Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Interface Modifications With Atomic Monolayer, Jayeeta Lahiri

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Personality And Adjustment To Assisted Living, Whitney L. Mills

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adjustment to assisted living does not always proceed smoothly, making it imperative to identify predictors of transition difficulties, such as personality factors. The sample for this cross sectional study included 64 older adults from ten assisted living communities in the southeast. The primarily white, well-educated, and female sample had an average age of 86 years. Correlation was used to examine relationships between individual personality factors (neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness) and adjustment. Factor analysis determined both the predictor variables and outcome variables for inclusion in regression analyses. The regression analyses examined the predictive capacity of personality relative to other …

Nearshore Marine Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction Of Southwest Florida During The Pliocene And Pleistocene, Jennifer Leigh Sliko

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Future climate change has been the subject of considerable speculation

with scientists called upon to predict timing, magnitude, and impact of these

changes.

The Pliocene Warm Period serves as the best-available, pre-modern

analog to predicted climate changes, and Pliocene climate anomalies are

examined as possible scenarios for future climate change. Comparing modern

conditions to the mean climate state of the Pliocene is essential for better

constrained predictions of future climate change, and seasonal

paleoenvironmental records provide a data set more analogous to instrumental

observations and thereby reducing the uncertainty in modeled climate changes.

This study first examines the potential of …

The Impact Of Maladaptive Schema On Disordered Eating: A Collective Case Study, Susan Hurley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study is based on the reality that disordered eating such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and compulsive overeating resulting in obesity represent a major and growing problem in community health. Treatment models using cognitive behavioral therapy suggest that those diagnosed with an eating disorder tend to judge themselves in terms of their body shape, weight, and eating habits. However, the recovery rate for those treated for an eating disorder that only addresses those three issues identified above is less than 60%. A number of quantitative studies have provided evidence that other maladaptive schema may contribute to bulimic and …

Effects Of A Shallow-Water Hydrothermal Vent Gradient On Benthic Calcifiers, Tutum Bay, Ambitle Island, Papua New Guinea, Brienne E. Engel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ocean acidification is occurring in response to rapidly increasing concentrations of atmospheric CO2. Shallow-water hydrothermal vent systems have been proposed as natural laboratories for studying the effects of elevated pCO2 on benthic communities. Hydrothermal vents occur at depths of approximately 10m in Tutum Bay, Ambitle Island, Papua New Guinea; these vents are surrounded by a typical-appearing fringing coral-reef community. Groups of live specimens of seven species of reef-dwelling, larger benthic foraminifers, along with segments of calcareous green algae broken from live thalli, were collected from a reef location, placed in small mesh bags, and deployed for five days at six …

Preservice Teachers’ Developing Understandings About Culturally Responsive Teaching In A Field-Based Writing Methods Course, Susan V. Bennett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

I investigated eight preservice teachers’ understandings about culturally responsive pedagogy as they participated in a writing methods course in which they tutored children from different ethnic, socioeconomic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds in an afterschool program at a local community center. I also investigated how these preservice teachers demonstrated culturally responsive teaching within the writing curriculum. I recognized the need for research relevant to my own personal beliefs and how to strive for more equitable schools. I want to contribute further to the understandings and insights related to culturally responsive pedagogy. According to the literature, it appears teachers remain unprepared to …

Enhancing Gene Expression Signatures In Cancer Prediction Models: Understanding And Managing Classification Complexity, Vidya P. Kamath

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cancer can develop through a series of genetic events in combination with external influential factors that alter the progression of the disease. Gene expression studies are designed to provide an enhanced understanding of the progression of cancer and to develop clinically relevant biomarkers of disease, prognosis and response to treatment. One of the main aims of microarray gene expression analyses is to develop signatures that are highly predictive of specific biological states, such as the molecular stage of cancer. This dissertation analyzes the classification complexity inherent in gene expression studies, proposing both techniques for measuring complexity and algorithms for reducing …

The Role Of Microrna-155 In Human Breast Cancer, William Kong

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent statistics reveal breast cancer as the most common cancer among women and accounts for approximately 41,000 mortalities per year. In diagnosis, features such as stage, grade, lymph node metastasis are important prognostic indicators that help guide physicians and oncologist towards optimal patient care. Presence of established pathological markers such as ER, PR, and Her2/neu status would indicate ideal adjuvant therapy situation. Although treatment of these types of breast cancer is well established, cancer that lack all three receptors, “triple negatives” or “basal like” do not respond to adjuvant therapy and are considered more aggressive in that patients tend to …

Between Agency And Accountability: An Ethnographic Study Of Volunteers Participating In A Juvenile Diversion Program, Marc R. Settembrino

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Since the 1970s, the United States has witnessed a great expansion of community-based restorative justice programs. These programs serve as alternatives to the traditional court and probation system. Unlike the traditional justice system, restorative justice focuses on repairing harm done by an offense and works toward restoring the offenders to good standing in the community. While there is a significant amount of research which has examined the effectiveness of community-based programs, relatively little research has focused on the community volunteers who participate in these programs. I conducted an ethnographic study (observations and interviews) of community volunteers participating in a juvenile …

Re-Connecting: Revitalizing Downtown Clearwater With Environmental Sensibility, Diego Duran

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many downtowns in North America have been severed from the rest of the city and from the contextual relationship to their surroundings. Sundered from their context, the ecological characteristics of a site are frequently taken for granted, and the disengagement of its public spaces erodes the downtown's character as well as the urban fabric.

