Digital Commons Network^™

Diet Of Frugivorous Birds And Bats In Monteverde: Potential Seed Dispersal In Naturally Disrupted Areas, December 2017, Yibing Yu

Tropical Ecology and Conservation [Monteverde Institute]

After a natural disruption clears away the previous plant community, plants from the new vegetation succession will exploit the newly opened up spaces and start growing in this area. Seed dispersal by aerial animals is important in the new vegetation succession because it allows seeds from places relatively far away to access the area. In early October the storm Nate caused flash floods and landslildes, which disturbed many natural habitats in Monteverde. In this study I investigated plant species that naturally grow in disrupted areas by looking at what kind of seeds are dispersed by the frugivorous birds and bats …

Differences In Heterospecific Pollen Deposition Across Pollination Syndromes In The Monteverde Area, December 2017, Kara Powell

Tropical Ecology and Conservation [Monteverde Institute]

Pollination is an important ecosystem service, increasing the ability of plants to adapt to changing environments through the process of sexual reproduction. The efficiency of pollination can be reduced due to the transfer of heterospecific pollen, which is pollen from another species. Flower characteristics vary in order to attract certain types of pollinators. This phenomenon is classified in groups of flower morphology characteristics known as pollination syndromes. Little research exists that summarizes heterospecific pollen transfer within these pollination syndromes. I investigated pollen deposition across pollination syndromes in Monteverde, Costa Rica in two different sites: San Gerardo and Curi Cancha. I …

Artists Before Columbus: A Multi-Method Characterization Of The Materials And Practices Of Caribbean Cave Art, Alice V.M. Samson, Lucy J. Wrapson, Caroline R. Cartwright

KIP Articles

This study represents the first positive identification of plant gum binding media in pre-Columbian art, and the first dates from indigenous cave art in the Caribbean. Mona Island reveals an extensive and well-preserved pre-Columbian and early colonial subterranean cultural landscape with dense concentrations of newly-discovered cave art in up to 30 caves. A multi-method approach to the research of pigments and binding media, charcoal, and cave sediments was used to elucidate the technologies, chronologies and processes of indigenous art and artists. Analyses included on-site use of a portable X-ray fluorescence (P-XRF) device to inform sample selection, scanning electron microscopy with …

Evidence For Aposematic Coloration Of The Sea Urchin Astropyga Pulvinata, December 2017, Nathan Howell

Tropical Ecology and Conservation [Monteverde Institute]

Astropyga pulvinata is a brightly colored urchin found in some tropical pacific waters including the coast of Costa Rica. The aim of this study was to test a possible explanation for the coloration of A. pulvinata. I tested the hypothesis that the coloration of A. pulvinata is aposematic. I tested this by poking A. pulvinata and another species of urchin, the uniformly black Diadema mexicanum, then comparing their reactions. The results indicated that A. pulvinata were more likely to move as a response to the poking stimulus than D. mexicanum, which was contrary to the predicted hypothesis. 100% of A. …

Medicinal Herbs And Mosquitoes: A Study Of Plant-Based Insect Repellents, December 2017, Miguel Alejandro Ochoa

Tropical Ecology and Conservation [Monteverde Institute]

Mosquito-borne illnesses present a great threat to human health, and result in millions of cases and hundreds of thousands of deaths annually. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of extracted essential oils from three neotropical plants traditionally used in Costa Rican folk medicine as mosquito repellents. I extracted the essential oils of Siparuna decipiens (Monimiaceae), Gliricidia sepium (Fabaceae), and Neuroloena lobata (Asteraceae) via simple steam distillation. The extracted oils were then examined and compared to a negative control in the field on live volunteers, focusing on the mosquitoes in the Monteverde Zone, Puntarenas Province, Costa Rica. After a total …

Activity Patterns Of Costa Rican Bat Species, December 2017, Nicole Orsi

Tropical Ecology and Conservation [Monteverde Institute]

