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Communication Systems And Hiv/Aids Sexual Decision Making In Older Adolescent And Young Adult Females, Rasheeta D. Chandler Ms, Arnp, Fnp-Bc

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a national priority for several reasons including its endemic/pandemic status and economic demand. Adolescents 15 to 24 years old who are sexually active acquire nearly half of all new Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs). Recent findings from the Centers of Disease Control (CDC) have documented increased teen birth rates, escalating births to unwed mothers, and STIs ascribed to one in four adolescent females, are reasons to enhance effective prevention efforts.

The specific aim of the study, based on Bandura's social cognitive theory, was to test associations among communication system methods and …

Assessing The Predictive Validity Of The Uaw-Ford Ergonomic Surveillance Tool, Gregory S. Krivonyak

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) account for more than 350,000 occupational illnesses and injuries in the United States. Many job risk factors for developing MSDs are found in the automotive industry and the United Automobile Workers (UAW)-Ford Ergonomics Surveillance Tool (EST) has been designed to screen these jobs into high, moderate or low risk for work-related musculoskeletal disorders affecting the distal upper extremity (DUE), lower back (LB) and/or neck and shoulders (NS). The purpose of this effort was to examine the predictive validity of the EST against a sample of target jobs at four Ford plants.

Individual jobs for this study …

Net/Work: Composing The Posthuman Self, Julia L. Mason

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The overall question this dissertation asks is: what does it mean to teach posthumans? To answer this question, this dissertation turns toward scholarship on the body in order to understand the virtual and material presence that students develop, it looks to online video gaming communities as alternative classrooms providing effective models of learning, and it investigates the circulation of service learning pedagogies within academic institutions as a marker of the persistence of humanistic values within the framework of a posthuman work environment.

The American university in general, and the humanities specifically, is struggling to make sense of its place in …

The Autoethnographic Call: Current Considerations And Possible Futures, Kendall Smith-Sullivan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research examines the increase of personal narratives in the past several decades, particularly the autoethnographic approach. The project begins with a historical contextualization of personal writing and autoethnography in relation to the crisis of representation and other diverse socio-political shifts. One outcome of these cultural transitions was a proliferation of illness narratives, narrative therapy, therapeutic writing, and narrative health communication. Also included in this research are data from interviews with emerging autoethnographers and participant observation that occurred at the Third International Qualitative Inquiry Congress. The conference served as prism through which to view qualitative scholarship as a whole, as …

Beyond The Dutiful Daughter: An Examination Of The Role And Representation Of Daughters In The Renaissance, Lisa Emmeluth Hanes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Women have long been termed "the weaker sex" in regards to physical ability, intellectual capacity, or moral character. Although this designation has since been proven to be false on every level, this categorization of females as lesser creatures than males is a stigma borne by women throughout history. This thesis has a narrow focus on the role and representation of aristocratic Early Modern daughters before they become wives and mothers, and on Sofonisba Anguissola, a female Renaissance painter, as a daughter in particular. An examination of Sofonisba primarily as a daughter, and only secondarily as a female artist, will help …

Learning, Living, And Leaving The Closet: Making Gay Identity Relational, Tony E. Adams

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Gay identity is inextricably tied to the metaphor of the closet. This tie is best exemplified by the act of "coming out of the closet," an act when a person discloses a gay identity to another, an act of self-identification and confession that others can motivate but never force, an act typically thought of as necessary, dangerous, and consequential, and an act often viewed as a discrete, linear process. Gay identity is also frequently framed as a self-contained trait thus making coming out a one-sided, personal affair.

In this project, I use autoethnography and narrative inquiry, life story interviews of …

The Relationship Between Individual Differences In Cognitive, Social And Personality Development And The Increase In Complexity Of Children’S Alcohol Expectancies, Nicole M. Bekman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The current study aimed to simultaneously examine cognitive, social and personality development in a cross-sectional sample of 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th grade children to explore the interplay among these processes and how they relate to changes in children's understanding of alcohol. To replicate previous work, this study comprehensively examined relative increases in types of expectancies as a function of development. Results demonstrated that children in higher grades held more positive, negative and sedating expectancies of alcohol and positive alcohol expectancies increased more than negative alcohol expectancies. Improved performance on cognitive measures were associated with positive alcohol …

Evangelical Students In American Higher Education, Joseph C. Fox

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study explored the perceptions of evangelical freshmen students attending the University of Texas at Arlington and the University of Texas at Dallas during the spring semester of 2006 in the context of student alienation. The purpose of this study was to explore the possibility that evangelicals attending secular universities were perceiving alienation through their interactions with their universities. It was hypothesized that the modern university, having evolved into its present naturalistic worldview condition, might prove alienating to evangelicals from a worldview standpoint. Assuming the possibility that alienation might prove to be a reality for evangelicals, the subordinate purposes …

