Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Writing To (Re)New Orleans: The Post-Hurricane Katrina Blogosphere And Its Ability To Inspire Recovery, Daisy Pignetti

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nearly every website or software application these days features a feed to subscribe to, a network to join, or a social timeline to track—all of which do their part to influence public opinion, promote products, and bring people closer together. Being a blogger since 2003 exposed me to these user-generated trends, but never did I expect my blog space, or any others, to play such an important role in my emotional well-being; not until Hurricane Katrina hit. Sharing my story as a transplanted New Orleanian watching the disaster unfold from afar in a public forum quickly linked me to other …

Imagined Realities, Defying Subjects: Voice, Sexuality And Subversion In African Women's Writing, Sarah Namulondo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The privileging of man in African societies has involved an erasure of identities and subjectivities of many women, holding them to an assumption of female inferiority. To counter the injustice, African women writers have engaged in rhetorical and performative strategies designed to reconstitute the cultural erasure as they try to claim status as individuals. But in the process, various cultural expectations such as their maternal roles act as constant bottlenecks to return them back to their prescribed roles as subordinate beings. This dissertation, “Imagined Realities, Defying Subjects: Voice, Sexuality and Subversion in African Women’s Writing” explores the methodologies of cultural …

Exploring Colorectal Cancer Diagnosis Disclosure To First-Degree Relatives: An African American Family Case Series, Kamilah B. Thomas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cancer killer in the United States and the third most common cancer in African American men and women. Though the overall death rates have declined, this reduction in mortality is smaller for African Americans than for Whites. Factors that are protective against colorectal cancer include occupational or recreational physical activity, a diet high in fruits and vegetables, and colorectal cancer screening with removal of polyps (polypectomy) before they progress to cancer. Compliance with CRC screening recommendations requires people to know if a first-degree relative (parent, sibling, and child) or second-degree relative (aunt, uncle, …

System Identification In Automatic Database Memory Tuning, Tiffany Burrell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Databases are very complex systems that require database system administrators to perform system tuning in order to achieve optimal performance. Memory tuning is vital to the performance of a database system because when the database workload exceeds its memory capacity, the results of the queries running on a system are delayed and can cause substantial user dissatisfaction. In order to solve this problem, this thesis presents a platform modeled after a closed control feedback loop to control the level of multi-query processing. Utilizing this platform provides two key assets. First, the system identification is acquired, which is one of two …

Residual Stress Analysis In 3c-Sic Thin Films By Substrate Curvature Method, Jose M. Carballo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Development of thin films has allowed for important improvements in optical, electronic and electromechanical devices within micrometer length scales. In order to grow thin films, there exist a wide variety of deposition techniques, as each technique offers a unique set of advantages. The main challenge of thin film deposition is to reach smallest possible dimensions, while achieving mechanical stability during operating conditions (including extreme temperatures and external forces, complex film structures and device configurations). Silicon carbide (SiC) is attractive for its resistance to harsh environments, and the potential it offers to improve performance in several microelectronic, micro-electromechanical, and optoelectronic applications. …

The Rebirth Of A Semi-Disintegrated Enterprise: Towards The Future Of Composites In Pre-Synthesized Domestic Dwellings; And The Societal Acceptance Of The Anti-In Situ Architectural Movement, Timothy James Keepers

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The prefabricated home has been said to be the site of innovation, exploration and sometimes spectacular failure since the mid 20th-century (Home Delivery, 8). Despite years of research and advancements in technology, pre-synthesization in the domestic realm has typically remained loyal to past construction methods/materials and banal aesthetic ripostes. As a result, the modern pre-synthesized home suffers in terms of programmatic diversity, spatial feedback, supertemporal expansion (in reference to the supertemporal art movement) and societal acceptance.

Materials and technologies are constantly upgrading in our increasingly technetronic society. Re-marketing the prefabricated home will require a similar modus operandi. Investigating the successes …

Depositional Dynamics In Seagrass Systems Of Tampa Bay, Fl: Influence Of Hydrodynamic Regime And Vegetation Density On Ecosystem Function, Alison Cheryl Meyers

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many coastal ecosystems around the world are dominated by submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) habitats. These SAV habitats are known to provide many highly valuable ecosystem services such as habitat for commercial important species and increased water clarity. Water flow is an environmental variable which can have measurable effects on the ecosystem services provided by SAV, but is often not considered in studies assessing these services. This dissertation sought to investigate the links between SAV, primarily seagrasses, and hydrodynamics, paying special attention to the effects on sediments and fauna. Three main areas are discussed: (1) the effects of SAV on flow, …

(Im•Print) A Material Investigation To Encourage A Haptic Dialog, Julie Marie Vo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The word impression encompasses a dual meaning which desires to be more fully explored in the built realm. An (im-print) has a powerful impact because the message becomes an indelible mark embedded within the material. Physically, an impression is made by the pressure of one object on or into another, leaving behind a trace of this interaction on the surface. This process has the potential to create a vivid memory within the participant who comes into contact with it.