Downtown Clearwater has lost the vitality and vibrancy that once characterized it as a lively district. Because of recent developments in the downtown area, public spaces have been lost between parking lots, high rises and a small number of sporadic residential pockets. Some of the most …

Photothermal Studies Of Carboxymyoglobin, Meagan Small

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Small ligand diffusion in heme proteins is not fully understood. To help better understand CO diffusion, three systems were investigated: L29H/F43H site-directed sperm whale myoglobin, horse heart myoglobin in a heavy water buffer, and calix[4]resorcinarene. Binding of copper to calix[4]resorcinarene was photophysically characterized to unravel transient binding of small molecules in heme-copper proteins. Copper binding was found to have a low dissociation constant of approximately 8.6 micrometers.. Reaction profiles using photoacoustic calorimetry were constructed for the myoglobin systems. In deuterium oxide, ligand escape is not rate limited by water entry. Large enthalpy differences arise from the thermodynamic properties of deuterium …

Investigation Of Buildup Dose For Therapeutic Intensity Modulated Photon Beams In Radiation Therapy, Khosrow Javedan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Buildup dose of Mega Voltage (MV) photon beams can be a limiting factor in intensitymodulated radiation therapy (IMRT) treatments. Excessive doses can cause patient discomfort and treatment interruptions, while underdosing may lead to local failure.

Many factors which contribute to buildup dose, including the photon beam energy spectrum, scattered or contaminant radiation and their angular distribution, are not modeled well in commercial treatment planning systems. The accurate Monte Carlo method was employed in the studies to estimate the doses.

Buildup dose of 6MV photon beams was investigated for three fundamentally different IMRT modalities: between Helical TomoTherapy and traditional opposed tangential …

Computer Simulation Of Metal-Organic Materials, Abraham C. Stern

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Computer simulations of metal-organic frameworks are conducted to both

investigate the mechanism of hydrogen sorption and to elucidate a detailed,

molecular-level understanding of the physical interactions that can lead to successful

material design strategies. To this end, important intermolecular interactions are

identified and individually parameterized to yield a highly accurate representation

of the potential energy landscape. Polarization, one such interaction found to play a

significant role in H

2 sorption, is included explicitly for the first time in simulations

of metal-organic frameworks. Permanent electrostatics are usually accounted for by

means of an approximate fit to model compounds. The application of …

Geographic Variation In Life History Tactics, Adaptive Growth Rates, And Habitatspecific Adaptations In Phylogenetically Similar Species: The Eastern Fence Lizard, Sceloporus Undulatus Undulatus, And The Florida Scrub Lizard, Sceloporus Woodi, Travis R. Robbins

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

To understand the evolutionary and ecological significance of geographic variation in life

history traits, we must understand whether the patterns are induced through plastic or adaptive

responses. The Eastern Fence Lizard,

Sceloporus undulatus

, exhibits countergradient variation

(larger body sizes, et cetera, in northern, cooler environments; presumed adaptive) in life history

traits across its large geographic range. However, cogradient variation (the expected result from

a plastic response, although not necessarily inconsistent with adaptation) has been suggested as

a null hypothesis, especially on fine geographic scales because of relatively small environmental

changes. Here we focus on life history variation on a …

Assessing The Ability Of Soils And Sediment To Adsorb And Retain Cs-137 In Puerto Rico, Warner Ithier-Guzman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As part of the radioactive exercises taking place around the world anthropogenic radionuclides were introduce to Puerto Rico’s terrestrial and aquatic environments beginning in 1962. Two major projects took place in the island, the Rain Forest Project and the construction of a Boiling Superheat Nuclear Power Plant (BONUS). While in operation several accidental shutdowns occurred at the BONUS facility. One of these accidental shutdowns released 582 MBq into the nearby environment. Vieques an island located few miles east of the main island has received anthropogenic inputs of heavy metals resulting from military practices conducted by the US Navy. Due to …

Artemisia Gentileschi : The Heart Of A Woman And The Soul Of A Caesar, Deborah Anderson Silvers

