Digital Commons Network^™

Concerted Evolution In Sm50, A Gene With Unusual Repeat Structure, Sofia Hussain

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Genes present in multiple copies and genes that contain regions of repetitive sequences can undergo concerted evolution, which results in homogenization of the nucleotide sequence of the genes or repetitive regions. In regions of tandem repeats, this occurs through misalignment of repeat units followed by unequal crossover, which generates two products with differing numbers of repeat units. Gene conversion is thought to lead to one of these products becoming fixed in a species. The homogenous sequence of previously studied genes that have been thought to undergo this process has made it difficult to determine the exact models involved. Here I …

Influence Of Gender On Heart Rate And Core Temperature At Critical Wbgt For Five Clothing Ensembles At Three Levels Of Metabolic Rate, Maeen Zakaria Islam

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Three main factors that influence heat stress are clothing, work demands and environmental conditions. Gender may also influence the amount of heat stress an individual can tolerate. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of gender in heat stress limits (critical WBGT) and heat strain (heart rate and core temperature). The null hypothesis was that there was no gender difference among critical WBGT, heart rate and core temperature.

Fifteen subjects (11 men and 4 women) wore five different clothing ensembles (cotton work clothes, cotton coveralls, particle barrier Tyvek, water-barrier/vapor permeable NexGen LS417, and vapor barrier Tychem QC …

Lessons Learned About Boys’ And Girls’ Mathematical Problem Solving: The Solution Processes, Performance, Linguistic Explanations, Self-Efficacy, And Self-Assessment Of Fifth-Grade Students Of Varying Reading And Mathematics Abilities, Patricia D. Hunsader

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this non-experimental, causal-comparative study was to examine how gender, reading ability, and mathematics ability differentially moderated students’ mathematical problem-solving processes, linguistic explanations of those solution processes, achievement on a mathematical problem-solving test, self-efficacy on a self-reported rating scale, and selfassessment on a self-reported rating scale. The investigation addressed five research questions. First, to what extent are students’ mathematical problemsolving processes related to gender? Second, to what extent is children’s performance in mathematical problem solving related to gender, reading ability, and mathematics ability? Third, to what extent is the quality of students’ linguistic explanations of their problem-solving processes …

All The News That’S Fit To Print? Media Reporting Of Environmental Protection Agency Penalties Assessed Against The Petroleum Refining Industry, 1997-2003, Melissa L. Jarrell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although examination of the relationship between the media and crime has received considerable attention in the academic literature, only a few studies have examined news media coverage of environmental crimes. The present study examines print news media coverage of federal penalties assessed against the petroleum refining industry from 1997 to 2003. The Environmental Protection Agency initiated and/or settled 162 cases involving seventy-eight petroleum refining companies from 1997 to 2003. While a news search of the nation’s twenty-five largest newspapers produced seventy-four articles related to petroleum refining industry violations, only seventeen articles matched the EPA cases analyzed in the present study. …

The Effects Of Small-Scale Heterogeneities On Aquifer Storage Recovery Systems, William C. Hutchings

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Aquifer Storage Recovery (ASR) is a recently developed (circa 1970) method (in the U.S.A.) to reduce groundwater-pumping stresses by injecting treated wastewater or surface water during periods of low demand into an aquifer followed by its recovery during periods of high demand. This method has been successfully implemented in numerous locations across the U.S.A. and worldwide, mainly due to the cost savings provided by the use of an unlimited reservoir (aquifer) in which to store water compared to the costs to construct surface impoundments and the inherent problems with storing such water for extended periods of time under evaporative atmospheric …

A Comparison Of Traditional Physical Laboratory And Computer Simulated Laboratory Experiences In Relation To Engineering Undergraduate Students’ Conceptual Understandings Of A Communication Systems Topic, Giti Javidi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to investigate an alternative to the use of traditional physical laboratory activities in a communication systems course. Specifically, this study examined whether as an alternative, computer simulation is as effective as physical laboratory activities in teaching college-level electronics engineering education students about the concepts of signal transmission, modulation and demodulation. Eighty undergraduate engineering students participated in the study, which was conducted at a southeastern four-year university.

