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Epibenthic Mobile Invertebrates Along The Florida Reef Tract: Diversity And Community Structure, Kristin Netchy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Benthic mobile invertebrates are important components of coral-reef diversity and community structure, though, in most cases, their ecological contributions are poorly known. Baseline information on their diversity, prevalence, assemblages, and ecological roles is needed to aid in the conservation of coral-reef habitats. The objectives of this study are to 1) describe diversity and assemblages of epibenthic, mobile invertebrates in shallow water coral-reef communities in Florida, 2) evaluate their ecological roles by reviewing published literature on diet, and 3) measure the degree of linear dependence between mobile invertebrates and scleractinian corals. Underwater surveys were conducted in the summer of 2013 at …

Accuracy Of Educators In Identifying Middle School Students With Elevated Levels Of Anxiety Or Depression, Cheryl Gelley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Schools need accurate and efficient ways to identify youth with mental health problems, in part to provide services to such students whose mental health concerns pose barriers to learning. The present study involved an investigation of the accuracy of one method--relying on educators (teachers, a team of school-based mental health professionals, and a school nurse) to identify early adolescents who self-report elevated levels of anxiety or depression. With respect to teachers as screening agents, the possible variability in rates of accurate identification as a function of number of teachers involved in the process (i.e., pooling nominations from multiple subject area …

Properties Of Graphs Used To Model Dna Recombination, Ryan Arredondo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A model for DNA recombination uses 4-valent rigid vertex graphs,

called assembly graphs. An assembly graph,

similarly to the projection of knots, can be associated with an

unsigned Gauss code, or double occurrence word.

We define biologically motivated reductions that act on double

occurrence words and, in turn, on their associated assembly graphs. For

every double occurrence word w there is a sequence of reduction

operations that may be applied to w so that what remains is the

empty word, [epsilon]. Then the nesting index of a word w,

denoted by NI(w), is defined to to be …

Exploration Of Mutations In Erythroid 5-Aminolevulinate Synthase That Lead To Increased Porphyrin Synthesis, Erica Jean Fratz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

5-Aminolevulinate synthase (ALAS; EC 2.3.1.37) is a pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP)-dependent enzyme that catalyzes the first committed step of heme biosynthesis in animals, the condensation of glycine and succinyl-CoA yielding 5-aminolevuliante (ALA), CoA, and CO2. Murine erythroid-specific ALAS (mALAS2) variants that cause high levels of PPIX accumulation provide a new means of targeted, and potentially enhanced, photosensitization. Transfection of HeLa cells with expression plasmids for mALAS2 variants, specifically for those with mutated mitochondrial presequences and a mutation in the active site loop, caused significant cellular accumulation of PPIX, particularly in the membrane. Light treatment of HeLa cells expressing mALAS2 variants revealed …

Acquisition Of A Social Problem Solving Method By Caregivers In The Foster Care System: Evaluation And Implications, Evan Ann Skelton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

All youth are faced with many social issues and problems on a daily basis, and youth in foster care are often less equipped than their peers to make good decisions for themselves. The SODAS problem solving method is a component of the Transition to Independence Process (TIP) model and is intended for personnel to use with youth to help them make better decisions when faced with difficult situations. The SODAS method is designed to guide youth through a problem solving method for a current situation, and over time to acquire improved problem solving skills. Three caregivers at a group facility …

Juvenile And Adult Involvement In Double Parricide And Familicide In The U.S.: An Empirical Analysis Of 20 Years Of Data, Averi Rebekah Fegadel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The killing of parents and stepparents by biological and stepchildren is a rare event. Incidents involving multiple parricide victims and/or multiple parricide offenders are an even rarer occurrence. The majority of studies on parricide involve a single victim and single offender. Using the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), this study identified 603 single-victim, single-offender incidents, 22 single-victim, multiple-offender incidents, 60 single-offender double parricide incidents, 17 multiple-offender double parricide incidents, and 15 familicide incidents over the 20 year period 1990 to 2010. Univariate and bivariate analyses examined parricidal incidents involving single or multiple offenders and single or multiple victims with the …

