Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

An Assessment Of The Influence Of Local Conditions On The Economic And Environmental Sustainability Of Drain Water Heat Recovery Systems, Anusha Ravichandran

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Increasing resource demand and decreasing supplies necessitate a paradigm shift in wastewater management from treatment to resource recovery. As the economic and environmental performance of wastewater-based resource recovery systems is location-specific (e.g., terrain slope influences hydro-energy recovery), a holistic view of their sustainability requires a comprehensive analysis on the effect of the local conditions on these systems. Although the internal factors affecting such systems (e.g., water quality and end use) are well studied, there is limited literature on the effect of external factors such as topography, climate and population density. This study evaluated the role of climate and population density …

Timing And Rates Of Events In The Generic Volcanic Earthquake Swarm Model, Tianyu Rong

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis I combine data from 29 volcanic earthquake swarms that follow the pattern predicted by the Generic Volcanic Earthquake Swarm Model (GVESM; Benoit and McNutt, 1996) to investigate whether the relative timing of various parameters of pre-eruptive volcanic earthquake swarms could be used to forecast the time of an impending eruption. Based on the analysis of seismic unrest preceding many eruptions, the GVESM suggests that it is common to see an increase first in high-frequency earthquakes, then low-frequency earthquakes, then the onset of volcanic tremor. While this pattern is useful to volcano-seismologists, the relative timing and durations of …

Detecting Rtl Trojans Using Artificial Immune Systems And High Level Behavior Classification, Farhath Zareen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Security assurance in a computer system can be viewed as distinguishing between self and non-self. Artificial Immune Systems (AIS) are a class of machine learning (ML) techniques inspired by the behavior of innate biological immune systems, which have evolved to accurately classify self-behavior from non-self-behavior. This work aims to leverage AIS-based ML techniques for identifying certain behavioral traits in high level hardware descriptions, including unsafe or undesirable behaviors, whether such behavior exists due to human error during development or due to intentional, malicious circuit modifications, known as hardware Trojans, without the need fora golden reference model. We explore the use …

Exploring The Behavior Of Model Fit Criteria In The Bayesian Approximate Measurement Invariance: A Simulation Study, Abeer Atallah S. Alamri

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Measurement invariance (MI) is conducted to ensure that differences found in the results of group comparisons are due to true substantive differences and not methodological artifacts. Previous cross-cultural and cross-national studies with large number of groups showed that the advanced measurement invariance level was rarely held when utilizing the traditional (frequentist) MI approach. The Bayesian approximate measurement invariance (BAMI) was introduced to override the traditional MI strict assumption, because trivial non-invariance in parameters across groups is allowed. Although the concept of the BAMI, which has been utilized since 2013, was incorporated into the context of structural equation modeling, there is …

Absorber And Window Study – Cdsexte1-X/Cdte Thin Film Solar Cells, Chih-An Hsu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

CdTe an II-VI semiconductor has been a leading thin film photovoltaic material due to its near ideal bandgap and high absorption coefficient [1]. The typical thin film CdTe solar cells have been of the superstrate configuration with CdS (Eg-2.42eV) as the n-type heterojunction partner. Due to the relatively narrow bandgap of CdS, a wider bandgap n-type window layer has recently emerged as a promising substitute: alloys of MgyZn1-yO have been successfully used as the emitter or window layer. The benefits in the usage of MgyZn1-yO (MZO) are its tunable bandgap and wide optical spectrum on optoelectronic devices. Due to an …

Change Descriptors For Determining Nodule Malignancy In Lung Ct Screening Images, Benjamin Geiger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Computed tomography (CT) imagery is an important weapon in the fight against lung cancer; various forms of lung cancer are routinely diagnosed from CT imagery. The growth of the suspect nodule is known to be a prognostic factor in the diagnosis of pulmonary cancer, but the change in other aspects of the nodule, such as its aspect ratio, density, spiculation, or other features usable for machine learning, may also provide prognostic information.