The Role Of Extracellular Matrix And Matrix-Degrading Proteases In Neonatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Injury, Christopher C. Leonardo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Improvements in medical care over recent decades have increased the number of premature and low birth weight infants that survive hypoxic-ischemic (H-I) insults. Because there is a rising incidence in diseases associated with these events, it is critical to develop effective therapies to treat the various resulting neuropathies. Extracellular matrix constitutes the majority of brain parenchyma. Lecticans and matrix-degrading proteases including ADAMTSs (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin repeats) and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) exert effects on cell viability and may be associated with either protective or destructive processes after H-I. Both ADAMTSs (Cross et al. 2006; Tian et al. 2007) …

Teacher Efficacy And Student Achievement In Ninth And Tenth Grade Reading: A Multilevel Analysis, Anete Vasquez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

More than 8 million of America's middle and high school students are struggling readers. Two-thirds of all eighth graders read below grade level, and the reading scores of high school students have not improved since 1974. Low literacy levels affect learning in all subject areas and impede student opportunity for future success. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and the accountability measures associated with the Act have heightened public awareness of the deficiency in adolescent literacy. School districts are choosing to respond in one of two ways. Some school districts are opting to invest in teacher-proof curricula that …

Utilitarian Approaches For Multi-Metric Optimization In Vlsi Circuit Design And Spatial Clustering, Upavan Gupta

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the field of VLSI circuit optimization, the scaling of semiconductor devices has led to the miniaturization of the feature sizes resulting in a significant increase in the integration density and size of the circuits. At the nanometer level, due to the effects of manufacturing process variations, the design optimization process has transitioned from the deterministic domain to the stochastic domain, and the inter-relationships among the specification parameters like delay, power, reliability, noise and area have become more intricate. New methods are required to examine these metrics in a unified manner, thus necessitating the need for multi-metric optimization. The optimization …

The Effects Of Depressed Mood On Academic Outcomes In Adolescents And Young Adults, Robert Christopher Jones

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The following dissertation investigates the relationship between depressed mood and academic performance (measured in terms of grade point average) in U.S. middle and high schools.

Utilizing data from AddHealth, the dissertation establishes Ordinary Least Squares, Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS), and individual and sibling fixed effect regressions that attempt to control for confounding factors, including student motivation, personality characteristics, and parental inputs that are unobserved but may influence both mental health and achievement.

Study findings indicate that students who report feeling depressed do not perform as well academically as non-depressed students. Additionally, the degree of GPA impact increases with the severity …

An Investigation Of The Online Learning Environment In Higher Education Through The Observations And Perceptions Of Students Of Color, Marie Adele Boyette

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A need exists to gain a better understanding of how the online learning environment found in higher education is perceived by students of color. The research completed for this dissertation explored student participation in the online learning environment in higher education by examining the observations and perceptions of students of color. Along the way, the process of the research journey drew attention to the lack of inclusion of students of color in the literature and data collected about online learning, and pointed to the existence of the digital divide and its impact on graduate students of color and their participation …

Advancement And Optimization Of An Electrospray Injection Based In-Vacuum Patterning System For Macromolecular Materials, Andreas Stark

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Electrospray ionization is a technique widely used in mass spectrometry. Almost every material, specifically large molecules like proteins or polymers can be ionized directly out of solution. During the ionization process molecules are not fragmented. In this work a prototype apparatus for creating three-dimensional patterns in a ultra high vacuum environment using an electrospray ion source was optimized for higher ion currents hence deposition rate by improving the core component of the apparatus, an electrodynamic ion funnel. The major improvements are a redesigned heated vacuum inlet, modified gas flow inside the ion funnel because of sealing the ion funnel against …

Police Officers’ Perceptions Regarding Persons With Mental Retardation, Danielle M. Eadens

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the attitudes held by police officers towards persons with mental retardation with regard to the domains of knowledge, social willingness, affect and contact. It also investigated relationships among group membership and perspectives towards mental retardation. An analysis of relationships between the four domains was also completed. A descriptive correlational design was employed to survey police officers, pairing the Social Distance Questionnaire with a researcher-designed instrument consisting of open-ended questions aligned with each domain. The sample included one hundred and eighty police officers from five different bureaus in one county in Central Florida.

Results of the study indicate …

Patch Reefs In Biscayne National Park, Fl: Sediments, Foraminiferal Distributions, And A Comparison Of Three Biotic Indicators Of Reef Health, Alexa Ramirez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Coral cover remains highest on patch reefs at the northern end of the Florida reef tract. The reasons for this trend are not well understood, but may be related to the protection from extreme variations in water quality parameters provided by the near constant presence of islands at the north extent of the Florida Keys.

