Digital Commons Network^™

Modeling Dynamic Interactions In A Software Development Project, Chetan D. Vajre

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Software industry is getting very competitive in the wake of recession. In most cases, an organization that quotes a lower price and promises to deliver the product at the earliest walks away with the project. But the factor of quality of the product delivered is also very important because that in turn determines the reputation of an organization, which also plays an important role in getting the next project.

Interactions in a software development are dynamic in nature and involve human factors. Models are built taking into account all possible factors so as to present a realistic picture of the …

Alexander Pope's Opus Magnum As Palladian Monument, Cassandra C. Pauley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The overarching goal of this study is to suggest that Alexander Pope did not abandon his project for a "system of ethics in the Horatian way," but rather that in his final days he did find a way to unite the parts at hand into a viable whole. Constructing such an argument, however, requires a similar building up from the parts, and so the core focus becomes a study on the way the image of an arch can serve as a metaphor for Pope's reconciliation scheme in his Moral Essays as he "steers betwixt" seeming opposites.

To justify this approach, …

Count Or Pointcount: Is Percent Octocoral Cover An Adequate Proxy For Octocoral Abundance?, Matthew J. Lybolt

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Florida Keys Coral Reef Monitoring Project (CRMP) began video transect sampling in 1996 and has continuously monitored 107 Florida Keys stations through 2002. The video was downward pointing and produced images from which planar projection data were calculated to determine percent cover of living benthic organisms. An absence of data assessing correlation between octocoral percent cover and octocoral abundance motivated a study to compare octocoral percent cover with abundance data acquired from the same video transects. The methods employed to extract octocoral abundance data from videotape were validated. Temporal changes in octocoral abundance, size and taxonomic group were determined …

Placement Of Utilities In Right Of Way Model Using Fuzzy And Probabilistic Objective Coefficients, Vijayakumar S. Shanmugam

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on a decision-making model for finding the locations for placement of utilities in roadway corridors. In recent years, there has been a rapid growth in the volume of traffic on roadways and in the number of utilities placed in Right of Ways. The increase in the demand for utilities is making it more difficult to place all the utilities within the Right of Way and also provide safe roads and highways with good carrying capacity. The public agencies approving the location for utilities are now using a first come first served method, which provide neither an efficient …

Pipe Dreams And Primitivism: Eugene O'Neill And The Rhetoric Of Ethnicity, Donald P. Gagnon

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Eugene O'Neill included within his vision of humanity a series of complex, emotionally and psychologically developed black characters. Despite critical controversy over his methods or effectiveness, from his eerily silent mulatto in "Thirst" through the grandiose incarnation of The Emperor Jones and the everyman of Joe Mott and The Iceman Cometh, O'Neill created characters of African descent that thrilled and infuriated critics and audiences alike.

A closer exploration of the issues involved in his portrayal of ethnically identified characters seems necessary, an exploration that does not limit itself to an interrogation of ethnicity per se in O'Neill's plays, but …

Evaluation Of Automated Ribotyping As A Tool For Bacterial Source Tracking In Aquatic Environments, Tracy L. Idocks

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An Escherichia coli ribotype profile library was created for the Tampa Bay watershed for application to bacterial source tracking of human or non-human fecal contamination to the bay and surrounding rivers. Bacterial source tracking uses a variety of methods to identify the source of fecal contamination, not just the quantity of the indicator bacteria present, allowing implementation of effective management practices. The 700 confirmed E. coli isolate library was equally distributed among four sources: human, bird, dog and cow. The library was tested for applicability for source tracking within the Tampa Bay watershed. The DuPont Qualicon RiboPrinter® Microbial Characterization System, …

Assessment Of Current And New Methods For Investigating The Occurrence Of Enteric Pathogens In Ambient Waters And Water Sources For Rehydration Of A Floridan Wetland, Walter Quintero-Betancourt

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Water quality assessment is currently used for determining the risks from contamination with waterborne pathogenic microorganisms. The public health. significance of such microorganisms cannot be fully understood without the application of reliable environmental monitoring techniques that provide efficient recovery as well as information on the infectious potential of specific isolates. This research was carried out to assess the analytical performance of current and new methods for investigating the occurrence of waterborne Cryptosporidium oocysts in samples of surface water, groundwater and reclaimed water used for public access irrigation in the State of Florida.

