Digital Commons Network^™

Hummingbird Size, Pollen Load And Pollination Efficiency, December 2003, Andrew Gapinski

Tropical Ecology and Conservation [Monteverde Institute]

Pollinators are an important selective agent and play a role in the evolution of certain floral characteristics (Fenster, 1991). This is often the case with flower corollas, which have closely coevolved with the length and curvature of the bill or tongue of its pollinators (Stiles 1989) The purpose of this study was to determine the specificity of the coevolution between hummingbirds as pollinators and the species on which they forage. I also hope to examine the bill length- body size relationship, pollen loads and their placements. I hypothesize that short-billed hummingbirds will carry pollen from plant species with short corollas, …

Mediating The Model: Women's Microenterprise And Microcredit In Tobago, West Indies, Cheryl A. Levine

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

From the perspectives of economic anthropology, feminist anthropology, and feminist theory, this applied anthropological study is an evaluation of a popular international development model targeting poor women. Based on the celebrated Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, the so-called "microcredit" model is designed as a poverty alleviation strategy to provide small loans to poor women in rural settings and is designed to facilitate microenterprise development. Due to the popularity of the microcredit model with the international development community, it is being replicated in different settings. Through an analysis of microenterprise development among Afro-Caribbean women, this study presents the argument that successful application …

The Relationship Between Optokinetic Nystagmus And Caloric Weakness, D'Arcy D. Cyr

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Traditionally, results from caloric testing and optokinetic nystagmus (OKN) testing are analyzed separately because caloric testing is a measure of peripheral function and OKN testing is considered to be a measure of central function. However, there is a connection between the visual system and the vestibular system in the vestibular nucleus of the brainstem. The purpose of this paper was to determine whether a relationship exists between optokinetic nystagmus results and unilateral caloric weakness results. This was determined by conducting a retrospective study of forty patients who exhibited a unilateral caloric weakness greater than or equal to twenty percent and …

A Comparative Simulation Of Type I Error And Power Of Four Tests Of Homogeneity Of Effects For Random- And Fixed-Effects Models Of Meta-Analysis, Lisa Therese Aaron

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In a Monte Carlo analysis of meta-analytic data, Type I and Type II error rates were compared for four homogeneity tests. The study controlled for violations of normality and homogeneity of variance. This study was modeled after Harwell (1997) and Kromrey and Hogarty's (1998) experimental design. Specifically, it entailed a 2x3x3x3x3x3x2 factorial design. The study also controlled for between-studies variance, as suggested by Hedges and Vevea's (1998) study.

As with similar studies, this randomized factorial design was comprised of 5000 iterations for each of the following 7 independent variables: (1) number of studies within the meta-analysis (10 and 30); (2) …

Treatment Of Benign Paroxysmalvertigo: Necessity Of Post-Maneuver Prohibition, Jennifer L. Deboodt

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), characterized by a history of brief attacks of intense positional vertigo and rotary nystagmus, results from otoconial migration into the semicircular canals, making the sensory structures in the canal gravity sensitive. Treatment methods include positioning maneuvers, which return the otoconia back into the otolith, and typically include a variety of activity limitations for the subsequent 24-48 hours. Previous studies suggest BPPV treatment can be successful without any limitations of the patient post- therapy. The purpose of this study was to determine the necessity of post-maneuver restrictions on BPPV patients treated with the Canalith Repositioning Maneuver. …

Using Spreadsheets In Geoscience Education: Survey And Annotated Bibliography Of Articles In The Journal Of Geoscience Education Through 2003, Beth Fratesi, H. L. Vacher

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Thirty-eight papers published in the Journal of Geoscience Education ( JGE) from 1989 through 2003 explicitly use or recommend the use of spreadsheets as part of classroom or field exercises, projects, or entire courses. Many of the papers include the spreadsheets, and some include the equations. The papers demonstrate how spreadsheets allow students to explore a subject through problem-oriented, interactive, and quantitative exercises. We provide an annotated bibliography and classify the 38 JGE papers by spreadsheet use, mathematics skill area, and geologic subdiscipline. Our discussion of five selected articles — abundance of elements in the Earth’s crust; directional properties of …

