Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Female Power & Agency In Animal Behavior, Nicole Le

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

Issue 3

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

Eat Strong: Diet And Nutrition, Helen Rich

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

Sriracha And The Science Of Pain, Weelic Chong

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

Getting Sprung: Biological Underpinnings Of Spring Fever, Cynthia Mckelvey

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

Fantastic Fungi, Zoe Lye

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

Biology’S Obsession With Drosophila Melanogaster: Your Everyday Fruit Fly— Or Is It?, Purba Tyagi

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

Dark Matter, Rachel Budker

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

Chiropracty: Medicine Or Mysticism?, Connor Mccleskey

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

Everlasting Organisms, Alix Jason

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

An Interview With Harold Varmus, Daniel Starer-Star

The Synapse: Intercollegiate science magazine

No abstract provided.

Using The Public Trust Doctrine To Achieve Ocean Stewardship, Mary Turnipseed, Michael C. Blumm, Duncan E.J. Currie, Kristina M. Gjerde, Peter Sand, Mary C. Wood, Julie A. Hambrook Berkman, Ryke Longest, Gail Osherenko, Stephen E. Roady, Raphael D. Sagarin, Larry B. Crowder

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Does Pitcher Plant Morphology Affect Spider Residency?, Marc A. Milne, Deborah A. Waller

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Spiders are often found as residents in association with Sarracenia purpurea ( Purple Pitcher Plant). Many spiders choose web locations based on environmental cues such as vegetation structure and composition, prey density, temperature, and humidity. To determine if spiders use cues from the Purple Pitcher Plant to build their webs, we conducted a field study using variants of the plant that separated various morphological features: nectar, pigment, and the presence of prey. There was no difference in spider residency across all treatments and no difference in male/female or mature/immature residency. Linyphiids were the most common residents, possibly due to pitcher …

Investigation Of Spin-Independent Cp Violation In Neutron And Nuclear Radiative Β Decays, Daheng He

Theses and Dissertations--Physics and Astronomy

CP violation is an important condition to explain the preponderance of baryons in our universe, yet the available CP violation in the Standard Model (SM) via the so-called Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa mechanism seems to not provide enough CP violation. Thus searching for new sources of CP violation is one of the central tasks of modern physics. In this thesis, we focus on a new possible source of CP violation which generates triple-product correlations in momenta which can appear in neutron and nuclear radiative β decay. We show that at low energies such a CP violating correlation may arise from the exotic coupling …

Playing In Trelis Weyr: Investigating Collaborative Practices In A Dragons Of Pern Role-Play-Game Forum, Kathleen Marie Alley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This descriptive case study examined adolescents' and emerging adults' literate and social practices within the context of a role-play-game (RPG) forum, investigating the ways participants read and collaboratively composed within this space. As a researcher, I was interested in how this space functioned and how the interactions between members impacted their composing processes, with particular attention to the role of online spaces and popular culture in adolescents' motivation to engage in this forum. This study was guided by three research questions: (1) In what ways is Trelis Weyr, an RPG forum, organized as a virtual environment?; (2) In what ways, …

Topological Degree And Variational Inequality Theories For Pseudomonotone Perturbations Of Maximal Monotone Operators, Teffera Mekonnen Asfaw

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Let X be a real reflexive locally uniformly convex

Banach space with locally uniformly convex dual space X^*

. Let G be a

bounded open subset of X. Let T:X⊃ D(T)⇒ 2X^*

be maximal

monotone and S: X ⇒ 2X^*

be bounded

pseudomonotone and such that 0 notin cl((T+S)(D(T)∩partG)). Chapter 1 gives general introduction and mathematical prerequisites. In

Chapter 2 we develop a homotopy invariance and uniqueness results for the degree theory constructed by Zhang and Chen for multivalued (S₊) perturbations of

maximal monotone operators. Chapter 3 is devoted to the construction of a new …

Synthesis And Investigations Of Type I And Ii Clathrates Of Group 14, Michael Blosser

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Clathrates are a class of new materials that have an open-framework structure that allows guest atoms or molecules to be enclosed inside of their polyhedral framework. Varying the number, weight, and size of the guest species in a particular framework allows one to alter the physical properties of the clathrate. This relationship enables one to further the fundamental understanding of the physics and chemistry of the clathrate structure and use this knowledge to "tune" certain properties. This "tunability" of inorganic clathrates is of great interest as it allows one to optimize their physical properties; making them promising candidates for a …

