And Other Stories, Shannon Zimmerman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

All of the protagonists in this collection of stories are starving. The world around them buzzes with the electric hum of modern society, a siren song that tempts these girls and women with the promise of love, opportunity, affluence, and dreams. Instead, they find themselves lost somehow, left behind, victims of circumstance, confused by dysfunctional families, and romanced by the media. They no longer know themselves, and stumble in their quest for happiness. They are lured into competitions with imaginary adversaries, and sometimes lose. The less control they have in their own lives, the more desperate they become, often going …

Managing Geographic Data As An Asset: A Case Study In Large Scale Data Management, Clay Smithers

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Geographic data is a hallowed element within the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) discipline. As geographic data faces increased usage in distributed and mobile environments, the ability to access and maintain that data can become challenging. Traditional methods of data management through the use of file storage, databases, and data catalog software are valuable in their ability to organize data, but provide little information about how the data was collected, how often the data is updated, and what value the data holds for an organization. By defining geographic data as an asset it becomes a valuable resource that requires acquisition, maintenance …

Metadrama And Antitheatricality In Shakespeare’S King Lear And Troilus And Cressida, Douglas R. Willcox

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Shakespeare uses metadrama as a rhetorical vehicle for responding to antitheatricalism; realistic drama and staged theatricality therefore coexist in his plays. The cultural context of the early modern era, especially its antitheatrical rhetoric and the predominance of theatricality throughout the structures of its society, illumines the interaction of metadrama and antitheatricality Shakespeare's plays, particularly Troilus and Cressida and King Lear. By failing to consider adequately the unique nature of the emergence of early modern theater and the equally distinct reaction to its popularity, previous scholarship considering antitheatricality has exhibited essentialism and a universalizing tendency similar to that of the …

Benthic Microalgae And Nutrient Flux In Florida Bay, Usa, Merrie Beth Neely

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study was to address the relationship between benthic microalgal communities and the phosphate nutrient dynamics of Florida Bay sediments and how they relate to benthic and water column primary production. In situ phosphate (P) flux between the sediment and the water column was measured in three regions of Florida Bay. Differences in the ratio of inorganic to organic phosphate flux were found between the three regions in relation to the amount of phosphate measured in the water column. Based upon the average sediment flux in my study, more than 1600 metric tons of P would be …

Development Of Novel Biocompatible Hydrogel Coatings For Implantable Glucose Sensors, Chunyan Wang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Due to sensor -tissue interactions, currently none of the commercially available glucose sensors are capable of continuous, reliable monitoring of glucose levels during long-term implantation. In order to improve the lifetime of implanted glucose sensors, two series of biocompatible novel hydrogel coatings were designed, synthesized and the physical properties were measured.

Different hydrogels with various 2,3-dihydroxypropyl methacrylate (DHPMA) compositions were coated onto glucose sensors. Results show that the higher freezable water content, swelling rate and uniform porosity that resulted from high DHPMA content increased the sensitivity and shortened the response time of glucose sensors. The linear range of a glucose …

Analysis Of Pump Oil And Alkanes Evaporation, Nathaniel A. Waldstein

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There are many products, including hard drives, which require trace amounts, on the order of several mg, of lubricants for proper operation. The following study investigated the evaporation rates of pump oil and several alkanes, which have a wide range of applications, using a thermogravimetric machine. Both static and dynamic temperature tests were conducted. The rate of evaporation of the test specimen was determined as the percentage of mass loss per unit time. Using the Arrhenius Equation, the activation energy of the evaporation process, Ea, can be calculated as the slope of the best fit line for a plot of …

Linking Health Hazards And Environmental Justice: A Case Study In Houston, Texas, Marilyn Marie Williams

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation seeks to extend quantitative research on environmental justice and address methodological limitations of previous studies by: (a) using new indicators of exposure to air pollution and contemporary risk modeling techniques; (b) assessing disparities in human health risks, instead of focusing only on potential exposure or proximity to pollution sources; and (c) using multivariate regression models that consider the effects of spatial dependence. The case study examines racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in the geographic distribution of exposure to airborne toxic emissions from industrial point sources in the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria metropolitan statistical area. Industrial pollution sources for this study comprise facilities …

