Digital Commons Network^™

Construction Of G-Quadruplexes Via Self-Assembly: Enhanced Stability And Unique Properties, Ying He

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation mainly contains three parts: 1) The construction of well-defined G8-octamers through the monomer conformational design. 2) The construction of cross-layer interactions in the G8-octamer for enhanced stability in H-bond competitive solvents. 3) Design and synthesis of 8-triazole guanosine with photoluminescent properties.

Through the structural conformational design, we have developed a new class of guanosine derivatives with modification on guanine (8-aryl) and ribose (2’,3’-isopropylidene). This unique design has led to the formation of the first discrete G8-octamer with structure characterized by NMR, MS and single crystal X-ray diffraction. The selectivity between monovalent (K+) and divalent cat-ions (Ba2+ and Sr2+) …

Identifying Employees Who Fit With Electronic Communication Styles, Britany Telford Mills

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Electronic communication is no longer solely used by globally dispersed work teams. It is an integral part of today’s organizations whether they include remote workers or not. Therefore, it is important to understand how employees perceive electronic communication from their supervisor and the impact that perception has on the worker. Researchers have been adamant in the assertion that relationship-oriented communicated is better conducted face-to-face. The current study seeks to add to the existing body of research by (1) examining how the proportion of relationship-oriented communication that is electronic affects both subordinate perceptions of communication openness and subordinate job satisfaction, and …

First-Principles Simulations Of Materials Under Extreme Conditions, Kien Nguyen Cong

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The investigation of materials at extreme conditions of high pressure and temperature (high-PT), has been one of the greatest scientific endeavors in condensed mater physics, chemistry, astronomy, planetary, and material sciences. Being subjected to high-PT conditions, materials exhibit dramatic changes in both atomic and electronic structure resulting in an emergence of exceptionally interesting phenomena including structural and electronic phase transitions, chemical reactions, and formation of novel compounds with never-previously observed physical and chemical properties. Although new exciting experimental developments in static and dynamic compression combined with new diagnostics/characterization methods allow to uncover new processes and phenomena at high P-T conditions, …

High Ammonia Strength Wastewater Treatment Using Algae, Bacteria And Ion Exchange, Nadezhda Zalivina

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nitrogen pollution has been considered one of the major problems of the 21st century. Discharge of nitrogen from improperly treated wastewaters into surface water bodies causes eutrophication and hypoxia, which results in significant environmental, public health and economic damages. In addition to the incoming flow, wastewater treatment plants generate internal highly concentrated ammonium streams, such as anaerobic digestion sidestream. As a current practice, sidestream without prior treatment is returned to the head of the plant, which increases the total incoming nitrogen load by 20-30% and often exceeds the treatment capacity. The most commonly used conventional biological nitrogen removal processes are …

Innovating Green Stormwater Infrastructure For Nutrient Management: Long-Term Field And Modeling Studies Of Conventional And Modified Denitrifying Bioretention Systems, Emma V. Lopez-Ponnada

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Urban stormwater and nutrient management are increasingly important topics to address globally, as coastal urbanization increases, disturbing the natural landscape, hydrology, and water quality. Untreated urban stormwater runoff carries pollutants that enter our waterways, such as rivers and marine environments, which serve as drinking water sources, recreational sites, and locations for economic livelihood. One pollutant and nutrient of concern for water quality is reactive nitrogen (N). Since pre-industrial time, reactive nitrogen has doubled from human activity. When found in excess in waterways, nitrogen causes an overabundant growth of algae, which can result in eutrophic and hypoxic conditions, impacting ecosystems, human …

Rescue Of Hearing And Protection Of Auditory Structures From Noise-Induced Hearing Loss, Reza Amanipour

