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Constraining Basin Geometry And Fault Kinematics On The Santo Tomás Segment Of The Agua Blanca Fault Through A Combined Geophysical And Structural Study, Adam Springer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Agua Blanca fault is a major transverse structure of northern Baja California, extending more than 120km east from the Punta Banda ridge near the city of Ensenada to the San Matais Pass in central Baja. Through much of its eastern extent slip on this fault appears to be pure strike slip, however, at the Valle de Santo Tomás the fault makes a ~25°; change in orientation, which coincides with the formation of extensional basins on the fault. Recent evidence of the independent movement of the Baja Micro-plate relative to a stable Southern California Black leads to several possible hypotheses …

Magnetocaloric Effect In Thin Films And Heterostructures, Christopher Bauer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goals of this work are the optimization of the magnetocaloric effect in Gadolinium thin film structures. We approach this issue from two directions, that of process optimization and of interface effects. Past results showed Gd₂O₃ in our Gadolinium thin films, and the presence of such oxide seemed to grow with the temperature at which the film was grown or annealed. Comparison of samples grown without chamber gettering to those that were gettered show differences in their structural and magnetic properties, and we conclude that gettering is an effective step in enhancing the quality of Gd thin …

The Effectiveness Of Prevent-Teach-Reinforce: Does The Presence Of Comorbid Internalizing Behavior Problems Moderate Outcomes For Children With Externalizing Behavior Problems?, Bonnie Saari

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effectiveness of a school-based intervention process known as Prevent-Teach-Reinforce for children with a combination of externalizing and internalizing behaviors compared to children with only externalizing behaviors. The dependent variables examined were social skills, problem behaviors, and academic engaged time. Data for the current study were taken from archival data collected by the Florida Mental Health Institute that included students in kindergarten through 8th grade. A series of repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to identify differences in improvement on the dependent variables for the two groups of students.

Research questions focused on the main effects …

Saving Energy In Network Hosts With An Application Layer Proxy: Design And Evaluation Of New Methods That Utilize Improved Bloom Filters, Miguel Jimeno

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

One of the most urgent challenges of the 21st century is to investigate new technologies that can enable a transition towards a society with a reduced CO₂ footprint. Information Technology generates about 2% of the global CO₂, which is comparable to the aviation industry. Being connected to the Internet requires active participation in responding to protocol messages. Billions of dollars worth of electricity every year are used to keep network hosts fully powered-on at all times only for the purpose of maintaining network presence. Most network hosts are idle most of the time, thus presenting a huge …

Synthesis Of Local Thermo-Physical Models Using Genetic Programming, Ying Zhang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Local thermodynamic models are practical alternatives to computationally expensive rigorous models that involve implicit computational procedures and often complement them to accelerate computation for real-time optimization and control. Human-centered strategies for development of these models are based on approximation of theoretical models. Genetic Programming (GP) system can extract knowledge from the given data in the form of symbolic expressions. This research describes a fully data driven automatic self-evolving algorithm that builds appropriate approximating formulae for local models using genetic programming. No a-priori information on the type of mixture (ideal/non ideal etc.) or assumptions are necessary.

The approach involves synthesis of …

Filtration Performance Of A Niosh-Approved N95 Filtering Facepiece Respirator With Stapled Head Straps, Daniel E. Medina

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Certain models of NIOSH-approved filtering facepiece air purifying respirators are manufactured with stapled head straps. Depending on the manufacturer, these head straps may be stapled to the filter media itself. This may cause leakage through the filter media of the respirator, potentially exposing the user to an unacceptable level of contaminant. In this study, monodisperse polystyrene latex (PSL) spheres were generated to challenge four replicates of a N95 single use respirator model made by the same manufacturer.

Nominal particle sizes of the PSL spheres used to challenge the respirators were 0.5, 1, and 2 micrometers in diameter. All respirators were …

A Program Evaluation Of A Literacy Initiative For Students With Moderate To Severe Disabilities, Carrie F. De La Cruz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recently the National Reading Panel concluded that systematic and direct instruction in phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension that is informed by ongoing assessments of student progress results in positive student achievement (NICHHD, 2002). For students with moderate to severe disabilities and students with autism, reading instruction has historically focused on functional sight words. Unfortunately, very little research exists that has examined how the literacy achievement of students with moderate to severe disabilities can be impacted by a more comprehensive, data-driven instructional model.