The idea of imprint can become a part of the process of design both physically and conceptually. As polished concrete can …

Surface-Bonded Sol-Gel Sorbents For On-Line Hyphenation Of Capillary Microextraction With High-Performance Liquid Chromatography, Scott S. Segro

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is the most widely used analysis technique. However, its sensitivity is limited. Sample preconcentration methods, such as fiber-based solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and in-tube SPME (capillary microextraction) offer improved detection limits. It is, however, difficult to couple fiber SPME on-line with HPLC due to the need for complicated desorption devices. Such coupling is further complicated due to the limited solvent stability of the extracting phase both in the fiber and in-tube formats of SPME. In this research, surface-bonded sol-gel sorbents were developed to provide the solvent stability required for effective on-line hyphenation of capillary microextraction (CME) with …

Phenomenology Of Home, Lidiya Angelova

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The intent of this Master's Thesis project is to investigate the meaning of home through the bodily experience and psychological perception of space.

An inherent ambiguity to the word, as it fails to translate in languages other than those of the Germanic group, causes confusion in defining what home is. In English the word home suggests a deeper understanding and attachment to the surrounding environment, a sort of fusing of the spatial, time and material elements into a single intense experience of being.

In languages that do not contain the word the notion of home is expressed in poetry through …

Architecture As Canvas, Monika Blazenovic

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cities are increasingly becoming vessels of consumption, while various opportunities for production of space and public expression are taken away from the city's inhabitants. New architectural interventions often disregard a site's previously developed character and further aid in wiping away memories closely related to a city's cultural past. Banja Luka, the second largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, has been an important cultural center, even through years of unrest. Within the city's main plaza stands an unfinished concrete structure (Fig. 3), built with pre-war conceptions of a hotel. The structure's location within the city of Banja Luka has provided for …

Application Of Luminescence Sensors In Oxygen Diffusion Measurement And Study Of Luminescence Enhancement/Quenching By Metallic Nanoparticles, Sanchari Chowdhury

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The first part of this dissertation deals with the application of a luminescence quenching method to measure diffusion and permeation coefficients of oxygen in polymers. Most luminescence oxygen sensors do not follow linearity of the Stern-Volmer (SV) equation due to heterogeneity of luminophore in the polymer matrix, thus the complexity of data analysis is increased. To circumvent this limitation, inverted fluorescence microscopy is utilized in this work to investigate the SV response of the sensors at the micron-scale. In these diffusion experiments, oxygen concentration is measured by luminescence changes in regions with high SV constants and good linearity. Thus, we …

Women And Architecture: Re-Making Shelter Through Woven Tectonics, Kirsten Lee Dahlquist

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Weaving and architecture, conceived simultaneously with cave paintings, are two ancient forms of craft used to enclose space and provide shelter harmoniously with nature. In its basic composition, a useable textile is the interlacing of two members, warp and weft, at right angles to create structure and surface respectively. Textile artist Anni Albers of the Bauhaus attributes the organization of weaving to the skills of an ancient goddess. Her understanding of prehistoric cultures further links women closer to the overall creation of structure, though perceived as a masculine endeavor. Consequently, early advancements in architecture, the structural organization of shelter, are …

Motivational Factors And Worldview Dimensions Associated With Perceptions Of Global Education Initiatives By U.S. College Professors, Emmanuel Jean-François

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate motivational factors and worldview dimensions associated with perceptions of global education initiatives by college professors in the United States. The concept of "perceptions of global education initiatives" is used in this study to refer to attitudes toward institutional support for global education, internationalizing curriculum, campus and community activities to increase global awareness, and international experiences and cooperation. The term college professor in this study is used to designate full-time assistant professors, associate professors, and full professors teaching at a regionally accredited private or public four - year college or university in the …

A Comparative Study Of The Plants Used For Medicinal Purposes By The Creek And Seminoles Tribes, Kimberly Hutton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Previous studies in Native American ethnobotany on the shared use of medicinal and cultural plants between communities fail to clearly reveal if these shared uses are part of changing culture or remain a stabilizing connection between old and new tribes. During the late 1700's to early 1800's, various factions of the Creek tribes of Georgia migrated into Florida, forming a new tribe called the Seminoles. This event provides the unique opportunity to study the changing cultural and medicinal uses of plants by a new tribe in a new geographic location, revealing if cultural purposes were passed from one group to …

Leadership Competencies For College Leaders Of Public Small, Rural, Single-Campus And Large, Urban, Multiple-Campus Colleges, Joseph M. J Kools

