Digital Commons Network^™

Evaluating Corrosion Resistance Of Reinforcing Steel In A Novel Green Concrete, Andrea Carolina Ramirez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Reinforced concrete structures are expected to have a long service life with minimal maintenance. Corrosion of reinforcing steel is a major factor in reducing concrete structure lifespan, as corrosion products occupy a larger volume than that of the consumed steel and generate tensile stresses that crack the concrete cover. Procedures to control corrosion in traditional concrete, which is made with Portland-cement (PC), have been well established. However, in recent years novel concrete materials based on alternatives to normally cured PC have been developed in response to global needs to reduce greenhouse gases emissions. In particular, a promising new cement has …

High-Solids Anaerobic Digestion Of The Organic Fraction Of Municipal Solid Waste State Of The Art, Outlook In Florida, And Enhancing Methane Yields From Lignocellulosic Wastes, Gregory Richard Hinds

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a biotechnology that employs natural microbial metabolism under oxygen-free conditions to stabilize organic waste. AD has been shown to be the most environmentally sustainable technology for treating the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW), as it allows for the recovery of energy and nutrients from the waste. AD of OFMSW also saves landfill space and reduces leachate generation and fugitive methane emissions from landfills. High-solids AD (HS-AD) technologies (those designed to process feedstocks with >15% total solids content) have been shown to yield additional benefits when compared with liquid AD (L-AD) for treating OFMSW, including …

The Effect Of Urbanization On The Embodied Energy Of Drinking Water In Tampa, Florida, Mark Vincent Eli Santana

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Increasing urbanization has serious implications for resource and energy use. One of these resources is drinking water. The increased amount of impervious surfaces associated with urban development is responsible for increased runoff during rain events, which may have a negative impact on the quality of nearby bodies of water, including drinking water sources. The growing populations associated with urbanization require a higher water demand. In addition, urban drinking water systems use energy to collect, treat, and distribute a safe reliable effluent to users. Therefore, this study focuses on the degree to which urbanization influences the embodied energy of drinking water …

Trash Talk: Understanding Food Waste At A Charter Elementary School In Florida, Steven A. Williams

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Waste as a topic for anthropological investigation has enjoyed a recent resurgence in interest, mirroring burgeoning discussion among policy-makers and the general public about questions of environmental impacts, economic costs, and social detriments of contemporary waste management paradigms. While waste management in the United States has largely focused on technical and organizational solutions typically considered the domain of environmental planning and engineering (such as source reduction, recycling, and reuse), anthropology and the social sciences have become more prominently involved in efforts to inform policy-makers and researchers about the social and behavioral factors influencing waste norms and habits, particularly in educational …

Ecological Sanitation In Uganda: Promotion Through Demonstration Facilities And Potential For Ascaris Reduction By Free Ammonia Inactivation Using Stored Urine, John Thomas Trimmer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As Uganda works to transform itself into an industrialized, middle-income country in the coming decades, the country is faced with a number of problematic trends that could hinder this transition. High population growth and urbanization are quickly forcing small towns to deal with issues of limited space and the aesthetic conditions within sanitation systems, while declining soil fertility in surrounding rural areas calls into question the future nutritional security of the growing population. Ecological Sanitation (Eco-San) systems, which are designed to recover nutrients from human excreta, may help to address these trends.

Improved sanitation coverage in Uganda is currently estimated …

A Framework For Determining Building Water Cycle Resilience Using A Dynamic Water Resilience Assessment Model (Wram), Caryssa Joustra

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this project was to quantitatively measure the resilience of the building water cycle. In order to accomplish this goal, a framework was developed that outlines how building water resilience can be evaluated. The framework presented assumed that resilience describes the fulfillment of system functions; in this case, the system functions considered are those actualized by the building water system. A building water resilience assessment model (WRAM) was developed with the ability to simulate different building water cycles and resilience scenarios. Resilience is dependent on the type and magnitude of a disturbance. Therefore, unique disruption scenarios were developed …

Documenting Perceived Effectiveness Of Community-Based Health Promotion Coalitions: A Grounded Theory Approach, Alyssa Brooke Mayer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Community coalitions with public health-related missions are formal, semi-permanent, action-oriented partnerships comprised of community members, representatives of government agencies, policymakers, and academic partners. Despite their potential to promote sustainable change, coalitions have had mixed success in effecting long-term improvements in community health. There is a need to assist them in developing strategies for improving and sustaining their functionality. The purpose of this study was to improve understanding of the elements of coalition success and sustainability that are vital to health-related community-based participatory research.

Methods: Although the literature describes coalition functions for effecting sustainable programs and policies, most research reports …