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Good Men Grow Corn: Embodied Ecological Heritage And Health In A Belizean Mopan Community, Kristina Linda Baines

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent developments in land rights and land use in the Toledo district, Belize has generated anthropological and activist interest surrounding traditional ecological knowledge and practice, and the role of heritage in communities. This study explores the connection between ecological knowledge and practices, and the concurrent construction of heritage, and community health and wellness, broadly defined. Developing and using the concept of "embodied ecological heritage," this dissertation takes a phenomenological approach to understanding the convergence of ecological heritage and health in multiple realms of everyday life, arguing that lived experience of participating in "traditional" practices is fundamentally connected to wellness in …

Cloning Of The Gene, Purification As Recombinant Protein And Functional Characterization Of Leishmania Mexicana Cytochrome B5 Reductase, Ala Azhari

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Leishmania are protozoan parasites that are transmitted by a sand fly vector. These parasites affect not only humans but also wild animals including domestic dogs and rodents, which form an additional challenge and public health problem to control the disease. Leishmaniasis is an important disease with worldwide distribution, including Saudi Arabia, the Middle East, and other tropical and subtropical areas around the world. Due to the expansion of irrigation and agricultural activities, more exposure to sand fly occurs, which leads to the expansion of leishmaniasis infections as newly emerging disease.

Emerging drug resistance in leishmaniasis is an additional problem, contributed …

Drug Discovery From Floridian Mangrove Endophytes, Jeremy Beau

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A significant challenge of the 21st century is the growing health threat stemming from drug-resistant infectious diseases. There is an undeniable need to discover new, safe and effective drugs with novel mechanisms of action to combat this threat. A study of drugs currently on the market showed that natural products account for approximately 75% of new anti-infective drugs, either as new agents or analogs based upon their structure. Unfortunately, major pharmaceutical companies have cut back tremendously in natural products research in part due to the frustrating obstacle of frequent rediscovery of compounds. Fungi in particular are difficult to work with …

Synthesis And Anti-Mrsa Activity Of Hydrophilic C3-Acylated N-Thiolated Β-Lactams And N-Acyl Ciprofloxacin-N-Thiolated Β-Lactam Hybrids, Biplob Bhattacharya

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Turos laboratory has been working with N-thiolated β-lactams for years trying to understand the mode of action and structural features it needs to have biological activity. Over the years new data has shown promising inhibitory activity against various microbes.

In this dissertation, a review of the vast amount of work carried out on N-thiolated β-lactams in Turos laboratory has been done and their novelty, in terms of structure and mechanism has been discussed. A complete outline of our work in the discovery and ongoing development of these compounds, starting from our initial, unexpected finding of antimicrobial activity for one …

Stable Carbon Isotope Discrimination By Rubisco Enzymes Relevant To The Global Carbon Cycle, Amanda J. Boller

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Five different forms of ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RubisCO; IA, IB, IC, ID, II), the carboxylase of the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle (CBB), are utilized by plants, algae and autotrophic bacteria for carbon fixation. Discrimination against ¹³C by RubisCO is a major factor dictating the stable carbon isotopic composition (δ¹³C = {[¹³C/¹²C sample/¹³C/¹²C standard] - 1} X 1000) of biomass. To date, isotope discrimination, expressed as ε values (={[¹²k/¹³k] - 1} X 1000; ¹²k and ¹³k …

Optimization Of An Advanced Water Treatment Plant: Bromate Control And Biofiltration Improvement, Dustin William Bales

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The David L. Tippin Water Treatment Facility (DLTWTF) serving the city of Tampa, Florida is an advanced drinking water treatment facility consisting of coagulation/flocculation, ozonation, granular activated carbon biofiltration, and disinfection by chloramine. New regulations and the recent economic crisis pushed the facility to investigate methods to decrease costs and meet regulatory requirements easier.

The two major issues identified as priorities for investigation were the optimization of the biofiltration system and the use of a novel process to reduce the formation of bromate during ozonation.

