Arts and Humanities Commons^™

A Comparison Of Centrifugal Forces To Reduce The Inhibitory Effects Of Food Matrixes On Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction For The Detection Of Food Borne Viruses, Kristina Kim Carter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The CDC estimated that foodborne infections resulted in approximately 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5,000 deaths per year in the United States (Mead, 1999). There are over 200 known diseases caused by viruses, bacteria, parasites, toxins, metals, or prions that can be transmitted through food. Of these illnesses caused by foodborne disease, the CDC estimates that 38.6 million cases are from identifiable pathogens and 30.9 million of these cases are caused by viruses. Hence, approximately 80% of foodborne illnesses of known etiology result from viral transmission (Mead, 1999). Viral gastrointestinal illness may be caused by virus families such as: …

The History And Results Of Archaeological Investigations At 1cv32, The Mitchell Site, In Covington County, Alabama, Tray G. Earnest

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the history and results of investigations at 1Cv32, the Mitchell Site, in Covington County, Alabama. The Mitchell Site is perhaps the largest recorded Middle Woodland mound center in southeast Alabama. Data from limited testing are examined here with particular emphasis on the ceramic assemblage. Ceramic data indicate that the portion of this site investigated is predominately Middle Woodland, with distinct Weeden Island attributes.

Effects Of Faculty And Peer Mentoring On Perceived Stress And Social Support Of College Student Athletes, Valerie R. Pfister

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mentoring programs often focus on assisting students with the transition to college life and encouraging academic success. This study consisted of a quantitative examination of faculty and peer mentoring and freshmen student athletes' perceived transitional stress and social support. Surveys that provided a numerical value to perceived stress and social support supplied a basis for comparison. In addition, a qualitative element, consisting of personal interviews, was used to assess the quality of the mentoring relationships that developed.

Volunteer mentors were trained on mentoring strategies by the researcher. Sixty-one student-athlete volunteers from the sports of baseball, basketball, cheerleading, cross country, competitive …

Assessment Of Organizational Readiness To Change And An Intervention Program, Kimberly H. Richards

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This purpose of the study was twofold: to create and assess factors affecting organizational preparation for change and to assist the USF College of Medicine's administrators in developing and implementing an initiative in order to comply with regulations of the accreditation board. Randomly selected program directors participated in three training modules between September and November 2002. The training was targeted toward the development and implementation of learning objectives for medical residents. A panel evaluated the learning objectives developed by both trained and control directors to see whether the training resulted in the development of superior objectives. Additionally, program directors, residents …

Evaluation Of The Prognostic Criteria For Medicare Hospice Eligibility, D Helen Moore

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This work evaluates Medicare Hospice Benefit (MHB) eligibility standards that are referenced throughout this work as either "Medicare prognostic criteria," or "Local Medical Review Policies." Following the Chapter 1 overview of prognosis in end-stage disease, association between the Medicare clinical predictors and survival outcomes in dementing, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular illnesses are described in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 examines the prognostic belief systems of multidisciplinary hospice personnel. Chapter 4 seeks to improve the predictive performance of the Medicare prognostic criteria for dementia. The fifth and final chapter critiques the Medicare prognostic criteria from conceptual, methodological, and applied perspectives and suggests related …

Weblogs And The Technology Lifecycle: Context, Geek-Chic And Personal Community, James M. Milne

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Weblogging is an Internet social practice that became known as a technology. This project investigated weblogging (blogging) as an example of a media technology that arose under particular historical circumstances. To investigate this, blogs were examined in detail, participant-observation was used to construct and run a blog, and practicing bloggers were interviewed. The study found that blogging, like all technology, originates within existing social practice (context); has a diffusion process that causes it to spread between people (Geek-Chic); and leads to certain social outcomes (Personal Community). This is seen as a general pattern for the lifecycle of technology, serving to …

The Development And Validation Of The Thinness Expectancy Questionnaire (Teq), Ari R. Steinberg

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although the research on expectancy theory and body image and eating disturbance is very limited, it appears to be an extremely useful and promising line of study. It appears likely that the application of expectancy theory would lend itself well to the area of body image disturbance and eating disorders. Within the field of body image disturbance and eating disorders research, expectancies would most likely refer to the anticipated consequences of being thin. Such expectancies may be established by an individual's direct experience with weight loss and dieting or through the observation of the messages concerning the societal "thin ideal" …

Development Of An Instrumented Mannequin For Training Of Caregivers In Safe Patient Handling And Movement, Oneida Dugarte Westhoff

