American Studies Commons^™

Monte Carlo Simulations As A Tool To Optimize Target Detection By Auv/Rov Laser Line Scanners, Martin Alejandro Montes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The widespread use of laser line scanners (LLS) aboard unmanned underwater vehicles in the last decade has opened a unique window to a series of ecological and military applications. Variability of underwater light fields and complexity of light contributions reaching the receiver pose a challenge for target detection of LLS under different environmental conditions. The interference of photons not originating at the target (e.g. water path, bottom) can often be minimized (e.g., time-gated systems) but not excluded. Radiative transfer models were developed to better discriminate noise components from signal contributions at the receiver for two continuous LLS: Real-time Ocean Bottom …

Family Affairs Newsletter 2005-08-15, 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.

Stress And Cognitive Performance In Older Adults, Christopher B. Rosnick

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The current dissertation sought to examine stress in three different, but overlapping, ways. The first study examined how self-reported negative life events, in the aggregate and individually, are associated with cognitive performance. The results suggested that there was no significant relationship between the aggregate measures of self-reported negative life events and cognitive performance. On the other hand, several individual negative life events were associated with cognitive functioning. The findings support previous research indicating that using estimates of individual stressors rather than aggregate measures of stressors increases the predictive validity of stress measurement.

The second study assessed the cross-sectional and longitudinal …

Zooplankton Of The West Florida Shelf: Relationships With Karenia Brevis Blooms, Kristen M. Lester

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Blooms of the toxic dinoflagellate Karenia brevis are common on the West Florida Shelf (WFS), yet little is known of the relationships between zooplankton and K. brevis. A comprehensive analysis was undertaken to examine 1) perturbations in zooplankton community composition within K. brevis blooms 2) the contribution of zooplankton ammonium and phosphate excretion to K. brevis bloom nutrient requirements, and 3) the role of zooplankton grazing in K. brevis bloom termination. Prior to undertaking the first portion of the study, an examination of the perturbations in the normal zooplankton assemblage within K. brevis blooms, it was first necessary to …

The John Muir Newsletter, Fall 2005, The John Muir Center For Environmental Studies

Muir Center Newsletters (1981-2015)

The John Muir pnr h VJ-& r? 5? UNIVERSITY OF THE PACIFIC, STOCKTON, CA Volume 15, Number ■ YMJLMQt John Muir's World Tour (part II) Introduction by W. R. Swagerty Director, John Muir Center In the last issue of this newsletter, we introduced John Muir's World Tour of 1903-04. We continue that story here, told by Muir himself by way of his unpublished journal, a part of the John Muir Papers held by the University of the Pacific's Holt- Atherton Department of Special Collections. Part II begins where Part I ended with Journal # 48 (out of eighty-four extant in …

Family Affairs Newsletter The Thinking Cap 2005-08-01, 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.

Family Affairs Newsletter 2005-08-01, 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.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 …

The Ties That Bind: Kinship Networks And The Colonial Development Of The Planter Elite In Westmoreland County, Virginia, Jessica Diane Fields

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The development of the wealthy slave-holding elite in the Tidewater region of Northern Virginia during the mid-seventeenth through mid-eighteenth centuries was unique in that it was based on the deliberate formation of kinship networks. The members of the Old World aristocracy that migrated to Northern Virginia brought with them their traditional ideas of society. However, the New World provided opportunities to these immigrants that were unavailable to them in their native country. Therefore, a blend of Old World culture and New World opportunities merged to create a distinctive American society. This society was based on kinship networks among a dose-knit …

The "Essential Renewing Fantasy": The Vietnam Experience In American Literature, Jeffrey Gross

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this study, I employ the idea of postmodern naturalism to illustrate how Tim O'Brien addresses the postmodern era following the Vietnam War, which he achieves through form and characterization, and how he blends in a naturalistic framework where events and powers beyond his characters' control affect their lives. Such a study of six of O'Brien's novels-Northern Lights, Going After Cacciato, The Nuclear Age, The Things They Carried, In the Lake of the Woods, and July, July-is important because it unveils common motifs and structural strategies employed by O'Brien in developing an evolved and postmodern version of naturalism. Rather than …

A Vascular Plant Inventory And Description Of The Twelve Plant Community Types Found In The University Of South Florida Ecological Research Area, Hillsborough County, Florida, Anne Candace Schmidt

