American Studies Commons^™

Biodegradation Of Bisphenol-A And 17b-Estradiol In Soil Mesocosms Under Alternating Aerobic/Anoxic/Anaerobic Conditions, Won-Seok Kim

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Soil-aquifer treatment (SAT) has been proposed as a method for reusing treated municipal wastewater. SAT is characterized by alternating cycles of aerobic and anaerobic conditions in the subsurface, in response to alternating cycles of flooding and drainage of a surface impoundment. It is not yet known how these alternating redox conditions affect the removal of potentially harmful endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) from treated effluent.

The overall objective of my doctoral research is to determine the fate of EDCs in alternating aerobic/anoxic/anaerobic conditions under simulated SAT conditions. To assess the fate of EDCs in simulated SAT conditions, I first had to develop …

Minimal And Symmetric Global Partition Polynomials For Reproducing Kernel Elements, Mario Jesus Juha

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Reproducing Kernel Element Method is a numerical technique that combines finite element and meshless methods to construct shape functions of arbitrary order and continuity, yet retains the Kronecker-δ property. Central to constructing these shape functions is the construction of global partition polynomials on an element. This dissertation shows that asymmetric interpolations may arise due to such things as changes in the local to global node numbering and that may adversely affect the interpolation capability of the method. This issue arises due to the use in previous formulations of incomplete polynomials that are subsequently non-affine invariant. This dissertation lays out …

Goal Compatibility And Emotional Intensity: An Experimental Study Of Graphic Images In Strategic Communication, Lauren Marie Klinger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study is to examine receiver variables involved in strategic communications and to look specifically at the use of graphic images in strategic communication materials. It argues that any complete, general model of persuasion effects will include both goal compatibility and emotional determinants. It argues that some influential theories used in strategic communications scholarship, including the situational theory of publics and the elaboration likelihood model, are incomplete because they have omitted these variables. This study also tests variables related to willingness to communicate, behavioral intention, and attitude towards the organization. These variables are drawn from prominent, …

Assist Principals' Perspectives On Professional Learning Conversations For Teacher Professional Growth, Connie Kolosey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to discover, document, and describe the salient actions, events, beliefs, attitudes, social structures and processes related to professional learning conversations from the perspective of nine assistant principals (APs). The participants were elementary, middle and high school APs, three at each level. Using a modified critical incident technique through participant written response and two in depth interviews with each respondent, this study investigated the lived experiences of these APs related to the practice of professional learning conversations in their schools. The research questions focused on: (1) the participants' beliefs and attitudes about professional learning conversations, …

Talking With Als Patients: An Exploratory Study Of Patient Attitudes Toward Mass Messages About Als, Kamden Kuhn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the attitudes and opinions of ALS patients toward mass messages about their condition. Six focus groups of ALS patient support groups viewed and responded to public relations messages, charity advertisements, and a news story. Results suggest that mass messages remind participants of the need for public ALS awareness. Participants also said they shared in the narratives and identify closely with the characters in the messages they viewed, and participants expressed concern with disease depictions. These concerns included a tension between positive and realistic portrayals, identification of message inaccuracies, and a desire for more specific disease information. The …

Associate Degrees In Health Related Occupations As Predictors Of Success In Physician Assistant Programs, David E. Kotun

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to determine if applicants who had an associate degree in the health sciences prior to acceptance to a physician assistant program would do better than those applicants without an associate degree in the health sciences on three measures of success of physician assistant education. The three measures of success used were graduation rates, scores on the Physician Assistant Knowledge Rating and Assessment Tool (PACKRAT), and performance on the national certifying exam, the Physician Assistant National Certification Examination (PANCE). Data used for this dissertation were taken from original source documents and raw data sent …

