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Teaching Agroecology Through Play: A Board Game On Companion Planting Using Agroecological Principles, Ashmita Das, Julie Capito-Hernandez, Estelí Jiménez-Soto

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Board games themed around environmental topics are promising tools for promoting awareness of complex sustainability issues, as the materiality, sociality, and multidimensionality of gameplay can help overcome some of the inherent limitations of more traditional learning formats. To explore the potential relevance of board games for communicating about agrifood system topics in particular, we designed and tested a game called Companion: An Agroecological Adventure, in which players take on the role of community gardeners who must apply both social and ecological principles of agroecology to cultivate a thriving garden plot. In this paper, we present the results of a study …

Food Sovereignty Among Migrant Farmworkers: The Role Of Agrobiodiversity For Autonomy And Resistance In A Mexican Coffee Plantation, Estelí Jiménez-Soto, Sanya Cowal, April Lopez

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Coffee agroecosystems represent the economic base for thousands of small growers and agricultural workers, as well as a significant proportion of many regional economies in Latin America. Every year, the production of coffee in this region attracts a great number of laborers and their families, particularly during the harvest season. Despite being essential workers in the food system, agricultural workers continue to be one of the most marginalized actors in the coffee production chain. Even with an environment of precarity, agricultural workers exercise their autonomy and food sovereignty—the process by which agricultural workers, in this case, define their food system …

System And Method For The Activation Of Active Ion Transporters Without The Consumption Of Adenosine Triphosphate (Atp) Molecules For The Treatment Of Muscle Fatigue, Wei Chen, Jason Edward Mast, Pengfei Liang

USF Patents

A system and method to control the Na/K pumps for the treatment or prevention of muscle fatigue by applying a synchronization modulation electric field that is effective in synchronizing the Na/K pumps down to individual steps throughout the pumping cycle, thereby synthesizing one ATP for each pumping cycle. The generated ATP molecule compensates the ATP consumed in extrusion of 3 Na ions and pumping 2 K ions such that the net-consumption of ATP for the Na/K pumps controlled by the system and method of the present invention is significantly reduced, theoretically to zero, thereby providing an effective treatment for muscle …

Epigenetic Modification Of Fungi And Uses Thereof, Bill J. Baker, Dennis E. Kyle, Mario Alberto Rodriguez-Pã©Rez, Anne-Claire D. Limon, Ala Azhari

USF Patents

Described herein are methods of epigenetic modification of fungi and uses thereof. Also described herein are compounds that can have antileishmanial activity and formulations thereof. Also described herein are methods of treating leishmanial infection in a subject that include the step of administering a compound or formulation thereof described herein to the subject.

“Strange And Unusual Things”: Teaching The Speculative Fiction Of Margaret Cavendish, E Mariah Spencer

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640–1830

Margaret Cavendish, a prolific author and natural philosopher, defies categorization with her multifaceted contributions to literature and philosophy. While she is recognized for her groundbreaking work in various academic fields, her literature also resonates within the realms of science fiction, weird fiction, and speculative genres. This essay explores innovative approaches to teaching Cavendish's work, particularly within the realm of speculative literature, using an interdisciplinary lens. Drawing on perspectives including monster theory and the concept of the abject, students are prompted to critically engage with Cavendish's texts. By examining themes such as the monstrous, the supernatural, and the occult, students uncover …

Teaching Margaret Cavendish Through The Lens Of Scientific Anti-Realism, Kevin Lower

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640–1830

Margaret Cavendish (1623-1673) only began receiving sustained attention by historians of philosophy in recent decades, but she is being rapidly integrated into the early modern philosophical canon. This essay explores one dimension of teaching Cavendish that presents difficulties for introductory philosophy students: her criticisms of experimental philosophy. Section one explains how I integrate Cavendish into the narrative of my course, identifying both historical and thematic strategies for including her in introductory philosophy courses. Section two describes methods for teaching Cavendish’s natural philosophy and identifies a pedagogical challenge to presenting her criticisms of experimental philosophy. In their first exposure to Cavendish, …

An Argumental Discourse Before All: An Approach To Teaching Cavendish, Jonathan L. Shaheen