Method 1623 of the U.S Environmental Protection Agency …

Perception Of Leadership Qualities In Higher Education: Impact Of Professor Gender, Professor Leader Style, Situation, And Participant Gender, Michela A. Larocca

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This experimental study used eight written vignettes to analyze the effects of professor gender, professor leadership style (democratic/autocratic), and type of situation (task/personal) and participant gender on evaluations of professorsʹ competence, likeability and masculinity characteristics. Undergraduates from the College of Arts and Science (N=932; Males=464, Females=467), and the College of Education (N=722; Males=140, Females=582) were used. Results indicated that research participants rated democratic professors significantly more competent, likeable, and more feminine than autocratic professors. Contrary to expectations derived from gender spill-over and gender congruency theories, male participants did not rate female professors more negatively than their male counterparts when they …

Copper Gallium Diselenide Solar Cells: Processing, Characterization And Simulation Studies, Pushkaraj Panse

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this research project was to contribute to the understanding of CuGaSe₂/CdS photovoltaic devices, and to improve the performance of these devices.

The initial part of the research dealt with the optimization of a Sequential Deposition process for CuIn(Ga)Se₂ absorber formation. As an extension of this, a recipe (Type I Process) for CuGaSe₂ absorber layer fabrication was developed, and the deposition parameters were optimized. Electrical characterization of the thin films and completed devices was carried out using techniques such as Two-Probe and Three-Probe Current-Voltage, Capacitance-Frequency, Capacitance-Voltage, and Spectral Response measurements. Structural/chemical characterization was done …

An Analysis Of Slip, Trip, And Fall Incidents Among Workers At A Veterans Hospital, Michelle C. Eaton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Context: Occupational slip, trip, and fall, (STF), incidents are a significant cause of traumatic occupational injuries and has been identified as NORA priority area.

Objective: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in collaboration with Liberty Mutual Research Center for Safety and Health, the Finnish Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, and BJC Health System is conducting a 3 year study titled "Slip and Falls Prevention in Health Care Workers". A key component of the overall study is the descriptive analysis of 72 months (1996-2001) of STF incidents.

Setting: This analysis encompasses data from the James A. Haley Veteran's …

U.S. Foreign Policy In Islamic South Asia: Realism, Culture, And Policy Toward Pakistan And Afghanistan, Mian Ahad Hayaud-Din

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The United States has a long-standing interest in the political events of South Asia. This research focuses specifically on U.S. foreign policy toward the Islamic nations of this region, Pakistan and Afghanistan (Referred to as Islamic South Asia). This research examines a variety of primary and secondary sources in an effort to understand the historical context and theoretical framework of U.S. policy.

It has been suggested by scholars that the age of realism has come to an end. This study seeks to verify this claim. Does realism provide the theoretical base necessary for policy success in Islamic South Asia? If …

Engaging Smokers With Schizophrenia In Treatment For Tobacco Dependence: A Brief Motivational Interviewing Intervention, Marc L. Steinberg

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine how to best motivate smokers with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder to seek treatment for tobacco dependence. Smokers with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (N=78) were randomly assigned to receive a Motivational Interviewing, Psychoeducational, or Minimal Control intervention. A greater proportion of participants receiving the Motivational Interviewing intervention followed through on a referral for tobacco dependence treatment within one-week and one-month post-intervention. Mixed model Analyses of Variance found no differences between groups at one-week or at one-month with respect to tobacco use or motivation to quit. Within group analyses indicated that participants in the …

The Association Of Maternal Pregnancy Complications And Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, Patricia D. Myers

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is the third leading cause of infant mortality between birth and the first year of life in the United States. Along with the identification of various maternal risk factors, the role of fetal hypoxia has been hypothesized to be one of many causal factors associated with SIDS. The purpose of this study was to develop a profile of the SIDS infant and assess whether six pregnancy complications consistent with fetal hypoxia were associated with the increased outcome of SIDS. The secondary data analysis of Florida linked birth to death certificate data specific to Hillsborough County …

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: General Education Elementary School Teachers' Knowledge, Training, And Ratings Of Acceptability Of Interventions, Stacey Small M.A.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Given that researchers estimate approximately one child in every classroom has Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and that most of these students are served in the general education classroom, it is imperative that general education teachers know how to effectively teach these students. Seventy-two general education elementary school teachers completed a survey containing demographic information, a knowledge of ADHD questionnaire, and a survey on interventions for students with ADHD. Results indicated that teachers scored an average of 57% correct on the Knowledge of Attention Deficit Disorders Scale (KADDS), scoring statistically significantly higher on the Symptoms/Diagnosis subscale compared to the General and Treatment …

Hazard Vulnerability In Socio-Economic Context: An Example From Ecuador, Lucille Richards Lane

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

How people pereceive the risks associated with natural hazards contributes to their willingness to take protective action. Such action may be constrained by prevailing socio-economic and place-specific conditions that restrict or inform the choice of protective measures available to the individual. Vulnerability to the impacts of extreme geophysical events increases when the range of alternatives is limited or misinformed.

