Digital Commons Network^™

Design Of A Chemical Agent Detector Based On Polymer Coated Surface Acoustic Wave (Saw) Resonator Technology, Lane Leslie Manoosingh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents the design of a unique prototype chemical agent detector which utilizes an array of polymer coated SAW resonators as the sensor elements. The design's particular embodiment is that of a testing platform for evaluating the utility of constructing a portable chemical agent detector, utilizing commercially available SAW resonators. It involves the consolidation of the sub-systems comprising a large laboratory development system, into a portable enclosure.

A combination of design techniques, utilized to achieve an overall balance between the physical dimensions of the system and its detection performance, comprises the unique nature of the overall design of this …

Inner-Shelf Bottom Boundary Layer Development And Sediment Suspension During Tropical Storm Isadore On The West Florida Shelf., Justin G. Brodersen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Observations of the bottom boundary layer on the inner West Florida Shelf were made with a downward looking pulse coherent acoustic Doppler profiler throughout the passage of Tropical Storm Isadore during September 2002. The storm passed through the Gulf of Mexico roughly 780 km offshore of the Florida study site. Significant wave heights ranged from 0 m to 2.5 m within a span of eight days. The excellent, non-invasive, 5 cm resolution of the near bed (bottom meter) mean flows were used to estimate bed shear velocity and bottom roughness using the standard log-layer approach. A unique opportunity to examine …

Fuzzy Ants As A Clustering Concept, Parag M. Kanade

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

We present two Swarm Intelligence based approaches for data clustering. The first algorithm, Fuzzy Ants, presented in this thesis clusters data without the initial knowledge of the number of clusters. It is a two stage algorithm. In the first stage the ants cluster data to initially create raw clusters which are refined using the Fuzzy C Means algorithm. Initially, the ants move the individual objects to form heaps. The centroids of these heaps are redefined by the Fuzzy C Means algorithm. In the second stage the objects obtained from the Fuzzy C Means algorithm are hardened according to the …

Self-Determination Theory And Locus Of Control As Antecedents Of Voluntary Workplace Behaviors, Kimberly E. O'Brien

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Antecedents of organizational citizenship behaviors and counterproductive work behaviors have been studied in depth, focusing on both individual differences and environmental variables. However, motivation has been largely overlooked as a contributor to these voluntary behaviors. Self-Determination Theory, a motivational framework, posits that environmental support in the form of fulfilled basic psychological needs leads to activities geared towards growth and development, whereas a lack of environmental supports thwarts these attempts towards self-growth. It is hypothesized that environmental support will account for unique variance above and beyond previously studied antecedents of voluntary workplace behaviors. This was supported using hierarchical regression. It was …

Use Of The Power Card Strategy As An Intervention With An Elementary School Student With Asperger Syndrome: Increasing On-Task Behavior In The General Education Setting, Jane M. Devenport

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

It has been slightly more than a decade since Asperger syndrome was recognized as a distinct sub-category of autism disorder and was first given a diagnostic category in the DSM-IV. An abundance of suggestions, ideas, and recommendations for treatment have been offered, yet there is only a limited amount of research that empirically evaluates these interventions. This study explores an intervention, the Power Card Strategy (PCS), previously demonstrated to be effective with improving social behaviors with a young girl with autism, by employing the student's area of special interest. An advantage to this intervention is it is relatively easy to …

Estimation Of Switching Activity In Sequential Circuits Using Dynamic Bayesian Networks, Karthikeyan Lingasubramanian

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a novel, non-simulative, probabilistic model for switching activity in sequential circuits, capturing both spatio-temporal correlations at internal nodes and higher order temporal correlations due to feedback. Switching activity, one of the key components in dynamic power dissipation, is dependent on input streams and exhibits spatio-temporal correlation amongst the signals. One can handle dependency modeling of switching activity in a combinational circuit by Bayesian Networks [2] that encapsulates the underlying joint probability distribution function exactly.

