Digital Commons Network^™

Differential Coupling Of Rgs3s And Rgs4 To Gpcr-Girk Channel Signaling Complexes, Cristina Jaén

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

'Regulators of G protein signaling' (RGS proteins) modulate the G proteincycle by enhancing the GTPase activity of Ga subunits. These changesaccelerate the kinetics of ion channel modulation by Gai/o-coupled receptors(GPCRs) such as the G protein-gated inward rectifier K+ (GIRK/Kir3) channel. Myexperiments indicate that a single cerebellar granule (CG) neuron, a cell type thatendogenously expresses GIRK channels is able to express a wide variety ofRGS proteins. I selected two of them, which are widely expressed andtranscriptionally regulated during pathophysiologic conditions, to compare theirfunctional properties. I originally described the differential modulatory effects oftwo RGS proteins, the RGS3 short isoform (RGS3s) and RGS4, …

Tampa’S Lafayette Street Bridge: Building A New South City, Lucy D. Jones

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The late nineteenth and early twentieth century was a time of dynamic social and political change for Tampa, a growing city on Florida's west coast. These changes led Tampa's commercial-civic elite to look beyond the law, the militia, and the church for ways to maintain their sense of order. This thesis illustrates non-violent enforcement of the status quo via public works, specifically bridge construction over the Hillsborough River. Over a period of three decades, three different bridges were built at the same place, at Lafayette Street. Each time the bridge was built or replaced, it was ostensibly for a different …

Effects Of A-Beta Immunotherapy And Omega-3 Fatty Acid Administration In Alzheimer’S Transgenic Mice, Maren T. Jensen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Major therapeutics against Alzheimer's disease (AD) are targeted towards reducing beta-amyloid in the brain and improving cognitive performance. Transgenic mouse models of AD have become critical in the development of such therapeutics to protect against or treat AD. This dissertation examined the potential protective effects of both active A-beta immunotherapy and dietary omega-3 fatty acid administration to AD transgenic mice. First, immunization with A-beta 1-42 from 2-16 1/2 months of age provided protection against cognitive impairment in APP/PS1 transgenic mice well into older age. At both adult (4 1/2-6 month) and aged (15-16 1/2 month) test points, an extensive 6-week …

Tyrosinase-Like Activity Of Several Alzheimer’S Disease Related And Model Peptides And Their Inhibition By Natural Antioxidants, Kashmir Singh Juneja

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Neurodegenerative diseases are associated with loss of neurons ultimately leading to a decline in brain function. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is considered one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders that affects 16 million people worldwide. The cause of the disease remains unknown, although significant evidence proposes the amyloid Beta-peptide (A-Beta) as a potential culprit. The binding of Cu2+ by the soluble fragments of A-Beta have shown to form Type-3 copper centers and catalyze the oxidation of catechol-containing neurotransmitters. Furthermore, the use of flavonoids as antioxidants to slow or inhibit the neurotransmitter oxidation has suggested further health benefits with their consumption. A …

A Comparability Analysis Of The National Nurse Aide Assessment Program, Peggy K. Jones

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

When an exam is administered across dual platforms, such as paper-and-pencil and computer-based testing simultaneously, individual items may become more or less difficult in the computer version (CBT) as compared to the paper-and-pencil (P&P) version, possibly resulting in a shift in the overall difficulty of the test (Mazzeo & Harvey, 1988). Using 38,955 examinees' response data across five forms of the National Nurse Aide Assessment Program (NNAAP) administered in both the CBT and P&P mode, three methods of differential item functioning (DIF) detection were used to detect item DIF across platforms. The three methods were Mantel-Haenszel (MH), Logistic Regression (LR), …

Spring Break: Image, Identity, And Consumer Culture In A Florida Rite Of Passage, Meeghan Kane

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a social history of spring break, examining the economic and social aspects of this youth culture phenomenon in Florida. Spring break follows the evolution of youth culture's increasingly complex relationship with an expanding consumer culture. I am exploring its many manifestations in music, film, and popular fiction, but also its rebellious expressions in the riots and arrests on Florida's beaches. I intend to focus on the small beach communities that were transformed by spring break, particularly Fort Lauderdale.Spring break in Florida dates back to the late 1920s in Palm Beach. Wealthy New England families spent their winters …

