Digital Commons Network^™

Visitor Perceptions Of Lampenflora And Implications For Adaptive Show Cave Management: A Case Study From Ryusen-Do Cave, Japan, Kanato Ando, Kazuhide Nakajima, Shuji Watanabe, Masuo Komukai, Hidesato Kuwahara

International Journal of Speleology

Artificial lighting in show caves promotes lampenflora growth, altering cave ecosystems and posing persistent management challenges. Although various control methods have been proposed, their effectiveness and social acceptance remain context dependent. This study investigated visitors’ perceptions of lampenflora through questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews to explore adaptive management strategies. Results indicated that visitors generally held positive impressions of lampenflora, but these impressions became more critical after receiving information about its artificial origin and ecological impacts. At the same time, support for conservation-oriented management, including willingness to contribute financially, tended to increase following information provision. Tourism-related evaluations were more strongly associated …

Comparing Manual And Automated Methods In Sinkhole Delineation: A Cantabrian Mountains (Spain) And Tasman Mountains (New Zealand) Case Study, Mario Puente-Sierra, Javier Santos-González, Rosa B. González-Gutiérrez

Sinkhole Conference 2026

Studies of karst landforms, such as sinkholes, have advanced in recent years due to technological advances and the rise of automated detection methods. Such methods offer notable time-saving strengths, but their limitations in complex terrains are frequently overlooked in modern literature. To compare these automated methods to traditional manual methods, we selected four karst massifs in the Cantabrian Mountains (Spain) and two in the Tasman Mountains (New Zealand) as study areas. High-resolution LiDAR-derived Digital Elevation Models were used to identify and map sinkholes. Automated detection was performed using a Geographic Information System and included: i) a depression-filling method; ii) a …

Erratum To: Wavelet-Based Multiscale Analysis Of Cave Co2 Concentration In Response To Short-Term High-Intensity Tourism Activities: Spatiotemporal Heterogeneity And Lag Characteristics, Editors Ijs

International Journal of Speleology

N/A

Sedimentary Dynamics In Tubular Sandstone Caves, Porto União, Southern Brazil, Leandro Bianchini, Julio Cesar Paisani

International Journal of Speleology

Clastic sedimentation in sandstone caves remains poorly understood, particularly in systems with tubular morphology. This study investigates sedimentation, reworking, and sediment removal dynamics in the Legru Cave system, southern Brazil, based on the integrated analysis of sedimentary facies, microstructures, and microfeatures, combined with optically stimulated luminescence dating. The results indicate that conduit infilling is dominated by high-density flows, including cohesive debris flows, partially diluted multiphase flows, and flows with intermediate rheological behavior between mud flow and hyperconcentrated flow, in addition to shallow flow alternations. Sediment supply is predominantly allochthonous, related to hillslope-derived material delivered by overland flow and mud flows, …

The Polar Pivot: Great Power Competition In The Arctic And Antarctica. By Ryan Patrick Burke. Boulder: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2022., Collin Thigpen

Journal of Strategic Security

No abstract provided.

Parallel Failures: The Recurring Logic Of Interventionist Blunders From Ukraine To Mexico, Jerjes Aguirre Ochoa, Jorge Alejandro Vázquez Valdez

Journal of Strategic Security

This article argues that a potential US military intervention in Mexico, predicated on securitizing cartels as terrorist threats, would replicate strategic failures seen in interventions like Russia’s in Ukraine. Through a comparative framework of three variables—securitization, underestimated nationalist resistance, and neglected co-responsibility—the analysis shows how external force applied to structural crises provokes nationalist backlash. In Mexico, any intervention would reactivate historical memory of US interference, triggering broad institutional and social resistance. The core security challenge is not the cartels but Mexico's institutional fragility: systemic impunity, subnational governance deficits, and weak checks and balances. Therefore, militarized approaches are counterproductive. As a …

Complex Adaptive Resilience And Asymmetrical Balancing: Russia And The 2022 Sanctions Regime, Renny Puspitarini, Sartika Soesilowati, Kacung Marijan, Ahmad Iskandar Rahmansyah

