Digital Commons Network^™

Design With, Not For: Augmented Reality For Understudied Populations, Safal Baral

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Augmented reality (AR) has shown promise in domains from education to healthcare. Yet, most AR research samples general adult users, overlooking populations with more specific needs. This poster presents two projects focusing on understudied groups: adults with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and children.

The first project explores AR-based cueing systems for adults with PD. Freezing of Gait (FoG) is a debilitating symptom that temporarily and involuntarily blocks movement. To study how AR can assist individuals experiencing FoG, we are conducting a qualitative study with semi-structured interviews and storyboard-based evaluations with people with PD (PwPD), alongside co-design focus groups with clinicians. We …

Conserving Seabirds: Actions Of The Pacific Seabird Group During Its First 40 Years., Craig S. Harrison

Marine Ornithology

The Pacific Seabird Group (PSG), founded in 1972, is “dedicated to the study and conservation of Pacific seabirds and their environment.” During its first 40 years, PSG undertook scores of conservation actions, although as an all-volunteer organization, PSG lacked the capacity to implement many programs or projects. It achieved its conservation goals through leadership, raising issues, bringing the best science to decision makers, and serving as a catalyst for others to act. PSG has been especially influential in six areas: (1) eradicating invasive alien animals from seabird colonies; (2) conserving Marbled Murrelets Brachyramphus marmoratus; (3) protecting seabird colonies in …

Behavioral Insights Into The Galapagos Penguin Spheniscus Mendiculus: A Day In His Life—An Ethological Portrait., Jonathan Cueva, Wilson Iñiguez, Gregory Marshall, Christian Sevilla, Andrea Coloma, Lorena Venegas, Gustavo Jiménez-Uzcátegui

Marine Ornithology

The Galapagos Penguin Spheniscus mendiculus, endemic to the Galápagos Archipelago, faces increasing ecological pressures threatening its population. This study aimed to characterize its daily behavioral patterns to better understand its adaptations and vulnerability to ecosystem changes. In one breeding locality, the Marielas Islets, we mounted a Crittercam on a male penguin to assess interactions with its mate and its behavior over a 24-hr period. Behaviors were classified as Diving, Foraging, Grooming, Intraspecific Interaction, Interspecific Interaction, Loafing, Prospecting, Resting, Surface Dipping, and Swimming. We analyzed behavioral data using chi-square tests and transition heat-maps. Results revealed predominantly surface behaviors—Prospecting (41.2% of …

Comparing Counts Made From Drone-Based And Boat-Based Photography For Surveying Thick-Billed Murre Uria Lomvia Cliff Colonies., Ewan Macdonnell, Sarah E. Gutowsky, Kyle H. Elliott

Marine Ornithology

Surveys of cliff-nesting seabirds from sea level or ground level often miss individuals hidden by topography, leading to underestimates of abundance. Thick-billed Murres Uria lomvia are especially challenging to survey accurately due to their dense nesting on vertical cliff ledges in remote northern regions. In Canada, updated colony surveys are needed, as currently used population estimates, done from boats, are outdated. Drones offer better vantage points and may reduce availability bias (i.e., the proportion of birds present but not visible), but direct comparisons with boat-based counts are essential. We compared murre counts from drone- and boat-based photographs of six vertical …

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, …

First Record Of Leucism In Kerguelen Shag Leucocarbo Verrucosus, Kevin Guille

Marine Ornithology

The first case of leucism in the Kerguelen Shag Leucocarbo verrucosus was observed on Mayes Island, Kerguelen Archipelago, in the southern Indian Ocean between October 2021 and November 2022. The individual exhibited extensive white plumage with scattered black feathers while maintaining normal eye pigmentation, consistent with leucism rather than albinism. Despite exhibiting typical behavior and social interactions, no breeding activity was recorded. This observation highlights the occurrence of pigment abnormalities in sub-Antarctic seabirds and underscores the importance of continued monitoring to better understand their ecological or genetic implications.

