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Involvement Of Mesolimbic D2 Receptors And Accumbal Dopamine Levels In The Reinstatement Of Cocaine Place Preferences In Developing Rats, Kimberly A. Badanich

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Psychostimulant-induced reinstatement of place preferences have been used to investigate underlying physiological mechanisms mediating drug-seeking behavior in adolescent and adult rodents; however, it is still unclear how psychostimulant exposure during adolescence affects neuronal communication in the mesolimbic dopamine (DA) pathway and whether these changes would elicit enhanced drug-seeking behavior later in adulthood. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of intra-ventral tegmental area (VTA) or intra-nucleus accumbens septi (NAcc) DA D2 receptor antagonist infusions on cocaine-induced reinstatement of cocaine place conditioning in high and low responders for cocaine reward. Adolescent rats were exposed to cocaine place …

Evaluation Of The Public Health Risks Associated With Former Manufactured Gas Plants, Robin Brewer Dehate

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Regulatory agencies have recently focused on assessing the potential for soil vapor intrusion (SVI) and risk posed to occupants of residential and commercial properties overlying and surrounding former Manufactured Gas Plants (MGPs). This study evaluated the potential for SVI at 10 commercial buildings and 26 single family and multi-family residential properties overlying and/or adjacent to three former MGPs. The potential for SVI exposure was categorized into three groupings according to thickness of the vadose zones: no vadose zone; 0 - 6 feet thick, and 6 to 25 feet thick. Indoor and outdoor air and soil vapor samples were collected and …

Vectors Of Brevetoxins To Marine Mammals, Leanne J. Flewelling

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mass mortalities of Florida manatees (Trichechus manatus latirostris) and bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) have been attributed to brevetoxins produced by the Florida red tide dinoflagellate Karenia brevis. The multiple routes through which marine mammals can be exposed to brevetoxins have complicated efforts to understand the mechanisms that lead to mass mortality events. In spring of 2002, 34 endangered Florida manatees died in southwest Florida, and in spring of 2004, 107 bottlenose dolphins died in the Florida Panhandle. These events provided unique opportunities to make clear connections between ingested brevetoxins and marine mammal mortalities without the …

Cultural Factors And Concepts Of Pollution: Colorectal Cancer And Health Behaviors Among Ashkenazi Jewish Women, Karen Besterman-Dahan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The colorectal cancer (CRC) incidence in Ashkenazi Jews has been found to be highest of any ethnic group in the world (Feldman, 2001). It is currently unclear how culture and religion influence health behaviors of U.S. Ashkenazi Jews, as well as what other socio-cultural factors influence AJ women's attitudes towards CRC risk and screening practices. This study aimed at exploring and describing the cultural and religious influences on health behaviors and beliefs related to CRC in Ashkenazi Jewish women. Research participants included seven key informants (rabbis) and forty-two Ashkenazi Jewish women ages 50 and up. Methods included in-depth, qualitative interviews …

Determining The Usefulness Of Aerobic And Anaerobic Enzyme Assays As Proxies For Rockfish Ecological Data., Erica M. Hudson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rockfish are commercially and recreationally important, yet due to the in habitat depths at which rockfish inhabit, little is known about their ecology. As a consequence, management of rockfish population as a fishery resource is a work in progress. In particular, changes in physiological condition aver the course of the year is poorly described. This study examined 19 different species of Sebastes from the Southern California Bight over four seasons (late summer, fall, winter, and spring) using metabolic enzyme assays. Enzymes used were lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), malate dehydrogenase (MDH), pyruvate kinase (PK), and citrate synthase (CS). Some muscle composition data …

The Modulation By Anthrax Toxins Of Dendritic Cell Activation, Ping-Jen Chou

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bacillus anthracis produces lethal toxin (LT) and edema toxin (ET) and they suppress the function of LPS-stimulated dendritic cells (DC). Because DCs respond differently to various microbial stimuli, we compared toxin effects in bone marrow DCs stimulated with either LPS or Legionella pneumophila (Lp). DCs were enriched with GM-CSF for 9 days, purified by positive selection, and treated with toxins for 6h; cells were then stimulated with either LPS or Lp-infection for 24h. DC cytokine production and maturation marker expression varied depending upon cell stimulus and the mouse strain used. LT but not ET was more toxic for cells from …

