Digital Commons Network^™

Ammonia Flux At The Air/Water Interface Of Tampa Bay, Constance Anne Mizak

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An ammonia emissions inventory discovered that 90% of the ammonia emitted from Pinellas, Hillsborough, and Polk counties, originated from the latter two counties. This finding is significant and suggests that a substantial portion of the ammonia deposited to Tampa Bay is transported with easterly air masses.

Ammonia and ammonium concentrations at the coastal Gandy Bridge site were seasonally and diurnally consistent, but the rural Sydney site showed greater variability. It was determined that wind direction was the most influential parameter affecting the Gandy Bridge site, which supports the hypothesis that an advection of ammonia from the east is a major …

Detection And Quantification Of Karenia Brevis Blooms On The West Florida Shelf From Remotely Sensed Ocean Color Imagery, Jennifer P. Cannizzaro

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Karenia brevis, a toxic dinoflagellate species that blooms regularly in the Gulf of Mexico, frequently causes widespread ecological and economic damage and can pose a serious threat to human health. Satellite-based ocean color imagery may provide a means for detecting and monitoring blooms, providing early alerts to coastal communities. However, a technique for discriminating K. brevis from other chlorophyll-containing algae is required. Between 1999 and 2001, a large bio-optical data set consisting of spectral measurements of remote-sensing reflectance (Rrs(lambda)), absorption (a(lambda)), and backscattering (bb(lambda)) along with chlorophyll a concentrations was collected on the central west Florida shelf (WFS) as …

Level Of Demoralization As A Predictor Of Stage Of Change In Patients With Gastrointestinal And Colorectal Cancer, Cheryl Anne Cockram

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Demoralization is a concept that evolved out of the study of individuals under stress. It is defined as the combination of distress and subjective incompetence in the presence of inadequate social bonds. When patients with alcohol abuse problems are diagnosed with cancer they may become demoralized and be unable to summons adequate resources to address issues associated with changing their addictive behavior. The Stage of Change Model (SOC), one of the primary approaches in addiction therapy, is used to guide individuals through the process of behavioral change.

This two phase study examined the relationship between demoralization and stage of change. …

The Interaction Between Victim Race And Gender On Capital Sentencing Outcomes: An Exploration Of Previous Research, Amy Reckdenwald

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study is an exploration and extension of previous research on the interactive effects of victim-race and victim-gender on death sentence outcomes. Williams and Holcomb's (2004) study suggests that an interactive effect exists between victim-race and victim-gender on Ohio death sentencing outcomes, such that killers of White women are especially singled out for capital punishment. The current study analyzes a sample of death eligible cases at the trial level in North Carolina to determine if Williams & Holcomb's findings hold up for a different sample of cases and in a different state. Logistic regression is used to determine if there …

Personality And Motivational Characteristics Of The Successful Mentor, Lizzette Lima

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between mentor characteristics (i.e., motivational tendencies, personality traits), mentoring provided, and protégé outcomes. A motivational approach was taken, in the sense that motives to mentor, as well as personality characteristics of the mentor, were considered in regard to their ability to predict the type of mentoring provided and outcomes for the protégé. Specifically, the potential relationships between personality traits (Intrinsic Motivation, Learning Goal Orientation, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Machiavellianism) and mentor motives, as well as the provision of career and psychosocial mentoring, were examined. In addition, the current study examined …

Investigation Of Oxide Thickness Dependence Of Fowler-Nordheim Parameter B, Shashank Bharadwaj

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

During recent years the thickness of the gate oxide has been reduced considerably. The progressive miniaturization of devices has caused several phenomena to emerge such as quasi-breakdown, direct tunneling and stress induced leakage currents. Such phenomena significantly modify the performance of the scaled-down MOSFETs. As a part of this research work, an effort has been made to study the performance and characteristics of the thin Gate oxide for MOSFETs and Tunnel Oxide for Floating Gate (FG) MOS devices. The exponential dependence of tunnel current on the oxide-electric field causes some critical problems in process control. A very good process control …

Phase Imaging Digital Holography For Biological Microscopy, Daniel Parshall

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

We apply the techniques of digital holography to obtain microscopic 3D images of biological cells. Both the amplitude and phase images are obtained from a single hologram, with approximately 1 [mu]m lateral and 10 nm longitudinal resolution. The results are combined with previous experiments resolving the 2 [pi] ambiguity to produce continuous phase images of the samples.

Indium Oxide As A High Resistivity Buffer Layer For Cdte/Cds Thin Film Solar Cells, Umamaheswari Balasubramanian

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Transparent conductive oxides are an essential part of technologies that require both large-area electrical contact and optical access in the visible portion of the light spectrum.

