American Studies Commons^™

Electrospinning Protein Nanofibers To Control Cell Adhesion, Cynthia Chinwe Nwachukwu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The structural and mechanical properties of a surface often play an integral part in the determination of the cell adhesion strength and design parameters for creating a biodegradable electrospun scaffold. Nanofibers composed of the globular proteins bovine serum albumin (BSA) and fibronectin were produced by electrospinning with the electrospun protein scaffold serving as an extracellular matrix to which adhesion interaction will exist with cells via cell surface integrin. This interaction is vital in regulation cell differentiation, growth and migration and cell adhesion.

We will demonstrate the ability to manipulate ligand-receptor interaction, the properties of the electrospun fibers, control and the …

You Can’T Always Get What You Want, But Does It Matter? The Relationship Between Prechild Preferences And Post-Child Actual Labor Division Fit And Well-Being, Kristen M. Shockley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Significant shifts in social ideology and legislation have brought about considerable changes in work and family dynamics in the Western world, and the male as breadwinner-wife as homemaker model is no longer the norm. However, despite increasingly gender egalitarian ideals, the division of labor among dual-earner couples tends to adopt a "neo traditional" once children are born, where women devote more time to family labor and men spend more time in paid employment

Although asymmetrical divisions of labor have clear workplace and societal consequences in terms of women's earnings, organizational advancement, and inequality, the effects on individual well-being are not …

Synthesis, Characterization, And Self-Assembly Of Gold Nanorods And Nanoprisms, Kristina L. Tran

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The unique properties of gold nanoparticles make them excellent candidates for applications in electronics, sensing, imaging, and photothermal therapy. Though abundant literature exists for isotropic gold nanoparticles, work on nanoparticles of different shapes has been gaining interest recently. Anisotropic gold nanoparticles, such as nanorods and nanoprisms, have tunable optical properties in the visible and near-infrared regions. Through synthesis and surface modification, the production of various shapes of these gold nanoparticles can be controlled to meet different applications.

Two different types of gold nanorods were used in this thesis. The first type was stabilized with cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and had aspect …

Ecological, Behavioral, And Curricular Interventions To Prevent Student Problem Behavior: An Approach To Implementing Effective Practices, Lindsey M. Merritt

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

While classroom management has been a highly researched topic in Applied Behavior Analysis, there are few empirically validated methods to effectively disseminate classroom techniques into school settings. There are three main classroom management areas that exist in the literature. These are: a) ecological factors, b) behavior principles, and c) curricular modifications. These three areas have been researched independently and in combination to find best classroom management practices. Although these areas are highly researched, dissemination of these materials into public and private classrooms has fallen far behind. However, researchers are finding specific variables that positively influence the success of programs in …

Triptych Cultural Critique: Fray Angelico Chavez And Southwestern Critical Regionalism, 1939-2004, Melina Vizcaíno-Alemán

American Studies ETDs

Fray Angelico Chavez was a Franciscan priest and man of letters whose published writings span most of the twentieth century. The dissertation is a critical biography of Fray Angelico's writing, and it uses religion as a critical lens for understanding his work in relation to a host of other Southwestern regional writers, both Anglo and Mexican American. I argue Fray Angelico's Franciscanism fosters a mode of Southwestern critical regionalism in his writing. The main objective of this dissertation is to build and apply a comparative methodology that I call triptych cultural critique to understand better the different modes of regional …

Concepts Of Variable In Middle-Grades Mathematics Textbooks During Four Eras Of Mathematics Education In The United States, James K. Dogbey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study used content analysis to investigate the development of the concept of variables in middle grades mathematics textbooks during four eras of mathematics education in the United States (New Math, Back to Basics, Problem Solving, and the NCTM Standards era: 1957 – 2009). It also examined the nature of support that the curricula provide for teachers to enact variables ideas in the classroom. Findings revealed that each of the middle grades mathematics curricula examined used variables, but in varied proportions and levels of complexity. Formal definitions for variables were found in 11 of the …

Effect Of Catalyst Preparation Conditions On The Performance Of Eggshell Cobalt/Sio2 Catalysts For Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis, Syed Ali Z. H Gardezi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A highly selective eggshell Fischer-Tropsch catalyst has been fabricated via interaction of hydrophobic and hydrophilic molecules on thermally treated silica gel. The physical interactions of the mesoporous silica support and the effect of catalyst preparation conditions on the performance of the cobalt/SiO₂ were explored. It was found that dispersion and performance of the FT cobalt/SiO₂ catalyst were significantly affected by the preparation technique used. In this study we focus on two key variables: the solvent used during the precursor loading and the calcination atmosphere. Silanol groups on the silica surface and near-surface regions can alter morphology and dispersion …

