Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 68 pages. / Thesis (M.A.)--University of South Florida, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: This study explores human-robot interaction during a 16-hour high-fidelity Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) disaster response drill with teleoperated robots. Situation awareness and team interaction were examined using communication analysis. Operators (n=5) sought assistance from team members to compensate for difficulties building or maintaining situation awareness. Operator-team member communication focused on relating what was seen through the robot's eye view with prior knowledge and planning search strategies. Results suggest operators need a new cognitive mental model to filter and comprehend data provided by the robot, and that robot-assisted search is a team task rather than an individual one. / ABSTRACT: USAR technical search teams need a new shared mental model of robot-assisted search in order to coordinate activities effectively. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Includes vita. / Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 224 pages. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of South Florida, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: Particle Nucleation is the forcing function in the Emulsion Polymerization processes and it plays an important role in dictating the final properties of the latex produced. Identification of the main nucleation sites and characterizing them in terms of their size and composition is important for elucidating the mechanism of particle nucleation. This research focuses on identifying the most likely nucleation locus in emulsion polymerization processes by characterizing the initial conditions of the reaction mixture. In order to achieve this objective, a methodology was devised, which used a non-reacting model emulsion system instead of the original emulsion. The model emulsion system selected has the same dispersion properties as that of the monomer emulsion system, but different optical properties. The model emulsion system enabled the study of the distribution of the emulsifier using Uv vis spectroscopy. / ABSTRACT: This approach also eliminated the time constraint associated with sampling during a polymerization reaction. A quantitative deconvolution using the turbidity equation, was done on the transmission Uv vis spectra of the emulsions. This enabled the characterization of the emulsions in terms of their particle size distribution, particle number and the composition of the droplet populations comprising them. The studies conducted provide the experimental evidence for a previously unidentified nano-droplet population of size range 30 to 100nm in diameter. To further support this experimental evidence, calculations were performed to obtain the emulsifier distribution over the nano-droplet population. The calculations suggest the probability of existence of the nano-droplet population to be much higher than the probability of the existence of the swollen micelles. / ABSTRACT: The results, depending upon the emulsification conditions, indicate the presence of about 15 % to 80% of the dispersed phase in the nano-droplet population. The large interfacial area offered by the nano-droplet population due to their high particle numbers and high percentage of the dispersed oil phase in them, make them the most probable particle nucleation loci in emulsion polymerization processes. Designed experiments were performed to experimentally observe the changes in the nano-droplet populations. The effects of the process variables, namely pH, surfactant concentration and temperature, on the size and compositional characteristics of the nano-droplet population were investigated. The results suggested that the surfactant to oil ratio was the dominating factor governing the size and the weight percent of the dispersed phase in the nano-droplet population. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Heat stress conditions are prevalent in the working environment around the world. Often they are not readily engineered out. Administrative controls and, in extreme/toxic environments, personal protective gear are the means available to protect workers. For every combination of metabolic work rate, clothing ensemble and environmental WBGT, there is a time of exposure threshold, beyond which the worker can no longer compensate for the heat stress, and signs and symptoms of heat strain appear. Increasingly, worker environments require specialty clothing either for worker protection or to maintain a clean/sanitary environment. Prior to the publication of the USF safe exposure time equation, no simple method was available for determining safe worker exposure time based on a clothing adjustment factor. To demonstrate the validity of the USF SET equation, both direct and indirect data from different environments, metabolic rates, and clothing ensembles were collected to compare observed tolerance times to the predicted safe exposure time. Statistical analysis was performed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. The USF SET equation predicted an acceptable safe exposure time, 19 % of the trials. Based upon this data, the USF safe exposure time heat stress equation over estimates safe exposure time for workers in hot environments, in various clothing ensembles at various metabolic work rates.

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Title from PDF of submission page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 49 pages. / Thesis (M. Arch.)--University of South Florida, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: Civilization seems barely able to keep up with the new information technology. Therefore, I propose a place where the technologies of the future may be interacted with like the comfortable knowledge of the past. I propose a place where technology may be interacted on as in the realm of the past with the doors of the future ahead. The Museum of Science and Industry, where the grasp of our technological history is displayed, would be an ideal site for the creation of a Prototypical Computer Museum. With its close proximity to the University of South Florida, resources and participants would be abundant. The Prototypical Computer Museum will be a place where the education and explanation of new technology is continued. / This would also provide an arena for the development and interaction of state-of-the-art computer technologies and will be considered the cultural centerpiece for the new millenium. Activities at this Multi-Media Center range from basic explanations of initial computer inventions to on-site research and development of future technologies. Permanent and traveling exhibitions would attract and expose people of all ages to the new waves of technological devices and inventions that engulf our daily activities. This simple ideal is blanketed with a variety of complicated sociological issues that will be addressed throughout the thesis research and its fruition. The fundamental paradox is the borderlessness of the technology, which is continually at odds with the structures housing and exhibiting such technologies. Another major concern is the development of virtual reality and its dwindling necessity for the development of the architecture that contains it. / This is a technology that is accessible anywhere but located nowhere. As Otto Riewoldt states, "By reacting to the digital dematerialization of the world, architecture becomes increasingly individualized."1 In the words of American architectural critic Herbert Muschamp, "subjectivity takes command. Like surrealists these architects seem determined to blur the border between waking reality and the dream state." / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 175 pages. