Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Natriuretic Peptides As A Humoral Link Between The Heart And The Gastrointetsinal System, Anteneh Addisu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Natriuretic peptides are a family of hormones released by several different tissues and exert various physiological functions by coupling with cell surface receptors and increasing intracellular cyclic gyanylyl monophosphate (cGMP). Atrial Natriuretic Peptide (ANP) and B-type Natriuretic Peptide (BNP) are released in response to mechanical stretch of the atrial or ventricular myocardium, respectively and their plasma level is markedly elevated during myocardial infarction and heart failure. Heart failure in turn is associated with symptoms suggestive of perturbed gastrointestinal function such as nausea, indigestion and malabsorption.

Intragastric pressure was monitored using a balloon catheter in anesthetized mice. The pressure before and …

Discrete Event System Modeling Of Demand Responsive Transportation Systems Operating In Real Time, Daniel Y. Yankov

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Demand responsive transportation is a variable route service of passengers or freight from specific origin(s) to destination(s) in response to the request of users. Operational planning of DRT system encompasses the methods to provide efficient service to the passengers and to the system operators. These methods cover the assignments of vehicles to transportation requests and vehicle routings under various constraints such as environmental conditions, traffic and service limitations. Advances in the information and communication technologies, such as the Internet, mobile communication devices, GIS, GPS, Intelligent Transportation Systems have led to a significantly complex and highly dynamical decision making environment. Recent …

A Constant Struggle: Renegotiating Identity In The Aftermath Of Rape, Jo Aine Clarke

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The academic study of rape has historically ignored the recovery experience of the person being raped. Beyond medical and physical effects, and the possibility of legal prosecution, little attention has been paid. Existing research loses sight of the survivor's experience, ignoring the fact that a rape affects every aspect of life. The trauma is not only physical, but also impinges on the emotional, intellectual and interpersonal spheres. Rape can be, and often is, a life-threatening experience: one that needs to be faced and dealt with before there can be any sort of productive future. While it has been demonstrated that …

Functional Remodeling Of The Cardiac Glycome Throughout The Developing Myocardium, Marty L. Montpetit

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cell surfaces are replete with complex, biologically important glycans responsible for multiple cellular functions including cell adhesion and cellular communication. Proper protein glycosylation is essential for normal development and often pathologies are marked by altered glycosylation. Here, data showed that the auxillary subunit, ß₁, modified voltage-gated Na⁺ channel (Na_v) gating in an isoform-specific, sialic acid dependent, and saturating manner. The regulated activity of the hundreds of glycogenes (glycosylation-associated genes) is responsible for protein glycosylation; this could result in a glycome of thousands of glycan structures. Microarray analyses indicated that glycogene expression was highly regulated throughout …

Characterization Of Risk From Airborne Benzene Exposure In The State Of Florida, Giffe Johnson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Environmental airborne benzene is a ubiquitous hazardous air pollutant whose emissions are generated from multiple sources, including industrial emissions, fuel station emissions, and automobile emissions. Chronic occupational exposures to elevated levels of benzene are known to be associated with leukemic cancers, in particular, acute myeloid leukemia (AML), though epidemiological evidence regarding environmental exposures and subsequent AML development is lacking. This investigation uses historical airborne monitoring data from six counties in the State of Florida to characterize the environmental cancer risk from airborne benzene concentrations using current Federal and State regulatory analysis methodology, and a comparative analysis based on occupational epidemiological …

Schools As Moderators Of Neighborhood Influences On Adolescent Academic Achievement And Risk Of Obesity: A Cross-Classified Multilevel Investigation, Bethany A. Bell-Ellison

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Grounded in Bronfenbrenner's (1979) Ecological Systems Theory and through the application of cross-classified random effects models, the goal of this study was to examine simultaneously neighborhood and school influences on adolescent academic achievement and risk of obesity, as well as the moderating effects of schools on these outcomes. By examining concurrently neighborhood and school influences on achievement and risk of obesity, this study aimed to fill gaps in the social determinants literature. For example, it is unclear if where an adolescent lives or where she/he attends school has a stronger influence on academic achievement. We also do not know if …

