Digital Commons Network^™

The Distribution In Native Populations From Mexico And Central America Of The C677t Variant In The Mthfr Gene, Lucio A. Reyes

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Objectives: To explore evolutionary hypotheses for the high frequencies of a substitution in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene, in Mexican and Central American Indigenous populations.

Materials and methods: We obtained allele frequencies for the C677T variant in the MTHFR gene and ecological information for 37 indigenous samples from Mexico and Central America. We calculated Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium and computed Fst statistics. We computed correlations between the samples' allele frequencies and ecological and geochemical variables.

Results: Many of the samples have extremely high frequencies of the T allele (q̄ = 0.62, median = 0.66). In this region, the frequency of the T …

Politics Vs. The Environment: The Spatial Distributions Of Mississippian Mound Centers In Tampa Bay, Adam J. Sax

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Safety Harbor culture that resided in West-Central Florida during the Mississippian period (~1000-1500 CE) was distant from the Mississippian heartland but built similar platform mound complexes and exhibited social hierarchies despite practicing an estuarine lifestyle that likely did not rely on extensive agriculture. To determine whether this coastal culture exhibited similar spatial patterns of platform mound centers to traditional inland cultures, GIS spatial analyses including distance matrices, density analyses, and least cost analyses (LCA) were performed within the Safety Harbor geographical nexus of Tampa Bay. The results were able to detect temporal changes in settlement patterns and estimate the …

Microbiological Study In A Gneissic Cave From Sri Lanka, With Special Focus On Potential Antimicrobial Activities, Ethige Isuru P. Silva, Pathmakumara Jayasingha, Saman Senanayake, Anura Dandeniya, Dona Helani Munasinghe

International Journal of Speleology

The emergence of antibiotic resistance is a global health crisis, thus the search for novel antimicrobial compounds has become a continuous necessity. Underexplored and extreme environments, such as cave ecosystems, have been identified as a promising potential source for the discovery of novel microorganisms with novel antimicrobial compounds (AMC). This study presents the first cave microbiological investigation in Sri Lanka, with a special preference for bioprospecting of novel AMC. The cave sediment characterization demonstrated the presence of close to strong acidic conditions (pH 3.1 – 3.3) and thus indicates the possibility of isolating acidophilic microorganisms. Eight cave wall/ceiling fungal strains …

Our Story, Our Homeland, Our Legacy: Settlement Patterns Of The Geechee At Sapelo Island Georgia, From 1860 To 1950, Colette D. Witcher

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Gullah Geechee are descendants of enslaved Africans who worked on the island coastal plantations of Georgia, North and South Carolina, and Northern Florida. The Gullah Geechee are known for having retained African cultural connections and practices in the United States through intergenerational knowledge transmission. On Sapelo Island, Georgia, during their 250 years on the island a least 15 historic communities have been acknowledged as representative of their distinct presence on the island. Hog Hammock which was established in 1878, is the last intact Gullah Geechee owned community, due to forced abandonment of the other communities during the early 1950s. …

Cutr Connections [March 2021], Cutr

CUTR Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Measuring Human And Economic Activity From Satellite Imagery To Support City-Scale Decision-Making During Covid-19 Pandemic, Rodrigo Minetto, Maurício Pamplona Segundo, Gilbert Rotich, Sudeep Sarkar

All publications

The COVID-19 outbreak forced governments worldwide to impose lockdowns and quarantines to prevent virus transmission. As a consequence, there are disruptions in human and economic activities all over the globe. The recovery process is also expected to be rough. Economic activities impact social behaviors, which leave signatures in satellite images that can be automatically detected and classified. Satellite imagery can support the decision-making of analysts and policymakers by providing a different kind of visibility into the unfolding economic changes. In this article, we use a deep learning approach that combines strategic location sampling and an ensemble of lightweight convolutional neural …

The Impacts Of Political Conflicts In Africa, Douglas Kimemia

Journal of African Conflicts and Peace Studies

The number of conflicts and deaths in Africa is rooted in the complex constructions and conjectures of Africa’s political economies, weak institutions, social identities, and cultural ecologies, as configured by specific local, national, regional, and historical experiences. Using real-time data of violent and nonviolent events in Africa, this paper analyzes the most significant indicators. The paper finds that Gross Domestic Product, corruption, state legitimacy, ethnic fractionalization, political effectiveness, and polity are significant in modeling the likelihood of political instability. The paper concludes that African countries require reconfiguration of the public and social institutions without ignoring the human factor that accelerate …

Women, Peace And Security In Zimbabwe - The Case Of Conflict In Non War Zones, Rutendo Chabikwa

Journal of African Conflicts and Peace Studies

The Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda is the United Nation’s (UN) key policy instrument for addressing gender violence in conflict zones. However, the agenda has been preoccupied with “hot” conflicts, and its application and relevance to sustained, but “low level” conflict situations is poorly conceptualized. This research considers this issue through a case study of Zimbabwe since 2000. I make the case for broadening the understanding of conflict as found in the WPS agenda.

