Digital Commons Network^™

Dynamic Monitoring Of Cytotoxicity Using Electric Cell Substrate Impendence Sensing, Alfred Brian Wafula

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) pioneered by Giaever and Keese is suitable for continuous, automatic and real-time cell attachment analysis. ECIS is a novel electrical method to study, in real time, many of the activities of animal cells when grown in tissue culture. These include morphological changes, cell locomotion, and other behaviors directed by the cell's cytoskeleton. One of the most direct ECIS measurements is that of the attachment and spreading behaviors of cells. These measurements allow one to study and quantify the interaction of cultured cells with extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins and other macromolecules continuously and in real time. …

A Benefit-Cost Analysis Of A State Freeway Service Patrol: A Florida Case Study, Harkanwal Nain Singh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Road Ranger program is a freeway service patrol (FSP) designed to assist disabled vehicles along congested freeway segments and relieve peak period non-recurring congestion through quick detection, verification and removal of freeway incidents in Florida. It consists of approximately 88 vehicles in fleet and provides free service to about 918 centerline miles. The program is funded by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and its partners, and is bid out to private contractors. The objective of this study is to examine and evaluate the benefits of the Road Ranger service against their operating costs in five of the seven …

Nanoindentation Of Layered Materials With A Nonhomogeneous Interface, Praveen K. Chalasani

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Indentation is used as a technique for mechanical characterization of materials for a long time. In the last few decades, new techniques of mechanical characterization at micro and nano level using indentation have been developed. Mechanical character-ization of thin films has become an important area of research because of their crucial role in modern technological applications. Theoretical and computational models of indentation are less time consuming,cost effective, and flexible. Many researchers have investigated mechanical properties of thin films using theoretical and computational models. In this study, an indentation model for a thin layer-substrate geometry with the possibility of nonhomogeneous or …

Post-Charley Evaluation Of Undamaged Homes In Punta Gorda Isles, Virgilet Pierrissaint

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hurricane Charley was the third named storm and the second major hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. At that time, it was also the strongest hurricane to strike the US coast since 1992. Charley made landfall on Friday, August 13, 2004 on the barrier islands off Lee County, Florida whence it moved rapidly inland towards Port Charlotte, DeSoto and Hardee counties.

The purpose of this study was to understand the performance of undamaged residential home in Punta Gorda Isles (PGI) in Port Charlotte County that was crossed by Charley’s eye shortly after it made landfall. To achieve this goal, …

A Damage Assessment And Wind Loading Analysis Of Residential Structures Built Post-1996 In Punta Gorda In The Wake Of Hurricane Charley, James Newberry

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

One of the communities in the path of Hurricane Charley as it came ashore

August 13, 2004, was Punta Gorda, recording gusts up to 145 mph. This project

utilizes aerial photos taken approximately 10 days after the storm battered the

area, using a digital photography program. Focusing on the one-story residential

structures (houses) of the Punta Gorda area, a damage assessment could be

made of the area’s homes, and how they stood up to the storm. This study

focused further on homes built after major changes to the local/state building

codes went into effect (starting in 1996) after the devastation …

A Platform For Research On Localization And Tracking Using Wireless Sensor Networks, Sai Kiran Rupanagudi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research proposed the integration of wireless sensor networks, a mobile platform and a fixed station for the development of a test bed system to conduct research on localization, tracking, navigation and network mapping. The overall integrated system acts as a basis for future research on localization of wireless nodes in an indoor environment. The system enables the transfer of information from the sensor node on the platform to a distant computer through wireless communication. In addition, a robotic platform is proposed that uses the developed integrated system as well as other potential applications. The user interface to the system …

Optimizing Biofuel Cell Performance Using A Targeted Mixed Mediator Combination, Jason C. Klar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A study of how mediators interact with the catabolic pathways of microbes was undertaken with a view towards improving the performance of microbial fuel cells. The use of mediators is known to improve the power density in microbial fuel cells, but this work suggests that no single mediator is ideally suited to the task. Instead, a carefully selected mixture of two targeted mediators (Methylene Blue and Neutral Red) might be optimal. To test this hypothesis, a yeast-catalyzed microbial fuel cell was built and empirically evaluated under different mediation conditions while keeping all other parameters constant. The results clearly show that …

The Feasibility Of Establishing A Telecenter In An Urban Corridor: A Case Study Of The Sr 836/Dolphin Expressway Corridor In Miami, Florida, Anurag Komanduri