The Realism Of Hans Morgenthau, Brian A. Keaney

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis analyzes the life and career of Hans J. Morgenthau, commonly accepted as the father of the realist paradigm within the field of international relations. It does so by offering a dynamic revisionist account of the nature of Morgenthau's classical realism and suggests how the approach discussed might have wider application in the field of international relations. Traditional perspectives of Morgenthau suggest that in the course of his career, he changed from holding what would generally be labeled a conservative political viewpoint to a liberal political viewpoint. This thesis takes a different starting point. It does so by suggesting …

Practical Applications Of Molecular Dynamics Techniques And Time Correlation Function Theories, Christina Ridley Kasprzyk

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The original research outlined in this dissertation involves the use of novel theoretical and computational methods in the calculation of molecular volume changes and non-linear spectroscopic signals, specifically two-dimensional infrared (2D-IR) spectroscopy. These techniques were designed and implemented to be computationally affordable, while still providing a reliable picture of the phenomena of interest. The computational results presented demonstrate the potential of these methods to accurately describe chemically interesting systems on a molecular level. Extended system isobaric-isothermal (NPT) molecular dynamics techniques were employed to calculate the thermodynamic volumes of several simple model systems, as well as the volume change associated with …

Investigations Of Fiber Optic Temperature Sensors Based On Yb:Y3Al5O12, Jermaine L. Kennedy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents the development of temperature sensors which employ a fiber-optic probe consisting of single crystal YB3BAlB5BOB12B (YAG) fiber with a phosphor of short length grown directly onto one end using the laser heated pedestal growth method. The response of all the crystalline temperature sensors derives from the temperature-dependent decay time of fluorescence. Yb3+P ions served as the fluorescer, while the addition of various rare-earth codopants (i.e., NdP3+ and ErP3+) with YbP3+ provided an additional path in the form of phonon assisted energy transfer. With the additional nonradiative decay path, the temperature sensors exhibited a more desirable response. A …

Measurement And Modeling Of Oxides Of Nitrogen From Vehicular Contributors, Kerstin Lesley Kenty

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this research was the examination of the emission and transformation of nitrogen oxides emitted from vehicles. Measured data for this experiment were collected from May 1 thru May 31, 2002, and were compared to values modeled with CALINE4. CALINE4 is a photochemical and dispersive model used to predict concentrations of NOX (NO+NO2) from line sources. The measurement campaign was coincident with the Bay Regional Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (BRACE). An ambient air quality monitoring site was constructed adjacent to Gandy Boulevard, in Tampa, FL. When comparisons of measured and modeled NO and NO2 values were made it was …

Measuring Culture: The Development Of A Multidimensional Culture Scale, Haitham A. Khoury

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fundamental to the debate of culture and its impact is the identification of the dimensions that comprise it. The impact of culture as an explanatory variable can be found in various social, scientific, and economic arenas, such as social perception, economic development, and the organization of industries and companies. By identifying and measuring these dimensions, researchers can then organize cultures empirically and develop complex descriptions of various cultures. The study aimed to test the structure of the dimensions proposed by Ho and Chiu (1994) by means of scale development. Test-item writers involved psychology graduate students of various nationalities with the …

Tropical Atlantic And Caribbean Climate Variations During The Past Eight Centuries, Kelly Halimeda Kilbourne

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Caribbean Sea is a key region from which to generate paleoclimate records because instrumental temperature data indicate that surface temperatures in the Caribbean region are correlated with global surface temperature. Heat and salt fluxes in the Caribbean have been implicated in major reorganizations in Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation on glacial time scales [Schmidt et al., 2004] and it has been proposed that the Tropical Atlantic (including the Caribbean Sea) may play a role in smaller-scale changes in the Atlantic basin [Vellinga and Wu, 2004]. A theme of past Caribbean paleoclimate research has been to hypothesize about the interaction between …