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The University of South Florida Ecological Research Area (USF Eco Area), located in west central Hillsborough County, is an approximately 306 hectare (756 acre) natural area on the Hillsborough River composed of twelve plant communities. While surrounded on three sides by urbanization, the USF Eco Area makes up the western most section of an extended natural corridor that runs approximately 88 kilometers (55 miles) east and north along the Hillsborough River. An inventory of the vascular flora and the associated ecological communities was developed to better assess the USF Eco Area for educational and research purposes as well as enhance …

Mental Health Policy And Services In Tampa, Florida, Shelly Yankovskyy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

During the summer of 2004 I interned with the Mental Health Association of Greater Tampa Bay (MHA), a local affiliate of the National Mental Health Association. My time spent with the MHA became a gateway into the world of mental health. In the course of fulfilling my duties, I developed a particular interest in understanding the services that are available to persons, especially adults seeking treatment/services for mental illness. Through the MHA I was introduced to a wide range of people who have some link to mental health services, including psychiatrists, therapists, policy makers, and lawyers. This thesis utilizes an …

Characterizing Sound Production In Nearshore Rockfishes (Sebastes Spp.), Bryan Nichols

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rockfishes of the genus Sebastes are trophically important in most nearshore environments of the west coast of North America, and support important commercial and recreational fisheries. Though the 72 northeast Pacific species have drumming muscles along their swim bladders, little is known about sound production in the genus. Sounds produced by nearshore rockfish were recorded using fixed hydrophones and underwater video in aquaria, and acoustical dataloggers in the field. Sounds were analyzed from six species: Sebastes nebulosus, S. atrovirens, S.carnatus, S. chrysomelas, S. caurinus, and S.maliger. These six species are closely related, mostly bottom …

Reliability Of Liquid Core Optical Waveguides For Sensitive Optical Absorption Measurements Of Trace Species In Water, Avishekh Pal

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Long path optical waveguides can be used in optical absorption measurements to increase the optical path length and, thus, the overall absorption of a sample. Recently, 1m long coiled Liquid Waveguide Capillary Cells (LWCC) have been used by analytical spectroscopists to measure the absorption strength of weakly absorbing liquids. However, most of these measurements have used conventional light sources such as Xenon or Halogen lamps and not spectroscopic laser sources.

In this thesis study, we used a LWCC absorption waveguide and a laser light source to measure, for the first time to our knowledge, the optical transmission through several water …

The Compositional Style Of Francesco Geminiani: A Reflection Of Theory And Practice In His Music And Guida Armonica Treatise, Valerie R. Weber

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Francesco Geminiani was highly regarded as a violinist, composer, and theorist during the late Baroque era. During his lifetime he was considered equalin status to the foremost composers of the day; however, relatively little information is available regarding his life and works today. This lack of information is largely a result of controversy among his peers regarding the merit of his work, specifically in reference to melodic style, structural consistency and harmonic practices. Critical views of such authors as Sir John Hawkins and Charles Burney have been reflected in later historical writings, considerably suppressing further interest in the composer.

The …

Folklore And Alternative Masculinities In A Rave Scene, Anthony P. Avery

American Studies ETDs

The rave is a late twentieth-century local and global ritualized entertainment that attracts mainly middle-class white youth and young adults to ecstatic trance dance and electronic music. Throughout the 1990s, raves were known as places of drug use, racial/class mixing, and sexual experimentation. With a DJ booth and a dance floor--sometimes in an abandoned warehouse, beach, or boat--the rave event fosters community and creativity. I argue that there is a transformation from ideal masculinity to alternative masculinities by bodily awareness through ecstatic trance dance facilitated by the ritual aspects of raving--the rave experience.

Expanding The Science Of Successful Aging: Older Adults Living In Continuing Care Retirement Communities (Ccrcs), Kathryn H. Petrossi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rowe and Kahns theory of successful aging identifies three main components of aging successfully: reducing the risk of disease and disability, maintaining high cognitive and physical function, and engagement with life. While there is compelling evidence that suggests the legitimacy of this concept in the 50-75 year old community dwelling population, three areas of expansion are necessary: 1.) programmatic research; 2.) extending the existing research samples to include older samples and those living in continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs); and 3.) the integration of data collection and analysis to move beyond investigation of just one successful aging outcome to include …

Changes In The Perception And Sense Of Self Of Individuals With Aphasia: An Ethnographic Study, Erline Vieira Nakano

