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High-Resolution Investigation Of Event Driven Sedimentation: Response And Evolution Of The Deepwater Horizon Blowout In The Sedimentary System, Rebekka A. Larson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This Dissertation combines the investigation of the sedimentological impacts of the Deepwater Horizon (DwH) blowout event in the deep-sea benthos, with the refinement and advancement of methods and approaches for high-resolution investigations of events preserved in sedimentary records. An approach that combined, rapid collection of cores, a continued annual time series collection of cores, and high-resolution sampling and analyses, in particular short-lived Radioisotopes (SLRad), enabled the temporal resolution required to detect the sedimentary response to the short-duration DwH event, and evaluate post-event sedimentation patterns at a comparable time scale (months).

The collection of 179 sediment cores from 80 sites between …

Exploring Variations In Diet And Migration From Late Antiquity To The Early Medieval Period In The Veneto, Italy: A Biochemical Analysis, Ashley B. Maxwell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This project tests the hypothesis that the Langobard migration into the Roman/Byzantine Veneto (northeastern Italy) resulted in significant dietary changes from Late Antiquity (4-5th centuries AD) to the Early Medieval period (6-8th centuries AD). At the end of the Great Germanic Migrations in AD 568, Langobards from Pannonia entered and occupied two-thirds of the Italian peninsula. It is unclear how large these migrations were, as historical documents exaggerate mass movements; however, conservative estimates suggest they made up 8% of the areas they occupied. The degree to which the Langobards influenced economic change and subsistence in this area is poorly understood. …

Phishing In Dark Waters: A Quasi-Experimental Approach With Evaluating Cyber-Security Training For End-Users, Jaclyn Martin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the increasing amount of digital storage of personal and organizational data, there has been an increasing number of cyber-attacks, which has spurred much research on how to reduce phishing susceptibility. However, there are several gaps in the current research. There is little research on the effectiveness of different interventions on phishing susceptibility. There is no research on the differential impact of interventions on sensitivity (ability to detect phishing emails) and response bias (propensity to treat emails as threatening) or the influence of individual characteristics on phishing email training success. This study addresses these gaps using a quasi-experimental approach to …

Time On Task Across Skill Sets In Construction Trades Classrooms: Preparation Of Skilled Craft Workers, Zachary D. Riffell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The construction industry is an essential component of the U.S. economy, yet even amid good wages, construction companies are having trouble finding enough individuals who are ready for work in the industry, and they fear they will not be able to do so in the future because training options for potential workers are inadequate. Better training options are needed. Much research has pointed to soft and academic skills as necessary skills for successful workers that are missing from worker preparation programs, but little has been done to establish an actual correlation between these skills and workforce readiness.

In this study, …

Estimating Coastal Water Turbidity Using Viirs Nighttime Measurement, Chih-Wei Huang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Coastal water turbidity is a key environmental factor that influences the relative clarity of the water, which therefore reduces sunlight penetration. The comprehensive spatial and temporal coverage of remote sensing allows mapping of water turbidity near the coast. Even in locations where time-consuming and expensive conventional turbidity monitoring programs exist, local technological limitations prevent complete coverage. Traditional optical satellite techniques using the visible band also have limitations in monitoring turbidity due to non-optimal observing conditions such as clouds, sun-glint, and thick aerosols. In this study, in order to complement the daytime satellite measurements, I used the data from Visible Infrared …

Robotic Motion Generation By Using Spatial-Temporal Patterns From Human Demonstrations, Yongqiang Huang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Robots excel in manufacturing facilities because the tasks are repetitive and do not change. However, when the tasks change, which happens in almost all tasks that humans perform daily, such as cutting, pouring, and grasping, etc., robots perform much worse. We aim at teaching robots to perform tasks that are subject to change using demonstrations collected from humans, a problem referred to as learning from demonstration (LfD).

LfD consists of two parts: the data of human demonstrations, and the algorithm that extracts knowledge from the data to perform the same motions. Similarly, this thesis is divided into two parts. The …

Force Feedback And Intelligent Workspace Selection For Legged Locomotion Over Uneven Terrain, John Rippetoe

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Legged robots present an incredible opportunity for humanity to conduct dangerous operations such as search and rescue, disaster recovery, and planetary exploration without ever placing themselves in harms way. The ability of a leg to more freely dictate its shape, orientation, and length gives it tremendous mobility and adaptability demanded of a system intended for operation outside of a controlled environment. However, one only need look at the average cat, dog, or friendly neighborhood squirrel to understand the immense gap that exists between what is possible of legged systems and their current set of capabilities.

