American Studies Commons^™

Multiple Hazards And Community Vulnerability In Hillsborough County, Florida, Keith Allen Albury

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Hillsborough County, Florida is subject to a variety of natural and technological hazards, which have the potential to threaten both the population and the built environment. This research focuses on several natural hazards (coastal flooding, sink hole, and hurricane) and technological hazards (toxic transportation spills and toxic release from fixed storage facilities) and the population that is potentially exposed to these hazards. Social vulnerability for this population was determined using racial composition, gender, age and household rental/ownership status.

Both social vulnerability and exposure to hazardous conditions occur as a continuum across geographical space. The determination of who is exposed; the …

Bayesian And Empirical Bayes Approaches To Power Law Process And Microarray Analysis, Zhao Chen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we apply Bayesian and Empirical Bayes methods for reliability growth models based on the power law process. We also apply Bayes methods for the study of microarrays, in particular, in the selection of differentially expressed genes.

The power law process has been used extensively in reliability growth models. Chapter 1 reviews some basic concepts in reliability growth models. Chapter 2 shows classical inferences on the power law process. We also assess the goodness of fit of a power law process for a reliability growth model. In chapter 3 we develop Bayesian procedures for the power law process …

The Importance Of Program-Delivered Differential Reinforcement In The Development Of Classical Music Auditory Discrimination, Gudmundur Torfi Heimisson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Posttest performances after two forms of Web-based tutorial instruction were compared. Both forms were designed to teach students to identify musical compositions that typify Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and 20th Century music. The first treatment condition was a series of Web pages with text and accompanying hyperlinks to musical selections matched to the text. In this condition, students read and listened at their own discretion -- without Web software program restrictions. The second treatment contained exactly the same text and musical selections, but students in this condition read the text in small portions while being required to fill in missing …

A Geochemical And Spatial Characterization Of The Champagne Hot Springs Shallow Hydrothermal Vent Field, Dominica, Lesser Antilles, Kevin Thomas Mccarthy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Studies of seafloor hydrothermal activity and its associated geochemical and mineralogical effects have primarily focused on deep sea systems. These processes are not limited to deep sea locations. Numerous shallow hydrothermal systems have been identified along the submerged flanks of volcanic islands such as Vulcano Island, Italy and Ambitle Island, Papua New Guinea. This study investigates the Champagne Hot Springs shallow marine hydrothermal system, located along the submerged flank of the Plat Pays volcanic system on the southwest section of the island of Dominica, Lesser Antilles. The main objective is determine the source of the hydrothermal fluids and gases and …

Physiological Responses Of Men During The Continuous Use Of A Portable Liquid Cooling Vest, Theresa J. Medina

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Heat stress is a well documented hazard across industries. The combination of environmental conditions, work demands, and clothing contribute to heat strain. Left unchecked, heat strain causes changes in an individual's physiological state that can lead to serious and fatal conditions with little warning. Although engineering and administrative controls are the first choice to abate this hazard, they frequently are not feasible. In these cases, personal cooling is often employed. There are three main types of personal cooling: liquid, air, and passive. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages.

This study focuses on continuous cooling using a portable liquid cooling …

Governing Wayward Consumers: Self-Change And Recovery In Debtors Anonymous, Adam Morenberg

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Previous research on self-change in support groups has focused on the ways individuals accomplish self-change in the "local cultures" of the support group settings. This ethnographic study of the 12-step self-help group Debtors Anonymous (DA) departs from that tradition by focusing on the ways that DA members achieve self-change by employing "recovery" strategies learned from the group in their everyday lives. DA members enter the group during financial crises, and often believe they cannot manage their own personal finances. By learning techniques of financial management taught by the group, DA members gradually gain "sobriety" and financial management skills. This analysis …