Artist Colonies In Europe, The United States, And Florida, Jennifer L. Aldrich

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

During the nineteenth century, an artistic trend spread across Europe. As urban centers housed the majority of professional artists, individuals and groups relocated to remote, bucolic areas to form art colonies. Artist colonies are typically defined as a group of artists, generally painters, writers, and composers who worked and lived as a community for a certain period of time¹. Artists left their city lifestyles as a response to urbanization and industrialization. In other words, the movement encouraged reform of social, environmental, and economic conditions to prevent the decline of true artisanship. The artistic response personified an underlying utopian …

Spray Deposition Of Biomolecular Thin Films, Mihir K. Rayan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this paper, a parametric study of the airbrush deposition technique was investigated for the deposition biomolecular thin films. The airbrush parameters under investigation were intake valve opening, carrier gas pressure, distance between the airbrush and substrate, concentration of solution, vapor pressure of solvent, and hydrophobic/hydrophilic substrate surface. This study was assessed through the characterization of dried droplet residues of Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) and of complete films of BSA by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). It was determined that droplet size was mainly affected by carrier gas pressure and vapor pressure. The parameters …

Statistical Profile Generation Of Real-Time Uav-Based Traffic Data, Anuj Puri

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Small unmanned vehicles are used to provide the eye-in-the-sky alternative to monitoring and regulating traffic dynamically. Spatial-temporal visual data are collected in real-time and they are used to generate traffic-related statistical profiles, serving as inputs to traffic simulation models. Generated profiles, which are continuously updated, are used to calibrate traffic model parameters, to obtain more accurate and reliable simulation models, and for model modifications. This method overcomes limitations of existing traffic simulation models, which suffer from outdated data, poorly calibrated parameters, questionable accuracy and poor predictions of traffic patterns.

A Longitudinal Study: The Impact Of A Comprehensive Emergency Management System On Disaster Response In The Commonwealth Of The Bahamas, Erin P. Hughey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Global trends show increasing losses from disasters as the number of people at risk grows by 70 to 80 million per year (United Nations, 2004). Although the frequency of natural disasters may be constant the human interaction with the given hazard has shifted through changes in development practices, environmental protection as well as the distribution of population and wealth. In an effort to combat the negative social, economic, and environmental impacts of hazards, strategies for identifying vulnerable populations and implementing mitigation measures is a high priority in hazards research. However despite our best efforts disasters have and will continue to …

Flavonoids As Modulators Of Amyloid Precursor Protein Metabolism And Alzheimer Disease Pathology, Kavon Rezai-Zadeh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder pathologically characterized by deposition of ß-amyloid (Aß) peptides as plaques in the brain. Central to this AD pathology is mismetabolism of the amyloid precursor protein (APP). Recent studies suggest that flavonoids, a class of secondary plant metabolites, may be useful for the prevention and treatment of a variety of neurodegenerative diseases. The studies detailed herein, investigate the ability of two such classes of flavonoids, green tea derived catechins and 5,7-dihydroxyflavones, to modulate APP metabolism in "Swedish" mutant APP (APP_sw) models of AD. Studies showed that green tea derived (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) …

Luminex Microsphere Immunoassay Offers An Improved Method In Testing For Antibodies To Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus In Sentinel Chicken Sera, Kelly Ann Fitzpatrick

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus has a human mortality rate of 30% of those cases diagnosed, while 30% of those surviving infection remain with neurological sequelae for life (CDC.gov, 2007).

