Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Historical Archaeology Of The Indian Key (8mo15) Warehouse: An Analysis Of Nineteenth-Century Ceramics, Lisa Nicole Lamb

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis describes the archaeological investigation of the Warehouse Complex on Indian Key (8MO15), Monroe County, Florida, through the study of the ceramics recovered from excavations conducted there by the State of Florida from 1972 to 1973 and by the University of South Florida from 1998 to 2002. The Warehouse Complex is composed of two distinct architectural areas, referred to as Feature A and Feature C. This complex lies on the north shore of Indian Key, located in the Atlantic Ocean in the Middle Keys near Islamorada, Florida. The town of Indian Key was founded in the early 1820s, and …

Matlab Implementation Of Gsm Traffic Channel, Nikhil Deshpande

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The GSM platform is a extremely successful wireless technology and an unprecedented story of global achievement. The GSM platform is growing and evolving and offers an expanded and feature-rich voice and data enabling services. General Packet Radio Service, (GPRS), will have a tremendous transmission rate, which will make a significant impact on most of the existing services. Additionally, GPRS stands ready for the introduction of new services as operators and users, both business and private, appreciate the capabilities and potential that GPRS provides. Services such as the Internet, videoconferencing and on-line shopping will be as smooth as talking on the …

Implementation Of An Acoustic Echo Canceller Using Matlab, Srinivasaprasath Raghavendran

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The rapid growth of technology in recent decades has changed the whole dimension of communications. Today people are more interested in hands-free communication. In such a situation, the use a regular loudspeaker and a high-gain microphone, in place of a telephone receiver, might seem more appropriate. This would allow more than one person to participate in a conversation at the same time such as a teleconference environment. Another advantage is that it would allow the person to have both hands free and to move freely in the room. However, the presence of a large acoustic coupling between the loudspeaker and …

High Level Techniques For Leakage Power Estimation Andoptimization In Vlsi Asics, Chandramouli Gopalakrishnan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As technology scales down and CMOS circuits are powered by lower supply voltages, standby leakage current becomes significant. A behavioral level framework for the synthesis of data-paths with low leakage power is presented. There has been minimal work done on the behavioral synthesis of low leakage datapaths. We present a fast architectural simulator for leakage (FASL) to estimate the leakage power dissipated by a system described hierarchically in VHDL. FASL uses a leakage power model embedded into VHDL leafcells. These leafcells are characterized for leakage accurately using HSPICE. We present results which show that FASL measures leakage power significantly faster …

Dry Sliding Tribological Characteristics Of Hard, Flat Materials With Low Surface Roughness, Subrahmanya Mudhivarthi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis focuses on identifying hard material pairs with low roughness, high coefficient of static friction, high wear resistance and high modulus of elasticity, suitable for sliding in dry friction conditions under a normal load. A wide range of materials including various steels, various coatings on tool steels deposited by various deposition techniques and different ceramics were examined and considered for tribological testing. Procedures and sequences were developed for conducting tribology tests on the material pairs. High endurance - low cycle tests were conducted and based on the performance of material pairs with respect to friction, wear and surface roughness …

Diversity And Production Of Phytoplankton In The Offshore Mississippi River Plume And Coastal Environments, Boris Wawrik

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

River discharge leads to extensive phytoplankton blooms often observed in ocean color satellite images to extend far into the open ocean as high chlorophyll plumes. We investigated diversity, distribution and ecology of phytoplankton populations in the Mississippi River plume, both spatially and in the water column using molecular tools. A method was developed for the quantification of diatom/pelagophyte rbcL (large subunit of Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate Carboxylase/Oxygenase) mRNA using quantitative PCR and applied to cultures and in the plume. The vertical structure of phytoplankton species in the Mississippi River plume was described by flow cytometry, pigments, rbcL mRNA and rbcL cDNA libraries. High …

Design And Performance Evaluation Of A New Spatial Reuse Firewire Protocol, Vijay Chandramohan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

New generations of video surveillance systems are expected to possess a large-scale network of intelligent video cameras with built-in image processing capabilities. These systems need to be tethered for reasons of bandwidth and power requirements. To support economical installation of video cameras and to manage the huge volume of information flow in these networks, there is a need for new shared-medium daisy-chained physical and medium access control (bus arbitration) layer communication protocols.