We hypothesized that adding combined feature information from multiple CT image sets separated in time could provide a more accurate determination of nodule malignancy. To this end, we …

High-Precision Lead Isotope Analysis On Modern Populations To Determine Geolocation Reliability, Gennifer M. Goad

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Forensic anthropologists increasingly use chemical isotope analysis in the investigation of unidentified human remains, as biochemical georeferencing continually improves with the development of modern reference data of known origins. Isotope variations in trace elements such as strontium (Sr) and lead (Pb) in human teeth are some of the most useful indicators of past domicile in archaeological research and thus have high potential for modern, forensic applications. In this study, high-precision lead isotope analysis was conducted on 63 modern human teeth, which were previously analyzed for strontium isotopes. The results present new lead isotope data for the following countries: United States …

Dormancy In The Amphistegina Gibbosa Holobiont: Ecological And Evolutionary Implications For The Foraminifera, Benjamin J. Ross

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Dormancy, a state of severely decreased or suspended metabolism, is a widespread survival strategy in nature. In the Foraminifera, one of the most studied groups of marine organisms, its presence had been suggested by circumstantial evidence, but rarely studied directly until recently. Despite the lack of research, stressor-induced dormancy can significantly alter the way in which foraminiferal ecology is understood, especially in marginal environments. In this dissertation, I reviewed the evidence for dormancy in the foraminiferal literature, concluding that evidence for dormancy is widespread across the Phylum. I then explored the role of dormancy in the survival of the diatom-bearing …

Improving Strategic It Investment Decisions By Reducing Information Asymmetry, Thomas P. Stablein

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The unprecedented ubiquity with which technological advancements, such as blockchain, the Internet of things (IoT), big data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI), are impacting the world has forced large organizations to rethink their information technology roadmaps. Their decisions about how they invest in technology have become more important. It is against this backdrop that companies must decide how much to invest in their aging technologies versus these new potentially transformational ones. A decision is only as good as the information available to the decision-makers when they make it. This research project seeks to understand the effects that information asymmetry …

Physical Electronic Properties Of Self-Assembled 2d And 3d Surface Mounted Metal-Organic Frameworks, Radwan Elzein

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Metal-organic frameworks stand at the frontiers of molecular electronic research because they combine desirable physical properties of organic and inorganic components. They are crystalline porous solids constructed by inorganic nodes coordinated to organic ligands to form 1D, 2D, or 3D structures. They possess unique characteristics such as ultrahigh surface area crystal lattices up to 10000 m² g^-1, and tunable nanoporous sizes ranging from 0.2 to 50 nm. Their unprecedented structural diversity and flexibility beyond solid state materials can lead to unique properties such as tailorable electronic and ionic conductivity which can serve as interesting platforms for a …

Pursuing Resilience Of Coastal Communities Through Sustainable And Integrated Urban Water Management, Pacia Díaz

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Reliability of water supply in the urban setting has become essential for communities to function and thrive. It is needed for more than mere human consumption and well-being. Although modern cities have water treatment and distribution systems, pressures from urbanization, population growth and the anticipated pressures of climate change are affecting the quality of water supply and the reliability of treatment and distribution systems. There is therefore an urgent need to take appropriate measures to improve the resilience of water supply systems before the impacts are irreversible.

Improving the resilience of water supply systems can be a challenge. In the …

The Utility Of The Conductivity Mass-Balance Method For Base Flow Separation In Rivers And Streams, Darline Alegria Lott

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Freshwater for ecosystems, drinking water, and water for various businesses are important resources and those resources are rapidly diminishing globally due to drought and overuse. In order to manage the availability of water for all concerned, good estimates of base flow (groundwater) is required. Base flow, a component of streamflow, is deduced by separating a stream hydrograph into two components, base flow and runoff. There are several techniques used to perform base flow separation; however two techniques are used in this study, chemical mass-balance and analytical methods. This dissertation explains how an analytical technique was derived from a mass-balance method, …

Sorbent Enrichment Performance Of Aromatic Compounds From Diluted Liquid Solution, Le Meng

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sorbent enrichment is treated as the extend sample preparing method from liquid extraction. The theories of liquid extraction also extend to sorbent enrichment, which is based on the distribution equilibrium. With the development of advanced materials, sorbents have been improved dramatically in the past twenty years. Nowadays, more and more enrichment performance cannot be explained from the angle of distribution model.

