Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Cocrystals Of Nutraceuticals: Protocatechuic Acid And Quercetin, Twarita Anil Pujari

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The cocrystallization of two or more pure compounds by crystal engineering to create a new functional material is of a great academic and industrial interest. Pharmaceutical cocrystallization has allured a lot of attention by means of altering the physicochemical properties of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API) such as solubility, stability and bioavailability. Crystal engineering of nutraceuticals can produce novel compounds such as pharmaceutical cocrystals. To establish the importance of nutraceutical cocrystallization and its use; polyphenols, a major class of nutraceuticals and potential disease preventing agents, are the appropriate targets. The work herein focuses on two polyphenols, protocatechuic acid and quercetin, which …

Digital Holography Applications In Ophthalmology, Biometry, And Optical Trapping Characterization, Mariana Camelia Potcoava

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation combines various holographic techniques with application on the two- and three-dimensional imaging of ophthalmic tissue, fingerprints, and microsphere samples with micrometer resolution. Digital interference holography (DIH) uses scanned wavelengths to synthesize short-coherence interference tomographic images. We used DIH for in vitro imaging of human optic nerve head and retina. Tomographic images were produced by superposition of holograms. Holograms were obtained with a signal-to-noise ratio of approximately 50 dB. Optic nerve head characteristics (shape, diameter, cup depth, and cup width) were quantified with a few micron resolution (4.06 -4.8 microns). Multiple layers were distinguishable in cross-sectional images of the …

Hierarchical Complexity In Metal-Organic Materials: From Layers To Polyhedra To Supermolecular Building Blocks, John Jackson Perry

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The design and synthesis of novel functional materials with fine-tunable physical and chemical properties has been an aspiration of materials scientists since at least Feynman's famous speech "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom" which has fittingly been credited with ushering in the nanotechnology era. Crystal engineering, as the solid-state manifestation of supramolecular chemistry, is well positioned to make substantial contributions to this worthwhile endeavor. Within the realm of crystal engineering resides the subdiscipline of metal-organic materials (MOMs) which pertains most simplistically to the coordination bond and includes such objects as coordination polymers, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), and discrete architectures, each …

Depredation And Angler Interactions Involving Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) In Sarasota Bay, Florida, Jessica R. Powell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Typical depredation behavior by cetaceans involves stealing or damaging prey items already captured by recreational or commercial fishing gear. Depredation among cetaceans has been reported to be increasing in both severity and frequency globally. This behavior is of particular concern for small stocks of cetaceans since any interaction with fishing gear has the potential to injure or kill animals leading to unsustainable losses. In Florida, depredation became evident in 2006 when the number of bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) strandings resulting from fishing gear ingestion or entanglement sharply increased. For the resident dolphin community in Sarasota Bay, modeling showed continued mortalities …

Experience + Evolution: Exploring Nature As A Constant In An Evolving Culture And Building Type, Robin Plotkowski

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Throughout time, our natural environment has been one of the only constants in our evolution. While cultures change and evolve, nature's beauty and positive effects on humans have always been present. Unfortunately, our built environment has generated much attention for its profound impact on our natural environment. Buildings in the United States consume a third of our total energy use, raw material use, and waste output, not to mention the negative effects they can have on our well-being, economy, health and productivity. In an effort to protect our natural environment, our built environment must become more responsible to the environment …

Found A Gun In The Woods, Empty, Daniel Purificato

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This is an original work of poetry. There are many forms used in this collection. There are found and cento poems, as well as free verse forms in this collection. Some of the poems are narrative, while others use a dissociative mode. This work represents an extension of postmodernists, like Barth and Pynchon. It also represents an extension of surrealists like Lamantia and Ashbery.

For Neither Love Nor Money: Gender, Sexuality, And Tourism In Costa Rica, Ellen Puccia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Costa Rica has been a popular tourist destination for decades, and is currently the second largest industry in the country. With so many tourists coming into the country, Costa Rica provides a rich environment within which to examine sex tourism. Costa Rica is a known destination for male sex tourists hoping to experience legal prostitution or child prostitution. Although it is lesser known, female sex tourism also occurs in Costa Rica. Female sex tourism occurs in the form of pseudo-romantic relationships between female tourists and Costa Rican men working in the tourist industry. These people spend a great deal of …

Nature, Daylight And Sound: A Sensible Environment For The Families, Staff And Patients Of Neonatal Intensive Care Units, Ana Praskach

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In healthcare environments, elements like nature, daylight and sound have been found to significantly influence the healing process of patients, by enhancing the quality of their recovery, shortening their hospital stay and consequently reducing hospital costs. For instance, it has been shown that exposure to nature triggers positive responses in people, daylight affects human psychology, and different sounds have varying behavioral effects on different groups of people. But, while these effects have been carefully studied in adult patients, leading to clear design standards, less is known about their impact on premature infants. Interestingly, the care that many newborns receive in …

