Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Assessing The Effectiveness Of The Roaring Branch Bmp Retrofit Using Macroinvertebrate Bioassessment, James L. Banning

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Using benthic macroinvertebrates to measure stream health has been widely used and accepted around the world. Macroinvertebrates are resident monitors of chronic impairment in a stream since they are relatively sessile and most commonly respond to disturbance by drift but can recolonize a restored stream reach very quickly. This study tested the effectiveness of macroinvertebrate metrics developed through the Rapid Bioassessment Protocol (RBP) to detect changes in stream integrity as the result of placement of a best management practice (BMP), installed on a tributary of Roaring Branch, located in Columbus, Georgia. The BMP was designed to attenuate flow to reduce …

Where Christ Dies Daily: Performances Of Faith At Orlando‘S Holy Land Experience, Sara B. Dykins Callahan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This manuscript focuses on performances of place and faith inside the Holy Land Experience (HLE), an edutainment complex nestled in the fantasy nexus of Orlando, Florida. A self-proclaimed living-history museum, the HLE includes animatronic Bible characters and musical dramas. The HLE enacts and embodies evangelical narratives of Christianity and Christian faith, and visitors to the park are asked to join the performances, blurring the distinctions between spectators and professional actors. I argue that visitors' performances of faith invest the space of the HLE with sacredness, while the location and design of the HLE infuses the space with elements of the …

Aretē And Physics: The Lesson Of Plato's Timaeus, John R. Wolfe

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Plato's Timaeus is traditionally read as a work dedicated to the sole purpose of describing the origin and nature of the cosmos, as a straightforward attempt by Plato to produce a peri phuseos treatise. In accord with this reading, the body of Timaeus' monologue is then seen as nothing more than an attempt by Plato to convey his own cosmological doctrines.

I propose an alternative to the view that the Timaeus is nothing more than a textbook of Platonic physics. The Timaeus is rather squarely focused on the human being, in her moral and political dimensions, and on her relation …

From Husserl And The Neo-Kantians To Art: Heidegger's Realist Historicist Answer To The Problem Of The Origin Of Meaning, William H. Koch

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this work I present both a historical and philosophical argument. First, I use Martin Heidegger's early interest in the argument that concepts are furnished to the mind directly by experience, as found in Edmund Husserl's categorial intuition and Emil Lask's principle of the material determination of form, to build an interpretation of Being and Time and "The Origin of the Work of Art" which provides a unified understanding of Heidegger's consistent underlying position throughout his career as one of realist historicism. My interpretation of Heidegger as a realist historicist rejects the reading of Being and Time as a transcendental …

Looking Good And Taking Care: Consumer Culture, Identity, And Poor, Minority, Urban Tweens, Elizabeth Edgecomb

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Looking Good and Taking Care: Consumer Culture, Identity, and Poor, Minority, Urban Tweens is an ethnographic examination of how poor, minority, urban tweens (age 7-14) use consumer culture to create and perform their personal and social identities. Although portrayed in mass media as selfish and hedonistic, this work finds tweens creating profoundly social, giving, and caring identities and relationships through consumption. Their use of consumer culture is also a form of political resistance that subverts their place in the age, class, and race hierarchy. These tweens use “looking good” (attention to grooming, style, and behaving respectably), and not name brand …

William Bartram, The Search For Nature's Design: Selected Art, Letters, And Unpublished Writings., Thomas Hallock, Nancy Hoffmann

Faculty Books

An important figure in early American science and letters, William Bartram (1739–1823) has been known almost exclusively for his classic book, Travels. William Bartram, The Search for Nature’s Design presents new material in the form of art, letters, and unpublished manuscripts. These documents expand our knowledge of Bartram as an explorer, naturalist, artist, writer, and citizen of the early Republic. Part One, the correspondence, includes letters to and from Bartram’s family, friends, and peers, establishing his developing consciousness about the natural world as well as his passion for rendering it in drawing. The difficult business of undertaking scientific study and …

The Commissions: Devoted To Investigating And Research By Members Of Usitt: Computers And Software, Patrick Michael Finelli

Theatre and Dance Faculty Publications

Describes the history of theatre-related computing over the past 50 years including the evolution of computer-controlled lighting and sound. Covers the development of CAD software for set design, data visualization and intelligent lighting fixtures. Mentions a wide variety of technical, design and historical applications.