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hearing loss due to exposure to high level sound is a major health problem that causes permanent hearing impairment and has a significant impact on job productivity and quality of life. A large population suffers from noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), a disorder for which there is currently no FDA-approved prevention, treatment or cure. The goal of my dissertation work is to provide insights into the effects of noise trauma on hearing abilities of normal hearing subjects, and determine how a new therapeutic compound (mGlu7 modulator) can protect and/or prevent loss of, or damage to sensory cells and brain neurons, including …

Trajectory Based Traffic Analysis And Control Utilizing Connected Autonomous Vehicles, Yu Wang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent scholars have developed a number of stochastic car-following models that have successfully captured driver behavior uncertainties and reproduced stochastic traffic oscillation propagation. While elegant frequency domain analytical methods are available for stability analysis of classic deterministic linear car-following models, there lacks an analytical method for quantifying the stability performance of their peer stochastic models and theoretically proving oscillation features observed in the real world. To fill this methodological gap, this study proposes a novel analytical method that measures traffic oscillation magnitudes and reveals oscillation characteristics of stochastic linear car-following models. We investigate a general class of stochastic linear car-following …

Teachers And Administrators Explain How And Why Teachers Change Instructional Methods In A Pre-K Through Eight Catholic School, Judith A. Deeley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative exploratory study explored how and why teachers at four small Catholic schools in the state of Florida transformed by changing instructional methods to offer full integration of science, technology, religion, engineering, arts and mathematics (STREAM) approaches into learning experiences for grades pre-k through eight. There was a time up until the early 2000s that Catholic school enrollment was at capacity and did not require differentiation based upon unique student learning needs. However, students of current times reflect a higher need for educational approaches that are both differentiated and engaging.

“Teachers are required to teach more content and subjects …

Dynamic Prediction Of Runway Configuration And Airport Acceptance Rate, Yuan Wang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Automated prediction of runway configuration and airport capacity is critical for the future generation of air traffic management. In the future aviation industry, multi-sources weather forecast information will be available for air traffic decision-making units; how to use these data efficiently is key for overall efficiency of air traffic management. Currently, air traffic management personnel lack tools to assist them to translate weather forecast data into real-time airport capacity. Runway configurations and AARs of airports in a multi-airport system are determined by different air traffic controller personnel. The lack of synchronization may lead to the loss of efficiency of the …

Untapped Potential Of Gorgonian Octocorals For Detecting Environmental Change In Biscayne National Park, Florida, Usa, Selena A. Kupfner Johnson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

One consequence of dramatic stony-coral loss has been recognition that gorgonian octocorals (Anthozoa: Octocorallia) have emerged among the dominant reef fauna. However, gorgonians are notoriously difficult to field-identify and consequently have been underrepresented in most monitoring efforts resulting in a lack of long-term data. The rich diversity of habitats, close proximity to the urban center of Miami, and connectivity to other areas of Florida have made Biscayne National Park an active location for reef research since its establishment in 1968. As such, a plethora of data (e.g., museum specimen and species abundance data) has been collected and stored in archives …

Student Attitudes And Behaviors Regarding Academic Dishonesty, Kelly A. Pearson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research study investigated the relationship between students’ attitudes toward academic dishonesty and their self-reported cheating behaviors. Additionally, the study investigated the potential differences between gender and the academic variables class level and cumulative GPA and both students’ attitudes toward academic dishonesty and their self-reported cheating behaviors. This quantitative study analyzed secondary data from a Spring 2014 administration of the Academic Integrity Student Survey (AISS) to examine the attitudes and behaviors of undergraduate level students (N = 574) at a large, four-year, public, research intensive institution in West-Central Florida.