Many evacuees from a potentially violent volcanic eruption in Ecuador returned to their home town of Banos while it was still under an evacuation order in 2000 and considered to be a high risk area by officials. The research examined four …

Dwellness: A Radical Notion Of Wilderness, Martin J. Wortman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The contemporary concept of wilderness, which is central to environmental theory and activism, is both a help and a hindrance to government policy and to popular environmental beliefs. The Judeo-Christian religious tradition and Locke's property theory provides much of the western cultural and historical basis of humans' environmental attitudes that basically engender exploitation. I argue that a more precise interpretation of Genesis and of Locke reveals that both sources actually promote environmental stewardship while decrying ecological abuse. Next I analyze the history and shortcomings of various wilderness concepts. These shortcomings are all forms of an exclusionist mentality and result in …

Choral Music Education: A Survey Of Research 1996-2002, Amber Turcott

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to review and summarize selected choral music education research published between 1996-2002. Four major research surveys in this area were previously published by Gonzo (1973), Hylton (1983), Phillips (1992), and Grant and Norris (1998). Each of these authors stressed a need for research in all areas of choral music education beyond the dissertation level and called for research that mimicked "real-world" experiences that would benefit choral music educators.

This study investigated the following: (a) whether research studies in choral music education have increased beyond doctoral dissertation studies; (b) whether previous research studies have been …

Performance Verification Of Personal Aerosol Sampling Devices, Steven T. Luecke

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

International standards establish criteria for size-selective aerosol sampling for industrial hygiene. Commercially available aerosol samplers are designed to conform to these criteria. This study uses semi-monodispersed aerosols generated in a vertically aligned test chamber to compare the performance of three commercially available respirable dust samplers, one of which can simultaneously sample for thoracic and inhalable dust fractions. Comparison methods are used to calculate a theoretical fractional value based on the appropriate sampling conventions of the total dust concentration and size distribution of test materials. Performance of actual samplers can be conducted by comparing observed results to the theoretical value. Results …

Factors Associated With Adolescent Suicidal Gestures, Heidi Jennifer Liss

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Incidence of suicide has been shown to increase dramatically during adolescence. Despite an established pattern of depression and hopelessness leading to suicide in adults, no such pattern emerges in the adolescent literature. Recent investigations suggest that impulsivity may play a key role in adolescent suicide attempts. This study examined the role of impulsivity in adolescent suicidal gestures, as well as the relationships among demographic variables, anger expression, impulsivity, and suicidal behavior. A total of 100 participants (ages 11-17; 71 females and 29 males) were recruited from 2 inpatient crisis centers for children. The Children’s Depression Inventory, Hopelessness Scale for Children, …

Leading Learning Through Imposition Of Leadership Learning Standards, Raymond D. Jorgensen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study explored the impact of an imposed standards movement on attitudes and behaviors of a team of line leaders. A case method was employed to describe, to explain, and to draw conclusions about results of standards imposition. Standards were designed and implemented by an executive leadership team frustrated with lack of effective leadership practices of a line leaders team under their supervision. The investigation took an historical perspective, chronicling the story of the company, emerging leadership challenges, and executive leadership responses leading up to the research.

The line or team leaders of an educational software company served as participants. …

Evaluation And Implementation Of A Molecular-Based Protocol For The Identification Of Enteroviruses At The Florida Department Of Health – Tampa Laboratory, Matthew Adams Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Enterovirus genus within the family Picornaviridae contains over 100 serotypes, of which sixty-four are known to be human pathogens. Infection with this group of RNA viruses produces a myriad of clinical conditions including poliomyelitis, meningitis, encephalitis, respiratory illnesses, and hand-foot-and-mouth disease. Outbreaks have been documented worldwide; significant morbidity and mortality exist to warrant laboratory surveillance.

Traditionally, enteroviruses have been identified to the level of serotype by the serum neutralization assay. However, numerous problems are associated with this assay. The serum neutralization assay is labor intensive, results are often ambiguous, and reagents are becoming difficult to obtain. Recently, molecular-based typing …

Evaluation Of Differences In Depression, Defensiveness, Social Support, And Coping Between Acute And Chronic Chd Patients Hospitalized For Myocardial Infarction Or Unstable Angina, Ashley Ellen Owen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study was to examine differences in the psychological characteristics of patients admitted to the hospital for acute or chronic Myocardial Infarction (MI) or Unstable Angina (UA). Depression, anger, anxiety, curiosity, defensiveness, social support, and coping were evaluated for 165 patients (86 MI and 79 UA), who were tested on the Cardiology Stepdown Ward of Tampa General Hospital. The following psychological measures were administered to these patients: the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory (STAXI-2), the Rationality/Emotional Defensiveness (R/ED) Scale, the Adult Form of the Coping Responses Inventory (CRI-Adult), the Interpersonal Support Evaluation List …