Workplace Nutrition And Exercise Climate: Scale Development And Preliminary Model, Joseph J. Mazzola

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Obesity is a major concern in the United States and has a multitude of negative physical and mental health consequences. Proper nutrition and exercise are important elements to initiating and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Since most people spend a large amount of their time working, it is important that organizations create an atmosphere that is conducive to employees being able to eat healthy diets and exercise regularly. The social and environmental climate in terms of health was examined through the construct of a Workplace Nutrition and Exercise Climate (WNEC), defined here as the situational, social, and environmental factors within an …

An Exploratory Study Of The Intrapersonal, Socio-Cultural, And Behavioral Factors That Influence Hiv Risk Behaviors Among Ethnic Subgroups Of Black Heterosexual Men: The Intersection Of The Beliefs And Perceptions Of Black Women, Shalewa Noel-Thomas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Twenty five years after AIDS was first scientifically described, the disease continues to take its toll on the human population. HIV/AIDS disproportionately affects marginalized groups such as poor, underserved, minority populations. In the United States, Blacks become infected with and die from HIV/AIDS more than any other ethnic or racial group. Despite a vast body of literature on HIV/AIDS, little research has focused on black heterosexual men and even fewer studies have explored the context of risk among subgroups of black men.

Using qualitative research methods and a socio-ecological framework, this study explored the intrapersonal, socio-cultural, and behavioral factors that …

Constraining Basin Geometry And Fault Kinematics On The Santo Tomás Segment Of The Agua Blanca Fault Through A Combined Geophysical And Structural Study, Adam Springer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Agua Blanca fault is a major transverse structure of northern Baja California, extending more than 120km east from the Punta Banda ridge near the city of Ensenada to the San Matais Pass in central Baja. Through much of its eastern extent slip on this fault appears to be pure strike slip, however, at the Valle de Santo Tomás the fault makes a ~25°; change in orientation, which coincides with the formation of extensional basins on the fault. Recent evidence of the independent movement of the Baja Micro-plate relative to a stable Southern California Black leads to several possible hypotheses …

Heat Stress Evaluation Of Protective Clothing Ensembles, Amanda Lee Pease

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Clothing directly affects the level of heat stress exposure. Useful measures to express the thermal characteristics are WBGT (wet bulb globe temperature) clothing adjustment factor (CAF) or apparent total evaporative resistance (R_e,T,_a). The CAF is assigned through laboratory wear trials following a heat stress protocol in which the air temperature and humidity are progressively increased until the participant clearly loses the ability to maintain thermal equilibrium. The critical condition is the point of thermal transition and from these conditions both the CAF and Re,T,a are computed. The first objective of this study is to compare the …

Serum Antibodies To Human Papillomavirus Type 6, 11, 16 And 18 And Their Role In The Natural History Of Hpv Infection In Men, Beibei Lu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Our understanding of humoral immune response to human papillomavirus (HPV) infection has been mainly derived from studies in women. Very little is known about humoral immune response to HPV in men. There is also a growing interest in understanding the burden of HPV exposure in the subgroups of the male population, including men who have sex with women (MSW), men who have sex with men (MSM) and men who have sex with both men and women (MSMW). This dissertation was undertaken to understand and characterize humoral immune response, measured by detectable serum antibody IgG, to HPV 6, 11, 16 and …

School Choice At The Crossroads Of Race, Class, And Accountability: An Analysis Of The Effects Of Voluntary School Choice On Elementary Schools In A Large District In The Southeastern United States, Teresa Craig Evans

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, the responsibility for the desegregation of American public schools has transitioned from federal court mandates to school board programs and policies. There is widespread belief that this has resulted in the resegregation of schools across the country. One popular policy that is purported to provide the opportunity for voluntary integration, along with accountability for academic quality, is school choice. The purpose of this study was to consider the implications of such a policy in one large school district. There is an extensive body of research exploring who participates in school choice, how they make their choices, and …

Relationships Between Life Satisfaction, Symptoms Of Adhd, And Associated Outcomes In Middle School Students, Lisa Paige Bateman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Given increased evidence related to the importance of fostering life satisfaction in the overall population (Diener & Diener, 1996), as well as recent suggestions regarding the importance of increasing positive academic and social outcomes for youth with ADHD (DuPaul, 2007), it is important to gain a clearer understanding of how life satisfaction may be related to ADHD symptoms. Although research has examined the relationship between life satisfaction and externalizing behavior (Suldo & Huebner, 2004a), research on the relationship between life satisfaction and ADHD is currently limited. This study examined if levels of ADHD symptoms predicted reports of life satisfaction in …

Magnetocaloric Effect In Thin Films And Heterostructures, Christopher Bauer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goals of this work are the optimization of the magnetocaloric effect in Gadolinium thin film structures. We approach this issue from two directions, that of process optimization and of interface effects. Past results showed Gd₂O₃ in our Gadolinium thin films, and the presence of such oxide seemed to grow with the temperature at which the film was grown or annealed. Comparison of samples grown without chamber gettering to those that were gettered show differences in their structural and magnetic properties, and we conclude that gettering is an effective step in enhancing the quality of Gd thin …

On The Involvement Of The Low-Density Lipoprotein Receptor In The Pathogenesis And Progression Of Alzheimer’S Disease, Jose Francisco Abisambra Socarras

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent form of age-associated dementia. Cholesterol dysregulation is linked with AD onset. Besides age, the most important risk factor associated with AD is the inheritance of the epsilon-4 allele of apolipoprotein E, a cholesterol transporter. In addition, while hypercholesterolemia has been shown to be an independent risk factor for AD, the nature of the cholesterol-AD link is still not clear. This gap in our understanding is partly due to a lack of knowledge about cholesterol metabolism in the central nervous system (CNS).