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A common problem associated with patient handling is the risk of bodily injury due to acute or cumulative trauma. The objective of this research was to develop an integrated solution, using commercially available components, to help health care providers handle patients in a safe manner. The objective was achieved by retrofitting a mannequin with flex sensors, electrogoniometers, pressure sensors, and photocells. The sensors were capable of quantifying angular displacement, skin pressure distribution and undignified exposure. All of these variables were monitored by a computer-based data acquisition system. The design of this integrated system was implemented using National Instruments LabView software, …

A Learning Approach To Obtain Efficient Testing Strategies In Medical Diagnosis, Saif Fakih

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Determining the most efficient use of diagnostic tests is one of the complex issues facing the medical practitioners. It is generally accepted that excessive use of tests is common practice in medical diagnosis. Many tests are performed even though the incremental knowledge gained does not affect the course of diagnosis. With the soaring cost of healthcare in the US, there is a critical need for cutting costs of diagnostic tests, while achieving a higher level of diagnostic accuracy. Various decision making tools assisting physicians in diagnosis management have been presented to the literature. One such method, called analytical hierarchy process, …

"My Journey", Douglas Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This is a copy of my thesis which I have written in its original form as a travel journal that I brought with me on a trip I took driving across the country. I have duplicated it word for word so that it may be more accessible to review. Accompanying this copy are a few photographic samples of different places I've been that offer a visual feeling of what I'm talking ahout thru-out the journal. The original copy of the journal will be displayed as part of my show (March 1st-5th at the Oliver Gallery) and can be viewed in …

Detection And Quantification Of Karenia Brevis By Carbon Fixation Gene Expression Analysis, Michael Alan, Gray

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Karenia brevis (Davis cf. Hansen & Moestrup = Gymnodinium breve) is the non-peridinin containing dinoflagellate responsible for many harmful algal blooms (red tides) in the Gulf of Mexico. These recurrent blooms can have significant negative ecological, economic, and human health impacts including fish kills, tainting of shellfish, poisoning of marine mammals, loss of tourism revenue due to beach closures, and respiratory distress and food poisoning in humans.

A method for detection of Karenia brevis was developed based upon amplification of the mRNA for the plastid-encoded gene of the carbon fixing enzyme ribulose 1, 5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO) large subunit (rbcL). …

Teachers’ Mathematics Preparation And Eighth Grade Student Mathematics Achievement: Can An Integrated Learning System Provide Support When Teachers’ Professional Preparation Is Limited?, Christine Kerstyn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Teaching vacancies are increasing nationally and the task of placing an experienced, subject-certified teacher in the classroom is getting more difficult for school districts. About 23% of all secondary teachers do not have a minor in their main teaching field. This is true for more than 30% of mathematics teachers and the proportion of such teachers is much greater in high-poverty schools and lower-level classes. In schools with the highest minority enrollments, students have less than a 50% chance of getting a science or mathematics teacher who holds a license and a degree in the field which he or she …

Analysis Of How Mobile Robots Fail In The Field, Jennifer Carlson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The considerable risk to human life associated with modern military operations in urban terrain (MOUT) and urban search and rescue (USAR) has led professionals in these domains to explore the use of robots to improve safety. Recent studies on mobile robot use in the field have shown a noticeable lack of reliability in real field conditions. Improving mobile robot reliability for applications such as USAR and MOUT requires an understanding of how mobile robots fail in field environments.

This paper provides a detailed investigation of how ground-based mobile robots fail in the field. Forty-four representative examples of failures from 13 …

The Literacy Practices Of Working Class White Women, Jody Ann Fernandez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

It is an accepted construct that literacy proficiency is vital to economic success in America. As well, research has shown that home literacy use, especially parental practices, is instrumental in the children's acquisition of literacy skills, and later, proficiency with school literacy tasks. While literacy research abounds regarding family literacy practice, especially that of low-income mothers and children, rarely is the concept of class specifically addressed as separate from race.

The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe the reported home literacy practices of nine white working class women residing in a neighborhood in the Southeastern United States. …

Spatial And Temporal Chemical Variations In The Hillsborough River System, Lori A. Pillsbury

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Hillsborough River flows southwesterly through Pasco and Hillsborough counties in west central Florida. From its source at the Green Swamp to its mouth in Hillsborough Bay, the river is joined by many tributaries and man-made inputs. Spatial and temporal variations in the river's major ion and CO₂ system chemistry were examined in a two-year study between 1999 and 2001. At thirteen sampling stations along approximately 54 miles of the river, water samples were collected in surroundings that ranged from pristine to urban. Samples were collected monthly for the first year and periodically thereafter. Concentrations of major ions were …

Hypocrisy Induction To Alter Selection Decisions Among Aversive Racists: Analyzing The Role Of External Motivation To Respond Without Prejudice, Andrew Biga