Environmental Effects On Nano-Wear Of Gold And Kbr Single Crystal, Megan Pendergast

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In order to successfully incorporate the tremendous possibilities of nanoscale applications into devices and manufacturing, significant studies need to be conducted of the properties and mechanics of materials of this small scale. In this thesis, the effect of repeated scanning of KBr, aluminum, and gold was studied by using a nanoindenter and Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) in varying environments. Additional research was performed to study the environmental effects of gold film scratching using a Taber Shear/Scratch Tester.

Scanning of KBr single crystal surface in air with a diamond tip in the Hysitron Triboindenter formed surface ripples 100 nm high, 1 …

A Modified Obesity Proneness Model In The Prediction Of Weight Status Among High School Students, Joyce E. Nickelson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The health and well-being of U.S. children is challenged by the immense crisis of obesity. The obesity proneness model, first described by Costanzo and Woody (1985), describes one mechanism by which parents influence obesity development. This model suggests that parents become concerned about their children's weight if their children show signs of becoming overweight and parents value weight highly. Parents communicate their concerns to their children and restrict their children's eating. Children internalize parents' concerns and become unable to regulate their eating. Hence, parents socialize children to be concerned about their weight but do not equip them to regulate eating, …

Dynamic Programming With Multiple Candidates And Its Applications To Sign Language And Hand Gesture Recognition, Ruiduo Yang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Dynamic programming has been widely used to solve various kinds of optimization problems.In this work, we show that two crucial problems in video-based sign language and gesture recognition systems can be attacked by dynamic programming with additional multiple observations. The first problem occurs at the higher (sentence) level. Movement epenthesis [1] (me), i.e., the necessary but meaningless movement between signs, can result in difficulties in modeling and scalability as the number of signs increases. The second problem occurs at the lower (feature) level. Ambiguity of hand detection and occlusion will propagate errors to the higher level. We construct a novel …

I Am Warrior Woman, Hear Me Roar: The Challenge And Reproduction Of Heteronormativity In Speculative Television Programs, Leisa Anne Clark

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper explores how the "warrior woman" trope in western culture, as portrayed in late 20th century science fiction/fantasy and speculative television, reflects heteronormative/heterosexist discourses of femininity in American culture. First, I will examine feminine discourse in American culture, especially in the late 20th century. Then I will discuss how the tenets of second and third wave feminism influenced western paradigms of "the ideal female" and impacted pop culture by producing "warrior women" who both reflected and challenged heteronormative ideas and feminist principles. By examining several television shows produced in the United States and Great Britain from the late 1960s …

Safety Evaluation Of Freeway Exit Ramps, Hongyun Chen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The primary objective of the study is to evaluate safety performances of different exit ramps used in Florida and nationally. More specific, the research objectives include the following two parts: (1) to evaluate the impacts of different exit ramp types on safety performance for freeway diverge areas; and (2) to identify the different factors contributing to the crashes happening on the exit ramp sections. To achieve the research objectives, the research team investigated crash history at 424 sites throughout Florida. The study area includes two parts, the freeway diverge area and the exit ramp sections. For the freeway diverge areas, …

Methods Of Thermoelectric Enhancement In Silicon-Germanium Alloy Type I Clathrates And In Nanostructured Lead Chalcogenides, Joshua Martin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The rapid increase in thermoelectric (TE) materials R&D is a consequence of the growing need to increase energy efficiency and independence through waste heat recovery. TE materials enable the direct solid-state conversion of heat into electricity, with little maintenance, noise, or cost. In addition, these compact devices can be incorporated into existing technologies to increase the overall operating efficiency. High efficiency TE materials would enable the practical solid-state conversion of thermal to electrical energy. Optimizing the interdependent physical parameters to achieve acceptable efficiencies requires materials exhibiting a unique combination of properties. This research reports two methods of thermoelectric enhancement: lattice …