The Incidence Of Positional Nystagmus In Healthy Participants Revisited, Terri L. Schneider

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of nystagmus found in healthy individuals during the positional testing subtest of the standard vestibular test battery. Positional testing involves moving the patient's head, and sometimes the entire body, into a variety of positions while observing eye movement. The hypothesis of the current study was that a relatively low percentage of participants would display nystagmus during positional testing used routinely in clinical diagnostic procedures. The findings were then compared to those of an earlier study in which 82% of normal, healthy individuals were reported to exhibit nystagmus during this testing. …

Hamlet Haven: An Online, Annotated Bibliography, Harmonie Loberg

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Challenge: Today a daunting quantity of scholarship relating to Hamlet exists. While databases and electronic catalogues aid research, these directories present a virtual wall of minimal bibliographic data. Sorting through lists still takes eons. Meanwhile, new publications are constantly added to the academic stacks that ever threaten to tumble over.

The Solution: A web site that groups together scholarly publications using similar approaches and treating similar subjects will translate the overwhelming into the maneuverable. The online medium will provide accessibility to everyone--student, research assistant, instructor, scholar--and will guarantee the opportunity to update this resource on a regular basis.

Scope: …

System Integration And Testing Using Object Oriented Programming Based Control, Prashant P. Datar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Various techniques are used in the process of software development. The requirements of the system being designed and the constraints dictate the selection of a particular method to be used. This thesis attempts to explain the various types of development techniques available to software designers and programmers. It places specific emphasis on the Object Oriented style of design that is presently widely used in all areas of industry.

Object Oriented Programming (OOP) involves a number of new concepts that make software design and development more modular. The actual problem is broken down into a number of smaller components and the …

Belonging In Parent-School Partnerships: Perspectives Of Parents Of Middle School Students With Autism, Michael Wayne Riley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study is to contribute to understandings of parent-school relationships involving parents of students with autism by exploring notions of belonging with a small group of parents. The purpose of the study is to describe the experiences of middle school parents of children with autism. From these descriptions, I examined how parents of students with autism might contribute to understandings of belonging in school-family partnerships and enable schools and families to collaborate more effectively. This study addresses an apparent gap in understandings of belonging of parents of children with autism in their relationships with their child's school. …

Adapting The Scs Method For Estimating Runoff In Shallow Water Table Environments, Caroline Humphrey Masek

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rainfall-runoff modeling in the United States has made extensive use of the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) curve number method for computing infiltration losses from rainfall. Even though the method is well established and may be applied to a wide range of environments, it often results in highly erroneous runoff estimates for shallow water table environments. Flat topography, wetlands, and fine sands are characteristics that make places like Florida very different from the environments where the SCS method was originally developed. The SCS method arose from experiments with soils that are dominated by infiltration excess (Hortonian mechanism), where runoff occurs after …

Deep Ecology And Heideggerian Phenomenology, Matthew Antolick

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the connections between Arne Naess's Deep Ecology and Martin Heidegger's Phenomenology. The latter provides a philosophical basis for the former. Martin Heidegger's critique of traditional metaphysics and his call for an "event" ontology that is deeper than the traditional substance ontology opens a philosophical space in which a different conception of what it is to be emerges. Heidegger's view of humans also provides a basis for the wider and deeper conception of self Arne Naess seeks: one that gets rid of the presupposition that human beings are isolated subjects embedded in a framework of objects distinct from …

Informed Consent: Its Origin, Purpose, Problems, And Limits, Nancy M. Kettle

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The doctrine of informed consent, defined as respect for autonomy, is the tool used to govern the relationship between physicians and patients. Its framework relies on rights and duties that mark these relationships. The main purpose of informed consent is to promote human rights and dignity. Some researchers claim that informed consent has successfully replaced patients' historical predispositions to accept physicians' advice without much explicit resistance.

Although the doctrine of informed consent promotes ideals worth pursuing, a successful implementation of these ideals in practice has yet to occur. What has happened in practice is that attorneys, physicians, and hospital administrators …

Effect Of Presentation Modality On Predictions Of Children’S Communication Ability In The Classroom, Mary Aguila

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The modified Goodman scale, a hearing loss classification scale, is commonly used to describe audiometric findings for both children and adults (Haggard & Primus, 1999). This scale uses one or two word descriptors for hearing level categories and is based on a pure tone average (PTA), the average of hearing thresholds at 500, 1000, and 2000 Hz. Although these categories were developed from clinical and educational observations (Goodman, 1965), degree of hearing loss has not been shown to reliably predict the educational or language performance of children with hearing impairment (Martin & Clark, 1996). This study was designed to evaluate …