Areas of study relevant to …

Saudi Special Education Preservice Teachers’ Perspective Towards Inclusion, Sarah Binmahfooz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In Saudi Arabia, students with disabilities have historically received education in special and segregated schools. As times progressed, regulations and laws changed the manner in which students with disabilities were served. Regulations order that students with disabilities be educated in the least restrictive environment; however, preservice teachers’ perspectives continue to differ in regard to working with students with disabilities in a general education setting. Research has shown that teachers who portray positive attitudes towards inclusion are more likely to work with students with disabilities in an inclusive classroom (Dev & Hayes, 2015). Today, inclusion has occurred in schools around the …

Full-Waveform Inversion Of Common-Offset Ground Penetrating Radar (Gpr) Data, Sajad Jazayeri

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Maintenance of aging buried infrastructure and reinforced concrete are critical issues in the United States. Inexpensive non-destructive techniques for mapping and imaging infrastructure and defects are an integral component of maintenance. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is a widely-used non-destructive tool for locating buried infrastructure and for imaging rebar and other features of interest to civil engineers. Conventional acquisition and interpretation of GPR profiles is based on the arrival times of strong reflected/diffracted returns, and qualitative interpretation of return amplitudes. Features are thereby generally well located, but their material properties are only qualitatively assessed. For example, in the typical imaging of …

Variations Of Sedimentary Biogenic Silica In The Gulf Of Mexico During The Deepwater Horizon And Ixtoc-I Oil Spill., Jong Jin Lee

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this research is to understand the impacts of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the 1970-1980 IXTOC-I oil spill and other anthropogenic activity (e.g. dam construction) on surface water primary productivity by measuring sedimentary biogenic silica. It is known that sedimentary biogenic silica is distinct from mineral – bound silica, therefore it has been used as a proxy record for surface water primary productivity (e.g. diatom blooms). The Deepwater Horizon oil spill resulted in a widespread Marine Oil Snow Sedimentation and Flocculent Accumulation (MOSSFA) event. The IXTOC-I oil spill was one of the largest oil spills …

Tip-Enhanced Nano-Optical Imaging Of Superacid Treated Bilayer Mos2-Ws2 2d Lateral Heterostructures, Amala Dixit

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nanoscale optical characterization of two-dimensional (2D) materials and heterostructures is important for the design of novel optoelectronic flexible nano-devices. Nano-optical photoluminescence (PL) and Raman imaging of bilayer 2D materials has been a challenging problem due to weak signals. The exciton-dominated light emission of two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) materials is affected by the formation of defects and doping states. Previous studies have shown that chemical treatment modifies the defect and doping states of chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-grown monolayers of MoS₂ and WS₂, which provides a promising possibility for engineering the optoelectronic properties of these 2D TMDCs. …

Design Of Shape-Morphing Structures Consisting Of Bistable Compliant Mechanisms, Rami Alfattani

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents a design concept for shape-morphing structures that have two stable configurations. The design concept defines the methodology of transforming a planar structural shape into spatial structural shape using bistable compliant mechanisms. Bistable complaint mechanisms are used to achieve structural stable configurations. The dissertation incorporating geometrical relationships for the mechanisms that form the primary structure described in step-by-step process. This dissertation implements the design layouts for designer to creating shape-morphing structures including origami. The novel contribution of the work is classified in three models. The first model presents a methodology to induce bistability behavior into an origami reverse …

Species Abundance, Spatial And Vertical Distributionsof Large Heteropods (Pterotracheidae And Carinariidae)In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Kristine A. Clark

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A description of species abundance, richness and distribution, and eye size of heteropod molluscs from the families Pterotracheidae and Carinariidae in the oligotrophic ecosystem of the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) is described based on discrete-depth sampling protocols. The collections were comprised from two midwater sampling programs conducted sequentially after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill (DWHOS): the Offshore Nekton Sampling and Analysis Program (ONSAP, 2011) and the Deep Pelagic Nekton Dynamics of the Gulf of Mexico (DEEPEND, 2015-2018). Study materials from DEEPEND were collected during the initial five cruises of 2015-2017. These programs collected over 3,495 heteropods in two …

Zooplankton Community Structure In The Ne Gulf Of Mexico: Impacts Of Environmental Variability And The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Kate M. Dubickas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, relating changes in zooplankton communities to environmental factors is crucial to understanding the marine ecosystem and impacts of perturbations such as oil spills on marine ecosystems. Zooplankton samples were collected each year between 2005–2014 in spring and summer in the vicinity of the oil spill (Deepwater Horizon) that occurred in spring 2010. Zooplankton assemblages and environmental conditions significantly differed seasonally, driven by strong variations in zooplankton at continental shelf stations, and by environmental factors including Mississippi River discharge, wind direction, temperature, and chlorophyll concentrations. Total zooplankton abundances were greatest at shelf stations, intermediate at …

Conducting Polymer Based Gel Electrolytes For Ph Sensitivity, Aditya Jagannath Kashyap