Atlantic Puffin Fratercula Arctica Mortality Along The Portuguese West Coast In Early 2023., Rute A. Costa, Ana S. Tavares, Francisca V. Hilário, Jorge Vaqueiro, Marisa Ferreira, Sara Sá, Silvia S. Monteiro, Andreia Torres-Pereira, Catarina Eira

Marine Ornithology

This study presents data about a mortality event involving Atlantic Puffins Fratercula arctica in the central region of Portugal, including information on the species' biometrics. More than 2,000 seabirds were collected from beaches between Lisbon and Matosinhos in January and February 2023, as casualties of a massive wreck. In total 444 Atlantic Puffins (171 live, 273 dead) were found and analysed. Leg bands on some birds indicated that these individuals primarily originated from colonies in Scotland. Of the live puffins that entered the Ecomare Marine Animal Rehabilitation Centre, only 18 survived to be successfully released. We conducted 426 post-mortem examinations …

Ay 2026/2027 Sec Agenda, 2026-08-05, Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Archives

No abstract provided.

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 …

Genocide In Gaza? Social Media Discussions Of Violence In Israel And Gaza, Timothy Williams, Andreas Dafnos

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This article conducts social network and topic analyses of German-language posts on X that discuss genocide and terrorism in Israel and Gaza in the first six months after the October 7 attacks and compares these to broader English-language discourses on the platform. The comparison reveals subtle differences in how Israeli violence and governance and Palestinians are discussed and who is seen as complicit in supporting violence. Markedly, German-language posts discuss what constitutes antisemitism more and employ a more restrained language towards Israel as a state and its political actors than English-language posts. We tie these findings back to the idiosyncrasies …

Genocidal Criminology: My Testimony, Yarin Eski

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This article is a testimony on the entanglement of my personal biography, responsibility, and lived experience of genocide denial and, subsequently, developing criminologies of genocide and its denial, based on my formative experiences, ranging from encountering Armenian genocide denial as a student, to dealing with institutional constraints and careerism, to my academic activism, raising awareness about the Gaza genocide, to, finally, prospecting genocide and ecocide in outer space: astrocide. These experiences configure a genealogy of what I term genocidal criminology that unpacks and criticizes criminological knowledge, institutions, and practices that produce genocide (denial), both epistemically and structurally. Essentially, I argue …

Genocidal Occupation And The Occupier’S Dilemma: From Lemkin’S Axis Rule To 21st Century Palestine, Martin Shaw

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Following Israel’s campaign in Gaza after October 7, 2023, which was widely recognized as a genocide, the “ceasefire” of late 2025 introduced the prospect of a new occupation of the territory by the USA and Israel, leading to its redevelopment by them rather than the restoration of the pre-2023 Palestinian society. Together with the parallel accentuation of Palestinian dispossession under Israeli occupation in the West Bank, this development calls for a theorization of the relationship between occupation and genocide. Yet, although the concept of genocide was introduced by Raphael Lemkin in his analysis of the German occupations of European countries, …

Missed Diagnoses Beyond Endemic Borders: How Knowledge And Resource Access Shape Testing For Cutaneous Leishmaniasis And Chagas Disease, Alyssa Agnew, Brandon Lopez, Cherry Mawii, Erin Aslan, Sreshta Sankar, Semené Clement

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) and Chagas Disease (CD) are both tropical vector borne diseases most common in endemic regions. CL is caused by a parasite spread through sandfly bites. CD is caused by the parasite transmitted through the feces of Triatomine bugs. They are not common in non-endemic regions resulting in lack of training and knowledge required to properly diagnose and treat these diseases. This study assesses how clinician knowledge and access to diagnostic tools influence testing practices for CL and CD in non-endemic regions and contribute to diagnostic bias, underrecognition, and delayed diagnosis.

