Digital Commons Network^™

Running Toward The Apocalypse: John Updike’S New America, Bob Batchelor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation explores two critical points in understanding John Updike's recent career. First, I examine him from a perspective outside the heavily-studied Rabbit tetralogy. Focusing on Updike's novel Terrorist, I attempt to counter the misperception that he offers little beyond the chronicling of middle-class, suburban America. Instead, this work digs for a deeper understanding of Updike.

Next, I consider Updike's role as an artist, professional writer, and celebrity to draw out a sense of the writer's life in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Using him as a case study enables the analysis to include his changing role as a …

The Effect Of Growth Factors On The Corneal Stroma Extracellular Matrix Production By Keratocytes, Latia Shaquan Etheredge

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The corneal wound healing process is a complex process, which often leads to the development of scar tissue with loss of transparency. When the cornea is wounded, some of the viable keratocytes are activated by growth factors to proliferate, and repair the wound by the production of a new extracellular matrix (ECM) that is either normal or is disorganized (fibrotic). The first part of this dissertation aims to show that the growth factors IGF-I, TGF-ß, FGF-2, and PDGF stimulate keratocytes to synthesize different levels of collagens and proteoglycans and are therefore responsible for initiating the wound healing repair process. FGF-2 …

Fireproofing The Lawn: Reclaimed Water And Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers In Tampa Bay, Ryan C. Davis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Reclaimed water has increased in popularity as a means to recycle water and thus decrease the amount of wasteful water use. This process is widely used in Tampa Bay for watering of lawns. This increase in popularity and use has raised questions as to what contaminants are in the reclaimed water.

The purpose of this study was to analyze reclaimed water for contaminants believed to be detrimental to health and conduct interviews to ascertain perceptions of risk in the local population. As water reuse grows in popularity further research will need to be conducted to address potential human health concerns. …

Mercury Perception, Community Awareness And Sustainability Implications For The Tampa Bay Region, Florida, Trina Halfhide

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over one million acres of land and water in Florida has been classified as impaired by mercury. Approximately 80% of national fish advisories are issued due to mercury contamination. There have been a number of consumption advisories in the Tampa Bay Region for locally eaten fish such as largemouth bass (

Micropterus salmoides), bowfin (Amia calva), and alligator gar (Lepisosteus osseus). The main purpose of this study was to determine if there is adequate dissemination of mercury related risk information by government agencies to recreational and subsistence fishermen in the Tampa Bay Region. This research …

Molecular Intervention In Mouse Models Of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis And Alzheimer’S Disease – Neuropathology And Behavior, Steven Prescott Bennett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Neurodegeneration describes the progressive loss of structure and function of neurons, leading ultimately to cell and organism death. Although the initiating factors of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis may be different, they share common pathophysiologies. Proteinopathies, as these diseases are now termed, are characterized by atypical deposits of proteins, often due to misfolding. Associated with these deposits are dysfunctional mitochondria, oxidative stress, disrupted axonal transport, inflammation, and apoptotic cell death. If this occurs in motor neurons, as in ALS, ataxia precedes death with little or no change in cognition. On the other hand, if …

Goal Attainment On Long Tail Web Sites: An Information Foraging Approach, James A. Mccart

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation sought to explain goal achievement at limited traffic “long tail” Web sites using

Information Foraging Theory (IFT). The central thesis of IFT is that individuals are driven by a

metaphorical sense of smell that guides them through patches of information in their environment.

An information patch is an area of the search environment with similar information. Information

scent is the driving force behind why a person makes a navigational selection amongst a group

of competing options. As foragers are assumed to be rational, scent is a mechanism by which to

reduce search costs by increasing the accuracy on …

Motion Analysis Of Fluid Flow In A Spinning Disk Reactor, Valentina N. Korzhova

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The flow of a liquid film over a rapidly rotating horizontal disk has numerous industrial applications including pharmaceuticals, chemical engineering, bioengineering, etc. The analysis and control of complex fluid flows over a rapidly rotating horizontal disk is an important issue in the experimental fluid mechanics. The spinning disk reactor exploits the benefits of centrifugal force, which produces thin highly sheared films due to radial acceleration. The hydrodynamics of the film results in excellent fluid mixing and high heat or mass transfer rates.