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Artemisia Gentileschi’s

Susanna and the Elder’s trilogy consisting of her 1610,

1622 and 1649 paintings is a self referential series based on the artist’s own feelings of

betrayal by the men in her life. These works are comprised of her first canvas showing

youthful fear, and a very importantly timed work in mid-career symbolizing commercial

success. In these, she relates the Apocryphal tale of Susanna and the Elders to events that

are happening to Gentileschi at each stage of her life and career, aging the figures of

Susanna and the Elders along with the appropriate time in her own life. …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of The Travel Assistance Device On The Bus Riding Behavior Of Individuals With Disabilities, Arica J. Bolechala

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Independence for individuals with disabilities can be facilitated through the use of devices that have been created and adapted for these individuals. Research regarding the use of technology to afford independence to those with disabilities is growing as new devices are being created. One such device is the Travel Assistance Device (TAD) which has undergone conceptual tests to assess if the individual components of the device work as intended. The purpose of this research study was to determine whether the prompts given by the TAD would exhibit stimulus control over the participant's behavior of pulling the cord to stop the …

Evaluating Behavioral Skills Training And In-Situ Training To Teach Greeting Skills To Adults With Developmental Disabilities, Shannan Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has demonstrated that behavioral skills training (BST) is effective in teaching social skills to individuals with developmental disabilities, but often the skills fail to generalize. One strategy to promote generalization has been the use of in situ training. In an effort to improve upon previous research BST plus in situ training was evaluated to teach greeting skills to adults living in a group home setting. The percentage of correct greeting responses was evaluated in a multiple baseline across participants design. Results showed that BST was only partially effective in teaching greeting skills to the participants. However, In-situ training …

Relationship Between Muscular Strength Testing To Dynamic Muscular Performance In Division One American Football Players, Johnathan Fuentes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to develop a prediction equation for (performance variables) vertical jump, broad jump, 40-yard sprint time, and pro-agility shuttle time using body mass and 1-RM values of strength for bench press and back squat. Participants (n = 76) used in the study were members of the University of South Florida D-1 football team in fall of 2009. Squat/BM demonstrated the strongest relationship in both correlation and multiple regression data for every performance variable. Squat 1-RM and Squat/BP indicated a decreased relationship and negative impact on performance. Results indicate that with increased Squat/BM improvement for all …

“Some Marvelous Thing”: Leonardo, Caterina, And The Madonna Of The Rocks, Michael Thomas Jahosky

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Leonardo's Virgin of the Rocks (or Madonna of the Rocks, c.1486) is a masterpiece. Scholars have been unclear, however, about the unconventional cave setting and where Leonardo's inspiration came from. The Song of Songs mentions a beautiful bride being invited to come "into the wall of rocks," and the apocryphal Gospel of James (written around 150 A.D.) tells the story of Jesus being born in a cave outside of Bethlehem. But Leonardo's own personal cave experience in 1481 spurred his desire to find literature that placed Jesus' birth in a cave, or a "wall of rocks." This …

N400 Activations In Adults Who Stutter In A Picture-Word Priming Task Requiring Attention To Probe Word Phonology, Angela A. Pizon-Moore

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Objective: A neuroscientific picture-word task was used to investigate semantic and phonological activation spreading in adults who stutter (AWS).

Method: Fourteen AWS and 14 adults who do not stutter (AWNS) participated. On each trial, a picture was named at a delay. Sometimes, an attended probe word was heard before naming. Some probes were Semantically-Related to the labels. Those same probes also appeared following pictures with Unrelated labels. N400 ERPs recorded to these two probe types were compared (Semantically-Related versus Unrelated). Other probes were Phonologically-Related to the labels. Those same probes also appeared following pictures with unrelated labels (P-Unrelated). N400 ERPs …

Late Holocene Climate Variability From Northern Gulf Of Mexico Sediments: Merging Inorganic And Molecular Organic Geochemical Proxies, Julie N. Richey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Accurate reconstruction of natural climate variability over the past millennium is critical for predicting responses to future climate change. In order to improve on current understanding of climate variability in the sub-tropical North Atlantic region over the past millennium, a rigorous study of Gulf of Mexico (GOM) sea surface temperature (SST) variability was conducted using both inorganic (foraminiferal Mg/Ca) and molecular organic (TEX86) geochemical proxies. In addition to generating multiple high-resolution climate records, the uncertainties of the SST proxies are rigorously assessed.