The use of sentinel chickens for surveillance of arboviruses that are known to use birds as a reservoir host, such as St. Louis Encephalitis (SLE), West Nile (WN) virus, Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) and Highlands J (HJ) virus, in Florida began with the Sentinel Chicken Arboviral Surveillance Network in 1978 (Day and Stark, 1996). This network enables the activation of an early warning system for citizens, as well as, county epidemiologists …

Multilocus Virulence Typing Of Clinical And Environmental Vibrio Vulnificus Isolates, Katrina V. Gordon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The bacterium Vibrio vulnificus is an autochthonous inhabitant of estuarine waters and also found in shellfish such as oysters. It is a human pathogen of importance in the seafood industry, and can also infect recreational water users. Currently, recognized methods of detection rely upon isolation of pure cultures which requires at least 24 hours. To reduce the time needed for identification of the pathogen and simultaneously ascertain the virulence potential of the strains present, real-time PCR assays and sample processing procedures were developed (Chapter 1). These assays discriminate between type A (environmental, generally lower virulence) and type B (clinical, higher …

Factors Affecting Message Intelligibility Of Cued Speech Transliterators, Katherine Pelley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While a majority of deaf students mainstreamed in public schools rely on interpreters, little research has investigated interpreter skills and no research to date has focused on interpreter intelligibility (Kluwin & Stewart, 2001). This thesis is the second in a series of experiments designed to quantify the contribution of various factors affecting the intelligibility of interpreters (transliterators) who use English-based communication modes. In the first experiment, 12 Cued Speech transliterators were asked to transliterate an audio lecture. Two aspects of these transliterated performances were then analyzed: 1) accuracy, as measured as the percent-correct cues produced, and 2) lag time, the …

Benzene Related Hematological Disorders: Evidence For A Threshold In Animals And Humans, James Mccluskey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Significant benzene exposure has historically been associated with the development of a host of hematological disorders in humans and animals. In particular, benzene is known to cause disturbances of the peripheral blood, aplastic anemia and cancer of the lymphohematopoietic system. In 1928, the first modern report of an association between cancer and benzene exposure was published. This case report was followed by additional reports from around the world. In most instances, ailments resulted from long term, high level exposure to benzene found in glues, and through accidental industrial spills. Throughout the 1960's and 1970's, case reports accumulated linking benzene exposure …

Face To Face: English Uses And Understanding Of The Beard In Early Virginian Contacts, Jacqueline Colleen Barber

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many historians agree that categories of human division underwent a drastic change due to European New World encounters. The shift from religious divisions to ones based on ethnicity and skin color gradually developed in early modern Europe. Hence, before natives became "red," and Europeans "white" a period existed where the differences between these cultures were utilized in a variety of means to prove similarity and difference.

One element signifying difference during the early contact period was that of the beard. Hair as an identifier has a long history: through the middle ages, wildness was conveyed by hair and at times …

Systematic Analysis Of Structure-Function Relationships Of Conserved Sequence Motifs In The Nadh-Binding Lobe Of Cytochrome B5 Reductase, Glenn W. Roma

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

NADH:Cytochrome b₅ Reductase (cb5r) catalyzes the reduction of the ferric iron (Fe³⁺) atom of the heme cofactor found within cytochrome b₅ (cb5) by the reduction of the FAD cofactor of cb₅r from reducing equivalents of the physiological electron donor, reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH). Cb5r is characterized by the presence of two domains necessary for proper enzyme function: a flavin-binding domain and a pyridine nucleotide-binding domain. Within these domains are highly conserved "motifs" necessary for the correct binding and orientation of both the NADH coenzyme and the FAD cofactor.

To address the importance …

A Cross-Cultural Transformation That Drew Boundaries: Matteo Ricci And His Mapmaking In Ming China, Suet Yee Shery Chanis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the cartographic works of Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci (1552-1610), who spent his last twenty-seven years in Ming China. In particular, by focusing on Ricci's 1602 map, I examine the broader significance of Ricci's cartographic production to understand how it reflected early modern Chinese-European exchanges. In addition to the 1602 map, I use Ricci's letters to construct a framework for his cartographic involvement. In his writings, Ricci revealed his rationale for mapmaking and explained his collection of information. Only one year after his entry into China, in 1584, Ricci compiled a world map in the Chinese language and …

Religious Exiles And Emigrants: The Changing Face Of Zoroastrianism, Tara Angelique Migliore

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Zoroastrianism was founded by the prophet Zarathushtra ca 1400 to 1200 BCE and is generally acknowledged as the world's oldest monotheistic and revealed religion. It dominated three great Iranian empires, and influenced Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Mahayana Buddhism. At one point in time, their numbers surely seemed limitless. Today, however, roughly 150,000 Zoroastrians are scattered all over the globe in very small numbers. The faith is at a crossroads, and its very existence is threatened.

