Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Functional Object-Oriented Network: A Knowledge Representation For Service Robotics, David Andrés Paulius Ramos

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we discuss our work behind the development of the functional object-oriented network (abbreviated as FOON), a graphical knowledge representation for robotic manipulation and understanding of its own actions and (potentially) the intentions of humans in the household. Based on the theory of affordance, this representation captures manipulations and their effects on actions through the coupling of object and motion nodes as fundamental learning units known as functional units. The activities currently represented in FOON are cooking related, but this representation can be extended to other activities that involve manipulation of objects which result in observable changes of …

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Exposure, Hepatic Accumulation, And Associated Health Impacts In Gulf Of Mexico Tilefish (Lopholatilus Chamaeleonticeps), Susan M. Snyder

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, systematic demersal longline surveys were conducted throughout the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) continental shelf to evaluate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) exposure, hepatic accumulation, and health indices in demersal fishes. Tilefish (Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps) were chosen as a target species due to high vulnerability to environmental disturbance, commercial importance, Gulf-wide distribution, and documented high exposure to PAHs post-Deepwater Horizon. Over 200 Tilefish were sampled in the north central GoM at repeat stations from 2012 to 2017, and from the northwest GoM, southwest GoM, Bay of Campeche, and Yucatán Shelf over years 2015 and 2016. Tilefish …

Fields Brook Superfund Site: Race, Class, And Environmental Justice In A Blasted Landscape, Richard C. Bargielski

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 1980, the United States Congress passed the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA). This federal law provided the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with the legal tools necessary to pursue polluters who had improperly stored or disposed hazardous wastes. Since its passage, more than a thousand sites have been added to the National Priorities List (NPL), but only a fraction have been cleaned up. Proponents of neoliberalism argue that aggressive environmental policies such as CERCLA harm workers by making it impossible for businesses to operate profitably. This coincides with a drop of nearly 50% in the U.S. …

Large Thecosome Pteropods Of The Northern Gulf Of Mexico: Species Abundance, Spatial And Vertical Distribution With A Temporal Comparison Of Shell Thickness, Sarah M. Shedler

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Large thecosome pteropods have a significant role in the pelagic ecosystem of the northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM). This research analyzed species abundances, vertical and horizontal distributions, and trends in shell thickness between 2011 and 2015. Pteropod samples were collected following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill by two midwater sampling programs: the Offshore Nekton Sampling and Analysis Program (ONSAP, 2011) and the Deep Pelagic Nekton Dynamics of the Gulf of Mexico (DEEPEND, 2015). All samples were collected using a 10-m2 Multiple Opening/Closing Net and Environmental Sensing System (MOC10) midwater trawl, with 3-mm mesh size. This gear sampled five discrete …

Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy For Elemental Analysis In Bioarchaeology And Forensic Anthropology, Kelsi N. Kuehn

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Within bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology, the current processes of differentiating between individual human skeletal remains are imprecise, costly, and inefficient. A novel analytical technique within anthropology, laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) can aid in the identification of human remains using rapid laser ablation occurring at the micro-scale, making the technique virtually non-destructive to the sample. Considering this, LIBS could offer a superior method for materials discrimination and human identification. This research sought to examine whether LIBS can be used to obtain elemental signatures within bones to distinguish individuals from one another in a rapid, non-destructive manner. Seven human skeletal donors and …

Spatiotemporal Changes Of Microbial Community Assemblages And Functions In The Subsurface, Madison C. Davis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The subsurface hosts diverse microbial community assemblages and functions. These communities play an important role in biogeochemical cycling and groundwater purification. Many physicochemical factors affect microbial communities and can cause short-term or long-term perturbations. Subsurface microbes are susceptible to anthropogenic changes in the environment, which can be caused by nutrient inputs or municipal groundwater extraction. Despite the importance of the subsurface microbiome, these microbial communities are poorly characterized. This dissertation describes the characterization of spatiotemporal drivers of subsurface microbial communities through a variety of techniques that include eDNA analyses, bioinformatics, hydrochemical analyses, stable isotope geochemistry, and multivariate statistics. Three coastal …

Testing The Efficacy Of Recompression Tools To Reduce The Discard Mortality Of Reef Fishes In The Gulf Of Mexico, Oscar E. Ayala

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In order to enhance the recovery of overfished stocks, fishery managers have implemented increasingly restrictive harvest regulations. However, discarded fish are susceptible to mortality from barotrauma when retrieved from depth. Venting tools are commonly used to enable fish to return to their depth of capture. An alternative method has been developed that involves the rapid descent of fish to their depth of capture to reduce buoyancy. In the Gulf of Mexico, the released portion of Red Snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) and Red Grouper (Epinephelus morio) has exceeded 80% of total catch. I tested the survival of these two economically important species …

