Digital Commons Network^™

A Radial Basis Neural Network For The Analysis Of Transportation Data, David P. Aguilar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis describes the implementation of a Radial Basis Function (RBF) network to be used in predicting the effectiveness of various strategies for reducing the Vehicle Trip Rate (VTR) of a worksite. Three methods of learning were utilized in training the Gaussian hidden units of the network, those being a) output weight adjustment using the Delta rule b) adjustable reference vectors in conjunction with weight adjustment, and c) a combination of adjustable centers and adjustable sigma values for each RBF neuron with the Delta rule. The justification for utilizing each of the more advanced levels of training is provided using …

Protecting Biscayne: An Analysis Of Strategies For The Protection Of Biscayne National Park, Janell M. Harvey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Biscayne National Park is located off the southeast coast of Florida and attracts approximately half a million visitors annually. Managers of Biscayne National Park are proposing a new General Management Plan (GMP) in order to update the recreational and commercial use of resources in the park. A Fishery Management Plan (FMP) is also being drafted simultaneously in conjunction with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission in order to address concerns associated with management of fish stocks within the park.

The proposed plan alternatives of the GMP and the recommendations of the FMP were developed in response to the negative …

Relationship Between Curriculum-Based Measurement Reading And Statewide Achievement Test Mastery For Third Grade Students, Erin Elizabeth Ax

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The ability to read is highly valued in American society and important for social and economic advancement. One of the best strategies to prevent reading difficulties is to build basic literacy skills, thereby ensuring that all children are readers early in their educational careers. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between third-grade students' oral reading rate and scores on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test.

The present study examined the relationship between the independent variables of Curriculum-Based Measurement Reading (R-CBM), ethnicity and socioeconomic status and the dependent variable of performance on the reading portion of the Florida …

Microstructure And Magnetism In Ferrite-Ferroelectric Multilayer Films, Natalie A. Frey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Composite magneto-dielectric materials have been investigated over the years because of their potential applications in RF and microwave devices as the dielectric constant and permeability can be individually changed in these materials. In the recent past, there is a renewed interest in systems classified as ferroelectromagnets or multiferroics, which possess simultaneous ferroelectric and magnetic ordering as well as interesting magnetoelastic phenomena. In all these ferrite-ferroelectric materials, the coupling between the permeability (μ) of the magnetically ordered phase and permittivity (e) of the ferroelectric phase make them attractive candidates for multifunctional applications.

Ba_0.5Sr_0.5TiO₃ (BSTO) is a …

Limitations Of The Advection-Diffusion Equation For Modeling Tephra Fallout: 1992 Eruption Of Cerro Negro Volcano, Nicaragua, Kristin Terese Martin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Detailed mapping and granulometric analyses of the 1992 Cerro Negro tephra blanket reveal remarkable departures from the expected distribution of tephra. Isomass maps show that the major axis of dispersion for the eruption was to the SW of the cone and that the coarser-grained particles, ranging from -4.0 -- 1.0 f, were deposited primarily along the major axis of dispersion with deposits thinning off of the axis. Comparable isomass maps for finer-grained particles, 1.5 - 3.5 f, show that these particles were primarily deposited along the edges of the deposit, off of the major axis of dispersion. Advection-diffusion models for …

Towards An E-Criture Feminine: Woolf, Duplessis, Cixous, And The Emerging Discursive Tradition In Women’S Online Diaries, Deborah Silverman Bowen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Women are drawing together the concepts of space, style,and medium and using these concepts collectively as a foundation for a new discursive tradition in the online autobiography. This dissertation, positioned in postmodern feminism, draws on a variety of disciplines to argue the development or evolution of a new women's discourse.

While a broad base of material exists which acknowledges the presence of women's discourse (formed by combining women's writing and women's genres), very little information explores its evolution, particularly in/on the new medium of the World Wide Web (WWW).

A combination of extant social and literary theories supports the idea …

Prehistoric Shell Artifacts From The Apalachicola River Valley Area, Northwest Florida, Eric Eyles

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With this thesis, I aim to fill a gap in our knowledge of shell artifacts from the northwest part of the state of Florida. It represents a first look at the range of shell artifacts in the collections of the University of South Florida (USF) obtained during the ongoing program of archaeological investigations in the Apalachicola Valley and surrounding region. There are 46 sites in the study area that have been identified as yielding shell artifacts, of which samples from 27 sites are curated in the USF Archaeology Laboratory. The proposed typology is based on an analysis of over 2300 …

Creating A Distributed Field Robot Architecture For Multiple Robots, Matthew T. Long