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Telecenters are alternate work locations and are used as a means to reduce the commute discomfort to employees. Telecenters provide advantages to both the employees and the employers and are a good Travel Demand Management measure. The history of telecenters is relatively new. Many telecenters were established in the early 1990's with the support of the Federal and State Governments. While initial signs were encouraging, the inability of these telecenters to carry on running in the absence of continued funding made them cost intensive unsuccessful experiments. There have been fewer attempts by private individuals/ Governments to work with the concept …

Tracking Fluid Flow In A Spinning Disk Reactor, Valentina N. Korzhova

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The flow of a liquid film over a rapidly rotating horizontal disk has many applications inmedical, industrial, and engineering fields. A specific example is the heat and mass transfer processes between expanded liquid and surrounded dense gas. Diferent wave regimes of a liquid film depend on a flow conditions such as the properties of a liquid, its initial speed,parameters of environment, etc. Therefore, experimental investigation of the film flow over a spinning disk is needed to both validate theoretical predictions and establish methods for fluid flow monitoring.This thesis presents novel video-based algorithms for detection and tracking wave structural data of …

Prototype And Testing Of A Mems Microcooler Based On Magnetocaloric Effect, Simone L. Ghirlanda

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis documents the work and research effort on the design, fabrication and testing of a magnetocaloric MEMS microcooler, focusing on the testing of the microcooler at low magnetic fields. The phenomenon of magnetocaloric effect (MCE), or adiabatic temperature change, which is obtained by heating or cooling magnetic materials due to a varying magnetic field, can be exploited in the area of magnetic refrigeration as a reliable, energy-efficient cooling system. In particular, its applications are being explored primarily in cryogenic technologies as a viable process for the liquefaction of hydrogen. The challenge for magnetic refrigeration is that the necessary MCE …

Palladium Doped Nano Porous Silicon To Enhance Hydrogen Sensing, Kevin Luongo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A mass manufacturable impedance based, palladium doped porous silicon sensor, was fabricated for hydrogen detection. The sensor was built using electrochemical etching to produce mesoporous silicon. Four nanometers of palladium was defused directly into the porous silicon and another four nanometers of Pd was deposited on the defused surface to enhance sensing. The sensor was tested in a sealed chamber in which the impedance was measured while hydrogen in nitrogen was ranged from 0-2 percent. Unlike conventional hydrogen sensors this sensor responded at room temperature to changes in hydrogen concentration. The electrical impedance response due to adsorption and desorption of …

Ranking-Based Methods For Gene Selection In Microarray Data, Li Chen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

DNA microarrays have been used for the purpose of monitoring expression levels of thousands of genes simultaneously and identifying those genes that are differentially expressed. One of the major goals of microarray data analysis is the detection of differentially expressed genes across two kinds of tissue samples or samples obtained under two experimental conditions. A large number of gene detection methods have been developed and most of them are based on statistical analysis. However the statistical analysis methods have the limitations due to the small sample size and unknown distribution and error structure of microarray data. In this thesis, a …

Towards The Realization Of Cognitive Radio: Coexistence Of Ultrawideband And Narrowband Systems, Mustafa Emin Şahin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ultrawideband and cognitive radio are two of the most important approaches that are shaping the future of wireless communication systems. At a first glance, the aims of UWB and cognitive radio do not seem to be overlapping significantly, however, there is a strong synergy between the capabilities of UWB and the goals of cognitive radio. One of the objectives of this thesis is to shed the first light on the marriage of these two important approaches.Ultrawideband (UWB) is a promising technology for future short-range, high-data rate wireless communication networks. Along with its exciting features including achieving high data rates, low …

Genetic Algorithm Based Two-Dimensional And Three-Dimensional Floorplanning For Vlsi Asics, Pradeep R. Fernando

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Dramatic improvements in circuit integration technologies have resulted in a huge increase in the complexity of circuits that can be fabricated on a single integrated circuit(IC). The significance of the performance and reliability issues of interconnects has increased greatly demanding radically different solutions such a Three-Dimensional ICs are an elegant solution to the interconnect and device density issues in the current and future technology generations as they provide an additional dimension for packing the devices. This results in a direct reduction in the chip package area and the total wiring required to complete all the interconnections. More importantly, the number …

Intelligent Design And Evolutionary Theory: Legal Battles And Classroom Relevance For School Leadership, Larry R. Plank

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Evolutionary theory in the scientific curricula of public education has been scrutinized by religious societies for the better part of a century around the globe. Although Darwin’s explanation of the mechanism of evolution—the process of natural selection—is widely accepted by scientists in the United States and other industrialized nations, the U.S. has lagged behind these other countries in accepting evolutionary theory in public school curricula. The debate of what to include in textbooks and classroom lessons is one of America’s most controversial issues. The creationist worldview of life’s origins has been incorporated into science curriculum as a direct challenge to …

