Digital Commons Network^™

"They're Our Bosses": Representations Of Clients, Guardians, And Providers In Caregivers' Narratives, Dina Vdovichenko

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to examine how various characters are portrayed within the self-narratives of women who are employed to care for adults with disabilities. This research looks at how these women's personal narratives construct characters-their clients (the individuals they provide services for), clients' guardians, and how these women portray themselves as caregivers. Interviews were conducted with eight women who provide paid care services to physically and/or cognitively impaired adults who receive services through the Florida Developmental Disabilities Home and Community Based Services Waiver Program. This program endorses specific expectations about the nature and purpose of caregiving. According …

Physical And Mental Health Status Of Adults With Serious Mental Illness Participating In A Jail Diversion Intervention, Robin Telford

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adults with mental illnesses are at an increased risk to be diagnosed with one or more comorbid physical illnesses compared to the general population. Much of the disparities faced by adults with serious mental illnesses (SMI) can be attributed to medication side effects, increased risk for metabolic diseases, inability to communicate about severity and monitor physical health symptoms, poor health behaviors, high rates of smoking, and poor quality health care. The rate of physical illnesses for adults with mental illnesses are even higher among those who have been involved with the criminal justice system. In order to understand the relationship …

Hermes, Technical Communicator Of The Gods: The Theory, Design, And Creation Of A Persuasive Game For Technical Communication, Eric Walsh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

For my thesis, I have undertaken the creation of a persuasive game to advance a particular argument of the way that work is performed in the field of technical communication. Designed using procedural rhetoric, with an attention to aesthetics, fun, and the qualities that make games viable pedagogical tools, my game has been programmed using HTML5 and JavaScript, and made freely available online at RhetoricalGamer.com. This written document is meant to serve as a supplement to the game, providing a rationale for the use of games in education and in technical communication; a definition of procedural rhetoric and the necessary …

Drinking Water In The Developing World: Sources Of Fecal Contamination In Pitcher Pump Systems And Measurement Alternatives, Meghan Wahlstrom

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

It has been reported that globally we have achieved Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Target 7C, to halve the proportion of the population without access to safe drinking water; however, there is a major flaw with this statement. While Target 7C calls for access to `safe' drinking water, what is actually being measured and reported is access to an `improved' water source. The World Health Organization (WHO) maintains that they must use this proxy measure because the methods for water quality testing are too expensive and logistically complicated, but by doing so, they may be over reporting safe water coverage.

This …

Assessing The Impacts Of Unrestricted Pesticide Use In Small-Scale Agriculture On Water Quality And Associated Human Health And Ecological Implications In An Indigenous Village In Rural Panam[Aacute], Sarah Louise Watson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 2014, the global pesticide industry's projected worth is $52 billion and by 2020, the developing world will make up one-third of the world's chemical production and consumption. Pesticides can have unintended negative consequences for human health and the environment, especially in the developing world where regulations are loose or nonexistent. One country with unrestricted use of pesticides is Panam[aacute], especially in Santa Rosa de Cucunatí. In this indigenous village, small-scale farmers and ranchers spray paraquat, glyphosate, picloram, and 2,4-D at higher elevations than the spring water source of a gravity-fed water system, the river, and the village. The objective …

Exploring The Relationship Of Motivation, Anxiety, And Virtual Worlds In The Experiences Of Two Spanish Language Learners: A Case Study, Amy Katherine Wehner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Virtual Worlds (VWs) in foreign language education are slowly becoming more popular. Many studies have looked at the affordances of these worlds and how they affect some aspects of language acquisition. However, it is still unknown to what extent, if any, these virtual worlds can play a role in affecting motivation and anxiety. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between motivation, anxiety and virtual worlds to see how participation in activities within these environments interacted in two individual language learners, Jessica and Melissa.

Using a case study approach, I observed and interviewed the two participants in …

An Examination Of Motives, Experiences, And Behaviors Of Mmorpg Players, Theresa Lynn Woods

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs) are growing in popularity and use worldwide. This study seeks to explore the motivations and experiences of MMORPG players through an extensive online survey with more than a thousand participants (n=1,422). The findings support a complex relationship between the variables, including the direct effects of motivations and flow on the time invested by players in MMORPG play, as well as the mediated effects of motivation via flow. Causal relationships are examined in addition to the significance of direct and indirect effects on frequency of play, yielding several significant results, including (1) the overwhelming importance …

Troubled Waters: Georgia, Florida And Alabama's Conflict Over The Waters Of The Acf River Basin, Johnny King Alaziz Wong

