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 for evaluating the performance of SAW gas sensors at very low concentrations. Both single and dual delay line SAW devices were fabricated by means of photolithography on a lithium niobate substrate. Tests are carried to determine response speed, resolution, reproducibility, and linear characteristics, over a range of analyte concentrations.

The thesis is composed of three chapters. The aim of this thesis is to apply the novel dirhodium perfluorobutyrate-catalyzed intramolecular aromatic C-H insertion methodology to the enantioselective total synthesis of praziquantel and synthetic model studies on ecteinascidin 743, which belongs to the important tetrahydroisoquinoline family. The first introductory chapter deals with the biological significance and previous synthetic methodologies. Our novel methodology is based on dirhodium perfluorobutyrate-catalyzed intromolecular aromatic C-H insertion reaction, which is crucial in the pivotal carbon-carbon bond formation when constructing isoquinolone moiety, which is ubiquitous in numerous natural products of significant biological and pharmacological activities. The second chapter takes on the first enantioselective total synthesis of praziquantel, an antihelmintic drug. Praziquantel is used worldwide to treat schistosomiasis, which has tremendous impact on the global fight on this disease affecting 150 million people. We believe this is the first asymmetric total synthesis to date, which is distinct from previous racemic syntheses reported. We also shed light on the mechanistic aspect of this key reaction to rationalize the superb regioselectivity and stereoselectivity achieved. The third chapter explores the synthetic model studies on ecteinascidin 743, a tetrahydroisoquinolone family natural product with significant antitumor and antimicrobial activities. Several different synthetic routes were attempted, including the N-Methyl and the N-Boc routes, and the results achieved contributed significantly to our final synthetic plan of the target molecule.

Hydrogen gas is the cleanest fuel which produces only water as a combustion product with no greenhouse or toxic gases. The combustible hydrogen fuel is an energy carrier but not an energy source. As an element, hydrogen is widely available in nature as a component of water and of hydrocarbons. An energy source is needed to extract the element from these compounds and convert it to the combustible hydrogen gas. Today, the energy source for nearly all hydrogen production is fossil fuel, principally natural gas. The supply of natural gas is limited and its price is increasing. Greenhouse gas and air pollutants are emitted when natural gas is used. Electrolytic extraction of hydrogen from water can overcome these stated problems but is more expensive with the present price of natural gas. Manufacturing the hydrogen with a valuable co-product would address this cost disadvantage. Sulfuric acid is a valuable chemical that is produced in large quantities. This research project helps to develop a procedure for extracting hydrogen from water while producing sulfuric acid as a co-product. An electrochemical cell was designed and developed for the production of hydrogen which uses sulfuric acid as electrolyte. In this electrochemical cell with sulfuric acid as an electrolyte we produce hydrogen at the negative electrode while the positive electrode is bathed in sulfur dioxide which it oxidizes to sulfuric acid. The sulfuric acid is collected at the bottom of the cell as valuable co-product. The presence of SO2 to scavenge the anode substantially reduces the equilibrium voltage required for the direct dissociation of water into hydrogen and oxygen. Various design parameters and the fabrication of the reactor are discussed briefly in the thesis. Experimental results of hydrogen production and current voltage curves are discussed. Sulfuric acid corrosion of cell materials is also discussed.

Tourism is a major contributor to the global economy and is an agent of cultural change. Tourism has been utilized throughout the United States as an engine of economic renewal in the promotion of redevelopment within many of our most celebrated urban centers. Urban tourism as it is found within Florida is explored. A chapter is dedicated to Tampa, Florida. Anthropology has spent little time or effort in attempting to understand the complexities of urban tourism and what it means for the cities of 21st century. The anthropology of tourism is utilized in exploring the political economy of tourism within urban spaces as they occur in Florida. Employment statistics, development trends and policy matters are presented to aid the reader in understanding the dynamics of urban tourism within Florida. Accompanying this effort on urban tourism is an annotated bibliography of Florida tourism.

This observational study examined the relationships among home literacy environments, classroom language-literacy environments, and lexical and early literacy skills for 101 (56 male, 45 female) preschool and kindergarten children between the ages of 48 and 69 months. Data for multiple regression analyses were collected from 14 classrooms across 7 early childhood education centers in central Florida using the Home Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ), the Early Language & Literacy Classroom Observation Toolkit (ELLCO), and the Kaufman Survey of Early Academic and Language Skills (KSEALS). Seven classrooms scored in the proficient-to-exemplary range on the ELLCO; 3 were rated as basic, and 4 were rated as limited. A statistically significant relationship (r = .20, p < .05) was identified between frequency of children’s visits to the public library and classroom quality ratings. The home literacy environment accounted for 8.1% of the variance in student Vocabulary scores (r = .29, p < .01) and 3.9% of the variance in Numbers, Letters and Words scores (r = .20, p < .05) above and beyond teacher and parent education levels. Correlations between ELLCO ratings and students’ K-SEALS subtest scores were statistically non-significant. Analyses revealed a statistically significant difference (t = - 4.75, p < .001) in ELLCO scores by age group. The number of children’s books at home was statistically related to vocabulary scores (r = .26, p < .01). Program costs were not statistically related to classroom quality (r = -.002, p < .996). It was suggested that early childhood professionals gather information about home literacy environments to assist in identifying at-risk students. Parents should be provided with resources to enhance children’s language-literacy experiences at home. Further, parents need assistance in evaluating and selecting high-quality early childhood education programs. The use of academic testing as an indirect measure of classroom quality was not supported. However, teachers’ educational backgrounds were related to classroom quality, highlighting the need for qualified providers. Early childhood teacher mentoring programs are needed to help improve classroom language-literacy curricula. Student assessments should be informed by the kinds of learning opportunities available to young children in their homes and communities.