Optimization of the biofiltration system is needed to remove more of the assorted particles that …

Bayesian Inference On Mixed-Effects Models With Skewed Distributions For Hiv Longitudinal Data, Ren Chen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Statistical models have greatly improved our understanding of the pathogenesis of HIV-1 infection

and guided for the treatment of AIDS patients and evaluation of antiretroviral (ARV) therapies.

Although various statistical modeling and analysis methods have been applied for estimating the

parameters of HIV dynamics via mixed-effects models, a common assumption of distribution is

normal for random errors and random-effects. This assumption may lack the robustness against

departures from normality so may lead misleading or biased inference. Moreover, some covariates

such as CD4 cell count may be often measured with substantial errors. Bivariate clustered

(correlated) data are also commonly encountered in …

Can You Believe She Did That?!:Breaking The Codes Of "Good" Mothering In 1970s Horror Films, Jessica Michelle Collard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The threats found in horror films change with time, each decade consisting of threats that were most frightening for the time period. Horror film scholars, such as Andrew Tudor, determined that in 1970s horror films the threat has migrated from external forces into the home and the family. Invading aliens and monsters were thrown replaced by psychosis and evil children. This notion of making the familiar unfamiliar and threatening is paralleled in concerns addressed during the second-wave of feminism; women were making the normative and familiar idea of mother unfamiliar as they migrated from the private and into the public …

Talking About Talk: The Problem Of Communication As An Object Of Study In Public Participation Research, Lauren Leigh Cutlip

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

When citizens participate in risk assessment and decision-making for environmental and other issues that affect members of the public, more robust decisions may be made. Public participation in policy decisions is not only more democratic, but it also enables members of the public to contribute valuable expertise to the decision-making process. However, the development of an effective forum for such participatory projects has been difficult. Participation mechanisms that foster dialogue and interactive exchange between participants have been regarded as the most beneficial, but the practical application of these mechanisms has been observed to be problematic. The goal of this study …

The Effects Of Food Insecurity On Mental Wellbeing In Monteverde Costa Rica, Robert Eugene Cowherd

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The rapid expansion of ecotourism in the Monteverde zone of Costa Rica has increased the incidence in food insecurity in the area. Changes in food preferences and availability have led to a more homogenized diet that is increasingly delocalized and reliant on processed foods. Additionally, there has been a rapid economic shift away from agricultural and dairy farming to an economy more reliant on tourism. This NSF supported study builds upon data from a longitudinal investigation (#BNS 0753017) examining the nutritional effects of this rapid economic transition. Using a mixed methods approach, a culturally appropriate scale of stress was developed …

The Relationship Between The Social Construction Of Race And The Black/White Test Score Gap In, Toriano M. Dempsey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This research is an investigation into the relationship between the resegregation of American

public schools and the social creation of race. This research is based on the popular notion that

American public schools are failing to produce students capable of competing in today's global society.

The proof most often used to assert the failure of American public schools is the Black/White Test Score

Gap. For the purposes of this research the Black/White Test Score Gap is defined as the gap between

the scores on academic standardized tests between Black public school students and White public school

students regardless of …

Digital Holographic Measurement Of Nanometric Optical Excitation On Soft Matter By Optical Pressure And Photothermal Interactions, David C. Clark

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation we use digital holographic quantitative phase microscopy to observe and measure phase-only structures due to induced photothermal interactions and nanoscopic structures produced by photomechanical interactions. Our use of the angular spectrum method combined with off-axis digital holography allows for the successful hologram acquisition and processing necessary to view these phenomena with nanometric and, in many cases, subnanometric precision. We show through applications that this has significance in metrology of bulk fluid and interfacial properties.