We present the underlying switching model of a sequential circuit as the time coupled logic induced directed acyclic graph (TC-LiDAG), that can be …

Adaptation Of The State Trait Anxiety Inventory In Arabic: A Comparison With The American Stai, Qutayba A. Abdullatif

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The main goal of the present study was to develop an Arabic adaptation of the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI, Form Y, Spielberger, 1983). In addition, cultural and linguistic influences on the experience and expression of anxiety were assessed. The American STAI and fifty initial Arabic items were administered to 286 university students at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. The American STAI was also administered to 336 university students at the University of South Florida.

Item and factor analyses were conducted on responses of the calibration sample to obtain the final set of Arabic items, which was validated using …

Total Evaporative Resistance Of Selected Clothing Ensembles, Victor Caravello

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With regard to heat stress, the limiting factor inherent in clothing ensembles is the total evaporative resistance. Clothing with higher evaporative resistance impedes the ability to cool by sweat evaporation. Knowing the evaporative resistance provides a means to compare candidate ensembles. Further, a value for evaporative resistance means that a rational method can be used to assess the heat stress exposure. Evaporative resistance of five clothing ensembles (cotton work clothes, cotton coveralls, and three coveralls of particle barrier, liquid barrier and vapor barrier properties) was determined empirically from wear tests during two study phases. For Phase 1, the metabolic rate …

Auditors’ Performance In Computer-Mediated Fraud Assessment Brainstorming Sessions: An Investigation Of The Effects Of Anonymity And Creativity Training, Antoinette L. Lynch

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the wake of recent corporate accounting scandals, auditors are encouraged to improve their method of fraud detection. Although Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 99 does not change the responsibility of the auditor for detecting fraud, it does provide new procedural requirements for assessing fraud risk, such as brainstorming among key team members about the potential for fraud. Using audit interns and internal auditors, this study empirically examines two interventions hypothesized to improve the quality of ideas generated by audit interns and internal auditors. In the first intervention, auditors use a computer-based group support system to brainstorm either non-anonymously …

Perceptions From The Principals’ Desks: African American Elementary Principals And Reading Curriculum And Instruction In A Central Florida County, Keva Latrice Mitchell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This was a collective case study of African American elementary principals in a central Florida county. The study intended to discover through qualitative means, African American elementary principals perceptions of reading curriculum and instruction. More specifically, the study was concerned with discovering and presenting the attitudes, experiences,and beliefs of this specific population of leaders. The African American principal has the unique perception of one who has grown-up and been educated in the midst of the European American dominated system of education, thus making their perceptions of reading curriculum and instruction relevant to gaining additional knowledge in the area of literacy …

What Faculty Know About Designing Online Materials In Compliance With Current U.S. Copyright And Fair Use Laws, Phyllis C. Sweeney

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Digital technology has vastly increased the ability of individuals to copy, produce and distribute information, making the behavior of individuals a far more significant factor in the enforcement of copyright and fair use laws than in the past. This research investigates the resources used by university faculty and their knowledge of fair use regarding web-based course materials. Specifically, the research A) identifies prevailing trends in faculty use of resource materials in the development of web-based courses including digital images, text, video and sound; B) determines how faculty members have gained and applied their fair use knowledge; and C) interprets any …

The Influence Of Amyloid-Beta, A Major Pathological Marker In Alzheimer's Disease, On Molecular Cognitive Processes Of App+Ps1 Transgenic Mice, Chad Anthony Dickey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized by anterograde amnesia followed by a progressive decline in cognitive function. Post mortem examination of forebrain tissue from sufferers reveals the presence of extracellular amyloid-beta plaques, intracellular neurofibrillary tangles, activation of glial cells and massive neuron loss. Transgenic mice expressing mutated forms of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) and presenilin-1 (PS1) genes develop neuritic amyloid plaques, glial cell activation and memory deficits, without the formation of intracellular tangles and neurodegeneration.