Cave Research Foundation Newsletter, Volume 31, No. 4, December 2003, William Payne

Cave Research Foundation Newsletter

Contents: The William L. Wilson Scholarship in Karst Science -- Mammoth Cave National Park Updates Search and Rescue Program -- The Call-Out Procedure -- 60th Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Cave Research Foundation, October 31, 2003, Sequoia National Park -- CRF Accomplishments in Missouri -- Cumberland Gap: The Beginning -- Regional Expedition Reports -- Book Review -- 2004 Expedition Calendar -- 1998-2000 CRF Annual Reports Table of Contents -- Cave Books

Microhabitat Use And Escape Behavior Of Male, Female And Juvenile Norops Oxylophus (Polychrotidae), December 2003, Nathan Dappen

Tropical Ecology and Conservation [Monteverde Institute]

The intraspecific distributions of microhabitats in territorial lizard species is determined largely by differing behavior among sexes and age classes. In this project I study a population of Norops oxylophus along the Río Alondra of the San Luis Valley towards the end of the rainy season. I caught individuals, recording their age, sex, size, perch substrate and location, and escape method. I found that adult males prefer to be perched on live tree branches overhanging the water; the larger the individual, the higher he is above the stream. Juveniles are found to inhabit lower areas along the stream banks. Males …

Spatial Distribution Patterns Of Mistletoe (Antidaphne Viscoidea: Eremolepidaceae, And Phoradendron Undulatum: Viscaceae) On Psidium Guajava (Mrytaceae) In Monteverde, Costa Rica, December 2003, Matthew Greenfield

Tropical Ecology and Conservation [Monteverde Institute]

Spatial distributions of mistletoe are noticeably clustered but unexamined in Monteverde, Costa Rica. To better understand their spatial structure, I examined the dispersion of two species of epiphytic mistletoe (Antidaphne viscoidea: Eremolepidaceae and Phoradendron undulatum: Viscaceae) within and between host trees. Six sites on one hill in Cañitas, Costa Rica were surveyed for data relating to dispersion structure (nearest neighbor distance and frequency within host trees). Additional study was done on the spatial dispersion on the host tree Psidium guajava, and it was found to have clustered dispersions. Indices of dispersion and tests comparing observed results to Poisson distributions showed …

Interannual Volume Variability In The Tropical Pacific, Christina L. Holland, Gary T. Mitchum

Marine Science Faculty Publications

The question of whether or not the volume of the tropical Pacific changes over the course of an El Niño event has potentially important consequences for our understanding of the dynamical mechanisms responsible for El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. In this study, we examine the volume variability of the tropical Pacific, defined as the areal integral of the sea surface height variability, using TOPEX/Poseidon altimetric sea surface heights and the output of a numerical model. We find that volume gradually builds up in the tropical Pacific prior to a typical ENSO event and rapidly decreases during the event due to …

Crow's Nest : 2003 : 11 : 26, University Of South Florida St. Petersburg.

Crow's Nest

(Vol. 34, No. 7).

E-News : 2003 : 11 : 24, University Of South Florida St. Petersburg.

Points of Pride, Scene & Herd, and E-News

Distributed to faculty and staff on 24 November 2003 (Vol. 1, No. 18). Date on webpage is incorrect.

Press Release : 2003 : 11 : 21 : Poynter Memorial Library Celebrates 35 Years, Maria Xakis

USF St. Petersburg campus News and Press Releases

To celebrate the 35th anniversary of a library at USFSP, librarian Jim Schnur offered a showing of a 1929 St. Petersburg film.