This is an examination of the decline and subsequent change of this previously influential and vital religion. Zoroastrians have been able to maintain the major …

The Effect Of Multidimensional Information Presentation On The Effectiveness And Efficiency Of A Spatial Accounting Judgment, John K. Tan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study is the first in a series of planned studies on the application of multidimensional visualization of business information and data within the context of accounting. The study's research question is: When is multidimensional visualization of information a better problem representation, improving both the effectiveness and efficiency of a spatial accounting judgment?

To examine when multidimensional visualization can assist auditors in configural cue pattern recognition, the study employs the traditional DuPont analysis as the three pieces of key information to be represented on the X, Y, and Z axes of a single 3-D perspective display. To help determine when …

Role Of Foxo Factors As The Nuclear Mediator For Pten-Ar Antagonism In Prostate Cancer Cells, Qiuping Ma

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

FoxO proteins are transcriptional factors acting downstream of the tumor suppressor PTEN. Their activity is negatively regulated by AKT-mediated phosphorylation. Our previous studies showed a mutual suppression between PTEN and the androgen receptor (AR) in regulating growth and apoptosis in prostate cancer (PCa) cells. We hypothesize that nuclear FoxO proteins are involved in mediating this mutual antagonism. In this dissertation, we report that PTEN inhibits AR activity through FoxO1 and provide evidence for the involvement of FoxO factors in the androgen-mediated suppression of PTEN-induced apoptosis. Our studies identify a novel mechanism for AR inhibition by FoxO1 and demonstrated the participation …

Gardens At Home, Gardens At School: Diet And Food Crop Diversity In Two Q'Eqchi' Communities In Southern Belize, Douglas Carl Reeser

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A district-wide school garden project has been initiated in the Toledo District of Southern Belize in response to reported high rates of poverty and undernutrition. This paper will discuss research conducted in the summer of 2007 with Q'eqchi' Maya in the Toledo District to determine the effect of school gardens on household diet and gardening, the composition of the household diet, and the makeup of homegardens. Food frequency questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were conducted in two rural villages, one with a school garden program and one without. Various members of NGOs working on school garden projects in the district were …

Health Decision Behaviors: Appropriateness Of Dietary Choice, Daryle Hermelin Wane

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Dietary choice is a complex mechanism that is influenced by multiple internal and external factors that impact individuals across the life span. The study was designed to examine how individuals make snack food choices based on integration of food motives (cues), appropriateness (nutritional index) as functions of nutritional knowledge, food-related motives, and information processing styles. Community college students participated in a multi part on line survey that ascertained food motives (FCQ), nutrition knowledge (FNQ), information processing (NFC), food pairing task and demographic background data. The single sided Lens model was used to determine the regression weights of the nine food …

Molecular Mechanism Of Aurora-A Kinase In Human Oncogenesis, Lili He

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Aurora-A is a mitotic kinase, which regulates cell cycle progression through modulating centrosome function. Aurora-A expression is frequently altered in human malignancies. The discrepancy between overexpression and amplification suggests that elevated Aurora-A level is likely to be regulated also by transcriptional and/or translational modifications. In this study, we have demonstrated: 1) transcriptional regulation of Aurora-A by E2F3; 2) feedback regulation between tumor suppressor CHFR and Aurora-A; 3) CNTD2 as a novel Aurora-A partner and oncogene to activate Aurora-A and induce transformation.

