Digital Commons Network^™

Development Of A Monolithic Implantable Neural Interface From Cubic Silicon Carbide And Evaluation Of Its Mri Compatibility, Mohammad Beygi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

One of the main issues with micron-sized intracortical neural interfaces (INIs) is their long-term reliability, with one major factor stemming from device material failure caused by the heterogeneous integration of multiple materials used to realize the implant. Single crystalline cubic silicon carbide (3C-SiC) is a semiconductor material that has been long recognized for its mechanical robustness and chemical inertness. It has the benefit of demonstrated biocompatibility, which makes it a promising candidate for chronically-stable, implantable INIs. In the first section of this dissertation, the fabrication and initial electrochemical characterization of a monolithic, Michigan-style 3C-SiC microelectrode array (MEA) probe is reported. …

Large Thecosome Pteropods Of The Northern Gulf Of Mexico: Species Abundance, Spatial And Vertical Distribution With A Temporal Comparison Of Shell Thickness, Sarah M. Shedler

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Large thecosome pteropods have a significant role in the pelagic ecosystem of the northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM). This research analyzed species abundances, vertical and horizontal distributions, and trends in shell thickness between 2011 and 2015. Pteropod samples were collected following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill by two midwater sampling programs: the Offshore Nekton Sampling and Analysis Program (ONSAP, 2011) and the Deep Pelagic Nekton Dynamics of the Gulf of Mexico (DEEPEND, 2015). All samples were collected using a 10-m2 Multiple Opening/Closing Net and Environmental Sensing System (MOC10) midwater trawl, with 3-mm mesh size. This gear sampled five discrete …

Novel Bit-Sliced In-Memory Computing Based Vlsi Architecture For Fast Sobel Edge Detection In Iot Edge Devices, Rajeev Joshi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

For today’s Internet-of-Things (IoT) edge devices, there is an acute need for fast and power-efficient hardware for an image processing task. Traditional hardware solutions with sequential and/or pipelined architectures incur high latency and power. This motivates us to propose a novel in-memory computing architecture for rapid image processing. We propose a bit-sliced in-memory computing architecture for CMOS VLSI implementation for fast Sobel edge detection. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work to propose in-memory computing based VLSI architecture foredge detection. The novelty of the proposed work is that one image can be processed in constant time …

Role Of Thyroid Hormone Modulating Astrocyte Activation, Payal Ghosh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Astrocytes are the specialized cells in the central nervous system (CNS). They play an important role in neuronal homeostasis. When activated, astrocytes may cause neuronal inflammation and degeneration. Thyroid hormones are important in maintaining neuronal development and homeostasis. Astrocytes play a pivotal role in this process. However, the role of levothyroxine (T4) in neuroinflammation is not clear. It is hypothesized that thyroid hormone treatment will reduce the inflammatory activation in astrocytes. Available oral T4 supplementations allow accumulation of T4 in the body and cause toxicity and side effects. It is hypothesized that the encapsulation of T4 in liposomes would reduce …

Mass Spectrometry Discovery-Based Proteomics To Examine Anti-Aging Effects Of The Nutraceutical Nt-020 In Rat Serum, Samantha M. Portis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Aging is a complex physiological process that leads to the deterioration of all cells and tissues throughout the body. Aging is a major risk factor for the onset of many degenerative diseases in both the central nervous system (CNS) and the periphery, but even nonpathological aging (“normal” aging) is associated with chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, and decreased stem cell proliferation and regenerative capacity. This decreased regenerative capacity in stem cell niches is thought to be a key component underlying the aging process and many disease states associated with aging.