In Costa Rica, bats are important nocturnal pollinators and seed dispersers. In this study, I investigated how diet type, species, levels of moonlight and moon phases, and nightly weather influenced the activity of bats. To do this, I used mist nets and an ultrasound detector for 11 nights to capture bats and record their species, sex, diet, and forearm length. Each night two to four mist nets were open from 17:30 to 20:00 and checked at 20 minute intervals. Nets were placed in Bajo del Tigre, the Monteverde Institute, San Luis, the Crandell Memorial Reserve, and La Estación Biológica Monteverde. …

Species Abundance Of Fungi Is Greater In Landslide Areas Compared To Undisturbed Areas Of The Forest In Monteverde, Puntarenas, Costa Rica, December 2017, Sunshine Lopez

Tropical Ecology and Conservation [Monteverde Institute]

Fungi plays an important role in the ecosystem by decomposing dead plants, and other organic matter. Without this process, there would be an accumulation of organic material in the forest which would go un-decomposed. Fungi which are saprotrophic macrofungi from the phyla Basidioycota and Ascomycota have the vital job of recycling nutrients from dead plant material in the forest back into the soil. The abundance of organic material created by the landslides on the reserve behind Estación Biológica in Monteverde, Puntarenas, Costa Rica may have given rise to nearly twice the amount of different species of fungi (n=31) compared to …

Variability Of Mycorrhizal Colonization Amongst Varieties Of Coffea Arabica In Monteverde, Costa Rica, December 2017, Mckenzie Sime

Tropical Ecology and Conservation [Monteverde Institute]

Mycorrhizae are a kind of fungus that forms symbiotic relationships with plants. They help plants deal with environmental stressors such as drought and disease. Almost all plants have this symbiosis with mycorrhizae, coffee being included in this group. Coffea arabica, a species of coffee, is grown in tropical regions and multiple varieties have been developed to increase the productivity of the plants. However, tropical regions, like Monteverde, Costa Rica where this study was conducted, are going to be some of the hardest areas hit by climate change. Plants are going to be depending more and more on their mycorrhizae as …

Differential Maternal Defense Behavior In Three Species Of Treehoppers (Hemiptera: Membracidae), December 2017, Mackenzie Kui

Tropical Ecology and Conservation [Monteverde Institute]

Maternal care in the animal kingdom can vary immensely from species to species, but the reason for its ubiquity underlies an evolutionary impulse to pass on favorable genes to the next generation. In treehoppers, maternal care increases the rate of offspring survival through species-specific levels of protection from both predation and parasitism. To investigate the factors that influence maternal care, I introduced a variety of animate and inanimate stimuli to both brooding and non-brooding treehoppers in three species: Antianthe expansa, Alchisme grossa, and Umbonia crassicornis. By quantifying their responses as proxies for energy output, I concluded that maternal defense is …

“I Use To Pray And Ask God To Give Me Another Chance”: A Phenomenological Analysis Of Black Males’ Journey Attending An Alternative School, Jimmy R. Caldwell Jr

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research suggests that there still exists a disproportionate number of Black males who have contact with juvenile justice systems across this nation (Nance, 2016). The disproportionate placement of students of color, specifically, Black American males in alternative schools, serves as the gateway to the school-to-prison-pipeline (Pelzer, 2012). This study examined the lived educational experiences of two Black American juvenile males, who enrolled in an alternative school in the Southeast. This study incorporated phenomenological and narrative methods and provides rich, descriptive analyses of the participants’ experiences while attending an alternative school. Findings from this study revealed instability among the participants’ home …

Painting A Picture: Understanding Our Student Parent Profile On Campus, Vicki Squires, Jason Disano

Journal of Global Education and Research

Little information or research exists regarding the profile of student parents on campus even though increasingly more non-traditional and mature students access post-secondary education. This study presents information generated through a telephone survey of students conducted by a research lab on one Canadian campus. The purpose of the research was to uncover more information about this student group with the intent that the data would inform the development of guidelines for allocation of additional childcare spaces on campus as soon as a new childcare centre was completed. Better information on their needs as students and parents would be helpful in …

Slow Down And Smell The Eucalypts: Blue Gum Community School And The Slow Education Movement, Stephen J. Smith