Women, Domestic Abuse, And Dreams: Analyzing Dreams To Uncover Hidden Traumas And Unacknowledged Strengths, Mindy Stokes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Domestic abuse is the number one cause of injury to women in the United States. Women and their children flee everyday to shelters to escape the abuse. Once inside the shelters, material resources are rendered so that the women can continue to lead lives outside the shelter and different therapies are employed so that the women can better understand the abuse and their options once leaving. A type of therapy used in other therapeutic forums, such as patients sexually abused as children, is dream analysis. This type of therapy has allowed formerly traumatized victims a safe space to uncover hidden …

An Empirical Analysis Of The Role Of Mitigation In Capital Sentencing In North Carolina Before And After Mckoy V. North Carolina (1990), Janine Kremling

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study focuses on the influence of mitigating circumstances on the sentencing outcome before and after the McKoy (1990) decision. In McKoy (1990) the Supreme Court decided that the jurors did not have to find mitigating circumstances unanimously. Results are reported based on a sample of North Carolina first-degree murder cases where the state sought the death penalty. Logistic regression is used to determine the importance of mitigating circumstances as predictors of jury decision-making in North Carolina, controlling for the variety of other factors that influence that decision.

The descriptive statistics show that the average number of mitigating circumstances submitted …

“Symbolism Of Language: A Study In The Dialogue Of Power Between The Imperial Cult And The Synoptic Gospels”, Sharon Matlock-Marsh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Long before the writings of the New Testament gospels, where Jesus was being proclaimed as the Son of God, and Savior, the world existing under the influences of Hellenism resulting from the conquests by Alexander the Great in 323 BCE, had already been well acquaint

ed with and expected to hear certain symbolic language in determining titles for their divine ruler the emperor. Living within a cosmological framework, i.e., a sacred cosmos, the citizens of the empire accepted the emperor as the manifestation of divinity in the world. This belief existed for centuries prior to Christianity as a reality that …

Feasibility Of Using Nanofiltration As A Polishing Process For Removal Of Cyanobacterial Exudates From Treated Surface Water, Anand J. Mody

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nanofiltration (NF) membrane technology is effective for removal of natural organic matter (NOM) and Disinfection By-Product (DBP) precursors from treated surface water (Allgeier et al., 1995, Chellam et al., 2000, Smith et al., 2002). However, there is a need to control other micropollutants, such as compounds released from algal blooms. In this research, the feasibility of using NF for removal of cyanobacterial exudates was evaluated as a polishing process for conventionally treated surface water.

Screening tests were conducted to compare the performance of four NF membranes, Filmtec's NF90 and NF270, and Hydranautics's LFC1 and NTR7450, for removal of NOM and …

Chemical And Biological Investigation Of The Antarctic Red Alga Delisea Pulchra, Santhisree Nandiraju

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Our interest in the red alga Delisea pulchra (=D.fimbriata) (Greville) Montagne 1844 (Rhodophyceae, Bonnemaisoniales, Bonnemaisoniaceace) was stimulated by its activity in the biosssays done at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. Halogenated compounds from D. pulchra interfere with Gram-negative bacterial signaling systems, affect the growth of Gram-positive bacteria, inhibit quorum sensing and swarming motility of marine bacteria (inhibit bacterial communication). They also inhibit surface colonization in marine bacteria and exhibit antifouling properties against barnacle larvae and macroalgal gametes.

Chemical investigation of D.pulchra collected near Palmer Station, Antarctica yielded three new dimeric halogenated furanones, pulchralide A-C (41-43), along with previously reported …

Australian Great Barrier Reef Initiation Timing Constrained By Seaward Shallow-Water Sediment Drift Architecture (Odp Leg 194, Marion Plateau), Stephen P. Obrochta

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

I resolved the sedimentary architecture of a shallow water (< 500 m), hemipelagic sediment drift located on the Marion Plateau, seaward and downstream of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). The drift responded increasingly to sea-level fluctuations during the Pleistocene. In the early Pleistocene, local climatic variations introduce a precessional rhythm to drift architecture that is out of phase with sea level-forced cyclicity. Beginning in the mid Pleistocene, sea level variations dominate drift architecture, with the highest carbonate and terrigenous fluxes likely occurring during highstand and transgression, respectively. At the sea-level transgression of MIS 15 and subsequent isotope stages, the phasing of maximum terrigenous flux corresponds to sea-level transgression, indicating siliciclastic sediment accumulated on the continental shelf behind an exposed barrier reef during the lowstand of MIS 16 and was remobilized by rising sea-level. These sedimentological data indicate GBR initiation occurred during MIS 17. The normal polarity exhibited by the central GBR and thick section of underlying sediments rules out initiation during MIS 19.

