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Neoliberalism And Dependence: A Case Study Of The Orphan Care Crisis In Sub-Saharan Africa, Christine Concetta Gibson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Scholars have examined the impacts of neoliberal policies on women, children, small farmers and more, but little attention has been paid to the impact of these policies on orphans. The issue of orphan care is crucial now, and will become increasingly more urgent in the future. Even as HIV/AIDS rates are on the decline, more and more children are being orphaned by the disease. This paper examines the policies, positions and language of the World Bank and I.M.F. regarding orphans in order to understand the biases and assumptions within neoliberalism about orphans, and who is responsible for providing care for …

Nursing Advocacy And The Accuracy Of Intravenous To Oral Opioid Conversion At Discharge In The Cancer Patient, Maria L. Gallo R.N., O.C.N.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Pain is a common problem for cancer patients at home and when hospitalized. Pain interferes with all aspects of a patient's life including sleep, appetite, sexual desire, emotion and productivity. The under-prescribing of opioids can lead to uncontrolled pain in cancer patients. This study examined nursing advocacy related to pain management and the accuracy of the intravenous (IV) to oral (PO) opioid conversion at discharge in cancer patients.

Retrospective chart audits were done on 50 cancer patients. The physicians in the charts surveyed who prescribed the discharge medications consisted of a mix of hematologist/oncologists, surgeons and internists/hospitalists in a southwest …

Factors Surrounding And Strategies To Reduce Recapping Used Needles By Nurses At A Venezuelan Public Hospital, Luis J. Galindez Araujo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nurses as health care workers are at risk of biological agents such as bacteria, viruses and others. At health care settings exposure to bloodborne pathogens can cause infections through needlestick injuries. The objectives of this research were to determine factors surrounding recapping needles in hospital nurses and to implement an educational strategy to reduce the recapping practices.

It was a descriptive and exploratory approach where the PRECEDE component of the PRECEDE/PROCEDE Model was used as the framework to systematize and analyze the information obtained from the focus group sessions.

A total of 120 nurses participated from four different departments. The …

A Randomized Trial Of A Dissonance-Induction Intervention To Decrease Tanning Behaviors Among College Females, Sari R. Chait

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sun exposure is implicated in the majority of skin cancer cases so it is important to identify interventions that successfully decrease young people's tanning behaviors and increase their sun protection behaviors. Research suggests that interventions that focus on the more immediate appearance related effects of tanning, rather than on future health risks, may be more effective in altering UV-related behaviors. Dissonance induction is a strategy that has been used to successfully alter other health-related behaviors. This study sought to determine if a dissonance induction intervention might be similarly successful in changing UV-related behaviors. The study yielded mixed findings. Relative to …

Interrelationships Among Personality, Perceived Classmate Support, And Life Satisfaction In Adolescents, Devon Renee Minch

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study is to investigate the relationships among personality factors and life satisfaction in high school students. High school students (

N = 625) completed self-report measures of personality characteristics (namely, extraversion, neuroticism, openness, conscientiousness, and agreeableness) and global life satisfaction. Results include the specific contribution of each of these personality dimensions as they relate to life satisfaction, gender differences, and the role of perceived classmate support in relationships between personality factors and life satisfaction. Specifically, findings revealed that about 45% of the variance in adolescents‟ life satisfaction scores was accounted for by their self-reported measures of …

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 …

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 …

Humor And Attitude Toward Homosexuals: The Case Of Will & Grace, Heather Cribbs

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Data collected from a survey questionnaire disseminated to college students was used to examine the relationship between humor in the mass media on audience attitude. This research study attempted to link the comedic nature of media with a heightened tolerance toward unpopular messages by looking specifically at the show Will & Grace. Results supported the hypothesized positive relationship between humor on attitudes toward the show, as well as attitudes toward real life homosexuals. In addition, distraction and interpersonal communication served as mediators between humor and attitudes. Results supported positive relationships between humor and both distraction and interpersonal communication, and supported …

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 …

Effects Of A Commercially Available Energy Drink On Anaerobic Performance, Jason J. Downing

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In an attempt to improve aerobic and anaerobic performance, athletes and fitness enthusiasts consume a variety of supplements. Because of this, energy drinks are quickly becoming more and more popular every day. Despite its highly addictive nature, caffeine, which is the main active ingredient in energy drinks, is gaining recognition as an ergogenic aid. However, due to the many factors that affects the action of caffeine, and because the research on caffeine and anaerobic performance is limited, the potential for studying energy drinks and anaerobic performance is quite large. PURPOSE: To determine if a commercially available energy drink has any …

Adolescent Response To Peer Substance Use, Haley Ann Snodgrass

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Substance use during adolescence is of particular concern because it is known to be associated with many undesirable outcomes. When an adolescent discovers that a peer is using substances, he or she is faced with a decision regarding the response to be taken (e.g., use substances with the peer, report it to authorities, tell the peer to stop). Available literature has given little consideration to this issue; therefore, the current study sought to examine the response of adolescents to discovering that a peer is using substances, within an ethnically diverse sample of 139 students from a public high school located …

“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 …

The Subjective Experience Of Pms: A Sociological Analysis Of Women’S Narratives, Christiana B. Chekoudjian

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The phenomenon known as premenstrual syndrome (PMS) has been researched across many disciplines including Psychology, Women's Health, Women's Studies and Sociology. It has been researched as a personal issue, a health issue, a psychological issue, and a political issue. Underlying these approaches to the study of PMS are two basic paradigms: the medical model and the social constructionist model. A rather polarized debate has emerged between the two. While both approaches have contributed to research on PMS, neither paradigm has focused particular attention on what PMS is and what it means from the perspective of the women who experience it. …

