Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Movement Of The People: The Relationship Between Black Consciousness Movements, Race, And Class In The Caribbean, Deborah G. Weeks

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines Black Power in Jamaica, Trinidad, and The Bahamas, comparing and contrasting the ability of the movements to garner the support of the people in these different locales. The primary focus of this work is the Caribbean Black Power movements of the 1960s and 1970s. Detailed responses to the movements are presented as those responses relate to not only race, but also class, and the response of local political leadership to the presence and methods of the movements. Following a brief overview of the history of European colonialism and the drive of the colonized for independence from colonial …

The Influence Of Ph On Nucleation, Solubility And Structure Of Lysozyme Protein Crystals, Marc C. Apgar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

X-ray diffraction from protein crystals remains the most reliable way to determine the molecular structure of proteins, and how this structure relates to biological function. However, we still lack the ability to predict solution conditions that support the nucleation and growth of high-quality protein crystals for X-ray diffraction studies. The overall goal of this thesis is two-fold: (a) determine the nucleation behavior and solubilities for lysozyme crystals with two distinct crystal structures (orthorhombic vs. tetragonal) and (b) investigate whether these changes in crystal habit and crystal solubility correlate with any discontinuities in the liquid-liquid phase boundary of lysozyme that occurs …

Studies Of The Mechanics And Structure Of Shallow Magmatic Plumbing Systems, Mikel Díez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Volcanic activity, and the resultant deposits and structures at the Earth's surface, are the outcome of the inner workings of underground magmatic plumbing systems. These systems, essentially, consist of magma reservoirs which supply magma to the surface through volcanic conduits feeding volcanic eruptions. The mechanics and structure of plumbing systems remain largely unknown due to the obvious challenges involved in inferring volcanic processes occurring underground from observations at the surface. Nevertheless, volcanologists are beginning to gain a deeper understanding of the workings and architecture of magmatic plumbing systems from geophysical observations on active volcanoes, as well as from geological studies …

Doing Dignity At The Grace Café: An Ethnographic Exploration Of A Homeless Outreach Program, Courtney A. Glover

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Homeless outreach programs vary widely in their approaches to client treatment. At the Grace Café, an organization that serves daily meals to people who are homeless, the concept of dignity is central to guest treatment. According to the café's ideology, the importance of providing food is secondary to serving with dignity. This research explores dignity as an ideal of client treatment at the Grace Café. Based on ethnographic research, this paper explores how dignity is communicated to volunteers, implemented in service, and challenged at the Grace Café.

Advances In Magnetic Resonance Electrical Impedance Mammography, Nataliya Kovalchuk

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Magnetic Resonance Electrical Impedance Mammography (MREIM) is a new imaging technique under development by Wollin Ventures, Inc. in conjunction with the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute. MREIM addresses the problem of low specificity of magnetic resonance mammography and high false-positive rates, which lead to unnecessary biopsies. Because cancerous tissue has a higher electrical conductivity than benign tissue, it may serve as a biomarker for differentiation between malignant and benign lesions. The MREIM principle is based on measuring both magnetic resonance and electric properties of the breast by adding a quasi-steady-state electric field to the standard magnetic resonance …

Towards Regenerative Development: A Methodology For University Campuses To Become More Sustainable, With A Focus On The University Of South Florida, Richard Keirs Mcdonald Iii

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The administrations of several universities have developed strategies to reduce the negative environmental effects created by their institutions. Because no single, comprehensive methodology to guide institutions to sustainability exists, these strategies range widely in scope. As well, the definition of "sustainability" differs for these various institutions, resulting in strategies ranging from small-scale recycling programs to major initiatives to incorporate green building and revamping curricula. This study attempts to create the first comprehensive methodology to guide university campuses and processes to become regenerative. Regenerative systems "produce more resources than needed, provide resources for other projects, and enhance [the] environment" (Bernheim 2003), …

Quebrada Communities In The Palmarejo Valley, Northwest Honduras, William A. Klinger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The spatial relationships that exist between ancient and modern settlement and natural resources have the potential to suggest ways in which humans organized themselves into communities. This study evaluates the applicability of the concept, "quebrada community," for understanding human-environmental relationships in northwest Honduras during the Late Classic period (AD 650-900). Existing archaeological, quantitative, and geological evidence for quebrada communities are linked with spatial data on two contemporary local communities, Palmarejo and Palos Blancos. A geographic information system (GIS) is constructed and implemented in order to achieve this goal. It is argued that there are specific relationships that exist between ancient …

Rational Synthesis Toward The Design Of Functional Metal-Organic Materials, Jarrod F. Eubank

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Design of targeted functional solid-state materials for desired applications remains a scientific challenge. To overcome this hurdle, numerous synthetic strategies have been devised. It has been shown that molecules and/or clusters with pre-selected shapes, molecular building blocks (MBBs), can be utilized as units of chemical construction toward a final structure composed of those units.

