Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Petrographic And Kinematic Investigation Of The Volcaniclastic And Plutonic Rocks Of The Northern Alisitos Arc, Baja California, Mexico, Fatin Tutak

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Alisitos arc segment forms part of the western zone of Jura-Cretaceous Peninsular Ranges batholith of Baja California. It extends south from the ancestral Agua Blanca Fault to the state boundary between Baja Norte and Sur. The study area is located within a fold and thrust belt intruded by a number of plutons that were emplaced during and after the deformational event. The northern end of the Alisitos arc is characterized by subvertical tight to isoclinal folds and high-angle reverse faults that define a northwest trending, southwest vergent fold and thrust belt. The aABF defines the northern limit to the …

Drug Resistance To Topoisomerase Directed Chemotherapy In Human Multiple Myeloma, Joel G. Turner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Human multiple myeloma is an incurable hematological malignancy characterized by the proliferation of plasma cells in the bone marrow. Myeloma represents approximately 20% of all blood cancers. In this research we have explored examples of both intrinsic and acquired drug resistance in myeloma.

Topoisomerases are enzymes that are critical for cell division, especially in rapidly dividing cells such as are found in cancer. Topoisomerase poisons are a common group of drugs that are used to treat cancer. Topoisomerase I and II poisons used in the treatment of multiple myeloma include topotecan, mitoxantrone, doxorubicin, and etoposide

In order for topoisomerase drugs …

Designs And Applications Of Surface Acoustic Wave Sensors For Biological And Chemical Sensing And Sample Handling, Stefan Cular

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Acoustic wave sensors have proven useful in many fields as primarily mass sensitive devices capable of responding to small environmental perturbations. The focus of this dissertation is the development of a new type of surface acoustic wave device with application to material property measurement, and biological and chemical sensing. This device is a combination of three independent acoustic wave devices with these waves propagated across the same area, while retaining independence of actuation and sensor function. The development of a complete sensor system, and its use and operation are presented for several example cases of chemical and biomarker sensing, and …

Gender, Quota Laws, And The Struggles Of Women’S Social Movements In Latin America, Merav Frazier

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Assuming gender neutrality in comparative analysis, i.e. not including either explicit or implicit references to a particular gender or sex, runs the risk of camouflaging the unequal distribution of political power, economic influence, and political access for men and women. Unfortunately, in assuming such neutrality, one is blinded to the inherent flaws of political systems, the inequalities they create, and their lack of consideration of gender and women's rights. To counteract this inequality between the sexes, women's social movements are fighting to create gender awareness and establish formal policies that place them at the same level as their male counterparts, …

Water Management And Decision-Making In The Nile Basin: A Case Study Of The Nile Basin Initiative, John C. Merrill

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The management of international waterways presents riparian nations with a challenging set of political, economic, environmental, and geographic difficulties. Historically, the Nile Basin has exemplified many of these problems as witnessed by inter-basin conflict, devastating floods, crippling drought, and unstable political and economic development. Despite their tumultuous past the ten riparian nations of the Nile Basin established a supranational water management institution in 1999, the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), in order to develop collective solutions to their common water related problems. However, serious challenges to the cooperative process threaten to derail the NBI and enflame underlying causes of conflict. This …

The Inflammatory Consequences Of Stress And Adiposity, Cathy A. Bykowski

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The inflammatory process is important in protecting the body against the invasion of pathogens, but recent research has suggested that a long-term inflammatory response may lead to chronic diseases (e.g., Black, 2003; Wu, Dorn, Donahue, Sempos, & Trevisan, 2002). Two factors that have been implicated in the inflammatory and disease processes are stress and obesity (Black, 2003). While their individual lines of research continue to grow, few researchers have attempted to integrate these factors into one model to explain their effects on inflammation. This study aimed to replicate previous findings suggesting relationships between stress, obesity and inflammation and test an …

The Moderating Role Of Meaning And Defense Mechanisms In The Association Between Child Sexual Abuse And Romantic Relationship Dysfunction, Angela Fairweather

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The current study investigated whether finding meaning in relation to sexual trauma and using mature defense mechanisms would moderate the association between child sexual abuse (CSA) severity and relationship and psychological adjustment in a sample of undergraduate women with a history of child sexual abuse. CSA severity was measured both objectively (i.e., severity of the abusive event) and subjectively (i.e., self-reported perceptions of the severity of the abusive event). As predicted, the interaction of objective CSA severity and mature defenses uniquely predicted one of four aspects of romantic relationship functioning (i.e., dyadic cohesion or doing joint activities with one's partner), …

The Interplay Of Economic, Climatic And Cultural Change Investigated Through Isotopic Analyses Of Bone Tissue: The Case Of Sardinia 4000-1900 Bc, Luca Lai