Analyzing The Retention Of Knowledge Among General Chemistry Students, James T. Kingsepp

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

General chemistry is a survey course meant to form a foundation for students’ to build upon as they progress into chemistry sub-disciplines. The effectiveness of this foundation rests heavily on students’ abilities to retain or relearn concepts from the course. This study seeks to investigate the utility of a measure of general chemistry students’ knowledge retention across the time period of one semester. This approach was enacted in five different courses of either first or second semester general chemistry. The results showed that one-quarter to one-half of students exhibited a high rate of retention across the semester. A smaller group, …

Predictive Validity Of Standards-Based And Curriculum-Embedded Assessments For Predicting Readiness At Kindergarten Entry, Elizabeth Ashton Decamilla

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As with traditional K-12 educational settings, early childhood assessments have been a primary source of information determining whether early educational experiences have promoted children’s readiness to start school in kindergarten. The level of use of Kindergarten Entry Assessments (KEAs) has become more wide-spread to establish levels of school readiness at kindergarten entry.

This quantitative, correlational study of children in schools that have blended Head Start/Voluntary Prekindergarten funded programs examined the predictive relationships between the independent variables (i.e., VPK Assessments and Teaching Strategies GOLD) and the dependent variable of kindergarten readiness, as measured by the Work Sampling System™ (WSS). Additionally, the …

Toward Culturally Relevant Emotion Detection Using Physiological Signals, Khadija Zanna

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research shows that emotional distress has a statistically significant impact on a student’s grade point average and intent to drop out of college. Because students of different races have varying college experiences, it is important to understand the emotional experiences of different racial groups to better support students’ needs and academic success. In this work, we explore several physiological responses to ten different emotional stimuli captured from 140 students. We employ unsupervised learning via the Density-Based Spatial Clustering of Applications with Noise (DBSCAN) algorithm and supervised learning via Random Forests and Support Vector machines to analyze clustering partitions and classification …

The Ecology And Conservation Of An Urban Karst Subterranean Estuary, Robert J. Scharping

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Sulphur Springs is an artesian spring and part of the limestone karst topography of metropolitan Tampa, Florida, USA. Underlying this spring is an extensive cave system that hosts saltwater vents and conspicuous microbial biofilm communities. For decades, water from Sulphur Springs has been extracted and used to supplement public water supply and dry season flows in the Hillsborough River Estuary. This dissertation describes research conducted at Sulphur Springs to determine the impacts of urban land use on the underlying cave and downstream estuary ecosystems, and presents the use of this system as a model to fill certain ecological knowledge gaps. …

The Short-Term Effects Of Different Removal Methods Of Urochloa Maxima, Guinea Grass, On Acoustic Complexity, Connor D. Wagner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Invasive exotic species are one of the biggest threats to ecosystems in Florida, and land managers instill numerous methods to try and control them. Mechanical treatment, such as mowing, and chemical treatment, such as foliar spraying with the herbicide glyphosate, are two methods of invasive species removal. While the effectiveness of these management practices has been thoroughly observed and studied, little research has been done on their impacts to the ecological soundscape. The ecological soundscape refers to all biotic and abiotic sounds produced in the environment. Species presence and acoustic complexity was measured before and immediately following a mechanical and …

On The P(X)-Laplace Equation In Carnot Groups, Robert D. Freeman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, we examine the p(x)-Laplace equation in the context of Carnot groups. The p(x)-Laplace equation is the prototype equation for a class of nonlinear elliptic partial differential equations having so-called nonstandard growth conditions. An important and useful tool in studying these types of equations is viscosity theory. We prove a p()-Poincar´e-type inequality and use it to prove the equivalence of potential theoretic weak solutions and viscosity solutions to the p(x)-Laplace equation. We exploit this equivalence to prove a Rad´o-type removability result for solutions to the p-Laplace equation in the Heisenberg group. Then we extend this result to the …

Investigation Of Retention Versus Export Of Planktonic Fish Eggs In The Northeastern Gulf Of Mexico, Bich Vi Viviane Nguyen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Planktonic fish eggs can be reliably identified with DNA barcoding, and their distribution and abundance can be monitored. Passive drifting fish eggs can be advected by ocean currents and as a result, can either be locally retained or exported away from the West Florida Shelf (WFS). Investigating their retention or export helps in the interpretation of egg abundance trends and in understanding their distribution in long-term surveys. The present investigation was performed in two steps using a combination of biological and physical oceanographic methods. First, fish fecundity of three species (Red Snapper, Vermilion Snapper, and Sand Perch) was assessed, first, …

