Digital Commons Network^™

Modeling Hourly Electricity Prices: A Structural Time Series Approach Incorporating Modified Garch Innovations, Edirisinghe Mudiyanselage Asitha Edirisinghe

Doctoral Dissertations

"The main objective of this research is to develop time series based procedures for modeling day-ahead and real-time hourly electricity prices. Such empirical processes exhibit features that make the direct application of standard time series models infeasible. Four years of hourly day-ahead and real-time electricity price data from the region supplied by the American Electric Power (AEP) company through the PJM Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) and one half years of real-time electricity prices from the MISO RTO are utilized as an empirical basis for developing such procedures. The price data show several features, such as irregular seasonal behavior, weekly and …

Multiple Differential Study Of Fragmentation Processes In 75 Kev Proton-Molecular Hydrogen Collisions, Kisra Nayomal Egodapitiya

Doctoral Dissertations

"Double Differential Cross Sections (DDCS) were measured for single ionization of H₂ by 75 keV proton (p) impact as a function of the projectile scattering angle (θp) for a fixed energy loss (ΔE) for two different target-collimating slit distances, which determined the width of the projectile wave packet (Δx). In one case Δx was larger than the inter-nuclear separation of the H₂ molecule (coherent projectile beam), while for the other case it was much smaller than the inter-nuclear separation (incoherent projectile beam). A Young type interference pattern was observed in the coherent data, but this was not present in the …

Crustal Structure And Evolution Beneath The Colorado Plateau And The Southern Basin And Range Province, Lamuail Bashir

Doctoral Dissertations

"Stacking of about 15,500 P-to-S receiver functions recorded at 72 USArray and other broadband seismic stations placed on the Colorado Plateau and the SBRP in Arizona revealed systematic spatial variations in crustal Vp/Vs, crustal thickness and amplitude of P-to-S converted phases. Our results reveal that the BRP is characterized by a thin crust (28.2 ± 0.5 km), a mean Vp/Vs of 1.761 ± 0.014 and a mean amplitude (R) of P - to - S converted wave (relative to that of the direct P wave) of 0.181 ± 0.014 that are similar to a typical continental crust, consistent with the …

First-Principles Studies Of Complex Hydrides For Li-Ion Battery And Hydrogen Storage Applications, Timothy Hudson Mason

Doctoral Dissertations

"We employ density functional theory in a computational study of two energy storage systems.

In the first, we explore the thermodynamic viability of light metal hydrides as a high capacity Li-ion battery negative electrode. Given a set of solid-state and gas-phase reactants, we have determined the phase diagram in the Li-Mg-B-N-H system in the grand canonical ensemble as a function of lithium electrochemical potential. We present computational results for several new conversion reactions with predicted capacities between 2400 and 4000 mAhg⁻¹ that are thermodynamically favorable and that do not involve gas evolution. We provide experimental evidence for the reaction pathway …

Two New Spline-Based Methods And Real Data Applications: High-Resolution Receiver Function Calculations From Teleseismic Broadband Waveforms And High-Accuracy Practical Potential-Field Integral Transformations, Bingzhu Wang

Doctoral Dissertations

"While receiver function (RF) calculation is fundamentally important and widely used, it is not well solved due to unstable deconvolution. A spline-based RF calculation method was proposed and it is demonstrated that both individual RFs and the stacked RF calculated with the spline method have sharper peaks than those with the water-level spectral division method and the iterative deconvolution method. At the common peaks on the stacked RFs, there are close similarities for all three RF calculation methods. The better calculated RFs with the spline method lead to improved H - K analysis and improved determination of the optimal Moho …

Additivity Of Strengthening Mechanisms In Ultrafine Grained Aluminum Alloy, Nilesh Kumar

Doctoral Dissertations

"Friction stir processing (FSP) has been used in the present work to obtain ultrafine grained (UFG) microstructure in a twin-roll cast (TRC) Al-Mg-Sc alloy. An attempt has been made to establish a correlation between processing, microstructure, and properties (mechanical) in UFG regime for this alloy system.

