Digital Commons Network^™

Designing For Engagement: A Comparison Of Canvas And A Visual Peer Review Dashboard, Alon Friedman, Md Dilshadur Rahman, Ly Dinh, Paul Rosen

School of Information Faculty Publications

Peer review is an underutilized yet potentially powerful strategy for fostering evaluative judgment and design literacy in visualization education. Critiquing visual work requires domain-specific competencies that extend beyond generic peer feedback; however, widely adopted platforms such as Canvas provide limited support for the cognitive and visual demands of visualization critique. We introduce VisPeerReview, a visualization-specific learning analytics dashboard (LAD) designed to scaffold peer feedback through an integrated visualization display, rubric-guided prompts, and inline annotation tools. We evaluated VisPeerReview through a three-phase mixed-methods study conducted in an undergraduate data visualization course, comparing it with Canvas’s default peer-review workflow. Drawing on interaction …

Pluralism And Critique In A Renewed Environmental Anthropology, Helen Kopnina

Journal of Ecological Anthropology

Environmental anthropology has evolved from early ethnographic traditions that emphasized the interplay between culture and ecology to a field increasingly influenced by ideological perspectives across the political spectrum. Traditionally, anthropologists examined how human societies adapted to their environments through cultural practices, laying the groundwork for ecological anthropology. However, in recent decades, the field has increasingly been shaped by political and theoretical shifts that prioritize critiques of capitalism, colonialism, and environmental injustice—sometimes at the cost of empirical diversity and democratic debate. There are critiques of the broader trend in academia where intellectual discourse becomes dominated by elite-driven ideological conformity. Critics warn …

Hydrothermal Vents In Sulfuric Acid Speleogenesis Karst: Isolated Feeders With Pristine Hypogenic Water Or Interconnected Conduits With Rapid Flow And Recycled Water?, Jakub Mareš, Marek Audy, Serban M. Sarbu, Jan Kukačka, Romeo Eftimi, Jiří Bruthans

International Journal of Speleology

Underwater connectivity and flow paths in the saturated zone of hypogenic sulfuric acid speleogenesis (SAS) karst remain unclear, despite sustained research over the past 30 years. Being regarded as sources of pristine H₂S-charged water, narrow inflow conduits called "feeders" are typically considered primary sources of water and hotspots of speleogenesis. In southeastern Albania, there is a newly discovered active SAS karst system comprising numerous caves and springs. Tracer tests were conducted to investigate the connection of these caves to the surrounding springs and to characterize the flow paths. The results show that water flows from cave lakes to …

Table Of Contents

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Full Issue 19.2

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Arts & Literature: Cursed, Nadeem Zaman

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Arts & Literature: Hear Me Out: A Poem From Gaza, Gillian Genevieve

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Poem on Gaza

Editors' Introduction

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Guiding Principles For Teaching About Genocide And Other Difficult Pasts, Kerry E. Whigham

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This article outlines guiding principles for teaching “difficult pasts”—episodes of large-scale, identity-based violence such as genocide, crimes against humanity, colonialism, and enslavement—in ways that promote peace, human rights, and the prevention of future atrocities. Drawing from the fields of Holocaust and Genocide Education (HGE), Global Citizenship Education (GCED), Peace Education (PE), and Human Rights Education (HRE), it argues that instruction should move beyond the memorization of historical facts toward developing students’ socio-emotional and behavioral capacities to recognize and resist processes of othering, discrimination, and violence. The brief presents three main areas of guidance: curricular content, emphasizing conceptual understanding over rote …

Book Review: Victim-Centred Peacemaking: Colombia’S Santos–Farc-Ep Peace Process, Patricia M. Rodriguez

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Arts & Literature: Impotent Witness: A Tale Of Two Genocides, And Counting, Lisa M. Simeone

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This essay draws on memory, ethnography, and theory to consider a scholar’s personal and political responsibility as witness.