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the broader aim of reconstructing long-term resource use and ecological history for better policy making in times of environmental change, this study is an attempt to decode the mutual effects of human subsistence practices, climate and socio-cultural organization in Sardinia between 4000 and 1900 BC. Was economy changing due to climate change? Was the environment changing due to economic practices? And how were economic practices and socio-cultural factors interacting? The answer is complex, and some convergence of complex systems theory, historical ecology and agency supports this. Diet, at the interface of all of these as fulfilling biological needs constrained …

Do Dibels Nonsense Word Fluency Scores Predict Sat-10 Reading Scores In First Grade? A Comparison Of Boys And Girls In Reading First Schools, Diane E. Napier

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of DIBELS Nonsense Word Fluency Scores in the fall of first grade as a predictor of SAT-10 results. A comparison of boys and girls, three ethnic groups (Caucasian, Hispanic, African-American), and three different reading risk groups were examined using multiple regression analyses. Analysis of data from a total of 27,000 participants from a cohort of Reading First schools in 2003/2004 confirmed Nonsense Word Fluency scores in the fall of first grade to be a significant predictor of the SAT-10 reading scores in the spring. Differences found between and within groups …

The Influence Of Anxiety And Depression On Cognitive Functioning In Parkinson’S Disease, Lynn E. Oelke

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Depression and anxiety are common psychiatric disturbances in Parkinson's disease (PD). Past studies have demonstrated a relationship between depression and cognitive decline in PD; however, the unique influence of anxiety has not been well studied. The objective of the present study was to differentiate the unique influences of depression and anxiety on cognitive functioning in PD. Sixty-eight cognitively intact PD patients with mild to moderate motor disease severity completed self-report questionnaires and neuropsychological tests. Two hierarchical regression analyses were conducted with executive functioning performance as the criterion variable, and two additional hierarchical regression analyses were conducted with memory performance as …

Effect Of A Parent Reading Intervention On Elementary-Aged Children‘S Reading Fluency, Renee R. Corbett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effect of a parent-implemented reading intervention on children's reading fluency. Five elementary school students identified as at-risk for reading failure participated in the study with their mothers. Baseline data for each student was collected before parents were trained by the researcher in implementation of the intervention procedure. Parents implemented the intervention four times per week for five weeks, while the researcher continued to collect assessment data twice per week. Follow-up data were then collected for each student two weeks after the intervention ended. The effects of the intervention were evaluated using a multiple baseline across participants …

Role Of Protein Kinase C-Iota In Prostate Cancer, Hla Yee Win

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Prostate cancer is one of the leading causes of death among males in the United States. In this study, we hypothesized that an activated PKC-iota-dependent anti-apoptotic pathway, drives the cell cycle proliferation and survival of prostate cancer cells.

We investigated the role of atypical PKC-iota (PKC-ι) in androgen- independent prostate DU-145 carcinoma, androgen-dependent prostate LNCaP carcinoma compared to transformed non-malignant prostate RWPE-1 cells. Western blotting and immunoprecipitations demonstrated that PKC-ι is associated with cyclin-dependent activating kinase (CAK/Cdk7) in androgen-dependent, RWPE-1 and LNCaP cells but not in androgen-independent DU-145 cells. Treatment of prostate RWPE-1 cells with PKC-ι silencing RNA (siRNA) decreased …

A Study Of Cross-Border Takeovers: Examining The Impact Of National Culture On Internalization Benefits, And The Implications Of Early Versus Late-Mover Status For Bidders And Their Rivals, Tanja Steigner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of two self-contained chapters that empirically examine bidder firm returns of U.S. companies in cross-border mergers and acquisitions. In chapter one I examine how cultural distance between bidder and target country impacts internalization benefits. The results suggest that shareholders are initially concerned about the acquisition in culturally distant countries, which outweighs any potential benefits from internalization. However, in the long-run we observe a significant reversal of these findings. In the second and third year following the announcement, greater cultural distance positively impacts the bidder firm's operating performance and the bidder experiences significant internalization benefits from technological know-how …

Analytical Perspectives Of Thematic Unity: Applications Of Reductive Analysis To Selected Fugues By J.S. Bach And G.F. Handel, Adam C. Perciballi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Thematic unity in music occurs when elements from a musical idea appear frequently, in significant places and their presence is recognized or experienced on or beneath the surface. In fugal compositions, thematic unity is evident in the opening statement of the subject and it permeates each layer of its texture. Three analytical perspectives are used to investigate the degree to which local thematic material anticipates later structural features in Johan Sebastian Bach's Fugue in G minor WTC II, and Georg Frederic Handel's Fuga II in G Major. The analytical perspectives identify: (1) cohesive relationships between motivic fragments, (2) …