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of South Florida, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: In this dissertation, I first briefly examine the history of technology as it impacts on literacy practices, and especially the history of resistance to technological developments in the humanities. In so doing, I also briefly examine some of the possible ideological underpinnings of this resistance, including looking at some of the arguments proposed to counter it. More specifically, I consider how literacy practices, pedagogical practices, and assessment and gatekeeping practices in the field of composition studies impact on and are impacted by the intersection of computer technologies and our field. / Finally, I offer some suggestions for ways in which our pedagogical practices may need to be reconsidered in light of changes in howwe communicate. In particular, I propose guidelines for writing teachers to help negotiate the transitional period between traditional and neo-traditional forms, bridging the gaps between existing standards for producing print documents and as yet undetermined standards required by new forms. That is, I present guidelines that I hope, rather than stifle change, can help guide authors in determining which existing standards make sense for new forms, and which need to be reconsidered, thereby providing the flexibility necessary to cope with change. / Because it is imperative that we consider the effect of our teaching of writing and reading on the further development of these technologies, as well as the effect of further development of these technologies on our teaching and study of writing and reading, I also suggest ways we may need to rethink the academy, including the position of the composition classroom itself. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 123 pages. / Thesis (M.S.)--University of South Florida, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: Simulating the processes of rainfall and runoff are at the core of hydrologic modeling. Geomorphologic features, rainfall variability, soil types, and water table depths strongly influence hydrological process in Florida ecosystems. Topographic characteristics of the terrain define the stream paths and landscape. Alteration of these characteristics as a result of urban and/or agricultural developments, for example, can highly influence wetlands and river basin response. There are two predominant landforms in Florida: wetlands, where Variable Saturated Areas form near streams causing saturation excess runoff, and uplands where runoff is mainly generated by infiltration excess. The objective of this work is to analyze the impacts of geomorphologic and hydrologic characteristics on runoff mechanisms in humid environments such as Florida. In general, most research at the hillslope scale use hypothetical values of rainfall, sometimes non-realistic values, and single slope forms to explain the geomorphic and hydrologic process on Variable Saturated Areas. In this thesis, the complexity of hillslope processes on actual Florida topography is assessed by coupling a Digital Elevation Model with a two-dimensional variable saturated-unsaturated flow model called HYDRUS-2D. Actual rainfall records and soil parameters from the Characterization Data for Selected Florida Soils, Soil Survey were used to evaluate hydrologic impacts. A commerical software package, River Tools was used to display and extract topographic information from the Digital Elevation Models.Results show that when inflitration excess runoff is dominant, infiltration and runoff are very sensitive to time resolution, especially for convective storms. When saturation excess occurs, runoff is not affected by rainfall intensity. However, saturated hydraulic conductivity, depth to the water table, slope and curvature highly influence the extent of Variable Saturated Areas. Results indicate runoff in shallow water table environments is produced mainly by subsurface storm runoff, running below the surface, except in hillslopes with concave curvature and mild slopes. Additionally, concave hillslopes generate more saturation excess runoff than straight and convex hillslopes. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Includes vita. / Professional research project (Au.D.)--University of South Florida, 2001. / Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 47 pages. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: The purpose of this project was to implement the newly revised International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICIDH-2) developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), to establish specific aural rehabilitation goals. Five graduate clinicians in speech language pathology and audiology interviewed ten participants with adult onset hearing loss. A modified version of the General Questions for Participation and Activities (i.e., a structured interview technique) from the ICIDH-2 Checklist, was developed. Prior to completing this checklist, the students attended a brief training session to become familiar with the major components of the ICIDH-2, specifically theICIDH-2 Checklist. / Completion of the ICIDH-2 Checklist, Version 2.1a, clinician form (prefinal draft, December 2000), allowed the students to classify and qualify disability and health according to the constructs of Activity and Participation, (i.e., what a person can and cannot do as a result of hearing loss and what a person does and does not do as a result of hearing loss, respectively). Following completion of Parts 2 (Activities and Participation) and 3 (Environmental Factors) of the Checklist for each of the ten clients interviewed, aural rehabilitation goals were developed. Four participants are highlighted to illustrate how the ICIDH-2 is used to objectify the impact of hearing loss and to establish specific treatment goals. / The results support the use of the modified version of the General Questions for Participation and Activities in development of aural rehabilitation goals for clients with adult onset hearing loss. Graduate clinicians demonstrated the ability to complete the checklist with little assistance, suggesting that the use of the ICIDH-2 by experienced clinicians should be a relatively easy task. Goal development was also a relatively easy task using the checklist ratings, and the ratings related directly to the individual participant's quality of life in their current situation. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Professional research project (Au.D.)--University of South Florida, 2001. / Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 63 pages. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: This is a retrospective study utilizing data complied over the past two years during the formative assessment process by the University of South Florida (USF) Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders (CSD) in the development of the new audiology clinical doctoral (Au.D.) program. Final adoption of the new certification standards in audiology was received in 1997 and several Au.D. programs have been implemented since that time. This study responds to the requirements of appropriate assessment and documentation of clinical skill acquisition across the academic and clinical training program. / The purpose of this review was to complete a qualitative analysis of the data gathered previously to determine indicators of clinical competency specific to the USF Au.D. program. This study focused on determining minimal knowledge and clinical skills that should be acquired at the end of the second and third years relative to competencies outlined in Standard IV-D: Evaluation and Standard IV-E: Treatment. Expectations relative to skills that audiology students should possess at designated points in the educational process are pertinent to developing effective tools for assessing clinical performance. Two focus group discussion sessions were held. / One group included USF audiology academic and clinical faculty and the other group was composed of external practicing audiologists who provide supervision for audiology students in extern assignments. Participation was on a voluntary basis and anonymity was maintained. A guided discussion format was followed to obtain information about their expectations for student clinical competency levels at the end of the second and third years of study. The analysis of the data set included a review and summary of comments and ratings completed by the participants. The summary provided a highlight of key points, trends, and similarities/differences in the ratings provided by the two groups. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.