Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

University of South Florida

Discipline
Keyword
Publication Year
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 31 - 60 of 35715

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Cognitive Resilience At The Edge: Hyperdimensional Computing Versus Deep Learning For Hardware-Degraded Rf Classification, Adrian B. Cisneros, Jeong Yang Sep 2026

Cognitive Resilience At The Edge: Hyperdimensional Computing Versus Deep Learning For Hardware-Degraded Rf Classification, Adrian B. Cisneros, Jeong Yang

Military Cyber Affairs

Autonomous Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) operating in contested electromagnetic environments must classify Radio Frequency (RF) signals on edge silicon that degrades over the mission lifetime due to thermal stress, radiation, and manufacturing variation. Deep neural networks dominate RF classification on pristine hardware, but their weights are precise and interdependent, causing catastrophic accuracy collapse as the underlying chip ages. We investigate whether Hyperdimensional Computing (HDC), a brain-inspired paradigm that distributes information across thousands of dimensions, can provide a reliability floor where Deep Learning fails. Using the RadioML 2016.10A dataset filtered to five digital modulations relevant to drone command-and-control links, we trained …


Hands-On Ransomware: An Experiential Wannacry Case Study For Undergraduate Cybersecurity Education, Eli Creek Richmond, Thomas R. Devine Sep 2026

Hands-On Ransomware: An Experiential Wannacry Case Study For Undergraduate Cybersecurity Education, Eli Creek Richmond, Thomas R. Devine

Military Cyber Affairs

Ransomware represents one of the most disruptive threats in the cyber landscape, yet hands-on malware analysis remains rare in undergraduate cybersecurity curricula. This paper presents the design, implementation, and evaluation of an experiential learning module centered on the WannaCry ransomware case study, deployed in a senior-level course at West Virginia University. Students performed static and dynamic analysis using industry-standard tools. Pre- and post-module assessments demonstrated measurable gains in self-reported competency across seven technical dimensions. The module's competencies align directly with DoD Cyber Workforce Framework Work Role 212, Cyber Defense Forensics Analyst, supporting education-to-workforce pipeline development.


Breaking The Build: Detecting Software Supply Chain Vulnerabilities In Ci/Cd Pipelines, Mercedes R. Wahl, Dr. Benjamin Yankson Sep 2026

Breaking The Build: Detecting Software Supply Chain Vulnerabilities In Ci/Cd Pipelines, Mercedes R. Wahl, Dr. Benjamin Yankson

Military Cyber Affairs

This study examines whether integrating structured DevSec- Ops security controls into CI/CD pipelines can reduce software supply chain risk by preventing vulnerable components from progressing through the software development lifecycle. Software supply chain attacks frequently originate from weaknesses or compromises within dependencies, build environments, and trusted development stages, making early detection essential. A controlled sandbox experiment compared two pipeline configurations: a baseline CI/CD pipeline with no automated security enforcement and a secure DevSecOps pipeline integrating automated vulnerability scanning, SBOM generation, and artifact integrity verification. A known vulnerable dependency, the Python requests package (version 2.19.0) associated with CVE-2018-18074, was intentionally introduced …


Mitigating Common Vulnerabilities And Exposures In Cobol-Based Critical Systems Using The Strangler-Fig Pattern, Lauren E. Caruso, Vincent J. Compeau, Assefaw H. Gebremedhin Sep 2026

Mitigating Common Vulnerabilities And Exposures In Cobol-Based Critical Systems Using The Strangler-Fig Pattern, Lauren E. Caruso, Vincent J. Compeau, Assefaw H. Gebremedhin

Military Cyber Affairs

COBOL-based legacy systems continue to underpin critical infrastructure in banking and government sectors despite their age and associated cybersecurity risks. Originally developed through a Department of Defense–sponsored initiative to standardize business computing, COBOL remains widely used in mission-critical environments. However, these systems face increasing vulnerabilities due to outdated security architectures, workforce shortages, and rising maintenance costs. This paper examines cybersecurity and operational challenges associated with COBOL systems and evaluates the Strangler Fig pattern as a modernization strategy that enables incremental replacement while maintaining continuity. The findings highlight implications for financial institutions and public-sector organizations dependent on legacy infrastructure.