SnO₂ doped with Fluorine (SnO₂: F) and In₂O₃ doped with tin (ITO) are the most popular choices of front contacts for CdTe solar cells. In this thesis, CdS/CdTe devices were fabricated with SnO₂: F (MOCVD) and ITO (sputtering) as front contacts without a high resistivity (resistivity relatively greater than front contact) buffer layer. The device characteristics of these devices were low but improved considerably after the …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Potential Drug Delivery Systems Using Nonionic Surfactant “Niosome”, Sukit Leekumjorn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Niosomes are synthetic microscopic vesicles consisting of an aqueous core enclosed in a bilayer consisting of cholesterol and one or more nonionic surfactants. They are made of biocompatible, biodegradable, non-toxic, non-immunogenic and non-carcinogenic agents which form closed spherical structures (self assembly vesicles) upon hydration. With high resistance to hydrolytic degradation, niosomes are capable of entrapping many kinds of soluble drugs while exhibiting greater vesicle stability and longer shelf life.

In this work, a potential drug delivery system has been designed, synthesized and characterized. For the synthesis of niosomes, a hydration process was developed with varying design parameters such as mass …

Synthesis Of Nanoscale Structures In Single Crystal Silicon Carbide By Electron Beam Lithography, Jay A. Bieber

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nanostructures were formed on diced specimens of several silicon carbide polytypes and silicon using electron beam lithography. A general introduction to nanostructure synthesis and electron beam lithography,are presented. A scanning electron microscope was retrofitted with a commercially available electron beam lithography package and an electrostatic beam blanker to permit nanoscale lithography to be performed.

A process was first developed and optimized on silicon substrates to expose, poly-methyl-methacrylate (PMMA) resist with an electron beam to make nanoscale nickel masks for reactive ion etching. The masks consist of an array of nickel dots that range in size from 20 to 100 nm …

Parameterization Of The Light Models In Various General Ocean Circulation Models For Shallow Waters, Hari Warrior

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Solar energy is incident on the earth's surface in both short-wave and long-wave parts of the spectrum. The short-wave part of the spectrum is of special interest to oceanographers since the vertical distribution of temperature in the top layer of the ocean is mostly determined by the vertical attenuation of short-wave radiation. There are numerous studies regarding the temperature evolution as a function of time (see Chapter 2 for details). The diurnal and seasonal variation of the heat content (and hence temperature) of the ocean is explored in this thesis. The basis for such heat budget simulation lies in the …

Improving The Environment In Distance Learning Courses Through The Application Of Aesthetic Principles, Darryl J. Hancock

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The primary goal of this project has been to research and create aesthetic visual environments in distance-learning media through the application of expert criteria and to explore the effects of those environments on student satisfaction and motivation. To accomplish this three instructors with distinct courses were selected to apply aesthetic criteria within the process of analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation. Courses selected were Art Appreciation -- ARTS 1100, Advanced Surveying -- ENGR 2502, and Introduction to Sociology -- SOCI 1101.

The project goal was subdivided into four objectives.

1) Develop criteria for the inclusion of visual aesthetics in the …

Are Preservice Instructional Designers Adequately Prepared For Tomorrow’S Diverse Learning Audiences?—A Cultural Content Analysis Of Textbooks (1993-2003) Used For Instructional Design, Sujie Man

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study used content analysis to examine the coverage of cultural issues in the five phases of instructional design within ID/ISD textbooks published between 1993 and 2003. The results indicated that not all the ID/ISD textbooks examined in this study covered cultural issues. Among the textbooks that did cover cultural issues, none of them reached more than 10% coverage of the total pages of any one book. The phase of Analysis and the Other category received the highest amount of coverage in both the 53 books sample and 36 books sample; whereas the phase of Implementation received the least amount …

Laboratory Statnamic Testing, Michael Jeffrey Stokes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Despite advancements in the analysis of statnamic load testing data, there exists uncertainty with underlying procedural assumptions. Two such assumptions are that the system mass and soil-related damping coefficient remain constant throughout the loading event. These assumptions are the culprit of aberrant predictions of the static capacity at small displacements when the overall displacement is large. An exploration of the assumptions may validate prior existing test results as well as solidify the current analysis process. However, an exploration could also reveal an overestimation or underestimation of portions of the predicted static load responses.

The testing program outlined herein consists of …

Feedback In Distance Learning: Do Student Perceptions Of Corrective Feedback Affect Retention In Distance Learning?, Lori S. Kielty

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a correlation between students' perception of corrective feedback and retention in online classes. A total of 134 community college students were enrolled in six online classes taught by three full-time instructors. The research questions addressed were as follows:

RQ1. How are the students' perception of corrective feedback and student retention related?

RQ2. Are students who attend course orientation meetings more likely to complete the course?