High-Resolution Event Stratigraphy Of Mm-Scale Laminated Sediments From Coastal Salt Ponds: St. John, Us Virgin Islands, Rebekka Amie Larson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A multi-proxy approach is utilized on mm- to cm-scale laminated sediment records in coastal salt ponds on St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands to characterize the sediments, identify their sources and depositional processes/events (heavy rainfall, tropical cyclones, tsunamis). Historical records are combined with high-resolution geochronology (short-lived radioisotopes, ²¹⁰Pb, ¹³⁷Cs, ⁷Be) and scanning elemental techniques (XRF and LA-ICP-MS) to link depositional events to how they are manifested in the sedimentary record. Volcanic rocks are the terrigenous sediment source and the sedimentary signature of terrigenous sediment in the geologic record consists of higher amounts of Al, Fe, Ti, Co, and …

Perspectives Of Teachers Of Students With Autism Spectrum Disorders Regarding The Factors Related To Their Intent To Remain In The Profession, Glenda Esther Koshy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined factors related to the intent of special education teachers of students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) to remain in the profession. A modified Working in Schools: the Life of a Special Educator (WSLSE) survey, developed by Miller, Brownell, and Smith (1999), was utilized to explore the relationships between factors associated with Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Model (1977) and the special education teachers' intention to remain in the field of teaching students with ASD. Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Model (1977) includes the Microsystem, Mesosystem, Exosystem, Macrosystem, and the Individual domain.

Multiple regressions conducted as the method of data analysis revealed …

Gender Differences In Lung Cancer Treatment And Survival, Margaret Anne Kowski

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objectives of this research were to test treatment and survival differences between women and men with lung cancer as there is minimal investigation in the literature. Three research questions were developed with statistical testing for gender differences based on similar cancer type, stage, treatment assignment and survival. Data for 44,863 primary lung cancer cases were collected from eight U.S. state-based cancer registries to investigate the research questions. The lung cancer incidence data included the morphological cell-types of adenocarcinoma (AC); squamous cell carcinoma (SCC); large cell carcinoma (LCC) and small cell carcinoma (SCC). Stage, grade, treatment type, as well as, …

Usf's Coverage Of Women's Athletics: A Census Of The Usf Athletics Home Web Page, Laura Ann Lebeau

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the coverage of women’s athletics at USF provided through photographic representations on the university’s Athletics Internet home web page during the 2009–2010 academic year. Findings from this census of five areas that comprise the USF Athletics Internet home web page revealed that, consistent with recent research on coverage of female athletes and women’s athletics on university web pages, women, compared to men, were underrepresented in the majority of the five areas of the home page analyzed. The difference in the number of overall total photographs of women and men was not that large—48% and 52%, respectively, not …

Assessment Of The Dependence Of Ventilation Image Calculation From 4d-Ct On Deformation And Ventilation Algorithms, Kujtim Latifi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ventilation imaging using 4D-CT is a convenient and cost effective functional imaging methodology which might be of value in radiotherapy treatment planning to spare functional lung volumes. To calculate ventilation imaging from 4D-CT we must use deformable image registration (DIR). This study validates the DIR methods and investigates the dependence of calculated ventilation on DIR methods and ventilation algorithms.

The first hypothesis is if ventilation algorithms are robust then they will be insensitive to the precise DIR used provided the DIR is accurate. The second hypothesis is that the change in Houndsfield Unit (HU) method is less dependent on the …

The Jewish Trail Of Tears The Evian Conference Of July 1938, Dennis Ross Laffer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis was to explore the origins, formulation, course and outcome of the Intergovernmental Committee for Political Refugees meeting (better known as the Evian Conference) of July 1938. Special emphasis was placed on contemporary and later historical assessments of this assembly which represented the first international cooperative attempt to solve an acute refugee crisis. A general review followed by a more detailed evaluation was made of existing official and un-official accounts of the meeting utilizing both public records, private diaries, books, newspapers, journals and other periodicals for the period of January 1, 1938 through December 31, 1939. …