Managing Family Food Consumption: Going Beyond Gender In The Kitchen, Blake Janice Martin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

How have food identities and practices in upper middle class homes responded to foodie culture? While the majority of the sociological literature focuses on gendered divisions of labor in the kitchen, food security, and healthy eating, my research focuses on how foodie culture discourse has entered the home and shaped food identities and practice. My sample consists of interviews with thirteen parents, both mothers and fathers, with at least one child in the "tween" age range. Using grounded theory, I analyzed and coded the data for recurring themes. I then divided the participants into two groups based on how they …

Predictors Of Success On The Prosthetics Certification Examination, Rebecca M. Miro

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Students who graduate from a practitioner program in prosthetics & orthotics must achieve certification in order to obtain licensure and practice independently in 16 states. In states where licensure is not mandatory, graduates may choose to pursue certification in order assure patients that they are practicing at the highest level as well as to differentiate themselves from competitors. While studies have been carried out extensively regarding predictors of success on the certification exams in other professions, no such study has been carried out to date in prosthetics.

The American Board for Certification in Prosthetics, Orthotics, & Pedorthics (ABC), established in …

Sic For Advanced Biological Applications, Joseph Register

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Silicon carbide (SiC) has been used for centuries as an industrial abrasive and has been

actively researched since the 1960's as a robust material for power electronic applications.

Despite being the first semiconductor to emit blue light in 1907, it has only recently been

discovered that the material has crucial properties ideal for long-term, implantable biomedical

devices. This is due to the fact that the material offers superior biocompatibility and

hemocompatibility while providing rigid mechanical and chemical stability. In addition, the material

is a wide-bandgap semiconductor that can be used for optoelectronics, light delivery, and optical

sensors, which is the …

Reconceptualizing The Role Of Essentialism In Attitudes Toward Gays And Lesbians: The Intersection Of Gender And Sexual Orientation, Vanessa Hettinger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Social psychology researchers have become increasingly interested in the role of essentialist beliefs in predicting attitudes toward social groups. However, there is little agreement about what the term actually means, whether it means different things for different groups, what endorsement of essentialism (or its sub-components) means for attitudes, and how much this varies depending on the relevant social context. This underlying lack of clarity helps to explain some of the difficulty in understanding the relationships between essentialist beliefs about sexual orientation and attitudes toward gay men and lesbians. In the current project, I suggest a fundamental shift in the approach …

The Effect Of Fungal Growth On Potential Phthalate Ester Exposures From Plasticized Polyvinyl Chloride, Garrick Johnson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effects of the presence of fungal growth on the phthalate ester content of plasticized polyvinyl chloride (pPVC) used as the vapor barrier component of metal building insulation and the impact the fungal growth may have on the resulting exposure potential to the workers in the building. Individual pieces of the pPVC material exhibiting fungal growth and individual pieces of the pPVC material exhibiting no fungal growth were collected from the building being investigated. Twenty-five pieces each of the pPVC material exhibiting fungal growth and of the pPVC material exhibiting no fungal growth were weighed, reduced to …

Combined Metal-Enhanced Fluorescence-Surface Acoustic Wave (Mef-Saw) Biosensor, Samuel Morrill

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Immunofluorescence assays are capable of both detecting the amount of a protein and the location of the protein within a cell or tissue section. Unfortunately, the traditional technique is not capable of detecting concentrations on the nanoscale. Also, the technique suffers from non-specific attachment, which can cause false-positives, as well as photobleaching when detecting lower concentrations is attempted. There is also a time constraint problem since the technique can take from many hours to a few days in some cases.