A comprehensive literature review was performed through …

Leveraging High School Students Knowledge Of Obesity Conundrum, Lauren R. Mcconnell, Nalani N. Galindez, Lauren R. Selent

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Adolescent obesity, defined as a BMI at or above the 95th percentile for age and sex, affects approximately 21% of US adolescents aged 12 to younger than 18 years. This chronic, progressive disease is associated with significant immediate and long-term health consequences and requires comprehensive, intensive treatment rather than "watchful waiting.Changes in diet, including decreased fast food and soda consumption are necessary to obesity reduction. The purpose of this study is to examine high school students knowledge and attitudes regarding obesity. A quantitative, causal-comparative design was used to identify differences across groups. The independent variable was the grade level of …

Leveraging Compliance With Infection Control Policies Among Healthcare Workers In A Multi-Hospital System, Lauren R. Mcconnell, Ethan C. Anthony, Lauren R. Selent

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Despite the national push, healthcare workers compliance with Standard Precautions (SP) and Transmission-Based Precautions show significant gaps in both understanding and implementation.1 The conundrum of hospital nosocomial infections obfuscates the threat to patient safety.2 The purpose of this study is to examine staff compliance with infection control policies by infection type within a multi-hospital system. A quantitative, causal-comparative design was used to identify differences across groups. The independent variable was the ‘type of isolation’ assigned by the infection control practitioner. The dependent variables were staff adherence to the infection control policies including: 1) Isolation sign on patient’s door ; 2) …

Patient Perspectives On Lung Cancer Screening Uptake: Findings From In-Depth Interviews, Patricia A. Falcon

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death in the United States and is primarily caused by tobacco use. Lung cancer screening with a Low-Dose Computed Tomography (LDCT) scan is an established method to detect this disease at an early stage and can reduce its death rate by up to 20%. However, the uptake of lung cancer screening across eligible individuals has been low, especially among underserved populations. The goal of this study was to have a better understanding of how to increase lung cancer screening among eligible underserved population. Eligible participants included adults aged 50 to 80 years …

Leveraging The Patient Experience: Satisfaction With Hospital Food Services, Daniel Hansen Harwin, Lauren Rae Selent, Lauren Reilly Mcconnel

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Patients want and expect better health care services than they did in the past. Within hospitals, consumption of proper nutrition is vital. Patients and nutrition share a unique relationship that is essential for health, this connection is complex including important variables such as food quality. This study examined how patients’ satisfaction with food differed by clinical units. Initially, a MANOVA was conducted. For significant findings ANOVA contrasts were conducted on each dependent variable. The independent variables are the individual clinical units to which the patients were admitted. The dependent variables were the patients' responses to survey questions including: 1) There …

The Aging Muscle Phenotype Of C57bl/6j Wild-Type Mice, Gaurav Shingote

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Aging causes a slow and progressive loss of muscle fiber number and size. Sarcopenia is termed as an age-related loss of muscle mass and function. Here, we characterized the aging skeletal muscle phenotype of C57Bl/6J wildtype mice. 30 weeks old (young) and 2 years old (aged) C57Bl/6J wildtype male mice were utilized in this study. The body weight and hind leg muscle weight were recorded during collection. The hind leg muscle Tibialis anterior (TA) was OCT embedded, cut at the mid- belly region, and stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) stain as per our previously published protocol. The 20X images …

Efficacy Of Monoclonal Antibody Treatment On Lowering Infectious Disease Burden In U.S. Elderly Patients, Lyndsey M. White, Daniel Johnson, A'Niya Jackson, Laiba Majid

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Older adults in the United States experience a high burden of infectious diseases due to age related immune decline, reduced vaccine responsiveness, and increased comorbidities. Monoclonal antibody therapies are an important strategy for lowering this burden because they provide immediate and highly specific immune protection. This review evaluates the effectiveness of monoclonal antibodies in reducing infectious disease severity in elderly populations and examines how neutrophils and the formation of neutrophil extracellular traps interact with antibody based treatments. Throughout the review, these therapies have been shown to be successful against multiple infectious diseases, and clinical findings suggest that hospitalized elderly or …

Leveraging Computer Vision-Based Hand Tracking In Smartphone Xr Exposure Scenarios To Enable Controller-Free Interaction, Alex C. Lim, Trang Nguyen