La Vida En La Ficción Como Forma De Reescritura De La Historia Oficial En La Novela Caballeros De Fortuna De Luis Landero, Maria Elena Arroyo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis we will study Luis Landero's Novel, Caballeros de fortuna, specifically the creation by the characters of an alternate life that they create through fiction. As a result of a failed life that resembles the effect of the years that Spain experienced Francisco Franco's dictatorial regime, these characters, unable to fight insecurity and rootlessness produced by the society of this era, become victims of utopian desires that result in the creation of an alternative life lived in fiction. At the same time, we can observe how this life style leads to the emergence of a critical study …

Foraging Decisions Of Nocturnal Mice Under Direct And Indirect Cues Of Predation Risk, Robbin G. Capers

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The perception of increased predation risk by nocturnal mice and other small mammals has been shown to reduce activity levels, particularly in foraging effort. Various cues of predation risk have been used in previous studies, but few have assessed the potential interactions between different types of cues. I conducted field, laboratory, and enclosure experiments using predator scents, artificial light, and microhabitat variables to determine the effects of direct and indirect cues of predation risk on foraging behavior in wild nocturnal mice. Experimental foraging trays served as artificial resource patches, and giving-up densities were measured in order to test for foraging …

Asian Indian Mothers’ Involvement In Their Children’S Schooling: An Analysis Of Social And Cultural Capital, Susan Chanderbhan-Forde

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study utilized concepts drawn from the theories advanced by Coleman (1988) and Pierre Bourdieu (1987) to examine the extent to which Asian Indian mothers utilize embodied cultural capital and social capital (specifically social norms and social networks) in their engagement in their children's education. Using interviews with 12 Asian Indian mothers whose children were enrolled in a large urban school district in West Central Florida, the study examined their beliefs about the value of education, the origin of those beliefs, their roles in their children's education, family and community norms surrounding education, and how they utilized social networks …

The Christian Zionist Lobby And U.S.-Israel Policy, Mark G. Grzegorzewski

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research explores the role of the Christian Zionist Lobby in shaping U.S. policy towards Israel. It is posited that the Christian Zionist Lobby, due to their eschatological goals, diverge from the interests of the larger Israel Lobby described by Mearsheimer and Walt. To test this hypothesis an exploratory case study is implemented to explain why the U.S. shifted its policy from supporting the Road Map to backing Israeli unilateralism. As the results of this study show, the Christian Zionists did actively oppose the Road Map and may have influenced American policy making. However, it would be a mistake to …

Ingram, Tracy (Fa 482), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full text (click on "Additional File" below) for Folklife Archives Project 482. Folklore material classified by genre. Information collected by Tracy Ingram related to folklore genres for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University.

A Pathway To Child Sex Trafficking In Prostitution: The Impact Of Strain And Risk-Inflating Responses, Joan A. Reid

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Victims of child sex trafficking in prostitution in the United States are often overlooked, misidentified, and among the most underserved type of child victim of crime. The majority of previous research on child sex trafficking has been conducted without a theoretical framework or reliable sampling methods. In this study, a schematic composed of a series of stepping-stones from childhood abuse to prostitution, which has been described by gendered pathways researchers, served as a sensitizing template for the study's development of a strain-reactive pathway into child sex trafficking. Agnew's general strain theory provided the primary theoretical basis for the proposed pathway, …

The Lived School Experiences Of A Select Group Of Female Adolescents Labeled Emotionally/Behaviorally Disordered, Anna Robic

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Being a female and having a disability has been referred to as 'double jeopardy' (Wehmeyer & Schwartz, 2001). However research in the area of disabilities has either focused on the specific disability as a whole (i.e. research on learning disabilities or behavior disorders) or on mostly males (i.e. interventions in a classroom made up predominantly of boys). Researchers have pointed out that the school experiences for typical males and females are different as is the development of the two genders (Proctor & Choi, 1994). However in disability studies, the gender issue is seldom addressed (Deschler, 2005; Oswald, Best, Coutinho & …

School Psychologists Engagement In Parent Training/Education Activities With The Parents Of Children With Chronic Behavior Problems, Rebecca K. Sarlo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of this research were to determine the rate at which school psychologists engage in parent training/education with the parents of children with chronic behavior problems and to determine the relationships between school psychologists’ demographic variables, professional practice, training, and perception of barriers and their engagement in such activities. These variables have been found to be related to types of service delivery practices and were hypothesized to also be related to the rate and type of engagement in parent training/education activities by school psychologists.