The mechanisms by which these transgenic mice develop mnemonic deficiencies are unclear. Gene expression of aged memory-deficient APP+PS1 mice compared with non-transgenic littermates measured by …

The Organization Of The Visual System In The Bonnethead Shark (Sphyrna Tiburo), Amy L. Osmon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this project was to examine the visual system of the bonnethead shark (Sphyrna tiburo). The eyes of this shark are located at the extreme lateral ends of a broad, elongated cephalofoil. Better understanding of their visual system may aid in determining the adaptive benefits of their usual head shape. The proposed project examined one specific aspect of their visual system: the organization of retinal ganglion cells and identification of areas of increased resolution. Two experiments were conducted to realize these aims: (1) staining of retinal ganglion cells, to examine their distributional pattern, and (2) retrograde staining of …

The Developing Nucleus Accumbens Septi: Susceptibility To Alcohol’S Effects, Rex Montgomery Philpot

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The mesolimbic dopamine (DA) system has been implicated in providing the basis of pleasure, guiding the general mechanism of reinforcement as well as motivation. Support for these roles have grown from neurochemical research in the field of addiction. It is now well known that DA activity increases in the nucleus accumbens septi (NAcc) with exposure to addictive substances. Moreover, pharmacological manipulation of this system produces predictable changes in the administration of drugs of abuse, as well as natural reinforcers. This system is responsive to natural reinforcers and addiction may be the transference of routine mesolimbic function to environmental stimuli predictive …

The Influence Of The El Niño-Southern Oscillation On Cloud-To-Ground Lightning Activity Along The Gulf Coast Of The United States, Mark R. Lajoie

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the response of lightning to the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the vicinity of the U.S. Gulf Coast region and nearby adjacent waters of the Gulf of Mexico, for the years 1995-2002. The Gulf Coast region was selected for this study because of its high flash density (Orville and Huffines, 2001) and because it is an area where the ENSO fingerprint is very clearly demonstrated on both temperature and precipitation patterns (CPC, 2002). Additionally, this geographic domain roughly matches the only known study on this topic (Goodman et al., 2000). Winter is the season …

A Comparative Study Of Artificial Neural Networks And Info Fuzzy Networks On Their Use In Software Testing, Deepam Agarwal

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

It is very important that the software being delivered to the user is reliable and fault free. This makes software testing one of the most important phases in the software development life cycle. The problem being faced by everyone is the time it takes to test the software, which is normally huge. An important part of the software testing process is running and evaluating test scenarios. The objective of this part is to evaluate how well the application under test conforms to its specifications. One of the ways to achieve this is to generate the test cases and make use …

Preparation And Characterization Of Ribonucleic Acid (Rna)/Inorganic Materials Interfaces Using Photoemission Spectroscopy, Brian, Doran

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this master s thesis is the preparation and characterization of ribonucleic acid (RNA)/inorganic material interfaces by electrospray deposition and photoemission spectroscopy. This was done through investigation of the chemical and electronic structure of the surface of Highly Ordered Pyrolytic Graphite (HOPG) and gold before and after multiple steps of RNA thin film deposition by electrospray. Great interest has been shown by researchers into RNA due to its self-assembling ability. A series of experiments was conducted depositing RNA Poly adenosine, RNA Poly cytidine, and (for control purposes) DI water on HOPG. RNA Poly adenosine was also deposited on …

Florida Bay Microalgae Blooms: Physiological Characteristics And Competitive Strategies Of Bloom Forming Cyanobacteria And Diatoms Of Florida Bay, Ralph William, Richardson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Areally expansive, persistent and recurring blooms frequently dominated by cyanobacteria have developed primarily in the north-central region of Florida Bay since approximately 1991. This part of the bay has a history of the following: periodic hypersalinity, high sediment-derived turbidity, P limitation, N limitation, light limitation and long water residence time. Clonal isolates of selected dominant bloom species of cyanobacteria (Synechococcus cf. elongatus and Synechocystis sp.) and diatoms (Chaetoceros cf. salsugineus and Thalassiosira cf. oceanica) from Florida Bay were examined in an effort to explain their relative dominance of the phytoplankton community.