Integrating Rural Cambodian Villagers’ Perspectives Into Monitoring And Evaluation Protocols For An Ngo’S Water And Sanitation Program, Elizabeth Churchill

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bridges Across Borders (BAB), a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Cambodia, directs diverse and complementary projects to improve the lives of Cambodians living in poverty. The Hand In Hand project (HIH) is one of these projects, implemented in the rural community of Chamcar Bei. This project started in 2006 and is designed to be completely sustained by the villagers after 5 years. One of the four components of HIH is a health component, whose goal is to improve the health of the community. In 2007 and 2008, through these health initiatives, BAB provided the community with 280 ceramic water filters, 20 …

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 …

Reel Images: Representations Of Adult Male Prisons By The Film Industry, Melissa E. Fenwick

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research on the criminal justice system, punishment, and media continue to generate academic interest, particularly in the realm of social constructionism. The social construction perspective provides insight into the process through which media-controlled images are translated into social definitions of crime and justice. One new area of interest is the representations of prisons and penal culture by the entertainment media, namely the film industry. In this study, the author contributes to the area of social constructionist literature by administering a content analysis of eleven feature films on male prisons produced between 1979 and 2001. The author examines the frequency and …

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 …

Falls In Bone Marrow Transplant Patients: A Retrospective Study, Lura Henderson R.N., B.S.N.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Falls are a contributing factor to increased morbidity in the elderly and chronically ill populations and can affect overall quality of life. The literature indicates that oncology patients are a particularly vulnerable population who are further at risk for falls due to increased age, treatment related fatigue, side effects of medications, co-morbidities, decreased muscle tone, altered mental status, and anemia. Although patients with cancer are at a high risk for falls, this is not a well-documented patient problem in the nursing literature. This study examined the validity of the use of the Morse Fall Assessment Tool for use with Bone …

Removing Arsenic From Landfill Leachate In Batch Reactors With Kemiron Adsorbent, A Commercially Available Iron Oxide, Douglas Oti

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research evaluated the effectiveness of a commercially available adsorbent, Kemiron, to remove arsenic from conditions representative of landfill leachate. Kemiron was identified as an iron oxide of 39.8 m

^{2/g surface area, 44 % of which resided in the less than 3 nm pore size range. Batch experiments of As(V) and As(III) were conducted with particle sizes either ≤38 μm and in the range 500 – 600 μm with equilibrium being reached in the smaller particles in ~ 36 hours and estimated at 374 hrs for the larger particles. Ionic strength did not affect the mass loadings of As(V) …}

Helping Our Toddlers, Developing Our Children’S Skills (Hot Docs): An Investigation Of A Parenting Program To Address Challenging Behavior In Young Children, Jillian Leigh Williams

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated outcomes of a parent training curriculum: Helping Our Toddlers Developing Our Children's Skills (HOT DOCS), using secondary analyses of existing data collected between May 2007 and March 2009. The evaluation studied the impact of specific components of the parent training program on both participants' knowledge and attitudes and their perceptions of target children's behavior. Caregivers (n = 334) of children between the ages of 18 months and 5.11 years of age who were participants in the parent training program were included in the study. Measures included a pre/post knowledge test, pre/post rating scales of child …

Contemporary Daughter/Son Adult Social Role Performance Rating Scale And Interview Protocol: Development, Content Validation, And Exploratory Investigation, Dana Everett Cozad

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop and content validate a Performance Rating Scale and Interview Protocol, enabling study of the social role performance of adult daughters and sons as they fulfill the societal norms and expectations of adult children. This exploratory investigation was one of 13 contemporary adult social roles completed by the University of South Florida Social Roles Research Group to update research of Havighurst in the 1950s.

The Daughter/Son Performance Rating Scale and Interview Protocol were created through a series of panel reviews and suggestions by experts drawn from adult education, human development, gerontology, and educational …

Six Fifth Grade Students Experiences Participating In Active Gaming During Physical Eduction Classes, Lisa Witherspoon Hansen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As technology and sedentary lifestyles have become an integral part of children's lives, so too has the prevalence of childhood obesity. Although video games are often associated with influencing sedentary behaviors, active gaming is a new genre that requires children to become physically active while playing the games. In this inquiry I explored six fifth grade students' experiences participating in active gaming in physical education classes for 30 minutes, twice weekly, during an eight week (16 sessions) study. I used qualitative methods including interviews, journal entries, and observational field notes. Analysis of data revealed students have a "Persistence to Game" …

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 …

The Biomechanics Of Reverse Shoulder Arthroplasty, Sergio Gutiérrez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rotator cuff deficiency with glenohumeral arthritis presents a unique challenge to the orthopaedic surgeon. Under these conditions, total shoulder replacement has yielded poor results as a result of eccentric loading of the glenoid leading to loosening and early failure. Multiple procedures have been recommended to resolve this problem including total shoulder arthroplasty, shoulder arthrodesis, and hemiarthroplasty. Hemiarthroplasty, the current standard of care for this condition, offers only limited goals for functional improvement and only a modest improvement in pain.

Recently, there has been renewed interest in reverse shoulder arthroplasty. The main concept behind the reverse shoulder implant is the stabilization …

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 …

Factors Affecting The Utilization And Quality Of Long-Term Care, April Temple

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The aging of the nation in the coming decades will contribute to an increased demand for long-term care. Given this trend, it is becoming increasingly important to understand utilization of services along the continuum of care and to determine factors that influence the provision of quality care. These insights are needed to reduce national expenditures on long-term care and to maximize independence and well-being among older adults.

The purpose of the present dissertation was to explore factors that influence the utilization and quality of long-term care by conducting three separate studies. The first study examined risk of nursing home (NH) …