Blood Lead Concentrations In The Cat Population Of Tampa, Florida, Liesl M. Wiesen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Where lead pollutes urban soils, both human and animals risk exposure. This exposure gives rise to similar health risks across species. A group of 50 outdoor living cats from inner city Tampa, Florida were tested for blood lead concentration (BLC). Most cats had no measurable lead loads, 14 percent had levels less than or equal to 6 micrograms per decaliter. Soil samples were taken from the home location of each cat. None of these samples, which ranged from 2.6 microgram per gram to 170 micrograms per gram, had hazardous levels of lead. Overall, BLCs were lower than expected. In addition, …

A Modular Onboard Processing System For Small Unmanned Vehicles, Richard D. Garcia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This work describes the design and implementation of a generic lightweight onboard processing system for miniature Unmanned Vehicles (UVs) that is computationally powerful and highly adaptable. First, several classical approaches to giant scale and full size UV onboard processing systems are described along with their corresponding limitations. Second, a detailed study is presented that describes the key characteristics of an onboard system along with associated limitations. Next, an implementation of a generic onboard system capable of vision processing and servo based control is presented along with detailed hardware specifications and implementation software. Last, experimental data, both laboratory and field, are …

A New Type Of Insurgency? A Case Study Of The Resistance In Iraq, Stephen D. Curtas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Insurgency is considered to be the principal form of conflict in the world today. Since the end of WWII, large-scale conventional war between states has been minimal. In Iraq, a band of insurgents are attempting to defy the strongest power in the world. This insurgency in Iraq may be the beginning of a new phenomenon of insurgency conflict.

This thesis argues that the Iraqi insurgency has no center of gravity, with no clear apparent leader or leadership. As seen in other examples of insurgency throughout history, no leadership has emerged in response to any of the conditions present in Iraq. …

Access To Public Transportation: An Exploration Of The National Household Travel Survey Appended Data, Edward Maggio

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Understanding transit usage has become a critical transportation research interest and policy goal. This thesis presents results of an analysis of the 2001 NHTS data specifically focusing on the newly released appended variables that measure access or distance to public transportation. Statistically significant public transportation distance intervals from households and individuals were chosen for analysis in relation to other key variables in the original dataset. Actual relationships between public transportation and traditional household and person characteristics nationwide are explored, specifically focusing on both rail and bus transit modes for the work commute trip. Geographically, both inclusions and exclusions in analysis …

Growth Of Oxide Thin Films On 4h- Silicon Carbide In An Afterglow Reactor, Eugene L. Short

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Oxide thin films were grown on 4H-SiC at low pressure and reduced temperatures using a remote plasma afterglow thermal oxidation method, achieving significantly faster growth rates than standard atmospheric furnace processes. The resulting SiO2/SiC structures were characterized by a non-contact corona-voltage metrology technique in order to extract capacitance-voltage information, to facilitate further analysis of the afterglow oxidation growth mechanism, and to determine the electrical behavior of defects. In addition, mass spectrometry experiments revealed the concentration of nitric oxide species in the afterglow reactor gas exhaust produced by the cracking of N2O molecules in the microwave plasma discharge. Oxidations were performed …

Revenue Management Techniques Applied To The Parking Industry, Daniel Rojas

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The time spent searching for a parking space increases air pollution, driver frustration, and safety problems impacting among other issues, traffic congestion and as consequence the environment. In the United States, parking represents a $20 billion industry (National Parking Association, 2005), and research shows that a car is parked on average 90 percent of the time. To alleviate this problem, more parking facilities should be built or intelligent models to better utilize current facilities should be explored. In this thesis, a general methodology is proposed to provide solutions to the parking problem. First, stated preference data is used to study …

A Game Theoretic Framework For Interconnect Optimization In Deep Submicron And Nanometer Design, Narender Hanchate

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The continuous scaling of interconnect wires in deep submicron (DSM)circuits result in increased interconnect delay, power and crosstalk noise. In this dissertation, we address the problem of multi-metric optimization at post layout level in the design of deep submicron designs and develop a game theoretic framework for its solution. Traditional approaches in the literature can only perform single metric optimization and cannot handle multiple metrics. However, in interconnect optimization, the simultaneous optimization of multiple parameters such as delay, crosstalk noise and power is necessary and critical. Thus, the work described in this dissertation research addressing multi-metric optimization is an important …

Efficient Suspicious Region Segmentation Algorithm For Computer Aided Diagnosis Of Breast Cancer Based On Tomosynthesis Imaging, Ravi K. Samala

