Digital Commons Network^™

Observations Of Water Transparency In China’S Lakes From Space, Dong Liu, Hongtao Duan, Steven Loiselle, Chuanmin Hu, Guoqing Zhang, Junli Li, Hong Yang, Julian R. Thompson, Zhigang Cao, Ming Shen, Ronghua Ma, Min Zhang, Weixiao Han

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Water transparency, usually denoted by Secchi disk depth (SSD), represents the first-order description of water quality and has important implications for the diversity and productivity of aquatic life. In China, lakes supply freshwater and ecosystem services to nearly a billion people. Therefore, real time monitoring of lake transparency is of great significance. Moreover, understanding how and why transparency varies in space and time in response to different driving forces is needed to understand, manage, and predict lake water quality. Based on the time-saving and low-cost Google Earth Engine cloud platform, this study developed a new algorithm for quickly mapping SDDs …

Examining Spatial Accessibility To Covid-19 Testing Sites In Florida, Ran Tao, Joni Downs, Theresa M. Beckie, Yuzhou Chen, Warren Mcnelley

All publications

Massive and rapid testing is crucial for containing the spread of COVID-19. Health and policy planners must ensure that access to and uptake of SARS-CoV-2 testing is adequate and equitable. This study measures the spatial accessibility to testing sites in Florida at the census tract level at the end of May 2020, using the 2-step floating catchment area method that integrates both driving and walking modes. Accessibility scores were found to be heterogeneous across geographic regions and among different groups of people. In particular, many rural areas were in a testing desert. While people in larger cities tended to have …

Us-County Level Variation In Intersecting Individual, Household And Community Characteristics Relevant To Covid-19 And Planning An Equitable Response: A Cross-Sectional Analysis, Taylor Chin, Rebecca Kahn, Ruoran Li, Jarvis T. Chen, Nancy Krieger, Caroline O. Buckee, Satchit Balsari, Mathew V. Kiang

All publications

Objectives: To illustrate the intersections of, and intercounty variation in, individual, household and community factors that influence the impact of COVID-19 on US counties and their ability to respond.

Design: We identified key individual, household and community characteristics influencing COVID-19 risks of infection and survival, guided by international experiences and consideration of epidemiological parameters of importance. Using publicly available data, we developed an open-access online tool that allows county-specific querying and mapping of risk factors. As an illustrative example, we assess the pairwise intersections of age (individual level), poverty (household level) and prevalence of group homes (community-level) in US counties. …

Mg/Ca-Temperature Calibration Of Polar Benthic Foraminifera Species For Reconstruction Of Bottom Water Temperatures On The Antarctic Shelf, Elaine M. Mawbey, Katharine R. Hendry, Mervyn J. Greaves, Claus-Dieter Hillenbrand, Gerhard Kuhn, Charlotte L. Spencer-Jones, Erin L. Mcclymont, Kara J. Vadman, Amelia E. Shevenell, Patrycja E. Jernas, James A. Smith

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Benthic foraminifera Mg/Ca is a well-established bottom water temperature (BWT) proxy used in paleoclimate studies. The relationship between Mg/Ca and BWT for numerous species has been determined using core-top and culturing studies. However, the scarcity of calcareous microfossils in Antarctic shelf sediments and poorly defined calibrations at low temperatures has limited the use of the foraminiferal Mg/Ca paleothermometer in ice proximal Antarctic sediments. Here we present paired ocean temperature and modern benthic foraminifera Mg/Ca data for three species, Trifarina angulosa, Bulimina aculeata, and Globocassidulina subglobosa, but with a particular focus on Trifarina angulosa. The core-top data from several …

Extracting Bus Transit Boarding And Alighting Information Using Smart Card Transaction Data, Zhen Chen, Wei Fan

Journal of Public Transportation

The smart card–based automated fare collection (AFC) technologies provide new opportunities for transportation data collection since smart card data (SCD) contain a significant amount of archived information that can be gathered and leveraged to help estimate public transit origin-destination (OD) matrices. Both boarding and alighting location detection are important particularly when there is no automatic vehicle location (AVL) system or other information in the database. With the analysis of raw data using limited information in this paper, an algorithm for boarding stop identification is presented after the trip direction and boarding cluster identification. Alighting stops are then identified based on …