This paper addresses the question: ‘How does the case of Zimbabwe exemplify the need for a broader understanding of conflict within the WPS agenda as …

An Evaluation Of Semidistributed-Pipe-Network And Distributed-Finite-Difference Models To Simulate Karst Systems, L. W. Gill, P. Schuler, L. Duran, P. Morrissey, P. M. Johnston

KIP Articles

Several different approaches have been developed to model the specific characteristics of karst aquifers, taking account of their inherent complex spatial and temporal heterogeneities. This paper sets out the development of a semidistributed modelling approach for applications in an Irish karst context using urban drainage software. The models have proven to be very useful for different studies, with examples given for the ecohydrology of ephemeral karst lakes, extreme groundwater-flood alleviation, karst network investigation, submarine groundwater discharge, and quantification of different recharge and flow components. The limitations of the approach are also highlighted, in particular not being able to simulate diffuse …

Cutr Connections [February 2021], Cutr

CUTR Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Problematizing Florida’S Extended Reading Time Policy: A Critical Investigation Of Place, Demographics, And Curricula, Carrie L. Gentner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate Florida’s extended reading time (ERT) policy as enacted during the 2016-2017 school year. This policy requires elementary schools ranking among the 300 lowest performing in the state, as measured by state assessments, to provide an additional hour of reading instruction beyond the regular school day. Extending upon the work of a pilot study suggesting an overrepresentation of minoritized students within low 300 schools, this study presents the geographic, demographic, and socioeconomic distributions of the ERT mandate for a criterion sample of seven districts. Further, the pilot study indicated an underrepresentation of minoritized …

Nasa's Surface Biology And Geology Designated Observable: A Perspective On Surface Imaging Algorithms, Kerry Cawse-Nicholson, Philip A. Townsend, David Schimel, Ali M. Assiri, Pamela L. Blake, Maria Fabrizia Buongiorno, Petya Campbell, Nimrod Carmon, Kimberly A. Casey, Rosa Elvira Correa-Pabón, Kyla M. Dahlin, Hamid Dashti, Philip E. Dennison, Heidi Dierssen, Adam Erickson, Joshua B. Fisher, Robert Frouin, Charles K. Gatebe, Hamed Gholizadeh, Michelle Gierach, Nancy F. Glenn, James A. Goodman, Daniel M. Griffith, Liane Guild, Christopher R. Hakkenberg, Eric J. Hochberg, Thomas R.H. Holmes, Chuanmin Hu, Glynn Hulley, Karl F. Huemmrich, Raphael M. Kudela, Raymond F. Kokaly, Christine M. Lee, Roberta Martin, Charles E. Miller, Wesley J. Moses, Frank E. Muller-Karger, Joseph D. Ortiz, Daniel B. Otis, Nima Pahlevan, Thomas H. Painter, Ryan Pavlick, Ben Poulter, Yi Qi, Vincent J. Realmuto, Dar Roberts, Michael E. Schaepman, Fabian D. Schneider, Florian M. Schwandner, Shawn P. Serbin, Alexey N. Shiklomanov, E. Natasha Stavros, David R. Thompson, Juan L. Torres-Perez, Kevin R. Turpie, Maria Tzortziou, Susan Ustin, Qian Yu, Yusri Yusup, Qingyuan Zhang

Marine Science Faculty Publications

The 2017–2027 National Academies' Decadal Survey, Thriving on Our Changing Planet, recommended Surface Biology and Geology (SBG) as a “Designated Targeted Observable” (DO). The SBG DO is based on the need for capabilities to acquire global, high spatial resolution, visible to shortwave infrared (VSWIR; 380–2500 nm; ~30 m pixel resolution) hyperspectral (imaging spectroscopy) and multispectral midwave and thermal infrared (MWIR: 3–5 μm; TIR: 8–12 μm; ~60 m pixel resolution) measurements with sub-monthly temporal revisits over terrestrial, freshwater, and coastal marine habitats. To address the various mission design needs, an SBG Algorithms Working Group of multidisciplinary researchers has been formed to …

Bioactive Trace Metals And Their Isotopes As Paleoproductivity Proxies: An Assessment Using Geotraces-Era Data, T. J. Horner, S. H. Little, T. M. Conway, J. R. Farmer, J. E. Hertzberg, D. J. Janssen, A. J. M. Lough, J. L. Mckay, A. Tessin, S. J. G. Galer, S. L. Jaccard, F. Lacan, A. Paytan, K. Wuttig, Geotraces–Pages Biological Productivity Working Group Members