Book Review: The Role Of Civil Society In Transitional Justice: The Case Of Russia, Myra Dahgaypaw

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

This book review evaluates Selbi Durdiyeva's The Role of Civil Society in Transitional Justice: The Case of Russia as a vital contribution to genocide prevention scholarship, which is particularly timely given Russia's mass atrocity crimes in Ukraine and their connection to domestic repression. The book's theoretical innovation in challenging state-centric transitional justice paradigms through rigorous analysis of Memorial NGO, Orthodox Church activities, and revisionist groups across three decades of post-Soviet Russia is critical for the transitional justice field. It is worth highlighting Durdiyeva's unique postcolonial perspective as someone from a former Soviet territory studying the metropole, and her demonstration that …

Book Review: Research Handbook On The Punishment Of Atrocity Crimes, Bryant Lyttle

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Book Review: The Death In Their Eyes: What Perpetrator Images Perpetrate, Libertad Gills

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

A Cave In Miocene Conglomerate: The Törökpince-Abaliget Cave System, Hungary, Krisztina Sebe, Piroska Pazonyi, Márton Bauer, Bálint Szappanos, Márton Szabó, Zoltán Szentesi, Mihály Gasparik, Ákos Juhász, Luca Pandolfi, Máté Gregorits, József Haász, Ágnes Novothny, Zsófia Ruszkiczay-Rüdiger

International Journal of Speleology

Conglomerate caves are rare, and only a few have been described in the scientific literature. Here, we present a newly discovered and significant cave system in SW Hungary, comprising over 500 m of upper passages and a shorter, lower section of a through-cave developed in Lower–Middle Miocene conglomerates. The formation of these cave passages was controlled chiefly by bedding and fractures. Dissolution has produced typical karstification morphologies, whereas corrasion, granular disintegration, and rock collapse have also played a role in shaping the cave. The cave is dominated by vadose-zone morphologies, but sediment infills indicating upward water flow, along with ceiling …

Measurements Of Water-Film Thickness On Cave Walls And Speleothems, Alexandre Honiat, Salaheddine Skali-Lami, François Bourges, Bruno Lartiges

International Journal of Speleology

The water-film that coats cave walls and speleothems is a key player for the regulation of cave microclimate and the control of speleothem growth. In this paper, we demonstrate the capability of a confocal optical sensor to quantitatively measure on-site the rapid variations of water-film thickness when dripping, active condensation, or dryness occur on walls of various caves. Results obtained from a sample of four prehistoric caves and one stalagmite cave from Southwest France, indicate that the measurable thickness of water-films is generally in the 25-70 µm range for cave walls and reaches 200-300 µm on the horizontal plane of …

Exploring Conditioning Strategies For Film-Based Feature Modulation In Saliency Ranking, Elena Roussanova, Anil Raut, Zaima Zarnaz, Seungbae Kim

Bellini College REU Symposium (BCREUS)

We present a parameter-efficient FiLM-based framework for visual saliency ranking that operates on a frozen ResNet backbone. Instead of fine-tuning convolutional weights, lightweight conditioning embeddings modulate four intermediate backbone stages through Feature-wise Linear Modulation (FiLM), enabling controlled scaling and shifting of both channel and spatial feature responses. The resulting multi-scale FiLM-modulated features are fused to produce instance-level saliency rank predictions. Our study shows that conditioning-based modulation can effectively reshape backbone representations while preserving parameter efficiency, providing a flexible alternative to full backbone tuning for fine-grained saliency reasoning.

Biologically Motivated Algorithms And Backpropagation, Yusra Rasool, Tasnia Mahsin Simin, Shion Matsumoto, Ankur Mali

Bellini College REU Symposium (BCREUS)

Backpropagation (BP) relies on biologically implausible mechanisms like global error transport. This project investigates two alternatives: Error-Driven Local Representation Alignment (LRA), which utilizes local error loops, and Predictive Forward-Forward (PFF), which employs forward-forward algorithm and "goodness" optimization to eliminate backward passes. We quantify the trade-off between biological plausibility and efficiency by measuring the convergence lag inherent to localized updates. Theoretically, we analyze how PFF and LRA resolve the weight transport problem and enable local credit assignment, positioning these frameworks as viable candidates for energy-efficient "mortal computation" on neuromorphic hardware.

Fine-Tuning Open Source Llms For Generating Pedagogically Aligned Practice Questions In University Level Algorithms Course, Anne Utegen, Tran Ho, Oguzhan Topsakal

Bellini College REU Symposium (BCREUS)

This project focuses on fine-tuning the open-source Gemma 3 model using Low-Rank Adaptation (LoRA) to generate pedagogically aligned practice questions for an Analysis of Algorithms course. The authors created a dataset consisting of 300 question-hint-answer conversations with progressive hints that would scaffold student reasoning. Gemma 3 was fine-tuned and evaluated against a prompt-only baseline using an LLM-as-a-judge framework (Gemini 2.5 Pro) across 187 question pairs. The results show that the fine-tuned model improved significantly in avoiding premature solution reveals, difficulty appropriateness, and pedagogical alignment. However, the model experienced decreases in hint quality, clarity, and correctness, which is hypothesized to be …