Our accurate quantitative phase mapping of the optically induced thermal lens in media leads to improved measurement of the absorption coefficient over existing …

Crack Analysis In Silicon Solar Cells, Maria Ines Echeverria Molina

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Solar cell business has been very critical and challenging since more efficient and low costs materials are required to decrease the costs and to increase the production yield for the amount of electrical energy converted from the Sun's energy. The silicon-based solar cell has proven to be the most efficient and cost-effective photovoltaic industrial device. However, the production cost of the solar cell increases due to the presence of cracks (internal as well as external) in the silicon wafer. The cracks of the wafer are monitored while fabricating the solar cell but the present monitoring techniques are not sufficient when …

Variability In Hydrology And Ecosystem Properties And Their Role In Regulating Soil Organic Matter Stability In Wetlands Of West-Central Florida, Sharon Jean Feit

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Soil organic matter (SOM) provides many ecosystem services that are necessary for continued ecosystem function. The accumulation of SOM in an ecosystem is a function of its persistence time which can range from days to thousands of years. Ecosystem properties including dominant vegetation type, soil texture, and soil moisture in various habitats can regulate the persistence time of SOM.

Wetlands, because of their associated ecosystem properties, promote SOM accumulation, but little has been done to determine the ecosystem properties that regulate its persistence over time. In west-central Florida, urbanization and increased water demands have suppressed water tables in isolated wetland …

Aberrant Sialylation Alters Cardiac Electrical Signaling, Andrew Ednie

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the heart, electrical signaling is responsible for its rhythmicity and is necessary to initiate muscle contraction. The net electrical activity in a cardiac myocyte during a contraction cycle is observed as the action potential (AP), which describes a change in membrane potential as a function of time. In ventricular cardiac myocytes, voltage-gated sodium channels (Nav) and voltage-gated potassium channels (Kv) play antagonistic roles in shaping the AP with the former initiating membrane depolarization and the latter repolarizing it. Functional changes in the primary cardiac Nav isoform, Nav 1.5, or any one of the many Kv isoforms expressed in the …

Shape-Shifting Surfaces For Rapid Release And Direct Stamping Of Organized Micro-Tissues, Samuel James Dupont

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The primary aim of the research in this study is to develop a robust and simple platform for the in vitro organization of cells on surfaces which facilitate rapid cell release and allows for the direct stamping of highly organized micro-tissues. Current approaches towards this goal have been very successful but are lengthy and subject cells to harsh conditions for extended periods of time raising questions regarding cell health and maintenance of physiological state. To address these concerns a platform was developed to allow for rapid cell release by utilizing a release mechanism different from previous work.

Micron-scale structures comprised …

Targeting Α4 Integrin Containing Complexes In Multiple Myeloma Using Peptidomimetics, Michael Foster Emmons

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In our previous work we demonstrated that the integrin antagonist, HYD1, induced necrotic cell death in myeloma cell lines in vitro and in vivo as a single agent. In order to further delineate biomarkers of response to HYD1 we developed an isogenic drug resistant variant named H929-60. We show that the acquisition of resistance towards HYD1 correlates with reduced expression of the cleaved α4 integrin subunit and beta 1 integrin. Moreover, we demonstrate that HYD1 interacts with α4 integrin in myeloma cells. Consistent with reduced VLA-4 expression, the resistant variant showed ablated functional binding to fibronectin, VCAM-1 and the bone …

Assessment Of Diver Impact During The Spiny Lobster Sport Season, Florida Keys, Usa, Mark Lewis Hartman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Spiny Lobster (Panulirus argus) fishery in Florida is closed during the spawning season (March-July) except for a two-day recreational `miniseason' for sport divers in July, several days prior to the opening of the commercial fishing season. In Monroe County, recreational fishers, who possess a valid Saltwater Fishing License with crawfish stamp, are allowed to harvest six lobsters per day, each with a minimum carapace length of 76.2 mm (3.0 inches). During these two days, approximately 50,000 people attempt to catch lobster, and the number of boats visiting the reef has been estimated to be up to 900 times higher …

Stable Isotope Analysis Of Busycon Sinistrum To Determine Fort Walton-Period Seasonality At St. Joseph Bay, Northwest Florida, Ryan Michael Harke