In this work, metal-enhanced fluorescence (MEF) is used to lower the detection limit and reduce photobleaching. Unfortunately, MEF also increases …

Testing The Feasibility Of Bioacoustic Localization In Urban Environments, Blaire O'Neal

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bioacoustics is a relatively new field of research focused on studying the acoustic signals of vocal animal species. The field has been a topic of interest for many years due its passive approach and avoidance of species-level limitations, such as tracking rare or nocturnal species. It has been used to locate birds in terrestrial environments; however, localization in urban environments remains unstudied. This research aims to fill the gap by attempting to estimate the location of 30 discrete calls in eight unique, urban environments. Sites represented two distinct traffic scenarios: moderate traffic and high traffic. Three system arrays of three …

Achievement Of Transplantation Tolerance: Novel Approaches And Mechanistic Insights, Joseph Pidala

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Current immune suppressive strategies fail to induce donor-recipient immune tolerance after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. Accordingly, patients suffer morbidity and mortality from graft vs. host disease (GVHD) and prolonged immune suppressive therapy. Biologic insight into transplantation tolerance is needed, and translation of such insight to novel clinical strategies may improve clinical outcomes. We report original investigation at seminal phases of this process including initial prophylactic immune suppression, onset of acute graft vs. host disease, and ultimate immune suppression discontinuation: In a controlled randomized clinical trial, we demonstrate that sirolimus-based immune suppression reduces risk for acute GVHD, ameliorates the severity of …

Investigation Of Tio2 And Invo4-Tio2 Semiconductors For The Photocatalytic Degradation Of Aqueous Organics, Sandra L. Pettit

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Water is a vital natural resource. To develop more sustainable water systems, we must focus efforts on the removal of persistent contaminants. Aqueous organic contaminants include azo dyes, halogenated organics (e.g. pesticides), and algal and bacterial metabolites. The latter are common to surface waters and freshwater aquaculture systems and can cause taste and odor problems. Two of the principal organoleptic compounds are geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol (MIB). Traditional oxidation treatment methods, utilizing chlorine, hydrogen peroxide, and potassium permanganate, have been employed with varying levels of efficacy for removal of these and other organic contaminants. Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs) have greater potential …

Assessing Attachment Process Among Early Institutionalized Orphans In Burkina Faso, Africa, Clarisse Barbier

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The focus of this thesis is early attachment among institutionalized infant orphans. Previous research has pointed towards attachment problems in dysfunctional institutions, but did not take a comparative approach to understanding attachment. The present research was conducted in an orphanage in Kaya, a little town located in the Center North Region of Burkina Faso, Africa. The 22 children at the institution were aged four months to five years and were mostly from the Mossi ethnicity. Using mixed psychological and anthropological methods such as behaviors checklist, attachment questionnaires, and participant observation, this research indicates that orphans do not display evident …

Student Identity Considerations And Implications Associated With Socioscientific Issues Instruction, Mitchel James Ruzek

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this investigation was to explore how aspects of identity, perceived levels of controversy, and the strength of a student's attachment to their controversial identity relate to conceptual understanding and knowledge acquisition during socioscientific issues (SSI) based instruction in a biology classroom. The knowledge gained from this study will have the capacity to enhance our understanding of the role that attachment to identity plays during SSI negotiation. Additionally, insight was gained into the role played by aspects of identity in conceptual understanding of scientifically controversial topics during SSI based instruction.

This study contributed to the existing knowledge base …

Ghosts, Orphans, And Outlaws: History, Family, And The Law In Toni Morrison's Fiction, Jessica Mckee

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores Toni Morrison's most prevalent motifs: the ghost, the orphan, and the outlaw. Each figure advances a critique of dominant narratives, specifically those that comprise history, family, and the law. In Chapter One, I argue that Morrison's ghost stories contrast two methods of memory, one that is authoritative and another that is imaginative, in order to counter the official renderings of history. Her ghosts signal forgotten aspects of American history and provide access to another storyline--one that lies in the shadows of the novel's principal narrative. This chapter compares the ghosts of Love and Home in order to …