Five hundred school psychologists were randomly sampled from the membership of the National Association of …

The Correlation Between Neuropathy Limitations And Depression In Chemotherapy Patients, Melissa Thebeau

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the association between neuropathy limitations and depression in chemotherapy patients currently on treatment with a taxane-based, platinum-based or plant alkaloid chemotherapy drug.

The Overall Neuropathy Limitations Scale (ONLS) and the Beck Depression Inventory-Short Form (BDI-SF) were used to assess neuropathy limitations and depression in 24 chemotherapy patients with reported symptoms of peripheral neuropathy. Average age of patients was 65 years, 66.6% were female, and average number of chemotherapy cycles completed was 5.6. Of the 24 patients, 37.5% of patients were on a single agent taxane-based drug, 37.5% of patients were on a taxane-based drug with a platinum …

Gadamer And Nāgārjuna In Play: Providing A New Anti-Objectivist Foundation For Gadamer’S Interpretive Pluralism With Nāgārjuna’S Help, Nicholas Byle

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hans-Georg Gadamer rejects objectivism, the position that an interpreter may come to a single correct truth concerning any particular object, in favor of interpretive pluralism. What is not clear is how Gadamer grounds this position. This ambiguity leaves Gadamer open to multiple objectivist counters, ones which he would not wish to allow. The following argument, using a comparative and analytic approach, takes two concepts, pratītyasamutpāda (interdependence) and śūnyatā (emptiness), as they are deployed by Nāgārjuna to provide Gadamer with this much needed anti-objectivist foundation. Specifically, the new foundation is anti-realist in which interpreters and objects of interpretation are metaphysically empty, …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Novel Nanomaterials: Gold Nanoshells With Organic- Inorganic Hybrid Cores, Alisha D. Peterson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Gold nanoshells, a material generally composed of a core of silica surrounded by

a thin shell of gold, are of great interest due to their unique and tunable optical properties.

By varying the shell thickness and core size, the absorption and scattering properties are

greatly enhanced. The nanoshells can be made to absorb or scatter light at various

regions across the electromagnetic spectrum, from visible to the near infrared. The

ability to tune the optical properties of nanoshells allows for their potential use in many

different areas of research such as optical imaging, tumor ablation, drug delivery, and

solar energy …

Hart County, Kentucky - Prescriptions (Sc 2279), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 2279. Prescriptions written primarily by physicians practicing in Hart County, Kentucky and surrounding counties. Some are written on the physician's own form while others are written on the form of a local druggist or drugstore.

Belcher, Scott Minor (Fa 195), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 195. Interview done by Scott Belcher with Bill Thompson,BreckinridgeCounty, Kentucky, in which Thompson reminisces about his youth. Includes transcription and cassette tape.

Evaluating Social Work Students’ Attitudes Toward Physical Disability, Rachael A. Haskell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Given the social work profession's commitment to serving individuals with disabilities and cultural competence, the promotion of favorable attitudes toward persons with disabilities within social work education is critical. This study examined the question: "what are the attitudes of undergraduate social work students at three universities toward individuals with physical disabilities as measured by responses on the Attitudes Toward Disabled Persons Scale Form B (ATDP-Form B; Yuker et al., 1960, 1966) and Interactions with Disabled Persons Scale (Gething, 1991)?" It explored the following hypotheses, that participants who: 1) have had prior positive contact with persons with physical disabilities; 2) have …

Help-Seeking And Utilization Patterns Among African American And Caucasian Mothers And Fathers: An Examination Of Parental Problem Recognition, Barriers, And Beliefs, Idia Binitie Thurston

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The underutilization of mental health services is a pervasive problem that persists despite efforts by researchers and interventionists to make treatment accessible. Several factors have been hypothesized to contribute to these underutilization rates including sociopolitical factors (financial and structural barriers), and cultural/familial factors (race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, gender, age, marital status, attitudes, beliefs, and stigma). The current study set out to explore patterns of child mental health service utilization based on parents' perceptions. Guided by "The Youth Help-Seeking and Service Utilization Model," the relationship between parental problem recognition and willingness to seek formal and informal help as influenced by parents' …

Experimental Translocation Of The Florida Sand Skink (Plestiodon [=Neoseps] Reynoldsi): Success Of A Restricted Species Across Diverse Microhabitats, Nicholas Paul Osman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The fossorial Florida Sand Skink (Plestiodon [=Neoseps] reynoldsi) inhabits a restricted range of scrub and sandhill fragments on the ridges of central Florida. The high rate of urban and agricultural development in this area necessitates conservation strategies other than land acquisition and management because of the limited remaining Florida Sand Skink habitat available. This study tests the viability of translocation as a conservation strategy for this species and assesses which features of a recipient site contribute to the successful establishment of a population. In 2007, 300 individuals were collected and moved from an intact scrub habitat, …