Evolution And Field Application Of A Plankton Imaging System, Andrew Walker Remsen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the processes controlling the distribution and abundance of zooplankton has been a primary concern of oceanographers and has driven the development of numerous technologies to more accurately quantify these parameters. This study investigates the potential of a new plankton imaging sensor, the shadowed image particle profiling and evaluation recorder (SIPPER), that I helped develop at the University of South Florida, to address that concern. In the first chapter, results from the SIPPER are compared against concurrently sampling plankton nets and the optical plankton counter (OPC), the most widely used optical zooplankton sampling sensor in the field. It was found …

Designing An Autonomous Helicopter Testbed: From Conception Through Implementation, Richard D. Garcia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Miniature Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are currently being researched for a wide range of tasks, including search and rescue, surveillance, reconnaissance, traffic monitoring, fire detection, pipe and electrical line inspection, and border patrol to name only a few of the application domains. Although small / miniature UAVs, including both Vertical Takeoff and Landing (VTOL) vehicles and small helicopters, have shown great potential in both civilian and military domains, including research and development, integration, prototyping, and field testing, these unmanned systems / vehicles are limited to only a handful of university labs. For VTOL type aircraft the number is less than …

Analysis Of Glycerol 3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase And Sarco/Endoplasmic Reticulum Calcium Ion Channel Atpase For Use In Deep Metazoan Phylogenetics, Terry G. Campbell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Genetic sequence data have been widely used to analyze metazoan phylogenies for two decades, and numerous datasets have been generated for testing relationships at many different taxonomic levels. The rapid divergence of major metazoan body plans during the Cambrian explosion confounds the determination of phylogenetic relationships among metazoan phyla. Few molecular analyses at this level have used both multiple genes and broad taxonomic representation. Furthermore, most studies have relied exclusively on the small ribosomal subunit rRNA gene (SSU). Many of the other genes that have been examined have possessed substitution rates that are inappropriate for resolving the relationships among metazoan …

Representation And Learning For Sign Language Recognition, Sunita Nayak

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While recognizing some kinds of human motion patterns requires detailed feature representation and tracking, many of them can be recognized using global features. The global configuration or structure of an object in a frame can be expressed as a probability density function constructed using relational attributes between low-level features, e.g. edge pixels that are extracted from the regions of interest. The probability density changes with motion, tracing a trajectory in the latent space of distributions, which we call the configuration space. These trajectories can then be used for recognition using standard techniques such as dynamic time warping. Can these frame-wise …

Re-Islamization In Higher Education From Above And Below: The University Of South Florida And Its Global Contexts, Terri K. Wonder

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explores Islamism's interplay with higher education as the movement advances an agenda for worldwide reformation. Over an eighty-year period, Islamism has appropriated higher education institutions, professional associations, on- and off-campus organizations, and publications as a primary means to achieve its utopian objective of the Nizam Islami, or "Islamic Order." Findings show how the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt developed a Weberian bureaucratic organizational and administrative structure to exert influence not only in Egypt but also the world. A Qutb-inspired "hijra" of Muslim Brothers in universities proved itself adroit at filling macro-and micro-level policy vacuums in Soviet-aligned post-colonial societies, marginalizing …

Race, Class, And Real Estate: Neoliberal Policies In A “Mixed Income” Neighborhood, Ashley E. Spalding

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores the impact of HOPE VI (Housing Opportunities for People Everywhere), a Housing and Urban Development (HUD) program, on Tampa's Greenwood neighborhood. The program represents a policy shift away from traditional public housing toward a "mixed income" model that has effectively privatized public housing. Through a HOPE VI program implemented in Tampa in 2000, two public housing complexes were demolished and redeveloped in this way. While some former residents of public housing relocated to other public housing complexes, many moved to apartments and houses in the private rental market with Section 8 subsidized housing vouchers-many to Tampa's Greenwood …

Early Modern Ecostudies: From The Florentine Codex To Shakespeare., Thomas Hallock, Ivo Kamps, Karen L. Raber

Faculty Books

The essays in this volume interrogate the unique and often problematic relationship between early modern cultural studies and ecocriticism, providing theoretical insights and models for a future practice that successfully wed the two disciplines.

Transducer Dynamics, Egor Dolzhenko

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Transducers are finite state automata with an output. In this thesis, we attempt to classify sequences that can be constructed by iteratively applying a transducer to a given word. We begin exploring this problem by considering sequences of words that can be produced by iterative application of a transducer to a given input word, i.e., identifying sequences of words of the form w, t(w), t²(w), . . . We call such sequences transducer recognizable. Also we introduce the notion of "recognition of a sequence in context", which captures the possibility of concatenating prefix and suffix words to each word in …

Effects Of Time-Compressed Audio And Adjunct Images On Learner Recall, Recognition, And Satisfaction, Albert Dieter Ritzhaupt

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of time-compressed narration and representational adjunct images on undergraduate college students' 1) ability to recall and recognize information in a multimedia learning environment, and 2) overall satisfaction with this type of learning environment. The goals of this research were to shed light on time-compression technology incorporated into multimedia learning environments, help fill the existing gap in the research literature by merging two disjoint bodies of research, and aid instructors and instructional designers to better understand time-compression technology while creating rigorous multimedia materials.