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Phytoplankton productivity and export sequester climatically significant quantities of atmospheric carbon dioxide as particulate organic carbon through a suite of processes termed the biological pump. Constraining how the biological pump operated in the past is important for understanding past atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and Earth's climate history. However, reconstructing the history of the biological pump requires proxies. Due to their intimate association with biological processes, several bioactive trace metals and their isotopes are potential proxies for past phytoplankton productivity, including iron, zinc, copper, cadmium, molybdenum, barium, nickel, chromium, and silver. Here, we review the oceanic distributions, driving processes, and depositional …

Examination Of Historical And Modern-Day Impact Of Structural Racism On The Lives Of Black People In The City Of St. Petersburg, Florida, Ruthmae Sears, Gypsy Gallardo, Gwendolyn D. Reese, Tim Dutton, Johannes Reichgelt, James P. Mchale, Fenda Akiwumi, Jabaar Edmond, Michelle Bradham-Cousar, Jalessa Blackshear, Dana Thompson-Dorsey

USF St. Petersburg Campus Faculty Publications

This report examines historical and modern-day impacts of structural racism on the lives of Black people in the City of St. Petersburg, Florida. It considers factors of structural racism that affect Black residents and communities in St. Petersburg related to the criminal legal system, economic system, education, and health. The report provides recommendations for policies and practices that can be implemented to address structural racism and promote racial equity in St. Petersburg. The report also identifies some additional areas of research needed for a more comprehensive analysis of issues related to structural racism.

Deep Learning For Supervised Classification Of Temporal Data In Ecology, César Capinha, Ana Ceia-Hasse, Andrew M. Kramer, Christiaan Meijer

Integrative Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

Temporal data is ubiquitous in ecology and ecologists often face the challenge of accurately differentiating these data into predefined classes, such as biological entities or ecological states. The usual approach consists of transforming the time series into user-defined features and then using these features as predictors in conventional statistical or machine learning models. Here we suggest the use of deep learning models as an alternative to this approach. Recent deep learning techniques can perform the classification directly from the time series, eliminating subjective and resource-consuming data transformation steps, and potentially improving classification results. We describe some of the deep learning …

Global Economic Costs Of Aquatic Invasive Alien Species, Ross N. Cuthbert, Zarah Pattison, Nigel G. Taylor, Laura Verbrugge, Christophe Diagne, Danish A. Ahmed, Boris Leroy, Elena Angulo, Elizabeta Briski, César Capinha, Jane A. Catford, Tatenda Dalu, Franz Essl, Rodolphe E. Gozlan, Phillip J. Haubrock, Melina Kourantidou, Andrew M. Kramer, David Renault, Ryan J. Wasserman, Franck Courchamp

Integrative Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

Much research effort has been invested in understanding ecological impacts of invasive alien species (IAS) across ecosystems and taxonomic groups, but empirical studies about economic effects lack synthesis. Using a comprehensive global database, we determine patterns and trends in economic costs of aquatic IAS by examining: (i) the distribution of these costs across taxa, geographic regions and cost types; (ii) the temporal dynamics of global costs; and (iii) knowledge gaps, especially compared to terrestrial IAS. Based on the costs recorded from the existing literature, the global cost of aquatic IAS conservatively summed to US$345 …

Deep Learning For Supervised Classification Of Temporal Data In Ecology, César Capinha, Ana Ceia-Hasse, Andrew M. Kramer, Christiaan Meijer

Integrative Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

Temporal data is ubiquitous in ecology and ecologists often face the challenge of accurately differentiating these data into predefined classes, such as biological entities or ecological states. The usual approach consists of transforming the time series into user-defined features and then using these features as predictors in conventional statistical or machine learning models. Here we suggest the use of deep learning models as an alternative to this approach. Recent deep learning techniques can perform the classification directly from the time series, eliminating subjective and resource-consuming data transformation steps, and potentially improving classification results. We describe some of the deep learning …

Cutr Connections [January 2021], Cutr

CUTR Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of City Of St. Petersburg Comprehensive Plan With Special Reference To Coastal Management Considering Climate Change, Michael F. Johnson

USF St. Petersburg campus Honors Program Theses (Undergraduate)

Land Development and the policy that drives it has long been an important issue in the Tampa Bay Area and by extension the state of Florida. Flooding and hurricanes have had to be considered in the future development of most places in Florida. But as climate change begins to pose a serious, leading to rising sea levels, increasingly powerful hurricanes, coastal erosion, increasing drought, and periods of unusually heavy rain, the role of policy, specifically the state- mandated comprehensive plan, in either mitigating or enhancing the susceptibility of any given area to these threats must be evaluated. This paper reviews …

Usf Libraries Libguides Task Force Report 2020-2021, Usf Libraries

All Assessment Data

No abstract provided.