Interpreting With "All Possible Caution, On Mental Tiptoe": Nabakov's Post-Romantic Renewal Of Perception In Lolita, Curtis Donald Le Van

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although presenting the concept of love in a form not accepted by societal conventions does indeed estrange the conception of love in Nabakov's Lolita, it does nothing to explain how readers accept Humbert's passion, without immediately and consistently disregarding it as lewd and inappropriate. I will argue that Nabakov estranges the romantic conceptions not by defamiliarizing the occasion of love (i.e. by making the romance a manifestation of pedophilia), but rather by defamiliarizing and complicating the acts of both reading and interpreting. First, I will make associations between the Romantics and Nabokov, regarding their shared desire to renew the habitual …

Rethinking Buffer Operations In A Dual-Store Framework, Melissa Lehman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Atkinson and Shiffrin's (1968) dual-store model of memory includes a structural memory store along with control processes conceptualized as a rehearsal buffer. I present a variant of Atkinson and Shiffrin’s buffer model within a global memory framework that accounts for findings previously thought to be difficult for it to explain. This model assumes a limited capacity buffer where information is stored about items, along with information about associations between items and between items and the context in which they are studied. The strength of association between items and context is limited by the number of items simultaneously occupying the buffer. …

Self-Alignment Of Silicon Microparts On A Hexadecane-Water Interface By Surface Tension, Caroline Elizabeth Liberti

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mechanical assembly of systems and structures on the micro-scale can be inefficient as particles of sub-millimeter dimensions are difficult to manipulate. Cutting edge manufacturing methods implement self-assembly as an approach to ordering micro and nano-sized parts into a desired arrangement. This thesis studies a technique utilizing surface tension as a method of actuating microparts on a liquid-liquid interface via lateral capillary interactions. Preliminary experimentation is conducted to investigate the feasibility of developing a new method for self-alignment of microparts by observing the influence of interfacial geometry on the movement of silicon tiles along a hexadecanewater interface. Different surface geometries are …

Evaluating The Effects Of Beach Nourishment On Loggerhead Sea Turtle (Caretta Caretta) Nesting In Pinellas County, Florida, Corey R. Leonard Ozan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The health of Florida's beaches are vital to the survival of loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta), as nearly half of the world's loggerheads nest on the states beaches. Many of the beaches utilized by the turtles have undergone nourishment projects in hopes of combating erosion of the shoreline, protecting beachfront property, and creating more suitable beaches for tourism. Although it is argued that beach nourishment benefits sea turtles by providing more nesting habitat, the effects of the Pinellas County nourishment projects on loggerhead nesting are unknown. Beach nourishment can alter the compaction, moisture content, and temperature of the sand, all …

Bone Marrow Transplant Nurses' Attitudes About Caring For Patients Who Are Near The End Of Life: A Quality Improvement Project, Leslie Lauersdorf

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In oncology setting, there is a range of emotions felt by patients and nurses alike such as helplessness, anger, sadness and anxiety; and this is especially the case as patients near the end of life. The literature shows there is an interest in nurses' attitudes toward caring for patients who are near the end of life. This project examines the overall attitude of Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) nurses' attitudes toward caring for patients who are near the end of life using the Frommelt Attitudes Toward Care of the Dying Scale (FATCOD) and a Demographic Data Sheet. This project investigated the …

Responding To Tobacco Craving: Acceptance Versus Suppression, Erika B. Litvin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Most treatments for substance use disorders (SUDs) are based on a model that craving is a primary cause of relapse, and therefore they emphasize skills for preventing and reducing craving. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) provides a theoretical rationale for "acceptance" of drug-related thoughts and cravings, and proscribes suppression, a more intuitive and commonly used coping strategy. However, it remains largely unknown whether various coping strategies differentially affect craving intensity, drug use behavior, or other relevant outcomes during a craving episode. Using a randomized, between-subjects design (acceptance-based coping, suppression-based coping, or no coping instructions/control), the current study compared the effect …

That Is Bad! This Is Good: Morality As Constructed By Viewers Of Television Reality Programs, Joseph Charles Losasso

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Reality shows that feature people going about their presumed daily lives are not base entertainment. Internet message boards about reality programs are sites where moral work happens. Viewers write about the appearance and actions of show characters and construct moral lessons. Through naturally occurring data produced by fans of these shows, I find that viewers generally express a traditional heteronormative morality around class and gender through stating moral lessons, explaining what is wrong with the characters, or through ridicule and praise.