There are 3 major research questions addressed: (1) What was the magnitude of GOM SST variability during the …

Characterization Of Unidentified Viruses From Florida, Jessie L. Dyer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Public Health and clinical laboratories occasionally obtain viral isolates that cannot be typed by routine methods. Therefore, the sequence-independent, single primer amplification (SISPA) technique was adapted to rapidly identify and characterize viral isolates of unknown etiology. A panel of known (West Nile virus and St. Louis encephalitis virus) and unknown viral isolates (environmental samples collected in Florida) were used to develop and refine the SISPA technique. Selectivity for viral genomic sequences was obtained through enriching viral particles by centrifugation, removal of cellular debris by filtration and removal of host genomic material by benzonase application. The SISPA method successfully amplified the …

Characterization Of Dielectric Films For Electrowetting On Dielectric Systems, Ajay Rajgadkar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Electrowetting is a phenomenon that controls the wettability of liquids on solid

surfaces by the application of electric potential. It is an interesting method to handle tiny

amounts of liquid on solid surfaces. In recent times, researchers have been investigating

this phenomenon and have reported some unexplained behavior and degradation in the

Electrowetting system performance. Electrowetting systems include the presence of

electric field and different materials from metals to dielectrics and electrolytes that create

an environment in which corrosion processes play a very important role. With the small

dimensions of the electrodes, corrosion can cause failure quickly when the dielectric …

Perceived Workplace Discrimination As A Mediator Of The Relationship Between Work Environment And Employee Outcomes: Does Minority Status Matter?, Nicole Ellis Jagusztyn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to explore the role of six organizational factors (Equal Employment Opportunity, minority segmentation, diversity climate, instrumental social support, emotional social support, and token status) in the perception of discrimination in the workplace by minorities and majority-group members. Five outcomes (job satisfaction, organizational commitment, intention to turnover, physical health, and psychological health) were investigated in response to perceived discrimination. Moderated mediation was used to test hypothesis where perceived discrimination mediated the relationship between organizational antecedents and outcomes; minority status served as the moderators. Support for the mediating role of perceived discrimination was found in …

Literacy And Behavior In Early Childhood: Exploring The Factors That Impact Achievement, Melissa Farino Todd

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Academic achievement has been the focal point in education for decades. In 2001, an Act of Congress was proposed to improve individual outcomes in education through evidenced based research using measurable goals, higher standards, and accountability. This federal legislation, known as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, mandates that all teachers be highly qualified by 2006 and that all students become proficient by the 2013/14 school year, specifically in the area of literacy. Consequently, kindergarten readiness has become an area of concern, thus placing preschool teachers under pressure to prepare children for school. The purpose of this study …

Visionary Of Control: The Efficiency, Expertise, And Exclusion Of Alexander James Inglis, Heidi Tilney Kramer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alexander James Inglis was the key contributor to changes enacted in education during the Progressive era. He instituted an administrative and curricular hierarchy in order to create social organization during a chaotic time in American history, thus advancing professionalism in teaching and systematizing a future workforce - teaching previously had no standards, and throngs of immigrants overwhelmed the school system. While necessary at the time, this system of centralization, homogenization, and sorting continues to result in exclusion in secondary education and middle schools. Categorization is Inglis' hallmark in his work in education, following Frederick W. Taylor's managerial practices, and he …

The Role Of Rater Motivation In Personnel Selection Validation Studies, Dan Ispas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Personnel selection validation studies are routinely conducted in contemporary organizations for selecting and placing employees. Although numerous studies have been conducted with the goal of identifying new predictors, less research was focused on the criterion side. In the current paper, across three studies and five samples, I examined the role played by rater motivation in validation studies. I proposed that rater motivation would impact criterion-related validity of various predictors, the reliability, and the variance of performance ratings. In Study 1, these hypotheses were tested in two samples with varied operationalizations of predictors and of rater motivation. In Study 2, I …

The Positive- And Negative-Right Conceptions Of Freedom Of Speech And The Specter Of Reimposing The Broadcast Fairness Doctrine ... Or Something Like It, Adam Fowler

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A key theoretical debate underlying the now defunct Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulation known as the Fairness Doctrine is conflict over what constitutes the right to freedom of speech: a positive or negative conception. Similarly, since repeal of the Doctrine, other FCC measures to uphold the “public-interest” standard in broadcasting have relied on a positive conception of speech. This thesis demonstrates the history of this debate through court cases, news reports, scholarly articles and historical documents. It then is argued that the positive-right nature of these regulations is problematic philosophically, constitutionally and practically. The positive-right conception lends itself to an …

Identifying And Addressing Health Disparities In Black Older Adults With Osteoarthritis, Chivon A. Mingo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Osteoarthritis (OA), the most common form of arthritis in older adults, often results in pain, disability and poor psychological well-being. Compared to White adults, Black adults consistently report more pain, more activity limitations, and have different perceptions about OA. Racial disparities also exist in treatments, and prevalence of arthritis. It is imperative to have effective interventions and treatment options for older Blacks. Yet, few arthritis interventions have included Black participants in their samples, and nearly all of those have failed to report separate analyses indicating the effectiveness for Black adults, thus leaving a gap in the literature. The purpose of …