Herein, the sorption model is emphasized in this study. As the majority exist, aromatic compounds are the focused class of analytes. This study analyzed the sorption from two factors, the interaction between adsorbate and sorbent from their aromaticity, and …

Assessing The Cooling Effects Of Urban Vegetation On Urban Heat Mitigation In Selected U.S. Cities, Qiuyan Yu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Urban Heat Island (UHI) is a growing problem worldwide. Mitigation of UHI is necessary for cities to adapt to climate change and enhance sustainable development at a city scale. Cooling cities with urban vegetation management is a sustainable solution for urban heat mitigation. Urban vegetation influences urban microclimate through the shading effect, surface roughness, and evapotranspiration. The differences in horizontal and vertical structures of urban vegetation determine the shading effect, surface roughness, and evapotranspiration. Enhancing the cooling effect of urban vegetation requires a comprehensive understanding of how vegetation structure affects UHI. The effects of horizontal structure on land surface temperature …

Flowgraph Models For Clustered Multistate Time To Event Data, Kristin Hall

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Healthcare systems have multistate processes. Such processes may be modeled using flowgraphs, which are directed graphs. Flowgraph models support a variety of transition time distributions, easily handle reversibility between states and allow alternate paths to the event or state of interest to be taken. However, estimation of flowgraph and first passage time distribution parameters can lead to incorrect inferences when interdependent data are treated as independent.

In this dissertation, we expand the flowgraph model to accommodate nested and correlated data structures. We develop a framework to incorporate random effects into transition probability and transition time components of a flowgraph model. …

Optical Remote Sensing Of Oil Spills In The Gulf Of Mexico, Shaojie Sun

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Assessment of oil spills in the ocean using passive remote sensing (i.e., reflected sun light) faces two challenges: detect oil presence/absence and quantify oil volume. While the optical properties of oil allow it to be differentiated from the surrounding marine environment, sun glint can facilitate oil presence/absence detection because the oil-water spatial contrast is enhanced due to wave dampening. However, sun glint also modulates the magnitude and shape of the spectral reflectance of surface oil. In addition to this difficulty, the most critical challenge is how to quantify oil volume (or thickness) through remote sensing. To date, such quantifications have …

Enhancement Of Rainfall-Triggered Shallow Landslide Hazard Assessment At Regional And Site Scales Using Remote Sensing And Slope Stability Analysis Coupled With Infiltration Modeling, Thilanki Maneesha Dahigamuwa Rajaguru Mudiyanselage

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Landslides cause significant damage to property and human lives throughout the world. Rainfall is the most common triggering factor for the occurrence of landslides. This dissertation presents two novel methodologies for assessment of rainfall-triggered shallow landslide hazard. The first method focuses on using remotely sensed soil moisture and soil surface properties in developing a framework for real-time regional scale landslide hazard assessment while the second method is a deterministic approach to landslide hazard assessment of the specific sites identified during first assessment. In the latter approach, landslide inducing transient seepage in soil during rainfall and its effect on slope stability …

A Secure Computing Platform For Building Automation Using Microkernel-Based Operating Systems, Xiaolong Wang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Building Automation System (BAS) is a complex distributed control system that is widely deployed in commercial, residential, industrial buildings for monitoring and controlling mechanical/electrical equipment. Through increasing industrial and technological advances, the control components of BAS are becoming increasingly interconnected. Along with potential benefits, integration also introduces new attack vectors, which tremendous increases safety and security risks in the control system. Historically, BAS lacks security design and relies on physical isolation and "security through obscurity". These methods are unacceptable with the "smart building" technologies. The industry needs to reevaluate the safety and security of the current building automation system, and …