Journal of Global Education and Research

This paper investigates and analyses the features of a non-mainstream pedagogy, educational context and learning environment by presenting a counter-model which contrasts with the currently dominant educational project, an emergent global educational movement known as the Slow Education Movement. It demonstrates how the associated principles and praxes of a particular ethos and its philosophical foundations guide teaching and learning. Set against the background of the Slow Education Movement, the paper draws on a case study to illustrate some of the foundational principles and practices of that movement. The paper outlines the educational ethos, philosophy, processes and practices of Blue Gum …

College Of Arts & Sciences Council : Academic Programs Committee Meeting : 2017 : 12 : 01, University Of South Florida St. Petersburg. College Of Arts & Sciences.

College of Arts and Sciences: Academic Programs Committee Meeting Minutes

No abstract provided.

On The Loop Current Penetration Into The Gulf Of Mexico, Robert H. Weisberg, Yonggang Liu

Marine Science Faculty Publications

The Gulf of Mexico Loop Current generally intrudes some distance into the Gulf of Mexico before shedding an anticyclonic eddy and retreating back to its more direct entry to exit pathway. The control of this aperiodic process remains only partially known. Here we describe the evolution of the Loop Current throughout the era of satellite altimetry, and offer a mechanistic hypothesis on Loop Current intrusion. As a complement to the known effects of Loop Current forcing on the west Florida shelf circulation, we argue that the west Florida shelf, in turn, impacts the Loop Current evolution. A Self-Organizing Map analysis …

Astaxanthin Attenuates Mptp Induced Neurotoxicity And Modulates Cognitive Function In Aged Mice, Beth Grimmig

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Parkinson’s disease is the second common neurodegenerative disease and is most frequently diagnosed in individuals over 60. There are no available medications that can prevent or restore the loss of neurons that correspond to motor impairments in patients. Identifying novel therapeutic compounds that are capable of slowing and reversing the extensive neurodegeneration that occurs in PD remains an important goal of the field. While basic research has identified potential therapeutic agents, studies often use young model organisms to demonstrate efficacy of the target compound. This approach ignores the impact of the aged CNS on the disease process, and likely contributes …

Sexting: Current Research Gaps And Legislative Issues, Fawn T. Ngo, J. Jaishankar, Jose R. Agustina

Criminology Sarasota Manatee Campus Faculty Publications

'Sexting, the portmanteau of Sex and Texting, has become a hot topic of debate between the legislators, researchers, educators, parents and teens' (Jaishankar, 2009, para 1). In spite of the considerable and growing body of literature on sexting, there are significant gaps in the current research. A review of research to date also reveals a dearth of cross-national and cross-cultural research on the topic of sexting. Notably, legal and ethical issues abound with the current method for punishing and deterring adolescents who engage in sexting as some countries view sexting as a form of child pornography. Hence, the imperative need …

Color Change In Dolabrifera Dolabrifera (Sea Hare) In Response To Substrate Change, December 2017, Jennay Argiris

Tropical Ecology and Conservation [Monteverde Institute]

Dolabrifera dolabrifera is an Opisthobranch (sea slug) known for its cryptic coloration. This coloration is an important defense mechanism, but D. dolabrifera have never been studied to see if they change colors to increase their cryptic nature. After photographing 12 D. dolabrifera on different substrates, the color of the slugs and their substrate were determined. These colors were then depicted as hue values. Each D. dolabrifera was photographed three times, in different tide pools and over time. Every D. dolabrifera was graphed with the hue value found for the slug, substrate and reference for the three photographs taken. After analyzing …

High Annual Survival In Infected Wildlife Populations May Veil A Persistent Extinction Risk From Disease, Brooke Maslo, Oliver C. Stringham, Amanda J. Bevan