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Recent archaeological investigations indicate that coastal Fort Walton cultures in the St. Joseph Bay region of northwest Florida emphasized marine and estuarine foraging. These late prehistoric (A.D. 1000-1500) peoples collected fish, shellfish, and other aquatic resources. At the Richardson's Hammock site (8Gu10), radiocarbon-dated to about A.D. 1300, as at dozens of other shell middens around this salty bay, large gastropods were a major subsistence component. This adaptation is in sharp contrast with that of contemporaneous inland Fort Walton societies, who relied on maize agriculture. It is unknown whether coastal groups represent separate hunter-gatherer-fisher populations or seasonal migrations by inland …

Thermal Determinants Of Nest Site Selection In Loggerhead Sea Turtles, Caretta Caretta, At Casey Key, Florida, Lindsey Nicole Flynn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many environmental cues are thought to influence nest site selection by loggerhead sea turtles, Caretta caretta, and much debate exists over the possible influence of sand temperature. This study had two primary objectives: (1) to measure thermal differences across transects of a major nesting beach of Casey Key (28.7 N, 82.3 W), Florida and (2) to evaluate thermal pattern variation that influenced nesting patterns of adult female loggerhead sea turtles. A secondary objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of infrared thermometers to collect sand surface temperatures in the field.

Temperature data were collected from 145 nest …

No Honor Among Snails: Conspecific Competition Leads To Incomplete Drill Holes In The Naticid Gastropod Neverita Delessertiana (R Cluz), Jack A. Hutchings

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The fossil record of drilling predation has been widely used to study predator-prey interactions and their relative importance on long-term evolutionary processes. Incomplete drill holes have been interpreted as indicators of failed attacks due to well-defended prey. However, this interpretation is based on pair-wise interactions between one predator and one prey, a condition commonly compromised in nature. The hypothesis that interference among drilling predators leads to an increase in the relative frequency of incomplete drill holes was tested in the laboratory using the naticid Neverita delessertiana (R cluz) and a common prey, the bivalve Chione elevata (Say). The experiment consisted …

Perceptions Of A Learning Organization And Factors Within The Work Environment That Influence Transfer Of Training In Law Enforcement, Yvonne Olive Hunter-Johnson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine law enforcement officers' perception of factors within the workplace that influence transfer of training and their perception of the organization being a learning organization. The study actually had three parts. First, it intended to investigate the perception of law enforcement officers regarding factors within their work environment that influence or impede the transfer of training process (specifically, organizational support and transfer climate/culture). Second, it intended to determine the perception of law enforcement officers concerning the promotion of their organization's learning practices, learning culture, and the continuous learning environment at an individual, …

Community As Metaphor: Dialectical Tensions Of A Racially Diverse Organization, Joseph Jacob Jenkins

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, a sense of community has declined throughout the United States. Common Point Community Church has responded to this trend by prioritizing "community" as an organizational metaphor. The present study explores how this metaphor is co-constructed through the communication practices of current organizational leaders and members. I begin this process, first, by positioning the study within existing literature on institutional theory, institutional legitimacy, community, community of practice, social construction of race, sensemaking, organizational metaphor, tension-centered approach, and dialectic theory. Building upon more than three years of ethnographic field work, I then outline the study's context and methodology. Next, …

Chiral Binol Metal Phosphate/Phosphoric Acid Catalyzed Enantioselective Addition Of Phosphorus And Sulfur Nucleophiles To Imines And Epoxides, Gajendrasingh Ingle

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The research presented in this dissertation focuses on chiral BINOL metal phosphatephosphoric acid catalyzed enantioselective additions of phosphorus and sulfur nucleophiles to imines and epoxides. In chapter 2, we reported a new method to synthesize chiral amino phosphine oxides. The reaction combines N-substituted imines and diphenylphosphine oxide catalyzed by chiral magnesium 9-antryl phosphate. A wide variety of aliphatic and aromatic aldimines substituted by electron neutral benzhydryl or dibenzocycloheptene groups were excellent substrates for the addition reaction. The imines protected with dibenzocycloheptene protecting group provided better enantioselectivity than those protected with benzhydryl group, while both imines gave comparable yields. Also, …