This research was guided by the underlying principles …

Suzan-Lori Parks’S The America Play And Its Deconstructive Ontology, Rachel A. Naor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

I intend to showcase Suzan-Lori Parks's repetitious, supplemental virtuosity, which is a testament to the fluid, indeterminate condition of her concepts. I seek to demonstrate that in textualizing the quality of absence in the written dialogue, Parks's The America Play becomes uniquely deconstructive. For indeed, through the absent "presence" of an historically mythified president and a gravedigger's skewed identity, the play becomes a stage for splinters of historicized, differentiating, repeating signifiers that supplement, even as they redefine, their referential signified. Performing deconstructive thinking, Parks's textuality is accommodated by a content through which she calls attention to the structures of metaphysics …

A Novel Biostable 3d Porous Collagen Scaffold For Implantable Biosensor, Young Min Ju

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder whereby the body loses its ability to maintain normal glucose levels. Despite of development of implantable glucose sensors in long periods, none of the biosensors are capable of continuously monitoring glucose levels during long-term implantation reliably. Progressive loss of sensor function occurs due in part to biofouling and to the consequences of a foreign body response such as inflammation, fibrosis, and loss of vasculature.

In order to improve the function and lifetime of implantable glucose sensors, a new 3D porous and bio-stable collagen scaffold has been developed to improve the biocompatibility of implantable glucose …

Freeway Exit Ramp Traffic Flow Research Based On Computer Simulation, Xu Wang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Interstate highways are one of the most important components of the transportation infrastructure in America. Freeway ramps play an important role in the whole interstate transportation system.

This paper researches the traffic flow characteristics of four typical exit ramps in USA, which are tapered one-lane exit, tapered two-lane exit, parallel one-lane exit and parallel two-lane exit. Computer simulation software, such as CORSIM and HCS are applied as the main tools in this research. ANOVA and Tukey are used for statistical purpose.

It compares the maximum capacity, average running speed and the total lane change number of those four exit ramps. …

Impurity And Back Contact Effects On Cdte/Cds Thin Film Solar Cells, Hehong Zhao

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

CdTe/CdS thin film solar cells are the most promising cost-effective solar cells. The goal of this project is to improve the performance for CdS/CdTe devices by improving the open circuit voltage V_oc and current density J_sc. Efforts focused on increasing the V_oc, which include increasing the doping concentration by introducing Phosphorus and Antimony, finding and testing new back contact materials, and varying the ambient of CSS CdTe. In addition, the effect of Zn₂SnO₄ on the cells' performance was also studied.

Electrical characterization of the thin films and completed devices were carried out …

Synthesis Of Novel Cysteine Peptide Nucleic Acid (Cpna), Mehul J. Ajmera

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many diseases are caused due to abnormalities in production of specific protein. Across this protein the conventional lock and key mechanism shows binding at the specific cites of protein. However use of antisense technology can prevent formation of protein. It does so by binding to mRNA and prevents transcription. The structural modifications lead to synthetic molecules with 18-mer units which show significant improvement in binding properties, this gives birth to a new class of oligomers called Peptide Nucleic Acid (PNA). We herein report cysteine based PNA called CPNA.

The Effects Of A Structured Adherence Intervention To Haart On Adherence And Treatment Response Outcomes, Donald E. Kurtyka

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: Adherence to antiretroviral (ARV) medications in excess of 90-95% is necessary for optimal response to suppress HIV replication and to maintain and/or restore immune function. A number of interventions have been shown to improve ARV adherence, but no research has been conducted which evaluates proactive monitoring of pharmacy refill adherence and subsequent intervention when inadequate adherence is identified.

Purpose: The purpose of this project was to compare treatment response, pharmacy refill adherence and self-reported medication adherence between two groups of patients: those participating in an AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) and those participating in a Medicaid-funded medication access program. …

Privacy In Database Designs: A Role Based Approach, Gary A. Poe

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Privacy concerns have always been present in every society. The introduction of information technology information has enabled a reduction in the cost of gathering information, management of that information and the permitted that same information to become increasingly portable. Coupled with these reductions of cost has been an increase in the demand for information as well as the concern that privacy expectations be respected and enforced through security systems that safeguard access to private-type data. Security systems enforce privacy expectations. Unfortunately there is no consensus on a definition of privacy making the specification of security often over broad and resulting …