Digital Commons Network^™

Analysis Of Security Concerns In India-Central Asia Relations, Anmol Mukhia, Anurag Tripathi, Sanjeev Kumar Tiwari

Journal of Strategic Security

India-Central Asia relations have gained strategic significance driven by its historical ties, growing economic interests, and, most importantly, evolving security dynamics. This article deals with multifaceted security concerns such as drug trafficking, terrorism, radicalization, and the implications of instability in Afghanistan. The findings show that security concerns in the region, particularly in Afghanistan and Pakistan, constitute a significant obstacle, alongside geographical challenges, to India’s connectivity with the Central Asian Republics (CARS). India’s rising aspiration to increase connectivity and build closer ties with the region in energy, trade, and commerce heavily relies on a peaceful, prosperous, and stable Central and South …

Shadow Logistics: Military Vulnerability Through Civilian Dependence, Gilles A. Paché

Journal of Strategic Security

The rapid evolution of civilian-origin technologies repurposed for defense is reshaping the foundations of logistical advantage and altering the conditions under which armed forces operate. Modern missions rely on an extensive ecosystem of infrastructures—port terminals, cloud services, data platforms, and civilian contractors—whose reliability frequently lies beyond the authority of public institutions. This environment gives rise to shadow logistics, a network of civilian systems largely absent from conventional doctrine yet capable of producing significant operational disruptions when failures occur. Case studies show that some dark assets, whether physical or informational, can act as multipliers of effectiveness while simultaneously creating systemic vulnerabilities …

New Developments In Space-Filling Designs, Xiankui Yang

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents three methodological advancements to improve the construction of space-filling designs for meeting different needs of computer experiments. Traditional space-filling designs focus on achieving uniform coverage in the input space, ensuring that design points are spread evenly throughout. However, in some scientific and engineering applications, varied density of design points may be desired for more efficient data collection when prior knowledge implies different emphases. In other cases, ensuring good coverage and/or spread of the response values allows better performance of fitted models in the next stage of applications. Many processes involve variation in response values. Therefore, incorporating variation …

Combating Β-Lactamase Resistance: From Inhibitor Design To Substrate Evolution, Lian M.C. Jacobs

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

β-lactamase production by bacteria is a major mechanism of antibiotic resistance. These enzymes hydrolyze β-lactam antibiotics, preventing them from binding to and inhibiting PBPs. Although new β-lactam scaffolds and inhibitors are continually introduced into the clinic, resistance often emerges within a few years. Therefore, the development of cross-class inhibitors with novel scaffolds is critical to mitigate this resistance. In parallel, a deeper understanding of the structural and mechanistic basis of β-lactamase resistance is essential. Together, these approaches provide an effective strategy for combating antibiotic resistance.

The first project addressed the need of effective cross-class β-lactamase inhibitors capable of targeting SBL …

Unquaint Pigs’ Stakeholder Perspectives On Wild Swine In Central Western Florida, Tyler Koerner

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Anthropocene presents important questions for how to address the continuous transferal of new species into new spaces and the cascading impacts of environmental transformations. Novel ecosystems present one such outline for conservation that acknowledges the modification of historic ecosystems and the social entanglements that arrive with new species. I argue that novel ecosystems can benefit from further anthropological integrations that aid in describing the entanglements of introduced species and the pursuit of best managerial outcomes. For wild swine in Florida, the adoption of a novel approach is especially relevant because of entanglements with historic and modern Floridian stakeholders and …

The Heterogeneous Response Of Astrocytes In Different Brain Regions Under Metabolic Stress, Pawan Kumar Thapaliya

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Astrocytes play a central role in maintaining ionic homeostasis, neurotransmitter clearance, and brain en-ergy metabolism. Their excitability, reflected in activity-evoked intracellular sodium (Na+, [Na+]i) and calcium (Ca2+,[Ca+]i) dynamics, is increasingly recognized as a critical determinant of neuronal function and vulnerability, particularly under metabolic stress. Despite their importance, the mechanisms underlying astrocytic ionic signaling and its regional heterogeneity remain incompletely understood. In this thesis, I developed detailed computational and biophysical models to investigate astrocytic Na+ and Ca2+ dynamics, their bioenergetic consequences, and the roles of key ion transporters under physiological and metabolically stressed conditions, validating the models against experi- mental data. …