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research examined how two decidedly different groups of community college presidents from across the United States viewed the competencies, characteristics, and professional skills identified by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) (2005) as important for effective community college leadership. The two groups participating in the research were from small, single-campus colleges serving rural populations and from large, multiple-campus colleges serving urban populations. The participants were asked to identify those activities and experiences that they found helpful in developing the AACC leadership competencies. The results from this research suggest that community college presidents from both sizes of college campuses …

Play: A Process-Driven Study Of Design Discovery, Kuebler Wilson Perry

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Frequently, in architecture and in other professions, a results-oriented approach to design truncates the creative process. Architecture is a man-made intervention, ultimately involving a fair bit of destruction in order to eventually arrive in a state of hopefully coherent grace in the lives of its users and the built or natural context (Clark 2000, 10). It is unacceptable to proceed hastily into such complex territory-without a degree of rigor and process-driven creativity commensurate with the gravity of creating large scale, reality-altering, life-affecting structures.

A process-driven inquiry requires many hours of experiment, revision, and meandering about that may initially have no …

Evaluation Of Video Modeling For Teaching Abduction Prevention Skills To Children Diagnosed With Autism And Aspergers Disorder, Danielle Godish

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abduction prevention skills are crucial for any child to have. Unfortunately there has been a lack of research on teaching children with autism and aspergers these skills. Video modeling has been shown to be an effective method to teach children with autism various skills. Video modeling has also been shown to be cost efficient and easily implemented across various people and settings. The purpose of the present study was to assess the effectiveness of the video modeling technique for teaching children with autism and aspergers abduction prevention skills. The second purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness …

Theoretical And Experimental Simulation Of Passive Vacuum Solar Flash Desalination, Mohammad Abutayeh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Experimental and theoretical simulations of a novel sustainable desalination process have been carried out. The simulated process consists of pumping seawater through a solar heater before flashing it under vacuum in an elevated chamber. The vacuum is passively created and then maintained by the hydrostatic balance between pressure inside the elevated flash chamber and outdoor atmospheric pressure.

The experimental simulations were carried out using a pilot unit built to depict the proposed desalination system. Theoretical simulations were performed using a detailed computer code employing fundamental physical and thermodynamic laws to describe the separation process, complimented by experimentally based correlations to …

Differentiation Of Labor-Related Activity By Means Of Musculoskeletal Markers, Annette Doying

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study tests whether musculoskeletal markers are attributable to occupational categories. It is hypothesized that individuals over the age of 30 years with a lifetime occupation as a laborer will demonstrate a significantly different pattern of activity markers from individuals in the white collar classifications. A sample of n=69 from the Maxwell Museum's Documented Skeletal Collection are investigated.

Upper and lower extremities were scored for MSM type (robusticity, stress lesions, and ossification exostoses) and severity (grades 0 - 3) following Hawkey and Merbs (1995) visual reference system. To evaluate methodological approaches to MSM scoring, ossification exostoses and stress lesions were …

Enclosure, Transformation, Emergence: Space And The Construction Of Gender Roles In The Novels Of Charlotte Brontë, Michelle Dawn Lattanzio

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

I am interested in the construction and meaning of space in Charlotte Brontë 's novels, and more specifically the idea of enclosure, in abstract and concrete terms. In a concrete sense, I wish to investigate the physical spaces the women in Charlotte Brontë 's novels inhabit: their homes, gardens, workplaces, clothing, and their bodies. In an abstract sense, I wish to investigate the cultural, psychic, gender, and linguistic spaces they inhabit: the cultural images and conventions women are enclosed within, the psychic space of the mind, and the narrative spaces they inhabit (and create).

Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, in …

Improved Methodologies For Modeling Storage And Water Level Behavior In Wetlands, Kenneth Allan Nilsson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Wetlands are important elements of watersheds that influence water storage, surface water runoff, groundwater recharge/discharge processes, and evapotranspiration. To understand the cumulative effect wetlands have on a watershed, one must have a good understanding of the water-level fluctuations and the storage characteristics associated with multiple wetlands across a region. An improved analytical method is presented to describe the storage characteristics of wetlands in the absence of detailed hydrologic and bathymetric data. Also, a probabilistic approach based on frequency analysis is developed to provide insight into surface and groundwater interactions associated with isolated wetlands. The results of the work include: 1) …

Fabrication And Characterization Of Surfactant-Free Pbse Quantum Dot Films And Pbse-Polymer Hybrid Structures, Gayan S. Dedigamuwa

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This work describes an experimental investigation of methods of synthesis, determination of structural and physical properties, and analysis and correlation of the properties to the structures of semiconductor quantum dots and quantum dot-polymer hybrid structures. These structures are investigated for applications in flexible solar cell devices. The main synthesis process used in the work was a Laser-Assisted Spray (LAS) process that was developed in our laboratory to deposit surfactant-free PbSe quantum dot (QD) films directly on a substrate. The QD films formed by this technique are in close contact with each other forming a percolation path for charge transport. Analytical …