KIP Articles

Host response to emerging pathogens is variable, causing uncertainty about population‐level impacts and challenging effective disease management. White‐nose syndrome (WNS) has caused catastrophic declines in some bat species, while others appear less impacted. Developing predictive models based on observed survival patterns can generate testable hypotheses about mechanisms driving population dynamics and contribute to the development of targeted approaches to disease management. We conducted a mark–recapture study of federally endangered Indiana bats (Myotis sodalis) during 2011–2016. Annual survival decreased from 0.78 (95% CI: 0.59, 0.89) and 0.79 (95% CI: 0.70, 0.86) for females and males, respectively, in 2011 to 0.74 (95% …

The Effectiveness Of Cover Crops As A Control For Root Knot Nematodes (Meloidogyne Spp.) In Coffee (Coffea Arabica), December 2017, Joyce Silva

Tropical Ecology and Conservation [Monteverde Institute]

Root Knot Nematodes are members of the family Meloidognidae and can be detrimental to the overall health and productivity of infected crops. Evidence of the presence of these nematodes can be seen by the galls or “swollen nodules” that form where these worms have been feeding. In order to avoid the use of harmful nematicides some farms have chosen to use cover crops as a more sustainable approach to combating these pests. For my study I decided to test if the cover crops used at LIFE Monteverde were effective in reducing the prevalence of root knot nematodes in the roots …

Wangari Maathai The Educator: Straddling Tradition And Modernity, Namulundah Florence

Journal of Global Education and Research

Wangari Muta Mary Jo Maathai’s (April 1, 1940 – September 25, 2011) public image highlights her nationality, her education both in and outside Kenya, her establishment of the Green Belt Movement (GBM) for which she received a Nobel Peace Prize in 2004, and her political activism. Advocates for female empowerment take solace in success stories like Maathai’s rise from a village girl to become a global icon of leadership. Yet, her mobility was more circumstantial than it was deliberate, and is inseparable from the uneasy compromise between the traditional gender roles of her youth with the critical consciousness nurtured in …

Hiding Or Out? Lesbian And Gay Educators Reveal Their Experiences About Their Sexual Identities In Their K-12 Schools, Steven D. Hooker

Journal of Global Education and Research

This qualitative study explored the ways in which lesbian and gay educators, in the Midwest part of the country, negotiate their sexual identities in their school settings. Ten gay and lesbian public and Catholic school educators from rural, suburban, and urban schools were interviewed. The purpose of this study was to determine how gay and lesbian teachers negotiate their identities and how those negotiated identities affect their relationships in their school communities. Four gay and lesbian teachers and two gay administrators from public schools were interviewed about their experiences in their school settings. Additionally, a focus group of five Catholic …

A High Accuracy Microwave Radiometric Thermometer To Measure Internal Body Temperature, Michael D. Grady

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released heat illness data which highlighted that ~29 heat stress hospitalizations and ~3 heat-related deaths occurred every day during the summer months within the US from years 2000 to 2014. Heatstroke- the most severe form of heat illness which oftentimes lead to death- has been cited to be entirely preventable if a timely intervention is introduced. This dissertation uses microwave radiometric thermometry to perform wireless non-invasive internal body temperature monitoring which can enable intervention methods that help to prevent deaths associated with heat-illness.

Overall, this dissertation develops a comprehensive closed-form analytical radiometric …

Graph-Based Latent Embedding, Annotation And Representation Learning In Neural Networks For Semi-Supervised And Unsupervised Settings, Ismail Ozsel Kilinc

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Machine learning has been immensely successful in supervised learning with outstanding examples in major industrial applications such as voice and image recognition. Following these developments, the most recent research has now begun to focus primarily on algorithms which can exploit very large sets of unlabeled examples to reduce the amount of manually labeled data required for existing models to perform well. In this dissertation, we propose graph-based latent embedding/annotation/representation learning techniques in neural networks tailored for semi-supervised and unsupervised learning problems. Specifically, we propose a novel regularization technique called Graph-based Activity Regularization (GAR) and a novel output layer modification called …

Light From Dark: A Relictual Troglobite Reveals A Broader Ancestral Distribution For Kimulid Harvestmen (Opiliones: Laniatores: Kimulidae) In South America, Abel Pérez-González, F. Sara Ceccarelli, Bruno G. O. Monte