Enhancing The Design Of A Cybersecurity Risk Management Solution For Communities Of Trust, James E. Fulford Jr.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research into cybersecurity risks and various methods of evaluating those threats has become an increasingly important area of academic and practitioner investigations. Of particular interest in this field is enhancing the designs and informing capabilities of cybersecurity risk management solutions for users who desire to understand how organizations are impacted when such risks are exploited. Many of the cybersecurity risk management solutions are extremely technical and require their users to have a commensurate level of technical acumen. In the situation evaluated during this research project, the founders of the company being researched had created a highly technical risk management solution …

Structure-Based Design, Synthesis And Applications Of A New Class Of Peptidomimetics: 'Y-Aa Peptides And Their Derivatives, Ma Su

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Peptidomimetics can mimic hierarchical structures of peptides and proteins. Thus, they are extensively studied for therapeutic applications. To break the limitation of backbones and frameworks and expand the peptidomimetics family, a new class of peptidomimetics - “γ-AApeptides” was developed. Design of γ-AApeptides is based on the chiral peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) backbone.

The World Health Organization estimates that one -third of all deaths in the world are on account of infectious diseases. AMPs are important because of their high activity against broad spectrum microbes, less susceptible to grow resistance and selectivity in binding to bacterial cells over human cells. γ-AApeptides …

On The Feasibility Of Profiling, Forecasting And Authenticating Internet Usage Based On Privacy Preserving Netflow Logs, Soheil Sarmadi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Understanding Internet user behavior and Internet usage patterns is fundamental in developing future access networks and services that meet technical as well as Internet user needs. User behavior is routinely studied and measured, but with different methods depending on the research discipline of the investigator, and these disciplines rarely cross. We tackle this challenge by developing frameworks that the Internet usage statistics used as the main features in understanding Internet user behaviors, with the purpose of finding a complete picture of the user behavior and working towards a unified analysis methodology. In this dissertation we collected Internet usage statistics via …

An Analytical Solution For Attainment Of Field Capacity, Ali Aldrees

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Field Capacity (FC) is a key parameter to quantify in agricultural engineering, irrigation controlling, and soil physics studies. For instance, irrigation studies focuses on determining the optimal amount of water needed by plants to grow following an irrigation system and therefore relies on determining FC. Likewise, the value of FC is a good indicator of soil textures, structures and pore size distributions. For example, loamy soils have a wider distribution of pores leading to high FC values. FC depends on multiple physically-grounded variables which include matric potential value (ψ_FC ), water content at FC (θ_FC ), specific drainage time to …

Lump Solutions And Riemann-Hilbert Approach To Soliton Equations, Sumayah A. Batwa

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the first part of this dissertation we introduce two matrix iso-spectral problems, a Kaup-Newell type and a generalization of the Dirac spectral problem, associated with the three-dimensional real Lie algebras sl(2;R) and so(3;R), respectively. Through zero curvature equations, we furnish two soliton hierarchies. Hamiltonian structures for the resulting hierarchies are formulated by adopting

the trace identity. In addition, we prove that each of the soliton hierarchies has a bi-Hamiltonian structure which leads to the integrability in the Liouville sense. The motivation of the first part is to construct soliton hierarchies with infinitely many commuting symmetries and conservation laws.

The …

Quantifying The Probability Of Lethal Injury To Florida Manatees Given Characteristics Of Collision Events., B. Lynn Combs

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Wherever wildlife share space with boaters, collisions are a potential source of mortality. Establishing protection and speed zones are the primary actions taken to mitigate collision risk. However, creation of protection zones may be a point of contention with stakeholders as new zones can have significant socioeconomic impacts. The Florida Manatee is a prime example of a species whose abundance and viability are constrained by this balance between the needs of humans and wildlife on a shared landscape. The goal of this work is to help further understand the risk to manatees by quantifying the probability of lethal collisions. I …

Evaluating The Use Of Larval Connectivity Information In Fisheries Models And Management In The Gulf Of Mexico, Michael Drexler

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Connectivity is a major contributor to the overall dynamics of marine populations. However, it still remains challenging to describe connectivity on ecologically meaningful scales of time and space. This is a major impediment to evaluating the impacts of marine protected area with respect to fisheries management objectives.

