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Nietzsche And Heidegger On The Cartesian Atomism Of Thought, Steven Burgess

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My dissertation has two main parts. In the first half, I draw out an underlying presupposition of Descartes' philosophy: what I term "atomism of thought." Descartes employs a radical procedure of doubt in order to show that the first principle of his philosophy, the cogito, is an unshakeable foundation of knowledge. In the dialogue that follows his dissemination of the Meditations, Descartes reveals that a whole set of concepts and rational principles innate in our minds are never doubted. These fundamental units of thought are indivisible, distinct, and isolated, and enable the possibility of any rational demonstration. Atoms of …

Prediction Of The Performance Of A Flexible Footing On A Stone-Column Modified Subgrade, Justin Callahan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

When foundations are designed on weak clay layers, it is a common practice to modify the subgrade by installing stone columns. Currently used methods for determining the level of ground modification, represented by the percentage of soil replaced (replacement ratio), assume a rigid foundation. These analytical methods provide the designer with the potential settlement reduction based on the compressibility parameters of the subgrade and the replacement ratio. The deficiencies of these methods are the assumption of rigidity of the foundation and the consideration of the settlement reduction as the only design criterion. Furthermore, they do not consider the effects that …

The Harm Of Influence: When Exposure To Homosexuality Elicits Anger And Punishment Tendencies, Timothy Andrew Caswell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the current project, I examined the distinct elicitors and behavioral outcomes of anti-gay anger and anti-gay disgust. The CAD triad hypothesis (Rozin, Lower, Imada, & Haidt, 1999) suggests that anger and disgust are elicited by distinct moral violations and cognitive appraisals. A plethora of research has documented the strong link between disgust and sexual prejudice, but very little attention has been given to the role of anger in sexual prejudice. The biocultural framework of stigmatization (Neuberg, Smith, & Asher, 2000) suggests that people who counter-socialize against prevailing social norms are stigmatized by others. If homosexual sexual behavior does not …

Daily Recovery From Work: The Role Of Guilt, Eunae Cho

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Acknowledging the critical role that occupational factors play in employee health, researchers have tried to understand ways to reduce the harmful effects of work on employee health. As the process by which individuals recharge resources that have been depleted, recovery has been recognized as important due to its potential to mitigate the negative effects of work on employee well-being. Although the recovery literature has continued to grow, many questions remain unanswered. The purpose of the present study was to expand our knowledge of recovery by examining situational (job characteristics) and individual (trait guilt) predictors of recovery and investigating psychological attributes …

Faculty Perceptions Of The Importance Of Internationalizing The General Education Curriculum In The Florida College System, Bonnie M. Clark

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the attitudes of community college general education faculty members regarding their perceptions of the importance of internationalizing the general education curriculum and to what extent those perceptions are related to their attitudes toward globalization. The study further examined the degree to which faculty members perceive that they are incorporating the teaching of global competencies into their courses. Finally, the study looked at faculty members' perceptions of administrative support - both from the perspective of what they felt their college should be doing to support internationalization and what their college was actually doing …

Risk Assessment Of Driving Safety In Long Scaled Bridge Under Severe Weather Conditions, Shengdi Chen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Weather conditions have certain impacts on roadway traffic operations, especially traffic safety. Bridges differ from most surface streets and highways in terms of their physical properties and operational characteristics. This research assess the driving risk under different weather conditions through focus group firstly, then it develops a multi-ordered discrete choice model that is used to analyze and evaluate driving risks under both single and dual weather conditions. The data is derived from an extensive questionnaire survey in Shanghai. And the questionnaire includes those factors related to roadway, drivers, vehicles, and traffic that may have significant impacts on traffic safety under …

"It's This Simple, You Really Have To Want To Be Together": A Qualitative Study Of African American Military Couples, Emelda Curry

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent studies have reported that African American couples in the military are less likely to divorce than their civilian counterparts. This dissertation was designed to document the experiences of African American military couples in order to understand the challenges they face while serving in the armed forces and the strategies they have used to maintain their marriages. A grounded theory approach was utilized to produce 12 main themes that categorize experiences of both the individual and the couple within the context of their respective military branch. Photo-elicitation was incorporated into semi-structured interviews with 10 couples to identify what they consider …

The Relationship Among Career Thoughts, Optimism, And Spirituality In Women Diagnosed With Breast Cancer, Levette Subraina Dames