“Why The H**L Is There A White House Correspondents’ Dinner?” Boundary Work In Political Journalism, Gregory P. Perreault, Kellie Stanfield, Shelby Luttmann

School of Advertising & Mass Communications Faculty Publications

Political journalism is a pertinent part of newsrooms across theworld. This study aimed to analyze the shifting role conceptionsof U.S. political journalists, primarily in reference to the WhiteHouse Correspondents’Dinner. Researchers conducted 32 long-form phone interviews with political journalists from news outletsranging from theLos Angeles Timesto VICE. The study found mostjournalists uncomfortable with the White House Correspondents’Dinner, especially after the response to Michelle Wolf’s speech atthe 2018 event. This particular event helped journalists identifyhow the event works in opposition to their role conception.Through the lens of boundary work, this study argues the comedyformat of the dinner, which ceased following 2018, pushedoutside …

Examining Older Adults’ Perspectives On The Built Environment And Correlates Of Healthy Aging In An American Age-Friendly Community, Kathy Black, Dylan J. Jester

Aging Studies Sarasota Manatee Campus Faculty Publications

Population aging has led to an increased focus on the environmental context in which we age. While researchers have identified significant health benefits associated with built community features such as housing, transportation and outdoor spaces and buildings, less attention has focused on the correlates of healthy aging and other characteristics via the perspective of community-dwelling older adults. This study utilized cluster analysis to examine health-related subgroups of older adults (n = 598) in an age-friendly community located in the United States, of which nearly half of its residents are age 60 and older. Linear regression was used to associate the …

A Positively Selected Fbn1 Missense Variant Reduces Height In Peruvian Individuals, Samira Asgari, Yang Luo, Ali Akbari, Gillian M. Belbin, Xinyi Li, Daniel N. Harris, Martin Selig, Eric Bartell, Roger Calderon, Kamil Slowikowski, Carmen Contreras, Rosa Yataco, Jerome T. Galea, Judith Jimenez, Julia M. Coit, Chandel Farroñay, Rosalynn M. Nazarian, Timothy D. O’Connor, Harry C. Dietz, Joel N. Hirschhorn, Heinner Guio, Leonid Lecca, Eimear E. Kenny, Esther E. Freeman, Megan B. Murray, Soumya Raychaudhuri

Social Work Faculty Publications

On average, Peruvian individuals are among the shortest in the world1. Here we show that Native American ancestry is associated with reduced height in an ethnically diverse group of Peruvian individuals, and identify a population-specific, missense variant in the FBN1 gene (E1297G) that is significantly associated with lower height. Each copy of the minor allele (frequency of 4.7%) reduces height by 2.2 cm (4.4 cm in homozygous individuals). To our knowledge, this is the largest effect size known for a common height-associated variant. FBN1 encodes the extracellular matrix protein fibrillin 1, which is a major structural component of microfibrils. We …

Nato And Collective Environmental Security In The Mena: From The Cold War To Covid-19, Ibrahim Al-Marashi, Amar Causevic

Journal of Strategic Security

The Covid-19 pandemic emerged as a global security risk, and national security institutions scrambled to manage a threat, not emanating from states or non-state actors, but from the environment. The pandemic serves as an empirical case to explore “anthropogenic strategic security,” or how security doctrines can anticipate and mitigate natural disasters, resulting from humanity’s exploitation of ecology and environment. This qualitative study addresses the question as to whether the NATO possesses the imaginative and institutional capacity to manage environmental risks resulting from climate change. By employing constructivist theory, this article argues that the Alliance needs to adopt holistic norms and …

Zombie Experts And Anarchy Imaginaries: Fantasies Of 'Crises To Be' In Climate Change Futures, Natalie D. Baker

Journal of Strategic Security

The characterization of human social response in crisis is most often apocalyptic and dystopic, especially when connected to environmental detriments expected from climate change. This article draws on the cases of zombie apocalypse experts and climate-fiction to situate an investigation into how diametric forms of knowledge compete, dominate, and then replicate in mediated popular culture as forms of truth. It builds on extensive work in areas of both lived disaster response and mythologies. The article links certain philosophies to popular culture as a driver in the construction of knowledge and truth. Here, Foucault and his conceptions of power and knowledge …

Measuring Functional Urban Shrinkage With Multi-Source Geospatial Big Data: A Case Study Of The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Megaregion, Qiwei Ma, Zhaoya Gong, Jing Kang, Ran Tao, Anrong Dang