Structured Light For Three-Dimensional Microscopy, Leo G. Krzewina

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The conventional light microscope is an indispensable tool for many physical and life science applications, but is of limited usefulness for three-dimensional imaging due to its increasingly narrow depth of field at high magnifications. Focused regions may be obscured by defocused neighbors or noise from extraneous light sources and subsurface scattering. By rejecting light originating from outside the depth of focus it is possible to minimize these problems. When a contiguous series of such focused slices, or optical sections, are obtained along an axis of an extended object they may be combined to form a complete, focused three-dimensional surface image. …

Part-Time Faculty Job Satisfaction: A Study Of The Influence Of Instructional Technology On Part-Time Faculty In Post-Secondary Institutions, John P. Kurnik

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 1990, two-year colleges nationwide reported that approximately 38% of their faculty were part-time. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics' (NCES) 1999 National Study of Post-Secondary Faculty (NSOPF), this percentage continues to rise, and currently exists at 40% or more in some two-year and four-year institutions. To retain competent, qualified, and successful teachers, it is critical for higher education administrators to determine factors that may contribute to part-time faculty's job satisfaction. This study investigated whether the use of instructional technology for curriculum delivery affected part-time faculty job satisfaction by investigating four specific areas that may be affected. The …

Occupancy And Function Of The Hepatic Hmg-Coa Reductase Promoter, William Raymond Lagor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

HMG-CoA reductase (HMGR) catalyzes the rate controlling step in cholesterol production. This enzyme is highly expressed in the liver where it is subject to extensive hormonal and dietary regulation. This study was undertaken to examine the occupancy and function of the hepatic HMGR promoter in regards to insulin and sterol regulation. HMGR protein and mRNA are substantially decreased in diabetic animals and rapidly restored by administration of insulin. Nuclear run-on assays revealed that HMGR transcription was substantially reduced in the diabetic rats, and fully restored within two hours after insulin treatment. In vivo footprinting revealed several areas of protein binding …

Variation In Pediatric Gastroenteritis Admissions Among Florida Counties, 1995-2002, Jean Lee

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: Hospitalizations for pediatric gastroenteritis are considered potentially avoidable and are used to monitor access and quality of primary care for children. Previous reports have found pediatric gastroenteritis admissions higher in Florida compared to the South and the nation.Purpose: The purpose of this project was to explore variation in county admission rates for pediatric gastroenteritis related to non-clinical factors in Florida during 1995-2002. Specific aims included identifying the unique contributions of county socioeconomic characteristics and availability of primary care resources to annual county pediatric gastroenteritis hospital admission rates. Method: The study was retrospective and longitudinal assessing variation in annual county …

Three Science Teacher Educators With Elementary Teaching Experience: What Do We Bring To Science Teacher Education?, Cyndy S. Leard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research explored the common experiences, values, and beliefs of three science teacher educators with elementary teaching experience and how these commonalities influenced their thinking about teaching preservice elementary teachers. This qualitative study used a life story approach and included an autobiographical component. Data were collected through interviews, observations, and archival records. The findings were shared in eight chronologically ordered vignettes that portrayed an individual representing a composite of the participants. The participants shared numerous life experiences including: growing up in small towns, having older parents, being part of a two sibling family, having strong female role models, learning science …

Measuring Social Stressors In Organizations: The Development Of The Interpersonal Conflict In Organizations Scale (Icos), Valentina Bruk Lee

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Interpersonal conflict in organizations has been recognized as a leading social stressor across occupations with detrimental effects on employee well-being and organizational outcomes. However, reliable and valid measures of conflict are scarce and even the most widely used scales are limited by weaknesses in construct definition. In order to address the need for an improved measurement tool, the 63-item Interpersonal Conflict in Organizations Scale (ICOS) was developed. The ICOS was based on a comprehensive conceptualization of conflict that defines the construct on the basis of three definitional components: disagreement, interference, and negative emotion (Barki & Hartwick, 2004). In addition, the …