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Since 1989, the co-riparian States of Georgia, Florida and Alabama have been locked in an overt and institutionalized conflict to secure access to the waters of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint (ACF) River Basin. In 1997, in an effort to end this interstate conflict which had earned the reputation as the longest water conflict in U.S. history, public officials at the federal and state scales agreed to suspend all pending litigation against one another and concurrently deployed a dispute resolution mechanism, known as `compact negotiations,' in the hope of equitably allocating the waters of the ACF Basin. Despite proclamations by public officials, exclaiming …

An Analysis Of State Building: The Relationship Between Pashtun 'Para-State' Institutions And Political Instability In Afghanistan, Rebecca Young Greven

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study arose from the desire to research the effectiveness of state building policies in Afghanistan. In order to address this topic, I review state building literature and find that state building literature focuses largely on the processes of democratization instead of institution building. In the second part of this dissertation I conduct a comparative case study of Afghanistan during the Soviet and Taliban eras to study the relationship between Pashtun `para-state' institutions (PSI's) and levels of political instability. I hypothesize that Pashtun PSI's compete with central state institutions for popular support thus increasing political instability and reducing state institutional …

A System Dynamics Approach To Integrated Water And Energy Resources Management, Yilin Zhuang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Water and energy are two of the most important resources for societal prosperity and economic development. It is clear that water and energy are intrinsically linked together and depend on one another in modern society. To date, however, efforts on water-energy nexus concentrate on quantifying the energy use in water cycle or the water use in energy production. From management perspective, water and energy are still managed separately. Little work has been done to investigate the impacts of the management options associated with one resource on the other and examine the integrated water and energy management options. Accordingly, the overall …

Numerical Simulation Of Flow In Ozonation Process, Jie Zhang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the last two decades, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has shown great potential as a powerful and cost-efficient tool to troubleshoot existing disinfection contactors and improve future designs for the water and wastewater treatment utilities.

In the first part of this dissertation two CFD simulation methodologies or strategies for computing turbulent flow are evaluated in terms of the predicted hydraulic performance of contactors. In the LES (large eddy simulation) methodology, the more energetic, larger scales of the turbulence are explicitly computed or resolved by the grid. In the less computationally intensive RANS (Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes) methodology, only the mean component of …

Growing Children: The Relationship Between Food Insecurity And Child Growth And Development., Ernesto Ruiz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examined the relationship between food security status and cultural congruence and indicators of child growth and development in a rural mountain town in Costa Rica. Results show that children from food secure households are significantly shorter and shorter-legged than their food insecure counterparts. It is theorized that these findings correspond to low quality diets associated with increasing commodification of food systems in rural Costa Rica. Identity-based mechanisms are discussed as potential factors contributing to the increasing commodification of life through the encroachment of the global market economy.

Federal Disaster Declarations And Denials: Analyzing Spatial Equity In The Implementation Of The Stafford Act, Richard Salkowe

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Federal disaster declarations are authorized by the president under the provisions of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act of 1988. Prior studies have found varying levels of political influence associated with the declaration process. Factors including electoral votes, reelection years, congressional committee appointments, geographic location, and party favoritism have been implicated in claims of inequity associated with the distribution of federal disaster assistance. Compounding these concerns is evidence of recurring problems associated with disparities in the long-term recovery from disasters based on social and economic factors. This dissertation is a response to the call for further …

The Relationships Between Sleep Disturbances, Depression, Inflammatory Markers, And Sexual Trauma In Female Veterans, Ellen Marcolongo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this secondary data analysis was to assess for the relationships among sleep disturbances, depressive symptoms, inflammatory markers, and sexual trauma in female veterans. This may contribute to an understanding of the physical and mental health effects of sexual trauma in female veterans. Correlational analyses were conducted to evaluate the strength of these relationships. A reported history of sexual trauma was significantly correlated with longer sleep latencies, poorer sleep efficiency, shorter sleep durations, more daytime dysfunction, and poorer overall sleep quality in female veterans. A reported history of sexual trauma was also significantly correlated with depressive symptoms including …

Mapping The Spatial Movements, Behaviors, And Interactions Of Captive Orangutans Using Terrestrial Laser Scanning And Gis, Zachary Joseph Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Five captive Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) were observed in order to better understand their spatial selection, behavior, and interaction with their environment and each other. A newly introduced adult male's interactions with a female group containing two adults, one adolescent, and one juvenile, was documented. Visual observations were performed to document individual behaviors, along with any interactions with silvery langur monkeys, public crowd levels, temperature, and enrichment props. Methods included 15 observation periods, 0.5-3 hours in length each, during which behaviors were verbally and visually confirmed using a HD video camera. Spatial locations of each individual were recorded every three …

An Analysis Of Public Perception And Response To Hurricane Sandy, Lindsay L. Rice

