American Studies Commons^™

Dalton, Susan (Fa 424), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 424. Interviews conducted by Susan Dalton with George Offitt, Sr., Gene W. Brown, Monya Vance Pryor, and Ann Scharklet related to race and integration in Sumner County, Tennessee.

Denton, Richard (Fa 384), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 384. Project entitled "Virginia Petty: Woodcarver from Oakland, Kentucky," with an interview conducted by Richard Denton with Petty.

Intradermal Delivery Of Plasmids Encoding Angiogenic Growth Factors By Electroporation Promotes Wound Healing And Neovascularization, Bernadette Ferraro

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Gene therapy techniques delivering exogenous angiogenic growth factors, such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (FGF-2), are currently being investigated as potential treatments for ischemia resulting from a variety of conditions, such as peripheral artery disease (PAD) and chronic wounds. Despite these intense efforts, a viable clinical option to promote therapeutic neovascularization remains elusive. Electroporation is a simple in vivo method to deliver normally impermeable molecules, such as plasmid DNA, to a variety of tissues including skin and muscle. This study investigated intradermal injection of plasmids encoding angiogenic growth factors with electroporation as a novel …

It Is Time To Play! Peer Implemented Pivotal Response Training With A Child With Autism During Recess, Leigh Anne Sams

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Children with autism, by diagnostic criteria, experience a lack of age appropriate play and social skills (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). This study evaluated three typically developing peer's ability to implement Pivotal Response Training strategies during recess with a child with autism in their third grade class. A concurrent multiple probe baseline across peers design was used to assess peers ability to implement Pivotal Response Training strategies with the target child and the effects of intervention on the play and communication behavior of the target child. Generalization measures were taken in an untrained environment. Measures of social validity in the form …

Photoluminescence Spectroscopy Of Bioconjugated Quantum Dots And Their Application For Early Cancer Detection, Ganna Chornokur

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Most of the bio-applications of semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) show and utilize their superior optical properties over organic fluorophores. An estimated 3-35% of all cancer deaths could be avoided through early detection, therefore, there is a critical need to develop sensitive probes.

The objectives of this work are:

Research the phenomena of "blue" photoluminescence (PL) spectral shift on the dried bioconjugated QDs and develop the relevant mechanism;

Develop a methodology that will allow successful confirmation of the bioconjugation reaction between biomolecules and QDs;

Propose a modification of an existent method or approach to employ the "blue" spectral shift of bioconjugated …

Burnett, Laura Jo (Fa 423), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 423. Interview with textile artist Lysbeth Wallace, Hopkinsville, Kentucky conducted by Laura Jo Burnett for a Western Kentucky University folk studies class.

Burnett, Laura Jo (Fa 422), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 422. Interview with Lucile Denton Napier conducted by Laura Jo Burnett for a Western Kentucy University folk studies class.

Burnett, Laura Jo (Fa 382), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 382. Interview with textile artist Lysbeth Wallace, Hopkinsville, Kentucky, conducted by Laura Jo Burnett.

Cary, Mik (Fa 375), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 375. Paper: "Local Traditions and Customs Spotlighted in the 'Park City Daily News'" written by Mik Cary for a Western Kentucky University folk studies class.

Long Term Corrosion Of Reinforcing Strips In Mechanically Stabilized Earth Walls, Brandon Seth Berke

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls are a more advanced form of a retaining wall, often larger and able to hold back more backfill. This is achieved by reinforcing strips or meshes (most often galvanized steel) placed into the soil, which are held in place by friction. The strips mechanically stabilize the earth while undergoing tension. The wall is covered with concrete medallions that connect to the reinforcements. The medallions have only a secondary structural role in holding up the wall but provide cover that protects the soil from washing away. MSE walls are structures expected to have very long service …

The Characterization And Interpretation Of The Spectral Properties Of Karenia Brevis Through Multiwavelength Spectroscopy, Adam H. Spear