Journal of Strategic Security

The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine prompted unprecedented Western sanctions, which amounted to more than 23,000 sanctions during 2022-2024. However, these sanctions failed to fulfill their designated objective of influencing the end of the Russia-Ukraine War. Russian responses to progressively augmented sanctions have sparked debates surrounding microeconomic sovereignty, macroeconomic adaptability, and, foremost, resilience. The article’s findings reveal that while sanctions have not brought the Russian Federation to acquiesce, they have catalyzed a structural, politically induced policy shift into a Complex Adaptive Resilience (CAR) framework. Russia's ability to build resilience against sanctions has been manifested structurally in its strategy to reinforce …

Was The Us Invasion Of Iraq A Mistake, Or Are We Missing The Emergence Of A Promising Democracy?, Robert Burrell, Arman Mahmoudian, John Pennell

Journal of Strategic Security

This study evaluates the long-term impact of the 2003 US invasion of Iraq on its democratic development, social stability, and regional geopolitics. Utilizing a comprehensive data-driven approach, including metrics on governance resilience, national morale, political dynamics, economic indicators, and security sector reforms, the research assesses progress over two decades. Findings indicate gradual improvements in Iraq’s democratic institutions, public confidence, and economic resilience, despite persistent challenges such as corruption, sectarian divisions, and regional influence from Iran and neighboring states. The analysis suggests that Iraq’s resilience and evolving political landscape could foster a nascent democracy capable of regional influence if key reforms …

Reinterpreting The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Dispute In The Nile Basin Through The Game Theories Of Attrition And Bargaining, Olileanya Amuche Ezugwu, Felix C. Chidozie, Adeola A. Adebajo

Journal of Strategic Security

Why have more than a decade of negotiations, mediation efforts, and diplomatic interventions failed to produce a binding agreement on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)? This article examines the hydro-politics of the Nile Basin through the lens of game theory, focusing on how bargaining behavior, strategic persistence, and competing perceptions of gains and losses shape state interactions. Drawing on the game of attrition and the bargaining game, the study analyzes the evolving strategies of Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan in the context of dam construction, filling, and operation. Rather than viewing the dispute solely as a contest over water allocation, …

Foraging Areas Of Breeding Adult Sooty Terns Onychoprion Fuscatus On Bird Island, Seychelles., Jessica L. Neumann, Ruth E. Dunn, Malcolm A. C. Nicoll, Christine S. Larose, Chris Foster, Gary Brodin, Chris J. Feare

Marine Ornithology

The foraging areas used by adult Sooty Terns Onychoprion fuscatus during incubation and early chick-rearing on Bird Island, Seychelles, were investigated using small GPS loggers. Birds departed the colony mainly during the night and foraged by day. Most foraging trips were completed within 24 hr, but during incubation the longest duration recorded was seven days and 14 hr (during which the bird travelled 2,783 km and reached a maximum of 692 km from the colony). Departures were generally in an arc from south (180°) through westerly to 40°. Sooty Terns foraged frequently in waters over the Seychelles Bank shelf break, …

Summit Report: Nuclear Deterrence In An Uncertain World, Manolis Priniotakis

GNSI Summit Reports

The Global and National Security Institute’s Tampa Summit 6 took place on March 24-25, 2026, and examined a nuclear weapons environment marked by renewed uncertainty, weakened institutions, and rapid strategic change. General (Ret.) Frank McKenzie’s opening keynote framed the central challenge: The nuclear age never ended, but the United States and its allies spent much of the post-Cold War period looking away at other threats while Russia, China, North Korea, and others adapted. The world is now moving from the longstanding and relatively stable “two-body” nuclear order centered on the United States and Russia toward a far more complex “three-body” …

Wavelet-Based Multiscale Analysis Of Cave Co₂ Concentration In Response To Short-Term High-Intensity Tourism Activities: Spatiotemporal Heterogeneity And Lag Characteristics, Mingda Cao, Wenwen Song, Yan Zhang, Jie Zhang, Zhiqiang Yao