Three indices have been developed based on Foraminifera and sediment constituents. Two of the indices, the FORAM Index and the SEDCON Index, were developed to indicate the suitability of a reef environment for continued reef accretion. The third index, the Photic Index, is an assessment …

Knitting Of Nature Into An Urban Fabric: A Riverfront Development, Thant Myat

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Tampa River Walk project is one of great importance for revitalization of the waterfront of downtown Tampa. This Riverfront development will be even more important when it becomes a vital example of how a riverfront can stretch and pull together downtown Tampa and its surrounding areas: Hyde Park, Harbour Island, and Historic Ybor. The purpose of this master's project is to explore an ecological ex pansion design approach for the Tampa River Walk as a master plan and then zooming into to an area to design in detail of what the riverfront can be. It will start by concentrating …

Psychometrics Of Osce Standardized Patient Measurements, Frederick R. B Stilson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the reliability and validity of scores taken from a series of four task simulations used to evaluate medical students. The four role-play exercises represented two different cases or scripts, yielding two pairs of exercises that are considered alternate forms. The design allowed examining what is essentially the ceiling for reliability and validity of ratings taken in such role plays. A multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) matrix was computed with exercises as methods and competencies (history taking, clinical skills, and communication) as traits. The results within alternate forms (within cases) were then used as a baseline to evaluate the reliability and …

Analysis Of The Role Of Bhlh/Pas Proteins In Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Signaling, Edward J. Dougherty

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a basic helix-loop-helix PER/ARNT/SIM (bHLH-PAS) transcription factor that binds ligands typified by 2,3,7,8-tetracholordibenzo-p-dioxin, translocates to the nucleus, dimerizes with the aryl hydrocarbon nuclear translocator (ARNT) and associates with specific cis xenobiotic response elements to activate transcription of genes involved with xenobiotic metabolism. AHR-mediated signal transduction has been evaluated thoroughly in the C57BL/6J mouse model system. This model system, however, may not be the most accurate model for human comparisons as the AHR^b-1 allele carried by C57BL/6J contains a point mutation that prematurely truncates the receptor at 805 amino acids, while the AHR^{b-2 …}

The Role Of Occupational Values And Support In Career Choice: An Emphasis On Women In Science, Heather Meikle

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine how occupational values and social support for career pursuits influenced career choice, with a specific focus on women in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM). A sample of 62 college graduates participated in telephone interviews that addressed gender differences in seven occupational values and three sources of social support. Results showed that differences in occupational values differ by both gender and between individuals in STEM and non-STEM careers. The strength of STEM values better predicted a career in STEM than did gender. Finally, women in STEM received the least amount of social …

Corona Ion Deposition: A Novel Non-Contact Method For Drug And Gene Delivery To Living Systems, Niraj Ramachandran

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Application of corona ions produced in air to B16F10 murine melanoma cells in vitro and in animal models resulted in the transport of molecular therapeutics across the cell membrane. This work presents the development of new methods for drug and gene delivery based upon similar principles as the traditional electrode driven membrane destabilization processes known as electroporation. This was achieved with non-contact corona ion deposition that temporarily increased the permeability of cell membranes.

Interaction of corona charge with biological cells was studied and their potential for molecular delivery was established. Molecular delivery was first demonstrated in vitro using tracer molecules …

Examining Emotional Reactivity To Daily Events In Major And Minor Depression, Lauren M. Bylsma

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a debilitating disorder characterized by significant mood disturbance. In laboratory studies, MDD has been characterized by both blunted positive (PER) and negative emotional reactivity (NER). However, mood disordered persons' emotional reactivity has rarely been studied in naturalistic settings, and it is unknown how less severe forms of depression relate to emotional reactivity. To address these issues, the current study utilized two naturalistic sampling methods (the Day Reconstruction Method and the Experience Sampling Method) to examine PER and NER to daily life events in 35 individuals currently experiencing a major depressive episode (MDD), 26 individuals currently …

Manatee Sound Localization: Performance Abilities, Interaural Level Cues, And Usage Of Auditory Evoked Potential Techniques To Determine Sound Conduction Pathways, Debborah Colbert

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Three experiments investigated the ability and means by which Florida manatees determine sound source directionality. An eight-choice discrimination paradigm determined the sound localization abilities of two manatees within a 360° array of speakers. Five conditions were tested including a 3,000 and 200 ms, 95 dB, 0.2-24 kHz signal, a 3,000 ms, 80 dB, 18-24 kHz signal, a 3000 ms, 110 dB, 0.2-1.5 kHz signal and a 200 ms, 101 dB, 4 kHz tonal signal. A sixth condition attenuated the level of the 3,000 ms, 95 dB, 0.2-24 kHz signal in 3 dB increments until accuracy reached 75%. Subjects performed above …

Black Beauty As Antebellum Slave Narrative, Bonnie L. Blossom

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Published in November 1877, Black Beauty is one of the most popular and enduring works of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The book, in which the eponymous narrator relates his life's story, sold well following its publication in England and in the United States; by 1985, sales were estimated at over forty million. While usually regarded as entertaining, Black Beauty has a strong crusading purpose: Anna Sewell herself said she wrote to improve the treatment of horses.