Studies On Antibacterial Activities Of N-Thiolated Β-Lactams And Their Polymeric Nanoparticles Against Mrsa, Jeung-Yeop Shim

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) is now the most challenging bacterial pathogen affecting patients in hospitals and in care centers, and has brought on the need to develop new drugs for MRSA. This thesis centers on studies of N-thiolated β-lactams, a new family of potent antibacterial compounds that selectively inhibit the growth of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Chapter 1 describes MRSA in more detail. Chapter 2 outlines experiments on the effect of a fatty ester group (CO₂R) on the C₄-phenyl ring of N-methylthio β-lactams, expecting that attachment of long chain ester moieties might increase the hydrophobicity, …

Frequency Distributions Of Escherichia Coli Subtypes In Various Fecal Sources Over Time And Geographical Space: Application To Bacterial Source Tracking Methods, Matthew A. Anderson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bacterial source tracking (BST) methods often involve the use of phenotypic or genotypic fingerprinting techniques to compare indicator bacteria such as Escherichia coli isolated from unknown sources against a library of fingerprints from indicator bacteria found in the feces of various known source animals. The predictive capability of a library is based in part on how well the library isolates reflect the true population diversity of indicator bacteria that can potentially impact a water body. The purpose of this study was to compare the behavior of E. coli population structures in the feces of humans, beef cattle and horses across …

Film In The Classroom: Toward A More Effective Pedagogy, Jonathan Godwin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The postmodern critique has effectively called on anthropologists to reevaluate ethnographic authority when representing others. However, what is often found lacking in this criticism is an exploration of the ways in which audiences interpret anthropological knowledge. One crucial area that can be easily researched is audience reception of film in introductory anthropology classes. As professors of anthropology increasingly rely on film for illustrating anthropological concepts, we must have an understanding of how this medium is interpreted by student audiences. Film's ability to convey complex information without additional contextualization has yet to be substantiated and previous research has indicated that visual …

In Search Of David Paul Davis, Rodney Kite-Powell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The 1920s land boom in Florida produced a wide variety of characters. Among the most important, but lesser known, of those was David Paul Davis. Davis was born in November 1885 in Green Cove Springs, Florida. His family moved to Tampa in 1895, where he attended school and held a number of different jobs. He left Tampa in 1908 and reappeared in Jacksonville in 1915. That same year, in Jacksonville, he married Marjorie H. Merritt.

The young couple moved to Miami in 1920, where Davis began to sell real estate. He became quite adept, developing a number of subdivisions in …

"Insolent And Contemptuous Carriages": Re-Conceptualizing Illegitimacy In Colonial British America, John Watkins

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This Master's thesis investigates one particular aspect of sexuality in colonial Anglo America--the products of non-marital intercourse. Earlier historical research emphasized the importance of economic considerations in the creation of bastardy laws and the prosecution and punishment for violators of these statutes. Undoubtedly, financial anxieties were a major concern in out-of-wedlock births, but they were only one concern of many. Class, race, and gender dynamics were prominent in colonists' conceptualization of illegitimacy and largely defined who was at risk for having an "insolent and contemptuous carriage" and the resulting punishment for the debauched act. Elite, white officials made women, servants, …

Characterization Of Obsidian Sources In Pantelleria, Italy, Barbara A. Vargo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The study of prehistoric trade and exchange networks in the Western Mediterranean is directly linked to the identification and location of commodities available to Neolithic communities in that region. One of these commodities is a volcanic glass commonly known as obsidian.

This investigation focused on the procurement, processing, and distribution of obsidian from the island of Pantelleria, situated between the southwestern coast of Sicily in the Straits of Sicily and the northeastern coast of Africa near Cape Bon, Tunisia. Previous studies indicate that there are several chemically different source areas on the island.

Research involved the identification of primary obsidian …

E-News : 2003 : 11 : 20, University Of South Florida St. Petersburg.

Points of Pride, Scene & Herd, and E-News

Distributed to faculty and staff on 20 November 2003 (Vol. 1, No. 17).

Sapl Board Meeting : 2003 : 11 : 20, Nelson Poynter Memorial Library., Society For Advancement Of Poynter Library.

Society for Advancement of Poynter Library

No abstract provided.

Council Of Deans Meeting : 2003 : 11 : 20 : Minutes, University Of South Florida St. Petersburg.