The “Surprisal” Between Contrastive Representation Learning And The Free Energy Principle, Raul Castillo, Abdul-Malik Zekri, Benjamin Prada, Ankur Mali

Bellini College REU Symposium (BCREUS)

The ultimate goal of machine learning is to build models that generalize well. different machine learning frameworks have different ways of achieving this goal. I-Con builds outputs that group like and separate unlike data points, building strong groupings at the cost of robustness against noisy/mislabeled data. The Free Energy Principle (FEP) builds outputs within a larger probability density, being able to account for noisy/mislabeled data at the cost of structure. We posit that I-Con and FEP can be formally related as Minimum Description Length (MDL) codelengths and as limit cases of Alpha-divergences. Rigorously proving this connection would provide new perspectives …

Alphafold3 And Intrinsically Disordered Proteins: Reliable Monomer Prediction, Unpredictable Multimer Performance, Tuan Minh Dao, Sebastien Ghent, Vladimir N. Uversky, Taseef Rahman

Bellini College REU Symposium (BCREUS)

AlphaFold3 represents a major advance in protein structure prediction, yet its performance on intrinsically disordered proteins remains uncharacterized. We present the first systematic evaluation of AF3 on disordered systems, revealing a striking dichotomy. For monomers, AF3's pLDDT scores reliably predict disorder (MCC: 0.693), matching AlphaFold2 and rivaling dedicated predictors. This consistency across fundamentally di ̄erent architectures confirms that disorder prediction emerges from training data, not model design. For multimers, the picture grows complex. Despite comparable aggregate performance (mean DockQ: 0.563 vs 0.571), AF3 and AF2 achieve these results through fundamentally di ̄erent mechanisms.

Conventional structural features explain 58% of AF2's …

Last-Mile Autonomous Delivery Robot, Lucas Araujo Bianco, Clement Joseph, Chance Hamilton, Alfredo Weitzenfeld

Bellini College REU Symposium (BCREUS)

Autonomous sidewalk navigation on campuses remains a significant challenge due to irregular ge- ometries, varying surface textures, and dynamic obstacles found in real-world settings. This project develops a ROS2-based system that enables the robot to navigate locally on the campus sidewalk and globally between campus buildings. We employ FastSCNN, a Semantic Convolutional Net- work trained on the Cityscapes dataset, allowing the robot to perform pixel-level classification of sidewalk and non-sidewalk in real time navigation. Applying transfer learning to a small, locally labeled dataset of our campus improved sidewalk segmentation, effectively adapting the pretrained model to our campus environment.

To translate …

Reps: A Multimodal Recipe Recommendation System For The Misty Social Robot, Jasmine Kaur Kohli, Alissa Josy, Jingjing Li, Zhao Han

Bellini College REU Symposium (BCREUS)

Meal-planning technologies such as recipe apps and diet trackers are widely used but typically rely on text or static visuals and lack social engagement, emotional responsiveness, and conversational adaptability. Social robots, with expressive speech, gesture, and display capabilities, offer the potential to make everyday tasks like cooking more accessible and enjoyable. Recent work highlights the growing role of large language models (LLMs) in robotics and embodied AI systems. This project presents REPS (Recipe Embodied Partner System), a multimodal recipe recommendation system for the Misty social robot that integrates structured recipe retrieval, LLM-based reasoning, and multimodal robot output to create a …

Evaluating Mid-Air Fog-Screen Robot System, Hong Wang, Ngoc Bao Dinh, Waylon Erlandson, Jacob Rauscher, Mario Sinclair, Nicolas Echeverria, Abrar Zahin, Zhao Han

Bellini College REU Symposium (BCREUS)

This project investigates how communication interfaces can bridge the gap between humans and robots in hazardous reconnaissance environments. The study explores a communication framework designed to overcome the limitations of headset-based solutions such as poor scalability, and projector-based spatial AR that rely on vertical surfaces often absent in open or unstructured environments. Through the development of a signaling system, the project aims to provide clear transmission of mission-critical safety information without reliance on headsets, network connectivity, or close-proximity displays. Previous results suggest that this approach improves information clarity for the operator compared to standard screen-based methods. The project advances this …

Selfbench-V And Unified Ppa Analysis Framework, Ghali Omar Boutaib, Marwan Abdelwahab, Tasnim Tabassum, Hao Zheng