The students were randomly assigned to two groups. The groups were compared on understanding the concepts, remembering the concepts, completion time of the lab experiments and perception toward the laboratory …

Occupational Role Portrayals Of African-American Women On Prime-Time Television, Shani Tyhirah Jefferson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined portrayals of African-American women shown in professional careers on prime-time network television during the May 2005 sweeps month. Specifically, the study compares these portrayals to actual U.S. Department of Labor workforce statistics to observe a possible similarity. Additionally, the study identifies any behavioral and conversational stereotyped attributes ascribed to AfricanAmerican female characters shown in the workplace. A quantitative content analysis of four broadcast networks (FOX, ABC, UPN, and WB) ranked by Nielsen Media as having the highest rated prime-time television programming among minority households for 2003-2004 revealed that African-American female characters on network television are over-represented in …

Florida: Presidential Elections And Partisan Change, 1952-2004, Matthew Thomas Jefferys

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The presidential contest of 1952 established a new trajectory for Florida politics. This pivotal election reversed decades of Democratic dominance and signified the beginning of presidential Republicanism in the state. Elections in the second half of the 20th century provided evidence of an increasingly favorable environment for Republican nominees. During this period Democrats were limited to carrying the state’s electoral votes three times. GOP presidential ascendancy in Florida was augmented by partisan conversion and the disproportionate in-migration of white Northerners following World War II. Contrary to unrivaled 1980s support, which created an anchor in a new core Southern Republican electoral …

The Effects Of An Education/Behavioral Intervention On Knowledge, Perceived Risk And Self-Efficacy For Sexually Transmitted Infections In Women., Versie Johnson-Mallard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to test the effects of an education/behavioral intervention on knowledge, perceived risk, and self-efficacy for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) prevention in women. Additionally, the instruments that measured knowledge of sexually transmitted infections and perceived risk were tested for reliability. Instruments used to test the effects of the intervention at pretest and following the intervention included the Sexually Transmitted Infection Knowledge Survey (Johnson-Mallard, 2002); the Perceived Risk for Sexually Transmitted Infection Survey (Johnson-Mallard, 2002); and the Sexual Self-Efficacy Survey (Heather & Pinkerton, 1998). Participants included 89-women seeking family planning services, sexually transmitted infection services …

Shape Based Stereovision Assistance In Rehabilitation Robotics, Michael Ulrich Jurczyk

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A graphical user interface program was created along with shape models, which allow persons with disabilities to set up a stereovision system with off-theshelf hardware and detect objects of interest, which can be picked up using a sensor assisted telerobotic manipulator.

A Hitachi KP-D50 CCD camera and an Imaging Source CCD camera were used along with two Imaging Source DFG/LC1 frame grabbers to set up a stereovision system. In order to use the stereovision system, the two main problems of correspondence and reconstruction are solved using subroutines of the program created for this work.

The user interface allows the user …

Polytetrahydrofuran-And Dendrimer-Based Novel Sol-Gel Coatings For Capillary Microextraction (Cme) Providing Parts Per Trillion (Ppt) And Parts Per Quadrillion (Ppq) Level Detection Limits In Conjunction With Gas Chromatography And Flame Ionization Detection (Fid), Abuzar Kabir

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sol-gel capillary microextraction (CME) is a new direction in solvent-free extraction and preconcentration of trace analytes. CME presents significant interest in environmental, pharmaceutical, petrochemical, biomedical, agricultural, food, flavor, and a host of other important areas. Sol-gel CME utilizes advanced material properties of organic-inorganic hybrid sol-gel polymers to perform efficient extraction and enrichment of target analytes from a variety of matrices. In this dissertation, two novel sol-gel coatings were developed for CME: (a) sol-gel benzyl-terminated dendrimer coating, and (b) sol-gel polytetrahydrofuran (poly-THF) coating. A detailed investigation was conducted to evaluate the performance of the newly developed sol-gel coatings in solvent-free extraction …