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis describes the design and implementation of a distributed robot architecture, Distributed Field Robot Architecture. The approach taken in this thesis is threefold. First, the distributed architecture builds on existing hybrid deliberative/reactive architectures used for individual robots rather than creating a distributed architecture that requires re-engineering of existing robots. Second, the distributed layer of the architecture incorporates concepts from artificial intelligence and software agents. Third, the architecture is designed around Suns Jini middleware layer, rather than creating a middleware layer from scratch or attempting to adapt a software agent architecture. This thesis makes three primary contributions, both theoretical and …

Development Of Assessment Tasks To Measure The Driving Capabilities Of Persons With Disabilities, Ashwin Upadhyay

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The need to lead an independent and fuller life is as much a right of a person with physical disability as any other human being. Driving capabilities of a person with a disability have been assessed and evaluated using qualitative techniques. However, certain inadequacies that arise using qualitative measures can be avoided if the assessment is based on quantitative techniques.

The above requirement necessitates the need to devise a method and a system which is focused on the right development of the techniques used in assessing and measuring different capabilities (such as range of motion and force input) of the …

"Studying Up" In Tampa Bay: Globalization And Business Elites, Jennifer Laurel Avery

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents results of research I conducted during Spring 2003 through an internship with a private economic development organization (called here the TBEDO) that markets the strategically branded, seven-county region know as Tampa Bay domestically and internationally. This internship provided me with the means to conduct research about Tampa Bay's international economy and explore the elusive topic of globalization. It provided me with networking opportunities needed to "study up" on business elites and to understand what their international development agendas are, how they accomplish these objectives, whether they subscribe to the belief that the world has undergone a qualitative …

The Relationship Among Various Learner Characteristics And Reading Achievement As Measured By The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, Amanda A. Privé

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined the relationships among various learner characteristics and reading achievement, as measured by the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). Using a multiple regression, the independent variables grade, gender, ethnicity, and motivation to read were used to predict the dependent variable, reading achievement. Participants in this study consisted of 585 students from nine elementary, nine middle, and nine high schools across three districts in Florida.

Using archival data from a database composed by the Florida Center for Reading Research, the FCAT and Motivation to Read Profile were used to compute reading achievement and motivation to read, respectively. FCAT …

The Effect Of Mental Practice Type On Dart-Throwing Performance, Todd Allen Joseph

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study used a sample of 171 college students from the University of South Florida to examine the effects of different types of mental practice on dart-throwing performance. This study examined the effects of imagery and video modeling on an immediately following physical task As suspected, the video modeling condition under these circumstances was associated with poorer performance than the imagery and control conditions. The imagery condition, however, resulted in no difference in performance from the control condition. Discussions of the results and future avenues of research (including gender effects) are also mentioned.

Women Animal Foster Care Workers: An Ecofeminist Critique, Denise L. Roemer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As with other forms of animal rights activism, animal foster care also appears to be dominated by women. In this paper I explore the role of animal foster care in, and its implications for, a Patriarchal society based on hierarchical dualisms. I argue that through their work as animal foster care workers and adoption facilitators these women do create positions of power for themselves, but that those positions remain subordinated to, and in some ways embrace, existing structural power relations--Patriarchy. More specifically, I argue that by constructing and assuming a social role that includes a culturally accepted power differential--the human-animal …

An Interdisciplinary Course For Non-Science Majors: Students' Views On Science Attitudes, Beliefs, And The Nature Of Science, Gary Eugene Brannan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study's purpose was to investigate the differences in the attitudes towards science, belief in science, and the understanding of the nature of science between pre-service elementary education majors who took a two-semester interdisciplinary course called "Science That Matters" (ISC 1004 & ISC 1005) with those pre-service elementary education majors who took two undergraduate science courses other than the two-semester interdisciplinary science course.

The research method employed a 30-item survey (Moore & Foy, 1997) entitled Scientific Attitude Inventory II. The survey's participants were two classes who had taken both semesters of the interdisciplinary course (n = 23) compared with six …

Job Satisfaction Of Community College Academic Deans, Donald Gary Goff

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to conduct a national survey to examine job satisfaction of community college academic deans as measured by the Minnesota Satisfaction Questionnaire (MSQ) and an Individual Data Sheet (IDS) and to determine if academic deans will pursue the community college presidency in meeting the current leadership crisis. This study assessed the relationship of selected personal characteristics, unit-related characteristics, facets of job satisfaction, and career aspirations of academic deans. Six research questions directed this study. Four hundred community college academic deans were randomly assigned as participants and represented all 50 states. The usable response rate from …

A Heuristic Methodology For Locating Monitoring Stations To Detect Contamination Events In Potable Water Distribution Systems, James R. Chastain Jr.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The requirements to protect public water systems from intentional contamination have expanded in the years following September 11, 2001. The areal extent and non-linear nature of water demand and movement in the distribution system makes efficient location of sampling points difficult. This difficulty is compounded by the fact that contamination conceptually can occur at any point and at any time within the distribution system. Small to mid-sized water systems are especially at a disadvantage in addressing this issue due to limited resources available to them.