The Signature Poetics Of Sharon Olds And John Cage, Walter E. Lewallen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation studies and applies the signature theory of Jacques Derrida to two American poets, Sharon Olds and John Cage. I begin by looking at the two texts by Derrida that most closely apply signature theory to poetics: Glas and Signsponge. Along the way, I narrow the scope of Derrida's writing somewhat by focusing on psychoanalytic aspects that relate to Jacques Lacan's ideas and to the concept of the superego. From this work I isolate some protocols for reading, which are then used to study Olds and Cage, two poets who have clearly developed their own signature styles. Here are …

An Evaluation Of A Pedagogical Reform Designed For College Chemistry Teaching With Large Classes, Scott Edwin Lewis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This work presents an evaluation of a reform teaching practice, known as peer-led guided inquiry, that combines guided inquiry and cooperative learning for college chemistry teaching. Integral to implementing the reform in a large class (greater than 100 students) was the role of peer leaders, undergraduate students who have successfully completed the target course. These peer leaders facilitated cooperative learning groups during weekly guided inquiry activities in general chemistry. The evaluation, using data collected over a 3-year period, had two main foci: effective teaching and promotion of equity in the classroom. Both of these aims were evaluated using hierarchical linear …

Saharan Dust And Phosphatic Fidelity: A Three Dimensional Biogeochemical Model Of Trichodesmium On The West Florida Shelf, Jason M. Lenes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The availability of iron within the surface waters of the broad, oligotrophic West Florida shelf (WFS) controls periodic blooms of the pelagic marine cyanobacterium Trichodesmium. Summer delivery of iron (Fe), in the form of Saharan dust, alleviates this growth constraint, shifting limitation to the efficiency of phosphorus (P) cycles. Florida's rivers drain Miocene phosphorus deposits to supply the WFS with freshwater nutrient supplies at molar dissolved inorganic nitrogen/phosphate (DIN/PO4) ratios of less than 6. These diazotrophs draw upon ubiquitous stocks of dissolved nitrogen gas, once stimulated by Fe-deposition within P-replete waters of the West Florida shelf. An extensive in situ …

Future Foreign Language Teachers' Social And Cognitive Collaboration In An Online Environment, Nike Arnold, Lara Ducate

Applied Linguistics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Discussion boards provide an interactive venue where new and future language teachers can reflect, evaluate, solve problems or simply exchange ideas (e.g., Bonk, Hansen, Grabner-Hagen, Lazar, & Mirabelli, 1996; DeWert, Babinski, & Jones, 2003; Kumari, 2001; Pawan, Paulus, Yalcin, & Chang, 2003). In addition, encouraging future teachers to learn with technology before teaching with it allows them to become comfortable using various computer applications.

This article examines transcripts from a semester-long asynchronous discussion between foreign language methodology classes at two different universities. Social and cognitive presence in the discussions was analyzed using Garrison, Anderson, and Archer's Framework of a Community …

Evaluation Of The Operational Effects Of U-Turn Movement, Pan Liu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In Florida, the increased installation of non-traversable medians and directional median opening has produced an increased number of U-turns on multilane highways. Arguments have been advanced by some opponents of median modification projects that the increased numbers of U-turns may result in safety and operational problems on multilane highways. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the operational effects of U-turn movement on multilane roadways. To achieve this research objective, extensive data were collected. Field measurements were conducted at 40 sites in the Tampa Bay area of Florida to collect traffic operations data. Besides, the crash histories of …

Electrically Charged Sol-Gel Coatings For On-Line Preconcentration And Analysis Of Zwitterionic Biomolecules By Capillary Electrophoresis, Wen Li

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Novel on-line methods are presented for the extraction, preconcentration and analysis of zwitterionic biomolecules using sol-gel-coated columns coupled to a conventional UV/visible detector. The presented approaches do not require any additional modification of the commercially available standard CE instrument. Extraction, stacking, and focusing techniques were used in the preconcentration procedures. The positively charged sol-gel coatings were created using N-octadecyldimethyl[3-(trimethoxysilyl) proply]ammonium chloride (C18-TMS) in the coating sol solutions. Due to the presence of a positively charged quaternary ammonium moiety in C18-TMS, the resulting sol-gel coating carried a positive charge. The negatively charged sol-gel coatings were due to the presence of sulfonate …