From The Academy To The Streets: Documenting The Healing Power Of Black Feminist Creative Expression, Tunisia L. Riley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

I explore through feminist content analysis how poetry, blogging, political narrative, and music are employed by Black women as a means of personal and political empowerment, healing, activism and feminist practice. I theorize the emergence of a new manifestation Black feminism represented in poetry, blogs, political narrative, and popular music-exploring its ties to the history of Black feminism. I seek to demonstrate how gender conscious Black women create poetry, blogs, political narratives, and music as the catalyst to spark anti-sexist activism in contemporary Black women who may or may not call themselves feminists.

Agriculture And Tampa Bay News: How Do Local News Media Frame Agribusiness?, Alex R. Ritzheimer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose for this thesis was to explore a dynamic between the news media, their subjects, and their audience. I investigate whether everyday news media frame the information they deliver in such a way as to potentially direct the audience on how to respond to news stories. The setting for this research question is in the Tampa Bay area of Florida and the subject matter deals specifically with agriculture, its practitioners, how they do business, and how the local news media report about it. The issue will be explored from an applied anthropological perspective, basing conclusions on field research and …

Assessing Druze Identity And Strategies For Preserving Druze Heritage In North America, Chad Kassem Radwan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research study focuses on promoting historical, religious, and cultural knowledge among transnational Druze. The Druze are a relatively small, tightly knit religious community from the Middle East who practice endogamy and accept no converts. In the diaspora, Druze have often established their own communities based on their collective ancestral and familial ties and through the establishment of groups such as the American Druze Society. This study works to allow individuals to discuss their Druze identity, identify the community's social problems, and recommend possible approaches or solutions. My research experience as an insider doing ethnography among fellow Druze has in …

Cultural Response To Totalitarianism In Select Movies Produced In Czechoslovakia, Hungary And Poland Between 1956 And 1989, Kazimierz Robak

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines resistance against totalitarian propaganda in select movies produced in regions subjected to Soviet-imposed totalitarian system. From 1939 to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Central-Eastern Europe has experienced two of the most devastating and genocidal political systems in the history of the humankind. Nazism was destroyed with the end of WWII, and met widespread condemnation. Sovietism, commonly known as Communism, survived WWII and the Soviet totalitarian empire rose to the position of the world's second superpower. Effective and organized Soviet propaganda generated a new convincing image of Sovietism as a harmless, friendly and progressive system. …

Determination Of Nanogram Mass And Measurement Of Polymer Solution Free Volume Using Thickness-Shear Mode (Tsm) Quartz Resonators, Anthony James Richardson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

More commonly referred to as a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM), thickness-shear mode (TSM) quartz resonator devices utilize an acoustic wave to establish a bulk-detection mechanism prompting their utilization as gravimetric sensors with nanogram mass sensitivity and capability to measure various film property dynamics, due to variations in the system environment, of thin-films that are uniformly distributed across the resonator surface. The development of an absolute TSM-based nanobalance and an experimental technique using conventional TSM resonators for the real-time measurement of the change in the viscoelastic shear modulus and fractional free-hole volume of a poly(isobutylene) film due to the sorption of …

An Experimental Investigation Into The Impact Of Crisis Response Strategies And Relationship History On Relationship Quality And Corporate Credibility, Camille Roberts

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the influence of different crisis response strategies and relationship history on corporate credibility and the dimensions of the organizational-public relationship. The relationship dimensions examined were trust, commitment, satisfaction and control mutuality. An experiment was conducted among undergraduate students drawn from an introductory mass communication class. Results indicate that when an organization's relationship history with its publics is positive, the public is more likely to view the post-crisis relationship quality and organizational credibility as positive than negative. Additionally, more accommodative crisis response strategies have a greater impact on relationship quality than less accommodative strategies. Crisis response strategy does …

Transdiscursive Cosmopolitanism: Foucauldian Freedom, Subjectivity, And The Power Of Resistance, Joanna Rozpedowski

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The following project will consist in the study and examination of the concepts and theories that lie in the domain of political theory. The enquiry into the dimensions and complexities of the socio-political organization and the political substance of individual human agents will be conducted with the intellectual assistance of the postmodernist turn of thought. I will interrogate and develop a specifically Foucauldian reading of international politics and the emerging global world order as well as situate Foucault's insights and theorizing in a cosmopolitan framework, which calls for a progressive re-conceptualization of the dimensions of power and the modalities of …