This paper proposes a heuristic methodology to identify strategic locations within the system that can …

A Multilevel Modeling Analysis Of The Geographic Variability Of Low Birth Weight Occurrence In Florida, Joseph William Green

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The associations of neighborhood level socioeconomic deprivation and low birth weight were investigated among 1,030,443 singleton live births in the State of Florida between the years 1992 and 1997. Census data for per capita income, unemployment, percent of individuals living below the poverty line, vehicle ownership and educational attainment were used as neighborhood level indicators of socioeconomic status. Additionally, these variables were combined into a deprivation index to measure relative deprivation of neighborhoods across Florida. Birth data were linked to census block groups and tracts, which were used as proxies for low birth weight. Multilevel models were used to model …

Relationships Among Early Lexical And Literacy Skills And Language-Literacy Environments At Home And School, Joseph L. Constantine

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This observational study examined the relationships among home literacy environments, classroom language-literacy environments, and lexical and early literacy skills for 101 (56 male, 45 female) preschool and kindergarten children between the ages of 48 and 69 months. Data for multiple regression analyses were collected from 14 classrooms across 7 early childhood education centers in central Florida using the Home Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ), the Early Language & Literacy Classroom Observation Toolkit (ELLCO), and the Kaufman Survey of Early Academic and Language Skills (KSEALS). Seven classrooms scored in the proficient-to-exemplary range on the ELLCO; 3 were rated as basic, and 4 were …

Relationship Advertising: Investigating The Strategic Appeal Of Intimacy (Disclosure) In Services Marketing, Andrea Diahann Gaye Scott

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

One approach to communicating and thereby building a close relationship with consumers is via advertising. In other words, if service providers can invoke feelings of connection and intimacy--where consumers feel understood, cared for, and validated--through advertising, a stronger bond and sense of loyalty is likely to follow. When intimacy is conceived as knowing and being known by another, which incorporates mutual and reciprocal (though not necessarily equal) liking and vulnerability, its application extends beyond romantic relationships to the current context of relationship and services marketing. This research provides empirical support for the use of intimacy as an appeal in services …

Community Participation And Consensus In Hiv/Aids Prevention: An Exploration Of The Suzgo, The Issues Of Aids In Malawi, Jon Aaron Poehlman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

After more than twenty years of increasing understanding of the human immunodeficiency virus known as HIV, the virus continues to spread throughout the world, manifesting itself lethally in the form of the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). With no cure or affordable treatment presently available for the majority of the people of sub-Saharan Africa and the African nation of Malawi, work aimed at preventing the spread of the virus continues to be the best strategy for lessening its impact, both at a personal level and across populations.

Most people and communities in this part of the world demonstrate some understanding …

Deterioration Process And Deck Failure Mechanism Of Florida’S Precast Deck Panel Bridges, Ivan A. Gualtero

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

During the late 70's and early 80's, several precast deck panel bridges were constructed in Florida. These utilize prestressed precast panels as stay-in-place forms and are designed to act compositely with a cast-in-place deck which is poured subsequently. Such bridges offer advantages of quicker construction and lower costs. However, several such bridges built in Florida developed extensive cracking and spalling. Following localized failures, the Florida Department of Transportation has decided to replace all 127 precast panel deck bridges in Districts 1 and 7. Since deck replacement is contingent on funding, it is necessary to develop a rational procedure to decide …

Utility Of Positive Peer Reporting To Improve Interactions Among Children In Foster Care, Jenny L. Van Horn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the utility of positive peer reporting to improve placement outcomes in foster care settings. Rejected children are likely to exhibit disruptive behavior problems due to frequent negative interactions with their peers, augmenting an already unstable environment in foster care. Researchers have found positive peer reporting to be successful in increasing social status and positive interactions and reducing negative interactions. Utilizing a multiple baseline with reversal elements, this study examined the effects of positive peer reporting on the positive and negative interactions of socially rejected children in foster care settings. Results supported previous literature with the first participant's …

Effects Of Weight-Related Cues On Smoking Motivation, Elena Nicole Lopez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Smoking is now the leading cause of preventable death and disease in women. Understanding women's motivations to smoke is important in developing effective cessation and relapse prevention programs. Women, more so than men, appear to associate their smoking behavior to issues of weight. Although a general relationship between weight concerns and smoking has been found among women, a causal relationship had not been demonstrated. This study tested whether activation of negative body image cognitions would produce greater urges to smoke and whether the relationship would be moderated by trait body dissatisfaction and mediated by state body dissatisfaction.