From Framework To Toolchain: Implementing Zero Trust Architecture In Cloud-Native Environments For Dow Compliance, Shelby C. Snyder Sep 2026

From Framework To Toolchain: Implementing Zero Trust Architecture In Cloud-Native Environments For Dow Compliance, Shelby C. Snyder

Military Cyber Affairs

Federal agencies face a fiscal year 2027 target for enterprise-wide Zero Trust deployment, but NIST SP 800-207A defines logical components without identifying the Kubernetes technologies that implement them. This paper proposes a three-tier mapping of the Policy Engine, Policy Administrator, and Policy Enforcement Point to service mesh, microsegmentation, and perimeter tooling, stating the criteria by which each component is classified. It then applies a defined rubric to six Zero Trust vendors across component alignment, Kubernetes capability, federal authorization posture, and evidence quality, finding that no single vendor covers all three tiers. The mapping is a testable architectural proposition; a Stage …


Hybrid Deep (Cnn-Bilstm) Intrusion Detection For Defense And Mission-Critical Networks, Corey A Cheng, Jermaine Anim-Addo, Asma Jakir Hussain, Zion O Smith-Fox, Sanjay Goel, Yuksel Celik Sep 2026

Hybrid Deep (Cnn-Bilstm) Intrusion Detection For Defense And Mission-Critical Networks, Corey A Cheng, Jermaine Anim-Addo, Asma Jakir Hussain, Zion O Smith-Fox, Sanjay Goel, Yuksel Celik

Military Cyber Affairs

This article examines how hybrid deep learning can strengthen intrusion detection for military and defense networks. Using the CSE-CIC-IDS2018 dataset, the study evaluates a CNN-BiLSTM model designed to detect benign traffic and multiple attack categories, including DDoS, DoS, botnet, brute-force, web attack, and infiltration activity. The model achieved strong multi-class detection performance, with 0.9893 accuracy and 0.9979 ROC-AUC. The findings suggest that AI-supported intrusion detection can improve cyber defense operations, analyst triage, and protection of mission-critical networks.


Are Large Language Models Safe? A Vulnerability Analysis Of Generated Source Code, James Richards-Perhatch, Mitchell Milander, James M. Halvorsen, Assefaw Gebremedhin Sep 2026

Are Large Language Models Safe? A Vulnerability Analysis Of Generated Source Code, James Richards-Perhatch, Mitchell Milander, James M. Halvorsen, Assefaw Gebremedhin

Military Cyber Affairs

The increasing complexity of software and demands for rapid deployment have pushed the software industry to rely more on large language models (LLMs) in developing source code. However, as this technology is still relatively recent, questions can arise about the safety of the generated code. This paper presents an analysis of seven LLMs with respect to the presence of vulnerabilities within source code. Our findings show that LLMs are more likely to produce vulnerable web applications than vulnerable C programs, and that vulnerabilities are more likely to occur when program size and complexity increases.


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 Sep 2026

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


The Fossil Pearls Of The Million-Pearls Flowstone, Fairgrounds Room, Fort Stanton Cave, New Mexico Usa, Victor J. Polyak, Paula P. Provencio, Yemane Asmerom Sep 2026

The Fossil Pearls Of The Million-Pearls Flowstone, Fairgrounds Room, Fort Stanton Cave, New Mexico Usa, Victor J. Polyak, Paula P. Provencio, Yemane Asmerom

International Journal of Speleology

‘Fossil’ cave pearls in the Fairgrounds Room of Fort Stanton Cave form two distinct layers in a flowstone sample, FS-14-2. The flowstone in the Fairgrounds Room covers a mud-silt bank and the extinct streambed that extends across the room. Uranium-series dates of two pieces of flowstone from this room, one piece from the higher end of the flowstone (FS-14-1, devoid of pearls), and another piece from the lower end of the flowstone (FS-14-2, rich in pearls), show that the flowstone was deposited during the Last Glacial period (60,000 to 11,000 yr BP).  The two cave-pearl layers in FS-14-2 yielded U-series …