Bellini College REU Symposium (BCREUS)

LLMs are a very hot topic in the EDA space at the moment. Most of the research efforts are focused on creating better models for Verilog code writing tasks, and datasets for training and fine tuning. A capitally important part of this research topic is the creation of benchmarks to evaluate the performance of these models once we create them. Over time and through research efforts, models get significantly better, and start clearing these benchmarks at very high rates. Too high rates. The creation of benchmarks is a very laborious task. It always involves elaborating novel sample design ideas, writing …

A Universal Evaluation Framework For Visual Noise In Contained Systems, Temirzhan Mukhambet, Duong Mai, Jacqueline Hausman, Yu Sun

Bellini College REU Symposium (BCREUS)

In many robotics or computer vision contained systems, regulating the quality of captured input data (e.g., point clouds or videos) is critical for preserving the integrity and accuracy of downstream tasks. In practice, this process requires mitigating various forms of noise specific to the domain (2D vs. 3D) and the intended application, such as object detection and scene understanding.

However, a unified framework addressing noise across a holistic system remains underexplored, as current surveys typically isolate specific modalities i.e., examine either 2D or 3D methods exclusively. The 2D domain covers two main areas: static image denoising, which prioritizes sensor noise …

Evaluation Of Deep Learning Approaches For Protein Function Prediction, Mohamed Elwaei, Isfahan Juboraj, Osama Abdeljabbar

Bellini College REU Symposium (BCREUS)

Protein function prediction is of high importance when it comes to applications such as bioinformatics, of which drug discovery and disease research, in particular, are key components. Experimental methods for determining protein function are accurate but typically cumbersome and expensive, and this is why computational approaches are needed for this. This study specifically explores, through a research-based approach, different deep learning methods to predict protein functions using amino acid sequences, structural information, and protein interaction data. The proposed framework combines Convolutional Neural Networks to capture local sequence patterns with Graph Neural Networks to model global structural relationships and protein interactions. …

Bloom: A Low-Cost, Open-Source, Companion Social Robot, Deekshita Senthil Kumar, Sebastian Ramirez-Vallejo, Xiangfei Kong, Zhao Han

Bellini College REU Symposium (BCREUS)

The rapid growth of the aging population has increased rates of loneliness, depression, and cognitive decline among older adults, particularly those living alone or with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). Socially assistive robots such as Paro have demonstrated therapeutic and emotional benefits; however, existing systems remain costly and inaccessible. This project introduces Bloom, a low-cost, physically interactive social robot designed to provide emotional companionship and cognitive engagement.

Built on a Raspberry Pi 5 platform and inspired by the open-source Blossom robot, Bloom features a durable 3D-printed hard-shell design with motor-driven expressive movements that support tactile interaction. The system integrates …

Analyzing Human–Robot Collaboration Failures In State-Of-Art Generative Visuomotor Models, Grant Henderson, Miguel Mateo Osorio Vela, Vidhi Mudaliar, Amanuel Ergogo, Zhao Han

Bellini College REU Symposium (BCREUS)

As generative visuomotor models become increasingly capable of representing large-scale robotic skills, they are beginning to transition from controlled laboratory environments into shared human-robot workspaces. While these models enable competent manipulation, their opaque, black-box decision-making processes introduce coordination challenges that can negatively impact safety, efficiency, and trust during collaboration. In safety-critical tasks such as medication dispensing, successful teamwork depends not only on physical capability but also on timing, predictability, and mutual awareness.

This project investigates how two state-of-the-art generative visuomotor policies, an Action-Chunking Transformer (ACT) and a Vision-Action Diffusion policy, perform in a real-world collaborative medication-dispensing task. We compare these …

Sharks On The Move: Investigating The Link Between Climate Change And Rising Shark-Human Encounters, Keira E.B. Blakey

USF St. Petersburg campus Honors Program Theses (Undergraduate)

Sharks have long captivated the public imagination, evoking fascination and fear through enduring myths and media portrayals of negative interactions with humans. In recent years, an increase in shark sightings and attacks along the U.S. coastline has prompted scientific inquiry and public concern. This literature review explores the relationship between rising global temperatures and the frequency of shark attacks, focusing on how climate change affects shark behavior, migration patterns, and habitat distribution. Sharks move into warmer waters as ocean temperatures rise, altering migration routes and prolonging active seasons. This increases the likelihood of shark-human encounters, particularly in coastal regions that …