Aurora-A expression and activity are cell cycle regulated. The mechanism of Aurora-A upregulation at onset of mitosis is largely …

Eutrophication Trend Of Lakes In The Tampa Bay Watershed And The Role Of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation In Buffering Lake Water Phosphorus Concentration, Max Jacobo Moreno Madriñan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Twentieth century human settlement within the Tampa Bay watershed was linked to a dramatic mid-century decline in bay water quality and loss of seagrass acreage. Decades of direct and indirect nutrient discharges to the bay from phosphorus mining, fertilizer manufacturing, and wastewater treatment, as examples, impaired the estuary. In the past twenty years, regional stakeholders have worked to improve the bay water quality by reducing point and non-point source nutrient loading to the bay.

Lakes within the Tampa Bay watershed may play an important role in attenuating the flow of nutrients into the bay. This study hypothesized that between 1990 …

Sustainable Control Of Ascaris Lumbricoides (Worms) In A Rural, Disease Endemic And Developing Community: A Systems Approach, Monica Annmarie Gray

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Parasitic infections, inadequate sanitation, and poor nutrition represent major etiologies that operate in synergy to cause some of the world's most disabling diseases. Citizens of developing nations, especially children living in rural areas, are the most affected. Current research and subsequent interventions have attempted to solve these issues using vertical interventions aimed at minimizing specific health outcomes. This approach does not consider the interaction among causes and the interrelationship between human beings and their environment. Challenges solved in this manner often fail to produce sustainable results or worse, create new problems.

This project proposed the systems approach framework to address …

Quantifying Soil Organic Carbon (Soc) In Wetlands Impacted By Groundwater Withdrawals In West-Central Florida, Katherine Moore Powell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Saturated for most of the year, wetlands accumulate large amounts of biomass in thick organic soil horizons with slow rates of decomposition due to anaerobic conditions. Wetland soils thereby sequester large amounts of organic carbon in relative long-term storage. Municipal water demands in west-central Florida are largely met through extensive groundwater pumping. These withdrawals can impact ecosystems dependent on surface water levels that are ultimately linked to confined aquifers. Soils in a subset of cypress swamps that are monitored by the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) were sampled and analyzed to ascertain the health of the wetlands impacted by …

Location Awareness In Cognitive Radio Networks, Hasari Celebi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cognitive radio is a recent novel approach for the realization of intelligent and sophisticated wireless systems. Although the research and development on cognitive radio is still in the stage of infancy, there are significant interests and efforts towards realization of cognitive radio. Cognitive radio systems are envisioned to support context awareness and related systems. The context can be spectrum, environment, location, waveform, power and other radio resources. Significant amount of the studies related to cognitive radio in the literature focuses on the spectrum awareness since it is one of the most crucial features of cognitive radio systems. However, the rest …

Communication Systems And Hiv/Aids Sexual Decision Making In Older Adolescent And Young Adult Females, Rasheeta D. Chandler Ms, Arnp, Fnp-Bc

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a national priority for several reasons including its endemic/pandemic status and economic demand. Adolescents 15 to 24 years old who are sexually active acquire nearly half of all new Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs). Recent findings from the Centers of Disease Control (CDC) have documented increased teen birth rates, escalating births to unwed mothers, and STIs ascribed to one in four adolescent females, are reasons to enhance effective prevention efforts.

The specific aim of the study, based on Bandura's social cognitive theory, was to test associations among communication system methods and …

Narratives And Sensemaking In The New Corporate University: The Socialization Of First Year Communication Faculty, Andrew F. Herrmann

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

I examined what brand new Ph.D.s in Communication experience when they start their first, entry-level, tenure-track assistant professor position at a new university. Through the lens of scocial construction, I review vocational and organizational socialization, individual agency by newcomers, academic socialization processes, and the concept of the academic career in the current climate of university change and transformation. Then, I present the method of research, including the population and sampling method, and rationales for utilizing a narrative approach, interactive interviewing, and autoethnographic writing. After presenting the participants' narratives, I revisit both within- and between-case issues, beginning with socialization from the …