The effect of initial microstructural conditions and processing parameters (tool rotation rate) were shown to have a profound impact on the development of UFG microstructure. FSP led to a microstructure consisting of grains with an average grain size as small as 390 nm, having high angle grain boundaries and a completely random texture. The …

Minimal And Near Minimal Congruence Lattice Representations Of Finite Lattices By Finite Algebras On Sets Of Integers, Roger Lee Bunn

Doctoral Dissertations

"We give finite congruence lattice representations of some finite distributive, modular and nonmodular lattices by means of finite algebras on sets of integers. These representations are minimal or near minimal as determined by ρ, a mapping from the class R of finitely representable lattices into the natural numbers N"--Abstract, page iii.

Hall-Effect Thruster Surface Properties Investigation, David George Zidar

Masters Theses

"Surface properties of Hall-effect thruster channel walls play an important role in the performance and lifetime of the device. Physical models of near-wall effects are beginning to be incorporated into thruster simulations, and these models must account for evolution of channel surface properties due to thruster operation. Results from this study show differences in boron nitride channel surface properties from beginning-of-life and after 100's of hours of operation. Two worn thruster channels of different boron nitride grades are compared with their corresponding pristine and shadow-shielded samples. Pristine HP grade boron nitride surface roughness is 9000±700 Å, while the worn sample …

Novel Transparent Conductive Materials: Understanding And Prediction, Yaou Song

Masters Theses

"Transparent conductive oxides (TCOs) such as doped In₂O₃, ZnO, SnO₂ or CdO are highly attractive due to their special properties, which are electrical conductivity and optical transparency. The lack of complete understanding of the fundamentals behind this unique phenomena and rapidly increasing commercial demand draw a lot of interest in investigating this kind of materials. More efficient, environmentally friendly and less expensive transparent conductive materials are needed for a variety of applications, and a general understanding of the origins of the unusual behavior would help further search for potential transparent conductive (TC) candidates. Understanding the basic properties of conventional TCOs …

The Impact Of A Short-Term Review Treatment Program On Student Success In A College Algebra Course, Frances Clementi Hopf

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The main purpose of this study was to investigate whether conducting a short-term online review of college algebra prerequisite skills at the start of a college algebra course concurrently with the normal course instruction and assignments would have a significant influence on student success. When failure rates in an entry-level college course such as college algebra can range from 20% to 60% or higher, it could present problems for the student and the institution (Burd & Boser, 2009). Research indicates that students who cannot pass entry-level college math courses have decreased chances of obtaining a college degree and it can …

Inalienable Possessions And Flyin' West: African American Women In The Pioneer West, Justin Hosbey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nicodemus, Kansas is one of the few remaining settlements founded by African American former slaves in the post-Civil War period of American history. Designated by the National Park Service as a National Historic Site in 1996, Nicodemus has secured its role as a place deemed important to the history of America. For this project, I worked as an intern for the Nicodemus Historical Society, under the direction of Angela Bates. This local heritage preservation agency manages archival and genealogical records important to Nicodemus descendants, and exhibits several of the community's cultural and material artifacts for the public. I was specifically …

Fantasy, Leisure, And Labor: A Story Of Temple Terrace's Historic Architecture, Rachelle Hostetler

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project is to explore how the community planning and style of housing of Temple Terrace Estates embodies the socio-economic conflicts inherent to the United States in the 1920s. To account for missing narratives, I will approach this research from a critical cultural perspective. I chose this approach as a way to investigate the power dynamics in the city during the time it was known as Temple Terrace Estates Inc. The Estates attracted investors by encouraging northerners to purchase a Mediterranean Revival or Spanish Colonial style villa in conjunction with a parcel of a large orange grove, …

A Comparison Of Oncology And Non-Oncology Nurses In Their Knowledge Of Cancer Pain Management, Nicole Houle

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Approximately 1.5 million people are diagnosed with cancer each year. Most of these people will experience pain at some point during or after their treatment. Areas of knowledge that nurses have been shown to have deficits in include assessment and pharmacological management. These types of issues can affect the treatment given to their patients. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the level of knowledge of cancer pain management in oncology and non-oncology nurses and how they compare with each other.