International Journal of Speleology

High-intensity tourism activities can cause a significant increase in cave air CO₂ concentration, thereby affecting the cave micro-environment and secondary carbonate deposition. During the 2023 National Day Golden Week, high-frequency continuous monitoring of cave air CO₂ partial pressure (PCO_2(A)) and visitor numbers was conducted in Dawang Cave, Anhui Province. Wavelet transform and cross-correlation analyses were used to reveal the multi-scale response characteristics of CO₂ concentration to tourism activities. The results show that: (1) PCO_2(A) exhibited clear diurnal variations (higher during the day, lower at night) and decreased spatially with enhanced ventilation, controlled jointly by …

Book Review: A People Destroyed: New Research On The Roma Genocide, 1941–1945, Elizabeth Graham

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Retrospective Analysis Of Fda Adverse Event Reporting System (Faers) For Herbal Supplements, Luke Junck, Jennifer Lin, Nikolas Reyes, Teba Albahely, Sreehitha Sajja

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

FAERS is the national database maintained by the FDA in order to monitor the safety of drugs after they reach the market. FAERS supports post-marketing surveillance by helping regulators to detect emerging risks and guide decisions on product labeling changes or further investigations. A systematic review of 21 research articles was conducted, focusing on the population and reasonings behind adverse reports for herbal supplements. Articles were gathered from multiple databases such as Pubmed, ScienceDirect, SpringerNature, and government affiliated websites. This research explored the question, “How do adverse event reports for herbal supplements in FAERS differ across age, race, and geographic …

Teaching Evelina With Digital Humanities, Hilary Havens

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

Digital humanities, an interdisciplinary field that applies digital methodologies and technologies to the humanities, is an excellent lens through which to approach the eighteenth century.  I integrate digital humanities tools and workshops alongside primary source readings in all of my eighteenth-century British literature classes to help students better understand those texts and the world in which they were created.  In my upper-level undergraduate class on late eighteenth-century literature, I teach four digital humanities tools to students, two of them (StoryMapJS and Voyant) in connection with Frances Burney’s Evelina (1778). These tools train students how to uncover historical and geographic contexts …

The Secret(S) To Success: Genlis’S Guide To Raising A Foolproof Daughter, Jennifer Law-Sullivan

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

Abstract: “The Secret(s) to Success: Genlis’s Guide to Raising a Foolproof Daughter”

Stéphanie-Félicité de Genlis’s Adèle et Théodore ou lettres sur l’éducation, first published in 1782, is an epistolary conduct novel that examines the question of how best to educate girls. Attempts to answer the question were exceedingly in vogue in the late 18^th century and can be traced back to Fénelon’s 1681 Traité de l’éducation des filles. Genlis’s novel offers a robust critique of previous education treatises, Rousseau, and a patriarchal society that did little to educate girls and mothers. She couches her critique in a …

Heritage Without Equity: Afro-Descendant Representation, State Governance, Museums And The Limits Of Cultural Policy In Belize, Sherilyne L. Jones

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how heritage governance in Belize shapes the representation, recognition, and participation of Afro-descendant communities within national cultural institutions and policy frameworks. Focusing on Creole/Kriol and Garifuna communities, the study analyses how law, institutional designs, museum practises, tourism development, and community-based heritage work to produce uneven forms of cultural visibility. I argue that Afro-descendant communities are not absent from Belizean heritage. Rather, their cultural presence has not consistently translated into institutional authority, sustained investments, or meaningful participation in decisions about national representation. Drawing on critical heritage theory, critical museology, post-colonial scholarship, and the concept of authorised heritage discourse, …

Mapping Seafloor Habitats And Characterizing Demersal Reef Fish Communities On The West Florida Shelf Across Multiple Spatial Scales Using Multibeam Sonar And Underwater Video, Alexander R. Ilich

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, I examine the role of spatial scale in deriving seafloor terrain attributes, modeling benthic habitat, and analyzing ecological patterns of the demersal reef fish communities on the West Florida Shelf (WFS), with implications for improving predictive habitat mapping and understanding fish-environment relationships. Spatial scale plays a central role in benthic habitat mapping and ecological inference, influencing how terrain attributes are derived, how habitats are modeled, and how ecological responses are manifested. This work integrates multiscale terrain analysis, acoustic remote sensing, and community ecology to evaluate how spatial scale influences both physical habitat representation and ecological analysis.