Psychosocial Outcomes Of Weight Stigma Among College Students, Sabrina Joann Robinson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Overweight and obesity are important public health issues in the United States with more than 60% of US adults overweight or obese. The social consequences of being overweight and obese are serious and pervasive. Individuals who are overweight and obese are often the targets of bias and stigma and thus susceptible to negative attitudes. Obesity and weight stigma have been linked to low self-esteem, higher rates of depressive symptoms, body dissatisfaction and poor psychological adjustment. Although weight stigma is a problem in the general population, it is more consequential among adolescents due to mental and physical developmental changes. Therefore college …

Predictors Of Cancer Caregiver Depression Symptomatology, Henry R. Rivera

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While the duration of the cancer illness may be shorter than that of other serious diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease, cancer caregivers provide many more hours of care during a week. Research directed at the intensive experience of caregiving of hospice cancer patients is needed as there is limited research of predictors of hospice cancer caregiver depression symptomatology. The purpose of the study was to examine predictors of depression symptomatology in caregivers of hospice cancer patients. A secondary analysis was conducted using baseline assessment data of patients and caregivers from a larger study of patient/caregiver dyads from two large hospices …

The Role Of Proactivity During Organizational Entry: Proactive Socialization Tactics, Citizenship And Counterproductive Work Behaviors, Ozgun Burcu Rodopman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Newcomers engage in proactive behaviors during organizational entry to increase their adjustment to the organization and to successfully complete their socialization. The present study investigated the links between proactive socialization tactics (i.e., positive framing, sense making and relationship building) and organizational outcomes. Specifically, organizational citizenship behaviors (e.g., assisting coworkers) and counterproductive work behaviors (e.g., verbal abuse) were investigated. The sample included 216 employees from various industries and organizations with an average organizational tenure of 9 months. The results indicated that all proactive socialization behaviors were associated with high levels of citizenship behaviors (i.e., OCB). Only positive framing was associated with …

Evolution Of A Conserved Gene Regulatory Network Among Echinoderms: A Comparison Of Genes Expressed In The Skeletogenetic Lineage Of The Ophuroid Ophiocoma Wendtii And The Echinoid Strongylocentrotus Purpuratus, Mitch James Ruzek

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

One of the most fundamental and critical functions of embryological development is the control and regulation of differential genes and gene networks. The study of the gene networks involved in development is a mechanism for understanding the developmental process at its most basic level. An evolutionary change in a morphological feature or features must depend on a reorganization or co-option of one or more developmental gene regulatory network just as retention of an ancestral morphological trait must rely on retention of a common gene regulatory network. Studying two closely related classes in the same phylum with the same essential morphological …

The Mashup As Resistance? A Critique Of Marxist Framing In The Digital Age, Adam Rugg

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis critiques contemporary scholarly approaches to the modern musical mashup that rely on outdated and over-generalized Marxist frameworks. These frameworks stem from an Adornian view of the culture industries that places consumers and producers in distinct and opposing roles. The mashup is therefore seen as little more than a subversive weapon for a resistant consumer class in its fight against the hegemonic structure of the mass media. A case study of the prominent mashup artist Girl Talk is presented to illustrate how the mashup can actually function as a celebratory form and how modern technological advances have destabilized traditional …

School Work Environment: Transition From Education To Practice, Shane Ross

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Learning how to learn as opposed to obtaining the experience to practice any field of professionalism creates a great disconnect between education and careers. Many educational programs do not have the curriculum or a building to transition students into a work atmosphere. When the design of a building and its program creates an environment that bridges the gap between school and work, the psychology and standard of an average graduate greatly increases. Students learn from being taught and personal experience. There are programs that require an internship or similar practice as a mandatory factor of the degree. Apprenticeships connect the …

The Effects Of Processing Instruction, Structured Input, And Visual Input Enhancement On The Acquisition Of The Subjunctive In Adjectival Clauses By Intermediate-Level Distance Learners Of Spanish, Victoria Russell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the effects of processing instruction (PI) on the acquisition of the subjunctive in adjectival clauses by 92 intermediate-level distance learners of Spanish. PI is a novel instructional technique that is based on VanPatten's principles of input processing (1993, 1996, 2002, 2004), and it has three key components: (a) an explicit explanation of grammar that is not paradigmatic, (b) information on processing strategies, and (c) structured input tasks and activities. Structured input activities were isolated and combined with computerized visual input enhancement (VIE) in an attempt to increase the salience of targeted grammatical forms for web based delivery. …

Relationships Between Participation In Athletics And Substance Use Among School Students, Kevin M. Stockslager

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Substance use among high school students has become an increased concern for administrators, parents, and community members. Previous research has demonstrated relationships between adolescent substance use and numerous negative outcomes. This study investigated the relationship between athletic participation and substance use using self-report data from a sample of 139 high school students. Specifically, the current study examined the relationship between frequency and setting of participation in athletic activities (e.g., football, baseball, soccer) and multiple types of substance use (e.g., alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, other illicit drugs) in adolescents. The results of this study indicate that nonathletes reported significantly more marijuana use …