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Little is known about the perceived changes in identity and sense of self in individuals with aphasia. Seminal research using qualitative methods and personal narratives has been conducted in England regarding the experience of living with aphasia (see for instance Parr, Byng, Gilpin & Ireland, 1999; Parr, Duchan & Pound, 2003; Byng, Pound & Hewitt, 2004), but the use of such methodologies is still emergent in the United States. In addition, despite the great achievements of the disabilities movement in countries such as the U.S. and the U.K., individuals with aphasia have remained largely at the margins due to the …

Tardigrade Evolution And Ecology, Phillip Brent Nichols

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A character data set suitable for cladistic analysis of tardigrades at the family level was developed. The data matrix consisted of 50 morphological characters from 15 families of tardigrades and was analyzed by maximum parsimony. Kinorhynchs, loriciferans and gastrotrichs were used as outgroups. The results agree with the currently accepted hypothesis that Eutardigrada and Heterotardigrada are distinct monophyletic groups. Among the eutardigrades, Eoyhypsibiidae was found to be a sister group to Macrobiotidae + Hypsibiidae, while Milnesiidae was the basal eutardigrade family. The basal heterotardigrade family was found to be Oreellidae. Echiniscoideans grouped with some traditional Arthrotardigrada (Renaudarctidae, Coronarctidae + Batillipedidae) …

A Quantitative Assessment Of Public Relations Practitioners’ Perceptions Of Their Relationship With The Organization They Represent, Jill Boudreaux

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study attempts to identify how public relations practitioner roles and organizational decision-making style impact the relationship that is shared between the practitioner and the organization they represent. Based on Internet survey research methods, research findings indicated that organizational decision-making style was a minimal factor in influencing the relationship shared between the practitioner and the organization they represent. Practitioner role did, however, have a significant influence on the levels of trust, commitment, satisfaction and control mutuality between the practitioner and the organization they represent. Low response rates prevents confident generalization of the results of this study to the entire Public …

Sigma Receptors Modulation Of Voltage-Gated Ion Channels In Rat Autonomic Neurons, Hongling Zhang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sigma receptors have been implicated in the regulation of the cardiovascular system. Some of the cardiovascular effects of sigma receptors may be through the modulation of autonomic neurons. Studies on the expression and cellular function of sigma receptors in autonomic neurons were conducted in neonatal rat intracardiac (ICG) and superior cervical ganglia (SCG).

Individual neurons from SCG and ICG were shown to express transcripts encoding the sigma-1 receptor. The effects of sigma receptors activation on high-voltage-activated Ca²⁺ channels was studied in isolated neurons of these ganglia. Bath application of sigma receptor agonists depressed peak calcium channel currents in a …

Wavelet-Based Monitoring And Analysis Of Cardiorespiratory Response To Hypoxia, Vuslat Nazilli

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Obstructive sleep apnea is a potentially life-threatening condition characterized by repetitive episodes of upper airway obstruction that occur during sleep, usually associated with a reduction in blood oxygen saturation. In US population, 9% of women, 24% of men, and 2% of children have been diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea, suggesting that 18 million people may suffer from the consequences of nightly episodes of apnea. One of the most significant symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea is profound and repeated hypoxia. The analysis of the interaction between cardiovascular and respiratory signals has been a widely-explored area of research due to the significance …

Where The Students Do The Grading: A Content Analysis Of Ratemyprofessors.Com, Mlisa A. Manning

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

"I would have been better off using the tuition money to heat my apartment last winter."

"Three of my friends got As in his class and my friends are dumb."

"The movies are so bad, even he has to leave the room."

These are just a few of the "Funny Ratings" from a page on RateMyProfessors.com, a web site dedicated to providing information to students so they may make a difference in (their) education (http://www.RateMyProfessors.com/ faq.jsp). The online evaluations differ in origin, use and content from traditional teaching evaluations as they are the result of a virtual atmosphere …

Preservice Teachers’ Belief Development While Learning To Teach Writing In An Elementary Writing Methods Course, Karen S. Kelley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My study examined the belief development of three preservice teachers as they learned to teach writing in a one-semester elementary writing methods course. I also sought to identify significant episodes that contributed to the preservice teachers’ belief development. Two questions guided my inquiry: How do preservice teachers’ beliefs about writing and the teaching of writing develop while enrolled in an elementary writing methods course? and What episodes do preservice teachers, who are enrolled in an elementary writing methods course, view as significant in helping them negotiate their beliefs about writing and writing instruction? I collected survey data, conducted a series …