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Computer aided diagnostic tool can aid the radiologist in the early detection of breast cancer. Even though mammography is considered to be the gold standard for breast cancer detection, it is limited by the spatial superposition of tissue. This limitation is the result of a using a two dimensional, (2D), representation of a three dimensional, (3D), structure. The limitation contributes to and results in misclassification of breast cancers. Tomosynthesis is a limited-angle 3D imaging device that overcomes this limitation by representing the breast structure with 3D volumetric data.This research, on tomosynthesis imaging, was a critical module of a larger research …

Design And Implementation Of A 200mm 3c-Sic Cvd Reactor, Christopher L. Frewin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Silicon carbide, SiC, is a semiconductor material which has many diverse uses in many of today's leading technologies. The wide band-gap aspect of the material has been utilized to create power and high frequency electronics, its physical hardness enables its use for MEMS devices, and the biological compatibility make perfect for utilization in medical applications. SiC is not a chemical compound normally found in nature and must be artificially generated. One of the methods used for the creation of single crystal, high quality SiC material is provided through the use of a chemical vapor deposition reactor. The University of South …

Petroleum Cleanup In The United States: A Historical Review And Comparison Of State Programs, Timothy A. Terwilliger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cleanup of leaking underground storage tank (LUST) sites has been a priority for the United States of America (USA) for more than 20 years due to the large number of sites, the potential harmful health affects associated with gasoline components and the fact that single owners may not have the ability to pay for cleanup of these sites. In June 2006, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that of the 459,637 confirmed releases from USTs that had occurred previously, 342,688 had been remediated, which leaves 116,949 sites yet to be completed across the USA. Petroleum cleanup programs tend to …

A Study Of Machine Learning Performance In The Prediction Of Juvenile Diabetes From Clinical Test Results, Shibendra Pobi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Two approaches to building models for prediction of the onset of Type 1 diabetes mellitus in juvenile subjects were examined. A set of tests performed immediately before diagnosis was used to build classifiers to predict whether the subject would be diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. A modified training set consisting of differences between test results taken at different times was also used to build classifiers to predict whether a subject would be diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. Neural networks were compared with decision trees and ensembles of both types of classifiers. Support Vector Machines were also tested on this dataset. The highest …

An Ahp Framework For Balancing Efficiency And Equity In The United States Liver Transplantation System, Vijayachandran M. Veerachandran

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

ABSRACT: Liver transplantation and allocation has been a controversial issue in the United States for decades. One of the main concerns in the allocation system is the trade-off between the two main objectives, efficiency and equity. Unfortunately, it is difficult to reach consensus on how to develop allocation policies that aim at balancing efficiency and equity, among transplantation policy makers, administrators, transplant surgeons and transplant candidates.Our research identifies and classifies the outcomes of liver allocation into two major categories, efficiency and equity, that are, often times, conflicting. Previous researchers did not consider how to balance outcomes in these two categories. …

Spatially Resolved Photoluminescence Spectroscopy Of Quantum Dots, Maciej Dybiec

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent advancements in nanotechnology create a need for a better understanding of the underlying physical processes that lead to the different behavior of nanoscale structures in comparison to bulk materials. The influence of the surrounding environment on the physical and optical properties of nanoscale objects embedded inside them is of particular interest. This research is focused on the optical properties of semiconductor quantum dots which are zero-dimensional nanostructures. There are many investigation techniques for measuring the local parameters and structural characteristics of Quantum Dot structures. They include X-ray diffraction, Transmission Electron Microscopy, Wavelength Dispersive Spectroscopy, etc. However, none of these …

Product Design: A Conceptual Development Of Product Remanufacturing Index, Swapnil B. Dixit

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In light of increasing pressure from environmental safety advocate groups and governments for eco-friendly manufacturing, safe after life product & waste disposal has had strong emphasizes in the past several years. Industrial manufacturers are becoming more and more responsive towards environment safety concerns. These efforts are being reflected by concepts such as green design or environmentally responsible design and manufacturing (ERDM). The key research areas in the 21st century for reducing the toll on the environment will be material recycling, controlled waste disposal (including fluids and gases) and remanufacturing. Remanufacturing offers a dual advantage over material recycling. First the geometrical …

Continuous Time Disaggregation In Hierarchical Production Planning, Rami Salhab Al-Tamimi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

One of the objectives of disaggregation in hierarchical production planning is to minimize the setup costs incurred when changing production from one family to another. In this research, the setup costs are reduced by determining a production schedule that minimizes the number of setups during the planning horizon. Previous solutions to the disaggregation problem have considered discrete-time, and more recently continuous-time formulations. This research extends the continuous time disaggregation approach by incorporating production schedules allowing backorder. A mathematical formulation and a solution algorithm are presented and the computational complexity and convergence properties of the algorithm are discussed. Experimental results, using …