Chapter …

Philanthropic Grantmakers’ Roles In Transforming Higher Education: A Narrative Inquiry, Elizabeth Jean Larkin Davis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Philanthropic foundations have become influential actors in higher education reform, often supporting initiatives to improve student success, advance equity, and promote systemic change. Yet limited research has examined how philanthropic grantmakers understand and navigate their roles in shaping long-term change across the higher education field. This narrative inquiry explored the personal and professional experiences of eight philanthropic grantmakers working across different foundations, roles, and organizational contexts in the United States. Guided by organizational change theory, Strategic Action Fields theory, and sustainability planning in dynamic systems, the study examined how grantmakers made sense of their responsibilities, influence, and contributions to systemic …

Examining The Referral Pathway For Black Families Evaluated Through The Early Steps Program, Zelda Fleming

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research indicates that for children with or at risk for developmental delays, early intervention services are associated with improvements in academic and cognitive skills by the time they reach kindergarten (Atkins et al., 2020; Litt et al., 2017). Untreated developmental delays are linked to early school failure and social and emotional problems (Sher et al., 2020). Black children are 5 times less likely to receive early intervention services when compared to their White peers (Barnard-Brak et al., 2021; Feinberg et al.,2011). Thus, they often do not have the opportunity to receive early intervention services. The literature in this area suggests …

Preparing Preservice Teachers: Developing Skills For Working With Students With Disabilities In The Social Studies Classroom, Melissa Waugh

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was aimed towards investigating the extant research, best practices, and teacher preparation standards related to working with students with disabilities in the social studies classroom. The study was guided using three research questions: Are students with disabilities’ learning needs reflected in the National Council for Social Studies National Standards for the Preparation of Social Studies Teachers?; How do preservice social studies teacher programs prepare their candidates for teaching students with disabilities as evidenced by Social Science Education methods course syllabi?; and, What might a college-level course aimed towards social studies teaching methods centering around students with disabilities’ learning …

Strategic Dimensions Of Artificial Intelligence: Development Globalization, Investment Dynamics, And Firm Performance, Alysson Silveira

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is quickly changing the competitive landscape of most industries, and understanding how to incorporate this technology into products, services, and processes is becoming crucial for firms. This dissertation presents three studies that address different strategic challenges that arose with the unfolding of AI. First, I study how multinational enterprises globalize the development of AI. I argue that concentrating AI development or globalizing it has different implications for supply chain responsiveness and operations complexity. I use a combination of a rare dataset on software presence across 45 countries and financial data to show that AI development globalization has …

“He’S Got The Whole World In His Hands”: Seed Sovereignty And Agricultural Decision Making In Southeastern Kenya, Caroline Stahley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Increasing corporate control of the global seed supply and restrictions to local exchange threaten the autonomy of smallholder farmers and Indigenous communities. This project contributes to agricultural sovereignty movements by examining the decisions farmers make to address climate uncertainty, market volatility, and development agendas. Specifically, how is seed saving practiced and understood in relation to sovereignty? It reimagines what global food systems might look like if investment were directed to producers rather than intermediaries, arguing that cultivators lack support, not knowledge or capacity. Across these domains, seeds act as a motif to describe the concerns, innovations, and visions of farmers.