This thesis describes the design principles of Spatial reuse FireWire Protocol (SFP), a novel request/grant bus arbitration protocol, architected for an acyclic daisy-chained network topology. SFP is a …

Cross-Cultural Measurement Invariance Of Work/Family Conflict Scales Across English-Speaking Samples, David Evan Loran Herst

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The factor structure of the work/family conflict scale developed by Carlson, Kacmar, & Williams (2000) was analyzed for measurement invariance between a US and an Australian/New Zealand (ANZ) sample using a multisample confirmatory factor analysis procedure. Results indicated that factor pattern fit between the female samples on the common model was good-to-mediocre, and factor pattern fit between the male samples and the common model was mediocre-to-poor. Both samples exhibited significant changes in chi square when testing for the more restrictive factor loading equivalence. Partial measurement invariance revealed a better fit between the male samples when three of the items were …

Graph-Theoretic Techniques For Web Content Mining, Adam Schenker

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation we introduce several novel techniques for performing data mining on web documents which utilize graph representations of document content. Graphs are more robust than typical vector representations as they can model structural information that is usually lost when converting the original web document content to a vector representation. For example, we can capture information such as the location, order and proximity of term occurrence, which is discarded under the standard document vector representation models. Many machine learning methods rely on distance computations, centroid calculations, and other numerical techniques. Thus many of these methods have not been applied …

Characterization And Modeling Of Planar Spiral Inductors And Pad Stack Parasitic Effects, John Capwell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis concentrates on RF/microwave characterization and modeling of planar spiral inductors and pad stack parasitics. The inductors varied in size from 1.9 to 15.3 nH. Several approaches were examined for modeling the planar spiral inductors. The approach developed herein is built around an existing composite model (available in commercial computer-aided design software), with added series and shunt impedances at both the input and output of the existing composite model. Artificial neural network (ANN) software was used to determine the correction impedance values. Another approach investigated was to model the S-parameters of the inductor using a space- mapping model of …

P-X Measurements For 2-Ethoxyethanol And Four Chlorinated Hydrocarbons At 303.15 K, Salil Milan Pathare

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Total pressure measurements at 303.15 K are reported for the binary systems of 2-ethoxyethanol with carbon tetrachloride, chloroform, 1,2-dichloroethane and dichloromethane. Total pressure measurements for the system of hexane and 2-ethoxyethanol were also made to check the validity of the experimental apparatus and procedure. These measurements were taken according to the static method proposed by Van Ness (1975). Data reduction was accomplished using Barker's Method. The modified Margules equation was used as a model for the excess Gibbs free energy (G^E) and parameter values were obtained by regression of the experimental data.

The obtained data were used to …

The Bases Of Opposition To Affirmative Action: An Attitude Change Effort, Meisha-Ann Martin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study examined the effects of perceptions of fairness, prejudice and collective self-interest on the affirmative action attitudes of 85 White undergraduate students. Participants were classified as non-racists, modern racists or old-fashioned racists based on their scores on the Implicit Association Test and Attitudes Toward Blacks scale. In the first phase of the study, participants read affirmative action information preceded by either high or low attention instructions. In the second phase, fairness, status of position and race of the target of an affirmative action plan were manipulated using vignettes. No significant differences were found in the first phase of …

Exchanges For Complex Commodities: Toward A General-Purpose System For On-Line Trading, John Hershberger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The modern economy includes a variety of markets, and the Internet has opened opportunities for efficient on-line trading. Researchers have developed algorithms for various auctions, which have become a popular means for on-line sales. They have also designed algorithms for exchange-based markets, similar to the traditional stock exchange, which support fast-paced trading of rigidly standardized securities. In contrast, there has been little work on exchanges for complex nonstandard commodities, such as used cars or collectible stamps.

We propose a formal model for trading of complex goods, and present an automated exchange for a limited version of this model. The exchange …

Semiparametric Estimation Of Unimodal Distributions, Jason K. Looper

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

One often wishes to understand the probability distribution of stochastic data from experiment or computer simulations. However, where no model is given, practitioners must resort to parametric or non-parametric methods in order to gain information about the underlying distribution. Others have used initially a nonparametric estimator in order to understand the underlying shape of a set of data, and then later returned with a parametric method to locate the peaks. However they are interested in estimating spectra, which may have multiple peaks, where in this work we are interested in approximating the peak position of a single-peak probability distribution.

