Digital Commons Network^™

Field Notes, John Adams, Jerome A. Jackson, William E. Davis Jr.

Bird Observer

No abstract provided.

Listen To The Northern Mockingbird, Joseph T. Leverich

Bird Observer

No abstract provided.

Data Collecting At Your Favorite Local Birding Spot, John Liller

Bird Observer

No abstract provided.

Book Review: The Song Of The Dodo: Island Biogeography In An Age Of Extinctions By David Quammen, William E. Davis Jr.

Bird Observer

No abstract provided.

Testing A Model That Predicts Future Bird List Totals, Robert W. Ricci

Bird Observer

No abstract provided.

Evolution Of Distress Calls In Birds: Still An Enigma, William E. Davis Jr.

Bird Observer

No abstract provided.

The Amateur: Finding A Niche In Ornithology, Harold F. Mayfield

Bird Observer

No abstract provided.

Two Aberrant Goldfinches, William E. Davis Jr.

Bird Observer

No abstract provided.

Evolution Of Distraction Display Behavior In Birds, William E. Davis Jr.

Bird Observer

No abstract provided.

Do Vagrant Birds In Massachusetts Reflect Population Growth And Dispersal Rather Than Weather Patterns?, Richard R. Veit

Bird Observer

No abstract provided.

Field Records: March 1984, George W. Gove, Robert H. Stymeist, Lee E. Taylor

Bird Observer

No abstract provided.

Sociality, Agonistic Interaction, And The Pulse Phenomenon In The Flight Behavior Of Falconiformes Along The Maine Coast, G. N. Appell

Bird Observer

No abstract provided.

Some Thoughts About Counting Birds, Leif J. Robinson

Bird Observer

No abstract provided.

House Finch-Tuffed Titmouse Population Growth, Leif J. Robinson

Bird Observer

No abstract provided.

Suet-Eating American Kestrel, Gerald Flaherty

Bird Observer

No abstract provided.

Theyer's Gull (Larus Thayeri), J. T. Leverich

Bird Observer

No abstract provided.

Brain-Inspired Spatio-Temporal Learning With Application To Robotics, Thiago André Ferreira Medeiros

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The human brain still has many mysteries and one of them is how it encodes information. The following study intends to unravel at least one such mechanism. For this it will be demonstrated how a set of specialized neurons may use spatial and temporal information to encode information. These neurons, called Place Cells, become active when the animal enters a place in the environment, allowing it to build a cognitive map of the environment. In a recent paper by Scleidorovich et al. in 2022, it was demonstrated that it was possible to differentiate between two sequences of activations of a …

Corridor-Wide Surveillance Using Unmanned Aircraft Systems, Yu Zhang, Achilleas Kourtellis, Joseph Post, Hualong Tang, Keerthana Yelchuri, Brian Porter

Research Reports

In the second phase of the project, the research team continued traffic data collection with unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and dual sensors (RGB and thermal cameras) for roadways under normal operational condition and during incident clearance. The research team conducted a thorough literature review of incident detection methods. Based on the review outcomes, the research team extracted traffic features from learning the video data and trained several learning models for identifying non-congestion conditions caused by incidents. This method was tested on a two-minute video with data captured by a drone at a location at which traffic was passing through an …

Students’ Perceived Benefits Of Chess: Differences Across Age And Gender, George Chitiyo, Marlana Lastres, Kinsey Simone, Lisa Zagumny

Journal of Global Education and Research

The purpose of this study was to determine differences in students’ perceived benefits of chess by gender and age after being exposed to chess during instruction for an entire academic year as part of a Chess in Schools initiative in a southeastern state of the United States. Data were collected during the 2017–201 8 academic year. The sample consisted of 1,286 students across elementary, middle, and high school levels. Data were collected using a retrospective pretest survey. Seven constructs of the students’ perceptions were generated (increased enjoyment of mathematics, improvement in academic self-efficacy, improvement in collaborative skills, improvement in organizational …

Learning To Learn In Mathematics: Two Fulbright Distinguished Awards In Teaching Fellows’ Narratives, Sabrina Goldberg, Jana Dean, Paivi Portaankorva-Koivisto

Journal of Global Education and Research

Two middle school educators earned a Fulbright Distinguished Award in Teaching fellowship. A Fulbright Finland Foundation inter-country travel grant provided the grantees with a unique opportunity to connect and collaborate at the University of Helsinki. Within this research, they described their inquiry experiences. The research included examining authentic student-centered learning continuums and phenomenon-based learning in Finland and teachers’ adaptability in relation to meeting the needs of linguistically and culturally diverse math classrooms in the Netherlands. This paper summarizes how cross-cultural dialogues, classroom observations, and informal interviews with educators, students, and thought leaders informed each grantee’s discovery of how student-centered learning …

Facilitating Effective Mathematical Teaching Practices In Preschool, Funda Gonulates, Jasook Gilbert

Journal of Global Education and Research

Initial seeds for mathematics literacy are planted during early childhood. Children benefit when they are exposed to and provided with opportunities for math experiences that emphasize their holistic development and not just mathematics proficiency in isolation. This way of viewing and presenting mathematics to young children requires teachers who are equipped with strong mathematics teaching skills. This study examined a 21-hour professional development series for public school preschool teachers on early numeracy, geometry, mathematical reasoning, and teaching pedagogies. This professional development series aimed to help preschool teachers incorporate effective mathematical practices and increase their comfort level in teaching mathematics. Participants …