Magnetism In Complex Oxides Probed By Magnetocaloric Effect And Transverse Susceptibility, Nicholas Steven Bingham

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Magnetic oxides exhibit rich complexity in their fundamental physical properties determined by the intricate interplay between structural, electronic and magnetic degrees of freedom. The common themes that are often present in these systems are the phase coexistence, strong magnetostructural coupling, and possible spin frustration induced by lattice geometry. While a complete understanding of the ground state magnetic properties and cooperative phenomena in this class of compounds is key to manipulating their functionality for applications, it remains among the most challenging problems facing condensed-matter physics today. To address these outstanding issues, it is essential to employ experimental methods that allow for …

Prevention And Detection Of Intrusions In Wireless Sensor Networks, Ismail Butun

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) continue to grow as one of the most exciting and challenging research areas of engineering. They are characterized by severely constrained computational and energy

resources and also restricted by the ad-hoc network operational

environment. They pose unique challenges, due to limited power

supplies, low transmission bandwidth, small memory sizes and limited energy. Therefore, security techniques used in traditional networks cannot be directly adopted. So, new ideas and approaches are needed, in order to increase the overall security of the network. Security applications in such resource constrained WSNs with minimum overhead provides significant challenges, and is the …

Deciphering Deposits: Using Ground Penetrating Radar And Numerical Modeling To Characterize The Emplacement Mechanisms And Associated Energetics Of Scoria Cone Eruption And Construction, Leah Michelle Courtland

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Our understanding of tephra depositional processes is significantly improved by high-resolution ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data collected at Cerro Negro volcano, Nicaragua. The data reveal three depositional regimes: (1) a near-vent region on the cone itself, where 10 GPR radargrams collected on the western flank show quantifiable differences between facies formed from low energy normal Strombolian and higher energy violent Strombolian processes, indicating imaging of scoria cone deposits may be useful in distinguishing eruptive style in older cones where the proximal to distal tephra blanket has eroded away; (2) a proximal zone in which horizons identified in crosswind profiles collected at …

Hydrogen Storage In Hypercrosslinked Polystyrene And Li-Mg-N-H Complex Hydride, Dervis Emre Demirocak

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, hydrogen storage enhancement in hypercrosslinked polystyrene, effects of single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) supported ruthenium (Ru) catalyst on the kinetics and ammonia suppression in the LiNH2-MgH2 complex hydride system and the accuracy of hydrogen storage measurements are investigated in detail.

High surface area physisorption materials are of interest for room temperature hydrogen storage enhancement by spillover. Six different commercially available hypercrosslinked polystyrenes are screened by considering the specific surface area, average pore size, pore volume, and adsorption enthalpy. MN270 is selected mainly due to its high surface area and narrow pores for investigation of the spillover enhancement …

Modeling State Transitions With Automata, Egor Dolzhenko

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Models based on various types of automata are ubiquitous in modern science. These models allow reasoning about deep theoretical questions and provide a basis for the development of efficient algorithms to solve related computational problems. This work discusses several types of automata used in such models, including cellular automata and mandatory results automata.

The first part of this work is dedicated to cellular automata. These automata form an important class of discrete dynamical systems widely used to model physical, biological, and chemical processes. Here we discuss a way to study the dynamics of one-dimensional cellular automata through the theory of …

Spatial And Temporal Trends Of Snowfall In Central New York - A Lake Effect Dominated Region, Justin Joseph Hartnett

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Central New York is located in one of the snowiest regions in the United States, with the city of Syracuse, New York the snowiest metropolis in the nation. Snowfall in the region generally begins in mid-November and lasts until late-March. Snow accumulation occurs from a multitude of conditions: frontal systems, mid-latitude cyclones, Nor'easters, and most notably lake-effect storms. Lake effect snowfall (LES) is a difficult parameter to forecast due to the isolated and highly variable nature of the storm. Consequently, studies have attempted to determine changes in snowfall for lake-effect dominated regions. Annual snowfall patterns are of particular concern as …

Refinement, Application, And Evaluation Of Cognitive And Affective Chemistry Measures For College Students, Keily Heredia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This work describes three case studies conducted to address two major problems in the area of chemistry education research, the lack of reported psychometrics regarding instrument scores, and the need for well-characterized assessments to evaluate college chemistry curricula.