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the relationship of dysfunctional career thoughts, optimism, and spirituality on Bahamian women (n=212) diagnosed with breast cancer. Also, it examined how optimism mediates the relationship between spirituality and dysfunctional career thoughts. The diagnosis of breast cancer impacts women physically, psychologically, socially, spiritually, financially, and in their career development. Career developmental plans and decisions are continuously being made. However, plans may become altered and decisions more difficult to make when a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer as she considers returning to work. The high survival rate of breast cancer patients indicates women may continue to work after …

A Study On Lane-Change Recognition Using Support Vector Machine, Weiping Deng

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research focuses primary on recognition of lane-change behaviors using support vector machines (SVMs). Previous research and statistical results show that the vast majority of motor vehicle accidents are caused by driver behavior and errors. Therefore, the interpretation and evaluation of driver behavior is important for road safety analysis and improvement. The main limit to understanding driver behavior is the data availability. In particular, a full-scale lane-change data set is difficult to collect in a real traffic environment because of the safety and cost issues. Considering the data demands of the recognition model development and the obstacles of field data …

Hydrogen Storage In Hypercrosslinked Polystyrene And Li-Mg-N-H Complex Hydride, Dervis Emre Demirocak

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, hydrogen storage enhancement in hypercrosslinked polystyrene, effects of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) supported ruthenium (Ru) catalyst on the kinetics and ammonia suppression in the LiNH2-MgH2 complex hydride system and the accuracy of hydrogen storage measurements are investigated in detail.

High surface area physisorption materials are of interest for room temperature hydrogen storage enhancement by spillover. Six different commercially available hypercrosslinked polystyrenes are screened by considering the specific surface area, average pore size, pore volume, and adsorption enthalpy. MN270 is selected mainly due to its high surface area and narrow pores for investigation of the spillover enhancement …

Modeling State Transitions With Automata, Egor Dolzhenko

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Models based on various types of automata are ubiquitous in modern science. These models allow reasoning about deep theoretical questions and provide a basis for the development of efficient algorithms to solve related computational problems. This work discusses several types of automata used in such models, including cellular automata and mandatory results automata.

The first part of this work is dedicated to cellular automata. These automata form an important class of discrete dynamical systems widely used to model physical, biological, and chemical processes. Here we discuss a way to study the dynamics of one-dimensional cellular automata through the theory of …

Predicting Tablet Computer Use: An Extended Technology Acceptance Model, Adam J. Ducey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While information technology has rapidly changed work in the United States in the past 50 years, some businesses and industries have been slow to adopt new technologies. Healthcare is one industry that has lagged behind in information technology investment for a variety of reasons. Recent federal initiatives to encourage IT adoption in the healthcare industry provide an ideal context to study factors that influence technology acceptance. Data from 261 practicing pediatricians were collected to evaluate an extended Technology Acceptance Model. Results indicated that individual (i.e., perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use), organizational (i.e., subjective norm), and device (i.e., compatibility, reliability) …

A Warranted Domain Theory And Developmental Framework For A Web-Based Treatment In Support Of Physician Wellness, David Scott Donnelly

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study employed a design-based research methodology to develop a theoretically sound approach for designing instructional treatments. The instruction of interest addressed the broad issue of physician wellness among medical school faculty, with particular emphasis on physician self-diagnosis and self-care. The theoretically sound approach comprised a domain theory and design framework. The domain theory was posited subsequent to an examination of the literature, and subjected to expert examination through three cycles of instructional treatment development. The design framework for crafting the treatment was created from components of existing frameworks, and evolved with the cycles of development. The instructional treatment was …

Survivorship, Infertility And Parenthood: Experiencing Life After Cancer In Puerto Rico, Karen Elizabeth Dyer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While incidence rates are increasing for many cancers in Puerto Rico, mortality rates are declining (Torres-Cintron, et al. 2010), resulting in growing numbers of survivors and creating a situation in which long-term survivorship concerns are beginning to emerge as priorities. The importance of quality-of-life among survivors of cancer is increasingly being recognized among healthcare providers, although there remains a gap in knowledge of how young adult survivors cope with long-term treatment-related physical effects, such as infertility, and of the impact of cancer on survivors' social relationships and future goals.

Because understandings of "cancer survivorship," as well as of reproduction, vary …

The Efficacy Of Aggression Replacement Training With Female Juvenile Offenders In A Residential Commitment Program, Jody Anne Erickson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Female adolescents are increasingly being charged with crimes of violence, and the literature is lacking as to how best to reduce their aggressive tendencies. In the past, girls represented a small portion of all youths involved in criminal justice systems, and studies involving effective treatment options for them were rarely conducted.