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640–1830

Cavendish directs readers of Observations upon Experimental Philosophy to begin engaging her work through "An Argumental Discourse." In this piece, I describe a way of thinking about the structure of that piece and how to understand two of its major moments in relationship to standardly taught material. The first moment is the dilemma about how inanimate matter is moved, with its response centered on treating a horse and its rider as a paradigm example of causation. The article shows how the argument involves Cavendish's conceptions of causation, minds, bodies, and mind-body interaction. The second moment has to do with the …

Jumping Pens And Historical Vertigo: Teaching Cavendish In The Twenty-First Century, Anne M. Thell

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640–1830

"Jumping Pens" considers "historical and epistemological vertigo" as a useful pedagogical rubric for teaching the works of Margaret Cavendish (1623-73) in contemporary university classrooms. Specifically, it looks back across more than a decade of teaching Cavendish in diverse settings in order to show how exciting this author can be for students who are just starting out in the discipline of literary studies. As this essay argues, Cavendish can make us all better, more self-aware instructors, while also developing critical and historical acumen in our students.

Enfilade And Variations: Interpreting Salon Music Through Residential Architecture In Eighteenth-Century Paris, Nicole Vilkner

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640–1830

In eighteenth-century Parisian salons, theme and variations on popular melodies proliferated. Elaine Sisman’s seminal study of variation form provides a foundational approach for understanding variations as rhetorical exercises that persuade through differences in syntax and expression. In this vein, scholars have comprehensively affirmed the ways that salon music reflects the dialogic and sociable practices of Enlightenment receptions (Hanning, Sutcliffe, and Zohn). I suggest that theme and variation form is not only connected to the rhetoric of the salon, but that the concept of sequential elaboration is a principle that was also prized in residential architecture.

Drawing from theoretical writings of …

Simulating An Eighteenth-Century Enlightenment Salon: Embodied Experience And Scholarly Investigation, Jennifer M. Jones

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640–1830

This paper reflects on my experience simulating an 18th-century French salon for an academic conference and in an undergraduate classroom. I argue that simulating a salon is heuristically as well as pedagogically useful and allows historians to test hypotheses about the nature of the salon and the role of the salonnière proposed by scholars such as Dena Goodman and Antoine Lilti. The essay also engages with some of the important insights gained from feminist and performance theory regarding historical reenactment. Thus I caution against naive attempts to reenact the past and instead suggest practices that foster open-ended conversations about the …

Introduction: The Salon And The Senses In Eighteenth-Century France, Jennifer M. Jones, Rebecca Cypess

ABO: Interactive Journal for Women in the Arts, 1640–1830

An introduction to a special collection of essays exploring the salon and the senses in eighteenth-century France. Provides an overview of the critical historiography on the salon and the role of salon hostesses. Explores new approaches to salon within the context of the history of the senses, with attention to the role of art, music, and sociability in salon culture. Provides an overview of the essays in the collection.

Chiropterophagy By The Siberian Weasel (Mustela Sibirica): The First Record In The Russian Far East, Valeriya E. Omelko, Mikhail P. Tiunov

International Journal of Speleology

Chiropterophagy is a widespread phenomenon, but only one case of bat consumption by sable has been documented in the Russian Far East. This study presents the first recorded instance of chiropterophagy by the Siberian weasel (Mustela sibirica) in the southern Russian Far East, based on excrement collected from the Solyanik Cave in the southern Sikhote-Alin Mountains in 2007. The excrement included bones from three bat species (Murina hilgendorfi, Myotis bombinus, Plecotus ognevi) and one vole species (Myodes rutilus). Our findings suggest that the Siberian weasel visits caves during the cold season, although …

3d Printed Heart Model With Simulated Cardiac Stroke Volumes, Fadi Matar, Jonathan Michael Ford, Summer Joy Decker

USF Patents

Disclosed herein is a 3D printed heart model with simulated cardiac stroke volumes. It involves an inner membrane conforming to the shape of the inner lining of the ventricle. This results in the creation of a compression pouch with a potential space (compression sac) bordered by the inner surface of the simulated ventricle and the outer surface of the inner membrane. The inner membrane also defines a neo-ventricular chamber that is in contact with blood simulating fluid. A pulsatile flow pump can serve as a hydrodynamic driver for inflow and outflow into and out of the compression sac. This can …

Regulated Drug Delivery Via Controlled Degradable Chondroitin Sulfate Particles, Nurettin Sahiner, Ramesh Ayyala

USF Patents

Disclosed herein are crosslinked chondroitin sulfate particles crosslinked chondroitin sulfate particle polyelectrolytes. The particles are useful in drug delivery applications. The particles may be used to treat various conditions, including bacterial and fungal infections.