Results indicated a statistically significant correlation between students’ attitudes toward academic …

Novel Macroscopic And Microscopic Concepts In Thermoelectricity, Troy Stedman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Thermoelectric phenomena have been observed for the past two centuries while still being an interesting source of new research because of the countless unknowns governing thermoelectric transport in a host of materials. Novel materials and material structures continue to be discovered, providing enhanced thermoelectric effects that can be used in thermoelectric devices for power generation and refrigeration. With the increasing demand for reusable and renewable energy sources, the importance and usefulness of thermoelectric phenomena grows. It is therefore important to understand thermoelectric transport on both the larger macroscale of devices that serve to define material properties and the smaller microscale …

Life After Graduation: Current Seniors' Perceptions Of Alumni Engagement And Their Expectations Of The Institution Once They Graduate, Jessica Burns Fugate

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alumni participation in the life of an institution is more important now than ever before as state and federal funding continue to shrink and alumni are called on for financial support and to serve as resources for current students. Institutional leaders are hard-pressed to bring in external revenue to bridge the gap as budgets shrink to successfully balance operational costs (Barr & McClellan, 2011), which is done mostly through fundraising efforts targeted toward parents of students, alumni and often current students before they graduate to establish a culture of philanthropy. This need for external revenue increases the necessity for engaged …

Highway Lane Management Policy For Existing And Connected Autonomous Vehicles, Md Mokaddesul Hoque

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Trucks carry major bulk of freight in the U.S. and are likely to continue doing so in the near future for various reasons. They have tremendous impact on highway pavement design and on the costs of pavement construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation. Current policy of truck lane restriction ensures that they mostly use the outside lane(s) on multilane highways. This practice has considerable impact on the cost of pavement construction and rehabilitation. Right now, all the highway lanes are designed and constructed according to the truck load on the outside lane even though the inside lanes receive significantly smaller quantity of …

Playing Darts In The Dark: How Are Chamber Of Commerce Leaders Aligned For Greater Effectiveness?, Robert J. Rohrlack Jr.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This paper researched what the United States chamber of commerce paid Executives and the volunteer Chairpersons identified as the factors influencing their chamber for effectiveness. There has been little research on chambers of commerce in the U.S. This study adds to the small amount of research available, working to establish baseline information for research to continue this ubiquitous industry. We conducted 24 interviews, 12 paid Executives, and 12 volunteer Chairpersons at chambers of commerce in 11 states. They were asked to identify factors that make their chamber more effective or inhibit their chamber from being effective. The interviews were coded, …

Engineering Career Academies: A Comparison Of Middle School Student Academic Performance, Jakub D. Prokop

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A quasi-experimental study tested an integrated curriculum design in two career academies with engineering themes at the middle school level. Teachers in the engineering career academies, using the National Standards of Practice, implemented cross curricular units to middle school student cohorts. Participant cohorts ranged in sample sizes (n = 79, 155, 237, and 232) during the four years of analysis. Constructivism was used as a framework for the study and supported by integrated curriculum units. This study examined middle school students’ performance in reading and mathematics on state assessments of students in the engineering career academies to students not enrolled …

Design, Synthesis, And Self-Assembly Of Supramolecular Fractals Based On Terpyridine With Different Transition Metal Ions, Lei Wang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fractals have existed in a variety of natural forms, and the concept of "fractal geometry" has been developed in many areas by humankind, including art, economics, mathematics, physics, chemistry, material science, and etc. In the field of chemistry, researchers have endeavored great efforts to express the concept using molecules either by theoretical prediction or using synthetic methods in the past few decades, and one successful example is the “Sierpiński triangle”. Challenge still remains to achieve other fractal geometries as well as high generation of fractals with precisely controlled shape and size. Coordination-driven self-assembly has witnessed a wide array of well-defined …

Enhancing Concrete Pavement Service Life Using Multiple Strategies To Reduce Cracking Potential, Dhanushika Mapa Mudiyanselage

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Over the past years, prevention of cracking in concrete structures, especially at early age, has been a challenge facing transportation agencies. During early age, restraint of thermal and moisture related volume changes causes cracking in concrete. This research focuses on evaluating the effectiveness of different cracking mitigation strategies that can be implemented, in different concrete elements, to reduce early-age cracking incidents and therefore enhance concrete service life. To this end, a battery of field and laboratory testing were conducted, and finite element analysis was performed to better understand the mechanisms of primary significance on minimizing cracking risks commonly associated with …