(2003 July-2008 December) Regional Chancellor: Karen A. White

No abstract provided.

Phylogeography And Evolution Of The Florida Crown Conch (Melongena Corona), Kenneth A. Hayes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Melongena corona and closely related congeners are a conspicuous part of the marine intertidal benthic communities of Florida and southeastern Alabama. Significant genetic differentiation among adjacent populations has been conjectured based on variation in shell morphology, habitat discontinuity, low levels of adult motility, and the presence of an aplanic lecithotrophic larval stage. Furthermore, studies of the highly variable shell morphology often have resulted in confusing specific and subspecific definitions of these gastropods, which are often referred to as the "corona complex". Variation in shell morphology may indicate local adaptation or environmentally induced phenotypic plasticity. In this study I utilized mitochondrial …

Analytical Strategies In Deciding Bus Route Alignments, Sandeep Seshan Iyer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this research a heuristic algorithm is developed for searching and identifying preferred actions as applied to the bus route design problem. The search routine evaluates each subsequent segment added to the route in the context of the value of that segment and also the value of future decisions and opportunities for subsequent segments. The total overall maximum accessibility of the system is calculated using a minimum path network between each node pair and adding the accessibility of all route segments. This is equivalent to assuming that there was a direct shortest path route between every two destinations in the …

The Weekly Challenger : 2003 : 11 : 20, The Weekly Challenger, Et Al

Newspaper collection

No abstract provided.

Council Of Deans Meeting : 2003 : 11 : 20 : Agenda, University Of South Florida St. Petersburg.

(2003 July-2008 December) Regional Chancellor: Karen A. White

No abstract provided.

The Omar Torrijos Regime: Implications For The Democratization Process In Panama, Emma Scribner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Since gaining independence from Colombia in 1903, Panama has witnessed both elitist democratic governments and authoritarian populist governments. The oligarchic system in place throughout much of Panama's history was a significant hindrance to real democracy taking hold within the country. Democracy was further set back by the inordinate power exerted by the US presence on the isthmus throughout the twentieth century. Omar Torrijos's time as head of the Panamanian government from 1969 to 1981 exhibited populist, paternalistic and personalistic characteristics. His government marked an attempt to establish a form of government based on popular democracy. While a number of social …

Tim Reilly : Usf 50th (2006) Anniversary Oral History Project: Interview By Lucy D. Jones, University Of South Florida Libraries. Florida Studies Center. Oral History Program., J. Tim Reilly, Lucy D. Jones

Campus Biographies-All Items

Dr. Tim Reilly, faculty member at Stetson College of Law, was the first faculty member of USF St. Petersburg. He discusses his years of teaching and developing programs, some of which he had never studied himself.

Towards A Single-Mode Dispensed Polymer Optical Waveguide, Jill Michelle Kalajian

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Dispensed organic polymer optical waveguides suitable for single-mode operation were recently fabricated. Different dispensing pressures, polymers, and dispensing tips were used in the drawing method.

The waveguides were measured to be approximately 16[mu] wide and 0.8[mu] tall. This is significantly smaller than previously reported dimensions of 300[mu] x 3.5[mu] waveguides fabricated with a similar dispensed polymer method. The waveguides were also found to be suitable for single-mode operation through a series of approximate calculations . This is also something previously not achieved with the larger waveguides.

This novel approach to waveguide fabrication could reduce the expense and time of creating …

Optimizing Long-Term Retention Of Abstract Learning, Danielle Mazur

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In a distributed learning strategy, study time is spread across multiple study sessions, without increasing total study time. The benefits of distributed practice, also known as spaced practice, on learning of rote-memory tasks (e.g., spelling, addition, and cued-recall of word pairs) are well known. However, few researchers have looked at the effects of distributed practice on the learning of abstract materials (e.g., physics problems, logical deductions, and algebra). We examined the effects of distributed practice on learning the abstract task of matrix multiplication. In Experiment 1, we taught participants matrix multiplication in either a massed (i.e., 0-day interstudy gap), or …