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hurricane Sandy made landfall in Brigantine, New Jersey on October 29th, 2012. The storm impacted the coastal regions of New Jersey and New York, especially the heavily populated area of New York City. This research, which analyzes secondary data obtained from a telephone survey, investigates the public response of residents before, during and after Hurricane Sandy. The survey consisted of questions regarding what the residents expected concerning the threat of Hurricane Sandy, whether it matched what they experienced, where they got their information and how they made their decision to evacuate or not. The results from the survey were statistically …

Historical And Current Status Of Springs In The Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia, Kamal Mousa Aljohani

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research was conducted to update previous studies of the springs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Approach: Revisit every spring that was recorded previously to ascertain the current status, water quality and zooplankton communities. Results: fourteen springs out of forty six were still flowing. Several springs in the Eastern Province were structurally changed into manmade pools. Also, one new spring was located and documented in the northwestern region. Zinc and copper in several springs were the common dissolved heavy metals and have had exceeded the safe drinking water standards according to World Health Organization. Fourteen zooplankton taxa was found, …

Host-Parasite Interactions In An Invasive Songbird, Courtney A.C. Coon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Introduced species are the greatest threat to biodiversity after habitat loss. Understanding the processes that permit organisms to become successful invaders may provide opportunities to prevent or limit their dispersal and establishment and thereby alleviate some of their harmful effects. The goal of my dissertation research has been to investigate whether invasive species have distinctive interactions with parasites, and some of the mechanisms that may underlie that variation. I used one of the world's most successful vertebrate invaders as a case study: the house sparrow (Passer domesticus; Introduction).

Previous research in the house sparrow suggested that loss of …

Regulatory Roles Of Facit Collagens Xii And Xiv In Cornea Stromal And Endothelial Development And Function, Chinda Hemmavanh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Purpose:

Corneal transparency depends upon the precise organization of corneal stromal extracellular matrix and corneal endothelial function. Stromal structure and extracellular matrix organization is responsible for proper refraction of light into the eye. The corneal endothelium is responsible for pumping excess fluid out of the cornea, effectively maintaining corneal hydration and thickness. Corneal transplantation is the current form of treatment for corneal endothelial and stromal dystrophies. The mechanisms controlling stromal collagen fibril packing and organization into orthogonal layers as well as maturation of the endothelium into a fully functioning cellular layer are unknown. Collagens XII and XIV, fibril associated collagens …

Subversive Beauty - Victorian Bodies Of Expression, Lisa Michelle Hoffman-Reyes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

My dissertation seeks to bring aesthetics into conversation with the epistemological concerns of three Victorian texts, in response to the prevalence of beautiful feminine faces and bodies in Victorian texts, their presence amplified through the use of copious description. I examines the ways that Thomas Hardy, Oscar Wilde, and Robert Browning complicate traditional contemporary assumptions regarding behaviors and moralities through their constructions of feminine beauty. These writers challenge and dispute a variety of Victorian social norms imposed upon both men and women, most notably the mandate to adhere to prescribed behaviors that codify in order to regulate gender normativity. …

Paternal Support For Breastfeeding: A Mixed Methods Study To Identify Positive And Negative Forms Of Paternal Social Support For Breastfeeding As Perceived By First-Time Parent Couples, Amy Lester

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that babies be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of life, and continue to breastfeed throughout the first year of life and as long after as is mutually desired. Recent survey data suggests that initiation rates of breastfeeding are high; according to the CDC, 75.0 percent of children in the U.S. have been breastfed. Although initiation rates of breastfeeding are high, breastfeeding duration rates consistent are much lower; 33.0 percent of infants were exclusively breastfed at three months, and only 13.3 percent of infants were exclusively breastfed at six months. Additionally, only 22.4 …

Spatiotemporal Distribution Of Genus Culex (Diptera: Culicidae) In Usf Ecopreserve, Hillsborough County, Florida, Emily Schwartz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Within the state of Florida, there are three arboviruses of public health importance that can cause neuroinvasive disease in humans: West Nile Virus, Saint Louis Encephalitis Virus, and Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus. Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) within the genus Culex are known and suspected vectors of these diseases. The vectors of these diseases can be present in urban wetland habitats that allow for exposure to residential communities. Vector ecology must be investigated in order to understand the dynamics of disease transmission. In Hillsborough County, Florida the spatial and temporal distribution of these vectors are not well established. An ecological study was …

Generic Competition And Price Regulation In The European Union Pharmaceutical Market: The Case Of Cardiovascular Medicines, Berna Colak

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the extent of competition between generic products and therapeutic substitutes under different regulatory regimes in the European Union

(EU) pharmaceutical industry. In particular, this study investigates generic competition among the five largest European pharmaceutical markets; the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy

and Spain, with comprehensive IMS data for 10 years (1994-2003), in order to estimate the effect of generic entry on drug prices at the product level. This analysis finds that generic entry

has a negative effect on prices in countries with free pricing originator market, whereas in EU countries with strict …