Usf Libraries Environmental Scan 2020 Usf School Of Geosciences Research Impact And Visibility - April 2021, Usf Libraries

All Assessment Data

No abstract provided.

Spatial Spread Of White-Nose Syndrome In North America, 2006-2018, Andrew M. Kramer, Alex Mercier, Sean Maher, Yaw Kumi-Ansu, Sarah Bowden

Integrative Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

White-nose syndrome has caused massive mortality in multiple bat species and spread across much of North America, making it one of the most destructive wildlife diseases on record. This has also resulted in it being one of the most well-documented wildlife disease outbreaks, making it possible to look for changes in the pattern of spatial spread over time. We fit a series of spatial interaction models to the United States county-level observations of the pathogenic fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans, that causes white-nose syndrome. Models included the distance between caves, cave abundance, measures of winter length and winter onset, and species …

Deep Learning For Supervised Classification Of Temporal Data In Ecology, César Capinha, Ana Ceia-Hasse, Andrew M. Kramer, Christiaan Meijer

Integrative Biology Faculty and Staff Publications

Temporal data is ubiquitous in ecology and ecologists often face the challenge of accurately differentiating these data into predefined classes, such as biological entities or ecological states. The usual approach consists of transforming the time series into user-defined features and then using these features as predictors in conventional statistical or machine learning models. Here we suggest the use of deep learning models as an alternative to this approach. Recent deep learning techniques can perform the classification directly from the time series, eliminating subjective and resource-consuming data transformation steps, and potentially improving classification results. We describe some of the deep learning …

Two New Recent Country Records Of Mormoopid Bats (Chiroptera: Mormoopidae) From Long Island, The Bahamas, Verity L. Mathis, David L. Reed

Florida Field Naturalist

No abstract provided.

Monitoring Avian Nocturnal Flight Calls: A Treasure Hunt For Understanding Bird Migration In Arizona, William R. Evans

Arizona Birds

I explored the avian nocturnal flight call phenomenon near Nogales, Arizona from mid-August through October 2015 and found a surprisingly heavy calling rate. My analysis of the 6-10 kHz audio frequency band revealed nearly 21,000 warbler and sparrow calls, 17,629 of which were loud enough to present well for classifying to a species category. Preliminary results suggest 82% involve 7 species of migratory sparrows, 12% are of undetermined species ID, and the rest from an assortment of warblers, other sparrow species, and Passerina buntings. Artificial light was minimal at the recording site and is not suspected to have significantly impacted …

Updating The Field Checklist Of The Birds Of Gila County, Tommy J. Debardeleben

Arizona Birds

No abstract provided.

Northward Expansion Of Botteri’S Sparrow In Arizona, Tim Dejonghe, Doug Jenness

Arizona Birds

No abstract provided.

How Journalists Think About The First Amendment Vis-À-Vis Their Coverage Of Hate Groups, Gregory P. Perreault, Jonathan Peters, Brett Johnson, Leslie Klein

School of Advertising & Mass Communications Faculty Publications

This study, based on in-depth interviews with U.S.-based journalists (n = 18), explores the increasingly fraught circumstances of reporting on hate groups. We examine how journalists think about the First Amendment vis-à-vis their coverage of such groups. Through the lens of media ecology and First Amendment principles and theories, we argue ultimately that journalists who cover hate groups use the First Amendment to identify their place in the journalistic environment.

Perceptions Of Scientists Held By Us Students Can Be Broadened Through Inclusive Classroom Interventions, Sarah L. Sheffield, Meghan L. Cook, Victor J. Ricchezza, Guizella A. Rocabado, Fenda A. Akiwumi

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

More diverse representation in undergraduate classrooms may be an important step towards turning science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines into more inclusive communities. In the United States of America, the individuals whose work is discussed in typical introductory science courses collectively do not represent the diversity of students’ identities in the classroom and further reinforce existing stereotypes of scientists as male, white, and aged. Here we report on the implementation of a semester-long intervention in an introductory-level geoscience course at the University of South Florida, USA. We introduced students to individuals with marginalized identities who are either scientists or …

Exploring Best Practices In Geoscience Education: Adapting A Video/Animation On Continental Rifting For Upper-Division Students To A Lower-Division Audience, Siloa Willis, Robert J. Stern, Jeffrey Ryan, Christy Bebeau

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Well-crafted and scientifically accurate videos and animations can be effective ways to teach dynamic Earth processes such as continental rifting, both in live course offerings as well as in online settings. However, a quick search of the internet reveals too few high-quality videos/animations describing deep Earth processes. We have modified a hybrid 10.5 min video/animation about continental rifting and the formation of new oceans and passive continental margins created for an upper-division geology audience, retailoring it for a lower-division geology audience. A key challenge in successfully modifying such resources is aligning the cognitive load that the video/animation imposes on students, …