The low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDLR) is the main receptor of apoE and …

Active Surveillance And Incidence Rate Of Dengue Infection In A Cohort Of High Risk Population In Maracay, Venezuela., Carlos Espino

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the absence of an effective vaccine, vector control and surveillance of dengue fever (DF) and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) are the most important strategies currently used to reduce the impact of these diseases in affected population. The objectives of this study were to estimate the incidence of symptomatic and asymptomatic dengue cases, the prevalence of antidengue antibodies, and to evaluate the laboratory and clinical aspects related to an active surveillance of dengue cases. In this study, active surveillance was incorporated as a part of the study design. At total of 3,255 people from four high risk neighborhoods were followed …

The Security And Foreign Policy Of The Islamic Republic Of Iran: An Offensive Realism Perspective, Bledar Prifti

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study argues that security and foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is mainly driven by the main principles of the Offensive Realism theory of international relations. While the Iranian political system is considered a theocratic system, based on the Islamic Shi'a ideology, its survival is defined as the ultimate ideology-an ideology that is paramount to any other ideology. Iran's security and foreign policy is determined and shaped by its need to survive in an anarchic international system. Iran's cooperation with "two Satans", Israel and the United States, during the Iran-Iraq war demonstrates that the ultimate ideology of …

The Effectiveness Of Prevent-Teach-Reinforce: Does The Presence Of Comorbid Internalizing Behavior Problems Moderate Outcomes For Children With Externalizing Behavior Problems?, Bonnie Saari

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effectiveness of a school-based intervention process known as Prevent-Teach-Reinforce for children with a combination of externalizing and internalizing behaviors compared to children with only externalizing behaviors. The dependent variables examined were social skills, problem behaviors, and academic engaged time. Data for the current study were taken from archival data collected by the Florida Mental Health Institute that included students in kindergarten through 8th grade. A series of repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to identify differences in improvement on the dependent variables for the two groups of students.

Research questions focused on the main effects …

Saving Energy In Network Hosts With An Application Layer Proxy: Design And Evaluation Of New Methods That Utilize Improved Bloom Filters, Miguel Jimeno

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

One of the most urgent challenges of the 21st century is to investigate new technologies that can enable a transition towards a society with a reduced CO₂ footprint. Information Technology generates about 2% of the global CO₂, which is comparable to the aviation industry. Being connected to the Internet requires active participation in responding to protocol messages. Billions of dollars worth of electricity every year are used to keep network hosts fully powered-on at all times only for the purpose of maintaining network presence. Most network hosts are idle most of the time, thus presenting a huge …

Filtration Performance Of A Niosh-Approved N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirator With Stapled Head Straps, Daniel E. Medina

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Certain models of NIOSH-approved filtering facepiece air purifying respirators are manufactured with stapled head straps. Depending on the manufacturer, these head straps may be stapled to the filter media itself. This may cause leakage through the filter media of the respirator, potentially exposing the user to an unacceptable level of contaminant. In this study, monodisperse polystyrene latex (PSL) spheres were generated to challenge four replicates of a N95 single use respirator model made by the same manufacturer.

Nominal particle sizes of the PSL spheres used to challenge the respirators were 0.5, 1, and 2 micrometers in diameter. All respirators were …

Synthesis Of Local Thermo-Physical Models Using Genetic Programming, Ying Zhang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Local thermodynamic models are practical alternatives to computationally expensive rigorous models that involve implicit computational procedures and often complement them to accelerate computation for real-time optimization and control. Human-centered strategies for development of these models are based on approximation of theoretical models. Genetic Programming (GP) system can extract knowledge from the given data in the form of symbolic expressions. This research describes a fully data driven automatic self-evolving algorithm that builds appropriate approximating formulae for local models using genetic programming. No a-priori information on the type of mixture (ideal/non ideal etc.) or assumptions are necessary.

The approach involves synthesis of …

A Program Evaluation Of A Literacy Initiative For Students With Moderate To Severe Disabilities, Carrie F. De La Cruz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recently the National Reading Panel concluded that systematic and direct instruction in phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension that is informed by ongoing assessments of student progress results in positive student achievement (NICHHD, 2002). For students with moderate to severe disabilities and students with autism, reading instruction has historically focused on functional sight words. Unfortunately, very little research exists that has examined how the literacy achievement of students with moderate to severe disabilities can be impacted by a more comprehensive, data-driven instructional model.