The following physiological characteristics and nutrient …

Time Course Of Perceptual Grouping In User Interface Displays, Melissa F. Schulz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Perceptual grouping describes the organization of small elements into larger objects. Research in user interface (UI) design has demonstrated effects of perceptual grouping on attention and navigation. However, grouping can be mediated by a variety of task factors. One such mediator is processing time. Recent discoveries in vision science suggest that elemental grouping can occur in more than one way, depending on how long elements are displayed. These findings have led to a new understanding of perceptual organization of elements in real-world spatial environments. However,these findings had not been explored within the context of UI environments. Time limits to UI …

The Impact Of Fidelity On Program Quality In The Healthy Families America Program, Stacey R. Kessler

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The current study examined the relationship between program fidelity, or adherence to the program model, and program outcomes using the Healthy Family America Program Model. Specifically, 103 program sites were evaluated based on their adherence to the program model. The outcome indices included the percentage of children with updated immunizations and the percentage of children with primary care physicians. First order correlations, multiple regression, and canonical correlation were used to analyze the data. The results of the study are mixed. Specifically, an overall index of fidelity is positively related the percentage of children with updated immunizations, but not to the …

Crystal Engineering Of Metal-Carboxylate Based Coordination Polymers, Jianjiang Lu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation endeavors to delineate practical paradigms for crystal engineering based upon the understanding of supramolecular chemistry and self-assembly, i.e. the design and synthesis of novel functional crystalline materials.

Two basic metal-organic building units, Zn(RCO₂)₂(py)₂ and (L₂)M₂(RCO₂)₄ (M = Zn, Cu), as well as nano-scaled secondary building units (nSBUs) that are constructed from Cu₂(RCO₂)₄ are researched and discussed. Design strategies have been developed to propagate these metal-organic synthons into predictable coordination polymer networks. A series of crystal structures, as well as their syntheses …

African Costume For Artists: The Woodcuts In Book X Of Habiti Antichi Et Moderni Di Tutto Il Mondo, 1598, Laura Renee Herrmann

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the woodcuts of African dress in Cesare Vecellio's 1598 costume book Habiti antichi et moderni di tutto il mondo. While Vecellio's book has been previously studied to understand its contribution to sixteenth-century conceptions of human variation across geography and Venetian identity making, I concentrate instead on the book's intended function. In doing so, I show how its woodcuts of Africans, should be understood primarily as proposals for costumes to be used in new artistic productions.

Vecellio situated his representations of African costume in a highly organized geographic framework that was shaped by travel narratives. These texts …

Sf-Sack: A Smooth Friendly Tcp Protocol For Streaming Multimedia Applications, Sivakumar Bakthavachalu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Voice over IP and video applications continue to increase the amount of traffic over the Internet. These applications utilize the UDP protocol because TCP is not suitable for streaming applications. The flow and congestion control mechanisms of TCP can change the connection transmission rate too drastically, affecting the user-perceived quality of the transmission. Also, the TCP protocol provides a level of reliability that may waste network resources, retransmitting packets that have no value. On the other hand, the use of end-to-end flow and congestion control mechanisms for streaming applications has been acknowledged as an important measure to ease or eliminate …

A Program Evaluation Of A Support Group For Children With Sickle Cell Disease, Rachel M. Cohen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Children with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) face medical, psychosocial, and cognitive challenges, which may impede their social and academic functioning. These complications can be lessened through the implementation of comprehensive interventions. This study reviews one comprehensive intervention, a support group, for children with SCD and their families, and reviews the challenges faced by the children and family who participate in the support group as well as those who do not participate. The study has a mixed-method design because the families participated in focus groups, and they completed quantitative instruments, including a knowledge survey, a behavior rating scale, and an instrument …

Effects Of Age And Stimulus Frequency On Gap Discrimination, Alan Carlton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Objective: Deficits in temporal resolution may be one element underlying the speech understanding difficulties experienced by older listeners in degraded acoustic environments. In real listening environments, important temporal cues are surrounded by stimuli of varying frequencies. This study was designed to assess temporal resolution as a function of frequency region, frequency-disparity, and age in listeners with normal hearing.