Device For Targeted Feature-Specific Sensory Therapy, David Eddins, Joseph Walton

USF Patents

A device and method that supplements sensory input, thereby providing a supplemented sensory environment, to induce plasticity within the central nervous system that effectively overcomes sensory-neural processing deficits or strengthens specific sensory-neural abilities. In one implementation, ear-level hearing devices are used to deliver therapeutic sound with specific acoustic features that serve as archetypes of stimulus features for which sensory-neural processing is compromised by a sensory-neural deficit.

Compositions And Methods To Remove Ammonia In Freshwater And Saltwater Fish Storage Systems, Norma Arcelia Alcantar, Wen Zhao

USF Patents

Compositions, systems and methods of removing ammonia from fish storage systems are presented. A chemical water conditioner comprised of sodium formaldehyde bisulfite, cornstarch, dye and alcohol was found to have a high ammonia removal efficiency in seawater. A combination of this chemical water conditioner with modified chabazite and phosphate buffer exhibited high ammonia removal efficiency in both seawater and freshwater.

Assessing Ocean Attitudes, Decision-Making, And Learning Of Oceanography Camp Especially For Girls Participants, Serenity Poston-Hymel

USF St. Petersburg campus Honors Program Theses (Undergraduate)

The ocean provides many important economic, nutritional, and cultural resources and ecosystem services to human populations. However, many anthropogenic activities are threatening ocean ecosystems and these vital resources (Inniss et al., 2016). Ocean literacy is the knowledge, attitude, and behaviors that pertain to the ocean, its systems, and its relationships with humans (Brennan et al., 2019; Schoedinger et al., 2005). A key goal of ocean literacy is encouraging informed decisions and behaviors pertaining to the ocean, leading to responsible management and use of ocean resources (Santoro et al., 2018). Ocean attitudes and environmental moral reasoning are vital in influencing positive …

Training In Ecological Thinking: Narrative Practices For Educational Professional, Cristina Trovato

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

Since the 1970s, the issue of environmental education has assumed relevance in the context of a theory of training towards new forms of sustainability education. Literary ecology, a discipline born from the contamination of ecology and literature, proposes itself as a critical response to environmental distress, enhancing the implicit dialogue and interconnections between the text and the circumstances of the environment. The literary heritage constitutes a precious resource for promoting, in educational contexts from early childhood, dimensions that range from the cognitive to the emotional and for activating sustainable processes, through ecological paths that develop a civic conscience, capable of …

Fostering Ecological Awareness And Inclusion Through Narrative Pedagogy: Insights From The ‘Eco-Narrations’ Projects, Giambattista Bufalino, Gabriella D’Aprile

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

The paper presents The Eco-Narrations: Educational Care Atelier, an innovative collaborative initiative between the University of Catania and the Municipality of Ragusa. The project integrates narrative pedagogy into education to advance ecological awareness and social inclusion. From June to December 2023, the initiative offered a comprehensive training program to over 100 educators across kindergarten, primary, and lower secondary schools, blending theoretical sessions with practical workshops. Central to the program were eco-narrations, which employed ecological storytelling to deepen knowledge, foster emotional engagement, and promote inclusion. The project enhanced teachers’ abilities to address ecological and social issues while cultivating a collaborative …

Survival And Occupancy Of Red-Bellied Woodpeckers In A Fragmented Forested Landscape In North-Central Ohio, 1995-2005, David A. Zuwerink, James S. Marshall

North American Bird Bander

No abstract provided.

Recent Literature, Claire Stuyck

North American Bird Bander

No abstract provided.

A New Angle On Using Mist-Nets To Capture Wintering Grassland Birds, John A. Muller, Erin H. Strasser, Nuwanthika Nagode, Jeremy D. Ross

North American Bird Bander

No abstract provided.

Anouncements And Report On The 2024 Annual Meeting, David Cimprich

North American Bird Bander

No abstract provided.