A special education program that serves students with moderate to severe disabilities and students with autism …

Addressing The Problem Of Land Motion At Tide Gauges, Kara J. Doran

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Estimation of global mean sea level change has become an area of interest for scientists in recent decades because of its importance as an indicator of climate change. Climate models predict varying degrees of change in global temperature and global sea level over the next 100 years. One way to check the validity of the models is to estimate sea level change over the last century and constrain the models to match these estimates. Traditionally, sea level change estimates have been calculated using long time series from tide gauges. There are some disadvantages to this approach however, since tide gauges …

The Effect Of Stress On Hedonic Capacity In Generalized Anxiety Disorder: A Prospective Experimental Study Of One Potential Pathway To Depression, Bethany H. Morris

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A growing body of work links psychopathology to changes in hedonic capacity following stressors. This was the first experimental study of the effects of stress on hedonic capacity in an analog generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) sample (a high worry group). Specifically, we utilized an experimental manipulation of stress and a behavioral index of anhedonia to test the hypothesis that individuals with GAD, who are at higher risk for developing depression symptoms, exhibit greater stress-related deficits in hedonic capacity than do nonanxious controls. Further, this study assessed whether stress-induced hedonic deficits predicted future depression. Controls exhibited the expected reward learning pattern …

Dyna-Mod Constructing The Modern Adaptable Home, Sarah Deardorff

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The modern home has become a static fixture in society that is not reflected in the growing populous that is becoming an ever increasing mobile society. Many are not able to stay to the same place that they call home for long periods of time. Changing jobs, markets and neighborhoods force those to continue their movement around leaving what it is that they call their home to try and reproduce it within another location. The home finds itself lost in this transition and must now function on a greater adaptability than ever before and reflect the growing demand placed upon …

The Politics Of Space And Place In Virginia Woolf’S The Years, Three Guineas And The Pargiters, Ángel Luis Jiménez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A critique of the social construction of space was fundamental to Virginia Woolf's overall feminist project of decentering patriarchal and imperial values. In A Room of One's Own (1929) Woolf famously emphasized that financial independence and a private space were vital to female creativity. But Woolf was concerned with the politics of space throughout her writing, an aspect of her thought that has not been widely addressed. My thesis examines Woolf's ongoing preoccupation with spatiality in two closely related works of her late career, The Years (1937) and Three Guineas (1938). In these texts, Woolf interrogates the cultural construction of …

An Intermediate Extended Literacy Routine To Support Struggling Third Grade Readers, Jeani Z. Fullard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Large numbers of children in the United States are not functioning at adequate levels of literacy. Students who have weak reading proficiency skills are identified as at-risk; failure to acquire competency early in their schooling adversely affects performance in all academic fields and limits their potential for achievement in life. There is an extensive knowledge base about the skills and strategies children must learn in order to read well. Effective fluency and comprehension strategies need to be taught to help students become powerful, active readers who are in control of their learning.

This study evaluated a structured classroom model …

Defining A Community: Controlling Nuisance In Late-Medieval London, Natalie J. Ciecieznski

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Using municipal sources from late medieval London, this study examines nuisance as a sub-topic of social regulation. In addition to defining nuisance, it analyzes who controlled nuisance and how it was controlled from the late thirteenth through the early fifteenth centuries. During this period, nuisance comprised building and boundary disputes between neighbors, such as conveying rainwater onto a neighboring property instead of to the street; environmental issues, such as blocking passageways with rubbish and not properly disposing of waste; certain groups of people and places, such as vagrants and brothels; and certain forms of speech, such as insults and threats. …

True North Or Traveled Terrain? An Empirical Investigation Of Authentic Leadership, Matthew D. Tuttle

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Authentic leadership is a new concept that is gaining both popularity and notoriety in the leadership literature. It is argued as a positive form of leadership that goes beyond traditional leadership styles in order to influence followers through genuine, ethical behavior. However, as a concept in its infancy, authentic leadership has yet to receive much empirical attention, and many researchers are skeptical of its value in what is seen as a saturated domain of leadership styles. This study offers a comprehensive approach to addressing this need. A new measure for authentic leadership was developed and validated through pilot testing. Through …

Non-Calanoid Copepods At The Bermuda Atlantic Time-Series Study (Bats) Station: Community Structure And Ecology, 1995-1999, Hussain Ali Al-Mutairi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Zooplankton were sampled on a monthly basis at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) site from January 1995 to December 1999. Samples were collected using a 1-m², 200 µm mesh net. The net sampled the water column in an oblique manner from the surface to a mean depth of 200 m. One day and one night tow from each cruise was examined microscopically to determine the community structure of the non-calanoid copepods. In addition, a three year set of nighttime samples were examined taken by 0.5-m², 20 and 35 µm mesh nets (1995-1996 and 1997, respectively) towed obliquely to 150 …

Comparing Reef Bioindicators On Benthic Environments Off Southeast Florida, Ryann A. Williams