One …

Your Computer Is Watching You: Intelligent Agents And Social Facilitation, Jason R. Read

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates whether the social facilitation effect takes place when a person performs a computerized task that includes an animated intelligent agent (IA). The moderating effects of two individual differences, locus of control (LOC) and microcomputer playfulness (MCP), are tested for. It was proposed that an IA's presence would cause participants to exhibit this effect and that LOC and MCP would moderate a participant's arousal, measured as state anxiety, such that those possessing an internal LOC and those exhibiting high MCP would experience less arousal when performing computerized tasks with an IA present. Data was analyzed using a 2 …

A Reinforcement Learning Approach To Obtain Treatment Strategies In Sequential Medical Decision Problems, Radhika Poolla

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Medical decision problems are extremely complex owing to their dynamic nature, large number of variable factors, and the associated uncertainty. Decision support technology entered the medical field long after other areas such as the airline industry and the manufacturing industry. Yet, it is rapidly becoming an indispensable tool in medical decision making problems including the class of sequential decision problems. In these problems, physicians decide on a treatment plan that optimizes a benefit measure such as the treatment cost, and the quality of life of the patient. The last decade saw the emergence of many decision support applications in medicine. …

Packet Loss Concealment In Voice Over Internet, Rishikesh S. Gokhale

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Traditional telephony networks with their cumbersome and costly infrastructures are being replaced with voice being transmitted over the Internet. The Internet is a very commonly used technology that was traditionally used to transmit data. With the availability of large bandwidth and high data rates the transmission of data, voice and video over the Internet is gaining popularity. Voice is a real time application and the biggest problem it faces is the loss of packets due to network congestion. The Internet implements protocols to detect and retransmit the lost packets. However, for a real time application it is too late before …

Use Of Silica-Supported Adsorbents, Modified Silica Gel, Modified Montmorillonite Ksf And Magnetite In The Remediation Of Selected Heavy Metals From Aqueous Media, Craig Alcindor Ivan Bowe

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Pollution of the earth's water resources, including freshwater sources such as lakes and rivers, by heavy metals have been a detriment to the environment for as long as the industrial age of man. As these metallic pollutants accumulate in the supply of precious groundwater and drinking water the need for clean-up technologies to combat the increasing threat is becoming of more importance to government and industry alike. Previous work has established the possibility of using known chelating agents, such as LIX-54® supported on silica gel in the removal of selected heavy metal ions such as copper(II), nickel(II) , and cadmium(II) …

Organizational Office Space In The Virtual Age: The Role Of Shared Space In Communication, Sheila Gobes-Ryan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis takes a phenomenological approach to the examination of the organizational need for shared office space. Questions are developed in a reflexive narrative that introduces challenges to the assumption that space is a given in organizations. The narrative also uses the process of questioning this basis assumption to develop a new understanding of the role of space in organizations in supporting the development of common language needed for the creation of organizational knowledge. Key ideas from systems theory, autopoiesis, organizational theory, semiotics, and psychology are utilized as resources developing the ideas.

A Molecular Approach To Assessing Meiofauna Diversity In Marine Sediments, Heather C. Hamilton

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A Molecular Approach to Assessing Meiofauna Diversity in Marine Sediments Heather C. Hamilton Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine if a molecular approach could be applied to calculating the diversity of meiofauna in marine sediments from two sites in Tampa Bay, FL, similar to the approach of McCaig et al, 1999 in calculating the diversity of microbes in pastureland soils. The approach includes extracting total DNA directly from the sediment and amplifying the 18S rRNA gene by PCR. Clone libraries from the 18S gene would be created for each site and 300 sequences from each clone library …

Falun Gong In The United States: An Ethnographic Study, Noah Porter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, has been described in many ways. It has been called qigong, one of many schools of physical exercises that aim at improving health and developing "supernatural abilities". Scholars and mainstream media have referred it to as a "spiritual movement" or religion, although practitioners claim it is not a religion. It has been called a cult, in the pejorative sense rather than in a sociological context, by the Chinese government and by some Western critics. In the writings of Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, it is referred to in different ways, …

Relative Motion History Of The Pacific-Nazca (Farallon) Plates Since 30 Million Years Ago, Douglas T. Wilder

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Relative plate motion history since 30 Ma between the Pacific and the southern portion of the Nazca (Farallon) plates is examined. The history is constrained by available seafloor magnetic anomaly data and a two-minute grid of predicted bathymetry derived from satellite altimetry and shipboard sensors. These data are used to create a new plate motion reconstruction based on new magnetic anomaly identifications and finite poles of motion. The new identified magnetic isochrons and tectonic reconstruction provides greater resolution to the tectonic history between chrons 7y (24.73 Ma) and 3 (4.18 Ma) than previous interpretations.