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The evaluation of concentration of ions and molecules with the help of biosensors have been regarded as an emerging technology. Bio and chemical sensors have a variety of applications in the field of medicine, military, environmental and food industries alike. With an estimated investment growth of over 4.31% in the development of pH sensors in the next five year, the objective of a developing a robust measurement system is all the more required. The scope of this research is to evaluate the ability of conducting polymer-based gel electrolytes for pH sensitivity, as a function of the transistor characteristics using an …

Games For Change: High School Students’ Learning Experiences And Motivation To Learn Climate Change Science Through Educational Computer Games, Metin Besalti

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to explore high school students’ perceptions of learning climate change science through educational computer games. Further, it is aimed to investigate what roles educational computer games play in motivating students to learn climate change science. A qualitative case research design is used in this research to better understand and describe how educational computer games influence students’ perceptions of learning the climate change science and what roles these games play in motivating them to learn climate change science in the learning environment. A purposefully selected a high school teacher and her eight students are the …

Fish Communities On Natural And Artificial Reefs In The Eastern Gulf Of Mexico, Elizabeth C. Viau

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Artificial reefs have been deployed throughout the world’s oceans to act as habitat and fishing enhancement tools. To expand current research on the role of artificial reefs in the marine community, ordination and multivariate regression methods were used here to analyze survey data of natural and artificial reefs. The reefs, located in the Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM) and on the West Florida Shelf (WFS), had been previously surveyed from 2004 to 2015 using remote operated vehicle and stationary video techniques. This study tested the hypothesis that similar functional roles are accounted for at both natural and artificial reef sites …

Water Scarcity In The Face Of Hurricanes: Improving The Resilience Of Potable Water Supplies In Selected Florida Counties, Fautemeh Sajadi Bami

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Severe storms can threaten the reliability and accessibility of drinking water supplies. The state of Florida is frequently impacted by hurricanes and is often struck more than once a year. An example of this can be found in 2017 when hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria caused much damage. Compromised utilities, well contamination, and shortages in bottled water and ice are just some of the problems that may threaten peoples’ drinking water.

Faced with these issues, preparation and response efforts must be effective in order to promote human health. Recent events like Hurricane Irma caused shortages in potable water which suggest …

Effects Of An Academic Enrichment Program On Elementary-Aged Students' Performance, Lauren E. Nieder

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this research was to develop a greater understanding of the effectiveness of enrichment programs outside of the school setting. This study was also intended to contribute to the broader understanding of the mechanism of student school-related stress, reported by parents, as it relates to student academic performance, specifically in a population which primarily consists of students and parents who are of Asian-Indian-American descent. With rising standards and intensifying pressure on students to be academically successful, it is necessary to examine the stress students experience due to their academics, as well as its effects on their academic performance. …

Power Conditioning System On A Micro-Grid System, Tamoghna Banerjee

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper presents renewable energy, power electronics, and distributed generators. The focus is on wind farm generator, photovoltaic cell, and battery bank system. Power Conditioning system improves the performance of a power system. Apart from the benefits of converting between DC/AC, there is adequate control of real power and additional control of economic reactive power. This is possible because of multiple sources in the system.

This project throws light on the basic principle of power system conditioning, its operation and control, and the economic studies.

Investigating Student Conceptual Understanding Of Structure And Function By Using Formative Assessment And Automated Scoring Models, Kelli Patrice Carter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There has been a call from the national community of biologists and biology educators to increase biological literacy of undergraduate students, including understanding and application of core concepts. The structure and function relationship is a core concept identified by the wider biology community and by physiology faculty. Understanding of the core concept structure and function across multiple levels of organization may promote biological literacy. My research focused on the development of formative written assessment tools to provide insight into student understanding of structure and function in anatomy and physiology.

In chapter two I developed automated scoring tools to facilitate the …

Assessing Palm Decline In Florida By Using Advanced Remote Sensing With Machine Learning Technologies And Algorithms., Christopher B. Hanni

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Native palms, such as the Sabal palmetto, play an important role in maintaining the ecological balance in Florida. As a side-effect of modern globalization, new phytopathogens like Texas Phoenix Palm Decline have been introduced into forest systems that threaten native palms. This presents new challenges for forestry managers and geographers. Advances in remote sensing has assisted the practice of forestry by providing spatial metrics regarding the type, quantity, location, and the state of heath for trees for many years. This study provides spatial details regarding the general palm decline in Florida by taking advantage of the new developments in deep …

Complex Tripartite Hydro Politics Of River Ganges, Muttaki Bin Kamal

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper studies if the Flagship Namami Gange program of Cleaning the river Ganges in India aligns with the transcendental discourse on the river. Web contents as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter along with Indian English daily newspaper reports are used here as the source of data. The study shows that the program aligns with the transcendental discourse on river Ganges as the Mother Goddess and reaching out to her devotees.