Stimulation Of Nitrification By Carbon Dioxide In Lab-Scale Activated Sludge Reactors, Lina Posso-Blandon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are required to remove ammonium (NH₄⁺) from wastewater due to its oxygen demand and toxicity to the aquatic organisms. Ammonium is removed in the activated sludge treatment system by nitrification and denitrification processes. Nitrification is the oxidation of NH₄⁺ to nitrate (NO₃^-) by autotrophic nitrifying bacteria which use carbon dioxide (CO₂) as a carbon source for growth. These bacteria grow slowly with low nitrification rates limiting WWTPs capacity. In this research it was hypothesized that supplying higher concentrations of CO₂ during aeration increases nitrification rates, …

Fibonacci Vectors, Ena Salter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

By the n-th Fibonacci (respectively Lucas) vector of length m, we mean the vector whose components are the n-th through (n+m-1)-st Fibonacci (respectively Lucas) numbers. For arbitrary m, we express the dot product of any two Fibonacci vectors, any two Lucas vectors, and any Fibonacci vector and any Lucas vector in terms of the Fibonacci and Lucas numbers. We use these formulas to deduce a number of identities involving the Fibonacci and Lucas numbers.

Investigation Of Geometrical Effects On Microneedle Geometry For Transdermal Applications, Smitha Shetty

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hollow biocompatible microneedle arrays were designed and fabricated using two different bulk micromachining techniques-Deep Reactive Ion Etching and Coherent Porous Silicon technology to investigate their reliability for transdermal applications. An in-house experimental setup was developed for microneedle fracture and split thickness penetration force measurements. Out of plane needle array configurations (100and#956;m needle length) with intra array geometric variations including needle shape, diameter, intra-array pitch and density (1a 625) were characterized on cadaver skin to predict skin barrier penetration without fracture. Use of microneedle array as transdermal patch necessitates reliable penetration and not just pushing against stratum corneum like a bed …

Material Properties And Volumetric Porosity Of Biomaterials For Use In Hard Tissue Replacement, Christopher G. Papangelou

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Metal implants are a type of hard tissue replacement currently used. Metals used for implants include: stainless steel, titanium, chrome, and cobalt alloys. Such implants often fail at the interface with bone. Metal implants fail when the surface of the implant is coated with an osteoconductive material. An osteoconductive material provides scaffolding for cellular migration, cellular attachment, and cellular distribution. A reason for metal implant failure could be the vastly different material properties than bone. Motivation for the research was to find a suitable bone substitute other than metal. Materials considered were: zirconia toughened alumina, carbon fiber reinforced epoxy, and …

A Framework To Develop An Interactive Web Database For Delivery Of Water Resources Field Data Over The Internet, Swarna Pujari

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of the research is to develop a user friendly framework for an internet GIS (Geographic Information Systems) application. The study aims at providing a map with GIS capabilities without requiring the clients (users of the website) having to install ArcGIS (a product of ESRI) software on their personal computers along with the facility to download hydrological data. It also aims at providing a methodology to synthesize data in case of data gaps. High resolution data was collected in a small watershed in west Central Florida to measure hydrologic storages and fluxes during 2001-2004. Meteorological, surface and groundwater data …

Multibeam Observations Of Mine Scour And Burial Near Clearwater, Florida, Including A Test Of The Vims 2d Mine Burial Model, Monica L. Wolfson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The ability to detect buried mines on the seafloor remains one of the most important tasks in mine countermeasures. As such, there is a vested interest in the development of predictive models of mine burial. This research was conducted in support of the Office of Naval Research Program in Mine Burial Prediction. Repeat high-resolution multibeam bathymetry data were collected over the Indian Rocks Beach (IRB) mine burial experiment site during January through March of 2003, in order to observe in situ scour and burial of instrumented inert mines and mine-like cylinders. These data were also used to test the validity …

Probability Theory On Semihypergroups, Norbert Youmbi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Motivated by the work of Hognas and Mukherjea on semigroups,we study semihypergroups, which are structures closer to semigroups than hypergroups in the sense that they do not require an identity or an involution. Dunkl[Du73] calls them hypergroups (without involution), and Jewett[Je75] calls them semiconvos. A semihypergroup does not assume any algebraic operation on itself. To generalize results from semigroups to semihypergroups, we first put together the fundamental algebraic concept a semihypergroup inherits from its measure algebra. Among other things, we define the Rees convolution product, and prove that if X; Y are non-empty sets and H is a hypergroup, then …