Typically, in metal-organic structures metal-ligand directed assembly of the MBBs, via coordination chemistry in situ, leads to the final structure. The strength of the MBB formed and, consequently, the overall rigidity of the framework are essential in their use as porous materials for applications. Lack …

Brca1 185delag Mutant Protein, Brat, Amplifies Caspase-Mediated Apoptosis And Maspin Expression In Ovarian Cells, Joshua D. O'Donnell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ovarian cancer is a deadly disease that kills an estimated 15,000 women annually in the United States. It is estimated that approximately 10% of ovarian cancers are due to familial inheritance. The most commonly mutated genes in familial ovarian cancer are BRCA1 and BRCA2. It has been reported that cells carrying the BRCA1 185delAG mutation undergo an enhanced caspase-3 mediated apoptotic response. Here, we report on the transfection of cDNA coding for the putative truncated protein product of the BRCA1 185delAG mutant gene into BRCA1 wild-type human immortalized ovarian surface epithelial (IOSE) cells and ovarian cancer cells. Cells transfected …

A Comparison Of Community-Based Centers Versus University-Based Centers In Clinical Trial Performance, Cynthia R. Stockddale

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The success of a clinical trial is largely dependent on the clinical sites that enroll the subjects, complete the follow-up visits, and collect the data. Many clinical trials are conducted using multiple site locations. Choosing such sites to participate in a clinical trial is an important aspect of study implementation. In the past, multi-center clinical trials were conducted mainly using university-based centers. In the last few decades, private practice, or community-based, centers have been included more often in clinical trial research. As more community-based centers participate in clinical trials, it is crucial to examine how these centers might differ from …

Association Among Neonatal Mortality, Weekend Or Nighttime Admissions And Staffing In A Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Leisa J. Stanley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the time of admission to a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and its association with in-hospital mortality among a cohort of neonates at a regional perinatal center. Two different time points were considered: admissions on the weekend versus the weekday and admissions during the nighttime shift versus the day shift. The secondary purpose of the study was to investigate if registered nurse staffing affected this association between NICU admission day or admission time and in-hospital death.

Three separate databases were used which contained information on NICU admissions, hospital deliveries and nurse staffing. …

Forecasting Models For Economic And Environmental Applications, Shou Hsing Shih

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The object of the present study is to introduce three analytical time series models for the purpose of developing more effective economic and environmental forecasting models, among others. Given a stochastic realization, stationary or nonstationary in nature, one can utilize exciting methodology to develop an autoregressive, moving average or a combination of both for short and long term forecasting. In the present study we analytically modify the stochastic realization utilizing (a) a k-th moving average, (b) a k-th weighted moving average and (c) a k-th exponential weighted moving average processes. Thus, we proceed in developing the appropriate …

Framing Environmental Messages: Examining Audience Response To Humor, Shock, And Emotional Treatments, Kelly Diedring

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine individual reactions to environmental messages based on three message frames. The frames include shock or fear, humor, and emotional frames. The intent of the study was to document, through the use of pre- and post-questionnaires, individuals' reactions to the three types of messages by measuring attitude or perception change, credibility of the message, and importance of the issue.

In this study, baseline knowledge levels and beliefs about environmental issues were examined using a pre-questionnaire. How variable treatments affect attitudes or create perception change with regard to the environmental messages were explored. This …

Factors Influencing The Perceived Credibility Of Public Relations Message Sources, Titilola O. Epega

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study establishes a link between research done in the field of public relations on source credibility, communicator gender, message strength, and source affiliation. Research has established that source credibility is one of the most important factors influencing the acceptance of a message. For this study, source credibility was measured using three main dimensions: expertise, trustworthiness and attractiveness. Similar to many studies focusing on source credibility, this study focuses on the various attributes of the communicator or message source. This study uses an experimental procedure to investigate the relationships between source credibility, message strength, source affiliation, and communicator gender. Based …

Surface And Interface Magnetism In Nanostructures And Thin Films, Natalie A. Frey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nanostructured systems composed of two or more technologically important materials are useful for device applications and intriguing for the new fundamental physics they may display. Magnetism at the nanoscale is dominated by size and surface effects which combined with other media lead to new spin dynamics and interfacial coupling phenomena. These new properties may prove to be useful for optimizing sensors and devices, increasing storage density for magnetic media, as well as for biomedical applications such as drug delivery, MRI contrast enhancement, and hyperthermia treatment for cancer. In this project we have examined the surface and interface magnetism of composite …

“To Know Where I Have Got To”: The Postmodern Chronotope In Beckett’S Malone Dies And Coetzee’S Foe, Brian J. Mcallister

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study addresses two works of fiction--Samuel Beckett's Malone Dies and J. M. Coetzee's Foe--and is separated into two chapters. The first chapter analyzes the indeterminate nature of postmodern space within the two novels as related to M. M. Bakhtin's idea of the chronotope found in his work The Dialogic Imagination. The second chapter addresses the self-reflexive creation of this postmodern space within each novel's hypodiegetic narratives and discussions of narrative creation within each respective diegetic narratives.