Cactus-Based Mucilage As A Natural Dispersant For Crude Oil Spills, Fei Guo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Oil spills are a critical threat to the marine environment, and the spilled oil as a source of pollution can have long-term adverse effects on the marine ecosystem. Traditional mechanical clean-up operations have apparent advantages for dealing with small and medium-scale oil spills. For large-scale oil spills, dispersants are a practical and minimally influential approach to the environment. As the dispersant components are iteratively updated, dispersants become more efficient and safer. However, the toxicity of the dispersants remains a significant impediment to their application. An efficient and non-toxic dispersant is increasingly becoming a requirement.

The cactus mucilage extracts studied in …

The Chemical Ecology And Drug Discovery Potential Of The Antarctic Red Alga Plocamium Cartilagineum And The Antarctic Sponge Dendrilla Membranosa, Andrew Jason Shilling

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Chemical ecology is the study of chemical interactions between organisms and their environment mediated by small molecules involved in nonessential physiological functions, known as secondary metabolites. These compounds can be crucial to survival of the organism, and have also provided the field of medicine with some of history’s most influential drugs, referred to in that context as natural products. Antarctica is a dynamic and understudied environment, which affords the opportunity to examine the chemical ecology of unique organisms while simultaneously evaluating their novel chemistry for potential therapeutic properties as natural products.

Plocamium cartilagineum is a red macroalgal species found in …

Algorithms For Multi-Objective Mixed Integer Programming Problems, Alvaro Miguel Sierra Altamiranda

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a total of 3 groups of contributions related to multi-objective optimization. The first group includes the development of a new algorithm and an open-source user-friendly package for optimization over the efficient set for bi-objective mixed integer linear programs. The second group includes an application of a special case of optimization over the efficient on conservation planning problems modeled with modern portfolio theory. Finally, the third group presents a machine learning framework to enhance criterion space search algorithms for multi-objective binary linear programming.

In the first group of contributions, this thesis presents the first (criterion space search) algorithm …

The Experiences Of African American Male Computer Science Majors In Two Year Colleges, Simone Brookins Jenkins

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As the field of computer science grows and the computing science workforce demands more qualified workers, the United States workforce will require underrepresented minorities to help meet these demands. African American males are a demographic that can help meet this need but there are few of them pursuing computer science careers and successfully graduating with computer science degrees. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the experiences of African American male two-year college students who are in pursuit of a degree in computer science. My findings indicated that the study participants’ experiences such as positive interactions with faculty …

Epidemiological Analysis Of Malaria Decrease In El Salvador From 1955 Until 2017, Tatiana I. Gardellini Guevara

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The disease of malaria is complex, with clinical presentation that ranges from severe and complicated to mild and uncomplicated or even to asymptomatic malaria. A recent effort made by several world organizations has shown important advances in the effort to control and eradicate malaria. Following the general ordinance established by the trans-border organizations, each country has tried to define, according to their local geopolitical scenario, individual ¨road maps¨ to succeed in reducing the morbidity and mortality caused by malaria. Moreover, it is now accepted universally that these road maps need to be revised and appropriated in order to correct actions …

"The Weak Are Meat, And The Strong Do Eat"; Representations Of The Slaughterhouse In Twentieth And Twenty-First Century Literature, Stephanie Lance

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation explores how literary representations of the slaughterhouse predict the trajectory of human greed that is fueled by capitalist economic practices that shape environmental policies. I argue that literature brings attention to what is generally hidden from public view: the way humans and animals are erased in the production of food, which includes the inhumane treatment of humans and other animals in the slaughterhouse. The literature in this dissertation provides an avenue through which we can investigate the entangled oppression of humans and other animals in an effort to challenge perceptions that reduce animals, and marginalized humans, to objects. …