This study investigated the effect of caffeine on airway resistance. The subjects were drawn from volunteers (18-90 years old) in good health, with no major cardiopulmonary conditions. We found no association between the consumption of a single cup of the caffeinated beverage coffee and a decrease in airway resistance within one hour in a normal sample of subjects as measured by impulse oscillometry nor with conventional spirometry . It appears that any possible bronchodilatory effect of the caffeine from a single cup of coffee in a normal population is below the limit of detection of spirometry and impulse oscillometry or is not sufficiently expressed in the one hour time frame of the study. The study did validate currently accepted methods of using the Jaeger impulse oscillometry (IOS) measurement for use at the University of South Florida (USF). The impulse oscillometry technique was found to be a useful adjunct to conventional pulmonary function testing. Conventional pulmonary function testing provides a useful measure of a person's ability to breathe yet is difficult to perform and only indirectly guides the physician to the diagnosis of the pathology behind the person's breathing difficulties. The impulse oscillometry technique may help the physician to noninvasively determine the location of a pulmonary obstruction by measurement of the dynamics of sound wave travel through the airways of the lungs.

Ensenada is a multi-media installation containing video,natural materials, and sound. This installation was located in the Bustillo Cigar Factory, in historic West Tampa. The exhibition explored issues of history, mapping, and cultural myth-making while also presenting a world in which life and death are connected. The artist utilized sugar sculptures, twine, spanish moss, video and sound to explore these themes. The written project for this installation contained stories and memories of the artist that reflected the ideas presented in the exhibition.

During the mid 70's and early 80's, several precast deck panel bridges were constructed in Florida. These utilize prestressed precast panels as stay-in-place forms and are designed to act compositely with a cast-in-place deck which is poured subsequently. Such bridges offer advantages of quicker construction and lower costs. However, several such bridges built in Florida developed extensive cracking and spalling. Following localized failures, the Florida Department of Transportation have decided to replace all 127 precast panel deck bridges in Districts 1 and 7. Since deck replacement is contingent on funding, it is necessary to develop a rational procedure to decide the order in which they are replaced. This work describes the calibration of a software program developed to assist in the replacement prioritization of panel bridges. Prioritization is based on information available with FDOT in the form of biannual inspection reports over the past 20+ years. A new computer language called BRAILE ( BRidge Annual Inspection LanguagE) was developed to input the data from the inspection reports. A compute program PANEL was used to process the BRAILE data to identify trends that could be used to assign weights to observed deficiencies. The prioritization developed based on the method presented here was found to correctly identify high risk bridges and was reliable than one based solely on National Bridge Inventory (NBI) condition rating.

Existing opportunities in advanced interceptor, satellite guidance and aircraft navigation technologies, requiring higher signal processing speeds and lower noise environments, are demanding Ring Laser Gyro (RLG) based Inertial Systems to reduce initialization and operational data latency as well as correlated noise magnitudes. Existing signal processing algorithms are often less than optimal when considering these requirements. Advancements in micro-electronic processes have made Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC) a fundamental building block for system implementation when considering higher-level signal processing algorithms. Research of real time adaptive signal processing algorithms embedded in ASICs for use in RLG based inertial systems will help to understand the trade-off in finite register length effects to correlated noise magnitude, organizational complexity, computational efficiency, rate of convergence, and numerical stability. Adaptive filter structures selected will directly affect meeting inertial system performance requirements for data latency, residual noise budgets and real time processing throughput. Research in this area will help to target specific adaptive noise cancellation algorithms for RLG based inertial systems in a variety of military and commercial space applications. Of particular significance is an attempt to identify an algorithm embedded in an ASIC that will reduce the correlated noise components to the theoretical limit of the RLG sensor itself. This would support a variety of applications for the low noise space environments that the RLG based inertial systems are beginning to find promise for such as advanced military interceptor technology and commercial space satellite navigation, guidance and control systems.

It is an accepted construct that literacy proficiency is vital to economic success in America. As well, research has shown that home literacy use, especially parental practices, is instrumental in the children's acquisition of literacy skills, and later, proficiency with school literacy tasks. While literacy research abounds regarding family literacy practice, especially that of low-income mothers and children, rarely is the concept of class specifically addressed as separate from race. The purpose of this study was to investigate and describe the reported home literacy practices of nine white working class women residing in a neighborhood in the Southeastern United States. A semi-structured interview protocol ensured that all women addressed the same basic literacy areas while still allowing room for individuality and discussion. A phenomenographical approach, designed to obtain a better understanding of literacy practice via studying each individual woman's experiences and perceptions of those experiences combined with feminist informed narrative analysis was utilized to analyze the data. Field notes and a researcher's reflective journal added to the data. Results indicated that the nine women participants used print based literacy in varying amounts for functional, social, and aesthetic purposes. These purposes were both public and private, and commonly, functioned as a tool to meet their needs in four areas: organization, information, communication and diversion. These results support the findings of other socio-cultural literacy researchers (Barton & Hamilton, 1998; Finn, 1999; Gee, 1996; Heath, 1983; Street, 1995) who contend that creating meaning is the driving force behind any act of literacy. A conclusion that can be drawn from this study is that there is a range of literacy practice within this particular population, white working class women, that has been heretofore unreported. Their perceptions of the functions of these practices are instrumental in their literacy use, and that of their children. As working class represents a substantial portion of the American population (Teixeira & Rogers, 2000), this data may serve to inform future educational literacy instruction.