Sedimentary Dynamics In Tubular Sandstone Caves, Porto União, Southern Brazil, Leandro Bianchini, Julio Cesar Paisani Sep 2026

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, …


A Game-Theoretic Approach To Customer Rating Of Hotels On Ota Platforms, George Lymperis, Lambros B. Drossos Sep 2026

A Game-Theoretic Approach To Customer Rating Of Hotels On Ota Platforms, George Lymperis, Lambros B. Drossos

Journal of Global Business Insights

This study develops a game-theoretic model of moral hazard in hotel–guest interactions on Online Travel Agency (OTA) platforms, addressing a question the reputation literature has largely overlooked: can customer reviews discipline hotel behavior even in genuinely one-shot transactions, where a guest and hotel never interact again? Standard repeated-game accounts of reputation rely on a shadow of the future that is absent in tourist-dependent markets dominated by one-time visitors. Drawing on principal–agent theory and community-enforcement models of reputation, we model the hotel–guest interaction as a static moral hazard game in which a neutral OTA verifies and enforces review-based penalties. Hotels choose …


Smart Service Experience And Consumer Loyalty In Saudi Arabian Smart Hotels: The Mediating Roles Of Tourist Happiness And Value Co-Creation, Fahad M. Alhuqbani Sep 2026

Smart Service Experience And Consumer Loyalty In Saudi Arabian Smart Hotels: The Mediating Roles Of Tourist Happiness And Value Co-Creation, Fahad M. Alhuqbani

Journal of Global Business Insights

Drawing on Cognitive-Affective System Theory (CAST), this study investigates the mediating roles of tourist happiness and willingness to co-create value in the relationship between Smart Service Experience (SSE) and loyalty among consumers of smart hotels in Saudi Arabia. Data were collected from 367 guests who had stayed in a smart hotel in Saudi Arabia within the past year and analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. The findings reveal that SSE positively influences both tourist happiness and co-creation willingness, which in turn drive guest loyalty. Notably, the affective pathway through tourist happiness exerts a stronger effect on loyalty than …


Market Orientation And Strategic Performance In Global Firms: A Sequential Mediation Model Of Innovation And Supply Chain Resilience, Meisam Karami Sep 2026

Market Orientation And Strategic Performance In Global Firms: A Sequential Mediation Model Of Innovation And Supply Chain Resilience, Meisam Karami

Journal of Global Business Insights

This study examines how market orientation is associated with strategic performance in globally operating firms through the sequential mediating roles of innovation and supply chain resilience. Drawing on the Resource-Based View and Dynamic Capabilities Theory, the research proposes a capability-sequencing framework in which market orientation reflects a sensing capability, innovation represents a seizing capability, and supply chain resilience embodies a reconfiguring capability that stabilizes value creation under environmental disruption. Using cross-sectional survey data from 356 manufacturing and service firms engaged in international activities, partial least squares structural equation modeling was employed to test the hypothesized relationships. The results indicate that …


The Competence Architecture Of Nonprofit Organizations: A Conceptual Model Linking Leadership, Governance, And Human-Capital Systems To Institutional Credibility, Franklin Livingston Sep 2026

The Competence Architecture Of Nonprofit Organizations: A Conceptual Model Linking Leadership, Governance, And Human-Capital Systems To Institutional Credibility, Franklin Livingston

Journal of Global Business Insights

Nonprofit organizations are judged through the competence of visible leaders, yet organizational competence is not reducible to the capabilities of any single executive. Reviews of nonprofit capacity report inconsistent associations between organizational capacity and performance. This conceptual article proposes a theoretical explanation for that inconsistency, one that remains compatible with methodological explanations. It develops a model of nonprofit competence architecture in which competence is an output that organizational systems continuously produce, correct, retain, and make visible, not a stock organizations possess. A theory-synthesis design specifies four mechanisms: Leadership-formation systems generate managerial capability; governance systems detect and partially compensate for capability …