Feral Cats And The People Who Care For Them, Loretta Sue Humphrey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sociologists have described the characteristics of individuals who become involved in social movements, their motivations for becoming involved, and the methods used to recruit participants. One group that has been underrepresented in the existing literature is feral cat caretakers. The purpose of this study is to examine the traits of this group, information which would be valuable to groups dedicated to educating the public about the plight of feral cats, groups which offer information and resources to caretakers, individuals wishing to network with other feral cat caretakers, and policy makers in need of knowing what options exist to deal with …

The Fiction Of The Rime: Gaspara Stampa’S “Poetic Misprision” Of Giovanni Boccaccio’S The Elegy Of Lady Fiammetta, Ellan B. Otero

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study maintains that although Gaspara Stampa's Rime (1554) appears to straddle two popular literary genres-lyric poetry and autobiography-analysis of the Rime within its cultural context demonstrates that while Stampa (1523-1553) used Petrarchan conventions, she also both borrowed and swerved from Giovanni Boccaccio's Elegy of Lady Fiammetta (1334-1337) to imagine a non-Petrarchan narrative of an abandoned woman. In the Renaissance, lyric poetry and autobiography were distinguished not only by their style-prose vs. verse-but, more importantly, by the treatment of their distinctive subject matter. Lyric poetry focused on those emotions involving love, whereas Renaissance autobiography shunned emotions. A comparative analysis of …

Development Of Uhf Micromechanical Resonators And Arrays Based On Silicon-Oninsulator (Soi) Technology, Mingke Xiong

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A novel micromachining technology on SOI substrates is presented that is capable of producing on-chip high-Q resonators and resonator arrays equipped with high aspect-ratio (30:1) microstructures and nano-gap capacitive transducers filled with high-k dielectrics. The newly developed IC-compatible MEMS microfabrication process consists of merely three standard photolithography steps, which is much simpler than the other SOI-based resonator device technologies. In order to achieve the optimum performance and yield of the resonators and resonator arrays, this SOI-based fabrication process has been carefully designed and investigated step by step.

For capacitively-transduced extensional mode (e.g., radial-contour and wine-glass mode) resonators, formation of …

Design, Synthesis And Post-Synthetic Modifications Of Functional Metal-Organic Materials, Farid Nouar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Porous solids are a class of materials of high scientific and technological significance. Indeed, they have the ability to interact with atoms, ions or molecules not only at their surface but also throughout the bulk of the solid. This ability places these materials as a major class involved in many applications such as gas storage and separation, catalysis, drug delivery and sensor technology.

Metal-Organic Materials (MOMs) or coordination polymers (CPs) are crystalline compounds constructed from metal ions or clusters and organic components that are linked via coordination bonds to form zero-, one-, two or three-periodic structures. Porous Metal-Organic Materials (MOMs) …

The Effect Of Land-Use Controls On Urban Sprawl, Marin V. Geshkov

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Chapter 1 provides a discussion of definitions, criticisms, and measurements of urban sprawl. Land-use controls are surveyed in Chapter 2. In Chapter 3, we present the monocentric urban model, followed by a discussion of extensions of that model to include land-use controls. Chapter 4 is a survey of previous empirical analysis of the monocentric model, while Chapters 5 and 6 present our own empirical work.

In general, our empirical results support the theoretical predictions as well as providing support for policies to control sprawl. In particular, the results support the use of maximum lot-size zoning, urban growth boundaries, and density …

Testimony Of Trauma: Ernest Hemingway’S Narrative Progression In Across The River And Into The Trees, Kathleen K. Robinson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Specifically, the study of the progression focuses on examining Hemingway's Across the River and into the Trees for evidence of traumas' effects on Hemingway's development of narrative structure. Throughout his career, Hemingway pinpoints the importance of witnessing and experiencing war on a writer. I endeavor to demonstrate-in detail, achieved by close reading, and with solid evidence-how the imbrication of trauma in Across the River and into the Trees represents a vital moment in Hemingway's progression as a writer. My assertion, a new calculus of subjectivity and objectivity appearing in the narrative structure via the protagonist, viably counters previous critical dismissal …

Metal-Organic Materials: From Design Principles To Practical Applications, Mohamed H. Alkordi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The works presented herein outline rational design approaches towards construction of solid state materials with great potentials to answer some of current demanding applications. Specifically, the materials targeted are metal−organic materials with desirable structural features and functional properties. Metal−organic materials are constructed from organic linker molecules and metal ions under relatively mild solvothermal reaction conditions that preserve the structural features of the relatively simple building blocks. Therefore, it is feasible to conceive a retrospective pathway of the reaction and thus deconstruct the desirable structures into simple, chemicallyrelevant, building blocks in an approach known as the molecular building block approach. Due …