Device Physics Of Solution Processable Solar Cells, Jason Erik Lewis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This Ph.D work reports the studies of photovoltaic devices produced by solution processable methods. Two material systems are of interest: one is based on organic semiconductors, and another on organic/inorganic hybrid composites. Specifically, organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices are made using photoactive materials consisted of a p-conjugated polymer [Poly(3-hexylthiophene), or P3HT] and fullerene derivative [phenyl-C60-butric acid methyl ester, or PCBM] in a bulk heterojunction (BHJ) structure of donor/acceptor network. On the other hand, hybrid photovoltaic (HPV) devices are made from blend of quantum dots and p-conjugated polymers. The QD material presented here are of the lead sulfide (PbS), and lead selenide …

Road-Based Landscape Metrics For Quantifying Habitat Fragmentation, Rebecca Whitehead Loraamm

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Landscape metrics measure the composition and configuration of habitats within landscapes; often the goal is to measure fragmentation. While a variety of existing metrics characterize the connectivity and contiguity of habitat patches, most do not explicitly consider the fragmenting effects of roads in their formulations. This research develops a set of new landscape metrics that explicitly quantify how roads disconnect and break apart habitat patches. This research introduces the following four metrics to consider the fragmenting effects of transportation networks: (1) Number of Connected Patches, a measure of connectivity; (2) Euclidean Nearest Neighbor-Roads, a measure of proximity; (3) Road Density, …

Role Of Cmc-Embedded Webquests In Enhancement Of Online Students' Knowledge And Understanding Of German Culture - A Case Study, Radhika Lothe

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Existing approaches to teaching `culture' in the realm of Distance foreign language (FL) instruction and gaps within; under-researched Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) tool of webquests; and Mediation in Sociocultural Theory (SCT) have all led to the following case study. This study was guided by the constructs of `culture' in FL instruction, Sociocultural Theory, and literature in CALL and Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC).

This study examines how CMC-embedded webquests (asynchronous and synchronous CMC components built into webquests) developed online students' knowledge and understanding of German culture. Additionally, this study examines what mediating strategies (Lidz, 2002) were used by the online students …

Performance Assessment Of Predicted Heat Strain In High Heat Stress, Ronald Eugene Long

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Heat stress is a common physical agent associated with many occupations. The most commonly used method of assessing heat stress exposure is an empirical method using the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature Index but his method is limited in its ability to parse out individual contributors to the heat stress. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) published a rational model called Predicted Heat Strain (PHS) in 2004, and rational methods have the advantage of separating out the individual pathways for heat exchange. The objective of this research was a performance assessment of the current PHS model. This experimental design consisted of …

Problems In Classical Potential Theory With Applications To Mathematical Physics, Erik Lundberg

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis we are interested in some problems regarding harmonic functions. The topics are divided into three chapters.

Chapter 2 concerns singularities developed by solutions of the Cauchy problem for a holomorphic elliptic equation, especially Laplace's equation. The principal motivation is to locate the singularities of the Schwarz potential. The results have direct applications to Laplacian growth (or the Hele-Shaw problem).