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A goal of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is to develop protocols applicable to coral reefs to distinguish between the effects of local water quality and those associated with regional to global environmental change. One test case is the current-dominated southeast coast of Florida where the Delray Outfall delivers 30 million gallons per day (114,000 cubic meters per day) of secondary-treated sewage into the ocean. Five study sites were established at depths between 15 and 18 m, and at distances between 1 and 18 km distance from the outfall, where the Stony Coral Rapid Bioassessment Protocol (RBP) was conducted to …

Training Teamwork In Medical Teams: An Active Approach With Role Play And Feedback, Matthew S. Prewett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent reports in the field of medicine have recommended the use of teamwork training to reduce the number of injuries and fatalities from human error. Teamwork training in the field of medicine appears promising, but few empirical evaluations of such programs have confirmed their effectiveness. Existing teamwork training studies have tended to use a traditional, lecture approach to training, with positive but modest results upon teamwork attitudes and behaviors. The current study developed and evaluated a more active teamwork training protocol for trauma resuscitation teams. The training protocol supplemented several medical and non-medical role plays with a lecture and guided …

An Assessment Of A Naturalistic In-Home Training Protocol To Establish Joint Attention Responding With Children Diagnosed With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Heather Burris

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Children with autism have deficits in social interactions and verbal and nonverbal communication and engagement in rigid and repetitive activities and/or interests (ASA, 2008). A joint attention (JA) repertoire has been identified as a behavioral cusp for later social development and thus, JA deficits serve as an early indicator for diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (Vismara & Lyons, 2007; Whalen & Schbreibman, 2003). A JA repertoire consists of both responses to- and initiations for-bids for coordinated attention. Previous research has shown teaching strategies such as pivotal response and discrete trial training for joint attention skills to be effective (Vismara & …

Increasing Independence Among Children Diagnosed With Autism Using A Brief Embedded Teaching Strategy, Stephanie Toelken

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of a brief embedded teaching procedure, involving least-to-most prompting, for two paraprofessional staff in order to increase independent responses of two children diagnosed with autism in an inclusive setting. Training was given using a behavioral skills training approach, involving instructions, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback. The staff were trained to use the SWAT procedure used by Parsons, Reid and Lattimore (2009). A multiple baseline design across behaviors was used to evaluate the effects of the embedded teaching procedure. Maintenance of training effects was evaluated two weeks following the end of the …

Memory - Ness: The Collaboration Between A Library And Museum, Kelsey Doughty

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Picture a historical library and a historical art museum coming together to challenge the interaction between each other to help experience, explore, and discover the past within the present. While it sounds like a good idea, it is rare to see a library and museum under one roof.

With the increasing population of tourists looking to visit places and buildings that reconnect with history, there is a higher demand for places to be able to 're-live the past' through art and literature. People enjoy visiting places where history was made and where it becomes part of a city's identity. With …

Development And Deployment Of An Underwater Mass Spectrometer For Quantitative Measurements Of Dissolved Gases, Ryan J. Bell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Manual collection and processing of seawater samples for dissolved gas analyses are technically challenging, time consuming and costly. Accordingly, in situ analysis techniques present attractive alternatives to conventional gas measurement procedures. To meet the demands of sustained, high-resolution chemical observations of the oceans, the University of South Florida and SRI International developed underwater mass spectrometer systems for quantitative measurements of dissolved gases and volatile organic compounds. This work describes the influence of variable in situ conditions on the performance of a membrane introduction mass spectrometer used for measurements in both the water column and sediment porewater.

Laboratory experiments to simulate …

Theory And Simulation Of Metal-Organic Materials And Biomolecules, Jonathan L. Belof

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The emerging field of nanomaterials has raised a number of fascinating scientific questions that remain unanswered. Molecular theory and computer simulation are key tools to unlocking future discoveries in materials science, and various computational techniques and results toward this goal are elucidated here. High-performance computing methods (utilizing the latest supercomputers and codes) have been developed to explore and predict the chemistry and physical properties of systems as diverse as Metal-Organic Frameworks, discrete nanocubes, photoswitch molecules, porphyrins and several interesting enzymes. In addition, highlights of fundamental statistical physics, such as the Feynman-Hibbs effective partition function and generalized ensemble theory, are expounded …

Developing Pre-Literacy Skills In Preschool Children: The Utilization Of Parents As A Vital Resource, Ashley N. Sundman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effects of a parent-implemented intervention on preschool children's development of letter-naming and phonological awareness skills. Six parent-child dyads with children enrolled in a Head Start Program in West Central Florida were selected to participate in the study. A multiple baseline across participants design was used to evaluate the impact of an intervention package that included activities focusing on: (1) using mnemonics to learn letter names and (2) developing phonological awareness of the onsets of words through parent questioning and feedback. Phonological awareness development was measured using the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills First Sound …