Elemental Climate Disaster Texts And Queer Ecological Temporality, Laura Mattson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis approaches climate disaster texts as an opportunity to challenge constructions of the body, space, and time. Developed from embodied experiential knowledge about hurricanes, my work will explore how climate disasters can teach us to reimagine human-nature relationships. In my two analysis chapters, I use critical textual analysis and autoethnography to challenge particular representations of the human-nature relationship as a binary between nature and culture. By intervening in the nature-culture binary, I theorize queer ecological temporality as an opportunity to reveal and challenge constructions of nature and time. Working at the intersections of queer and ecocritical theory, this thesis …

Optimization Of A Digital Ion Trap To Perform Isotope Ratio Analysis Of Xenon For Planetary Studies, Timothy Vazquez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ion trap mass spectrometers present a powerful analytical tool which not only enables mass spectrometric determination of analyte species but also has the added feature of being able to act as an ion storage device. As a mass spectrometer, ion traps can achieve a reasonable mass range with flexible mass resolution while boasting a considerably smaller footprint when compared to conventional time-of-flight or magnetic sector instruments. Due to their smaller geometries, high-pressure tolerance, and ability to perform tandem mass spectrometry, ion trap mass spectrometers are ideal candidates for portable applications such as deployment to another planetary body. While ideal candidates …

Asking Why: Analyzing Students' Explanations Of Organic Chemistry Reaction Mechanisms Using Lexical Analysis And Predictive Logistic Regression Models, Amber J. Dood

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In order to evaluate student understanding of chemical reactions and reaction mechanisms, it is necessary to ask students to construct written or oral explanations of mechanistic representations. Studies have shown that students can reproduce pictorial representations of organic chemistry mechanisms without understanding the meaning of the representations. Grading written assessments is time-consuming, which limits their use in large-lecture courses. To address this limitation, lexical analysis and logistic regression techniques can be used to develop models that predict human scoring for constructed-response items. In this dissertation, students’ responses to constructed-response items about what is happening and why in organic chemistry reaction …

Mechanisms Of Carbon Movement And Stabilization In Mangrove Wetlands, Carey Schafer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Mangrove forests have higher rates of carbon storage per unit area than any other coastal or terrestrial habitat, largely due to their significant soil stocks. More effort has been placed on quantifying mangrove soil carbon stock, the amount of carbon stored in the upper meter of mangrove soils, than identifying the processes governing in situ soil organic carbon (SOC) cycling and stabilization. An understanding of the mechanisms related to carbon transport and stability is necessary to constrain current wetland carbon stocks and to determine how sea level rise will impact future carbon stores. This study uses a variety of radiometric …

Clustering Methods For Gene Expression Data Of Oxytricha Trifallax, Kyle Houfek

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Clustering is a data analysis method which is used in a large variety of research fields. Many different algorithms exist for clustering, and none of them can be considered universally better than the others. Different methods of clustering are expounded upon, including hierarchical clustering and k-means clustering. Topological data analysis is also described, showing how topology can be used to infer structural information about the data set. We discuss how one finds the validity of clusters, as well as an optimal clustering method, and conclude with how we used various clustering methods to analyze transcriptome data from the ciliate Oxytricha …

Reliability Analysis Of Power Grids And Its Interdependent Infrastructures: An Interaction Graph-Based Approach, Upama Nakarmi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Large blackouts with significant societal and economic impacts result from cascade of failures in the transmission network of power grids. Understanding and mitigating cascading failures in power grids is challenging due to the large number of components and their complex interactions, wherein, in addition to the physical topology of the system, the physics of power flow and functional dependencies among components largely affect the spatial distribution and propagation of failures. In this dissertation, data-driven interaction graphs, which help in capturing the underlying interactions and influences among the components during cascading failures, are used for capturing the non-local nature of propagation …

Assessment Of Land Cover Change In St. Martin’S Marsh Aquatic Preserve, Florida, Usa, Katie Wagner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

St. Martin’s Marsh Aquatic Preserve (SMMAP) is a 28,461 acre (115.18 km2) preserve located on the coast of Citrus County, Florida, USA. There has been no published research that focused on coastal change on this unique coast. This thesis research focuses on coastal land cover change that has occurred within the preserve from 1988 to 2018. Multitemporal Landsat images were classified using a support vector machine (SVM) classification, while changes in vegetation were evaluated using the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Field research was conducted to examine nineteen sites for classification training and test data and notes on habitat composition. …

Algorithms To Profile Driver Behavior From Zero-Permission Embedded Sensors, Bharti Goel

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we design algorithms to profile driver behavior from zero-permission sensors embedded in modern smartphones and wearables. These sensors are typically the accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, pressure sensor and a few more than are now available in most modern smartphones and wearables. In order to profile driving behavior, we devised algorithms for detecting distraction while driving due to the use of modern-day smartphones (e.g., calling, texting and reading while driving) in real-time.