Orthogonal Filters And The Implications Of Wrapping On Discrete Wavelet Transforms, Sarah K. Bleiler

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Discrete wavelet transforms have many applications, including those in image compression and edge detection. Transforms constructed using orthogonal filters are extremely useful in that they can easily be inverted as well as coded. We review the major properties of three well-known orthogonal filters, namely, the Haar, Daubechies, and Coiflet filters. Subsequently, we analyze the Fourier series that corresponds to each of those filters and recall some important results about the smoothness of the modulus of those Fourier series. We consider a specialized case in which the length of the discrete wavelet transform is not much longer than the length of …

Architectural Strategies In Reducing Heat Gain In The Sub-Tropical Urban Heat Island, Mark A. Blazer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Most scientists agree that the earth's temperature continues to rise. The heat gain is more pronounced in urban areas due to a phenomenon known as the urban heat island effect. The urban heat island effect is a seemingly inevitable result of urban development, which has far reaching consequences. With energy costs skyrocketing and the destruction of the environment at risk, urban structures and buildings must do more to make our urban settings more environmentally friendly.

So far, there are two well known ways to combat these effects. First, the heat island can be slightly be negated by adding well-watered vegetation …

N-Acylethanolamines As Novel Alcohol Dehydrogenase 3 Substrates, Milena Ivkovic

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

N-Acylethanolamines (NAEs) are a class of fatty acid amides that act as important mammalian signaling molecules. N-Arachidonoylethanolamine is the best-studied representative and is one of the endogenous ligands for endocannabinoid receptors. NAEs play a role in the regulation of appetite, act as anti-inflammatory and analgesic agents, and are thought to have a neuroprotective function as well. They have been proposed to also serve as precursors to N-acylglycines (NAGs). N-Acylglycinals are likely to be intermediates between the NAEs and the NAGs. The sequential actions of a putative fatty alcohol dehydrogenase and a putative fatty aldehyde dehydrogenase are …

The First Icomde A Library For The Information Age, Daniel Elias Todd

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The library has existed as a repository for knowledge for centuries. However, in spite of the information revolution and its watershed component, the internet, this institution has found itself fundamentally unchanged. Great strides have been taken to adapt the library to this changing world, but these incremental changes are timid and reactionary.

Through the internet the floodgates have opened; individuals are creating and sharing information both personal and academic, in the form of not-so-private journals, works of creative fiction, works of journalism, works of scholarship, and every other form of intellectual (and not so intellectual) propagation imaginable.

Additionally, advances in …

The Evolution Of Modern Central American Street Gangs And The Political Violence They Present: Case Studies Of Guatemala, El Salvador And Honduras, Tristam W. Lynch

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras have experienced a history immersed in political, economical and violent turmoil that has resulted in centuries of unsettled government, weak economies, alienation, and exploitation of the masses. This turmoil dates back to Spanish forms of dictatorial rule in the sixteenth century, and English and German control of commodities and land during the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Along with foreign influence, forms of dictatorial rule resulted in poor socioeconomic conditions, internal anarchy within Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras and the onset of civil wars. During the Reagan Administration, the United States used these countries in …

The Builders Versus The Birds: Wetlands, People And Public Policy In The United States, Florida And Hillsborough County, Allyson R. Bennett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an interdisciplinary analysis of humans' relationship to the natural environment, specifically how wetlands are reflected in our legislative decisions. Our perceptions of wetlands and our relationship to the environment are influenced by our locality, history, and inter-generational relationships. These perceptions shape decision-making within a community. Our relationship to the natural environment and the way we interact with it can be explained through psychological and geographical theories. Historical trends reveal our consistently negative perspectives of wetlands in the United States and a rapid decline in wetlands acreage. At the federal, state, and local level, Americans have attempted to …

A Group-Based Approach To Examining The Association Among Risky Sexual Behavior, Drug Use, And Criminal Involvement In A Sample Of Newly Arrested Juvenile Offenders, Kristina K. Childs