Characterization Of The Underwater Light Environment And Its Relevance To Seagrass Recovery And Sustainability In Tampa Bay, Florida, Christopher J. Anastasiou

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The availability of light is a primary limiting factor for seagrass recovery and sustainability. Understanding not only the quantity but the quality of light reaching the bottom is an important component to successful seagrass management and the key focus of this study. This study explores the spectral properties of the sub-surface light field in four shallow Seagrass Management Areas (SMA) in Tampa Bay. Wavelength-specific photosynthetically active radiation (PAR(λ)) and the spectral light attenuation coefficient (K_d(λ)) are used to estimate the percent blue, green, and red light remaining at the bottom relative to the surface. LIDAR Bathymetry is combined …

Computer Simulations Of Apomyoglobin Folding, Mariangela Dametto

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The differences between refolding mechanisms of sperm whale apomyoglobin subsequent to three different unfolding conditions have been examined by atomistic level computer simulations. The three unfolding conditions used in this work are high-temperature, low temperature and low pH. The folding of this protein has been extensively studied experimentally, providing a large data base of folding parameters which can be probed using simulations.

The crystal structure of sperm whale myoglobin was taken from Protein Data Bank, followed by the removal of the heme unit and a subsequent energy minimization was performed in order to generate the native apomyoblogin form. Thus, the …

Gender And Internal Migration In Wuhan, Hubei Province, China: Rural Hometowns, Factory Work, And Urban Experiences, Milena Urszula Janiec-Grygo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on gender and scale as key aspects of the rural-to-urban migration process in China. Its specific aim is to connect economic and social reasons for rural women's migration towards urban factory work. Contemporary large-scale migration studies show inconsistencies and contradictions concerning reasons for migration, especially as it relates to gender. Thus, migration research often emphasizes the positive social changes experienced by women workers, in effect signaling that the most important needs of women migrants can be satisfied without economic gains. In contrast, the proposed study seeks to show that social and economic reasons intertwine within women's experiences …

An Autoethnographic Account: A Description Of Nine Young Children's Literacy Learning Experiences In A Summer Camp, Melinda G. Adams

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My research assistant and I employed participant observation to study graduate tutors and children in a literacy camp setting. Research questions were: What types of literacy instruction do nine children receive from graduate education major tutors in a community of interest summer literacy camp? How do nine children respond to literacy instruction they receive from graduate education tutors in a summer literacy camp? We collected data once a week for six weeks. We observed and took notes to determine what instruction graduate tutors offered and how children responded. I used autoethnographic methods to reflect on my former teaching practices. Ellis …

Elementary School Assistant Principals‟ Decision Making Analyzed Through Four Ethical Frameworks Of Justice, Critique, Care, And The Profession, Brenda Troy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the conceptual framework of ethical reasoning of public elementary school assistant principals during decision-making. An ethical framework not only provides a descriptive way of thinking during ethical decision-making, but also provides a rationale for decisions. The purpose of this study was to determine which ethical reasoning framework, including the ethics of justice, critique, care, and the profession, elementary school assistant principals' use during decision-making. Additionally, the study determined other resources assistant principals' consult during decision-making.

This study incorporated descriptive survey research through purposeful sampling with specific participant criteria. A researcher-developed survey of hypothetical dilemmas was deployed electronically …

Mathematics Education: The Voice Of African American And White Adolescents, Sharondrea R. King

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Several studies have provided evidence regarding factors that contribute to the mathematics achievement gap between African American and White students. Byrnes (2003) found that 45%-50% of the difference in White and African American students' performance in mathematics was associated with socioeconomic status, exposure to learning opportunities, and motivational aspects of math while 4.5% was explained by ethnicity. The goal in this mixed method study was to examine the mathematics attitude of African American (n = 22) and White (n = 10) high school students and to allow students to voice what practices and supports they perceived enabled them to learn …

The Role Of Cocrystals In Solid-State Synthesis Of Imides And The Development Of Novel Crystalline Forms Of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients, Miranda L. Cheney

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With a greater understanding of the fundamentals of crystal engineering lays the

potential for the development of a vast array of novel materials for a plethora of

applications. Addressed herein is the latent potential of the current knowledge base with

an emphasis upon cocrystallization and the desire for scientific exploration that will lead

to the development of a future generation of novel cocrystals. The focus of this

dissertation is to expand the cocrystallization knowledge base in two directions with the

utilization of cocrystals in the novel synthetic technique of cocrystal controlled solid-state

synthesis and in the development of active pharmaceutical …