Temporal Comparisons And The Perception Of Posttraumatic Growth In Early Stage Cancer Patients, Sean Ransom

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Like others who endure serious stressors, cancer patients often report personal growth as a result of their illness, a phenomenon termed "posttraumatic growth." Although researchers often accept these reports as valid, temporal comparison theory suggests that people may overestimate such growth. According to the theory, remembering the past self as less positive than the present self may serve as an illusory self-enhancement process that allows one to see continual personal growth. Thus, reports of posttraumatic growth may represent perceived rather than actual change in the self. To test this possibility, we prospectively examined 88 individuals with early stage breast (Stage …

The Role Of Sensation Seeking In Children’S Ability To Learn Alcohol Expectancy Associations, Nicole M. Bekman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sensation seeking is a personality characteristic associated with problematic alcohol use and positive alcohol expectancies, but little research has examined the relationship between sensation seeking and the acquisition of alcohol expectancy information. In a recent study (Steinberg, 2003), sensation seeking was associated with how quickly and accurately college-aged students were able to learn alcohol-expectancy word pairs in a paired associate learning task. In this age group, however, the individuals had fully developed alcohol expectancies that may have influenced their rates of learning.

The current study sought to minimize the influence of previously held alcohol expectancies by exploring this relationship in …

The Cost Of Professionalization: A Case Study Of Osteopathic Medicine In The United States, Rochelle Harris

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the co-optation of the heterodox medical system of osteopathic medicine by the hegemonic medical system of biomedicine and its impact on the practice of osteopathic medicine in America. The study particularly explored students (n=20), practitioners (n=5), and faculty (n=5) regarding their views of osteopathic medicine. The process of professionalization of osteopathic medicine has caused DOs to become more akin to MDs, which may have led to an identity crisis within the profession. This case study took place at a private osteopathic medical school in the Southeastern U.S. A content analysis of the …

A Solvable Model For Gravity Driven Granular Dynamics, J. J. P. Veerman

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We discuss a toy model to study the dynamics of individual particles in avalanches. The model describes a particle launched from an inclined infinite staircase. The particle is not allowed to bounce when it collides with the staircase. During the collision, the particle loses some energy, and after that slides on to the end of the step it landed on. The process then repeats itself. The dynamics of this no-bounce model can essentially be completely understood. Partial versions of some results were stated and argued in previous work. Here we give a full description together with all the proofs. We …

The Kerf Toolkit For Intrusion Analysis, Javed Aslam, Sergey Bratus, David Kotz, Ronald Peterson

Dartmouth Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Advertising 'The New Woman': Fashion, Beauty, And Health In Women's World, Pelin Basci

World Languages and Literatures Faculty Publications and Presentations

This study aims to re-examine Women's World, (a Middle Eastern women's publication that was active between 1913 and 1921), from a gender aware, but broadly constructed, interdisciplinary perspective that integrates women's studies with studies of advertising and consumption. A feminist journal with a relatively long publication life, Women's World contained a substantial number of advertisements encouraging the consumption of modem goods and services. Many of these notices promised to address the beauty, health and fashion needs of modem women, thus constructing in effect the public image of "the new woman." of that image, in turn, should facilitate our understanding of …

Nalidixic Acid Screening Test In Detection Of Decreased Fluoroquinolone Susceptibility In Salmonella Typhi Isolated From Blood, Afia Zafar, Ng Ibrahim, T Ahsan, Z Abbas, A Zaidi, Rumina Hasan

