Digital Commons Network^™

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 …

Diel And Seasonal Patterns Of Markham’S Storm Petrel Hydrobates Markhami In The Atacama Desert, Chile, Maya E. Philipp, Abram B. Fleishman, Jeff Schlueter, Giannira Álvarez, Benjamin Gallardo, Pablo Gutiérrez, Ronny Peredo, Brad Keitt, Fernando Medrano

Marine Ornithology

Markham's Storm Petrel Hydrobates markhami is endemic to the Humboldt Current, breeding inland in Chile and Peru. Its nesting habitat in Atacama Desert saltpeter deposits overlaps with light pollution, roadways, and other anthropogenic disturbances—factors that may impact the species' populations. Owing to its remote nesting locations and nocturnal behavior, finding and monitoring its colonies is challenging. In fact, the first colonies were discovered only recently. In this study, we assessed whether passive acoustic monitoring of this species detects the same activity patterns as active nest monitoring. Acoustic monitors were placed at eight sites within colonies at Caleta Buena (Tarapacá Region) …

Masthead, Marine Ornithology

Marine Ornithology

No abstract provided.

Inside Front Cover, Marine Ornithology

Marine Ornithology

No abstract provided.

Front Cover, Marine Ornithology

Marine Ornithology

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 …

Full Issue 20.1

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

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 …

Arts & Literature: Gaza And The Question Of Prevention—An Interview With Bruce Robbins, Luis Gonzalez-Aponte

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Genocide By Algorithm In Gaza: Artificial Intelligence, Countervailing Responsibility, And The Corruption Of Public Discourse, Branislav Radeljić

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

The accelerating militarization of artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed the ethics, politics, and governance of warfare. This article interrogates how AI-driven targeting systems function as epistemic infrastructures that classify, legitimize, and execute violence, using Israel’s conduct in Gaza as a paradigmatic case. Building on interdisciplinary debates in security studies, critical technology studies, and international law, the paper advances the concept of "genocide by algorithm"—a mode of technologically mediated extermination in which opaque computational systems automate and rationalize mass violence. The study argues that these systems collapse distinctions between military and civilian targets, and between intentional and accidental harm, thereby eroding …

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, …

U.S. Public Opinion During The Rwandan Genocide And The Power Of Executive Detachment, Carly Schmitt, Matthew L. Bergbower

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

We examine U.S. public opinion during the Rwandan genocide in the spring and early summer of 1994. Drawing on more than a dozen public opinion polls fielded during this period, we analyze Americans’ levels of knowledge about the violence in Rwanda, their views on United Nations involvement, support for U.S. military intervention, and evaluations of President Bill Clinton’s handling of the crisis. Longstanding theory recognizes public opinion as an important variable in explaining foreign policy choices during international crises. In the case of U.S. policy toward the Rwandan genocide, our analysis reveals widespread public unfamiliarity with a distant African conflict …

Arts & Literature: Living On The Margins, Bashir Cassimally

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Living on the Margins follows the parallel journey of a mountain gorilla and a Batwa youth in Rwanda against the backdrop of displacement and genocide. The story explores the marginalization of a human community and the bond between people, animals, and land.

Book Review: Uyghur Women Activists In The Diaspora: Restorying A Genocide, Robert W. Wilson

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

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 …

Impact Of Private Equity Investments Integration On U.S. And European Sports Industries, Evan Alexander

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Private equity investments in the sports industry have become increasingly prominent in both the United States and Europe, although the dynamics, regulations, and strategies differ between the two regions. In this thesis, I discuss the concept of private equity (PE) investments within the sports industry, evaluating it in the context of the United States of America and Europe.

I analyze the overall impact that the integration of private equity investments has had on several sports leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Football League (NFL), the National Basketball Association (NBA), and European Soccer Clubs, among other sports. I …

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 …

Business Incubation And The Role That It Plays In The Future Economic And Financial Success Of Small Island Developing States, Warren Watkins

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) face a unique blend of economic vulnerabilities and untapped potential, often stemming from their heavy reliance on tourism and limited diversification. This thesis explores how business incubation can serve as a strategic mechanism for fostering sustainable economic and financial growth within these nations. Through a comparative analysis of established models in countries such as Singapore, Japan, and Chile, alongside emerging initiatives in Caribbean SIDS, this research identifies the pathways through which foreign investment, education, and technology can jointly stimulate entrepreneurial development. Findings indicate that while foreign partnerships remain essential in the early stages of incubation, …