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Optical research has shown that Karenia brevis has distinct spectral characteristics, yet most studies have focused exclusively on absorption and chemical properties, ignoring the size, shape, internal structure, and orientation, and their effect on scattering properties. The application of a new spectral interpretation model to K. brevis is shown to provide characterization of unique spectral information, not previously reported, through the use of scattering and absorption properties. The spectroscopy models are based on light scattering and absorption theories, and the approximation of the frequency-dependent optical properties of the basic constituents of living organisms. The model uses the process of mathematically …

Family Affairs Newsletter 2009-03-15, Jean Vermette

Family Affairs newsletter (2004-2016)

FAMILY AFFAIRS was a free, twice-a-month, social activities newsletter for the GLBTQI (gay/lesbian/bisexual/trans/queer/intersex) community, sent out around the 1st and 15th of each month. It covered the State of Maine only. The list was begun and maintained for many years by Jean Vermette in Bangor, and later operated by Zack Paakkonen of Portland. Over the years it evolved from a social activities newsletter into a business directory, classified ad service, and community bulletin board.

Inaugural Address: The Use Of Rhetoric To Speak To Our Needs, Jessica Christiansen

Honors Capstones

Capstone submitted as a graduation requirement for the BSU Honors Program.

Personality And Work-Family Conflict: The Mediational Role Of Coping Styles, Rebecca H. Bryant

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although an extensive body of literature exists on the consequences of work-family conflict (WFC), comparatively little research has examined the construct's antecedents. Research on two sets of antecedent variables, personality and coping style, is particularly scarce. Thus, the present study expands the literature by examining four personality variables (conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, and locus of control) and five coping styles (problem solving, support seeking, positive cognitive restructuring, rumination, and escape) in relation to work-interference-with-family (WIF) and family-interference-with-work (FIW) conflict. Additionally, coping style, which was assessed separately for managing work stressors and for managing family stressors, was examined as a potential mediator …

Child Psychopathology, Parental Problem Perception, And Help-Seeking Behaviors, Jessica Curley Hankinson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Service underutilization is a major problem facing children with emotional and behavioral problems. In addition, parents are often the ones most responsible for seeking help for their children. However, many children do not receive adequate help because parents do not perceive a problem or do not recognize that a child is in need. The present study examined parental thresholds for problem perception and subsequent help-seeking decisions based on children's behaviors presented in a vignette. It was hypothesized that the type of child behavior, child and parent gender, and other parental characteristics would be associated with different thresholds for problem perception …

Beyond Orthographic Segmentation: Neurophysiological Evidence That Pseudo-Derived Word Stems Are Processed Semantically, Theresa Herbert

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Morphological segmentation while reading is essential for new vocabulary learning. The study's aim was to investigate semantic-level morphological segmentation using event-related brain potentials (ERPs) in typical young adult readers. Past research has suggested that, because semantically opaque words prime their stems (e.g., corner/corn) similarly to transparent words (e.g., farmer/farm), readers recognize complex words from their constituent morphemes without regard to semantic information. However, this priming effect may be due to orthographic and phonological overlap between prime and target words. The research presented here addressed this possibility by creating five conditions in which orthographic, phonological, and semantic relationships between …

Effect Of Permeate Suction On The Performance Of Spiral Wound Nanofiltration Module, Awad Abdel Monem El-Shamy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fouling in a nanofitration membrane module is usually a result of concentration polarization. The effect of permeate suction on the slightly negatively charged spiral wound nanofiltration membrane is investigated. According to the film theory, the mass transfer coefficient is inversely proportional to concentration polarization. The effect of permeate suction destabilizes the boundary layer. This will decrease the concentration polarization layer, and consequently will increase mass transfer through the membrane's surface.