The Interrelatedness Of Homosexual Identity Development And Perceptions Of Campus Climate For Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, And Transgender Students At The University Of South Florida, Tampa Campus, Frederic Drury Baker

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of campus climate at the University of South Florida, Tampa Campus for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender students. Specifically, the study determined if there was any relationship between level of homosexual identity development acquired and perceptions of campus climate. If a relationship existed, it would influence the way that campus climate perceptions would be analyzed in future studies.

The population was the undergraduate student body at the University of South Florida taking at least six credit hours in the fall semester 2007. An online survey was created with two instruments …

The Geriatric Cancer Experience In End Of Life: Model Adaptation And Testing, Harleah G. Buck

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The National Institutes of Health recommends the development of conceptual models to increase rigor and improve evaluation in research. Validated models are essential to guide conceptualizations of phenomena, selection of variables and development of testable hypotheses. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is a methodology useful in model testing due to its ability to account for measurement error and test latent variables. The purpose of this study was to test a model of The Geriatric Cancer Experience in End of Life as adapted from Emanuel and Emanuel's framework for a good death using SEM. It was hypothesized that the model was a …

A Potential Field Based Formation Control Methodology For Robot Swarms, Laura E. Barnes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A novel methodology is presented for organizing swarms of robots into a formation utilizing artificial potential fields generated from normal and sigmoid functions. These functions construct the surface which swarm members travel on, controlling the overall swarm geometry and the individual member spacing. Nonlinear limiting functions are defined to provide tighter swarm control by modifying and adjusting a set of control variables forcing the swarm to behave according to set constraints, formation and member spacing. The swarm function and limiting functions are combined to control swarm formation, orientation, and swarm movement as a whole. Parameters are chosen based on desired …

Opportunities For Spiritual Awakening And Growth In Mothering, Melissa J. Albee

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My experiences as a mother have been enhanced by spirituality and my spirituality has been transformed through the practice of mothering. I will argue that part of the transformation available in mothering is that one can go from thinking of oneself as an individual with free will, self autonomy, and independence to believing maybe we are all more connected and dependent upon each other than we thought. I intend to explore my personal spiritual journey from an academic perspective in order to gain and share knowledge. Intense emotional experiences such as childbirth, learning how to take care of a person …

Automatic Generation Of Plc Code Based On Net Condition Event Systems, Natalia Sandberg

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An important consideration in discrete event dynamic systems control theory is the selection of a suitable modeling formalism that can capture the complex characteristics of the system and the capability to automatically synthesize a controller based on the system model. Net condition event systems are well suited for modeling complex discrete event dynamic systems owing to their input and output structure, which effectively captures the behavior of the physical devices to be monitored and/or controlled. To date, net condition event systems control models have not been extensively applied to highly automated manufacturing systems and there are few guidelines on how …

Development Of An Fpga Based Autopilot Hardware Platform For Research And Development Of Autonomous Systems, Wendy Alvis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Unmanned vehicles, both ground and aerial, have become prevalent in recent years. The research community has different needs than the industrial community when designing a finalized unmanned system since the vehicle, the sensors and the control design are dynamic and change frequently as new ideas are developed and implemented.

Current autopilot hardware, which is available as on-the-market products and proposed in research, is sufficient for unmanned systems design. However, this equipment falls short of being able to accommodate the needs of those in the research community who must be able to quickly implement new ideas on a flexible platform.