Shipboard magnetics and aeromagnetic data from …

Criteria To Evaluate The Quality Of Pavement Camera Systems In Automated Evaluation Vehicles, Iván Sokolic

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The use of high technology in common daily tasks is boarding all areas of civil engineering; pavement evaluation is not the exception. Accordingly, current pavement imaging systems have been able to collect images at highway speeds and with the use of proper software, this digital information can be translated into pavement distress reports in which all distresses are classified and presented by their type, extent, severity, and location. However, a number of issues regarding the quality of pavement images and the appropriate conditions to acquire them, remain to be addressed. These issues surfaced during the development of a pavement evaluation …

A Qualitative Exploration Of Reflective Thinking In Experiential Learning Debriefings, Lynn D. Grinnell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the nature of cognitive and emotional processes during the three reflective stages of the experiential learning cycle of experiential activities using written debriefings. The study examined three written debriefings from five senior-level undergraduate management students enrolled in a business management course. The debriefings consisted of four to five free-response questions modeled after Kolb’s experiential learning cycle: concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active experimentation. The study triangulated results using two qualitative methods, a grounded theory analysis and a content analysis. In the grounded theory analysis, two process maps were developed from …

Embedded Cryptography: An Analysis And Evaluation Of Performance And Code Optimization Techniques For Encryption And Decryption In Embedded Systems, Jayavardhan R. Kandi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

It is clear that Cryptography is computationally intensive. It is also known that embedded systems have slow clock rates and less memory. The idea for this thesis was to study the possibilities for analysis of cryptography on embedded systems. The basic approach was the implementation of cryptographic algorithms on high-end, state-of-the-art, DSP chips in order to study the various parameters that optimize the performance of the chip while keeping the overhead of encryption and decryption to a minimum.

Embedded systems are very resource sensitive. An embedded system is composed of different components, which are implemented in both hardware and software. …

Serial Murder In Institutional Settings, Jennifer D. Grine

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research explored the topic of professional caregivers who commit serial murder in institutional settings. In-depth case studies were created for individuals convicted of serial murder in institutional settings in the United States. The purpose of this research was to identify the characteristics of this group of institutional serialists and compare the current data to existing data on serial killers. A technique of secondary data analysis was utilized to gather information on the sample of 17 individuals. Only public information was reviewed. Results of the data comparison between the current sample and existing information on serial killers indicated that institutional …

Herbivore Abundance In Simple And Diverse Habitats: The Direct And Indirect Effects Of Plant Diversity And Habitat Structure, Laura F. Altfeld

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Herbivore abundances are determined by a set of interacting factors that vary among different habitat types. Specifically, herbivore abundances in monocultures and polycultures may be governed by the same set of factors but with varying influences in the different habitats. In addition, monophagous and polyphagous herbivores may respond differently to the same set of influencing factors. I examined several abiotic and biotic factors in manipulated monocultures and polycultures of Borrichia frutescens in a west central Florida salt marsh. The experimental plots differed in both plant diversity and aboveground habitat structure to see how each component of diversity contributed to variability …

Deployment And Strategies For Application Of Intelligent Transportation System Elements For Contra Flow Hurricane Evacuation And Emergency Response, Ingrid Leuchtenmueller Birenbaum

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Deployment and Strategies for Application of Intelligent Transportation System Elements for Contra Flow Hurricane Evacuation and Emergency Response Ingrid Leuchtenmueller Birenbaum ABSTRACT This thesis is focused upon the deployment and strategies for the application of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) elements for contra flow hurricane evacuation and emergency response. A 99-mile segment of the Mainline of Florida's Turnpike, State Road 91, comprises the research corridor. This segment stands as the potential one way evacuation route for major hurricane evacuations and other types of natural and man-made disasters for the Turnpike System. Plans have been developed and modified over time to address …

The Involvement Of Florida’S Full-Time Community College Faculty In Institutional Governance: Implications For Institutional Decision-Making, Martha Etheredge Campbell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study's purpose was to investigate the level of involvement of Florida's full-time community college faculty in institutional governance, their perceptions of the faculty governance body's role in institutional decision-making, and the characteristics of an ideal governance process. This study also explored the relation between a faculty member's level of involvement in governance activities and his or her perceptions of the desired roles of faculty in institutional governance as well as the relation between a faculty member's level of involvement and his or her gender, race, age, and years of employment. Certain factors that encourage or discourage faculty participation in …

Developing Organizational Development: Alienation And Organizing In The Age Of Information, Robert D. Kreisher

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Modernism is characterized by alienation from one's self and the processes by which one's self gets constructed. Organizational development (OD) is an activity that attempts to address the experience of work and to transform the historical alienation.

OD practitioners are often optimistic that this transformation is possible and even is happening in the day-to-day work of OD. A group of critics, mostly academics, are skeptical about whether any real transformation is possible, arguing that OD practices are misguided extensions of modernism. In one thread of the OD literature, authors build an argument for the centrality of issues of identity in …