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Extended reality (XR) has emerged as an effective and convenient solution for broadening accessibility to exposure therapy. Smartphone-based XR, though cost-effective, is often constrained by limited interactivity, engendering a passive experience that can compromise the user-immersion and treatment efficacy. To address this limitation, this study presents a novel computer vision–based hand-tracking approach using Google MediaPipe, integrated within a stereoscopic smartphone-based XR system to enable real-time, controller-free interaction in a dog-fetch scenario. Hand landmark coordinates derived from MediaPipe are algorithmically adjusted based on changes in inter-knuckle distances during anterior/posterior movement to approximate depth, at which point interactive spheres are overlayed to …

Accelerating Protein Engineering: Using Computer Modeling To Identify Beneficial Interleukin-23 (Il-23) Mutations, Andrew S. Chadwell

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Interleukin-23 (IL-23) regulates inflammation, yet its overproduction, driven by genetics or overactive immune triggers, can lead to chronic inflammatory diseases like psoriasis. IL-23 consists of two subunits; an exclusive subunit, p19, and a second subunit, p40, that is shared with Interleukin-12. Driving selectivity of p19-p40 interactions promotes a shift in cytokine formation between IL-23 and IL-12. By integrating computational biology, protein engineering, and structural data from the RCSB Protein Data Bank (entry 4RGW), the research addressed structural challenges like unresolved regions in experimental structures and the difficulty of predicting beneficial mutations. Structural modeling using ColabFold, a prediction tool based on …

Sustainable City Design And Policy Impacts: Mental, Health, Productivity, And Quality Of Life, Sawyer B. Bowman

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

As corporations grow larger and consolidate more assets, both human and material, the importance of sustainability in workplace efforts has never been greater. Firms have excised impact over their communities and those employed by said firms, making decisions regarding green operations, triple bottom line considerations, and other sustainable business practices highly needed for the continued operation of firms. As these practices are costly both in the monetary and temporal sense of reality, many firms tend to place sustainability lower on the list of importance as compared to concepts such as productivity or profitability. Based on surveys and interviews with firms …

How The Erosion Of The German Drinking Culture Impacts Social Cohesion And The Economic Progression, Tran B. Duong, Monica Hennawy

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

German drinking culture has begun to wane within the past decade. While this may be viewed as a public health success, it has multifaceted impacts. The lifestyle adjustment threatens the third space which has historically fostered social interaction, making their erosion significant not merely economically but also culturally. Substance use also has a multifaceted impact on mental health, whereas in regulation social drinking can promote bonding. This leads to the need for appropriate policy in alcohol consumption which should help the public draw a balance in sustainable drinking practices. Alternatively, Germany’s third places also serve as a significant source of …

Pre-Existing Conditions And Their Effect On Neurological Prognosis And Rehabilitation In Older Cardiac Arrest Population - A Literature Review, Nadia A. Parsotan, Maya Awad, Greta Schmanke, Madeline Yee, Angelin Abraham

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

The effectiveness of cardiac arrest rehabilitation can be influenced by pre-existing conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension particularly in the older population, where these comorbidities are more prevalent. This literature review aims to understand how these conditions affect the neurological prognosis and rehabilitation in cardiac arrest patients aged 60+. A systematic PubMed search was conducted for peer-reviewed studies published within the past 15 years using terms related to cardiac arrest, neurological outcomes, rehabilitation, and common chronic conditions. Studies were included if they focused on adults aged 60 and older, reported at least one pre-existing medical condition, and provided neurological rehabilitation …

The Power Of Physical Activity And Sleep: Sex-Specific Pathways To Cognitive Health In Older Adults, Gabriella K. Waldbauer

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Physical activity (PA) and sleep health are associated with cognition. However, limited research has examined the interactive effects of PA and sleep on domain-specific cognitive function in older adults. Although sex differences exist independently across all factors, sex-specific interactive investigations are limited. This study investigated whether the relationship between PA, sleep and cognition varies by sex in older adults. Older adults (N=119; Mage=68.3±5.6; 73 women) completed measures of insomnia severity (Insomnia Severity Index), physical activity (International Physical Activity Questionnaire) and cognition (NIH Toolbox-Cognitive Battery). Multiple regressions examined whether insomnia severity interacted with physical activity in associations with cognition and tested …