Technological Appropriation As A Strategic Policy In Smes: Building Anticipatory Capabilities For Digital Transformation, Hernán Cornejo Sep 2026

Technological Appropriation As A Strategic Policy In Smes: Building Anticipatory Capabilities For Digital Transformation, Hernán Cornejo

Journal of Global Business Insights

Abstract: Technological appropriation has become a critical strategic issue for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) undergoing digital transformation. While many SMEs adopt digital tools to address immediate operational needs, fewer succeed in embedding them into organizational routines, strategic decision-making, and long-term adaptation. This study examines technological appropriation as a key mechanism through which SMEs convert digital adoption into strategic organizational capability. Drawing on the literature on technological appropriation, dynamic capabilities, and strategic foresight, the paper proposes and empirically tests an integrated model. A mixed-methods design was employed, combining a survey of 198 SMEs from Argentina, Chile, and Colombia with 15 …


Algorithms In Battle: Ai, International Relations, And Future Warfare, Nikos Koutsoupias, Kyriakos Mikelis, Marios Nosios Sep 2026

Algorithms In Battle: Ai, International Relations, And Future Warfare, Nikos Koutsoupias, Kyriakos Mikelis, Marios Nosios

Journal of Strategic Security

This study examines the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in transforming contemporary warfare, with a particular emphasis on its applications in unmanned aerial platforms, sensor networks, and decision-support architectures. The analysis examines current operational uses, the algorithmic processes that enable them, and empirical insights drawn from the Russian-Ukrainian War. Findings indicate that machine learning enhances key military functions, including surveillance, navigation, targeting, fire coordination, and maintaining communication networks under conditions of electronic disruption. The emergence of loitering munitions and autonomous navigation systems reflects a pattern of incremental innovation, wherein automation augments operational efficiency without displacing human authority in decisions involving …


Transitional Terrorism In South Asia: Understanding The Kuki-Chin National Front Using The Crime-Terror Nexus, Masrur Mahmud Khan Sep 2026

Transitional Terrorism In South Asia: Understanding The Kuki-Chin National Front Using The Crime-Terror Nexus, Masrur Mahmud Khan

Journal of Strategic Security

The emergence of the Kuki-Chin National Front (KNF) within the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) has engendered considerable concern within the domains of domestic and national security. Although the group’s political objectives have evolved from secessionist ambitions towards demands for regional autonomy, KNF has simultaneously engaged in profit-driven criminal activities. Thus, KNF exemplifies a hybrid organization, embodying both political and economic imperatives and operating at the intersection of insurgency, terrorism, and organized crime. In this context, the present qualitative study adopts the ‘crime-terror nexus’ as its analytical framework, positing that KNF represents a hybrid entity defined by its dual political aspirations …


Parallel Failures: The Recurring Logic Of Interventionist Blunders From Ukraine To Mexico, Jerjes Aguirre Ochoa, Jorge Alejandro Vázquez Valdez Sep 2026

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 Sep 2026

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 …


Between Markets And Maritime Might: India’S Engagements In The Indo-Pacific’S Emerging Order, Akriti Khajuria, Arushi Anthal Sep 2026

Between Markets And Maritime Might: India’S Engagements In The Indo-Pacific’S Emerging Order, Akriti Khajuria, Arushi Anthal

Journal of Strategic Security

In the strategic landscape of the Indo-Pacific, economic cooperation and security imperatives often converge in complex and sometimes conflicting ways. This strategic region has emerged as a critical arena where global and regional powers alike pursue economic engagement while recalibrating security postures in response to shifting geopolitical currents. Within this dynamic environment, India occupies a pivotal position as an emerging power seeking to reconcile its economic aspirations with evolving security challenges. This article explores how India negotiates the interplay between deepening economic integration, especially with major actors such as China and the US, while maintaining strategic autonomy and sovereignty. Anchored …


Structural Dependency: Nato, Defense Industry Politics, And Europe’S Stagnation, Diane M. Zorri Sep 2026

