Digital Commons Network^™

A Case Study Of Identity Theft, Stuart F. H Allison

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an investigation of identity theft, although not a new crime it has recently attracted public concern. This concern has led to both federal and state governments to establish new laws to provide increased protection. Government agencies and the media have warned the public that an individual's social security number and other personal information are the tools that unscrupulous criminals can use to gain access to an identity. Once your identity is assumed criminals can use that new identity to obtain goods and services freely available in this world of instant credit lines.

The purpose of this study …

The Effect Of Digital Technology On Late 20th Century And Early 21st Century Culture, Jennifer Clarke

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recently, artists have begun using digital technology to create new cultural forms in the fields of art, literature, and music, and a new cultural form known as interactive digital multimedia has emerged, which combines elements from the new artistic, literary, and musical forms. Many of these artists have produced works that explore the interactive capabilities of digital technology. These interactive digital cultural forms have encouraged collaborative efforts that would have otherwise been difficult or even impossible to achieve before the advent of digital technology. In addition, this element of interactivity has redefined the traditional relationship between artist and audience. As …

Evaluation Of Automated Ribotyping As A Tool For Bacterial Source Tracking In Aquatic Environments, Tracy L. Idocks

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An Escherichia coli ribotype profile library was created for the Tampa Bay watershed for application to bacterial source tracking of human or non-human fecal contamination to the bay and surrounding rivers. Bacterial source tracking uses a variety of methods to identify the source of fecal contamination, not just the quantity of the indicator bacteria present, allowing implementation of effective management practices. The 700 confirmed E. coli isolate library was equally distributed among four sources: human, bird, dog and cow. The library was tested for applicability for source tracking within the Tampa Bay watershed. The DuPont Qualicon RiboPrinter® Microbial Characterization System, …

Assessment Of Current And New Methods For Investigating The Occurrence Of Enteric Pathogens In Ambient Waters And Water Sources For Rehydration Of A Floridan Wetland, Walter Quintero-Betancourt

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Water quality assessment is currently used for determining the risks from contamination with waterborne pathogenic microorganisms. The public health. significance of such microorganisms cannot be fully understood without the application of reliable environmental monitoring techniques that provide efficient recovery as well as information on the infectious potential of specific isolates. This research was carried out to assess the analytical performance of current and new methods for investigating the occurrence of waterborne Cryptosporidium oocysts in samples of surface water, groundwater and reclaimed water used for public access irrigation in the State of Florida.

Method 1623 of the U.S Environmental Protection Agency …

U.S. Foreign Policy In Islamic South Asia: Realism, Culture, And Policy Toward Pakistan And Afghanistan, Mian Ahad Hayaud-Din

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The United States has a long-standing interest in the political events of South Asia. This research focuses specifically on U.S. foreign policy toward the Islamic nations of this region, Pakistan and Afghanistan (Referred to as Islamic South Asia). This research examines a variety of primary and secondary sources in an effort to understand the historical context and theoretical framework of U.S. policy.

It has been suggested by scholars that the age of realism has come to an end. This study seeks to verify this claim. Does realism provide the theoretical base necessary for policy success in Islamic South Asia? If …

Hazard Vulnerability In Socio-Economic Context: An Example From Ecuador, Lucille Richards Lane

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

How people pereceive the risks associated with natural hazards contributes to their willingness to take protective action. Such action may be constrained by prevailing socio-economic and place-specific conditions that restrict or inform the choice of protective measures available to the individual. Vulnerability to the impacts of extreme geophysical events increases when the range of alternatives is limited or misinformed.