The …

Resiliency In Lesbians With A History Of Childhood Sexual Abuse: Implications For Clinical Practice, Amy R. Menna

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This was a collective case where lesbian survivors of childhood sexual abuse were studied. Resiliency is a combination of personality traits and environmental influences that serve to protect an individual from the harmful psychological effects of trauma (Bogar & Hulse-Killaky, 2006). The focus of this study was resiliency skills that lesbians used in working through childhood sexual abuse and clinical applications. Using a qualitative approach, specific inquiries included (a) what resiliency skills were used to work through childhood sexual abuse, (b) how counselors can be helpful and unhelpful, (c) what were some barriers to getting counseling, (d) what are the …

Altogether Governed By Humors: The Four Ancient Temperaments In Shakespeare, Caitlin Jeanne Fahey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hippocrates, and later Galen, hypothesized that a person's character was influenced by a combination of four humors that governed the body: black bile, phlegm, yellow bile, and blood. Centuries later, the Elizabethans adopted these ideologies to their medical practices, and associated each humor with one of four temperaments: melancholy, phlegmatic, choleric, and sanguine. References to the four temperaments may be found embedded in a number of William Shakespeare's texts, most notably Hamlet, Henry IV, Part 1, Macbeth, and Twelfth Night. While many figures in Shakespeare embody many humoral traits, allowing for character development throughout the play, …

Application Of An Improved Transition Probability Matrix Based Crack Rating Prediction Methodology In Florida’S Highway Network, Sahand Nasseri

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the growing need to maintain roadway systems for provision of safety and comfort for travelers, network level decision-making becomes more vital than ever. In order to keep pace with this fast evolving trend, highway authorities must maintain extremely effective databases to keep track of their highway maintenance needs. Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), as a leader in transportation innovations in the U.S., maintains Pavement Condition Survey (PCS) database of cracking, rutting, and ride information that are updated annually.

Crack rating is an important parameter used by FDOT for making maintenance decisions and budget appropriation. By establishing a crack rating …

Multiple Modes Of Mdmx Regulation Affect P53 Activation, Daniele M. Gilkes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

MDMX has emerged as a negative regulator of p53 transcriptional activity following DNA damage, loss of ribosomal integrity, and aberrant mitogenic signaling. Disruption of rRNA biogenesis by ribosomal stress activates p53 by releasing ribosomal proteins from nucleoli which bind MDM2 and inhibit p53 degradation. We found that p53 activation by ribosomal stress requires degradation of MDMX by MDM2. This occurs by L11 binding to the acidic domain of MDM2 which promotes its E3 ligase function preferentially towards MDMX. Further, unlike DNA damage which regulates MDMX stability through ATM-dependent phosphorylation events, ribosomal stress does not require MDMX phosphorylation suggesting p53 may …

Extracting A Climate Signal From The Skeletal Geochemistry Of The Caribbean Coral Siderastrea Siderea, Christopher Robert Maupin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The first bimonthly resolved, paired δ¹⁸O and Sr/Ca time series from the slow-growing, tropical western Atlantic coral, Siderastrea siderea, from the Dry Tortugas, Florida has been generated and used to document that robust proxy climate records can be produced from this heretofore underutilized massive coral. The coral time series contains a 20-year long calibration window (1973-1992) for both δ¹⁸O and Sr/Ca and a 73-year long verification window (1900-1972) for Sr/Ca. These time series permits both the quantification of the relationship between coral δ¹⁸O-SST and Sr/Ca-SST using an augmented, 1° x 1° gridded SST record …

Effects Of Two Types Of Exercise On Cravings To Smoke, Andrea Elibero

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Becoming more physically active is associated with increased confidence to maintain smoking abstinence as well as success at stopping smoking. The purpose of the current study was to assess the effects of two different types of exercise (cardiovascular and Hatha yoga) on general and cue-elicited craving for a cigarette. Participants were 76 smokers ages 18-45 (mean=29) who smoked at least 10 cigarettes per day (mean=20) for at least one year. Participants were randomly assigned to engage in 30 minutes of cardiovascular activity (walking on a treadmill), yoga, or to view a video about exercise (control). Participants completed a self-report measure …

West Indian Parents’, Guardians’, And Caregivers’ Perceptions, Understandings, And Role Beliefs About K-12 Public Schooling In The United States, Susan Chanderbhan Forde

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the understandings and perceptions that West Indian parents and caregivers residing in the U.S. have about U.S. public schools. A second purpose of this study was to examine the consistency between these findings and the cultural-ecological theory advanced by Ogbu (1974) which posits that immigrant minorities to the U.S. hold different perceptions and expectations in relation to U.S. schools.