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study will examine the effects of hypocrisy induction on selection decisions for two populations: Aversive Racists and truly non-prejudiced individuals. Aversive Racists are operationally defined as individuals who are low in explicit prejudice and high in implicit prejudice, whereas truly non-prejudiced individuals are defined as being low in both explicit and implicit prejudice. These two groups of people will differ on their ratings of job applicants, so that Aversive Racists will rate Black applicants lower than White applicants (with comparable job credentials) while truly non-prejudiced individuals will rate them similarly. The induction of hypocrisy will serve as a …

Improved Current-Voltage Methods For Rf Transistor Characterization, Charles Passant Baylis Ii

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the development of a nonlinear transistor model, several measurements are used to extract equivalent circuit parameters. The current-voltage (IV) characteristic of a transistor is one of the measurement data sets that allows the nonlinear model parameters to be extracted. The accuracy of the IV measurement greatly influences the accuracy of the large-signal model.

Numerous works have reported the inadequacy of traditional static DC IV measurements to accurately predict radio-frequency (RF) behavior for many devices. This inaccuracy results from slow processes in the device that do not have time to completely respond to the quick changes in terminal conditions when …

Brain Tumor Target Volume Determination For Radiation Therapy Treatment Planning Through The Use Of Automated Mri Segmentation, Gloria Patrika Mazzara

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Radiation therapy seeks to effectively irradiate the tumor cells while minimizing the dose to adjacent normal cells. Prior research found that the low success rates for treating brain tumors would be improved with higher radiation doses to the tumor area. This is feasible only if the target volume can be precisely identified. However, the definition of tumor volume is still based on time-intensive, highly subjective manual outlining by radiation oncologists. In this study the effectiveness of two automated Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) segmentation methods, k-Nearest Neighbors (kNN) and Knowledge-Guided (KG), in determining the Gross Tumor Volume (GTV) of brain tumors …

Longshore Sediment Transport From Northern Maine To Tampa Bay, Florida: A Comparison Of Longshore Field Studies To Relative Potential Sediment Transport Rates Derived From Wave Information Study Hindcast Data, Joseph F. Van Gaalen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the regional longshore sediment transport pattern of the seaward coast of the United States and Gulf of Mexico from northern Maine to Tampa Bay, Florida. From previous studies it is known that along the coast there are variations in direction of sediment transport known as nodal zones as well as variations in sediment transport rate. Wave Information Study (WIS) hindcast data for the interval 1976 through 1995 (United States Army Corps of Engineers, 2003) provide a spatially continuous model of the regional longshore current directions in the study area.

In chapter one, all available published field studies …

Fault Tolerant Design Verification Through The Use Of Laser Fault Injection, Paris D. Wiley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Laser Fault Injection (LFI) testing has been demonstrated to be a useful tool in the prediction of single event upset rates in microcircuits. In addition LFI has contributed to the basic understanding of the mechanisms that cause single event upsets. However, very little research has been performed on the viability of LFI as a tool for verifying fault tolerant designs incorporated in ASICs, FPGAs, microprocessors and embedded systems. Current fault tolerant design verification techniques such as simulation and test have several significant limitations that prevent the complete verification of a fault tolerant design. However, LFI possesses spatial, temporal and financial …

Cognitive Processing Patterns Associated With Completion Of Treatment For Domestic Violence, Amina Porter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the differences in how domestically violent men processed social information before, during, and after the completion of treatment received from a Batterers Intervention Program in Florida.

Men receiving mandatory treatment for domestic violence as the result of a court order were exposed to a series of hypothetical scenarios involving their intimate partners and women with whom they were not intimately acquainted. The scenarios were sculpted to create negative feelings in the men,and cognitive processing patterns were investigated by testing their recall of social cues, their perception of intentionality and hostility, response consideration, response decisions, enactment ability, and …

Teachers' Perceptions Of Constructivism As An Organizational Change Model: A Case Study, Leanna Stohr Isaacson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research described and analyzed a single-site case study of an elementary school of 930 pupils, pre-kindergarten through grade five. The six and one-half-year longitudinal study examined teacher's perceptions of both constructivism as an educational organizational change model and of developing a constructivist philosophy in an entire elementary school. The study examined the background and steps that evolved throughout the reform process.