Many evacuees from a potentially violent volcanic eruption in Ecuador returned to their home town of Banos while it was still under an evacuation order in 2000 and considered to be a high risk area by officials. The research examined four …

Body Image As A Function Of Colorism: Testing A Theoretical Model, Alicia V. Hall

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A Covariate Structure Model was used to examine a possible relationship between colorism as a component of body image and global psychological functioning in the hypothesized model. Two hundred-fifty-five African-American women were recruited from undergraduate psychology and social work classes to participate in the current study from state and community colleges in the southeastern United States, and from social groups and church organizations. The results indicated that the hypothesized model was not a good fit to the data; therefore, the model was re-evaluated. The results of the analysis of the revised model indicated that the revised model was not plausible. …

Evaluation And Implementation Of A Molecular-Based Protocol For The Identification Of Enteroviruses At The Florida Department Of Health – Tampa Laboratory, Matthew Adams Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Enterovirus genus within the family Picornaviridae contains over 100 serotypes, of which sixty-four are known to be human pathogens. Infection with this group of RNA viruses produces a myriad of clinical conditions including poliomyelitis, meningitis, encephalitis, respiratory illnesses, and hand-foot-and-mouth disease. Outbreaks have been documented worldwide; significant morbidity and mortality exist to warrant laboratory surveillance.

Traditionally, enteroviruses have been identified to the level of serotype by the serum neutralization assay. However, numerous problems are associated with this assay. The serum neutralization assay is labor intensive, results are often ambiguous, and reagents are becoming difficult to obtain. Recently, molecular-based typing …

The Effects Of Animated Textual Instruction On Learners' Written Production Of German Modal Verb Sentences, Elizabeth A. Caplan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the effects of animation for a technology-assisted German grammar presentation on modal verbs. The premise was that many intangible concepts of dynamic grammar involve syntactic components that possess visuo–spatial characteristics. It was further speculated that these characteristics could be more effectively represented by animated versus static instructional presentations.

The supposition that animation would lend pedagogical advantage was supported by dual coding theory (Paivio, 1971, 1990), which posits two functionally separate representational systems, the verbal and the nonverbal, with dynamic mental imagery residing solely in the nonverbal system. The strength of dually coded information is that it is …

The Diffusion Of New Media Scholarship: Power, Innovation, And Resistance In Academe, Judith R. Edminster

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs) are an evolving genre of graduate student research that is gaining widespread acceptance among universities in the international community. ETDs are also beginning to diffuse slowly among American universities; however, a number of issues continue to work against more rapid adoption among intitutions in the United States. This dissertation examines ETDs as an evolving electronic research genre by (1) historicizing the situated development of its predecessor, the traditional print dissertation, in nineteenth century German and American Universities; (2) reporting on the current state of the Networked Digital Library of Electronic Theses and Dissertations, an initiative …

Public Participation In Environmental Management: Seeking Participatory Equity Through Ethnographic Inquiry, John V. Stone

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation reports the activities, methods, and key findings of a doctoral research project in applied anthropology and an environmental anthropology fellowship. The research project was conducted through the Department of Anthropology at the University of Michigan, while the fellowship was sponsored jointly by the Society for Applied Anthropology and the United States Environmental Protection Agency and was conducted through the Great Lakes Fellowship Program of the Great Lakes Commission, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Together, these projects demonstrated the utility of an ethnographic approach called Risk Perception Mapping (RPM) to the public consultation and social research interests of the Commission …

Effects Of Deadline Contingencies In A Web-Based Course On Html, Tina L. Majchrzak

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Current learner-centered trends, such as supplying students with content on demand (CoD), coupled with research findings that indicate distributed practice is superior to massed practice in terms of increased memory function and that the Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) is superior to traditional instruction in terms of academic achievement, content retention, and student satisfaction, prompted an investigation merging these two lines of research. Although PSI is more feasible today based on advances in technology and students prefer its self-paced component, they often procrastinate. In fact, this problem is resurfacing in distance education courses and is reflected in low completion rates …

Manual Handling Workload And Musculoskeletal Discomfort In Nursing Personnel, Nancy Nivison Menzel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nursing staff members (registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, and nursing aides) have one of the highest incidence rates of work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) of all occupations. Ergonomic research has identified patient handling and movement tasks that put the caregiver at high risk for a WMSD each time they are performed. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the frequency of performing the highest risk tasks, as well as certain other risk factors affecting physical workload, were related to the frequency of musculoskeletal discomfort. Also investigated was whether the manual handling workload varied by job category. The cross-sectional study …