A special education program that serves students with moderate to severe disabilities and students with autism …

Detailed Stratigraphy And Geochemistry Of Lower Mount Rogers Formation Metavolcanic Units Exposed On Elk Garden Ridge, Va, Meghan Marie Lindsey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The lower Mount Rogers Formation (LMRF) is described by Rankin (1993) as a sequence of intercalated metabasalts and volcanogenic sediments with minor metarhyolite. We have chosen to examine the sequence of the LMRF units exposed along Elk Garden Ridge, a high shoulder between the summits of Whitetop Mountain and Mount Rogers in the Mount Rogers National Recreation Area in SW Virginia. This sequence represents an uplifted block of LMRF units enclosed by exposures of Whitetop and Wilburn metarhyolites.

In the field, progressive lithologic changes can be observed walking up-section along Elk Garden ridge that are indicative of changes in lava …

Developing The Nomological Network Of Perceived Corporate Affinity For Technology: A Three Essay Dissertation, David Earl Fleming

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Technology is changing the face of both the sales and service domains. Honebein and Cammarano (2006) note that properly implemented self-service technologies serve dual purposes of decreasing firm overhead costs, while simultaneously engaging the customer in a way encourages the co-create of value for both parties. To get these benefits stakeholders must be willing to adopt and use the technologies that are available.

Traditionally, this has lead to the research question "How do firms do this?" However, according to a recent article by Woodall, Colby and Parasuraman (2007), consumers are now demanding more technology-based options and becoming more technologically savvy. …

Stat3 Contributes To Resistance Towards Bcr-Abl Inhibitors In A Bone Marrow Microenvironment Model Of Drug Resistance In Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Cells, Nadine N. Bewry

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Imatinib mesylate (imatinib) represents a potent molecularly targeted therapy against the oncogenic tyrosine kinase, BCR-ABL. Although imatinib has shown considerable efficacy against chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), displaying high rates of complete hematological and complete cytogenetic responses, treatment with imatinib is not curative and overtime advanced-stage CML patients often become refractory to further treatment. Acquired resistance to imatinib has been associated with mutations within the kinase domain of BCR-ABL, BCR-ABL gene amplification, leukemic stem cell quiescence as well as over-expression of the multidrug resistance (MDR1) gene. However, in vitro resistance models often fail to consider the role of the tumor microenvironment …

Linear And Nonlinear Control Of Unmanned Rotorcraft, Ioannis A. Raptis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The main characteristic attribute of the rotorcraft is the use of rotary wings to produce the thrust force necessary for motion. Therefore, rotorcraft have an advantage relative to fixed wing aircraft because they do not require any relative velocity to produce aerodynamic forces. Rotorcraft have been used in a wide range of missions of civilian and military applications. Particular interest has been concentrated in applications related to search and rescue in environments that impose restrictions to human presence and interference.

The main representative of the rotorcraft family is the helicopter. Small scale helicopters retain all the flight characteristics and physical …

Addressing The Problem Of Land Motion At Tide Gauges, Kara J. Doran

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Estimation of global mean sea level change has become an area of interest for scientists in recent decades because of its importance as an indicator of climate change. Climate models predict varying degrees of change in global temperature and global sea level over the next 100 years. One way to check the validity of the models is to estimate sea level change over the last century and constrain the models to match these estimates. Traditionally, sea level change estimates have been calculated using long time series from tide gauges. There are some disadvantages to this approach however, since tide gauges …

Promoting Cultural Experiences Through Responsive Architecture, Shabonni Olivia Elkanah

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Dance, costume, and music are all reflective of a heritage that has been intact over three hundred years. The street activities during carnival season on the island of St. Kitts can be described as dynamic excitement between the onlookers, the Masqueraders, a local folklore group, and other carnival players. The interactive play amongst group members of the Masqueraders is one that tells a story of the colonization and perseverance of a nation influenced by Indian, European and African past. There is often, however a disconnection between an outsider, 'the audience', and the culture of the island. Only when the interactive …

The Sleeping Giant: Revealing The Potential Energy Of Abandoned Industry Through Adaptive Transformation, Wesley A. Bradley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the downfall of industry, cityscapes have become speckled with post-industrial building fragments. Skeletons, left as the evidence of a past generation are waiting patiently for their chance to reemerge as active elements. Furthermore, they are ever-present but remain out of touch within the thriving urban organism that has engulfed their surroundings. These condemned giants, rich in history, location, aesthetics, and vigor sleep underneath the growth. Their post-industrial urban sites are generally discarded and forgotten. On these sites the fragments of the massive and extraordinary crumble. These large industrial buildings have become a burden to their communities. Not realizing what …