An Examination Of Cooperating Teachers' Observations Of Their Student Teachers In The Areas Of Personal, Teaching, And Musical Skills In The Elementary Classroom, Mark Remsen Cole

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this descriptive study was to examine the observations of elementary school music teachers regarding the level of preparation of their most recent student teachers at the beginning of their student teaching experience. Twenty-seven elementary music teachers participated in a survey rating the preparedness of their student teacher in the areas of personal, teaching, and musical skills, and provided free-response feedback concerning the skills and abilities they observed as strong and weak. These responses were compared to the 1997 research completed by David Teachout, where preservice teachers and experienced teachers were asked to list what they felt were …

Design & Synthesis Of Peptidomimetics Adopting Secondary Structures For Inhibition Of P53/Mdm2 Protein-Protein Interaction And Multiple Myeloma Cell Adhesion, Hyun Joo Kil

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The protein-protein interactions (PPIs) occur when two or more proteins are bound together. Also, this protein-protein interactions (PPIs) cause the various biological processes in the body. Due to this reason, abilities of controlling or inhibiting PPIs can give us promising advantages like (1) better understanding of biological systems, (2) development of new diagnostic approaches for health or disease, and (3) establishment of novel molecular therapeutics. Many proteins adopt the secondary structures, where most of protein-protein interactions take place. -Helices and -sheets are the prevalent secondary conformations, but there are extended secondary structures such as -hairpins, -turns, 310 helix, and so …

Overwintering And Early Season Amplification Of Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus In The Southeastern United States, Andrea Bingham

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) is a highly pathogenic arbovirus that causes severe disease, with a mortality rate of approximately 30-35% in humans and 80-90% in horses. Studies dating back to the 1930's have identified many of the epidemiological and ecological aspects of the virus. However, there are several aspects of EEEV's transmission cycle that remain unclear. In the northeastern states, transmission is seasonal, peaking in the late summer months, while in Florida there is year-round transmission of EEEV. Recent phylogenetic studies have also suggested that Florida may serve as a reservoir for EEEV; the virus may periodically be introduced …

Exploring The Energy Link Between Emotion Regulation At Work And Health Behaviors, Ryan Christopher Johnson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study explores the process through which the regulation of emotions at work, also known as emotional labor, depletes self-regulatory resources, specifically energy, and distally impacts health behaviors in the form of less physical activity and more unhealthy eating. Differences in relationships between two forms of emotional labor, surface acting and deep acting, as well as differences between psychological and physical energy depletion, are explored. Additionally, the roles of trait mindfulness and future temporal focus are examined as between-individual differences moderating the proposed relationships.

Multi-level analysis of daily diary data collected from participants (N = 108 participants) over ten …

Pathogenic Mechanisms And Signaling Pathways In Plasmodium Falciparum, Jennifer L. Sedillo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Plasmodium falciparum is a human intracellular parasite that is the causative agent of a deadly form of malaria. This species alone is responsible for 200 million cases of malaria annually resulting in over 1 million deaths worldwide. The excessive mortality due to P. falciparum infection is due to its ability to cause severe pathogenesis through hyperparasitemia and cytoadherence defined as the ability of infected red blood cells to adhere to host vasculature. Cytoadherence is mediated through the export of parasite proteins to the surface of the infected red blood cell (RBC). Exported proteins have been identified but the pathway for …

Documenting Elementary Teachers' Sustainability Of Instructional Practices: A Mixed Method Case Study, Bridget Cotner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

School reform programs focus on making educational changes; however, research on interventions past the funded implementation phase to determine what was sustained is rarely done (Beery, Senter, Cheadle, Greenwald, Pearson, et al., 2005). This study adds to the research on sustainability by determining what instructional practices, if any, of the Teaching SMART[reg] professional development program that was implemented from 2005-2008 in elementary schools with teachers in grades third through eighth were continued, discontinued, or adapted five years post-implementation (in 2013). Specifically, this study sought to answer the following questions: What do teachers who participated in Teaching SMART[reg] and district administrators …

Obesity And Dining Out: An Exploration Of Dietary Trends In Urban Malaysia, Sylvia S. Lim

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Economic growth has spurred rapid urbanization in Malaysia and triggered changes in diet, lifestyle, and disease trends. National studies show that a third of Malaysia's population is overweight/obese while household expenditures on dining out grow. In metropolitan Kuala Lumpur (KL), residents navigate concepts of nutrition, body weight, and health as they dine out. Using the biocultural framework, this study examined links between body weight, diet, income, street food consumption, and nutritional knowledge through the perspectives of consumers and vendors. Altogether, 77 participants were recruited for this three-phase research. In the first phase, a survey was administered to 60 participants recruited …