To study these variables, two instruments, the Pain Management Knowledge Test and a demographic survey, were distributed to …

Links Between Parents' And Children's Levels Of Gratitude, Life Satisfaction, And Hope, Brenna D. Hoy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Positive psychology encourages a focus on identifying and promoting wellness in individuals rather than analyzing psychopathology. Although decades of research shows that mental illness is in part environmental and hereditary, little is known about the relationship between parental levels of positive emotions such as gratitude, life satisfaction, and hope, and their children's levels of the same constructs. This study utilized a past, present, and future framework of positive emotions to explore parental and child levels of gratitude, life satisfaction, and hope. This quantitative study analyzed correlations between self-reported levels of gratitude, life satisfaction, and hope among a sample of 153 …

A Comparison Of Ecological Conditions And Relationships In An Altered Wetland And An Unaltered Wetland, Mark Kiyoshi Hurst

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study is to identify and quantify the hydrologic and ecologic differences between two adjacent sections of Colt Creek; one section unaltered and one section altered by clearing and drainage. These differences were measured by monitoring water levels, groundcover vegetation in each of the two areas, and monitoring numbers and species of birds utilizing the two areas. Surface water levels were measured in three locations: in the historic Colt Creek flow way, in the ditch draining the creek, and in an adjacent wetland strand. In addition, a shallow monitor well in the creek was used to measure …

Evaluating Knowledge And Attitudes Of Graduate Nursing Students Regarding Pain, Eric Bartholomew Jackson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Insufficient pain management continues to be problematic for hospitalized patients throughout the country. It significantly interferes with a person's quality of life making it an issue of great concern to nurses in any setting. However, nurses do not do a good job of managing pain. The purpose of this evaluation was to assess graduate nursing students' knowledge and attitudes toward pain management.

Forty (n=40) graduate nursing students were asked to participate in the evaluation. All students agreed and completed the Demographic Data Form, Nurses Attitude Survey and the Pain Management and Principles Assessment. Thirty-eight females and two males participated in …

Growth And Characterization Of Thermoelectric Ba8Ga16Ge30 Type-I Clathrate Thin-Films Deposited By Pulsed Dual-Laser Ablation, Robert Harry Hyde

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The on-going interest in thermoelectric (TE) materials, in the form of bulk and films, motivates investigation of materials that exhibit low thermal conductivity and good electrical conductivity. Such materials are phonon-glass electron-crystals (PGEC), and the multi-component type-I clathrate Ba₈Ga₁₆Ge₃₀ is in this category. This work reports the first investigation of Ba₈Ga₁₆Ge₃₀ films grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD).

This dissertation details the in-situ growth of polycrystalline type-I clathrate Ba₈Ga₁₆Ge₃₀ thin-films by pulsed laser ablation. Films deposited using conventional laser ablation produced films that contained a …

Perseverative Cognition, Cognitive Load, And Distraction In Recovery From Stress, Alvin B. Jin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Perseverative cognition is the repetitive cognitive representation of a stressor, which includes the concepts of worry and rumination. These thoughts delay post-stress cardiovascular recovery, which may lead to an increased risk for cardiovascular disease. This may be due to the negative emotional content of perseverative cognition or because it involves cognitive effort. The aim of this study was to identify the unique influences of negative emotional content and cognitive effort during recovery. Participants (N = 120) were given a demanding task purportedly as a measure of intelligence and then given false negative feedback. Immediately following, participants engaged in one of …

Exploring Instructional Strategies And Learning Goals In Undergraduate Leadership Education, Daniel Jenkins