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on the interrelationships between risky sexual practices, substance use, and arrest history. The sample consists of 948 newly arrested juvenile offenders processed at a centralized intake facility in 2006. A series of confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling techniques are used to 1) determine if risky sexual behavior, marijuana and cocaine use, and arrest history form a unidimensional latent factor, 2) examine the direct effect of age on the latent factor, and 3) compare the factor structure, as well as the effect of age on the latent factor, across four demographic subgroups based on race and …

Multi-Level Regulation Of Argininosuccinate Synthase: Significance For Endothelial Nitric Oxide Production, Karen Davidowitz Corbin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The citrulline-nitric oxide (NO) cycle, comprised of the enzymes argininosuccinate synthase (AS), argininosuccinate lyase (AL) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS), is responsible for the regulated production of endothelial NO. Although most studies have focused on eNOS to uncover important regulatory mechanisms, we and others have determined that AS is an essential and regulated step in endothelial NO production. AS is rate limiting for endothelial NO production and is the primary source of arginine, the substrate for eNOS-mediated NO production, despite saturating intracellular levels of arginine and available arginine transport systems. AS is essential for endothelial cell viability and its …

Evaluation Of A Standardized Protocol For Parent Training In Positive Behavior Support Using A Multiple Baseline Design, Robin Lane

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Challenging behaviors such as hitting, kicking, screaming, destruction of property and other socially-inappropriate behaviors are common among children with significant disabilities. Behavior Parent Training (BPT), which is based on basic principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), has been shown to be effective in reducing these problem behaviors. Traditional approaches to BPT have typically emphasized consequence-based interventions, however, advances in the field of ABA (e.g., FBA, antecedent-based interventions) and PBS have led to more strategies that are more effective in complex community environments. Evidence of such practices is emerging but has not been adequately documented. The current study evaluated the use …

A Comparative Study Of Six Decades Of General Science Textbooks: Evaluating The Evolution Of Science Content, Anna Lewis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined science textbooks over time to better understand the science content expectations that the U.S. educational system deems appropriate for 8th and 9th grade science students. The study attempted to answer the questions: 1) What specific science content has been presented via the textbook from 1952 to 2008? 2) Within which areas and in what way does the science content change? 3) Are new scientific findings reflected in 8th and 9th grade U.S. general science textbooks? Twenty-six themes were identified which reflect five areas in science: Chemistry, Physics, Earth Science, Biology, and Process of Science. Trends in science …

From Cancer To Sexually Transmitted Infection: Explorations Of Social Stigma Among Cervical Cancer Survivors, Karen E. Dyer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research project aims to examine the idea of stigma attached to cervical cancer in light of its association with HPV, a sexually transmitted infection (STI). The public recognition of this relationship appears to be increasing due to the current media attention surrounding HPV's causative role in the development of cervical cancer, and the newly-released HPV vaccine. Thus, this study explores the experiences and perceptions of cervical cancer patients and survivors living with this disease at a moment in time when it is becoming a very visible manifestation of a sexually transmitted infection, versus one identified historically as a life-threatening …

Hemingway’S Development Of The Female Characters Catherine From A Farewell To Arms To The Garden Of Eden, Amy K. Recla

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper explores the possibility that Hemingway scholars are overlooking the development of Hemingway as a writer by concentrating too much on the autobiographical elements of his writing. I am not suggesting that scholars ignore the autobiographical aspects of the writing, but rather propose that scholars acknowledge and look for the development of Hemingway's craft of writing in his novels by comparing the early texts with his posthumous works. I have chosen to show this development by comparing A Farewell to Arms and The Garden of Eden, especially through his use of the females characters Catherine in both novels. …

Application Of Pd Catalyzed Alkylation: Synthesis Of Bicyclic Furans, Isoxazolines And New Cyclopentane Amino Acid Analogs, Pasha Moeenuddin Khan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Palladium is probably the most useful metal in organic syntheses. It has shown great utility in various reactions such as C-C, C-N, C-O bond formation under mild conditions. The presence of abundant amount of palladium-chemistry related literature in the form of books, reviews emphasizes the growing importance of these reagents. Nowadays organopalladium chemistry is being used in various fields such as new methodology development, natural product synthesis, synthesis of polymers. Regio- and stereoselectivity is another facet of Pd catalyzed methodologies which has been extensively utilized in the last decade to obtain enantiopure compounds. The main emphasis of this work is …