This work focuses on developing a novel approach for fluid flow tracking and analysis. Specifically, the developed algorithm …

Sustainable Design Analysis Of Waterjet Cutting Through Exergy/Energy And Lca Analysis, Matthew Johnson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A broad scope analysis of waterjet cutting systems has been developed using thermodynamics, life cycle analysis, and biological system comparison. The typical assessments associated with mechanical design include measures for performance and thermodynamic efficiency. Further analysis has been conducted using exergy, which is not typically incorporated into design practices.

Exergy measures the effectiveness of a process with respect to a base state, usually that of the systems surroundings. Comparing Gibbs free energy of biological processes to exergy efficiency has served to illustrate the need for various levels of comparison. Each biological process used in this comparison correlates to a different …

Hunger Of The Body, Hunger Of The Mind: The Experience Of Food Insecurity In Rural, Non-Peninsular Malaysia, Elizabeth Elliott Cooper

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Supplementary feeding continues to be a widespread strategy for child health promotion though its efficacy remains contested. The long-standing, Malaysian national food assistance program for children - Program Pemulihan Kanak-Kanak Kekurangan Zat Makanan (PPKZM) - fits this pattern, receiving severe criticism for its limited impact on child nutritional status. Still, the program remains, producing a seeming paradox and prompting questions of how it fits into (1) the larger political context of national health policy and (2) more localized village and clinic environments. This research combines historical inquiry with the in-depth, ethnographic study of two predominantly Malay coastal villages in Malaysian …

College Students' Use Of Science Content During Socioscientific Issues Negotiation: Impact Of Evolution Understanding And Acceptance, Samantha R. Fowler

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the evolution science content used during college students' negotiation of biology-based socioscientific issues (SSI) and examine how it related to students' conceptual understanding and acceptance of biological evolution. Specific research questions were, (1a) what specific evolutionary science content do college students evoke during SSI negotiation, (1b) what is the depth of the evolutionary science content reflected in college students' SSI negotiation, and (2) what is the nature of the interaction between evolution understanding and evolution acceptance as they relate to depth of use of evolution content during SSI negotiation? The Socioscientific Issues …

Crystal Engineering Of Nutraceutical Cocrystals, Dalia A. Aboarayes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The work presented herein focus upon crystal engineering of nutraceutical cocrystals. Cocrystals are considered unique solid dosage form which has many advantages over other traditionally known solid forms. Furthermore, cocrystals have proven to improve stability, solubility and bioavailability of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) as shown in the case of carbamazepine and other APIs in previous studies.

Crystal engineering is commonly used to design new solid forms based on the bases of supramolecular chemistry. In this study, crystal engineering based on intensive Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) analysis used to predict and design new cocrystals of targeted nutraceuticals. Two nutraceuticals were selected …

Evaluating Dissolved Oxygen Regimes Along A Gradient Of Human Disturbance For Lotic Systems In West-Central Florida, Daniel G. Hammond

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Land uses dominated by human activity can have a significant effect on ecological processes. In Florida, oxygen depletion is the most common impairment in lake, stream, and coastal water bodies. The continual growth and development in Florida, along with a conversion to more human intense land uses warrants study and discussion on impacts to dissolved oxygen regimes along a gradient of human disturbance. This research study is designed to identify observable trends in dissolved oxygen regimes along a gradient of increasing human intensity.