Presidential Clemency, Criminal Contempt, And The Structural Limits Of Judicial Authority: Reconsidering Ex Parte Grossman In The Modern Separation-Of-Powers Framework, Titan L. Sanchez

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Ex parte Grossman (1925) was a landmark Supreme Court case regarding the presidential pardon power granted by the Pardon Clause in Article II of the United States Constitution and whether it extends to criminal contempt of court. The Court ruled that the Clause’s phrasing, “offenses against the United States…” does not ultimately exclude criminal contempt. Among several justifications, Chief Justice Taft included a historical overview and partially relied on English common-law history, as well as monarchical practice, to interpret the scope and help justify the use of the presidential pardon power. This partial analysis relies on the assumption that constitutional …

The Impact Of Ramadan Fasting On Chronic Disease Management, Abdulwahab Eddib, Aakez Adrak Marjan, Faris Jabbar, Nuzat Indawala

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Every year, 2.06 billion Muslims perform Ramadan fasting, a religious practice involving abstinence from food and drink from dawn to sunset for 30 days. This religious practice changes diet, hydration, sleep, and medication timing, raising clinical concerns for the safety of individuals with chronic diseases who choose to fast. Research reports mixed effects on disease control and treatment safety, emphasizing the need for an overarching analysis of its impact on chronic disease management. This literature review is aimed to examine research on Ramadan and intermittent fasting on chronic disease management and to analyze its effects on disease control, clinical outcomes, …

Comparative Analysis Of Car-T Cell Therapy Across Cancer Subtypes: Influence Of Antigen Binding Properties On Efficacy And Safety, Isabella Ware, Nadia Rohani, Kai Peñalosa, Samia Khan, Selena Berhie, Sreehitha Sajja

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

CAR-T cell therapy is a personalized immunotherapy that genetically engineers a patient’s own immune T-cells in a lab to recognize and attack specific cancer cells. CAR-T cell therapy has shown remarkable success in hematologic malignancies, where antigen expression is highly uniform. The research question that was addressed is “To what extent does antigen heterogeneity and downregulation in solid tumors reduce CAR-T cell cytotoxicity compared with the more uniform antigen expression seen in hematologic malignancies?” CAR-T cell cytotoxicity is measurably reduced in solid tumors due to the tumor’s capacity to alter antigen expression and downregulate CAR proteins whereas hematologic malignancies exhibit …

Computational Analysis Of Gene Expression Profiles To Identify Novel Biomarkers For Triple-Negative Breast Cancer, Autumn Brooks, Saranya Sriramula, Sophia Chadwick, Julia Veronez Da Silva, Stecile Jean Mary, Sreehitha Sajja

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Our research focused on the effectiveness of using computational methods such as sequencing models to find biomarkers that confirm the existence of Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) in patients. The research focused on analyzing the importance of being able to detect patterns in genomic sequences that were consistently seen in patients who were TNBC positive. Additionally, our aim was to understand resistance mechanisms that make TNBC harder to treat through sequencing analytics. Understanding these patterns is especially important for early intervention so patients who have TNBC can get started on treatment before the disease progresses. Triple-negative breast cancer lacks hormone receptors …

Reproductive Equity: A Comparative Chemical Analysis Of Emerging Male Contraception Technology, Grace Kim, Esmaralda Pilar-Lopez

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Female oral contraceptives, although abundant in access and successful as contraceptives, pose significant risks to women’s health. Biosocial factors that discourage male contraceptive drugs include harmful hormonal changes and inconsistent efficacy. This research employs comparative analysis of three current methods on potential male contraceptive options, focusing on steroid chemistry, functional group modification, and bioavailability. Emerging male contraceptive drugs of interest include the non-hormonal retinoic acid (vitamin A) receptor to antagonize sperm production, blocking the sperm-specific 〖Ca〗^(+2)  ion channel, and a reversible “Chemical Plug” that limits sperm movement at the vas deferens. Through comparison, this research will use six references to …