Digital Commons Network^™

Radical Religious Groups And Government Policy: A Critical Evaluation, Tori Chambers Lockler

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Religion, many times, is one of the phenomena that is misunderstood and often rejected due to apprehension. There is an expected "norm" within our culture for religion and those that fall outside that "norm" are typically criticized for their beliefs. Within Christianity there are a number of extremist groups that follow millennial doctrines and believe they are living in the end times. These organizations tend to view the government as oppressive, disrespectful, immoral and corrupt. Because of this when an incident occurs with one of these millennial groups and the government steps in to control the situation, the way it …

Characterization Of Novel Nitroplatinum(Iv) Complexes For The Treatment Of Cancer, Jeannette Lo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many types of chemotherapeutic agents have been developed to target specific mechanisms within the body that control the progression of cancer, though few have been able to circumvent the existing problems associated with the treatments. The current remedies entail grueling drug regimens and toxic side effects that may undermine the effectiveness of the drugs. Cisplatin, a common nitroplatinum(II) drug widely used to treat a variety of cancers, is administered intravenously and circulates systemically, affecting healthy regions of the body as well. Resistance to cisplatin is increasing and the need for new, less toxic medication must be met for future success …

Frames In The U.S. Print Media Coverage Of The Kashmir Conflict, Durga, Ray

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the frames used by the U.S. print media -- The New York Times, The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times -- in their coverage of the Kashmir conflict and the parties involved in it from 1989 to 2003. It divided the 15-year period of coverage into four phases -- 1989-1990, 1991-1998, 1999-2001, and 2002-2003 -- and focused on the coverage of seven subjects. It then identified sources and keywords from 180 news reports and placed them into categories from which it isolated thematic clusters or frames.

The study found that in the first two phases, …

The French Art Song Style In Selected Songs By Charles Ives, Christy Jo Talbott

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Charles Ives is commonly referred to as the "Father of American Music." The implication is one that Ives himself would agree with, that he wrote purely American ideas from his own environment without reference to other styles or methods, in particular the widespread European tradition. Some composers, like Aaron Copland and Roger Sessions, created an American sonority by incorporating the concepts of musical construction they studied at the Paris Conservatoire. Ives, conversely, received no instruction in Europe, but the techniques so prevalent in the music of the French art song are found in certain songs written by Ives. Though he …

Multiple Hazards And Community Vulnerability In Hillsborough County, Florida, Keith Allen Albury

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hillsborough County, Florida is subject to a variety of natural and technological hazards, which have the potential to threaten both the population and the built environment. This research focuses on several natural hazards (coastal flooding, sink hole, and hurricane) and technological hazards (toxic transportation spills and toxic release from fixed storage facilities) and the population that is potentially exposed to these hazards. Social vulnerability for this population was determined using racial composition, gender, age and household rental/ownership status.

Both social vulnerability and exposure to hazardous conditions occur as a continuum across geographical space. The determination of who is exposed; the …

Udp-Glucuronosyltransferase (Ugt) Genetic Variants And Their Potential Role In Carcinogenesis, Jean Bendaly

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) such as benzo(a)pyrene are important risk factors for cancer. Three UDP-glucuronosyltransferases, UGT1A9, UGT1A10, and UGT2B7, have been shown to play an important role in the phase II metabolism of carcinogenic metabolites of BaP. Because UGT1A9 and UGT2B7 are well-expressed in digestive tract tissues including liver and colon, it is possible that genetic variations in either enzyme may play an important role in colon cancer risk. However, UGT1A10 is extrahepatic and is expressed in the oral cavity and the larynx; therefore, genetic variations in this enzyme may play an important role in risk for orolaryngeal …

Outsiders And The Impact Of Party Affiliation In Ecuadorian Presidential Elections, Rachel Lynne Hammond

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

How has the party affiliation of presidential candidates impacted presidential elections in Ecuador? Historically, how have political party candidates and outsiders performed in elections and how has this changed over the last 20 years of democratic history? This case study attempts to answer fundamental questions about the connections between parties and electablility of presidential candidates. In a country with an inchoate party system and a history of populism, personalist candidates have always had relatively high levels of electoral success. Yet, it would seem that preference for unaligned candidates is increasing. After years of domination by political party candidates, the Ecuadorian …

The Importance Of Program-Delivered Differential Reinforcement In The Development Of Classical Music Auditory Discrimination, Gudmundur Torfi Heimisson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Posttest performances after two forms of Web-based tutorial instruction were compared. Both forms were designed to teach students to identify musical compositions that typify Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and 20th Century music. The first treatment condition was a series of Web pages with text and accompanying hyperlinks to musical selections matched to the text. In this condition, students read and listened at their own discretion -- without Web software program restrictions. The second treatment contained exactly the same text and musical selections, but students in this condition read the text in small portions while being required to fill in missing …