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

OBJECTIVE: To determine the validity of nalidixic acid screening test in the detection of high MICs of fluoroquinolone against Salmonella(S.) typhi isolated from blood and correlate zone diameters of ofloxacin with that of MIC value for nalidixic acid sensitive and resistant strains.
DESIGN: Cross-sectional analytical study.
PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Clinical Microbiology Laboratory of the Aga Khan Hospital, Karachi from January 2002 to December 2003.
METHODS: Two hundred S. typhi isolates from blood were included for nalidixic acid screening and ofloxacin susceptibility. Antibiotic susceptibilities for both the antibiotics were obtained by disc diffusion method whereas MICs were determined …

Leveling The Field: Using Rubrics To Achieve Greater Equity In Teaching And Grading, Dannelle D. Stevens, Antonia Levi

Education Faculty Publications and Presentations

Rubrics can be used to assure greater consistency in grading and as a teaching tool to promote greater equity, especially with students who are first generation and /or non-native speakers of English.

Biotic Resistance To Invasion: Native Predator Limits Abundance And Distribution Of An Introduced Crab, Catherine E. De Rivera, Greg M. Ruiz, Anson Hines, Paul Jivoff

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Introduced species frequently escape the natural enemies (predators, competitors, and parasites) that limit their distribution and abundance in the native range. This reduction in native predators, competitors, and parasites may result in ecological release in the introduced range. However, biological interactions also can limit the establishment and spread of nonnative populations. The extent to which such biotic resistance occurs is poorly resolved, especially for marine ecosystems. Here we test whether a native predator, the blue crab Callinectes sapidus, affects the abundance and geographic range of the introduced European green crab Carcinus maenas in eastern North America. Both crab species …

Broad-Scale Non-Indigenous Species Monitoring Along The West Coast In National Marine Sanctuaries And National Estuarine Research Reserves, Catherine E. De Rivera, Greg Ruiz, Jeff Crooks, Kerstin Wasson, Steve Lonhart, Paul Fofonoff, Brian Steves, Steven S. Rumrill, Mary Sue Brancato, Scott Pegau, Doug Bulthuis, Rikke Kvist Preisler, Carl Schoch, Ed Bowlby, Andrew Devogelaere, Maurice Crawford, Steve Gittings, Anson Hines, Lynn Takata, Kristen Larson, Tami Huber, Anne Marie Leyman, Esther Collinetti, Tiffany Pascot, Suzanne Shull, Mary Anderson, Sue Powell

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Nonindigenous species have caused substantial environmental and economic damage to coastal areas. Moreover, the extent and impacts of nonindigenous species are increasing over time. To develop predictive models and to identify which areas should be targeted for impact mitigation or early detection, we need a basic foundation of knowledge about the spatial and temporal patterns of invasions. This project was developed because we lacked the necessary data to rigorously evaluate the patterns of coastal invasions. This collaborative project, between the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, the National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) and the National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP), established a …

Manejo De Cipós Na Amazônia, Jeffrey J. Gerwing, Edson Vidal

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Levantamentos florestais revelam que os cipós vêm se tornando cada vez mais abundantes em toda a Amazônia, tanto em florestas intactas quanto nas afetadas por atividades humanas, como a exploração de madeira. Nessa atividade, é recomendado o corte dos cipós ligados à árvore escolhida, para reduzir os danos às demais durante a queda. Conhecer a ecologia desse grupo de plantas e seu adequado manejo é essencial para entender as conseqüências do seu corte e para cumprir as metas de conservação da biodiversidade incluídas nos projetos de manejo de florestas tropicais.