MIS 17 was the first of the asymmetric glacial cycles characteristic of the Late Pleistocene. If the Florida Keys and Belize barrier reef initiations were indeed simultaneous with that of the GBR, then the changing nature of cyclicity in global sea level and climatic fluctuations likely influenced the initiation of the world's major, modern barrier reefs.

Optimization Of The Two Stage Process For Cu(In,Ga)Se2 Solar Cells, Shirish Pethe

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Copper Indium Gallium DiSelenide absorber layers are fabricated using a two stage manufacturing friendly process. The first step involves the sequential deposition of Copper and Gallium and co-deposition of indium and selenium at 275oC. This is followed by the second stage where the substrate is annealed in the presence of Selenium and a thin layer of copper is deposited to neutralize the excess Indium and Gallium on the surface to form the CIGS absorber layer. The top copper thickness as well as the time of deposition was varied to study the effect of Copper on the performance of the cells. …

Congestion-Aware Cross-Layer Design For Wireless Ad Hoc Networks, Ning, Yang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ad hoc networks have emerged recently as an important trend of future wireless systems. The evolving wireless networks are seriously challenging the traditional OSI layered design. In order to provide high capacity wireless access and support new multimedia network, the various OSI layers and network functions should be considered together while designing the network.

In this thesis, we briefly discuss performance optimization challenges of ad hoc networks and cross-layer design. Ad hoc wireless networks were implemented by using Network Simulator NS-2 and the wireless physical, data link, dynamic source routing (DSR) routing protocol models have been included in the simulation. …

Deadlock Avoidance In Mixed Capacity Flexible Manufacturing Systems, Sridhar Mohan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research addressed the design and implementation of a polynomial-complexity deadlock avoidance controller for a flexible manufacturing cell modeled using Colored Petri Nets. The cell model is robust to changes in the part types to be manufactured in the system and is automatically generated using the interaction of the resources in the cell and the technological capabilities of the machines. The model also captures dynamic routing flexibility options. The framework introduced separates the cell model from the control logic allowing the system designer to implement and test various control algorithms using the same cell model. The controller adopts the neighborhood …

Development Of Surface Acoustic Wave Sensors Using Nanostructured Palladium For Hydrogen Detection, Amol V. Chaudhari

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis addresses the development of new gas sensor using surface acoustic wave (SAW) technology. SAW sensors detect the change in mass, modulus, and conductivity of a sensing layer material via absorption or adsorption of an analyte. The advantage of SAW sensor includes low cost, small size, high sensitivity.

We investigated the use of nano-crystalline palladium film for sensing hydrogen gas. We also investigated SAW fabrication for radio frequency (RF) range operation where high signal-to-noise ratios can be achieved. A test-bed consisting of a gas dilution system, a temperature-controlled test cell, a network analyzer, and computer-based measurement system was used …

Institutionalized On The Margins: An Organizational History Of The Preparation Of Teachers Of College Composition, Gregory A. Giberson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The preparation of new college teachers of composition has been a disciplinary topic of interest as well as an institutional concern since the establishment in the late 1800s of the modern English department. In this project, I offer a critical history of the treatment of the topic of the preparation of teachers of college composition by the three most historically significant organizations to English as a discipline and Composition as a field of study within that discipline: the Modern Language Association, the National Council of Teachers of English, and the Conference on College Composition and Communication. By analyzing the treatment …