Structural Dependency: Nato, Defense Industry Politics, And Europe’S Stagnation, Diane M. Zorri

Journal of Strategic Security

Europe’s defense industrial base (DIB) weaknesses are commonly attributed to underinvestment, fragmented policies, or a lack of European cohesiveness. This article advances an alternative explanation: European defense industrial dependency has emerged through institutionalized alliance structures that systematically privileged US capabilities and incentives, becoming self-reinforcing and difficult for European actors to exit, even as their strategic preferences evolved. Drawing on dependency theory, path dependence, and theories of alliance politics, this article argues that transatlantic security arrangements established during the early Cold War, most notably NATO’s integrated command structures, defense procurement norms, and interoperability requirements, have generated long-lasting asymmetries in production, technology, …


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 Sep 2026

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, …


Teaching Strategic Intelligence In Political Transition, Henry W. Prunckun Sep 2026

Teaching Strategic Intelligence In Political Transition, Henry W. Prunckun

Journal of Strategic Security

Scholarship on intelligence ethics centers on operations, leaving the ethics of intelligence education and capacity-building under-theorized. This article develops retrospective moral reappraisal (RMR): the delayed moral reclassification of earlier teaching as ethically compromised when political transition and new public knowledge recontextualize what that teaching may have enabled. It argues that RMR is a pathway to moral injury because the injurious event is later learning—not the original classroom act—that one’s contribution is now plausibly implicated in harm. Linking RMR to complicity and enabling under uncertainty, the article clarifies how foreseeability, professional role morality, and leverage shape responsibility without requiring causal certainty …


Determining The Sources Of Aerosols Delivered To The Subtropical North Atlantic Using Stable Isotopes, Khloe E. Coffie, Zach B. Bunnell, Dylan J. Halbeisen, Peter N. Sedwick, Tim M. Conway Aug 2026

Determining The Sources Of Aerosols Delivered To The Subtropical North Atlantic Using Stable Isotopes, Khloe E. Coffie, Zach B. Bunnell, Dylan J. Halbeisen, Peter N. Sedwick, Tim M. Conway

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Deposition of atmospheric aerosols is a major source of bioavailable trace metals such as iron (Fe), zinc (Zn) and cadmium (Cd) to surface waters. Such aerosol deposition occurs through two modes: (1) dry deposition, or the settling of dry aerosol matter onto the open ocean, and (2) wet deposition, the delivery of solubilized aerosols during rain events. Although the effect of dry deposition on trace metal delivery to the oceans is reasonably well-studied, the influence of wet deposition remains extremely understudied. Here, we present the first dissolved Fe (δ56Fe), Zn (δ66Zn, and Cd (δ114Cd) isotopic compositions ever measured in rainwater. …


Abundance Of Free-Living Cyanobacterial Nitrogen Fixers On The West Florida Shelf, Ashley S. Gielazyn, Emma Graves, Christa Baranowski, Dreux Chappell, Kristen Buck, Salvatore Caprara Aug 2026

Abundance Of Free-Living Cyanobacterial Nitrogen Fixers On The West Florida Shelf, Ashley S. Gielazyn, Emma Graves, Christa Baranowski, Dreux Chappell, Kristen Buck, Salvatore Caprara

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Trichodesmium is a free-living, marine cyanobacterium that acts as a biological nitrogen fixer, capable of using typically unavailable dissolved nitrogen gas. It is responsible for producing up to half of the usable nitrogen that is necessary for the survival of marine organisms and environments. Researching the abundance of different nitrogen-fixing species allows for a greater understanding of the importance of nitrogen fixation in certain environments. Specifically on the West Florida Shelf (WFS), where nutrient levels are low, it is hypothesized that nitrogen fixers support a significant portion of primary productivity. This study used qPCR of the rnpB housekeeping gene to …


Linking Sea Ice Melt, Water-Column Structure, And Particle Distributions In The Weddell Sea, Daniel England Aug 2026

Linking Sea Ice Melt, Water-Column Structure, And Particle Distributions In The Weddell Sea, Daniel England