How Well Are We Preparing U.S. Youth With Down Syndrome For Health Care Transition? A Mixed-Methods Study Assessing Provider Support And Exploring Caregiver Experiences, Suman Kanti Chowdhury

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: Health care transition (HCT) preparation is a structured process that empowers youth to take ownership of their health care as they transition into adulthood. Youth with Down syndrome (DS), a common genetic disorder associated with a high burden of co-occurring conditions, require HCT preparation support at a higher rate than their typically developing peers. Although transition preparation has been examined across various chronic conditions, few studies have focused on youth with DS. Moreover, prior research was limited by methodological constraints, including the lack of a validated HCT index, a small sample size, outdated estimates, and a lack of a …

Motivating Lung Cancer Screening Uptake: An Experimental Test Of Didactic Versus Narrative Messages For Lung Cancer Screening Among Individuals Who Currently Smoke Or Formerly Smoked, Honor M. Woodward

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer-related death in the United States and worldwide. Lung cancer screening with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) has been associated with a 20% reduction in lung cancer-related mortality. Despite the obvious benefits of lung cancer screening with LDCT, screening is heavily underutilized compared to other cancer screening tests. Thus, it is critically important to develop strategies that help motivate screening uptake among eligible individuals. This study explored the effectiveness of narrative messages for motivating lung cancer screening uptake among individuals eligible for lung cancer screening who currently smoke or formerly smoked. Drawing from …

Riki&Dolphin: Real Time Data Transmission From The Bottom Of A Cave To A Website, Luca Tringali, Giacomo Canciani Dr., Tecla Tripari, Alexander Debenjak, Caterina Bearzotti

International Journal of Speleology

Coming from over 10 years of experience in cave monitoring in northeast Italy, Gruppo Speleologico Talpe del Carso, has designed Riki and Dolphin: customizable, low cost, and easy to assemble tools for getting real time data transmission from the bottom of a cave, even underwater, to a webserver. Their use has been tested to monitor air temperature inside the Abisso Bonetti Cave (Classical Karst, Italy), proving for the first time that a cave in Gorizian Karst can systematically be colder than the outdoor temperature even in winter, recording an internal temperature even lower than 0°C. The Dolphin device can be …

Neurons Of Bias: Power-Mediated Compliance And Mitigation In Large Language Models, Anubhav Gupta, Otavio Rosa, Mahammed Kamruzzaman, Gene Kim

Bellini College REU Symposium (BCREUS)

Introduction & Problem Statement

Large language models (LLMs) are increasingly deployed in sociotechnical systems involving power, authority, and compliance, raising important questions about fairness, consistency, and reliability across diverse user populations. As these systems are integrated into hiring tools, customer service systems, assistive technologies, and decision-support pipelines, they are expected to operate consistently regardless of the identity they are prompted to adopt. However, when demographic attributes are introduced into prompts, model behavior may shift even when identity does not change the underlying task.

In power-mediated settings, such variation is especially important because differences in compliance, refusal, or loophole-seeking behavior may …

Misty: An Llm-Driven Recipe Recommender Robot, Alina Pineda, Stuti Goyal, Jingjing Li, Zhao Han

Bellini College REU Symposium (BCREUS)

Introduction & Problem Statement

Meal planning requires balancing nutritional needs, available ingredients, and user preferences, which can be time-consuming and cognitively demanding. While mobile recipe applications provide personalized recommendations, they lack interactive and socially engaging communication. In contrast, social robots such as Misty enable expressive interaction through speech, gestures, and emotional cues, but typically rely on rigid, pre-programmed behaviors and lack domain-specific knowledge for tasks such as recipe recommendation.

This gap highlights the need for a system that combines the strengths of both technologies. Recipe recommendation is inherently multimodal, requiring both social interaction for engagement and visual presentation for detailed …

An Evaluation Of Biologically-Inspired Slam Models Against Traditional Models, Colby Mullins, Asadbek Nematov, Ross Volenec, Chance Hamilton, Alfredo Weitzenfeld

Bellini College REU Symposium (BCREUS)