KIP Articles

A new troglobitic harvestman, Relictopiolus galadriel gen. nov et sp. nov., is described from Olhos d’Água cave, Itacarambi, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Morphological characters, including male genitalia and exomorphology, suggest that this species belongs to the family Kimulidae, and it appears to share the greatest similarities with Tegipiolus pachypus. Bayesian inference analyses of a molecular dataset strongly support the inclusion of this species in Kimulidae and confirm the hypothesized sister-group relationship between R. galadriel and T. pachypus. A time calibrated phylogeny indicates that these sister-taxa diverged from a common ancestor approximately 40 Mya, during the Paleogene. The current range of …

Discovery Of A Rich Gene Pool Of Bat Sars-Related Coronaviruses Provides New Insights Into The Origin Of Sars Coronavirus, Ben Hu, Lei-Ping Zeng, Xing-Lou Yang

KIP Articles

A large number of SARS-related coronaviruses (SARSr-CoV) have been detected in horseshoe bats since 2005 in different areas of China. However, these bat SARSr-CoVs show sequence differences from SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) in different genes (S, ORF8, ORF3, etc) and are considered unlikely to represent the direct progenitor of SARS-CoV. Herein, we report the findings of our 5-year surveillance of SARSr-CoVs in a cave inhabited by multiple species of horseshoe bats in Yunnan Province, China. The full-length genomes of 11 newly discovered SARSr-CoV strains, together with our previous findings, reveals that the SARSr-CoVs circulating in this single location are highly diverse …

Investigation Of Sediment Ridges Using Bathymetry And Backscatter Near Clearwater, Florida, Lewis Stewart

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Changes in sediment morphology on the West Florida Shelf is investigated over a 14-year time period using multibeam bathymetry and backscatter in water depths between 10 m and 20 m, off the coast of Indian Rocks Beach, Pinellas County, Florida. Bathymetric surveys collected in 2002 (Kongsberg EM 3000 at 300 kHz) and 2016 (Reson 7125 at 400 kHz) were processed using CARIS Hips and Sips to create bathymetric maps and backscatter images. These data were then interpreted and compared in order to test hypotheses and answer questions related to sediment migration and sediment volume change.

The following questions prompted this …

Methane- And Dissolved Organic Carbon-Fueled Microbial Loop Supports A Tropical Subterranean Estuary Ecosystem, D. Brankovits, J. W. Pohlman, H. Niemann

KIP Articles

Subterranean estuaries extend inland into density-stratified coastal carbonate aquifers containing a surprising diversity of endemic animals (mostly crustaceans) within a highly oligotrophic habitat. How complex ecosystems (termed anchialine) thrive in this globally distributed, cryptic environment is poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that a microbial loop shuttles methane and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) to higher trophic levels of the anchialine food web in the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico). Methane and DOC production and consumption within the coastal groundwater correspond with a microbial community capable of methanotrophy, heterotrophy, and chemoautotrophy, based on characterization by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and respiratory quinone composition. …

Full Issue 46(3)

International Journal of Speleology

No abstract provided.

Crow's Nest : 2017 : 11 : 27, University Of South Florida St. Petersburg.

Crow's Nest

(Vol. 49, No. 12).

A Discourse Analysis Of Nursing Handoffs: Exploring Nurse-To-Nurse Interactions In Two Hospitals In Saudi Arabia, Abeer Mohammad

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A new realm of discourse research has started examining medical interactions in the crowded space – hospitals (Iedema, 2007). Beyond clinical settings and dyadic doctor-patient interactions, scholars have begun investigating doctors’ interactions in various hospital settings including Emergency Rooms and hospitals’ wards (e.g., Eggins & Slade, 2012; Slade & Eggins, 2016; Slade et al., 2015). Other investigations have expanded this scope of discourse research to include other health professionals, such as nurses (e.g., Staples, 2015). Drawing on discourse analytic approaches (Critical Discourse Analysis, Halliday’s Systemic Functional Grammar, and Interactional Sociolinguistics), this study examined nurse-to-nurse handoff interactions in two hospitals in …