Development And Optimization Of Kinetic Target-Guided Synthesis Approaches Targeting Protein-Protein Interactions Of The Bcl-2 Family, Sameer Shamrao Kulkarni

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Kinetic target-guided synthesis (TGS) and in situ click chemistry are among unconventional discovery strategies having the potential to streamline the development of protein-protein interaction modulators (PPIMs). In kinetic TGS and in situ click chemistry, the target is directly involved in the assembly of its own potent, bidentate ligand from a pool of reactive fragments. Herein, we report the use and validation of kinetic TGS based on the sulfo-click reaction between thio acids and sulfonyl azides as a screening and synthesis platform for the identification of high-quality PPIMs. Starting from a randomly designed library consisting of nine thio acids and nine …

Archaeological Survey And Testing On St. Vincent Island, Northwest Florida, Elicia Victoria Kimble

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

St. Vincent Island is one of the barrier islands in the Florida panhandle between Apalachicola Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. The St. Vincent National Wildlife Refuge encompasses all 5000 hectares of the island. Archaeological fieldwork in the summer of 2009 included a survey of the entire island and a test unit at one of the island's richest sites. In spring of 2010 a second test unit was excavated at another archaeologically rich site. A total of 16 known sites were investigated and two newly discovered sites recorded. This research combines all these data with information obtained from existing artifact …

Precipitation Of Phosphate Minerals From Effluent Of Anaerobically Digested Swine Manure, Alex Y. Lin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Swine production represents approximately 40% of the world's meat production, and its wastes contain high concentrations of organic carbon, nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P). Anaerobic digestion is an increasingly popular technology for treating animal wastes while simultaneously generating energy. Its propagation and ability to solubilize organic N and P make adding a struvite recovery process attractive. Recovering struvite (MgNH4PO4) from anaerobically digested swine waste can address global P shortages, meet P discharge guidelines, and produce slow-release fertilizer, which can be sold for revenue.

Anaerobic digesters were operated with at organic loading rates of 3.4-3.9 g volatile solids per liter per …

Lenalidomide Targets The T-Cell Co-Stimulatory Pathway To Mediate Immune Modulation, Jessica Marie Mcdaniel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

T-cells are lymphocytes that make up part of the adaptive arm of the immune system, and are essential for efficient protection from and eradication of viruses and pathogens. T-cells not only play an important role in protection from external agents, but also regulate and prevent activation towards self-peptides and detect and remove erratically growing cells. Alterations in T-cell activation and suppression contribute to auto-immunity, immunocompromised disorders, and cancer progression.

The immune system, and T-cells in particular, provides daily surveillance, recognition and destruction of aberrant cells. Although the immune system is proficient at suppressing malignant progression, tumor cells acquire various methods …

Precarious Manhood And Men's Attributional Biases In Partner Conflict, Joshua Guy Lenes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A study investigated men and women's attributions of criticism, rejection, and threats to gender status in a fictitious partner conflict scenario in which the victim was either a man or a woman. The results indicated that in the context of a partner conflict scenario that ends in violence, greater perceived threats to gender status are attributed to a female victim who criticizes a man's manhood more than a male victim who criticizes a woman's womanhood. The results also revealed that women attribute greater amounts of criticism/rejection and gender status threat in a victim's statements toward an abuser than men do, …

Masculinity, Sexuality, And Soccer: An Exploration Of Three Grassroots Sport-For-Social-Change Organizations In South Africa, Sarah Theresa Mcghee

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Programs that utilize soccer as a tool for social change are steadily emerging throughout townships and rural areas in South Africa, the most economically disadvantaged areas of the country. In South Africa, grassroots sport-for-social-change organizations are compensating for failed government policies and programs that seek to help at-risk youth. As a result, program staff are often members of the community who are not versed in academic critiques of the use of sport in development initiatives. Additionally, much of the existing literature on sport-for-social-change champions the advancement of specific projects without asking critical research questions, which should include the appropriateness of …