While the exact biological mechanisms underlying impaired stem cell proliferation and …

To Mid-Cell And Beyond: Characterizing The Roles Of Gpsb And Ypsa In Cell Division Regulation In Gram-Positive Bacteria, Robert S. Brzozowski

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The bacterial cell division protein FtsZ is a tubulin homolog that forms a ring-like structure at the site of cell division in most bacterial species. There it acts as a scaffold, aiding in the recruitment of other divisome proteins to the site of cell division. Furthermore, studies focusing on the role of FtsZ treadmilling and septal peptidoglycan synthesis implicates that FtsZ plays a direct role in the ultimate closure of the division septum. Thus, many studies in the field of bacterial cell division have focused on FtsZ in terms of its spatial and temporal regulation as well as its ability …

Investigation Of Machine Learning Algorithms For Intrusion Detection System In Cybersecurity, Mohmmed Alrowaily

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The proliferation in usage and complexity of modern communication and network systems, a large number of trustworthy online Services and systems have been deployed. Even so, cybersecurity threats are still growing. An Intrusion Detection System (IDS) play a vital role in ensuring the security of communication networks, and it is taken into account as the subsequent security gate after the firewall. The IDS informs the system or network administrator in order to take specific actions to evade the suspicious activities. Three significant contributions are made during the course of this research to illustrate the feasibility of these IDS approaches. In …

Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy For Elemental Analysis In Bioarchaeology And Forensic Anthropology, Kelsi N. Kuehn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Within bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology, the current processes of differentiating between individual human skeletal remains are imprecise, costly, and inefficient. A novel analytical technique within anthropology, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) can aid in the identification of human remains using rapid laser ablation occurring at the micro-scale, making the technique virtually non-destructive to the sample. Considering this, LIBS could offer a superior method for materials discrimination and human identification. This research sought to examine whether LIBS can be used to obtain elemental signatures within bones to distinguish individuals from one another in a rapid, non-destructive manner. Seven human skeletal donors and …

Growth And Characterization Of Spatially Ordered Nanostructures Of Functional Materials, Domingo J. Mateo Feliciano

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Thin films and nanostructures of functional materials like lead zirconium titanite oxide (PZT) and Zinc Oxide (ZnO) offer multitude of applications in ferroelectrics, piezoelectrics and piezotronics. While the properties of thin films of ZnO and PZT are well understood, methods for the fabrication of vertically-aligned and spatially ordered nanocolumns of these materials are not common. To achieve a spatially ordered arrangement of either PZT or ZnO, a Silica Nanosphere (SNS) Monolayer Template has been constructed to serve as nucleation site for the growth of a specific number of nanocolumns. The SNS monolayer template is constructed by Langmuir-Blodgett dip coating, using …

Women In Water: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Of Women's Lived Experience As Water And Wastewater Professionals, Pamela Murawski

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this interpretative phenomenological analysis was to explore the lived experiences of women water and wastewater professionals in California. A qualitative methodology and semi-structured interviews provided detail and a rich understanding of women’s occupational choices, pursuits, and roles as told from their own perspectives. The results revealed that while working in water promoted a sense of pride, accomplishment, and empowerment, women continued to fight for equal access and full participation in lucrative water treatment careers. Key issues the women indicated were lack of knowledge of the industry, the necessity of mentorship, access to technical information, and the male-centered …

Spatiotemporal Changes Of Microbial Community Assemblages And Functions In The Subsurface, Madison C. Davis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The subsurface hosts diverse microbial community assemblages and functions. These communities play an important role in biogeochemical cycling and groundwater purification. Many physicochemical factors affect microbial communities and can cause short-term or long-term perturbations. Subsurface microbes are susceptible to anthropogenic changes in the environment, which can be caused by nutrient inputs or municipal groundwater extraction. Despite the importance of the subsurface microbiome, these microbial communities are poorly characterized. This dissertation describes the characterization of spatiotemporal drivers of subsurface microbial communities through a variety of techniques that include eDNA analyses, bioinformatics, hydrochemical analyses, stable isotope geochemistry, and multivariate statistics. Three coastal …

Luciferase Reporter Crc Cell Line For Bioluminescence Imaging In Orthotopic Tumor Model, Pratik Chopade