This study springs from an intuitive notion. While reading the 1845 Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, I could not shake …

Boundary And Longing: Narrative Modes In Mary Shelley’S Frankenstein And The Last Man, Marie Hendry

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Boundary and desire surround the relationships in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and The Last Man. The narrative modes of Captain Robert Walton relate his separation to the rest of the world and his need for companionship. Yet, not any companionship will satisfy his longing for connection with a human being; his search revolves around the need of common understanding. This further separates the character of Lionel in The Last Man from humanity in that he is unable to find anyone left on earth after a series of plague, war, and atmospheric anomalies apparently wipe out the human race. His survival …

(Re)Defining Relationships In A Mediated Context: Graduate Student Use Of Synchronous Computer-Mediated Communication, Michael P. Nicholas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study consists of qualitative interviews with 8 graduate students about the use of synchronous computer-mediated communication (SCMC), or instant message (IM), programs in their interpersonal relationships. Participants were interviewed twice, once via an instant message program and once in a face-to-face setting. They were asked about their frequency of use, their use of multi-tasking, and the types of conversations they have via IM. Results of the interviews are discussed, with a concentration on the paradoxical nature of IM communication as impersonal, but at the same time, conducive to personal disclosure and intimacy.

Isolation And Functional Characterization Of A Dioxin-Inducible Cyp1a Regulatory Region From Zebrafish (Danio Rerio), Gary T. Zeruth

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cytochrome P4501A1 (CYP1A1) is a phase I bio-transformation enzyme involved in the metabolism of xenobiotics via the oxygenation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) including the carcinogen, benzo(a)pyrene. Induction of the CYP1A1 gene is regulated at the transcriptional level and is ligand dependent with the prototypical 2,3,7,8,-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) being the most potent known inducer of CYP1A1 transcription. This process is mediated by the AHR/ARNT signaling pathway whereby ligand binds AHR in the cytoplasm allowing its translocation to the nucleus where it binds with its hertrodimerization partner, ARNT and subsequently binds DNA at cognate binding sites termed xenobiotic …

An Evaluation Of Conduit Conceptualizations And Model Performance, Melissa Estelle Hill

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The karst research community has known that traditional numerical groundwater flow codes ignore the non-Darcian, dual-permeability components of flow that can occur in karst aquifers. In this study, the potential limitations of using such tools are quantified by evaluating the relative performances of 3 groundwater flow models at a test-site near Weeki Wachee, Florida, in the dual-permeability Upper Floridan aquifer. MODFLOW-2005 and MODFLOW-2005 Conduit Flow Process (CFP), a Darcian/non-Darcian, dual-permeability groundwater flow code recently developed by the U.S. Geological Survey, are used in this study.

A monitoring program consisting of discharge measurements and high frequency data from 2 springs and …

Parametric, Non-Parametric And Statistical Modeling Of Stony Coral Reef Data, Armando Hoare

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Like coral reefs worldwide, the Florida Reef Tract has dramatically declined within the past two decades. Monitoring of 40 sites throughout the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary has undertaken a multiple-parameter approach to assess spatial and temporal changes in the status of the ecosystem. The objectives of the present study consist of the following:

In chapter one, we review past coral reef studies; emphasis is placed on recent studies on the stony corals of reefs in the lower Florida Keys. We also review the economic impact of coral reefs on the state of Florida. In chapter two, we identify the …

Movement And Distribution Of Juvenile Bull Sharks, Carcharhinus Leucas, In Response To Water Quality And Quantity Modifications In A Florida Nursery, Lori A. Ortega

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Movement, distribution, and habitat use of juvenile bull sharks were examined in two studies using manual and passive acoustic telemetry. Research was conducted in the Caloosahatchee River, which serves as nursery habitat for this species, and is highly impacted due to anthropogenic alterations in water quality and quantity via dams and locks. Manual tracking yielded fine-scale results for eight individuals on home range size, rate of movement, swimming depth, linearity, direction of travel, tidal influence, diel pattern, as well as correlation with environmental variables. Changes in salinity, temperature, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, and pH played a role on the distribution of …