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Most of the shrinking cities experience an unbalanced deurbanization across different urban areas in cities. However, traditional ways of measuring urban shrinkage are focused on tracking population loss at the city level and are unable to capture the spatially heterogeneous shrinking patterns inside a city. Consequently, the spatial mechanism and patterns of urban shrinkage inside a city remain less understood, which is unhelpful for developing accommodation strategies for shrinkage. The smart city initiatives and practices have provided a rich pool of geospatial big data resources and technologies to tackle the complexity of urban systems. Given this context, we propose a …

Boosting Computational Effectiveness In Big Spatial Flow Data Analysis With Intelligent Data Reduction, Ran Tao, Zhaoya Gong, Qiwei Ma, Jean-Claude Thill

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

One of the enduring issues of spatial origin-destination (OD) flow data analysis is the computational inefficiency or even the impossibility to handle large datasets. Despite the recent advancements in high performance computing (HPC) and the ready availability of powerful computing infrastructure, we argue that the best solutions are based on a thorough understanding of the fundamental properties of the data. This paper focuses on overcoming the computational challenge through data reduction that intelligently takes advantage of the heavy-tailed distributional property of most flow datasets. We specifically propose the classification technique of head/tail breaks to this end. We test this approach …

Mapping Long-Term Spatiotemporal Dynamics Of Pen Aquaculture In A Shallow Lake: Less Aquaculture Coming Along Better Water Quality, Juhua Luo, Ruiliang Pu, Ronghua Ma, Xiaolong Wang, Xijun Lai, Zhigang Mao, Li Zhang, Zhaoliang Peng, Zhe Sun

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Pen aquaculture is the main form of aquaculture in some shallow lakes in eastern China. It is valuable to map the spatiotemporal changes of pen aquaculture in eutrophic lakes to assess its effect on water quality, thereby helping the relevant decision-making agencies to manage the water quality (WQ) of lakes. In this study, an automatic approach for extracting the pen aquaculture area was developed based on Landsat data. The approach integrates five algorithms, including grey transformation, discrete wavelet transform, fast Fourier transform, singular value decomposition and k-nearest neighbor classification. It was successfully applied in the automatic mapping of the pen …

Uncovering Host-Microbiome Interactions In Global Systems With Collaborative Programming: A Novel Approach Integrating Social And Data Sciences [Version 1; Peer Review: Awaiting Peer Review], Jenna Oberstaller, Swamy Rakesh Adapa, Guy Dayhoff Ii, Justin Gibbons, Gregory S. Herbert

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Microbiome data are undergoing exponential growth powered by rapid technological advancement. As the scope and depth of microbiome research increases, cross-disciplinary research is urgently needed for interpreting and harnessing the unprecedented data output. However, conventional research settings pose challenges to much-needed interdisciplinary research efforts due to barriers in scientific terminologies, methodology and research-culture. To breach these barriers, our University of South Florida OneHealth Codeathon was designed to be an interactive, hands-on event that solves real-world data problems. The format brought together students, postdocs, faculty, researchers, and clinicians in a uniquely cross-disciplinary, team-focused setting. Teams were formed to encourage equitable distribution …

Climate Change, Environmental Terrorism, Eco-Terrorism And Emerging Threats, Paola Andrea Spadaro

Journal of Strategic Security

The footprint of human advancement has accelerated a climate variability with no precedents, further driving devastating natural and social events. The decrease in basic resources like water, has already been identified as a driver of violent conflicts, which have given way to the strengthening of terrorist organizations that used the environment as a tool of coercion. The damage caused to the earth’s ecosystem has additionally raised a wave of defensive activism that was initially considered as eco-terrorism. While the original eco-movements had not induced fatalities, recent extremist organizations are showing a more violent anti-progress and pro-environment agenda. Added to these, …

Environmental Dna Reveals Seasonal Shifts And Potential Interactions In A Marine Community, Anni Djurhuus, Collin J. Closek, Ryan P. Kelly, Kathleen J. Pitz, Reiko P. Michisaki, Hilary A. Starks, Kristine R. Walz, Elizabeth A. Andruszkiewicz, Emily Olesin, Katherine Hubbard, Enrique Montes, Daniel Otis, Frank E. Muller-Karger, Francisco P. Chavez, Alexandria B. Boehm, Mya Breitbart