Exploring Culturally Responsive Leadership Practices Among Female Leaders In Title I Schools: Strategies For Enhancing Student Success, Tara K. Indar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The academic achievement gap between White students and diverse student populations remains a persistent and prominent disparity in schools across the United States. While this issue affects schools nationwide, it is particularly significant in Title I schools, where many students from diverse, lower-socioeconomic-status backgrounds are served. Although a substantial body of literature examines this gap and highlights the positive impact of culturally responsive leadership, there remains a limited understanding of which specific practices are most effective in improving students’ academic outcomes. This study explores the perceptions of female school leaders in Title I schools regarding the strategies they believe contribute …

Moving Through Disasters: Spatial Analysis And Modeling Of Evacuation, Migration, And Socioeconomic Selectivity In The United States, Xiang Li

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Disasters increasingly affect population movement in the United States, but their relationships with mobility and migration at various spatio-temporal scales are not fully understood. Disaster-related movement may appear as short-term evacuation during hazardous events, long-term migration after major or repeated disaster exposure, or selective redistribution across socio-economic groups. Therefore, this dissertation aims to address three main questions: 1) What are the spatial patterns of evacuation, and how do evacuation rates vary across space during a major disaster? 2) To what extent are natural disasters associated with long-term human migration patterns in the United States, and how can their contributions be …

How Location-Allocation Modelling Can Be Used To Site Pet-Friendly Evacuation Shelter Locations For Pet Owners In Hillsborough County, Florida: An Exploratory Study, Sarah A. Shaughnessy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Florida has been hit by some of the most destructive tropical cyclones in North America due to its relative location to the Gulf and Atlantic Ocean. Florida’s population growth since the 2000’s and the increased frequency of stronger storms because of climate change have made numerous emergency management leaders throughout the state get evacuation shelter networks established for public safety. However, the existing shelter network in Hillsborough County has become inadequate to satisfy the unprecedented population growth in that specific area since the COVID-19 pandemic and there’s a need for new shelter locations to better accommodate the growth when a …

Tribute To Bob Pantle, Andrea Patterson, Maren Gimpel

North American Bird Bander

No abstract provided.

Students In Motion: How Educators Enact Movement In Elementary Mathematics, Katherine E. Nash

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study used an exploratory sequential mixed-methods design to examine how elementary mathematics teachers report using physical activity in their instructional practice. The purpose of the study was to develop, provide evidence of validity, and implement a questionnaire to document the types of movement teachers use and when these practices occur in relation to mathematics instruction. In Phase 1, qualitative interviews were conducted with eight elementary mathematics teachers to identify common movement types and inform instrument development. The eight movement types that were identified are non-academic fine-motor, non-academic gross-motor, non-academic music-elicited, non-academic environmental, academic fine-motor, academic gross-motor, academic music-elicited, and …

Situating Stormwater Infrastructure Through Collaborative Design: Insights From A University-Community Partnership, Serena A. Echols

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Stormwater ponds help address flooding and partially mitigate nutrient pollution while sometimes serving as a central landscape element in community parks. In underserved urban communities, however, stormwater ponds are sometimes neglected and underutilized, leading to public health and environmental justice challenges. Our research in Tampa, Florida, seeks to develop pathways for residents and other stakeholders to collaboratively co-design infrastructure interventions and pondscape redevelopment for neglected stormwater ponds. Drawing on ethnographic and participatory methods as well as environmental assessment and modeling, we are working with residents of one pond community on cleanup and redevelopment strategies. Results reveal that balancing local and …

Escalation By Algorithm, Restraint By Architecture: Pakistan’S Military Ai Divergence, Sajjad Ahmed, Ahmad Nizar Yaakub, Asma Javed

Journal of Strategic Security

Debates on military artificial intelligence (AI) remain skewed toward great power dynamics, oscillating between techno-optimist celebrations of speed and techno-pessimist warnings of collapse. This binary overlooks how middle powers, operating under nuclearized rivalry and asymmetric sanction risk, embed restraint into organizational and technical practice. This article develops Systems Restrained Realism (SRR), a framework that extends defensive realism into the machine age by theorizing restraint as a deliberate doctrinal posture rather than a symptom of incapacity. Using Pakistan as a critical case, the study draws on expert interviews, procurement manuals, and UN submissions to demonstrate how restraint is operationalized through latency …