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Sea-ice melt strongly influences the coastal waters of Antarctica by lowering surface salinity, reducing vertical mixing, and changing MLD (mixed layer depth). These changes can affect phytoplankton biomass, particle formation, and carbon export. This poster examines how meltwater, and mixed layer depth relate to fluorescence, particle abundance, and particle biovolume in the Weddell Sea region of the Western Antarctic Peninsula. CTD (conductivity-temperature-depth) casts from the Polar Rapid cruise were used to analyze temperature, salinity, density, and fluorescence across multiple transects, and stations. Salinity was used to estimate meltwater percent in the water column, while density and temperature were used to …


Exploring Abundance Of Symbiotic Cyanobacteria Nitrogen Fixers On The West Florida Shelf, Julia Kiplinger Aug 2026

Exploring Abundance Of Symbiotic Cyanobacteria Nitrogen Fixers On The West Florida Shelf, Julia Kiplinger

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Nitrogen is unusable by most organisms but is an essential nutrient for building life. Nitrogen fixers in the ocean, also known as diazotrophs, can produce bioavailable forms of nitrogen for other organisms to use from dissolved nitrogen gas. The West Florida Shelf is of particular interest for research on nitrogen fixers because it is generally oligotrophic, yet diazotrophic activity is hypothesized to increase regional productivity. Our understanding of the distributions of cyanobacterial nitrogen fixers is limited, and broadening this knowledge can inform other decisions and research on ocean health or productivity. This study advances understanding of the abundance of symbiotic …


A Mobile Ai Conversational Platform For Supporting Autism Assessment In Children, Ruoyu Wang Aug 2026

A Mobile Ai Conversational Platform For Supporting Autism Assessment In Children, Ruoyu Wang

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Early identification of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remains challenging because many clinically relevant social, emotional, and communication behaviors are difficult to capture during brief clinical encounters. Young children may have limited attention spans, communicate differently with unfamiliar adults, struggle to express thoughts and emotions, or behave differently in clinical settings than in everyday environments. Consequently, clinicians often rely on brief observations and caregiver reports, which may not fully represent children’s typical communication behaviors. This study introduces an AI-powered conversational application for smartphones that supports longitudinal collection of naturalistic communication data from children. The application engages children in age-appropriate, play-based conversations …


Evaluation Of Aluminum Electrocoagulation Performance Indicators For Decentralized Drinking Water Treatment, Huy Nguyen, Monica Castro Carias Aug 2026

Evaluation Of Aluminum Electrocoagulation Performance Indicators For Decentralized Drinking Water Treatment, Huy Nguyen, Monica Castro Carias

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Electrocoagulation (EC) is a promising alternative to conventional chemical coagulation for decentralized drinking water treatment because it generates coagulants on-site , reducing the need for chemical transportation and storage in remote communities. In EC systems, an electric current applied to aluminum electrodes releases species that form solid coagulants capable of removing groundwater contaminants. However, long-term operation remains poorly understood, as electrode degradation through passivation (deposit accumulation) and pitting may reduce coagulant production and treatment efficiency, highlighting the need for practical indicators to track performance. The objective of this study is to evaluate the relationship between current, electrode condition, and aluminum …


Exploring Biopolymer Nanofibrous Scaffolds For Wound Healing Applications, James Lewis Aug 2026

Exploring Biopolymer Nanofibrous Scaffolds For Wound Healing Applications, James Lewis

OneUSF Summer Undergraduate Research Symposium

Chronic wounds continue to present a significant clinical challenge due to delayed healing, persistent inflammation, and the high risk of infection, creating an urgent need for advanced therapeutic strategies beyond conventional wound dressings. Electrospinning has emerged as a powerful and scalable fabrication technique for developing nanofibrous scaffolds that mimic the native extracellular matrix (ECM) while serving as localized drug delivery platforms. The unique structural characteristics of electrospun nanofibers, including their high surface-area-to-volume ratio, interconnected porosity, and tunable fiber morphology, enable efficient loading, protection, and controlled release of therapeutic agents, promoting a favorable healing environment. In this study, biocompatible and biodegradable …