Marine Science Faculty Publications

Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis allows the simultaneous examination of organisms across multiple trophic levels and domains of life, providing critical information about the complex biotic interactions related to ecosystem change. Here we used multilocus amplicon sequencing of eDNA to survey biodiversity from an eighteen-month (2015–2016) time-series of seawater samples from Monterey Bay, California. The resulting dataset encompasses 663 taxonomic groups (at Family or higher taxonomic rank) ranging from microorganisms to mammals. We inferred changes in the composition of communities, revealing putative interactions among taxa and identifying correlations between these communities and environmental properties over time. Community network analysis provided evidence …

Utilizing Ecological Niche Modelling To Predict Habitat Suitability Of Eastern Equine Encephalitis In Florida, Claire Burch, Rebecca Loraamm, Thomas R. Unnasch, Joni A. Downs

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus (EEEV) is a virus found predominantly east of the Mississippi River in the United States that can be fatal to both equines and humans. The disease has previously been most prolific in states like Florida, but there has been an increase in the prevalence in other states further up north on the east coast of the United States in recent years. The purpose of this research is to use the ecological niche modelling program Maxent to model EEEV habitat suitability probability. This research utilized data of fatality incidence in equine hosts, versus sentinel chicken infection data, …

Optimizing Arbovirus Surveillance Using Risk Mapping And Coverage Modelling, Joni A. Downs, Mehrdad Vaziri, George Deskins, William Kellner, Kristi M. Miley, Thomas R. Unnasch

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Diseases carried by mosquitoes and other arthropods endanger human health globally. Though costly, surveillance efforts are vital for disease control and prevention This paper describes an approach for strategically configuring targeted disease surveillance sites across a study area. The methodology combines risk index mapping and spatial optimization modelling. The risk index is used to identify demand for surveillance, and the maximum covering location problem is used to select a specified number of candidate surveillance sites that covers the maximum amount of risk. The approach is demonstrated using a case study where optimal locations for sentinel surveillance sites are selected for …

Hydrodynamic Characterization Of Mugla Karst Aquifer Using Correlation And Spectral Analyses On The Rainfall And Springs Water-Level Time Series, Çağdaş Sağır, Bedri Kurtuluş, Moumtaz Razack

KIP Articles

Karst aquifers have been an important research topic for hydrologists for years. Due to their high storage capacity, karst aquifers are an important source of water for the environment. On the other hand, it is safety-critical because of its role in floods. Mugla Karst Aquifer (SW, Turkey) is the only major water-bearing formation in the close environs of Mugla city. Flooding in the wet season occurs every year in the recharge plains. The aquifer discharges by the seaside springs in the Akyaka district which is the main touristic point of interest in the area. Non-porous irregular internal structures make the …

Moving Beyond The State: An Imperative For Genocide Prediction, Hollie Nyseth Brehm

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Studies of the onset of genocide and accompanying early warning and forecasting efforts have focused almost exclusively on states. This article suggests that genocide prediction must move beyond a purely state-centric approach. Specifically, I suggest three major avenues that will refine and complement existing research and related prediction efforts. These include 1) theorizing and analyzing non-state actors who commit genocide, 2) engaging in conflict-centered approaches, and 3) addressing the onset and triggers of genocide within subnational spaces. I conclude with a discussion of how these three avenues can be pursued simultaneously to inform more robust genocide prevention endeavors.

“Genocide Is Worth It": Broadening The Logic Of Atrocity Prevention For State Actors, James E. Waller

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Of particular focus in this piece is the communication of the logic of atrocity prevention to State actors. As genocide studies has developed as a field, we also have become more insular; professionalizing how we operate in such a way that it has pulled us away from those very venues in which we should be applying our work. From the sure footing of the outside, we often criticize State actors, particularly policymakers, for their impotent actions in the face of escalating risks or, even, genocidal violence. But we seldom speak with them or push ourselves to find ways to bridge …

Book Review: Flowers In The Wall: Truth And Reconciliation In Timor-Leste, Indonesia And Melanesia, Leigh-Ashley Lipscomb