This dissertation brings together a wide array of spatial and connectivity information in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) with the goal of 1) understanding the spatial distribution of fish populations and source-sink dynamics and 2) evaluating whether this information can be integrated, through a modeling framework, to identify closed areas that could be …

A Cost Benefit Analysis Of Using A Battery Energy Storage System (Bess) Represented By A Unit Commitment Model, Nemanja Mihailovic

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis aims to provide a general overview of a cost and benefit analysis of incorporating a battery energy storage system within unit commitment model.

The deregulation of the electricity market in the U.S. has only been around for the last two decades. With renewable energy and energy storage systems becoming less expensive, a decentralized market scheme is becoming more popular and plausible. The scope of this work is to provide a fundamental understanding of unit commitment and a cost analysis of applying a battery energy storage system to an already established power system.

A battery energy storage system (BESS) …

Integrating Towed Underwater Video With Multibeam Acoustics For Mapping Benthic Habitat And Assessing Reef Fish Communities On The West Florida Shelf, Alexander Ross Ilich

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Using a towed underwater video camera system, benthic habitats were classified along transects in a popular offshore fishing area on the West Florida Shelf (WFS) known as “The Elbow.” Additionally, high resolution multibeam bathymetry and co-registered backscatter data were collected for the entire study area. Using these data, full coverage geologic and biotic habitat maps were developed using both unsupervised and supervised statistical classification methodologies. The unsupervised methodology used was k-means clustering, and the supervised methodology used a random forest algorithm. The two methods produced broadly similar results; however, the supervised methodology outperformed the unsupervised methodology. The results of the …

Analysis And New Applications Of Metal Organic Frameworks (Mof): Thermal Conductivity Of A Perovskite-Type Mof And Incorporation Of A Lewis Pair Into A Mof., Wilarachchige D C B Gunatilleke

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Metal organic frameworks have gained much attention due to their tunable pore sizes and very high surface areas. With the discovery many of these type materials the need has raised to look into new applications of theses porous frameworks. This thesis focuses on the synthesis of a new perovskite-type metal organic framework and measurement of its thermal conductivity in search of its applicability as a thermoelectric material. The second part of this work focuses on the synthesis of a metal organic framework incorporated with a Lewis pair for the first time. The optimum loading amount of the Lewis pair into …

Comparison Of Modeled And Measured Pesticide Concentrations In Air, Trenell Davis Boggans

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Chlorpyrifos (CPF) is a popular organophosphorus insecticide that is heavily used in the agriculture industry as a means of pest control. Chlorpyrifos is known for its toxic effect to inhibit the enzyme acetylcholinesterase (ACHE) in humans and is widely used in areas of California where the site of application is close to occupied areas, such that exposures to residents and bystanders can occur due to secondary drift. Secondary drift refers to the volatilization of a pesticide from the surface to which it was applied (e.g. soil or plant foliage) and subsequent off-site movement in ambient air. Secondary drift is different …

Optimizing Peptide Fractionation To Maximize Content In Cancer Proteomics, Victoria Izumi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the studies included in this thesis is to develop an effective an efficient method to study the proteome using separation and detection of peptides, when only a limited amount of sample, 10 micrograms of total protein or less, is available. The analysis will be applied to multiple myeloma cancer cells using ultra high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry for expression proteomics to illustrate utility. To detect low abundance peptides in a complex proteome, we use different strategies, including basic pH reversed-phase liquid chromatography (bRPLC), mass-to-charge fractionation in the mass spectrometer, and various liquid chromatography gradients to increase peptide separation …