RQ3. Are students who attend distance learning technical workshops more likely to complete the course?

RQ4. Are students who have taken other online classes …

Prediction Of Commuter Choice Behavior Using Neural Networks, Aaron L. Gregory

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In order to reduce air pollution and reduce the amount of traffic on highways in the western United States, certain states have set up worksite trip reduction programs. Employers in these states must comply with worksite trip reduction laws and submit trip reduction plans to their respective regulatory agency each year. These plans are currently evaluated manually, and are either rejected or accepted by the agency. There are two major flaws in this system; the first is the amount of time required by the agency to review a plan could be a matter of months, and the second is that …

A Model To Create Bus Timetables To Attain Maximum Synchronization Considering Waiting Times At Transfer Stops, Anitha Eranki

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Due to the steady increased in public transportation demand, there is a need to provide more desirable and user-friendly transit systems. Typically, the public transportation timetables are modeled as an assignment problem, which often has objectives such as reducing the cost of operation, minimizing waiting time between transfer points or improving the quality of performance. This research considers the problem of developing synchronized timetables for bus transit systems with fixed routes when a waiting time limit exist at each transfer stops, for the passengers making connections. The objective of this research is to have maximum number of simultaneous arrivals.

Different …

Evaluation Of The Prognostic Criteria For Medicare Hospice Eligibility, D Helen Moore

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This work evaluates Medicare Hospice Benefit (MHB) eligibility standards that are referenced throughout this work as either "Medicare prognostic criteria," or "Local Medical Review Policies." Following the Chapter 1 overview of prognosis in end-stage disease, association between the Medicare clinical predictors and survival outcomes in dementing, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular illnesses are described in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 examines the prognostic belief systems of multidisciplinary hospice personnel. Chapter 4 seeks to improve the predictive performance of the Medicare prognostic criteria for dementia. The fifth and final chapter critiques the Medicare prognostic criteria from conceptual, methodological, and applied perspectives and suggests related …

Development Of An Instrumented Mannequin For Training Of Caregivers In Safe Patient Handling And Movement, Oneida Dugarte Westhoff

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A common problem associated with patient handling is the risk of bodily injury due to acute or cumulative trauma. The objective of this research was to develop an integrated solution, using commercially available components, to help health care providers handle patients in a safe manner. The objective was achieved by retrofitting a mannequin with flex sensors, electrogoniometers, pressure sensors, and photocells. The sensors were capable of quantifying angular displacement, skin pressure distribution and undignified exposure. All of these variables were monitored by a computer-based data acquisition system. The design of this integrated system was implemented using National Instruments LabView software, …

Weblogs And The Technology Lifecycle: Context, Geek-Chic And Personal Community, James M. Milne

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Weblogging is an Internet social practice that became known as a technology. This project investigated weblogging (blogging) as an example of a media technology that arose under particular historical circumstances. To investigate this, blogs were examined in detail, participant-observation was used to construct and run a blog, and practicing bloggers were interviewed. The study found that blogging, like all technology, originates within existing social practice (context); has a diffusion process that causes it to spread between people (Geek-Chic); and leads to certain social outcomes (Personal Community). This is seen as a general pattern for the lifecycle of technology, serving to …

A Learning Approach To Obtain Efficient Testing Strategies In Medical Diagnosis, Saif Fakih

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Determining the most efficient use of diagnostic tests is one of the complex issues facing the medical practitioners. It is generally accepted that excessive use of tests is common practice in medical diagnosis. Many tests are performed even though the incremental knowledge gained does not affect the course of diagnosis. With the soaring cost of healthcare in the US, there is a critical need for cutting costs of diagnostic tests, while achieving a higher level of diagnostic accuracy. Various decision making tools assisting physicians in diagnosis management have been presented to the literature. One such method, called analytical hierarchy process, …

Detection And Quantification Of Karenia Brevis By Carbon Fixation Gene Expression Analysis, Michael Alan, Gray

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Karenia brevis (Davis cf. Hansen & Moestrup = Gymnodinium breve) is the non-peridinin containing dinoflagellate responsible for many harmful algal blooms (red tides) in the Gulf of Mexico. These recurrent blooms can have significant negative ecological, economic, and human health impacts including fish kills, tainting of shellfish, poisoning of marine mammals, loss of tourism revenue due to beach closures, and respiratory distress and food poisoning in humans.

A method for detection of Karenia brevis was developed based upon amplification of the mRNA for the plastid-encoded gene of the carbon fixing enzyme ribulose 1, 5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO) large subunit (rbcL). …

Analysis Of How Mobile Robots Fail In The Field, Jennifer Carlson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The considerable risk to human life associated with modern military operations in urban terrain (MOUT) and urban search and rescue (USAR) has led professionals in these domains to explore the use of robots to improve safety. Recent studies on mobile robot use in the field have shown a noticeable lack of reliability in real field conditions. Improving mobile robot reliability for applications such as USAR and MOUT requires an understanding of how mobile robots fail in field environments.