To validate the hypothesis, experiments were carried out on a NF membrane that can be described by the solution-diffusion model. This model has coefficients that can be measured experimentally. Using …

Risk Communication: An Analysis Of Message Source And Function In Hurricane Mitigation/Preparedness Communication, Andrew M. Gallo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In September 2008, the National Weather Service (NWS) predicted that Hurricane Ike would make landfall on Galveston Island as a strong category three storm. This led the NWS to release a statement of 'certain death' if people did not adhere to the emergency evacuation messages. Millions of people fled the Texas coast. Using Hazleton and Long's (1993) taxonomy of public relations strategies, experimental methods were conducted with various evacuation messages to test emergency communication. Grunig's (1997) situational theory of publics was used to determine strategy influence. Problem recognition, constraint recognition, and level of involvement were tested. In addition, tests were …

A Study Of Transformational Change At Three Schools Of Nursing Implementing Healthcare Informatics, Revonda Leota Cornell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Health Professions Education: A Bridge to Quality (IOM, 2003) proposed strategies for higher education leaders and faculty to transform their institutions in ways that address the healthcare problems. This study provides higher education leaders and faculty with empirical data about the processes of change involved to implement the core competency of healthcare informatics. I chose the core competency of health care informatics as a base from which to conduct semi-structured interviews with faculty and college leaders at three schools of nursing intending to capture their stories about how healthcare informatics has been implemented, what strategies were used, and why …

Terror Management And Self-Enhancement: The Moderating Role Of Self-Esteem And Need For Closure, Nathan A. Heflick

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Terror management theory posits that self-esteem ultimately protects people from death anxiety. Much research has demonstrated that individuals reminded of death tend to self-enhance. However, more recent research suggests that need for closure and self-esteem might moderate these findings, but no research has directly tested this. It was hypothesized that for people high in self-esteem, mortality salience will not affect self-enhancement. However, for individuals low in self-esteem, it will either increase enhancement (if low in closure) or increase verification (if high in closure). These hypotheses were fully supported using Christian's perceptions of God's love as the dependent variable. Implications for …

A Multiple Case Study Analysis Of Middle Grades Social Studies Teachers' Instructional Use Of Digital Technology With Academically Talented Students At Three High-Performing Middle Schools, Caroline C. Sheffield

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Appropriate education for academically talented students incorporates the use of complex thinking skills, and encourages the development of interpersonal and leadership skills. One potential tool to achieve these goals is the use of instructional technology. Siegle (2004a, 2005) suggests that it is particularly appropriate to utilize technology with the highly-able because they often possess skills that are effective when using today's technology, specifically abstract thinking and rapid processing.

This mixed methods multiple case study explored middle school social studies teachers' instructional use of digital technology to teach highly-able students. The participant teachers were from three high-performing schools, as identified by …

Transformational Processes And Learner Outcomes For Online Learning: An Activity Theory Case Study Of Spanish Students, Joseph M. Terantino

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the actions of online language learners from an activity theoretical perspective. It also attempted to explain how the students' learning outcomes evolved from their online learning experiences. This explanation placed an emphasis on the learners' previous experiences, defining their activity systems, the use of mediational tools, and the resolution of contradictions. Within this activity theoretical case study a background survey, four interviews, and three field observations were conducted with seven foreign language students of an online Spanish course. The students' on-screen actions were recorded and subsequently documented in a video episode …

Development Of A Framework To Identify Patient Pathways Through A Segment Of The Health Care Cycle, Abhik Bhattacharya

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The US spends more money on health care than other industrialized nations. Nevertheless, the US lags behind them in life expectancies, access to care, and other health indicators. This can be attributed to the numerous issues that afflict the US health care sector - the lack of a universal health coverage, increasing medical errors, over and under-treatment of patients, lack of standardization, and so on.