Fuzzy C-Means Clustering Approach To Design A Warehouse Layout, Vaibhav C. Naik

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Allocation of products in a warehouse is done by various storage policies. These are broadly classified into three main categories: dedicated storage, randomized storage, and class-based storage. In dedicated storage policy a product is assigned a designated slot while in random storage policy incoming product is randomly assigned a storage location close to the input/output point. Finally, the class-based storage is a mixed policy where products are randomly assigned within their fixed class. Dedicated storage policy is most commonly used in practice. While designing large warehouse layout, the product information in terms of throughput and storage level is either uncertain …

Analysis Of Fluid Circulation In A Spherical Cryogenic Storage Tank And Conjugate Heat Transfer In A Circular Microtube, P Sharath Chandra Rao

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The study considered development of a finite-element numerical simulation model for the analysis of fluid flow and conjugate heat transfer in a zero boil-off (ZBO) cryogenic storage system. A spherical tank was considered for the investigation. The tank wall is made of aluminum and a multi-layered blanket of cryogenic insulation (MLI) has been attached on the top of the aluminum. The tank is connected to a cryocooler to dissipate the heat leak through the insulation and tank wall into the fluid within the tank. The cryocooler has not been modeled; only the flow in and out of the tank to …

Behavioral Analysis Of Interactions Between Teachers And Children With Selective Mutism, Jason D. Wallace

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study focused on the interactions between a child with selective mutism and that child's teachers. The hypothesis was that the teachers unknowingly maintained the mutism by not placing the expectations of speech on the child. Therefore, by training three out of the four teachers how to interact with the child with selective mutism, and using the fourth teacher as a control, the researchers were able to identify that the training not only changed the three teachers' behaviors, but also the child with selective mutism's behaviors as well. Also, based on a pre-training/post-training test, the teachers had a much …

The Utilization Of Enzymes In The Synthesis And Modification Of Natural And Nonnatural Compounds: A Chemo-Enzymatic Approach To Enantiomerically Pure Compounds, Jason A. Carr

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The employment of enzymes and whole cells has been important in many industries for centuries. However, it is only in the last 30 years that the use of enzymes for the synthesis of high-value fine chemicals has enjoyed increasing popularity. In fact, esterases and lipases are used almost routinely these days to provide optically active building blocks for the construction of imaginative new routes to chiral target molecules. The major topic of this work describes the utilization of enzymes (namely lipases) in the synthesis and modification of natural and non-natural compounds.

Chapter 1 outlines the strengths and weaknesses of the …

Performance Analysis Of Tcp/Ip Over High Bandwidth Delay Product Networks, Subodh Kerkar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In today's Internet scenario, the current TCP has performed reasonably well. As the Internet has scaled up in load, speed, size and connectivity by the order of six over the past fifteen years, the TCP has consistently avoided severe congestion throughout this same period. Applications involving high performance computings such as bulk-data transfer, multimedia Web streaming, and computational grids demand high bandwidth. These applications usually operate over wide-area networks and, hence, performance over wide-area networks has become a critical issue. Future applications will need steady transfer rates in the order of gigabits per second to support collaborative work. TCP, which …

Modeling Demand Uncertainty And Processing Time Variability For Multi-Product Chemical Batch Process, Rishi Darira

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Most of the literature on scheduling of multi-product batch process does not consider the uncertainties in demand and variability in processing times. We develop a simulation based variable production schedule model for a multi-product batch facility assuming zero wait transfer policy and single product campaign. The model incorporates the demand uncertainties and processing time variability. The impact of demand uncertainties is evaluated in terms of total annual cost, which comprises of the backorder and inventory costs per year. The effect of variability in processing time is measured by the annual production time. We also develop a constant production schedule model …

Characterization Of P-Type Zinc Oxide Films, Madhavi Oleti Kalki Rajan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Zinc Oxide falls under the classification of transparent conductive oxides. They typical optical transmittance of Zinc Oxide is 90% in the visible wavelength region. Though stoichiometric ZnO is an insulator, due to the presence of internal defects such as Zn interstitials and Oxygen vacancies, it exists as a n-type conductor.