Characterization Of Nprc And Its Binding Partners, Abdel A. Alli

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The C type natriuretic peptide receptor (NPRC) also known as NPR3 is a widely expressed single transmembrane-spanning protein. NPRC functions as a homodimer at the cell surface for the metabolic clearance of a broad range of natriuretic peptides from circulation. The intracellular domain of NPRC is coupled to inhibitory G proteins and is involved in mediating signal transduction. In order to further elucidate the role of NPRC in signal transduction a proteomic approach was taken to identify putative protein binding partners for NPRC in different cell-types. An interrogation of the molecular association between NPRC and its identified protein binding partner(s) …

The Importance Of Benthic Habitats As Reservoirs Of Persistent Fecal Indicator Bacteria, Brian D. Badgley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Enterococci are fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) that are used worldwide for water

quality assessment. However, evidence of high densities and extended survival of

enterococci in sediments and submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) has caused uncertainty

about their reliability in predicting human health risks from recreational activities in

environmental waters. To address the concern that sediments and SAV may harbor large

reservoirs of enterococci that can affect water column concentrations, aquatic mesocosms

and environmental sampling were employed to investigate patterns of enterococci

densities and population structure across the Tampa Bay watershed.

In mesocosm experiments and environmental samples, SAV harbored higher

densities of …

Moderating Effect Of Training Content Complexity On The Relationship Between Training Media And Training Outcomes, Benjamin P. Granger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Web-based training (WBT) and classroom instruction (CI) constitute two training media that are commonly employed by organizations. Although the effectiveness of one medium relative to the other depends on a number of factors (e.g., Sitzmann, Kraiger, Stewart, & Wisher, 2006) this study aims to address several methodological issues common in the extant media research and investigate the moderating role of training content complexity on the relationship between media and important training outcomes. Utilizing a 2x2 experimental design, one hundred forty-two undergraduate students were randomly assigned to one of four training courses. Each training course involved a PowerPoint 2007 training tutorial …

The Role Of Image Resolution To Locomotion Tasks In Virtual Desktop Wayfinding, Lisa Dawn Anderson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An experimental study at a large research university evaluated the role of image resolution on 60 participant's locomotion tasks in an interior virtual desktop wayfinding environment. Four virtual environments were developed using different resolutions for wayfinding images including high level 150 ppi, medium high level 100 ppi, medium level 75 and low level 30 ppi images. The environment was designed to accommodate forward, backward, sideways and figure 8 locomotion tasks as defined by the VEPAB. The effects of the different image resolutions on time-on-task performance scores to navigate through the environment, object-based visual attention as recorded by two eye movements …

The Effect Of A Reasoning Warning On Faking In Personality Testing For Selection And The Perception Of Procedural Justice, T Ryan Dullaghan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A major concern with using personality tests in the selection process is the prevalence of applicant faking behavior which can influence the rank order of applicants such that fakers are hired at an elevated frequency. This study examined the effects of the detection/consequence warning and a more applicant-friendly warning on faking and perceived procedural justice. I hypothesized that a positive warning (reasoning warning) and a detection/consequence warning would show similar mean personality trait levels compared to honest responses, with all means showing less socially desirable responding than no warning prompt. Results suggested that the detection/consequence warning is more effective at …

Naturalism In The Philosophies Of Dewey And Zhuangzi: The Live Creature And The Crooked Tree, Christopher C. Kirby

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation will compare the concept of nature as it appears in the philosophies of the American pragmatist John Dewey and the Chinese daoist Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu) and will defend two central claims. The first of these is that Dewey and Zhuangzi share a view of nature that is non-reductive, philosophically liberal, and more comprehensive than the accounts recurrent in much of the Western tradition. This alternate conception of nature is non-reductive in the way that it avoids the physically mechanistic outlook underwriting much of contemporary Anglo-American thought. It is philosophically liberal in that it accepts a more generous and …

Sharing The Power Of Words And Changing Lives Through College-Level Instruction In Grammar And Mechanics, Carol Ann Tillema

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Intrigued by the English language and its far-reaching applications worldwide as a standard means of communication, I begin my disquisition with a focus on the meaning and derivation of grammar and its place in the trivium of ancient and modern study. I stress the need to reemphasize college-level instruction in grammar and mechanics as a complement to rhetoric and logic by studying and teaching editing, which involves semantics, syntax, phonology, morphology, conventions, mechanics (spelling, punctuation and format), in writing centers and classrooms. Noting growing nationwide illiteracy, I research the pedagogies and writing of experts in the field of rhetoric and …