Physiological Responses Of Men During The Continuous Use Of A Portable Liquid Cooling Vest, Theresa J. Medina

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Heat stress is a well documented hazard across industries. The combination of environmental conditions, work demands, and clothing contribute to heat strain. Left unchecked, heat strain causes changes in an individual's physiological state that can lead to serious and fatal conditions with little warning. Although engineering and administrative controls are the first choice to abate this hazard, they frequently are not feasible. In these cases, personal cooling is often employed. There are three main types of personal cooling: liquid, air, and passive. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

This study focuses on continuous cooling using a portable liquid cooling …

Governing Wayward Consumers: Self-Change And Recovery In Debtors Anonymous, Adam Morenberg

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Previous research on self-change in support groups has focused on the ways individuals accomplish self-change in the "local cultures" of the support group settings. This ethnographic study of the 12-step self-help group Debtors Anonymous (DA) departs from that tradition by focusing on the ways that DA members achieve self-change by employing "recovery" strategies learned from the group in their everyday lives. DA members enter the group during financial crises, and often believe they cannot manage their own personal finances. By learning techniques of financial management taught by the group, DA members gradually gain "sobriety" and financial management skills. This analysis …

An Empirical Analysis Of The Role Of Mitigation In Capital Sentencing In North Carolina Before And After Mckoy V. North Carolina (1990), Janine Kremling

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on the influence of mitigating circumstances on the sentencing outcome before and after the McKoy (1990) decision. In McKoy (1990) the Supreme Court decided that the jurors did not have to find mitigating circumstances unanimously. Results are reported based on a sample of North Carolina first-degree murder cases where the state sought the death penalty. Logistic regression is used to determine the importance of mitigating circumstances as predictors of jury decision-making in North Carolina, controlling for the variety of other factors that influence that decision.

The descriptive statistics show that the average number of mitigating circumstances submitted …

“Symbolism Of Language: A Study In The Dialogue Of Power Between The Imperial Cult And The Synoptic Gospels”, Sharon Matlock-Marsh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Long before the writings of the New Testament gospels, where Jesus was being proclaimed as the Son of God, and Savior, the world existing under the influences of Hellenism resulting from the conquests by Alexander the Great in 323 BCE, had already been well acquaint

ed with and expected to hear certain symbolic language in determining titles for their divine ruler the emperor. Living within a cosmological framework, i.e., a sacred cosmos, the citizens of the empire accepted the emperor as the manifestation of divinity in the world. This belief existed for centuries prior to Christianity as a reality that …

Behavioral Analysis Of Interactions Between Teachers And Children With Selective Mutism, Jason D. Wallace

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study focused on the interactions between a child with selective mutism and that child's teachers. The hypothesis was that the teachers unknowingly maintained the mutism by not placing the expectations of speech on the child. Therefore, by training three out of the four teachers how to interact with the child with selective mutism, and using the fourth teacher as a control, the researchers were able to identify that the training not only changed the three teachers' behaviors, but also the child with selective mutism's behaviors as well. Also, based on a pre-training/post-training test, the teachers had a much …

Institutionalized On The Margins: An Organizational History Of The Preparation Of Teachers Of College Composition, Gregory A. Giberson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The preparation of new college teachers of composition has been a disciplinary topic of interest as well as an institutional concern since the establishment in the late 1800s of the modern English department. In this project, I offer a critical history of the treatment of the topic of the preparation of teachers of college composition by the three most historically significant organizations to English as a discipline and Composition as a field of study within that discipline: the Modern Language Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, and the Conference on College Composition and Communication. By analyzing the treatment …

The Utilization Of Enzymes In The Synthesis And Modification Of Natural And Nonnatural Compounds: A Chemo-Enzymatic Approach To Enantiomerically Pure Compounds, Jason A. Carr

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The employment of enzymes and whole cells has been important in many industries for centuries. However, it is only in the last 30 years that the use of enzymes for the synthesis of high-value fine chemicals has enjoyed increasing popularity. In fact, esterases and lipases are used almost routinely these days to provide optically active building blocks for the construction of imaginative new routes to chiral target molecules. The major topic of this work describes the utilization of enzymes (namely lipases) in the synthesis and modification of natural and non-natural compounds.