Twenty-six stations in the Tampa Bay area were selected to represent lotic systems in west-central Florida. Data …

Population Genetics Of Antarctic Seals, Caitlin Curtis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

I developed and tested a protocol for determining the sex of individual pinnipeds using the sex-chromosome specific genes ZFX and ZFY. I screened a total of 368 seals (168 crabeater, Lobodon carcinophagus; 159 Weddell, Leptonychotes weddellii; and 41 Ross, Ommatophoca rossii) of known or unknown sex and compared the molecular sex to the sex assigned at the time of collection in the Ross and Amundsen seas, Antarctica. Discrepancies ranged from 0.0% - 6.7% among species. It is unclear, however, if mis-assignment of sex occurred in situ or in the laboratory. It also is possible, however, that …

“The Bitch,” “The Ditz,” And The Male Heroes: Representations Of Feminism And Postfeminism In Campaign 2008, Dana Schowalter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study is a textual analysis of the mainstream media coverage of the 2008 U.S. Presidential election, surveying more than 1,000 news stories featuring Clinton, Palin, Obama, Biden and McCain published between January 1, 2007 and November 11, 2008. The central findings of this study are twofold: first, mainstream news sources continue to use stereotypical and sexist news frames that describe women in ways that are at odds with the criteria we set for being a good president; and second, feminism is characterized in ways that divorce the ideas of the movement from the activism necessary to overcome existing injustices. …

Development Of A Mangrove Quality Index In Tampa Bay, Florida, Monetta S. Wilson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mangroves are an important resource. They provide a breeding ground for commercially and recreationally important fish, protect shorelines from erosion and improve coastal water quality. Historically, mangroves were undervalued, leading to a loss of 35% of mangroves worldwide and 44% in Tampa Bay due to anthropogenic stressors. Efforts to protect and restore mangroves have led to a variety of management programs. In Tampa Bay the main management program is the Tampa Bay Estuary Program (TBEP). The program has identified the need for simple and easy to use assessment tools to track mangrove quality and aid in mangrove quality. There are …

Environmental Remediation Of Tnt Using Nanoscale Zero-Valent Iron Metal, Erica Echols

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research focused on the use of nanoscale zero-valent iron (NZVI) to remediate trinitrotoluene (TNT). Zero-valent iron has demonstrated effective degradation of TNT, however, these particles themselves have significant problems in treating sorbed phase TNT in the aerobic environment. This research was comprised of four areas: degradation studies of neat nano-iron with aqueous TNT, degradation studies of nanoiron emulsion with aqueous TNT, characterization of TNT in Vieques, Puerto Rico sediment, and Solid Phase Microextraction (SPME) technique interface with HPLC. Both neat and emulsion NZVI studies showed TNT degradation. More degradation was seen in studies using fresher iron. The results from …

Improving Ad-Hoc Team Performance Using Video Games, Jeff David Craighead

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examined the effects of distributed, multiplayer training video games on the performance of distributed teams of robot operators. Two hypotheses were tested, the first hypothesis stated that online, game-based team training will improve the performance of an ad-hoc team versus an ad-hoc team formed of individually trained teammates. The second hypothesis stated that the fractal dimension of a robot's path can be used as an indicator of its operator's skill. Forty-one volunteers participated in an experiment in which they played a distributed, online training game which showed them the basics of operating an Inuktun Extreme VGTV for a …

Thiomicrospira Crunogena: A Chemoautotroph With A Carbon Concentrating Mechanism, Kimberly P. Dobrinski

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Gammaproteobacterium Thiomicrospira crunogena thrives at deep-sea vents despite extreme oscillations in the environmental supply of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC; =CO₂ + HCO₃^- + _CO3^-2). Survival in this habitat is likely aided by the presence of a carbon concentrating mechanism (CCM). Though CCMs are well-documented in cyanobacteria, based on this study T. crunogena is the first chemolithoautotroph to have a physiologically characterized CCM. T. crunogena is capable of rapid growth in the presence of 20 micrometers DIC, has the ability to use both extracellular HCO₃^- and CO₂, and generates intracellular DIC concentrations …