Safe At Home: Agoraphobia And The Discourse On Women’S Place, Suzie Siegel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My thesis explores how discourse and material practices have created agoraphobia, the fear of public places. This psychological disorder predominates among women. Throughout much of Western history, women have been encouraged to stay home for their safety and for the safety of society. I argue that agoraphobic women have internalized this discourse, expressing fears of being in public or being alone without a companion to support and protect them; losing control over their minds or their bodies; and endangering or humiliating themselves. Therapeutic discourse also has created agoraphobia by naming it, categorizing the emotions and behaviors associated with it, and …

Building Online Learning: System Insights Into Group Learning In An International Online Environment, Naomi Rose Boyer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The virtual world exists as a dimension between concrete physical reality and abstract fictional fantasy. This cyber essence has become a place of commerce, social development, and educational pursuit. To build an understanding of the Kingdom of the Internet, the resulting case study sought to explore the community learning experiences of groups involved in an international online distance education program to create a tale of the process of a system. An assumption in this research was that the program under study was framed within a social learning context. Therefore, the recommendations and findings must be considered within this context and …

Rainfall-Runoff Modeling In Humid Shallow Water Table Environments, Tatiana X. Hernandez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Simulating the processes of rainfall and runoff are at the core of hydrologic modeling. Geomorphologic features, rainfall variability, soil types, and water table depths strongly influence hydrological process in Florida ecosystems. Topographic characteristics of the terrain define the stream paths and landscape. Alteration of these characteristics as a result of urban and/or agricultural developments, for example, can highly influence wetlands and river basin response. There are two predominant landforms in Florida: wetlands, where Variable Saturated Areas form near streams causing saturation excess runoff, and uplands where runoff is mainly generated by infiltration excess. The objective of this work is to …

Creating Healing Spaces, The Process Of Designing Holistically A Battered Women Shelter, Lilian Menéndez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My interest in the environment has led me to study the effects of space on people, both natural and man-made. This project explores how architects and designers can design spaces conducive to the healing process. The emphasis of this thesis is on my design methodology, with the hope that this project will help other designers in their struggle to create spaces that heal the body, soul and spirit.

To develop this project, I chose a shelter for battered women as the building type. This shelter is theoretically located in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. Its main goal is to create an environment …

Regulation Of Yy1, A Multifunctional Transcription Factor, Ya-Li Yao

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Yin Yang 1 (YY1) is a sequence-specific DNA binding transcription factor that plays an important role in development and differentiation. It activates or represses many genes during cell growth and differentiation and is also required for the normal development of the mammalian embryo. Moreover, it has been shown that YY1 may function as a transcriptional initiator. In this dissertation, regulation of human YY1 is analyzed systematically at three levels: At the genomic level, one major transcriptional initiation site of the YY1 gene was mapped to 478 bp upstream of the ATG translational start site. The YY1 promoter was localized to …

A Prototypical Computer Museum, Eric Otto Ryder

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Civilization seems barely able to keep up with the new information technology. Therefore, I propose a place where the technologies of the future may be interacted with like the comfortable knowledge of the past. I propose a place where technology may be interacted on as in the realm of the past with the doors of the future ahead. The Museum of Science and Industry, where the grasp of our technological history is displayed, would be an ideal site for the creation of a Prototypical Computer Museum. With its close proximity to the University of South Florida, resources and participants would …

Difference In Hearing Screening Failure Rates As A Function Of Ethnicity In Well Newborns Screened At Tampa General Hospital, Sybil N. Prewitt

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The difference in otoacoustic emission (OAE) hearing screening failure rates as a function of ethnic category was investigated in a population of newborns at Tampa General Hospital, Tampa, Florida. Clinical observation led to a concern that due to a higher incidence of outer and middle ear dysfunction in Hispanic newborns and children, screening could result in disparate failure rates, with a larger number of these infants requiring further testing. This result would warrant changes in current protocols, as well as screener training,and parent counseling practices.