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Leadership education has been integral to the undergraduate curriculum since the early 1990's. Today, more than 1,000 colleges and universities in the United States offer undergraduate courses in leadership studies and many offer academic credit in the form of a bachelor's degree, academic minor, or certificate. Yet, little is known about those who teach leadership studies courses to undergraduates, the instructional strategies they employ, or the learning goals they set. The purpose of this study was to identify the instructional strategies that are most frequently used by instructors when they teach academic credit-bearing undergraduate leadership studies courses, identify signature pedagogies …

Case-Control Study Of Sunlight Exposure And Cutaneous Human Papillomavirus Seroreactivity In Basal Cell And Squamous Cell Carcinomas Of The Skin, Michelle R. Iannacone

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC), comprised of basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), is the most common cancer in Caucasians. Ultraviolet radiation (UVR) exposure is the most important environmental risk factor for both BCC and SCC development. However, the precise relationship between UVR and the risk of NMSC is complex, and the relationship may differ by skin cancer type. It has been hypothesized that intermittent patterns and childhood sunlight exposure are important for BCC while continuous (chronic) and lifelong (i.e. childhood and adulthood) sunlight exposure is important for SCC. Epidemiologic studies have demonstrated that cutaneous human papillomavirus (HPV) …

The Conservation And Ecology Of Carnivorous Plants, David Jennings

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As discussed in Chapter 1, although our understanding of the ecology and evolution of carnivorous plants has greatly improved in recent years, many fundamental questions remain unanswered. Unfortunately, at the present time, many carnivorous plants are increasingly threatened by anthropogenic activities. Indeed, over half of the carnivorous plant species assessed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) are listed as `threatened', but the threats to carnivorous plants have not previously been quantified. In Chapter 2, I quantified the conservation threats to carnivorous plant taxa worldwide by searching peer-reviewed literature, and found data on the threats to 48 …

Combining Natural Language Processing And Statistical Text Mining: A Study Of Specialized Versus Common Languages, Jay Jarman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on developing and evaluating hybrid approaches for analyzing free-form text in the medical domain. This research draws on natural language processing (NLP) techniques that are used to parse and extract concepts based on a controlled vocabulary. Once important concepts are extracted, additional machine learning algorithms, such as association rule mining and decision tree induction, are used to discover classification rules for specific targets. This multi-stage pipeline approach is contrasted with traditional statistical text mining (STM) methods based on term counts and term-by-document frequencies. The aim is to create effective text analytic processes by adapting and combining individual …

"Take Another Look At 'Em": Passing Performances Of Gender In The Junior-Freshman Weddings Of Florida State College For Women, 1909-1925, Sarah Lynne Jünke

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Junior-freshmen weddings were all-female mock weddings that were performed as annual traditions on college campuses throughout the U.S. in the early part of the twentieth-century. In the weddings, college women played both the men's and women's roles, and were joined as husband and wife by their college administration. This thesis focuses on the junior-freshman weddings of Florida State College for Women during the years 1909-1925 and argues that the weddings expressed the conflicted cultural contexts that college women in the Progressive Era confronted, but that, significantly, this expression was done through passing performances of gender. The women's choice of passing …

Seagrass Patch Dynamics In Areas Of Historical Loss In Tampa Bay, Fl, Usa, Kristen A. Kaufman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The study documents seagrass patch dynamics over large spatial extents in Tampa Bay, Florida. Using GIS techniques a set of fine scale seagrass maps was created within locations previously identified as "patchy" seagrass or areas of seagrass loss. Thirty randomly selected landscape windows of various extents were mapped for the years 2004, 2006, and 2008 by visualizing 0.3 m resolution color imagery on-screen at a digitizing scale of 1:500 using a minimum mapping unit of 1 m². Characteristics of seagrass patches and patterns of seagrass change were quantified using area-based and time interval metrics including total seagrass area, …