Using interviews with 13 families in the Tampa Bay area, the study examined West Indian parents' and caregivers' understanding of the American public schooling process, expectations for education, role beliefs, and roles …

Diarization, Localization And Indexing Of Meeting Archives, Himanshu Vajaria

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation documents the research performed on the topics of localization, diarization and indexing in meeting archives. It surveys existing work in these areas, identifies opportunities for improvements and proposes novel solutions for each of these problems. The framework resulting from this dissertation enables various kinds of queries such as identifying the participants of a meeting, finding all meetings for a particular participant, locating a particular individual in the video and finding all instances of speech from a particular individual. Also, since the proposed solutions are computationally efficient, require no training and use little domain knowledge, they can be easily …

Idiom Comprehension In Bilingual And Monolingual Adolescents, Belinda Fusté-Herrmann

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A majority of Latino adolescents are reading below a proficient level, according to federal data, and there is a significant gap between overall reading proficiency of Latino and non-Latino, Caucasian adolescents. The purpose of this study was to investigate the linguistic underpinnings of Latino students' text comprehension. A positive relationship appears to exist between idiom comprehension and academic achievement, as well as idiom comprehension and reading comprehension, in typically developing, monolingual adolescents. Since reading comprehension and idiom comprehension share many of the same linguistic processes, idiom comprehension may provide a unique perspective for investigating Latino adolescents' reading comprehension.

Using the …

Effects Of Electric Field On The Functions Of Cell Membrane Proteins, Zhongsheng Zhang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The most important and most common channels on cell membrane are voltage-gated Na+ and K+ channels. In so-called "excitable cells" like neurons and muscle cells, these channels open or close in response to changes in potential across the membrane in order to accomplish muscle contraction and transmit signals. By controlling the membrane potential, we observe extraordinary inactivation behaviors of the voltage-gated Na+ channels and the voltage-gated delayed rectifier K+ channels, which shows that electric stimulation pulses can temporarily close the Na+ and K+ channels, just as drugs, like tetrodotoxin (TTX) and tetraethylammonium (ETA), do.

The Na/K pump is essential for …

Teacher Perceptions Of The Changing Role Of The Secondary Middle School Principal, Dawn E. Coffin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this study was to examine perceptions of middle school teachers regarding the changing role of the secondary middle school principal and compare teachers' results with assistant principals' and principals' perceptions of their role, thus adding the voice of teachers, regarding the secondary principal's role, to existing literature.

Data was collected electronically using the survey method in one urban Florida school district. Qualitative and quantitative data were captured using the Principal's Role Questionnaire (PRQ) (Goodwin, 2002). Thirty-six principal role descriptor statements on the PRQ survey requested a level of agreement from research participants regarding changes, current and future …

Interactions Of Neurons, Astrocytes And Microglia With Hucb Cell Populations In Stroke Models: Migration, Neuroprotection And Inflammation, Lixian Jiang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Previous studies demonstrated that intravenous administration of human umbilical cord blood (HUCB) cells could improve behavioral and neurological recovery of stroked animals following middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). In addition, HUCB cell recipients had less of an inflammatory response with less leukocyte infiltration. In these studies we explored how HUCB cells change the inflammatory response of neurons, astrocytes, and microglia to hypoxia/ischemia. Initiation of the inflammatory response occurs with the expression of chemokines. We determined that monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and macrophage inflammatory protein 1alph (MIP-1a), which are upregulated in the brain early after a stroke, induce migration of HUCB …