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

CRC is the second most common type of cancer in women and the third most common type of cancer in men. It accounts for 9.7% of all cancers in terms of people diagnosed. Measuring the real-time effect of chemotherapeutic drugs has been a major obstacle in developing a tumor model mouse. Tracking the regression of cancer cells after chemotherapy could be an effective way to resolve this issue. Therefore, cancer cells expressing the constitutive luciferase reporter gene can be a potential solution. The biggest advantage of the luciferase (Luc) reporter is that it is detectable at very low concentrations in …

Race, Gender And Power: Afro-Peruvian Women’S Experiences As Congress Representatives, Sharun Gonzales Matute

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Previous accounts about the presence of women of African descent on Latin American legislatures outline Peru as an exceptional case. In 2013, Peru had three Afro-Peruvian women in its national congress, all of them former volleyball players. Compared to other countries where Black women were almost inexistent in legislatures, Peru was in a better position. Simultaneously, Afro-Peruvian women’s organizations and leaders denounce their marginalization from political spaces. This work seeks to explore the experiences of Afro-Peruvian congresswomen elected between the years 2000 and 2016 and their relation to political power. Intersectionality serves as a theoretical framework for this research because …

A Micro-Nano Particle System For Sustained Drug Release In Lung Cancer Therapy, Heta N. Jadhav

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in men and women worldwide (National Comprehensive Cancer Network). Hence, developing an effective new therapy to treat lung cancer is under intense investigation. Specifically, the sustained release of a drug in lung tumors is critically important. Previous studies at the USF have shown that telmisartan exhibits synergistic properties when combined with Actinomycin-D for lung cancer treatment. The objective of this study is to develop a novel micro/nano system consisting of lipids and chitosan polymers that would be able to deliver Tel directly to the lungs and release its payloads in a …

An Examination Of Changes In Muscle Thickness, Isometric Strength, And Body Water Throughout The Menstrual Cycle, Tayla E. Kuehne

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Women are often excluded from research studies interested in changes in muscle size and strength due to confounding influence that the menstrual cycle may have on these variables. Although there is considerable data showing that strength may fluctuate throughout the menstrual cycle, the thesis that muscle size changes throughout the cycle is based on the premise that changes in body water throughout the menstrual cycle may influence the size of the muscle. Despite this suggestion there is no experimental data demonstrating that the menstrual cycle has any influence on muscle size. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine …

Enhanced Fluoride Removal In Biosand Filters Using Aluminum Oxide Coated Media And Modified Filter Design, Madison Leigh Rice

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 2010, the UN formally stated that access to safe drinking water and sanitation is a human right. Yet, one in three people globally do not have access to safe drinking water. Contaminated drinking water can negatively impact the health of consumers. This is a challenge that disproportionally affects developing regions, where limited access to resources exacerbates the problem. One drinking water contaminant of concern is fluoride. Fluoride is often added in low concentrations to drinking water to enhance consumers’ dental health. However, when water with high concentrations of fluoride is consumed frequently, it can have negative health effects, such …

Testing The Efficacy Of Recompression Tools To Reduce The Discard Mortality Of Reef Fishes In The Gulf Of Mexico, Oscar E. Ayala

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In order to enhance the recovery of overfished stocks, fishery managers have implemented increasingly restrictive harvest regulations. However, discarded fish are susceptible to mortality from barotrauma when retrieved from depth. Venting tools are commonly used to enable fish to return to their depth of capture. An alternative method has been developed that involves the rapid descent of fish to their depth of capture to reduce buoyancy. In the Gulf of Mexico, the released portion of Red Snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) and Red Grouper (Epinephelus morio) has exceeded 80% of total catch. I tested the survival of these two economically important species …

Role Of Serum Amyloid P Component In The Pathogenesis Of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, Brittany Urban

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Serum amyloid P (SAP) component is a glycoprotein that is a major constituent of human serum. SAP has been recognized to stimulate amyloid fibrillogenesis. One way that SAP can be transported to the brain is by passing through the blood brain barrier (BBB). Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and repeated or severe non-penetrating head injury, can escalate the exposure of the brain to SAP, which in turn can contribute to neurodegeneration. TBI can lead to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) which is a neuropathological condition that has been found in people who have been exposed to repeated head injuries or impacts. In …