Organizing Disability: Producing Knowledge In A University Accommodations Office, Shelby Forbes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As it is generally conceived, knowledge belongs to the individual: we imagine how a lightbulb suddenly illuminates above the scientist's head, a muse whispers in the philosopher's ear, cogs slide into place as wheels turn in the thinker's mind, and, "Eureka!" an idea is born. As an individualistic experience, knowledge is secure in the repository of the mind, a "steel trap" as it is so often referred, which can only be breached by the most sophisticated and precise methods. From these popular representations of knowledge, one can extrapolate further to conclude that knowledge is not made, it is received. All …

Immature Myeloid Cells Promote Tumor Formation Via Non-Suppressive Mechanism, Myrna Lillian Ortiz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Although there is ample evidence linking chronic inflammation with cancer, the cellular mechanisms involved in early events leading to tumor development remain unclear. Myeloid cells are an intricate part of inflammation. They consist of mature cells represented by macrophages, dendritic cells and granulocytes and a population of Immature Myeloid Cells (IMC), which in healthy individuals are cells in transition to mature cells. There is a substantial expansion of IMC in cancer and many other pathological conditions which is associated with pathologic activation of these cells. As a result, these cells acquire the ability to suppress immune responses and are …

Ontology Driven Model For An Engineered Agile Healthcare System, Balaji Ramadoss

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Healthcare is in urgent need of an effective way to manage the complexity it of its systems and to prepare quickly for immense changes in the economics of healthcare delivery and reimbursement. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) releases policies affecting inpatient and long-term care hospitals policies that directly affect reimbursement and payment rates. One of these policy changes, a quality-reporting program called Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR), will effect approximately 3,400 acute-care and 440 long-term care hospitals. IQR sets guidelines and measures that will contain financial incentives and penalties based on the quality of care provided. CMS, the …

Ube3a Role In Synaptic Plasticity And Neurodevelopmental Disorders.The Lessons From Angelman Syndrome., Irina Filonova

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Angelman Syndrome (AS) is a severe neurodevelopmental disorder that affects 1:12000 newborns. It is characterized by mental retardation, delayed major motor and cognitive milestones, seizures, absence of speech and excessive laughter. The majority of AS cases arise from deletions or mutations of UBE3A gene located on the chromosome 15q11-13. UBE3A codes for E3-ubiquitin ligase that target specific proteins for degradation. To date, a wide variety of Ube3a substrates has been identified. The accumulation of Ube3a-dependent proteins and their effect on the multitude of signal transduction pathways are` considered the main cause of the AS pathology. While the majority of research …

Br[O/]Nsted Acid Catalyzed Asymmetric Allylation And Propargylation Of Aldehydes, Pankaj Jain

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Carbonyl allylation and propargylation reactions have been an important tool for the stereocontrolled formation of carbon-carbon bonds for synthetic chemists. The chiral homoallylic and homopropargylic alcohols obtained from these reactions serve as versatile intermediates for the synthesis of natural and pharmaceutical products. Over the past three decades and continuing on, various synthetic groups around the globe have directed their research towards the efficient synthesis of these chiral moieties. In spite extensive research, asymmetric allylation and propargylation reactions remain an enduring challenge in organic chemistry.

Chapter 1 of this thesis describes the first phosphoric acid catalyzed asymmetric allylboration of aldehydes. We …

A Phenomenological Study Of The Experiences Of Higher Education Students With Disabilities, Allen J. Heindel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Distance education has the potential to offer a meaningful alternative for students with disabilities. Colleges and universities have opportunities to provide quality online courses to students with disabilities; yet data show these students may often choose to discontinue higher education pursuits. Little is currently known about how students with disabilities experience the distance learning environment or how institutions of higher education. This phenomenological study focuses on the quality of the learning experiences and learner satisfaction of students with disabilities in distance education courses.