This research presents a comparative analysis of biologically-inspired SLAM models (RatSLAM [2], SeqSLAM [3]) versus traditional feature-based geometric SLAM (ORB-SLAM3 [1]) to establish a standardized framework for evaluating accuracy, robustness, and computational efficiency under varying environmental conditions. To ensure an equitable baseline, models are subjected to a unified testing pipeline across real-world datasets (Oxford RobotCar clear and overcast sequences) and controlled Webots simulations (day/night and seasonal centerlines) using timestamp-aligned 480p monocular PNG images. Within this pipeline, pose estimations are standardized to the TUM trajectory format, and spatial alignment and scale correction are applied via the evo evaluation library [4] to …

Risa: Robotic Interface For Sit-To-Stand Assistance, Hieu Tran, Rinat Mynnakhmetov, Ricardo Frumento Sr, Yu Sun

Bellini College REU Symposium (BCREUS)

Mobility limitations in older adults are expected to become increasingly prevalent, along with the larger proportion of the world’s elderly population over the next decades [1]. Among these problems is the difficulty many elderly individuals face when transitioning from a seated to a standing pose. Loss of lower-body strength and balance makes this daily activity near impossible without assistance. To address this motor impairment, solutions were developed. For example, the Elderly Bodily Assistance Robot (E-BAR) provides body-weight support using handles, pulleys, and frames [2]. While these systems demonstrate the feasibility of robotic assistance, they present key limitations. Firstly, mechanical designs …

Hacksee: Security Platform For All, Jamie Giarratana, Mohamed Eltonamly, Ben Gipalo, Robert Karam

Bellini College REU Symposium (BCREUS)

HaCKSEE intends to provide an online hardware security training platform to educators at a reduced cost. By centralizing physical experiment hardware to a provisioning service and implementing timesharing via a dynamic queue system and custom hardware, we can dramatically reduce costs while retaining a familiar workflow. HaCKSEE allows students to flash custom firmware and experiments to experiment boards and return outputs (e.g. power-consumption data) to be displayed in the development environment.

HaCKSEE offers a new approach that enables educators and trainees to get started without the high barrier-to-entry costs associated with traditional hardware security training.

Teacher Candidates’ Reflective Practices Of Mathematics Curriculum From The Lens Of Universal Design For Learning, Weichen Zhao

Journal of Practitioner Research

The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework encourages educators to proactively remove barriers in curriculum and instruction to increase accessibility for all learners. While UDL is often applied during lesson planning, it can also serve as a powerful tool for critically examining and revising existing mathematics curricula. Drawing on qualitative data from teacher candidates’ reflective journals and curriculum artifacts collected over two semesters, this study examines how guided reflection supported teacher candidates in identifying barriers, proposing inclusive adaptations, and deepening their understanding of equity-oriented mathematics instructional design. As a self-study grounded in participatory action research, the findings also informed the …

Breathing Life Into Sel: A Practitioner Inquiry On Hā, Belonging, And Multilingual Learners In Hawai‘I, Mylia Briggs, Monica Gonzalez Smith

Journal of Practitioner Research

This practitioner inquiry explores how a Pacific-oriented social-emotional learning (SEL) framework, Nā Hopena A‘o (HĀ: BREATH), can affirm the cultural identities and emotional well-being of Filipino multilingual learners (MLs) in Hawai‘i. Implemented over a 15-week period in a third-grade classroom, the study draws on culturally adapted SEL lessons, student exit tickets and focus groups, and teacher reflections to examine how SEL shifts when grounded in Indigenous values, heritage language use, and community knowledge. Findings reveal three key themes: (1) Cultural Connection Fosters Belonging, (2) Language Visibility Promotes Emotional Safety, and (3) Identity-Affirming Practices Build Confidence and Voice. While students responded …

From Inquiry To Action: Leveraging Group Level Assessment To Elevate Teacher Voice, Claire C. Underwood, Leslie Kochanowski, Abraham Underhill

Journal of Practitioner Research

This methodological paper explores the use of Group Level Assessment (GLA) (Vaughn & Lohmueller, 2014; Vaughn, 2024) as a participatory approach to practitioner inquiry within an early childhood education program. Using Cochran-Smith and Lytle’s (2009) inquiry as stance as a guiding conceptual framework, GLA is framed as a methodology that affirms educator expertise, fosters collective reflection, and generates tangible action. We document the adaptation and implementation of the GLA protocol at the Arlitt Center, a university-affiliated early childhood laboratory school committed to teacher-led professional learning. Through an adapted GLA process, teaching staff engaged in identifying barriers and opportunities related to …