Response Of Sagebrush Steppe Species To Elevated Co2 And Soil Temperature, Melissa S. Lucash, Blake Farnsworth, William E. Winner

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Elevated atmospheric CO₂ may cause long-term changes in the productivity and species composition of the sagebrush steppe. Few studies, however, have evaluated the effects of increased CO₂ on growth and physiology of species important to this ecosystem. Since the response of plants to elevated CO₂ may be limited by environmental factors, soil temperature was also examined to determine if low soil temperatures limit CO₂ response. To determine how CO₂ and soil temperature affect the growth of species native to the sagebrush steppe, bottlebrush squirreltail [Elymus elymoides (Raf.) Swezey], Thurber needlegrass (Stipa thurberiana Piper), …

Temporal Variation In Nutrient Uptake Capacity By Intact Roots Of Mature Loblolly Pine, Melissa S. Lucash, J. Devereux Joslin, Ruth D. Yanai

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Nutrient uptake is generally thought to exhibit a simple seasonal pattern, but few studies have measured temporal variation of nutrient uptake capacity in mature trees. We measured net uptake capacity of K, NH+ 4, NO 3 −, Mg and Ca across a range of solution concentrations by roots of mature loblolly pine at Calhoun Experimental Forest in October 2001, July 2001, and April 2002. Uptake capacity was generally lowest in July; rates in October were similar to those in April. Across a range of concentrations, antecedent nutrient solution concentrations affected the temporal patterns in uptake in July but not in …

Attacking The Ncaa's Anti-Transfer Rules As Covenants Not To Compete, Ray Yasser, Clay Fees

Articles, Chapters in Books and Other Contributions to Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Energy Aware Topology Control Protocols For Wireless Sensor Networks, Shilpa Dhar

LSU Master's Theses

Wireless Sensor Network has emerged as an important technology of the future due to its potential for application across a wide array of domains. The collaborative power of numerous autonomousremote sensing nodes self configured into a multi hop network permits in-depth accurate observation of any physical phenomenon. A stringent set of computational and resource constraints make the design and implementation of sensor networks an arduous task. The issue of optimizing the limited and often non-renewable energy of sensor nodes due to its direct impact on network lifetime dominates every aspect of wireless sensor networks. Existing techniques for optimizing energy consumption …

Adhesion Of Copper To Poly(Tetrafluoroethylene) And Fluorinated Ethylene Propylene Copolymer Surfaces Modified With Vacuum Uv Radiation From Helium Arc Plasma, Zheng Sun

Theses

Teflon materials including poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE) and poly (tetrafluoroethylene-co-hexafluoropropylene) (FEP) were exposed to vacuum UV (VUV) radiation from a He DC arc plasma that was made to rotate inside of a graphite tube by the application of an auxiliary magnetic field. The polymer films were covered with optical filters having different cut-off wavelengths to vary the spectrum of the VUV radiation that modified the fluoropolymer surface. The properties of the surface changed after surface modification as follows: (1) water contact angles started to decrease in the wavelength region between 173 and 160 nm and continued to decrease with shorter wavelengths; (2) …

Utilizing Neural Networks To Proactively Monitor Energy Usage In City Of Rochester Buildings, Brian J. Gillis

Theses

Energy usage within buildings in the United States is a very important topic because of the current price of natural gas, steam, and electricity and the ever-increasing depletion of fossil fuels. Therefore, it is necessary to carefully analyze building energy consumption. Currently, there are several methods used for analyzing a solitary building's energy usage. One method involves the use of a neural network (NN) model. The current use of NN for building energy prediction typically requires the collection of hourly energy usage data from a single building using data loggers during several different seasons and occupancy levels in order to …

Application Of Phenology To Assist In Hyperspectral Species Classification Of A Northern Hardwood Forest, Gretchen Sprehe

Theses

Tree species have unique spectral reflectance patterns that allows them to be both compared to other objects and to other types of trees. Increasing the spectral separation of such images may assist with surveying and forestry inventories. In past studies, most classifications were done with summer leaves, which darken and become very similar shades of green. This study utilized the phenology of trees to investigate how the changing colors of young or senescing leaves may assist in species classification based on aerial images. Images were taken of the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, which is mainly dominated by sugar maple (Acer …

Transformable Shoes, Wannida Nivartvong

Theses

Not Included