Glycosylation Modulates Cardiac Excitability By Altering Voltage-Gated Potassium Currents, Tara A. Schwetz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Neuronal, cardiac, and skeletal muscle electrical signaling is achieved through the highly regulated activity of several types of voltage-gated ion channels to produce an action potential (AP). Voltage-gated potassium (K_v) channels are responsible for repolarization of the AP. K_v channels are uniquely and heavily glycosylated proteins. Previous reports indicate glycosylation modulates gating of some K_v channel isoforms; often, terminal sialic acid residues alter K_v channel gating. Here, we questioned whether alterations in glycosylation impact K_v channel gating, thus altering APs and cardiac excitability. ST3Gal-IV, a sialyltransferase expressed at uniform levels throughout the heart, adds …

Dressing Psychic Wounds: Clothing As Metaphor In Paule Marshall's Praisesong For The Widow And Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony, Angela D. Tartaglia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

I investigate the function of dress as it relates to cultural retention in Paule Marshall's Praisesong for the Widow and Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony, drawing upon the work of fashion theorists Joanne Entwistle, Alison Lurie and Anne Hollander. My examination of the two novels is informed by several excellent scholarly works which hold that characters' well being is determined by the extent to which they connect with their folkloric roots, the central message in both Ceremony and Praisesong for the Widow. I build on this discourse by demonstrating that the novels' consistent attention to clothing is a device …

Building A Brighter Future Through Education: Student Housing For Single Parent Families, Carrie Cogsdale

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

On the possibilities of a child the Center for Disease Control says, “Every Child

should have the opportunity to reach their full potential”. (CDC) Children who grow up

in low-income families are at risk of falling behind in education before they even enter

kindergarten. Single parents that struggle to provide food and shelter often lack the time

and the resources to provide the early education that their children need. A college

education could provide these parents and their children with a better quality of life.

University student housing could include built in childcare services, educational

assistance and peer support, for …

Gulliver’S Travels To The Screen, Giant And Tiny, Mark Dekle

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift, has captured readers' imaginations for almost three hundred years, spawning countless adaptations over several different mediums. As different means of communicating and transforming art have been invented, these adaptations have grown to fill the new mediums and make use of the various possibilities each form has created. Film in particular has created an enormous opportunity to re-imagine Gulliver's Travels, since it can directly show the audience the fictional foreign locations in which Gulliver finds himself.

In this study, I examine seven screen adaptations of Swift's novel to determine what our current culture views as …

A Parent Training Program Combining Discrete Trial Training And Incidental Teaching In The Home Environment, Lindsey Jones

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effects of a parent training program teaching discrete trial teaching (DTT) and incidental teaching (IT) methods using a parent training manual. Three families with children between the ages of 5-6 diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) participated. Both parents received parent training although Parent A received training from the experimenter and Parent B received training from Parent A. The parents taught their children one skill each from three categories: communication, self-care routines and a household expectation. This study sought to expand upon the literature in the realm of combining DTT and IT as well as adding …

Plp-Dependent Α-Oxoamine Synthases: Phylogenetic Analysis, Structural Plasticity, And Structure-Function Studies On 5-Aminolevulinate Synthase, Tracy D. Turbeville

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

5-Aminolevulinate synthase (ALAS) and 8-amino-7-oxononanoate synthase (AONS) are two of four homodimeric members of the alpha-oxoamine synthase family of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzymes. The evolutionary relationships among α-oxoamine synthases representing a broad taxonomic and phylogenetic spectrum have been examined to help identify residues that may regulate substrate specificity.