To do so, we conduct an experiment with 16 subjects on a realistic driving simulator, where each subject, where each subject carries a smartphone and a wearable …

Towards Safe Power Oversubscription And Energy Efficiency Of Data Centers, Sulav Malla

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Data centers contribute to approximately 1% of the global electricity consumption, and billions of dollars are spent annually worldwide in construction of new data centers to meet the rising demand for cloud-based services. Given the high cost of construction, the power infrastructure in a data center is typically oversubscribed. Power oversubscription leads to efficient use of data center power hierarchy while simultaneously reducing the power provisioning cost. Power overload situations can occur in oversubscribed data centers. Power overload can lead to power capping of servers or even power outages – both of which degrade the performance of the services offered …

Lung Nodule Malignancy Prediction From Computed Tomography Images Using Deep Learning, Rahul Paul

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Lung cancer has a high incidence and mortality rate. The five-year relative survival rate for all lung cancers is 18%. Due to the high mortality and incidence rate of lung cancer worldwide, early detection is essential. Low dose Computed Tomography (CT) is a commonly used technique for screening, diagnosis, and prognosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) compared low-dose helical computed tomography (LDCT) and standard chest radiography (CXR) for three annual screens and reported a 20% relative reduction in lung cancer mortality for LDCT compared to CXR. As such, LDCT screening for lung cancer …

Algorithms And Framework For Computing 2-Body Statistics On Graphics Processing Units, Napath Pitaksirianan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Various types of two-body statistics (2-BS) are regarded as essential components of low-level data analysis in scientific database systems. In relational algebraic terms, a 2-BS is essentially a Cartesian product between two datasets (or two instances of the same dataset) followed by a user-defined aggregate. The quadratic complexity of these computations hinders the timely processing of data. Thus using modern parallel hardware has become an obvious solution to meet such challenges. This dissertation presents our recent work in designing and optimizing parallel algorithms for 2-BS computation on Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). The unique architecture, however, provides abundant opportunities for optimizing …

Isotope-Based Methods For Evaluating Fish Trophic Geographies, Julie L. Vecchio

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Data on the movement and diets of fish during a variety of life stages are important inputs to fisheries stock assessments and marine ecosystem models. Stable isotopes may provide previously inaccessible information on movement and diet of a variety of managed and forage fish species. Here I used several novel means of interpretation for stable isotope data to infer diets and movements of several important fisheries species over both short (weeks to months) and long (lifetime) timescales. To calculate a constant partitioning offset (CPO) between the δ¹⁵N of muscle and of liver tissue, I conducted a literature search …

Global And Stochastic Dynamics Of Diffusive Hindmarsh-Rose Equations In Neurodynamics, Chi Phan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consisting of three parts is the study of the open problems of global dynamics of diffusive Hindmarsh-Rose equations, random dynamics of the stochastic Hindmarsh-Rose equations with multiplicative noise and additive noise respectively, and synchronization of boundary coupled Hindmarsh-Rose neuron networks.

In Part I (Chapters 2, 3 and 4) of this dissertation, we study the global dynamics for the single neuron model of diffusive and partly diffusive Hindmarsh-Rose equations on a three-dimensional bounded domain. The existence of global attractors as well as its regularity and structure are established by showing the absorbing properties and the asymptotically compact characteristics, especially …

Restricted Isometric Projections For Differentiable Manifolds And Applications, Vasile Pop

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The restricted isometry property (RIP) is at the center of important developments in compressive sensing. In R^N, RIP establishes the success of sparse recovery via basis pursuit for measurement matrices with small restricted isometry constants δ_2s < 1=3. A weaker condition, δ_2s < 0:6246, is actually sufficient to guarantee stable and robust recovery of all s-sparse vectors via l₁-minimization. In infinite Hilbert spaces, a random linear map satisfies a general RIP with high probability and allow recovering and extending many known compressive sampling results. This thesis extends the known restricted isometric projection of sparse datasets of vectors embedded in the Euclidean spaces RN down into low-dimensional subspaces R^m ,m << N …