In each novel, characters as authors create or discuss "inner" narratives that reflect upon the way chronotopes are created in fiction …

Cost-Effectiveness Of Epidural Steroid Injections To Treat Lumbosacral Radiculopathy In Chronic Pain Patients Managed Under Workers’ Compensation, Sheila Mohammed

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No conclusive evidence exists to determine that epidural steroid injections (ESIs) provide lasting improvements in chronic pain due to herniated discs, in the Workers' Compensation population. Recently, an article by Armon et.al was published by the American Academy of Neurology, which stated that the routine use of ESIs is not recommended and that further studies are needed to elucidate this controversy (Armon, Argoff, Samuels, & Backonja, 2007).

In 1998, back pain in the United States was estimated to have incurred total health-care expenditures of $90.7 billion. Medicare part B. claims in 1999 for 40.4 million individuals amounted to $49.9 million …

Counting Or Discounting Television Information: An Examination Of Viewer Perceptions About Old-Age From A Cognitive Processing Perspective Of Cultivation Effects, Lynda Pasteur

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cultivation theory (Gerbner & Gross, 1976) suggests that the cumulative effect of heavy exposure to television's underrepresentation and negative portrayal of people 65+ as sexless, insignificant, and comical can cause people to assume such television-like perceptions of the age group in the real world. This study's purpose was to explore not only television's cultivation effect on viewers' perceptions of the number and nature of people 65+, but also the psychological processes that are expected to mediate this effect. As an extension of Shrum, Wyer, and O'Guinn's (1998) study on the role of source discounting in cultivation, this quasi-experiment employed three …

Victorian Perspectives On The Supernatural: The Imaginary Versus The Real In Two Brontë Novels, Crystal Sidell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Victorians obsessed over the supernatural and this fascination with the otherworldly emerges in the literature of the day. With this thesis, I look at two nineteenth century novels that exhibit supernatural phenomena: Charlotte Brontë's Villette (1853) and Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1847). Both novels, I propose, utilize this aspect of the gothic tradition to enhance their characters' psychological realism.

With Villette, I examine the supernatural as a fabricated experience. First, I study the protagonist's psyche and show how her emotional state directly contributes to the appearance of fantastic material. Specifically, I examine Lucy Snowe's childhood experiences in Bretton …

Population Densities Of The Cuban Treefrog, Osteopilus Septentrionalis And Three Native Species Of Hyla (Hylidae), In Urban And Natural Habitats Of Southwest Florida, Teresa Piacenza

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Cuban treefrog, Osteopilus septentrionalis, is an invasive species in Florida that may be negatively impacting adult and larval native treefrog species through competition via direct predation. The purpose of this study was to determine the abundance and distribution of O. septentrionalis in urban, semi-urban and natural habitats. The distribution and abundance of native treefrogs within the study area, Hyla cinerea, Hyla femoralis and Hyla squirella, were also estimated and compared to that of O. septentrionalis. Treefrogs were captured using PVC pipes with two internal diameters, 1.9 cm and 4.45 cm, hung on three tree types, …

Digitally Implemented Interactive Fiction: Systematic Development And Validation Of “Mole, P.I.”, A Multimedia Adventure For Third Grade Readers, Denise Haunstetter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

"Interactive fiction" has been used to describe many of today's multimedia products. In reality, there is not a universal understanding of what interactive fiction is or what it should entail. The meaning of "interactive" is often interpreted in different ways. Many stories are considered to be interactive because they are placed on the computer. Meanwhile, such stories may lack most of the essential qualities for good literature. Interaction fiction should be upheld to the same standards as traditional texts. Following this belief, this research covers the underlying theories of interactive fiction, examples of misleading "interactive fiction" studies, and guidelines for …

Organizational Culture In Children's Mental Health Systems Of Care, Jessica Mazza

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A cohesive organizational culture has been linked to positive outcomes in child-serving agencies, such as improved child-level outcomes and positive organizational climate (Glisson & Green, 2006; Glisson & Hemmelgarm, 1998; Glisson & James, 2002; Hemmelgarn, Glisson, & James, 2006). Although isolated studies of organizational culture have been conducted in individual agencies (child welfare and juvenile justice), no study has examined the organization culture of successful, holistic systems of care that involve the coordination of multiple agencies, such as child welfare, juvenile justice, mental health and education. Data collected from the three system-of-care sites selected for participation in Case Studies of …

Comparing A Low-Volume Piezometer To Traditional Wells In Evaluating Hydraulic Lag Caused By Low-Permeability Sediments, John M. Spencer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Traditionally-constructed wells are commonly used to measure hydraulic head in all saturated systems, even in fine-grained sediments. Previous studies (Hvorslev 1951, Penman 1961) have shown that time lag in response to head changes between traditional wells and the surrounding fine-grained sediments can be a significant source of error. Time lag is caused by the time required for water to flow into or out of the well to reflect the appropriate change in head.