Minimal And Symmetric Global Partition Polynomials For Reproducing Kernel Elements, Mario Jesus Juha

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Reproducing Kernel Element Method is a numerical technique that combines finite element and meshless methods to construct shape functions of arbitrary order and continuity, yet retains the Kronecker-δ property. Central to constructing these shape functions is the construction of global partition polynomials on an element. This dissertation shows that asymmetric interpolations may arise due to such things as changes in the local to global node numbering and that may adversely affect the interpolation capability of the method. This issue arises due to the use in previous formulations of incomplete polynomials that are subsequently non-affine invariant. This dissertation lays out …

A Remotely Operated Multi-Tracked Vehicle For Subterranean Exploration Of Gopher Tortoise Burrows, William Keese

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The gopher tortoise is a land tortoise living in the southeastern United States. It is a species in decline and is listed as threatened or endangered in six different states. The gopher (as commonly referred) digs burrows that it uses for many reasons and spends most of its time underground. Problems occur when trying to estimate a population because a gopher tortoise digs more than one burrow. This thesis demonstrates an innovative way to survey and investigate a gopher tortoise burrow hole by using a multi-tracked remotely operated vehicle. The vehicle carried two cameras (fore and aft) and was equipped …

Oxygen Diffusion Characterization Of Frp Composites Used In Concrete Repair And Rehabilitation, Chandra K. Khoe

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Many independent studies have conclusively demonstrated that fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) slow down chloride-induced corrosion of steel in concrete. The mechanism for this slow down is not well understood but it has been hypothesized that FRP serves as a barrier to the ingress of chloride, moisture, and oxygen that sustain electrochemical corrosion of steel.

This dissertation presents results from an experimental study that determined the oxygen permeation rates of materials used in infrastructure repair. In the study, the oxygen permeation constants for epoxy, carbon and glass fiber laminates, concrete, epoxy-concrete and FRP-concrete systems were determined and a method developed to …

Biodegradation Of Bisphenol-A And 17b-Estradiol In Soil Mesocosms Under Alternating Aerobic/Anoxic/Anaerobic Conditions, Won-Seok Kim

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Soil-aquifer treatment (SAT) has been proposed as a method for reusing treated municipal wastewater. SAT is characterized by alternating cycles of aerobic and anaerobic conditions in the subsurface, in response to alternating cycles of flooding and drainage of a surface impoundment. It is not yet known how these alternating redox conditions affect the removal of potentially harmful endocrine-disrupting compounds (EDCs) from treated effluent.

The overall objective of my doctoral research is to determine the fate of EDCs in alternating aerobic/anoxic/anaerobic conditions under simulated SAT conditions. To assess the fate of EDCs in simulated SAT conditions, I first had to develop …

An Analysis On The Experience Of Mentoring Support In A College Alternative Teacher Certification Program, Debra Voutsinas Kilgore

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to explore how college alternative teacher certification (ATC) participants experience mentoring support. The goal was to obtain a rich and deep understanding of the nature of the mentoring experience in a college ATC program through the perspectives of mentees and their mentors. The ATC program was the Educator Preparation Institute (EPI).

Semi-structured interviews were conducted. Eight individuals participated in the study, four were mentors and four were EPI students. A triangulated set of research methods for data collection and analysis was used, including member checks, validation forms, and peer reviews. All the interviews …

Teacher Commitment To The Implementation Of Ninth Grade Academies And Their Perceptions Of School Leadership, Deborah Kindel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the commitment of teachers to the implementation of ninth grade academies and their perceptions of school leadership during the reform process. Concern for successful high school completion prompted the redesign of ninth grade into a school-within-a-school format within a Florida school district. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the type of commitment and form of leadership evident in this reform initiative along with the relationship between them. As a mindset for change, commitment was represented as affective, normative, and continuance. Leadership styles were delineated as transformational, transactional, and passive/avoidant along with related outcomes of …