Developing A Computer-Managed Mentor Matching System For Graduate Students, Donna J. Knudsen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Changes to the higher education landscape resulting from digital-age advancements in technology limit the opportunities for doctoral students and faculty to find one another for research and mentorship pairings as they once did when higher education was a wholly brick and mortar enterprise. Further, doctoral student attrition has remained unmoved at approximately 50% since the 1990s, with studies consistently citing the absence of mentoring (or doctoral students’ dissatisfaction with their mentors) as chief among the factors that contribute to the high rate of attrition. Some predict that the rate of doctoral attrition is as much as 20% higher for programs …

Formulation To Application: Thermomechanical Characterization Of Flexible Polyimides And The Improvement Of Their Properties Via Chain Interaction, Alejandro Rivera Nicholls

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this work, Polyimides were synthesized by incorporating an aromatic diamine monomer with a methylene linker, 4,4'-methylenebis(2,6-dimethylaniline) (MBDMA), to make a robust main chain along with aliphatic polyetherdiamine backbone linkers to reduce rigidity. The polymers were designed to exhibit thermal properties in between those of conventional aromatic polyimides and polymers with wholly aliphatic ether diamine links. Through dynamic mechanical analysis and differential scanning calorimetry, it is shown that control of the molar ratios of the aromatic MBDMA and the composition and size of the aliphatic polyetherdiamine can be used to tune the glass transition temperature. The materials were characterized and …

Phasor Measurement Unit Data-Based Steady State And Dynamic Model Estimation, Anas Almunif

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Phasor measurement units (PMUs) have been put into power grid for real-time monitoring. This research investigates the PMU data for steady state estimation and dynamic model estimation. It focuses on three main research areas to enhance the security of the power system monitoring. First, optimal PMU placement (OPP) problem is developed to minimize the number of PMUs required for the system to be completely observable using mixed integer linear programming and nonlinear programming. Second, PMU measurements are ranked for oscillation monitoring based on two approaches: oscillation mode observability and Prony analysis. Further, the principles, multi-channel data handling, and noise resilience …

Evaluating Conversation Agent Impact On Student Experience In A Distance Education Course, Grover Walters

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

We explore the efficacy of conversation agents operating as an instructional aid in a distance education course. Two aspects of efficacy are considered—conversation agent impact on student perceptions of the experience, and how different design features of the agent affect student perceptions of engagement. Evaluation of the agent is accomplished by collecting data from 24 undergraduate participants separated into random groups. We conduct two rounds of mixedmethod evaluation. Between the two rounds, a modification to the agent occurs based on the outcome of the first evaluation. Findings include limitations related to phrasing and data persistence features of the design that …

An Investigation Into The Heterogeneity Of Insect Arylalkylamine N-Acyltransferases, Brian G. O'Flynn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Arylalkylamine N-acyltransferases (AANATs) have in recent years been suggested as potential new insecticide targets. These promiscuous enzymes are involved in the N-acylation of biogenic amines to form N-acylamides. Mammalian AANAT is predominantly associated with circadian rhythm regulation, as it catalyzes the formation of N-acetylserotonin, the precursor of melatonin, from serotonin. In insects, this process is a key step in melanism, as well as hardening of the cuticle, removal of biogenic amines, and in the biosynthesis of fatty acid amides. The unique nature of each insect AANAT (iAANAT) isoform characterized indicates that while catalyzing similar reactions, each insect accommodates …

Effects Of Reservoir Conditions And Trace Co-Contaminant Gases On Geological Carbon Sequestration, Ram Kumar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Geological carbon sequestration in a saline formation is a promising technology for large-scale carbon dioxide (CO2) mitigation. Several factors such as temperature, pressure, salinity, hydraulic conductivity, and mineralogy of a formation affect the CO2 sequestration in saline formations. These factors can vary widely depending upon the type of formation or the degree of heterogeneity within a formation. In addition to these properties of the repositories, the CO2-rich flue gas streams captured from point sources often contains small amounts of impurities such as sulfur oxides (SOx) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), which may have serious implications on the chemistry of the repositories …