Between January and July of 2000, 1407 newborns were tested utilizing distortion product otoacoustic emission …

Literacy, Technology, And Change: The Gates Of Hell, Janice R. Walker

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I first briefly examine the history of technology as it impacts on literacy practices, and especially the history of resistance to technological developments in the humanities. In so doing, I also briefly examine some of the possible ideological underpinnings of this resistance, including looking at some of the arguments proposed to counter it. More specifically, I consider how literacy practices, pedagogical practices, and assessment and gatekeeping practices in the field of composition studies impact on and are impacted by the intersection of computer technologies and our field. Finally, I offer some suggestions for ways in which our …

Stochastic Methods For Evaluating The Potential For Wetland Rehydration In Covered-Karst Terranes, Christian David Langevin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Augmentation with reclaimed water is one method for rehydrating wetlands damaged by water-level declines. Augmentation with reclaimed water has been proposed for rehydrating a wetland in the covered-karst terrane of west-central Florida. There is concern because reclaimed water may contain harmful agents that could flow from the wetland 1.4 km to a municipal wellfield that withdraws 30,000 m³/day. Estimates of groundwater flow velocities were calculated from the results of detailed field studies at the wetland. Results indicate that groundwater flows downward in the surficial aquifer at rates of 0.1 to 0.2 m/day and horizontally in the Floridan aquifer …

Differential Expression Of Homing-Associated Cell Adhesion Molecule, Very Late Antigen-4 And L-Selectin In Hematopoietic Progenitor Cell Trafficking Between The Marrow And Blood, Caroline Brigitte Fultz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study addresses the hypothesis that the following cell adhesion molecules (CAMs): homing-associated cell adhesion molecule (HCAM), very late antigen-4 (VLA-4) and L-selectin play a role in the trafficking of hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) between the bone marrow microenvironment and the peripheral circulation. In order to ascertain differences in CAM expression based on physiologic compartment, the expression of HCAM, VLA-4 or L-selectin per CD34⁺ myeloid progenitor cell was assessed between paired samples of blood and marrow. CAM expression was flow cytometrically quantitated in paired samples obtained from patients treated with mobilizing doses of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) or from …

Florida Red Tides From A Scientific And Public Information Perspective, Kristen M. Kusek

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis consists of a comprehensive historical review and evaluation of Florida red tide research and a multifaceted analysis of red tide coverage by the St. Petersburg Times from 1953 to 1997. Red tides caused by Gymnodinium breve along the Florida Gulf coast are riddled with complexity; scientists have been asking many of the same questions for nearly 50 years. Red tides also attract considerable media publicity. This thesis addressed the following: 1. What have scientists learned about Florida red tides since G. breve was identified in 1948?, and 2. How well was the issue covered by the newspaper media? …

Uptake Of Zn65 And Mn54 Into Body Tissues And Renal Granules By The Southern Quahog, Mercenaria Campechiensis, William Lynn Miller Jr.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A study was conducted to examine the influence of elevated inorganic phosphate and trace metal concentrations on the uptake and distribution of Zn⁶⁵ and Mn⁵⁴ into the body tissue and phosphoritic renal concretions of a subtropical estuarine bivalve, Mercenaria campechiensis. Chronological sampling of gills, mantle, adductor muscle, viscera, kidneys, and renal granules using gamma ray spectrometry allowed examination of both tissue distribution and accumulation patterns over time. The kidney was the principal site of Mn⁵⁴ accumulation whereas Zn⁶⁵ was concentrated in both the gill and the kidney. The gill initially accumulated zn65 three times faster …

The Growth And Toxicity Of The Florida Red Tide Organism, Gymnodinium Breve, Marion Tilton Doig Iii

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mass mortalities of marine organisms in the Gulf of Mexico have been associated with blooms of the unarmored dinoflagellate, Gymnodinium breve. This investigation concerns the factors affecting the growth of G. breve and the properties of a toxin produced by the organism.

A modification of the Flask Test of the Provisional Algal Assay Procedure of the Joint Industry/Government Task Force on Eutrophication was used to determine the response of G. breve to various natural waters and enrichments. The growth-promoting potential of natural waters obtained from areas where outbreaks of G. breve frequently occur was greater than that of waters …