Chapter 3 concerns the Dirichlet problem when the boundary is an algebraic set and the data is a polynomial or a real-analytic function. We pursue some questions related to the Khavinson-Shapiro conjecture. A main topic of interest is …

Transition Experiences Of Adolescent Survivors Of Childhood Cancer: A Qualitative Investigation, Alana Delores Lopez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Adolescent survivors of childhood cancer are a growing population with unique needs as they face a combination of challenges associated with normal development and returning to life after treatment completion (Wakefield et al., 2010). One specific need identified in the research literature includes the effective delivery of transitional care and planning (Hewitt, Greenfield, & Stovall, 2005). It has been suggested that the provision of transition care and planning can help facilitate the shift from one phase of care to another and promote positive transition experiences (National Cancer Institute, 2008). The shift from off-treatment to post-treatment and school reintegration have been …

A Study Of Complex Systems: From Magnetic To Biological, Douglas Carroll Lovelady

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This work is a study of complex many-body systems with non-trivial interactions. Many such systems can be described with models that are much simpler than the real thing but which can still give good insight into the behavior of realistic systems. We take a look at two such systems. The first part looks at a model that elucidates the variety of magnetic phases observed in rare-earth heterostructures at low temperatures: the six-state clock model. We use an ANNNI-like model Hamiltonian that has a three dimensional parameter space and yields two-dimensional multiphase regions in this space. A low-temperature expansion of the …

The Search For The Missing Mantles Of Differentiated Asteroids: Evidence From Taxonomic A-Class Asteroids And Olivine-Dominated Achondrite Meteorites, Michael Peter Lucas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The apparent rarity of taxonomic A-class asteroids poses a significant paradox for understanding asteroid differentiation and the dynamical evolution of the early solar system. Based on results from asteroid taxonomic surveys, and on the abundances and mineralogy of different achondrite meteorites, it appears that olivine-dominated mantle remnants are missing from both the asteroid population and in meteorite collections. Several scenarios to explain this paradox have been proposed: (1) olivine mantle material has been stripped away by collisions and only remains as small fragments (< ~5 km), (2) A-class asteroids are abundant but have been altered in some way masking their presence, or (3) differentiated asteroids did not form thick olivine-rich mantles.

We have approached these questions through the collection of taxonomic and observational data on known A-class …

Assessing Relational Networks: An Evaluation Of Derived Relational Responding With Children With Asd And Typically Developing Children, Gianna Delayce Lozano

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The way in which humans engage in conversation and social interactions is largely due to their ability to form relationships between a wide variety of stimuli. Two people are able to communicate fluently and effectively because each has the capacity to derive meaning during social interactions. Forming relationships is an effortless process that humans engage in daily, however for those individuals with developmental disabilities, the ability to form relationships between various stimuli based on arbitrary properties does not appear to happen in the natural course of development. The purpose of this study was to assess the ability of children to …

Operational Performance Evaluation Of Four Types Of Exit Ramps On Florida's Freeways, Linjun Lu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research focuses primarily on the analysis of exit ramp performance related to safety and operations. The safety analysis focuses on the impacts of different exit ramp types for freeway diverge areas and different factors contributing to the crashes that occur on the exit ramp sections. The operational analysis is based mainly on simulations by TSIS-CORSIM. Different ramp effects and guidance for selecting optimal exit ramp type are concluded. Issues related to ramp sections and crossroad sections are also demonstrated. Minimum ramp length and minimum distance between ramp terminal and downstream or upstream intersections are calculated. The operational analysis was …

Saved By The (Alexander Graham) Bell: An Analysis Of Synchronous Communication And Student Satisfaction / Retention Rates In The First Year Online Composition Classroom, Jennifer Jane Lynch

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Online first-year writing courses, with all of their promise, still maintain alarmingly low retention and student satisfaction rates, driving online curriculum designers to take another look at ways to increase both retention and satisfaction. To replicate the high rates of face-to-face classes, we must revisit and revise our approach to communication in the first-year writing online classroom. Think about it: The online classroom has abandoned a mainstay in education for thousands of years - synchronous communication. Why have we been so quick to dispose of it? Are we now paying the price?

This research will provide additional value to the …