The first case study describes a psychometric evaluation of the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey (CLASS), an instrument designed to assess student beliefs about the learning of chemistry. Results from this work suggest that the CLASS instrument provides fertile ground for short instruments with reasonable psychometric properties. Responses to a single scale instrument, created from CLASS, showed that students in an …

Assessment Of A Modified Double Agar Layer Method To Detect Bacteriophage For Assessing The Potential Of Wastewater Reuse In Rural Bolivia, Sakira N. Hadley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Water scarcity is a global concern that impacts many developing countries, forcing people to depend on unclean water sources for domestic, agricultural, and industrial needs. Wastewater is an alternative water source that contains nutrients needed for crop growth. Wastewater reuse for agriculture can cause public health problems because of human exposure to pathogens. Pathogen monitoring is essential to evaluate the compliance of wastewater with established World Health Organization (WHO) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wastewater reuse guidelines. Indicator organisms are commonly used to detect pathogens in water and wastewater because they are quick and easy to measure, non-pathogenic, and …

Characterizing Interactions Between Chromophores In Synthetic And Natural Macromolecular Films Via Maldi-Tof, Ibf And Dielectric Analyzer, Parul Jain

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the emergence of Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization-Time-of-flight as a tool for diagnosis of diseases via proteomics, there is an increasing need for greater sensitivity. Analysis of peptides by MALDI-TOF-MS is affected by sample formulation and spotting onto a MALDI target. This dissertation investigates a novel MALDI sample preparation technique, Induction Based Fluidics (IBF), for depositing precise volumes (pL to nL) of samples onto the target. We have seen that while using IBF, the induced electric field accompanying deposition enhances matrix crystallization yielding smaller crystals with more homogeneity, as compared to conventional manual micropipette (MP) depositions. An investigation of the …

Chiral Phosphoric Acid-Catalyzed Acetalization And Iso-Pictet-Spengler Reactions, Matthew Jon Kaplan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The development of novel asymmetric reaction methodologies has been invaluable in both the academic and industrial world. In just 15 years, organocatalysis has provided a new means of developing asymmetric reaction methodologies using catalysts that are environmentally benign, relatively inexpensive, bench stable, and non-toxic. One development in organocatalysis that is important to our group in particular is chiral phosphoric acid-catalysis. BINOL-derived and VAPOL-derived phosphoric acids have proven to be excellent catalysts for a number of reactions.

The two projects I will discuss my efforts on are acetalization and iso-Pictet-Spengler reactions. These were projects that I performed during my first two …

Spin Dependent Transport In Novel Magnetic Heterostructures, Priyanga Buddhika Jayathilaka

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Magnetic oxides have become of interest source for spin transport devices due to their high spin polarization. But the real applications of these oxides remains unsatisfactory up to date, mostly due to the change of properties as a result of nano structuring. Magnetite (Fe₃O₄) is one such a material. High Curie temperature and the half metallicity of Fe₃O₄ make it a good potential candidate for spin transport devices. Studies have shown that the nano structuring Fe₃O₄ changes most of it's important properties. This includes high saturation magnetization and drop of …

Bayesian Estimation Of Panel Data Fractional Response Models With Endogeneity: An Application To Standardized Test Rates, Lawrence Kessler

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this paper I propose Bayesian estimation of a nonlinear panel data model with a fractional dependent variable (bounded between 0 and 1). Specifically, I estimate a panel data fractional probit model which takes into account the bounded nature of the fractional response variable. I outline estimation under the assumption of strict exogeneity as well as when allowing for potential endogeneity. Furthermore, I illustrate how transitioning from the strictly exogenous case to the case of endogeneity only requires slight adjustments. For comparative purposes I also estimate linear specifications of these models and show how quantities of interest such as marginal …

A Rheological Examination Of Polymer Composites: Including Functionalized Carbon Nanotubes, Viable Polyurethane Alternates, And Contact Lens Hydrogels, Bernard Knudsen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

From medicine to aerospace, innovation in multiple fields will not occur without addressing current questions that still exist in polymer behavior and manipulation. This dissertation represents the research carried out over the course of three separate experiments using rheometry as the key technique to explore the behavior of polymer composites. In all three studies, polymer composites were investigated for changes to their known physical properties caused through the addition of a filler or functionalization.

Chapter Two examines the possibility of enhancing poly(4-methyl-1-pentene) through the use of soluble carbon nanotubes. In this series of experiments, carbon nanotubes were covalently functionalized using …