Specific constructs most frequently appearing in the literature relating to developing an organization were studied: (a) philosophical foundations, (b) change, (c) perception, (d) leadership, (e) teachers as leaders and (f) affect. Research on teachers' perspectives examined key elements …

Assessor Effects On The Evaluation Of The Wisc-Iii, Sherecce A. Fields

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There have been many theories about cultural differences found between groups on intelligence test scores. The main debate has been between those in favor of a genetic explanation versus those in favor of a more environmental one. When considering environmental influences, one explanation has been that there could be differential effects due to the assessor. Although there have been several studies that have considered this possibility, the results are inconclusive. The current study attempted to tease apart the assessor effects by focusing on biases in the assessor alone and by eliminating effects from the test taker. The study is an …

Exploring The Relationship Of Emotional Intelligence To Transformational Leadership Within Mentoring Relationships, Shannon Webb

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study examines the extent to which emotional intelligence is related to transformational leadership within mentoring relationships. One hundred and twelve faculty members responsible for mentoring doctoral students completed the Schutte Self Report Inventory of Emotional intelligence, as well as measures of empathy, self awareness, and self confidence. Transformational leadership ratings for each professor were provided by the doctoral student(s) who were advised by him or her. Study results indicate that emotional intelligence can predict several aspects of transformational leadership, including charisma and inspirational motivation. The predictive power of emotional intelligence was, in several cases, explained by the personality …

Study Of Cu Free Back Contacts To Thin Film Cdte Solar Cells, Vijay Viswanathan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goals of this project are study Cu free back contact alternatives for CdS/CdTe thin film solar cells, and to research dry etching for CdTe surface preparation before contact application. In addition, an attempt has been made to evaluate the stability of some of the contacts researched. The contacts studied in this work include ZnTe/Cu₂Te, Sb₂Te₃, and Ni-P alloys.

The ZnTe/Cu₂Te contact system is studied as basically an extension of the earlier work done on Cu₂Te at USF. RF sputtering from a compound target of ZnTe and Cu₂Te …

Shakespeare’S Midsummer Fairies: Shadows And Shamen Of The Forest, Patricia, Roy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent interest in environmental crises has inspired literary critics to consider how the history of ideas shapes our current ecological debates. Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream sets the stage for assessing how Renaissance attitudes towards nature have influenced current ideologies. While the play appears to be a fantasy, it reveals a relationship with nature, both physically and figuratively. The play's excursion into the woods shows an attempt to heal human relationships. Shakespeare's use of the imagery of nature argues in favor of the green world, for it is a world inhabited by shadows and shamen -- or, as Shakespeare calls …

Connections Count: Understanding Gender And Race Differences In School-Based Problem Behavior During Adolescence, Raymond C. Santa-Lucia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Utilization of a large, diverse sample provided a rare opportunity to advance our understanding of gender, race, and socioeconomic differences in school-based problem behavior. Yearly assessment of discipline referrals and suspensions received within the school context from 5th- through 11th-grade, as well as assessment of school dropout, provided an opportunity to examine these issues through an extended prospective longitudinal design. Results highlight the middle school transition as a time when discipline referrals and suspensions increase markedly, while student reports of connections to others, motivation, and optimism decline sharply. Results indicate that boys, African-American students, and students from low socioeconomic status …

A Simple Treatise On The Origins Of Cracker Kung Fu Or Mai Violence, Mark Joseph Runge

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My project tells the origins of the Cracker Kung-Fu system through personal narrative and government documents. The personal combat methods of the system are shown and described. The Tire Iron Form, or set of movements, is shown in its entirety, and each martial application is shown.

Mechanisms Of Ss-Amyloid Clearance By Anti-Aß Antibody Therapy, Donna Marie Wilcock

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimers disease (AD) is defined as a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that gradually destroys a persons memory and ability to learn. There are three pathological hallmarks of the disease which are necessary for diagnosis of AD, these are; extracellular amyloid plaques composed of [beta]-amyloid (A[beta]) protein, intracellular neurofibrillary tangles and neuronal loss. Amyloid plaques exist as both compact deposits which stain with Congo red and more numerous diffuse deposits. Active immunization against A[beta] 1-42 or passive immunization with monoclonal anti-A[beta] antibodies reduces amyloid deposition and improves cognition in APP transgenic mice.

Over several studies of active immunization in APP+PS1 transgenic mice …

Identification Of The Nucleation Locus In Emulsion Polymerization Processes, Vineet Shastry

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Particle Nucleation is the forcing function in the Emulsion Polymerization processes and it plays an important role in dictating the final properties of the latex produced. Identification of the main nucleation sites and characterizing them in terms of their size and composition is important for elucidating the mechanism of particle nucleation.

This research focuses on identifying the most likely nucleation locus in emulsion polymerization processes by characterizing the initial conditions of the reaction mixture. In order to achieve this objective, a methodology was devised, which used a non-reacting model emulsion system instead of the original emulsion. The model emulsion system …