Beyond Climate In Placencia, Belize: Navigating Environmental Change In The Anthropocene, Rory E. Mckenna

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Examining opportunities for climate resilience requires an evaluation of lived experiences of environmental change which benefits from transdisciplinary perspectives. This research examines those experiences through the lens of anthropogenic change which allows for a critical focus on local conditions of environmental change specific to Placencia Village, Belize, over time. An anthropology of the anthropocene framing shifts the focus from the results of the global phenomenon responsible for climate change to the implications of local human-caused environmental change on natural systems, human-environment relationships and dynamics, and the future trajectories of these relationships. Through the use of interviews, go-alongs, participatory mapping, transdisciplinary …

Effects Of A Treatment Package Of Video Self-Modeling And Contingency Mapping Procedures On Decreasing Aggressive Behavior In Children With Autism, Valerie Younis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Video self-modeling (VSM) is regarded as a successful evidence-based intervention and has demonstrated effectiveness across a range of behaviors, disabilities, and ages. Additionally, the use of contingency mapping (CM) provides a clear visual representation of the relationship between behaviors and consequences in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The current study extends the literature on VSM and CM by evaluating the combined effectiveness of these two interventions on aggressive behavior in children with ASD. In particular, the combined effects of VSM and CM were evaluated with three students diagnosed with ASD in their respective homes. A multiple baseline design across …

Are You Who Ai Says You Are? Exploring The Role Of Natural Language Processing Algorithms For “Predicting” Personality Traits From Text, Mukhunth Raghavan

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Advances in text analytic approaches to measuring personality traits from text and speech have shown great promise for automating the assessment of personality. While a lot of effort has gone into developing robust algorithms for predicting personality ratings, more work is needed in understanding the function and theoretical relationships of these algorithmic ratings. This study proposes a novel application of the Trait-Reputation-Identity model (McAbee and Connelly, 2016), wherein, algorithm-generated ratings form the Reputation factor and are assumed to resemble learned observer ratings, the original self-report ratings form the Identity factor, and the total set of ratings form the consensus Trait …

Species Distribution Modeling With Environmental Time Series Data And Deep Learning, Austin M. Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Species distribution models (SDM) are frequently used to gain ecological understanding and guide conservation decisions. These models are developed with a wide variety of procedures - from regression-based approaches to more modern machine learning algorithms - but a requirement almost all share is the use of predictor variables that strongly simplify the temporal variability of driving factors. These static features are chosen by the user, which can incorporate unnecessary bias into a study. Additionally, current data preparation techniques often remove variables from the process entirely, which inherently removes information that may still be of importance. Conversely, novel architectures of deep …

Ecological Epidemiology Of The Fungal Pathogen Ophidiomyces Ophiodiicola In Southeastern U.S. Snake Populations: Distribution, Drivers, And Anthropogenic Risk Factors, Shivam Shukla

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Studying wildlife diseases is an important conservation measure, as many pathogens are a critical threat to biodiversity worldwide. Ophidiomycosis is an emerging infectious disease caused by the invasive fungal pathogen Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola that affects a wide variety of snake species, often causing mortality. There has been limited surveillance for ophidiomycosis in the southeastern United States’ (US) snake populations and research into the effects of anthropogenic disturbance on disease spread is also lacking. Thus, this project aimed to quantify the distribution and drivers (taxonomic, anthropogenic, and morphological) of ophidiomycosis in Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi’s free ranging snakes as well as study …

Characterizing West Florida Shelf Reef Fish Communities Using A Scientific Echosounder, Edmund A. Hughes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The advancement and application of non-invasive fisheries survey technologies, such as the scientific echosounder, have significantly enhanced our understanding of fish populations and their habitats, more recently in regions where traditional sampling methods are limited, such as complex reef habitats. This research, conducted as part of the Continental Shelf Characterization, Assessment, and Mapping Project (C-SCAMP) on the West Florida Shelf, leverages acoustic and visual technologies to investigate the distribution of fish densities, fish target strength and length relationships, and the relationship between seafloor topography and fish biomass distribution.

The first study compared reef fish densities estimated from near-concurrent acoustic (Simrad …

Reflections On The Teacher Evaluation Process: Experiences Told By K-12 Teachers, Trinicia S. Murphy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In education, it is essential for stakeholders like district leaders, teachers, and government officials to collaborate and create a plan of action that would support K-12 instruction. Collaborations as such have been used for decades by policymakers and researchers to express philosophies, values, and beliefs about education to make improvements and/or push for change. Therefore, the educational system will continue to evolve with current and upcoming research findings. For example, evaluating teachers effectively has been one of the most controversial topics in education. According to Boyd (1989), teacher evaluations were constructed to measure teachers’ competences and promote professional development. Today, …