Hydric Life: A Nietzschean Reading Of Postcolonial Communication, Elena F. Ruiz-Aho

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation addresses the question of marginalization in cross-cultural communication from the perspectives of hermeneutic philosophy and postcolonial theory. Specifically, it focuses on European colonialism‘s effect on language and communicative practices in Latin America. I argue colonialism creates a deeply sedimented but unacknowledged background of inherited cultural prejudices against which social and political problems of oppression, violence and marginalization, especially towards women, emerge—but whose roots in colonial and imperial frameworks have lost transparency. This makes it especially difficult for postcolonial subjects to meaningfully express their own experiences of psychic dislocation and fragmentation because the discursive background used to communicate these …

A Pilot Study Of Small-Scale Spatial Variability In Aldehyde Concentrations In Hillsborough County, Florida, To Establish And Evaluate Passive Sampling And Analysis Methods, Amanda M. Evans

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Formaldehyde and acetaldehyde are listed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) as urban air toxics. Health effects due to significant exposure to these air toxics include increased incidence of nasopharyngeal cancer, myeloid leukemia, and exacerbation of asthma. Determining the spatial variation of air toxics, such as acetaldehyde and formaldehyde, is important for improving health risk assessment and evaluating the effectiveness of source control and reduction programs.

Here, a pilot study was designed and performed to investigate small-scale spatial variability in concentrations of aldehydes using passive samplers. A literature review was first completed to select and evaluate current …

Regulatory Mechanism Of Myeloid Derived Suppressor Cell Activity, Cesar Alexander Corzo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC) are a major component of the immune suppressive network that develops during cancer. MDSC down-regulate immune surveillance and antitumor immunity and facilitate tumor growth. The ability of MDSC to suppress T cell responses has been documented; however the mechanisms regulating this suppression remain to be understood. This work proposes a biological dichotomy of MDSC regulated by the tumor microenvironment. In peripheral lymphoid organs MDSC cause T-cell non-responsiveness that is antigen-specific. These MDSC have increased expression of NOX2, enabling them to produce large amounts of reactive oxygen species. Since the transcription factor STAT3 is substantially activated in …

Characterization And Evaluation Of Performance Of A Whole-Body Human Exposure Chamber, Luis F. Pieretti

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to characterize and evaluate the performance of a whole-body human exposure chamber for controlled test atmospheres of gases and particulates. The chamber was constructed from Plexiglass, has a volume of 75 ft

3, operated at a flowrate of 33.8 CFM, and both the makeup and exhaust air are HEPA filtered. Fly ash dust was generated using a Wright Dust Feeder. An elutriator was used to eliminate particles larger 8 μm aerodynamic diameter from the airstream. A direct reading instrument, the Rupprecht and Patashnick PM-10 TEOM, was used for determination of particle concentration. Particle size …

International Society Cosmopolitan Politics And World Society, Kimberly Weaver

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

How does the international system move from an anarchic system driven by power to a global community driven by the needs/wants of the community at large? Jürgen Habermas utilizes the tenets of his Communicative Action Theory to underline the importance of communicatively based repertoire in the international system between and among states and non-state actors and the citizens themselves. How does arguing and reasoning among states and international institutions bring together legitimization and order? My research aims to analyze the movement of the international system from anarchy towards a global civil society. In doing so, I will examine Communicative Action …

Clinical Decision-Making In Aphasia Therapy: A Survey Of Perceived Levels Of Evidence For Common Treatment Approaches, Erin T. Rowe

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The past three decades have produced a surge of interest in the role of evidence-based practice (EBP) in the clinical decision-making of speech-language pathologists and other healthcare professionals in delivering optimally effective patient care. A review of the literature revealed several studies investigating potential barriers to EBP implementation and attitudes toward EBP. However, few studies have been designed to probe what treatment approaches to neurogenic communication disorders clinicians are currently implementing and the rationales behind their use. Furthermore, a review of the literature failed to reveal any surveys designed to probe the correlation between what clinicians perceive to be evidence …

Off-Campus Work And Its Relationship To Students’ Experiences With Faculty Using The College Student Experiences Questionnaire, Cathy J. Hakes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Statistics on college students working have shown an increase as students cope with rising costs of education, decreasing financial aid, greater personal financial commitments, and the expectation that students should contribute to the cost of their own education. These facts combined with the students' need to secure employment upon graduation contribute to why they must work while attending college.

Whereas working may provide a means to address students' financial and employment concerns, it also limits the amount of time students have to interact with faculty outside of class. This form of student engagement enables students to become more comfortable with …