The Systems Of Post And Post Algebras: A Demonstration Of An Obvious Fact, Daviel Leyva

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 1942, Paul C. Rosenbloom put out a definition of a Post algebra after Emil L. Post published a collection of systems of many–valued logic. Post algebras became easier to handle following George Epstein’s alternative definition. As conceived by Rosenbloom, Post algebras were meant to capture the algebraic properties of Post’s systems; this fact was not verified by Rosenbloom nor Epstein and has been assumed by others in the field. In this thesis, the long–awaited demonstration of this oft–asserted assertion is given.

After an elemental history of many–valued logic and a review of basic Classical Propositional Logic, the systems given …

Storm Surge And Evacuations In Pinellas County, Christianne Pearce

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine evacuation decisions of residents in Pinellas County, a vulnerable area in Florida, during Hurricane Irma in 2017, and whether those decisions will impact their future decisions to evacuate. This study also examines the resident’s perception of storm surge flooding during a hurricane. To understand evacuation decisions and storm surge perceptions a survey was conducted on residents in vulnerable areas of Pinellas County. The survey examined multiple aspects including the role of media, relationships, and sociodemographic status on decision making. Another aspect examined if their decision to evacuate for Hurricane Irma will impact …

Examining The Spatial And Temporal Variations In Co2 Partial Pressure In The Deep Vadose Zone Above Jinapsan Cave, Guam, Jamar Regis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Carbon dioxide is the primary driver of dissolution and precipitation reactions in epigene limestone caves. While much work has been conducted on CO2 dynamics involved in dissolution in the phreatic zone, less research has been conducted on vadose CO2 dynamics, especially in tropical caves developed in eogenetic limestones. In this study, we investigate spatial and temporal variation in pCO2 in the deep vadose zone of eogenetic limestone above Jinapsan Cave, located in northern Guam. Five years of carbonate chemistry data from three dripwater sites in Jinapsan Cave (Flatman, Station1, and Trinity) were used to model the theoretical pCO2 with which …

Supporting Students With Chronic Health Conditions: An Evaluation Of School Nurses’ Collaborative Practices With School Psychologists, Destiny L. Singleton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many students in primary and secondary schools are impacted by a chronic health condition. Researchers have postulated that interprofessional collaboration between medical and mental health providers can be beneficial in improving the academic, behavioral, and social-emotional outcomes of students with chronic health conditions (Drotar, Palermo, & Barry, 2003; Shapiro & Manz, 2003). An emerging area of focus is on the school-based collaboration between school nurses and school psychologists regarding supporting students with chronic health conditions. This study investigated school nurses’ perceptions of the benefit of collaborating with school psychologists, school nurses’ awareness of the roles of school psychologists, the frequency …

Analyses Of Unorthodox Overlapping Gene Segments In Oxytricha Trifallax, Shannon Stich

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A ciliate is a phylum of protozoa that has two types of nuclei, macronuclei and micronuclei. There may be more than one of each type of nucleus in the organism [1]. The macronucleus is the structure where protein synthesis and cell metabolism occur [1]. The micronucleus stores genetic information and is mobilized during a sexual reproduction process called conjugation [1]. The somatic macronucleus (MAC) is developed from the germ-line micronucleus (MIC) through genome rearrangement during a sexual reproduction process called conjugation [6, 8]. Segments of the MIC that form the MAC during conjugation are called macronuclear destined sequences (MDSs) [8]. …

Dna Barcoding Of Fish Eggs In The Gulf Of Mexico, Makenzie Burrows

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

DNA barcoding of fish eggs is a relatively new technique that enables more accurate identification of early life stages of ecologically and economically important fish species. Using DNA barcoding of individual planktonic percomorph eggs, this thesis determines putative spawning locations of neritic and oceanic fish species in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). Surveys at 40 stations in the Gulf of Mexico showed a clear delineation of spawning sites, with neritic fish eggs generally found on continental shelves, and oceanic fish eggs found at the surface of deeper waters. However, samples collected between Florida and Cuba revealed exceptions to this trend …

Assessing Paleo-Coastal Caves Evolution And Sea Level Changes In Mallorca: Results From Radiometric Dating Of Speleothems, Giuseppe Lucia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sea level affects the littoral morphology and structure in different ways. In coastal karst basins, dissolutional and depositional processes are strictly related to sea level variation. A great variety of karst-related geomorphological features and cave deposits exist above, below, and at sea level, and are extremely useful to study past changes of relative sea level. Within these, vadose speleothems such as flowstones and stalagmite, can document unequivocal maximum sea level constraints as well as record phreatic phases of sea level rise. Here we present a series of geochronological data from the eastern Mallorca and show the implication of relative sea …