Aggression Replacement Training® is a 10-week, evidence-based, group treatment intervention designed to advance moral reasoning, improve social skills, and manage angry feelings. Numerous outcome studies of Aggression Replacement Training® with both offending and non-offending male adolescents and with male and female adolescents together have yielded mixed results. The question …

Significance Is Bliss: A Global Feminist Analysis Of The Liberian Truth And Reconciliation Commission And Its Privileging Of Americo-Liberian Over Indigenous Liberian Women's Voices, Morgan Lea Eubank

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of my research is to analyze the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (LTRC) lack of attention towards accessing rural Liberian women's voices as opposed to privileged Liberian women residing in urban and Diaspora spaces. By analyzing the LTRC and its Final Report from a critical global feminist perspective, I was able to not only illuminate, but bring a spotlight over issues including access, privilege, and multicultural insensitivity related to Liberia's indigenous tribal cultures. Liberia, being a country founded by American colonials, is socially constructed by Western ideological norms. As Western ideology is mainly normalized and enforced by the …

The Professionalization And Practice Of Lactation Consulting: Medicalized Knowledge, Humanistic Care, Aimee R. Eden

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Breastfeeding support for mothers and their babies historically was the informal work of family and community members. In the United States today, breastfeeding support is embedded in the biomedical system, and is provided by a new allied health professional: the International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC). This dissertation explores this professionalization of breastfeeding support and the origins of this new profession. It studies how IBCLCs working in the U.S. cultural context perceive and practice the profession and examines the relationship between the profession of lactation consulting and the medicalization of breastfeeding. Oral history interviews with 17 founders of the profession, …

The Underrepresentation Of African American Women Faculty: A Phenomenological Study Exploring The Experiences Of Mcknight Doctoral Fellow Alumna Serving In The Professoriate, Dionne Jones Ferguson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While African American women have been participating in higher education for more than a century, they remain significantly underrepresented among college and university professors in America. This study was pursued in an attempt to address the underrepresentation of African American women faculty at public and private universities within the State of Florida. More importantly, the study aimed to examine the role of the McKnight Doctoral Fellowship program (MDFP) in assisting McKnight Doctoral Fellow alumna in doctoral degree attainment, preparing them for the professoriate and contributing toward their professional success. A phenomenological methodological approach was used for this study, which was …

A Study Of Permutation Polynomials Over Finite Fields, Neranga Fernando

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Let p be a prime and q = p^k. The polynomial g_n,q isin F_p[x] defined by the functional equation Sigma_{a isin Fq} (x+a)ⁿ = g_n,q(x^q- x) gives rise to many permutation polynomials over finite fields. We are interested in triples (n,e;q) for which g_n,q is a permutation polynomial of F_q^e. In Chapters 2, 3, and 4 of this dissertation, we present many new families of permutation polynomials in the form of g_n,q. The permutation behavior of g_n,q is becoming increasingly more …

The Effects Of Temporal Preparation On Reaction Time, Glen Robert Forester

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

When responding to external stimuli, preparation reduces Reaction Time (RT). One form of preparation known as temporal preparation results from advance knowledge about when a stimulus will appear. We used Event Related Potentials to investigate how increasing temporal preparation decreases RT during a speeded, choice RT task by manipulating temporal preparation within subjects. In order to determine which cognitive processes are speeded, the latencies of the Lateralized Readiness Potential (LRP) and P300 were examined across two levels of temporal preparation. In line with previous research the stimulus locked LRP, but not the response locked LRP, was speeded when temporal preparation …

The Role Of Consumer Gender Identity And Brand Concept Consistency In Evaluating Cross-Gender Brand Extensions, Laura Rose Frieden

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cross-gender brand extensions are a developing and valuable strategy that has quickly grown to become a vital component of strategic communications management. The goal of this study is to gain a greater insight on what makes for a successful cross-gender brand extension. In order to expand upon the Basic Model of Brand Extension Evaluation (Doust & Esfahlan, 2012), this study examines how marketing factors, more specifically product positioning, combined with consumer gender roles and brand concept, affect how consumers evaluate cross-gender brand extensions. In the past gender and brand concept have been studied within cross-gender brand extension research. Yet, the …

Proteolytic Processing Of The Amyloid Precursor Protein During Apoptosis And Cell Cycle: Implications For Alzheimer's Disease, Tina N. Fiorelli

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer's disease is characterized by the presence of amyloid plaques, made up primarily of Aϐ peptides, and neurofibrillary tangles, containing hyperphosphorylated tau. Aϐ is generated by sequential proteolysis of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) by beta and gamma secretases. The leading hypothesis of Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis is the amyloid cascade hypothesis, which suggests that amyloid is central to the disease process. However, tau pathology correlates more closely with cognitive dysfunction and follows a predictable anatomical course through the brain. We hypothesize that if Aϐ is upstream of tau pathology and tau pathology follows this predictable course through the brain, Aϐ …