The other important property of ZnO which could be used by the optical field is its widebandgap. ZnO has a wide bandgap of 3.2eV -3.3eV. The additional advantage of being a direct bandgap semiconductor has increased the probability of using ZnO for short wavelength applications. These practical applications are directly …

An Analysis Of Travel Trends Of The Elderly And Zero-Vehicle Households In The United States, Ravi Kiran Gorti

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The elderly and persons residing in zero vehicle households require better transportation services by virtue of their need for special care and lack of mobility, respectively. An analysis of the travel trends of these population cohorts is essential to determine the best ways to improve transportation facilities to better serve them. Information about location of residence, life-cycle, differences by gender, employment status, driver status, highest level of education coupled with trip information like trip rate, travel times and distances trip purpose, modal split and percent of people immobile will facilitate understanding the factors that influence trip making among these people …

The Impact Of A Goal Setting Procedure On The Work Performance Of Young Adults With Behavioral/Emotional/Learning Challenges, Robin Wagner Hogsholm

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The population consisting of young people with Behavioral/Emotional/Learning challenges typically experiences poorer outcomes related to employment, in part due to lower performance levels. Effective strategies, which have a positive impact on work performance for this population, are needed. Goal setting has been used to bring about behavior change, or increase 'motivation', in many fields of study. Goal setting can be conceptualized as an establishing operation (EO), which increases the reinforcing value of goal achievement, and thereby increases the probability of the occurrence of behaviors related to reaching the goal, i.e., task completion. This study empirically examined the impact of a …

Anatomy And Function Of The Nucleus Accumbens In The Pigeon (Columba Livia), Scott Alan Husband

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Relatively little is known about the existence and traits of a possible nucleus accumbens (Acc) region in non-mammals. The current project investigated a likely candidate for such a structure in pigeons, the medioventral (mvMSt) and mediodorsal (mdMSt) parts of avian medial striatum (MSt). The methods employed were threefold: 1) tract-tracing to determine anatomical connections of the MSt; 2) lesion studies to assess MSt's role in a cognitive task (reversal learning); and 3) measuring an immediate-early gene induced protein, ZENK, in striatal regions during courtship behavior in male pigeons.

The MSt was found to have many forebrain (amygdala, hippocampus, dorsal thalamus) …

Hydraulic Performance Of Polymer Modified Bentonite, Jessica A. Schenning

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bentonite clay is widely used in barrier systems due to its low hydraulic conductivity and it high swell capacity. Exposure to inorganic solutions can cause significant increases in hydraulic conductivity, due to changes in the surface chemistry and fabric. This phenomenon can be attributed to a reduction in the thickness of the double layer, due to the cation exchange capacity of the clay. The clay can be modified with polymers to render it less susceptible to chemical attack. The treatment process allows the clay to be engineered to enhance specific properties, such as permeability and sorption. In the present study, …

A Comparative Analysis Of Travel Time Expenditures In The United States, Lavenia Anne Toole-Holt

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Literature on transportation planning and modeling is replete with the concept of a travel time budget. According to this concept, average daily travel times tend to be relatively constant. However, evidence from the 1983 Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey and the 2001 National Household Travel Survey suggest that the average daily travel time has increased by 1.9 minutes per year.

Understanding travel time expenditures is important for forecasting travel demand, especially future vehicle miles of travel. Historically, travel demand models considered vehicle availability and income as limiting factors for travel, but going forward time may be the constraint. As individuals spend …

On Effective And Efficient Experimental Designs For Neurobehavioral Screening Tests: The Choice Of A Testing Time For Estimating The Time Of Peak Effects, Peter A. Toyinbo

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In its latest neurotoxicity guidelines released by the US EPA Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances (OPPTS) in 1998, it is recommended that in a neurobehavioral testing, at a minimum, for acute studies, observations and activity testing should be made before the initiation of exposure, at the estimated TOPE (time of peak effects) within 8 hrs of dosing, and at 7 and 14 days after dosing. It is recommended that estimation of TOPE be made by dosing pairs of rats across a range of doses and making regular observations of gait and arousal. However it is well known that …