Targeting The Eskape Pathogens By Botanical And Microbial Approaches, Emily Dilandro

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There is a vital need to find new clinical treatment options to combat ESKAPE pathogen infections. Nature has thus far been the most fruitful at providing antimicrobial compounds, which have been derived from a plethora of sources. Ranging from plants to microbial communities, these organisms create chemical compounds that are used as defense mechanisms against invasive or encroaching organisms and confer the producers with competitive advantages. In this study, cinnamaldehyde was investigated as a botanical approach to finding active antimicrobial compounds that inhibit the ESKAPE pathogens. Here, we show that all the ESKAPE pathogens are inhibited by cinnamaldehyde concentrations between …

Enhanced Nitrogen, Organic Matter And Color Removal From Landfill Leachate By Biological Treatment Processes With Biochar And Zeolite, Bisheng Gao

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Leachate percolating through landfills must be collected and properly treated. However, high concentrations of ammonia (NH4+), refractory organic matter [measured as chemical oxygen demand (COD)], water color and heavy metals in leachate interfere biological processes in conventional wastewater treatment plants. Constructed wetlands (CWs) have been used in the past to treat leachate, but their design and performance has not been properly optimized. In particular, low cost adsorbent materials, such as zeolite and biochar, have the potential to adsorb ammonia and organic compounds, respectively. This increases their retention in the wetland and reduces their toxicity to microorganisms and plants in the …

Implementation Of Large-Scale Anaerobic Digestion Of Food Waste At The University Of South Florida, Karamjit Panesar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Food waste represents a major sustainability issue in the United States. Food waste represents 18% of landfill space and is the largest contributor of landfill methane emissions. US EPA’s Food Recovery Hierarchy recommends alternatives to landfilling food waste, including source reduction, food donation and anaerobic digestion.

The Student Green Energy Fund (SGEF) Food Recovery Project aims to follow suggestions outlined by the US EPA Food Recovery Hierarchy to encourage the University of South Florida (USF) to become a zero-waste campus. A multi-disciplinary approach aims to source reduce wasted food, look for opportunities for source reduction and anaerobically digest any remaining …

A Multidisciplinary Approach To Trauma Analysis In Cases Of Child Fatality, Jaime D. Sykes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Child fatality is an issue of social and forensic significance. Due to the complex nature of these cases, it can be difficult to determine the cause and manner of death (referred to as equivocal death), particularly when differentiating between accidental and inflicted traumatic fatalities. Finite Element Modeling is a tool typically used to elucidate the etiology of fractures. This thesis utilizes a multidisciplinary approach to research the frequency of equivocal deaths among juveniles and the usefulness of FEM as a solution to diagnosing skeletal trauma. The first component examines the problem of misdiagnosed manner of death through retrospective case examinations …

Van Hiele Problem Solving Logic Levels Applied To Force Concept Inventory Problems Using The Resources Framework, Charles Mason Hemphill

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Students bring their logical reasoning and previous knowledge to the study of physics. Previous studies have examined types and levels of students’ reasoning as applied to answering conceptual physics questions. This study compared the van Hiele theory of levels of logic in two different disciplines: school geometry and conceptual physics. Two research approaches were employed: quantitative and qualitative analysis. In a quantitative approach, the van Hiele geometry test’s correlation to gains in conceptual physics understanding, as measured by the Force Concept Inventory (FCI), was compared to Lawson’s Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning (CTSR), SAT, ACT, and a general algebra facility …

Archaeology And The Philosopher's Stance: An Advance In Ethics And Information Accessibility, Dina Rivera

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ancient Greek scholars have scaffolded ethical examination for several fields beyond philosophy, providing essential guidance for management and practicum within professions. From the Society of Antiquaries of London (1718) to the Society of American Archaeology (1934), the professional study has continued to evolve as new translations of the past and new models for predicting human behavior in the future would underpin the development of ethics in academic archaeology. Database enabled study creates opportunities for open research, expanding data pools and scientific perspectives and becomes essential for providing inclusivity, respect, and cooperation in order to build and rebuild paradigms.