Determining The P-Wave Velocity Structure In The Near-Surface Of Nw Miami, Florida, Using Quarry Blasts, Elham Moslemi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The fact that Florida is an earthquake-free region has caused seismologists to pay less attention to it. Few earthquakes in this state mean it is not a usual practice to study the propagation of seismic waves. However, utilizing data from quarry blasts, we studied wave propagation in this region. The primary objective of the project is to investigate the near-surface P-wave velocity structure and factors that may affect it. We also analyzed the amplitude of signals versus distance and blast size. A network of up to 10 Raspberry Shake instruments around the NW Miami-Lakes mining area was deployed where four …

Methods For Analytical And Biophysical Analysis For Investigation Of Stimulator Of Interferon Genes In Drug Discovery, William Emmett Brian Lawless

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This work elaborates on analytical and biophysical techniques including high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC), mass spectrometry quadrupole time-of-flight (MS-QToF), dynamic light scattering (DLS), microscale thermophoresis (MST), surface plasmon resonance (SPR), isothermal calorimetry (ITC), size exclusion chromatography, and native gel electrophoresis. A basic overview is described for each technique and is designed for easy understanding by both novice and experienced analysts. Best practices for each technique are discussed and suggestions are made for protocol improvements or troubleshooting. Protocol development is discussed, and a method is introduced for MST that can be adapted to any target protein for rapid screening of analog …

Integration Of Algae And Biomass Processes To Synthesize Renewable Bioproducts For The Circular Economy, Jessica Martin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Rapid population growth and global industrialization have substantially heightened the demand for fossil-based fuels and products in various sectors of the global economy, including energy production, transportation fuels, and as raw materials for petrochemicals. The intense consumption of fossil fuels has caused immense environmental impacts, especially pertaining to carbon dioxide emissions. Shifting to renewable feedstocks (raw materials) is expected to reduce these emissions by lowering the carbon footprint of fuels and products compared to traditional fossil-derived alternatives. This transition aligns with the goal of creating a sustainable and circular economy, emphasizing efficient resource use, and reducing waste generation through recycling …

Multi-Model Digital Twins With Ai Forecasting For Seed To Stand Supply Chain, Rania Sherif Elashmawy

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present dissertation embodies a multi-faceted investigation aimed at enhancing strawberry production pre-harvest and post-harvest quality through data-driven approaches. It unfolds multi-stages framework.

The first stage presents a complete data collection and its preliminary statistical analysis obtained from the first phase of a large-scale soil study on how to improve strawberry production and achieve sustainable and high-quality harvests through sensor-assisted real-time field monitoring. Six real-time loggers were placed in an operational commercial strawberry farm in Central Florida for the entirety of a harvest season from soil preparation to planting to harvesting. Along with high-resolution soil sensory measurements including water content, …

Swelling Induced Buckling Of Photopatterned Hydrogel Beams, Chinar Yogesh Kokaje

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The main goal of this study was to learn more about swelling induced buckling of surface-attached gel lines photo-patterned from thermally responsive polymers. A library of 10 different polymer compositions was synthesized using methacryloyloxybenzophenone (MABP) as the photo-cross-linking monomer. For each of the polymers, a series of beam-like patterns were prepared on polystyrene tissue culture dishes by first depositing a known amount of polymer into the tissue culture dish followed by pattern generation using a photo-lithography mask with line widths of 10, 20, 30, 50, and 80 μm. The target height of each polymer line was 100 μm. After development …

In Silico And In Vitro Drug Discovery Strategies And The Chemical Investigation Of Endophytic Fungi, Sarah Grace Dietrick

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The biodiversity of our global marine ecosystems provides substantial treasure to discover: chemistry. Marine organisms that live in proximity to one another use their unique chemistry to compete with one another and thrive in their environment. Benthic invertebrates, specifically, that lack physical means of protection will produce secondary metabolites as a means of defense from their surroundings and predators. The compounds which they produce are ordinarily species-specific, highly diverse biomolecules. Biosynthetic processes within an organism construct these secondary metabolites from fragments of primary metabolites (amino acids, fatty acids, sugars, and so on). Their roles in protection have antibiotic, toxic, and …

Student Perceptions Of The Nonmedical Use Of Prescription Stimulants And Preferences For Health Education, Ana Gutierrez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Nonmedical use of prescription stimulants (NMUPS) for the purpose of improving academic performance is a growing concern among the college population. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in 2020, rates of NMUPS were highest among 18–25-year-olds attending college. There are several adverse health outcomes associated with NMUPS, including cardiovascular damage, seizures, psychosis, and dependence. Given the rising rates of NMUPS in this group, and the negative health outcomes associated with NMUPS, it is vital to employ health education that allows students to make informed decisions about behaviors that impact their health. The purpose of this study …

All Quiet On The Digital Front: The Unseen Psychological Impacts On Cybersecurity First Responders, Tammie R. Hollis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Driven by the increasing frequency of cyberattacks and the existing talent gap between industry needs and skilled professionals, this research study focused on the crucial human element in the domain of cybersecurity incident response. The objective of this dissertation was to offer a meaningful exploration of the lived experiences encountered by cybersecurity incident responders and an assessment of the subsequent impacts on their well-being. Additionally, this study sought to draw comparisons between the experiences of cybersecurity incident responders and their counterparts in traditional emergency response roles. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a cohort of 22 individuals with first-hand experience working …

Syntheses, Photophysics, & Application Of Porphyrinic Metal-Organic Frameworks, Zachary L. Magnuson

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Porphyrins are a group of heterocyclic macrocycles that play crucial roles in various biological processes such as electron transfer, catalysis, and sensing. Hemoglobin, which carries oxygen in the blood of mammals, and chlorophyll, which drives photosynthesis in plants and algae, are both porphyrins. The ability of porphyrins to bind metal ions and their unique electronic and photophysical properties make them an excellent platform for designing functional materials for various applications, often drawing inspiration from their function in nature. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a class of porous materials that have been extensively studied in recent years due to their high surface …