Chapter 1 outlines the strengths and weaknesses of the …

An Analysis Of Travel Trends Of The Elderly And Zero-Vehicle Households In The United States, Ravi Kiran Gorti

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The elderly and persons residing in zero vehicle households require better transportation services by virtue of their need for special care and lack of mobility, respectively. An analysis of the travel trends of these population cohorts is essential to determine the best ways to improve transportation facilities to better serve them. Information about location of residence, life-cycle, differences by gender, employment status, driver status, highest level of education coupled with trip information like trip rate, travel times and distances trip purpose, modal split and percent of people immobile will facilitate understanding the factors that influence trip making among these people …

On Effective And Efficient Experimental Designs For Neurobehavioral Screening Tests: The Choice Of A Testing Time For Estimating The Time Of Peak Effects, Peter A. Toyinbo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In its latest neurotoxicity guidelines released by the US EPA Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances (OPPTS) in 1998, it is recommended that in a neurobehavioral testing, at a minimum, for acute studies, observations and activity testing should be made before the initiation of exposure, at the estimated TOPE (time of peak effects) within 8 hrs of dosing, and at 7 and 14 days after dosing. It is recommended that estimation of TOPE be made by dosing pairs of rats across a range of doses and making regular observations of gait and arousal. However it is well known that …

A Comparative Analysis Of Travel Time Expenditures In The United States, Lavenia Anne Toole-Holt

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Literature on transportation planning and modeling is replete with the concept of a travel time budget. According to this concept, average daily travel times tend to be relatively constant. However, evidence from the 1983 Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey and the 2001 National Household Travel Survey suggest that the average daily travel time has increased by 1.9 minutes per year.

Understanding travel time expenditures is important for forecasting travel demand, especially future vehicle miles of travel. Historically, travel demand models considered vehicle availability and income as limiting factors for travel, but going forward time may be the constraint. As individuals spend …

Characterization Of Preliminary Breast Tomosynthesis Data: Noise And Power Spectra Analysis, Madhusmita Behera

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Early detection, diagnosis, and suitable treatment are known to significantly improve the chance of survival for breast cancer (BC) patients. To date, the most cost effective method for screening and early detection is screen-film mammography, which is also the only tool that has demonstrated its ability to reduce BC mortality. Full-field digital mammography (FFDM) is an extension of screen-film mammography that eliminates the need for film-processing because the images are detected electronically from their inception. Tomosynthesis is an emerging technology in digital mammography built on the FFDM framework, which offers an alternative to conventional two-dimensional mammography. Tomosynthesis produces three-dimensional (volumetric) …

Robust Dock Assignments At Less-Than-Truckload Terminals, Mesut Korhan Acar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Less-than-truckload industry has a valuable potential for applications of operations research in two areas, network design and efficiency improvement within existing networks. This thesis focuses on the latter, specifically the less-than-truckload terminals where cross docking operations occur.

The assignment of incoming trailers to inbound docks is one of the critical decisions that affect the performance of less-than-truckload terminals. This research reviews existing models in literature and introduces an optimal mixed integer quadratic model with the objective of generating assignments that are robust against variability in system parameters such as truck arrival and service times, terminal characteristics and trailer load content. …

Re-Constructing The Image Of The Voluntarily Childfree: An Ethnographic Exploration Of Media Representation And The Childless By Choice, Eddy Sass

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the United States, like most other parts of the world, there is a commonly held belief that all capable couples should have children. This belief has contributed to the development of a pro-natalist ideology or concept that having children is good. This pronatalist belief tends to spill over into the media, as well. Yet, there are those individuals who do not subscribe to the parenthood belief structure and to the manner in which the media frame the parenthood debate. These people are known as the voluntarily childfree or the childless by choice. This thesis is an exploratory ethnographic examination …

A Decision Support Tool For Accepting Or Rejecting Donations In Humanitarian Relief Organizations, Francisco Javier Ruiz-Brand

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the increase in the occurrence of disasters (natural and man-made) that leave people injured, handicapped or dead, the disaster management theory is gaining more importance. As a consequence, human assistance and disaster relief organizations are managing increasingly more inventories anticipated to help people in need. Donations are the common means used by humanitarian relief organizations for procuring commodities to support some of their programs. Previous experiences have indicated that donations become a burden instead of offering relief when they do not match actual victims' needs. Accepting or rejecting donations is a key issue that can produce not only economic …

The Perceived Impact Of The Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (Idea), 1997 Disciplinary Mandates On The School Board Policies In Three Urban, K-12 Public School Districts, Nancy S. Zambito

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 1990 the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) required that states provide a free and appropriate education to all children and youth with disabilities, no matter how severe the disabilities. This obligation was tied to federal funding and outlined in detail parental rights with regard to identifying and educating their child with disabilities. The 1997 reauthorization of IDEA stepped into school discipline, creating a complex process for addressing school misconduct of such students.