Corporate Adaptability In The Nil Era: How Athletic Departments Are Navigating A New Landscape, Jake H. Greene

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

The landscape of college athletics was completely restructured in 2021 when NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) legislation passed, and the pace of change has not slowed since. With athletic departments facing new legal frameworks, financial pressures, and compliance demands, the question arises: how essential is corporate adaptability to institutional success in this era? Through content analysis of new laws, NCAA rulings, and two targeted case studies, this study argues that corporate adaptability is not merely advantageous but essential for athletic departments navigating the NIL landscape. Programs that have proactively restructured their operations, staffing, and compliance systems have positioned themselves for …

The Moderation Of Gender In The Relationship Between Social Cognition And Narrative Language Skills In Autistic Children, Zara Khan, Coral Morley

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Compared to males, autistic females often demonstrate a greater desire for social interactions and may imitate peers’ social behaviors, sometimes masking underlying social-cognitive difficulties (Hull et al., 2017; Lai et al., 2015). To better understand these differences, the present study focuses on two key components of social cognition (i.e., affect recognition and theory of mind (ToM)), and their associations with narrative listening comprehension. Gender may act as a moderator, showing variability between these variables; thereby providing a more nuanced view of autism that may inform assessment and screening practices rather than relying on the traditional male-centered research (Harrop et al., …

Bidirectional Associations Between Social-Cognitive Processes And Mathematics Achievement In Autistic Children, Carole M. Wadie, Conner Peltier, Quinn Slyker

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Mathematics achievement is a critical component of academic functioning, strongly predicting later educational and life outcomes (Kaskens et al., 2022; Tonizzi & Usai, 2024). Although prior research has examined mathematics achievement and general cognition, limited work has investigated the role of social-cognitive processes in mathematical development among autistic children. Skills such as theory of mind (ToM), affect recognition, and inferencing may support mathematical learning by enabling children to interpret instructions, integrate information, and apply conceptual understanding (Kloo et al., 2022; Kim et al., 2021). Developmental cascade theory suggests that functioning in one domain may influence development in another, with bidirectional …

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, …

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 …

Cbt-Based Psychotherapy Apps Vs. No Intervention For Insomnia: A Systematic Review Of Symptom Differences In Dsm-5 Adults, Soham C. Dihenia, Mary Hanna, Melissa Fede, Aashna Patel, Pierre Mosad, Semené Clement, Amanda Janner

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Insomnia is a prevalent health issue impacting many adults alongside other mental disorders. One common treatment is cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) which is now increasingly delivered through smartphone apps. With an upward trend in adults, these applications offer a potential accessible and scalable solution. This study evaluated the efficacy of internationally available mental health apps utilizing CBT principles for adults diagnosed with insomnia under the DSM-5 which were compared to the control group with no psychotherapy app exposure.

A systematic review was conducted using PubMed, Google Scholar, and Scopus. Eligible studies were published within the last 5 years, …

The Effect Of Distraction On Emotion-Based Communication Behaviors, Twisha Nadella

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

As technology becomes increasingly integrated in daily activities, there are growing concerns for the effects of multi-tasking within the workplace. It is important to consider how communication efficiency may be impacted by dual-task situations. Therefore, understanding the potential outcomes that distraction may have on language production is valuable in determining optimal working conditions for effective use of emotional communication. This dual-task study was designed to understand the effects of distraction on emotion-based communication behavior. A driving task was utilized as the means of distraction in this experiment, while the concurrent negotiation task was analyzed to understand how emotional language was …

Optimization Of Antibiotic Selection Conditions In Human T-Cell Lines To Study Mechanisms Of Resistance To Bi-Specific Antibody Therapy In Multiple Myeloma, Raphael Gabra

OneUSF Undergraduate Research Conference

Multiple myeloma is a malignancy of plasma cells for which emerging therapies increasingly target B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA). Many experimental approaches used to investigate therapeutic resistance rely on genetically modified cell populations that must be maintained through antibiotic selection to ensure stable expression of introduced constructs. However, antibiotic sensitivity varies across cell lines and drug types, and improper dosing can compromise experimental reproducibility by allowing unmodified cells to persist or inducing excessive cytotoxic stress. This study aimed to define efficient and practical selection conditions for two commonly used antibiotics, G418 and puromycin, in Jurkat and TALL-104 human T-cell lines. Cells …