A low-volume piezometer was constructed to measure changes in hydraulic head without requiring a change in fluid volume within the piezometer by directly measuring pore pressure in …

The Benefits Of Interleaving Different Kinds Of Mathematics Practice Problems, Kelli M. Taylor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In most mathematics textbooks, virtually all of the problems in each set of practice problems, or in each practice set, relate to the immediately preceding lesson - an arrangement described here as the standard format of practice. Alternatively, the problems within a shuffled practice set are drawn from numerous lessons. With the shuffled format, each practice set has two distinguishing features: within-session spacing, in which problems of the same kind appearing in a single practice set are separated by some period of time, and mixed practice, in which different types of problems are interleaved. Although previous studies …

Electoral Abuse In The Late Roman Republic, Howard Troxler

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Escalating abuse of elections was a hallmark of the collapse of the Republic that governed at Rome for nearly 500 years before it was swept away and replaced by emperors and Empire. The causes of the Republic's fall are well-explored, but electoral abuse was one of the agencies by which it was brought low - a "how" that helps explain the "why." The abuse of regular electoral form, practiced by all parties, inured the Romans to further and ever-widening abuse. In the end their elections - and the Republic - lost both meaning and independence. This is a controversial claim …

Cysteine Based Pna (Cpna): Design, Synthesis And Application, Sung Wook Yi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This report mainly discusses the development of the cysteine based PNA (CPNA), which is an analogue of PNAs. Peptide nucleic acids (PNA), a pseudopeptide DNA mimic, was discovered by Nielsen and his coworker in 1991. PNA is proved to sequence-specifically form a very stable duplex with complementary DNA and RNA strands through Watson-Crick base paring, and it is also capable of binding to duplex DNA by helix invasion. These intriguing properties of PNA implicated great potential for medical and biotechnical applications. Therefore, PNA has attracted many scientists in the fields of chemistry, biology, medicine including drug discovery and genetic diagnostics, …

Cob Building: Movements And Moments Of Survival, Jeanine Marie Minge

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cob, as an arts-based research process, creates movements and moments of survival. Survival is an ideological construction and an actual, local practice. Survival is also about desiring and fulfilling arts-based desires to work with the land through academic and material scavenging. Cob creates strategies for surviving, for working with our respective environments wisely. Cob building teaches people how to negotiate the natural economy and their relationships to labor and each other through an artistic and intimate practice. From a feminist poststructural lens, survival happens on the local level, between and with people. Cob building creates knowledge through creative, kinesthetic, and …

The Influence Of Valenced Images On Perceptual Learning, Noah Sulman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to determine whether the rate of perceptual learning in a vernier discrimination task could be influenced by affective images. Forty-eight (30 Female, 18 Male) subjects were instructed to indicate the direction of an offset over 620 trials. Subjects were primed with either negative, positive or neutral photographs before making the discrimination on all test trials. Feedback regarding offset performance was provided on each trial. Despite initial pilot data indicating that subjects primed with negative, arousing images improved performance over those primed with either neutral or positive images, there was ultimately no reliable advantage for any of the …

Metallopeptides As Model Systems For The Study Of Cu(Ii)-Dependent Oxidation Chemistry, William Maung Tay

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Copper is one of the essential metal ions for aerobic organisms. Two well known functions of copper in the biological systems are electron transfer and molecular oxygen interaction. Thus, this metal can be found in haemocyanin, an oxygen carrier protein, and superoxide dismutase, an enzyme that involves in electron transfer. In addition, having a positive redox potential allows copper to be involved in redox chemistry. It is the redox properties of copper that are responsible for many important biochemical processes. Although the copper-containing oxidases have been well studied over the years, certain mechanistic details such as reaction intermediates remain to …

Lagrange Interpolation On Leja Points, Rodney Taylor

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation we investigate Lagrange interpolation. Our first result will deal with a hierarchy of interpolation schemes. Specifically, we will show that given a triangular array of points in a regular compact set K, such that the corresponding Lebesgue constants are subexponential, one always has the uniform convergence of L_n(f) to f for all functions analytic on K. We will then show that uniform convergence of L_n(f) to f for all analytic functions f is equivalent to the fact that the probability measures γ_n = 1/n Σ^{n …}