This study determines how the 1997 IDEA disciplinary mandates, as they existed until May 2003, were interpreted and implemented in three similar, urban, public school districts …

The Impact Of Technology On Community College Students’ Success In Remedial/Developmental Mathematics, Mary M. Bendickson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Increased institutional accountability and fiscal constraints coupled with most community college students being required to take at least one remedial/developmental course indicates a need to find the best way to deliver these classes. Institutions are expanding alternate delivery formats to meet student expectations. Is using technology best for students in remedial/developmental courses?

This study investigated effectiveness of technology-assisted instruction for remedial/developmental math in Florida community colleges. Technology has emerged as potentially enhancing student success; however, it is expensive. If research shows that students benefit from technology in remedial/developmental courses, then funds spent to provide instruction through technology are validated. However, …

Recycled Materials Relational Database: Design And Implementation Aspects, Rory Morgan Mcdonald

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although there has been a rise in the use of recycled materials in highway and geotechnical systems, many tons of potentially useful industrial and domestic by-products are still being discarded in the United States each year. While extensive research has been conducted to investigate the use of recycled materials in engineering applications, the dissemination of the findings is often limited. The problem is compounded by the lack of a single resource containing relevant engineering and environmental characteristics of each material; the tendency of the researchers to publish their findings in technical reports rather than archived publications; and the wide discrepancies …

Small Drainage Basins And The Probable Maximum Flood: A Flood Inundation Study Of An Anticipated Extreme Storm Event In West Central Florida, Philip Anthony Ranalli

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A major tropical storm will strike in the area of West Central Florida. In anticipation of this storm, this study seeks to predict the specific areas within the Baker Canal drainage basin that will be inundated as a result of this expected event. There are few references concerning extreme flooding in small drainage basins within existing literature.

For the purposes of this study this event was considered to be a Probable Maximum Flood (PMF) as defined by Crippen and Bue (1977). The Hydrologic Engineering Centers' Geographic River Analysis System was used to develop water surface elevations and flow rates. Maps …

The Quality Of Life Among Lymphedema Patients Due To Lymphatic Filariasis In Three Rural Towns In Haiti, Koji Kanda

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The worldwide eradication of lymphatic filariasis has recently started with two strategies, interruption of transmission and morbidity control. One of the most endemic countries, Haiti has experienced successful interventions through national and international efforts, but the morbidity control is still hindered by a lack of adequate information on quality of life (QOL) issues among those suffering from the chronic manifestations of the disease such as lymphedema. In addition, previous interventions have been focused primarily in a single community where an established lymphedema treatment clinic serves as a national reference center, so it is critical to expand programs to other areas …

Socio-Spatial Polarization In St. Petersburg, Florida: A Critical Evaluation Of The Vision 2020 Plan, Jacqueline Salmond

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Those who are given access to develop and plan our urban areas are in possession of great power and potential. With the vast sums of both private and governmental money associated with the creation and organization of urban areas, the motivations of those constructing plans and deciding developmental strategies need to be considered. When a city has a dual identity and is socially and spatially conflicted, then the task of planning equitably for all residents becomes even more complex. The extent to which planners address the needs of their community, and the divisions which may exist, reveals the intentions of …

Smoking Cessation In A University Setting: The Efficacy Of An Experiential, Theory-Based Intervention For College Students, Vani Nath Simmons

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The college setting represents an untapped window of opportunity to target the growing number of college student smokers. To address this need the current study tested an intervention drawing upon research from social psychology and previously effective health-related interventions. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of an experiential, dissonance-enhancing smoking intervention for increasing motivation to quit smoking and reducing smoking by comparing it to two control groups, in a three-arm randomized study. Participants were 215 college student smokers randomized to an experiential smoking intervention, a traditional educational smoking intervention, or an experiential intervention on nutrition. …

Design Of A Chemical Agent Detector Based On Polymer Coated Surface Acoustic Wave (Saw) Resonator Technology, Lane Leslie Manoosingh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents the design of a unique prototype chemical agent detector which utilizes an array of polymer coated SAW resonators as the sensor elements. The design's particular embodiment is that of a testing platform for evaluating the utility of constructing a portable chemical agent detector, utilizing commercially available SAW resonators. It involves the consolidation of the sub-systems comprising a large laboratory development system, into a portable enclosure.

A combination of design techniques, utilized to achieve an overall balance between the physical dimensions of the system and its detection performance, comprises the unique nature of the overall design of this …