Breathing Easier: Ethnographic Study Of Acute Respiratory Infection In Children In Rural Ecuador, John S. Luque

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation research utilizes anthropological methods to determine the degree to which the signs and symptoms female caregivers identify as causes of acute respiratory infections (ARIs) in under-fives in rural Ecuador correspond with Western biomedical categories. By employing both a semi-structured medical history questionnaire and more open-ended ethnographic methods such as in-depth informant interviews and focus group research, the researcher identifies the factors which determine timely health care-seeking behaviors of female caregivers in this case study. Economic factors such as the cost of medications and lost work hours were determined to be the primary financial obstacles for timely health care-seeking. …

Copper And Iron Complexes Of Linear And Crosslinked Polymers As Catalysts For Phosphoester Hydrolysis And Oxidative Transformation Of Phenolic And Catecholic Substrates, Vasiliki Lykourinou

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study is to utilize polymers as macromolecular ligands for the construction of catalysts by formation of coordination complexes with transition metals with the main focus on complexes of Cu(II) and Fe(III) and further determine (a) their catalytic efficiency (b) mechanism of action (c) similarities to enzymatic systems and synthetic metal complexes. The reactions of interest are (1) hydrolytic cleavage of a series of phosphoesters(2) oxidation of catechol type of substrates (3) hydroxylation of phenolic substrates and chlorinated phenols (4) activation of molecular oxygen and/ or hydrogen peroxide (5)oxidative cleavage of DNA plasmid.

The major premise of …

Explaining Gender Differences In Salary Negotiations, Meisha -Ann Martin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The current study explores the effects of gender on salary negotiation behaviors and expectancies and the relationship between these variables and starting salary outcomes. College students from a variety of different majors were surveyed prior to and then approximately two to four months after graduation. Though there was no gender difference in final salary or difference between initial and final salary offer, men reported using more aggressive and active salary negotiation behaviors. The results also suggest that men may have felt more empowered in the salary negotiation context. They expected higher salaries than women did, anticipated less discomfort and believed …

The Role Of The Home Literacy Environment In The Development Of Early Literacy Skills And School Readiness In Kindergarten Children From Low Socioeconomic And Minority Families, Nicole R. Martin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study investigated the relationship between two predictor variables and children's Dynamic Indicators of Basic Literacy Initial Sound Fluency (ISF) and Letter Naming Fluency (LNF) scores, as well as Early Screening Inventory-Kindergarten (ESI-K) scores. The two predictor variables were 1) parents' perception of their home literacy environment, and 2) parental beliefs about the importance of literacy (race had to be dropped out of the study due to the limited amount of participants per race variable). The participants were 68 kindergarten students and their parents from two schools in a school district in West Central Florida. Results showed that the …

Quantitative Biological Microscopy By Digital Holography, Christopher J. Mann

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, improved techniques in digital holography, that have produced high-resolution, high-fidelity images, are discussed. In particular, the angular spectrum method of calculating holographic optical field is noted to have several advantages over the more commonly used Fresnel transformation or Huygens convolution method. It is observed that spurious noise and interference components can be tightly controlled through the analysis and filtering of the angular spectrum. In the angular spectrum method, the reconstruction distance does not have a lower limit, and the off-axis angle between the object and reference waves can be lower than that of the Fresnel requirement, while …

Moderating Effect Of Negative Affectivity On The Job Satisfaction-Turnover Intentions And Justice-Turnover Intentions Relationships, Joseph J. Mazzola

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although many people experiences dissatisfaction with their jobs at some time or another, not all of them quit their jobs because of it. Why do some employees simply continue to work in an unsatisfying environment? In this study, it is hypothesized that part of the reason is based on the individual's personality, specifically their scores on positive and negative affectivity. Results showed that neither NA nor PA moderated the relationship between job satisfaction and turnover intentions/job search, contrary to previous literature. This study suggests that the moderation effect of personality on this relationship, either does not exist or is more …