Exploring Researcher-Practitioner Authorship Collaboration In English, Foreign Language, And Mathematics Education, Rachel Cullen, Joseph Taylor, Matthew Laney, Mohamed Nouri

Journal of Practitioner Research

This study examined collaboration and bidirectional relationships between researchers and practitioners in the context of journal publications. Through exploration of research and practitioner journals in the areas of English, Foreign Languages, and Mathematics, we aimed to understand how authorship patterns and types of references illustrate the gap between research and practice. Findings indicate that collaboration between researchers and practitioners in the context of journal publications is minimal, and practitioner presence is scarce in research. The types of references included in publications are high quality regardless of authorship, but there is a problem of exposure that limits the research from reaching …

Drainage Proximity And Sinkhole Occurrence In Sivrihisar (Central Turkey): A Comparative Analysis Of Linear, Poisson, And Negative Binomial Regression Models, Bilge Bingül, Emrah Pekkan, Resul Çömert

International Journal of Speleology

This study investigates the relationship between sinkhole occurrence and distance to drainage in the Sivrihisar region (Central Turkey) and evaluates the suitability of different regression approaches for modeling clustered count data in karst terrains. A comprehensive inventory of 104 sinkholes developed within the Neogene lacustrine limestones of the Akpınar Formation was compiled using official records, remote sensing analyses, and detailed field surveys. Sinkhole occurrences were analyzed relative to a drainage network derived from a high-resolution Digital Surface Model and grouped by proximity to drainage lines. Linear Regression (LM), Poisson Regression (PR), and Negative Binomial Regression (NBR) models were comparatively applied …

Considerations For Cherenkov Radiation Imaging In External Beam Radiotherapy For Diverse Populations In A High Throughput Cancer Clinic, Diego A. Hernandez

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Cherenkov radiation imaging is a burgeoning field of optical imaging that has become a promising, non-invasive, technique that allows the visualization of radiation delivery during external beam radiotherapy. This form of imaging has opened the door to real-time and retrospective treatment verification and sparked a plethora of research aimed at improving the utility. This dissertation investigates possible clinical implementations and limitations of Cherenkov radiation imaging within a high-throughput cancer clinic serving a diverse patient population. The central motivation is the need to advance Cherenkov radiation imaging as a reliable tool for clinical use by improving its quantitative accuracy and applicability …

Development And Feasibility Testing Of A Video-Based Virtual Reality Bullying Safety Skills Intervention For School-Aged Children With Disabilities, Trevor C. Maxfield

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Virtual reality (VR) technology has emerged as a promising instructional tool for children with disabilities; however, research on using VR to improve safety skills in this population remains limited. The present study employed a 2-phase approach to develop and evaluate a video-based VR bullying safety skills intervention for children with disabilities. In Phase 1, bullying and applied behavior analysis experts reviewed and validated the intervention content, including the response to bullying steps, school-based scenario storyboards, and embedded behavioral procedures, rating the content as valid and technically adequate. Expert feedback informed refinements to the intervention content and the decision to transition …

Lakewood Christmas Bird Count, December 28, 2008, Nancy Howel

Cleveland Bird Calendar

No abstract provided.

Irene Turk Rorimer, Dwight Chasar

Cleveland Bird Calendar

No abstract provided.

Location Key, The Cleveland Bird Calendar

Cleveland Bird Calendar

No abstract provided.

Field Notes, Sean T. Zadar, Dwight Chasar, Haans Petruschke, Bill Whan, Judy Semroc

Cleveland Bird Calendar

No abstract provided.

Field Notes, Dwight Chasar, Ann Chasar, Sean T. Zadar, Cathy Priebe, Paula Lozano, Bob Finkelstein, Andy Fondrk, Dan Best, Kevin Metcalf, Nancy Howell, Jennifer Brumfield

Cleveland Bird Calendar

No abstract provided.

Field Notes, Sean T. Zadar, Dwight Chasar, Ann Chasar

Cleveland Bird Calendar

No abstract provided.

Field Notes, Brenda Kovalsky, Dwight Chasar, Ann Edwards, John Edwards, Stanley Stine, Kevin Metcalf

Cleveland Bird Calendar

No abstract provided.

Noteworthy Records, Larry Rosche

Cleveland Bird Calendar

No abstract provided.

Field Notes, Linda Gilbert, Brad Stemen, Bob Finkelstein, Dwight Chasar

Cleveland Bird Calendar

No abstract provided.