Sunitinib-Loaded Mpeg-Pcl Micelles For The Treatment Of Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Jarriaun D. Streets

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Age-related Macular Degeneration, or AMD will be responsible for the vision impairment of more than 5 million late-aged adults in the next 30 years. Current treatment options include frequent intravitreal injections which report high levels of pain resulting in a low patient compliance. However, there are methods of drug delivery that can decrease the amount of intravitreal injections by sustaining drug release. Polymeric micelles, specifically MPEG-PCL have reported superb biocompatibility and more efficient ways of delivering anti-VEGF drugs such as Sunitinib to the posterior segment of the eye. In this study, the novel micellar formulation exhibited an average DLS particle …

The Effects Of Feudalism On Medieval English Mobility: A Biological Distance Study Using Nonmetric Cranial Traits., Jonathan H. Barkmeier

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Social and environmental factors play a key role in determining biocultural phenomena that can be observed on skeletal populations. Genetic markers in the form of nonmetric traits can help understand underlying questions about population movement and subsequent gene flow. During the medieval period in England, feudalism may have limited migration and created sedentary lifestyles for the peasant class who lived and worked on land owned by the nobility. By using a biological distance model, questions about the interactions between rural and urban populations, as well as the restrictive economic system that was in place during the Middle Ages, can be …

Toward Culturally Relevant Emotion Detection Using Physiological Signals, Khadija Zanna

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research shows that emotional distress has a statistically significant impact on a student’s grade point average and intent to drop out of college. Because students of different races have varying college experiences, it is important to understand the emotional experiences of different racial groups to better support students’ needs and academic success. In this work, we explore several physiological responses to ten different emotional stimuli captured from 140 students. We employ unsupervised learning via the Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBSCAN) algorithm and supervised learning via Random Forests and Support Vector machines to analyze clustering partitions and classification …

Synthesis Of A Targeted Ph Responsive Nanoparticle For Controlled Release Of Actinomycin D, Alejandro Jesus Gonzalez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Out of all cancer diagnosis’s, lung cancer has the highest mortality in both sexes making it the leading cause of cancer deaths. Current therapeutic and clinical methods fail to successfully treat the disease, contributed to the development of multi-drug resistance (MDR). Hence, new therapies are needed that can exploit the tumor microenvironment (TME) to target Cancer Stem Cells (CSC). CSCs constitute a key population of the TME, promoting hypoxia, low intracellular pH, and angiogenesis. Actinomycin D (ACD) is a potent CSC inhibitor, but due to its high toxicity and lack of specificity towards cancer cells presents a need for a …

The Ecology And Conservation Of An Urban Karst Subterranean Estuary, Robert J. Scharping

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sulphur Springs is an artesian spring and part of the limestone karst topography of metropolitan Tampa, Florida, USA. Underlying this spring is an extensive cave system that hosts saltwater vents and conspicuous microbial biofilm communities. For decades, water from Sulphur Springs has been extracted and used to supplement public water supply and dry season flows in the Hillsborough River Estuary. This dissertation describes research conducted at Sulphur Springs to determine the impacts of urban land use on the underlying cave and downstream estuary ecosystems, and presents the use of this system as a model to fill certain ecological knowledge gaps. …

The Roles Of Emotional Cues And Purchasing Incentives In Wechat Commerce: A Content Analysis, Xuezhu Hao

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In recent years with the development of social media, a variety of business forms have also developed. In the United States, there are advertising and business forms based on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. However, in China, WeChat is the mainstream social media platform with a staggering number of active online users. As a mainstream social media platform, WeChat has extended a new business form, which is the Micro-business. With the changes in purchasing needs and economic forms, more and more people are participating in Micro-business buying and selling transactions. The formation of a new type of …