This paper provides a detailed investigation of how ground-based mobile robots fail in the field. Forty-four representative examples of failures from 13 …

The Literacy Practices Of Working Class White Women, Jody Ann Fernandez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

It is an accepted construct that literacy proficiency is vital to economic success in America. As well, research has shown that home literacy use, especially parental practices, is instrumental in the children's acquisition of literacy skills, and later, proficiency with school literacy tasks. While literacy research abounds regarding family literacy practice, especially that of low-income mothers and children, rarely is the concept of class specifically addressed as separate from race.

The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe the reported home literacy practices of nine white working class women residing in a neighborhood in the Southeastern United States. …

Spatial And Temporal Chemical Variations In The Hillsborough River System, Lori A. Pillsbury

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Hillsborough River flows southwesterly through Pasco and Hillsborough counties in west central Florida. From its source at the Green Swamp to its mouth in Hillsborough Bay, the river is joined by many tributaries and man-made inputs. Spatial and temporal variations in the river's major ion and CO₂ system chemistry were examined in a two-year study between 1999 and 2001. At thirteen sampling stations along approximately 54 miles of the river, water samples were collected in surroundings that ranged from pristine to urban. Samples were collected monthly for the first year and periodically thereafter. Concentrations of major ions were …

Hypocrisy Induction To Alter Selection Decisions Among Aversive Racists: Analyzing The Role Of External Motivation To Respond Without Prejudice, Andrew Biga

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study will examine the effects of hypocrisy induction on selection decisions for two populations: Aversive Racists and truly non-prejudiced individuals. Aversive Racists are operationally defined as individuals who are low in explicit prejudice and high in implicit prejudice, whereas truly non-prejudiced individuals are defined as being low in both explicit and implicit prejudice. These two groups of people will differ on their ratings of job applicants, so that Aversive Racists will rate Black applicants lower than White applicants (with comparable job credentials) while truly non-prejudiced individuals will rate them similarly. The induction of hypocrisy will serve as a …

Improved Current-Voltage Methods For Rf Transistor Characterization, Charles Passant Baylis Ii

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the development of a nonlinear transistor model, several measurements are used to extract equivalent circuit parameters. The current-voltage (IV) characteristic of a transistor is one of the measurement data sets that allows the nonlinear model parameters to be extracted. The accuracy of the IV measurement greatly influences the accuracy of the large-signal model.

Numerous works have reported the inadequacy of traditional static DC IV measurements to accurately predict radio-frequency (RF) behavior for many devices. This inaccuracy results from slow processes in the device that do not have time to completely respond to the quick changes in terminal conditions when …

Brain Tumor Target Volume Determination For Radiation Therapy Treatment Planning Through The Use Of Automated Mri Segmentation, Gloria Patrika Mazzara

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Radiation therapy seeks to effectively irradiate the tumor cells while minimizing the dose to adjacent normal cells. Prior research found that the low success rates for treating brain tumors would be improved with higher radiation doses to the tumor area. This is feasible only if the target volume can be precisely identified. However, the definition of tumor volume is still based on time-intensive, highly subjective manual outlining by radiation oncologists. In this study the effectiveness of two automated Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) segmentation methods, k-Nearest Neighbors (kNN) and Knowledge-Guided (KG), in determining the Gross Tumor Volume (GTV) of brain tumors …

Fault Tolerant Design Verification Through The Use Of Laser Fault Injection, Paris D. Wiley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Laser Fault Injection (LFI) testing has been demonstrated to be a useful tool in the prediction of single event upset rates in microcircuits. In addition LFI has contributed to the basic understanding of the mechanisms that cause single event upsets. However, very little research has been performed on the viability of LFI as a tool for verifying fault tolerant designs incorporated in ASICs, FPGAs, microprocessors and embedded systems. Current fault tolerant design verification techniques such as simulation and test have several significant limitations that prevent the complete verification of a fault tolerant design. However, LFI possesses spatial, temporal and financial …

Assessor Effects On The Evaluation Of The Wisc-Iii, Sherecce A. Fields

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There have been many theories about cultural differences found between groups on intelligence test scores. The main debate has been between those in favor of a genetic explanation versus those in favor of a more environmental one. When considering environmental influences, one explanation has been that there could be differential effects due to the assessor. Although there have been several studies that have considered this possibility, the results are inconclusive. The current study attempted to tease apart the assessor effects by focusing on biases in the assessor alone and by eliminating effects from the test taker. The study is an …