Embodied Energy And Carbon Footprint Of Household Latrines In Rural Peru: The Impact Of Integrating Resource Recovery, Christopher M. Galvin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over seventy percent of the 2.5 billion people who still lack access to basic sanitation worldwide live in rural areas (WHO/UNICEF, 2012). Despite concerns of water scarcity, resource depletion, and climate change little research has been conducted on the environmental sustainability of household sanitation technologies common in rural areas of developing countries or the potential of resource recovery to mitigate the environmental impacts of these systems. The environmental sustainability, in terms of embodied energy and carbon footprint, was analyzed for four household sanitation systems: (1) Ventilated Improved Pit (VIP) latrine, (2) pour-flush latrine, (3) composting latrine, and (4) biodigester latrine. …

Analytical And Numerical Modeling Of Assembly Procedures Of Steel Fulcra Of Bascule Bridges, Sriharsha Garapati

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

To model shrink-fitting in metal components, an analytical model for two long compound cylinders with temperature dependent material properties and interference between them is developed for calculating transient temperatures and stresses. A finite element model is developed for the same geometry which incorporated the temperature dependent material properties. A convergence study is performed on the finite element and analytical model. The finite element model is validated by comparing the approximations of finite element model with the analytical solution.

In an assembly procedure of fulcrums for bascule bridges, called AP1, the trunnion is shrink-fitted into a hub, followed by shrink fitting …

Making A Difference In The Lives Of Students: Successful Teachers Of Students Of Color With Disabilities Or Who Are At-Risk Of Identification Of Disabilities At A High-Performing High-Poverty School, Tristan L. Glenn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Urban settings are described in scholarly literature as areas beset with high concentrations of poverty, high incidences of crime and violence, and are typically occupied by high percentages of people of color (McKinney, Flenner, Frazier, & Abrams, 2006; Mitcham, Portman, & Dean, 2009; Vera, 2011). For many children who live in low-income urban school districts, our educational system is failing them (McKinney, Flenner, Frazier, & Abrams, 2006). Swanson-Gehrke (2005) reported that at least two-thirds of these children fail to reach basic levels of achievement in reading. Such dismal achievement results may be attributed to a myriad of issues faced by …

Ecological Diversity In Hillsborough County, Florida: Correlations Between Landscape Metrics And Socio-Demographic Variables, David Godfrey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Landscape metrics, a means of quantifying landscape attributes, are frequently used in landscape ecology to describe the spatial characteristics of a landscape, but they have been less often used in anthropology. Using geographic information system (GIS) software, this study tests a method that investigates statistical correlations between groundcover landscape metrics and socio-demographic variables in Hillsborough County, Florida. Statistically significant correlations were found, illustrating the potential utility of this exploratory method. Wealthier areas with fewer ethnic minorities tend to be more fragmented and diverse in terms of groundcover; these areas also tend to have a lower percentage of impervious surfaces. The …

Organization Public Relationships On Social Media: The Experience Of Those Who "Like" Oreo On Facebook, Rodobaldo Miguel Gonzalez Iii

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite a growing amount of research on social media, little research has been conducted to investigate why consumers connect with brands on Facebook. As companies continue to expand their presence to the social networking website, a gap in research on social media has formed. This study focuses on consumer's connection with a brand on Facebook. To do this, this research focuses on the connection of consumers with Oreo on the website to identify the environment created that engages those who connect with the brand online. Oreo was selected as the focus of the research due to its popularity on Facebook …

Language Access Laws And Legal Issues: A Local Official's Guide, David Jung, Noemí O. Gallardo

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

State Courts And Transitory Torts In Transnational Human Rights Cases, Chimène Keitner

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Relationship Between Traffic Signals And Pedestrian, Bicyclist And Transit User Exposure In Urban Areas, Courtney Natasha Slavin

Dissertations and Theses

Improving the efficiency of traffic operations along arterials is currently a priority for many agencies as their roadway infrastructure is built out to the largest possible capacity within the urban environment. Many advanced systems are being implemented to optimize traffic signal timing. Air quality is typically not a consideration when these decisions are made. The relationship between exposure to air pollution and traffic signal timing has not been fully explored by other researchers. This study is the first research effort to combine detailed traffic signal timing data (at 5 second intervals) and air pollutant exposure data. Results show that longer …