Design: Gap duration difference limens (GDDLs) were measured using leading and trailing markers that were fixed at the same frequency (fixed-frequency) or at frequencies one-half octave apart (frequency-disparate) for two groups of listeners with normal hearing: (1) 18-22 years and …

Auditory Sensitivity Of Sergeant Majors (Abudefduf Saxatilis) From Post-Settlement Juvenile To Adult, Sarah A. Egner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There is much evidence supporting the idea that pelagic larvae of coral reef fishes are active participants in their dispersal and return to a reef, however, the mechanisms used to navigate are still uncertain. It has been proposed that sensory cues, such as hearing, play a role. Sound is a potentially important cue for organisms in marine environments, especially in noisy environments like coral reefs. Sensory organs, including otolithic organs, of most coral reef fish form within the first few days of life. The auditory brainstem response (ABR) technique was used to measure hearing on a wide size range of …

Biological Indicators Of Wetland Health: Comparing Qualitative And Quantitative Vegetation Measures With Anuran Measures, Shannon M. Gonzalez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Understanding wetland responses to human perturbations is essential to the effective management of Florida's surface and ground water resources. Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) Rules (Chapter 40D-2.301(c) FAC) prohibit adverse environmental effects to wetlands, fish and wildlife caused by groundwater withdrawal. Numerous studies have documented the responses of biological attributes across taxa and regions to human disturbance. Biological assessment can provide information about ecological condition. Based on long-term monitoring conducted by the SWFWMD, the anthropogenic changes observed on the Starkey Wellfield are attributed to groundwater withdrawal.

Biological indicators are species, species assemblages, or communities whose presence, abundance, and condition …

Effects Of Gloves And Visual Acuity On Dexterity, Mehdi Pourmoghani

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Work in many environments with chemical or biological agents requires the use of personal protective equipment such as gloves and respirators. It is well established that glove thickness affects finger dexterity. There is further evidence that visual constraints (e.g., visual acuity) and gender may also impede finger dexterity. Therefore, the personal protection may place a barrier to the agent, but performance or productivity will decrease. The purpose of this study is to examine the potential effects of gloves and visual acuity as well as gender and first order interactions on task performance using standard dexterity tests.

Five men and five …

Discovering The Source Of Gatsby’S Greatness: Nick’S Eulogy Of A “Great” Kierkegaardian Knight, Jaime' L. Sanders

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Although F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby has received extensive critical attention since the middle of the century, there remains an unaddressed and unanswered question that demands further exploration: what makes Gatsby "great?" It seems that the source of Gatsby's greatness, for narrator Nick Carraway, is that Gatsby has a quality that sets him apart from others: it is not a "flabby impressionability," but a "heightened sensitivity to the promises of life" and "an extraordinary gift for hope" that Nick has never seen before, nor does he expect to see again (6). I contend that what Nick sees as Gatsby's …

Mapping A Generation: Oral History Research In Sulphur Springs, Fl, Connie J. Brown

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is an analysis of the pros and cons of doing ethnographic and oral history research with elders. The subjects are women born before 1933 and residing in Sulphur Springs, Florida for most of their adolescence and adult lives. They were selected from attendees of the semiannual reunion of students who attended the Sulphur Springs School during the years it served both elementary and junior high.

This method of research, with an elder population presents specific challenges and rewards. The pros and cons of such research are discussed within the context of doing ethnography of Sulphur Springs from the …