The structural plasticity of ALAS has been documented in studies of functional circularly permuted ALAS variants and the single polypeptide chain ALAS dimer (ALAS/ALAS) exhibiting a greater turnover number than wild-type ALAS. An examination of the contribution of each ALAS/ALAS active site to the enzymatic activity shows that each active site makes …

Thyroid Hormone Regulation Of Cholesterol Metabolism, Lindsey R. Boone

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this study, we examined the effects of thyroid hormone on regulatory processes of cholesterol metabolism. Specifically, the pathways of cholesterol synthesis and cholesterol efflux were investigated. Hepatic HMG-CoA reductase (HMGR) is the rate-limiting enzyme in cholesterol synthesis. Hypothyroid rats exhibit decreased expression of this gene, which can be induced by subsequent treatment with thyroid hormone. The mechanism of this activation was previously unknown. Utilizing in vivo electroporation, we identified HMGR promoter elements necessary for the induction of HMGR by thyroid hormone. The -316/-321 element, the sterol response element, and nuclear factor-y site were all found to be necessary to …

Opportunities For Nutrient Recovery From Post-Digestion Sludge Handling: Analysis And Feasibility Study Using Municipal Scale Aerobic And Anaerobic Digesters, David Starman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The wastewater treatment process has developed with the primary goals of protecting receiving water ecosystems and human health. Over time, there have been continuous innovations in process efficiencies, energy recovery, and nutrient removal. Wastewater offers opportunity for recovery of resources of various economic values, and recent research aims at process innovation to optimize resource recovery while still achieving the primary goals of the treatment process. The objective of this study is to assess the logistical and economic feasibility of recovery of nitrogen and phosphorus at two municipal treatment plants in the Tampa Bay area, one employing aerobic digestion and the …

Robots Without Faces: Non-Verbal Social Human-Robot Interaction, Cindy L. Bethel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Non-facial and non-verbal methods of affective expression are essential for naturalistic social interaction in robots that are designed to be functional and lack expressive faces (appearance-constrained)such as those used in search and rescue, law enforcement, and military applications. This research identifies five main methods of non-facial and non-verbal affective expression (body movement, posture, orientation, color, and sound). From the psychology, computer science, and robotics literature a set of prescriptive recommendations was distilled for the appropriate non-facial and non-verbal affective expression methods for each of three proximity zones of interest(intimate: contact - 0.46 m, personal: 0.46 - 1.22 m, and social: …

Cephalopods Of The Broad Caribbean: Distribution, Abundance, And Ecological Importance, Heather L. Judkins

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Broad Caribbean region is defined as the Gulf of Mexico, and the coastal and marine areas of the Caribbean Sea, including the chain of islands forming the Greater and Lesser Antilles, Turks and Caicos, the Bahamas, and the gulf coasts of the United States, Central and South America (Stanley, 1995). The cephalopods of the Broad Caribbean were examined in terms of distribution, abundance, and ecological importance. A suite of 5190 preserved cephalopod specimens were identified and catalogued to produce regional maps of cephalopod distribution within the Broad Caribbean. Eighteen range extensions were noted for known species. Regional species richness …

Evaluation Of A Level System With A Built In Token Economy To Decrease Inappropriate Behaviors Of Individuals With Mental Retardation, Ashley Tomaka

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The level system is a behavioral procedure that alters the status of a participant contingent on his or her behaviors; within each level the amount of reinforcement is different. In most cases, level systems are paired with another form of treatment such as a token economy. In the current study, the effectiveness of a level system with a built in token economy was evaluated within three intensive residential group homes with 3 male participants. Each participant was diagnosed with mental retardation and behavioral issues. The level system was comprised of 5 different levels, each having different privileges and reinforcers. Each …

A Greener Vertical Habitat: Creating A Naturally Cohesive Sense Of Community In A Vertical Multi-Family Housing Structure, Justin Onorati

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Throughout multiple dense, tropical, urban contexts, high rise residential environments have created a sense of social detachment, where public and private green spaces do not often exist. It is through these varieties of green spaces that social interaction is encouraged, and without these social activities taking place, this vertical community becomes almost a meaningless entity within the urban realm. The issue being addressed within this thesis is the scarcity of public and private green spaces within our high density tropical urban fabrics that help to create a sense of community. The majority of dense urban settings that we inhabit today …