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This collection of essays reflects on truth and reconciliation commissions (TRCs) and related mechanisms that have taken place in Indonesia, Timor-Leste and Melanesia with a view towards informing other processes that engage historical approaches to resolve conflict. It documents global innovations in TRCs pioneered in this region, as well as the pivotal, trans-national nature of civil society’s influence on them. Rather than providing a legalistic or institutional account, this volume seeks to capture the unique quality of expression fostered by each truth-seeking response. It demonstrates the lyrical power of truth-telling to unravel dominant narratives and structural inequalities that perpetuate human …

A Combined-Method Approach To Trace Submarine Groundwater Discharge From A Coastal Karst Aquifer In Ireland, Philip Schuler, L. Stoeckl, P. A. Schnegg

KIP Articles

Knowledge about the hydraulic connections between submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) and its terrestrial coastal catchment is relevant with regard to the management of marine and coastal waters in karst areas. This study applies different methods and monitoring approaches to trace SGD between the Burren Limestone Plateau and Galway Bay in western Ireland, via an excavated sinkhole shaft and deep conduit. Areas of potential SGD were first delineated based on sea surface temperature anomalies using Landsat satellite images. Two fluorescent dyes and solid wood chips were then used as tracers. Solid wood chips were tested as potential means to circumvent the …

Knowledge Networks: Contested Geographies In The History Of Mary Prince, Leah M. Thomas

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

The History of Mary Prince, a West-Indian Slave, Related by Herself (1831) is the first published woman’s slave narrative. In her History, Prince describes horrendous physical violence to which she and other enslaved peoples of African descent are subjected as well as the corresponding psychological and sexual abuse they endure. While Prince “speaks” the sexual abuse to some extent, how she knows what she knows goes unspoken. She expresses her knowledge of reading and writing and, at times, of the law, but she does not explain how she obtains this knowledge or knows what she knows. Her optimism to …

Crow's Nest, December 2, 2019, Crow's Nest Staff

Crow's Nest

The December 2, 2019, issue of the Crow's Nest.

Cutr Connections [December 2019], Cutr

CUTR Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Influence Of Alumni Affinity Groups On Alumni Engagement And Alumni Giving, Gary R. Johnson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A student’s college experience lasts only a finite amount of time, but their role as alumni lasts for a lifetime. Alumni play an important role in higher education. The future financial success of a college or university is largely based on involvement and financial support by the school’s alumni. The purpose of this research was to learn about the role alumni affinity groups play in engaging alumni with the school and if they have the ability to impact alumni giving.

The dissertation data was collected using a qualitative methods research approach. Alumni data was gathered from two public universities from …

Reconstructing Geographic And Trophic Histories Of Fish Using Bulk And Compound-Specific Stable Isotopes From Eye Lenses, Amy A. Wallace

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present research examined the viability and utility of eye lenses as a source of lifetime stable-isotope records in fish. It is presented in three sections. The first section compared bulk isotopic variation (bulk analysis) within fish eye-lenses at two temporal resolutions and compared patterns obtained from left and right eyes. The first temporal resolution was lower in an attempt to expose broad-scale isotopic changes during life while reducing effort and cost. This approach did reveal lifetime patterns, but tended to miss certain life events, particularly during early life. The second resolution was higher and provided detail that was missed …

A Method To Analyze Similarities Of Eye Movements: A Giscience Based Spatiotemporal Approach, Mehrdad Vaziri

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Similarity analysis is the subject of several studies that primarily collect, process, and analyze movement data of various types, including animals, humans, vehicles, hurricanes, and eye tracking. The movement studies often focus on characteristics of a mobile entity (moving object) over time and space. Such studies usually are interested in tracking the changes to the moving object. Therefore, the size of the object becomes irrelevant. Each mobile object is considered a moving point through time and space. The points have all two attributes in common which are locations and timestamp of those locations. Despite the similarities between the movement datasets, …

Ecological Responses Of Seascape Heterogeneity, Dinorah H. Chacin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A core aim of landscape ecologists as well as conservation and management practices has been to understand how processes that structure communities vary as a function of landscape context. Landscape heterogeneity (i.e. landscape composition, configuration) and fine-scale habitat characteristics can influence ecological interactions across habitat patches at a range of scales. Therefore, the main objective of this work is to apply a landscape ecology perspective to understand how seascape heterogeneity can influence demographic rates, community patterns, and ecological processes. To accomplish this overall goal, I conducted a literature review on oyster reefs from a seascape ecology perspective (Chapter 1) and …