It is believed that the structure of health care delivery as it exists in the US is broken, which consequently reduces the quality of provided care and increases costs. There is a growing consensus among …

Does Goal Generation Vary As A Function Of Depressive Status?, Lindsay Brauer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although many theories attempt to explain the manner in which deficits in goal generation may lead to an episode of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), few studies have actually described how persons with depression vulnerability generate goals for themselves. The current project used a multi-dimensional approach to examine the types, numbers, and domains in which goals are generated, comparing individuals with MDD with individuals with remitted depression, and never-depressed controls. In addition, we examined possible mechanisms that may mediate the relationship between depressive status and goal generation. Surprisingly, results suggested little group difference in the types of goals or subjective ratings …

How Personality And Self-Identity Impact The Effects Of Leader Member Exchange On Role Stressors And Organizational Outcomes, Edward Rickamer Hoover

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated how followers' personality and self-identity moderated their leader's ability to influence organizational outcomes through management of role stressors experienced by the follower. Data was obtained through large group testing, sample size equaled 232, with performance measures being provided by supervisors (43% return rate). Results demonstrated that while Leader Member Exchange (LMX) had a linear relationship with role ambiguity and role conflict, it had a curvilinear relationship with role overload. Thus providing evidence that under certain conditions leadership can lead to negative outcomes. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that LMX indirectly influences both affective and cognitive variables through role …

Teachers’ Sense Of Efficacy And Use Of Behavioral Interventions: Consultation Effects And Sustainability, Brandi L. Tanner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The amount of services delivered by school psychologists through consultation is increasing as is the number of students with challenging behaviors in the classroom. In this type of delivery model, the school psychologist works as a consultant to the teacher who will actually deliver the intervention to the student.

The purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between participation in a tertiary level behavior intervention program and teacher efficacy, confidence in dealing with challenging behavior, and implementation of behavior interventions. Two studies were conducted to examine a series of research questions. Study 1 used archival data to examine …

Roots And Role Of The Imagination In Kant: Imagination At The Core, Michael Thompson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Kant's critical philosophy promises to overturn both Empiricism and Rationalism by arguing for the necessity of a passive faculty, sensibility, and an active faculty, understanding, in order for cognition to obtain. Kant argues in favor of sense impression found in standard empirical philosophies while advocating conceptual necessities like those found in rational philosophies. It is only in the synthesis of these two elements that cognition and knowledge claims are possible. However, by affirming such a dualism, Kant has created yet another problem familiar to the history of philosophy, one of faculty interaction. By affirming two separate and exclusive capacities necessary …

Beyond Academic Reputation: Factors That Influence The College Of First Choice For High Achieving Students, Holly J. Schoenherr

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Studies that have investigated college choice factors for high-achieving students repeatedly cite academic reputation as one of the top indicators of choice but have not indicated why some high-achieving students choose to attend universities with a less prestigious reputation than the more highly prestigious options available to them. The purpose of this study was to examine whether differences exist between traditional-aged high achieving students who choose to attend higher-tiered universities and their peers who choose to attend lower-tiered universities.

Independent variables were selected based upon Hossler and Gallagher's (1987) three-stage model and previous research findings in the literature and grouped …

Influence Of Temporary Inactivation Of The Prefrontal Cortex Or Hippocampus During Stress On The Subsequent Expression Of Anxiety And Memory, Joshua D. Halonen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The neural pathways underlying the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) have not been fully elucidated. Intrusive memories, persistent anxiety and other cognitive deficits have been attributed to maladaptive or otherwise aberrant processing in specific brain regions, including the hippocampus, amygdala and prefrontal cortex. Our laboratory has developed an animal model of PTSD which results in the enhancement of memory for a place associated with exposure to a predator, anxiety-like behavior, increased startle and impaired memory in a non-aversive memory task. To better understand how the interaction of the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex contribute to the different symptoms of …

Transitional Care For Adolescents With Hiv: Characteristics And Current Practices Of The Adolescent Trials Network Systems Of Care, Patricia Gilliam

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: Advances in antiretroviral therapy have resulted in a significant increase in life expectancy for HIV-infected individuals, with more pediatric patients transitioning to adult care. The transition process from pediatric to adult care for adolescents with chronic diseases, such as HIV, is always a challenge.

Purpose: The purpose of this secondary data analysis was to describe the characteristics, processes and practice models used by the Adolescent Trials Network (ATN) systems of care that assist adolescents with HIV disease to transition from child-centered care to adult-centered care.

Method: This study used health care providers affiliated with the Adolescent Trials Network of …