The purpose of this study is to investigate 1) how online learning is experienced by students with …

Quantification Of Transhumeral Prosthetic Socket Residual Limb Interface Movement Using Motion Capture And A Slip Detection Sensor, Matthew Wernke

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Current literature focusing on the prosthetic socket is limited by measurement techniques and modeling assumptions, leading to a limited understanding of the forces and motions occurring between the residual limb and prosthesis and how they can be used to influence socket design and fitting. Prosthetic socket fitting and prescription would benefit from an elegant method for comparing socket designs. This dissertation focuses on the development and implementation of a 3D motion capture model and a Slip Detection Sensor to quantify rotations and translations at the prosthetic socket-residual limb interface. The 3D motion capture model defines the residual limb bone position …

Investigation And Characterization Of Pt-Modified Au Catalysts And Polymer Composites By Electrochemistry, Raman And Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (Sers), Ranjani Muralidharan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation thesis consists of six chapters. The main focus of this study is the need for understanding the reaction mechanism and intermediates formed on Pt-modified Au surface as anode catalysts in the formic acid fuel cells. Chapter 1 gives an introduction to formic acid and methanol fuel cells, an overview of the current catalysts employed at the anode of the fuel cells, specifically the Pt-modified Au electrodes as potential catalysts and the different deposition methods for preparing this catalytic surface. Information about different electrochemical methods used like cyclic voltammetry and potential step method along with other characterization methods and …

Theoretical And Experimental Investigations To Improve The Performance Of Surface Acoustic Wave (Saw) Biosensors, Mandek Richardson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this dissertation is to improve the performance of surface acoustic wave (SAW) biosensors for use in point-of-care-testing (POCT) applications. SAW biosensors have the ability to perform fast, accurate detection of an analyte in real time without the use of labels. However, the technology suffers from the inability to differentiate between specific and non-specific binding. Due to this limitation, direct testing of bodily fluids using SAW sensors to accurately determine an analyte's concentration is difficult. In addition, these sensors are challenged by the need to detect small concentrations of a biomarker that are typically required to give a …

(Dis)Abled Gaming: An Autoethnographic Analysis Of Decreasing Accessibility For Disabled Gamers, Kyle David Romano

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Within the context of culture, disability has long existed as a stigmatizing quality (Goffman, 1963). As a result, people with disabilities are often overlooked or completely omitted from various, cultural artifacts. This exclusion of people with disabilities is largely recognized as unproblematic because their disabilities imply an inevitable failing. Through my own experiences as a disabled gamer, I have recognized that video games have also framed gamers with disabilities as problematic. Video games are largely constructed in a one-size-fits-all mentality (Grammenos, 2014), where very specific people, with very specific kinds of bodies, are granted access to play them. Since disabled …

The Mediating Role Of Classroom Social Environment Between Teacher Self-Efficacy And Student Adjustment, Keri Stewart

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether students' perceptions of the classroom social environment mediate the relations between teacher self-efficacy and student adjustment.

Research suggests that early adolescents often experience decreases in engagement and motivation during the middle school years, which can put individuals at risk for academic failure and school dropout (Eccles, Lord, & Midgley, 1991). This occurs due to a mismatch between the individuals' developmental needs and the environment (Eccles et al., 1993). Whether early adolescents remain engaged in school is largely dependent on how they perceive the classroom environment promoted by their teacher (Erikson, 1950; …

Evolution And Functional Morphology Of The Cephalic Lobes In Batoids, Samantha Lynn Mulvany

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cephalic lobes are unique structures derived from the anterior pectoral fins, found in select myliobatid stingrays. Many benthic batoids utilize undulatory locomotion and use their pectoral fins for both locomotion and prey capture. Pelagic myliobatids that possess cephalic lobes utilize oscillatory locomotion, using their pectoral fins to locomote and their cephalic lobes for prey capture. Despite differences in habitat usage and locomotor modes, these batoids feed on very similar benthic organisms. The purpose of this study was to 1.) compare the morphology of the cephalic lobes and anterior pectoral fins in lobed and lobeless species, looking at skeletal elements, musculature …