A randomized 2 …

Affective Dispositions And Cognitive Skills In Critical Thinking: Implications For Measurement, Training, And Team Performance, Timothy John Willis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study attempts to increase critical thinking among teams by making them cognizant of seven critical thinking dimensions. Forty three-person teams of undergraduates worked together on a complex decision-making task. Each team received training in and was asked to ensure their group exhibited the characteristics of cognitive skills, affective dispositions, both of these or neither. Critical thinking was assessed using self-report, behavioral observation rating, and expert outcome analysis. The findings suggest training in affective dispositions increases the exhibition of at least one dimensions of critical thinking. A behavioral measurement is presented and evaluated with respect to established critical thinking methods.

A Legal And Historical Study Of Parental Choice: Implications For Public Education, Derrel James Bryan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study provides an analysis of the historical and legal constructs of parental choice and implications for public education. While qualitative in nature, the historic record provides important detail in establishing a foundation for understanding parental authority in determining the education of children. An overview of major education legislation from the Colonial era to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is discussed as well as the legal analysis which consists of U.S. Supreme Court decisions influential in the debate over parental authority in determining the education of children. Conclusions include (a) data supporting parental choice as a growing …

Differential Adolescent Delinquency Tolerance And The Effect Of Race And Gender, Evaristus Obinyan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The study was designed to examine the attitudes of adolescents towards the tolerance of delinquent behavior. It was postulated that there would be a differential in the tolerance of delinquent behavior by juveniles from different age, gender, and racial groups. It was hypothesized that different groups would score higher or lower on select measures or dimensions (definition, reporting, controlling, preventing, correcting) of delinquency tolerance, and that their level of tolerance of delinquency might prove useful in explaining participation in delinquency.

The focus of the study was on identification of differential attitudes of various subgroups towards the violations of norms relating …

Technology And Teacher Training: The Systematic Design And Development Of A Framework For Integrating Technology Into Jamaica’S Teacher Training Programs, Carol N. Granston

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over the last five years, there has been an increased number of computers in schools and teachers' colleges in Jamaica. In addition, recently revised national policy documents have indicated the need to infuse technology into the curricula of all schools. Despite these investments in computers, however, there has been little corresponding development in training teachers to use computers and emerging technologies as teaching learning tools.

The purposes of the study were three-fold: (a) to describe the current state of technology integration in Jamaica's teacher training programs (b) assess the extent to which teachers' college faculty and pre-service teachers perceived themselves …

Design And Evaluation Of The Combined Input And Crossbar Queued (Cicq) Switch, Kenji Yoshigoe

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Packet switches are used in the Internet to forward information between a sender and receiver and are the critical bottleneck in the Internet. Without faster packet switch designs, the Internet cannot continue to scale-up to higher data rates. Packet switches must be able to achieve high throughput and low delay. In addition, they must be stable for all traffic loads, must efficiently support variable length packets, and must be scalable to higher link data rates and greater numbers of ports. This dissertation investigates a new combined input and crossbar queued (CICQ) switch architecture.

Some unbalanced traffic loads result in instability …

Translation, Adaptation And Validation Of An Instrument To Evaluate Hiv/Aids Knowledge And Attitudes For Use With Salvadorian High School Students, Carlos Salvador Zometa Iii

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study translated, cross-culturally adapted and validated an instrument's scores for use in public high schools in San Salvador, El Salvador. The original instrument consisted of items developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to assess HIV/AIDS knowledge and five dimensions of attitudes (Abstinence, Peer-pressure, Condom use, Drug use, and Threat of HIV) in grades 7 to 12 in the United States. Items were translated into Spanish using the back-translation method. The instrument was cross-culturally adapted using guidelines proposed by Guillemin, Bombardier, and Beaton (1993). A cross-culturally equivalent version of the original instrument was obtained using three …

Evaluation Of Digital Imaging Systems Used In Highway Applications, Alex Mraz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Manual pavement condition surveys are gradually replaced by more comprehensive automated surveys conducted by multi-function highway evaluation vehicles. Highway evaluation vehicles are generally equipped with laser profiling, land navigation, and imaging sub-systems. The imaging system consists of three cameras; forward-view and side-view digital area-scan cameras for capturing images of traffic signs and right-of-way safety features, and a pavement digital line-scan or area-scan camera for capturing images of the pavement surface. In addition to the 3-laser and accelerometer-based profiling system, these vehicles are also equipped with differential global positioning equipment (DGPS) and an inertial measurement unit (IMU) for cross-slope, curvature and …