Digital Commons Network^™

Visitor Perceptions Of Lampenflora And Implications For Adaptive Show Cave Management: A Case Study From Ryusen-Do Cave, Japan, Kanato Ando, Kazuhide Nakajima, Shuji Watanabe, Masuo Komukai, Hidesato Kuwahara

International Journal of Speleology

Artificial lighting in show caves promotes lampenflora growth, altering cave ecosystems and posing persistent management challenges. Although various control methods have been proposed, their effectiveness and social acceptance remain context dependent. This study investigated visitors’ perceptions of lampenflora through questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews to explore adaptive management strategies. Results indicated that visitors generally held positive impressions of lampenflora, but these impressions became more critical after receiving information about its artificial origin and ecological impacts. At the same time, support for conservation-oriented management, including willingness to contribute financially, tended to increase following information provision. Tourism-related evaluations were more strongly associated …

Environmental Predictors Of County-Level Drowning Rates In Georgia, Jeff Turner

Journal of the Georgia Public Health Association

Background: Recent increases in drowning rates, both nationally and within Georgia, have led to renewed interest in the individual, situational/behavioral, and environmental characteristics that impact drowning. This study examines the association between two environmental characteristics, natural surface water coverage and public pools, on drowning fatalities and drowning-related ER visits by county in Georgia

Methods: We gathered county-level data on drowning fatalities and drowning-related ER visits and the number of public pools from the Georgia DPH, surface water coverage from the US Census Bureau, and demographic measures from the CDC. We conducted a linear regression analysis to identify how …

Indigenous Religion And Community Order: Crime Prevention Strategies Among Worshippers Of Igbe Orhe In Nigeria, Onoseme Fortune Afatakpa Dr

African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies

This ethnographic study examines crime prevention strategies within Igbe Orhe, an indigenous African religious tradition practiced in Delta State, Nigeria. While existing security studies primarily emphasize formal and direct approaches to crime prevention, this research foregrounds the less explored structural mechanisms embedded in cultural spirituality. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with purposively selected participants, including the Uku Supreme (global leader), High Priests (Uku), High Priestess (Omote Uku), Chief Priests (Inori), Chief Priestesses (Ini Igbe), and Votary Singers (Akpine). Two focus group discussions were also conducted with female and youth members of selected …

Multivariate Ecological Assessment Of Flora Of Village Karri Haider, District Tank, Kp, Numan Khan, Muhammad Azeem, Muhammad Adnan Hamza, Muhammad Aleem, Arshad Rasool, Ammara Wakeel, Sehrish Sadia

Journal of Bioresource Management

Spatial and temporal patterns of vegetation change are influenced by multiple factors, including the physical environment, land-use history, prior disturbance, and initial vegetation composition. The primary aim of this study was to understand floristic vegetation features, species diversity, and the classification of plant communities in Village Karri Haider, District Tank, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Samples were collected from each transect using quadrats of 1 m × 1 m for herbs. Soil from three quadrats was mixed to make composite samples, and soil elements were quantified through laboratory analyses. Two surveys were conducted from July to December, 2023. In the first survey, …

Distribution And Diversity Of Ponyfishes (Perciformes, Leiognathidae) In The Waters Of Sonmiani’S Bay, Balochistan, Pakistan, Noor Hawa, Noor Us Saher

Journal of Bioresource Management

The current research was conducted during October 2020 to September 2021 in bay waters of Sonmiani, Balochistan as aimed to fill the paucity of diversity and distribution of research for the bay waters. Monthly fish samples were collected using gill net and beach seine during high and low tide. In the present study, out of nine species, the six species were identified as a new report species belongs to Leiognathidae family. Secutor interruptus (N=132) was the most abundant species whereas the least abundant species collected during the study period was Karalla daura (N=1). Highest diversity (1.37) was estimated during the …

Dinamika Spasial Dengue Di Provinsi Sulawesi Selatan: Fragmentasi Spasial Tanpa Hotspot Persisten, Nurul Muthiah Salahuddin, Trisari Anggondowati, Syifa Nurhakiki

Jurnal Biostatistik, Kependudukan, dan Informatika Kesehatan

Demam berdarah dengue (DBD) masih menjadi masalah utama kesehatan masyarakat di Sulawesi Selatan, dengan pola penularan yang bervariasi secara spasial maupun temporal. Pada tahun 2024, provinsi ini mencatat insidens DBD sebesar 66,04 per 100.000 penduduk, di mana hanya 12,5% kabupaten/kota yang mencapai target nasional (≤10 per 100.000). Belum diketahui pola spasial yang membentuk klaster yang persisten atau berubah antar waktu, sehingga dilakukan penelitian ini untuk menganalisis pola spasiotemporal serta persistensi klaster spasial kejadian DBD di Sulawesi Selatan. Penelitian ini merupakan studi ekologi dengan pendekatan repeated cross-sectional menggunakan data surveilans DBD tingkat kabupaten/kota periode 2021–2024 yang mencakup 24 kabupaten/kota. Analisis meliputi …

Could The European Thanasimus Formicarius Outcompete The North American Thanasimus Dubius (Coleoptera: Cleridae) If Introduced To North America?, Robert A. Haack, Robert K. Lawrence

The Great Lakes Entomologist

A federal quarantine was enacted in the United States (US) in the fall of 1992 in response to discovery of the Eurasian pine shoot beetle, Tomicus piniperda (L.) (Coleoptera: Scolytinae), in July 1992 in Ohio. The quarantine regulated movement of pine products (e.g., Christmas trees, nursery stock, and logs) at the county level from infested to uninfested US states. A classical biological program was considered for T. piniperda starting in 1995, focusing on the Eurasian clerid beetle Thanasimus formicarius (L.), an important predator of T. piniperda. Concerns were raised in 1996 that if T. formicarius were released in the …

Monitoring Of Agricultural Drought In The Middle Euphrates Area, Iraqusing Landsat Dataset, Imzahim Alwan, Abdul Razzak Ziboon, Alaa Khalaf

Engineering and Technology Journal

This study was conducted to monitor the agricultural drought inthe Middle Euphrates area, Iraq during the period from 1988 to 2018.Multispectral Landsat TM, ETM+, and OLI images were used. The imagesdated 1988, 1993, 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2018, which obtained duringgrowth months of plants (January, February, March, November, andDecember).A computerized drought monitoring was adopted using ERDASImagine 2015, ENVI 3.2, and ArcGIS 10.5 environments to process andanalysis the data. The spectral indices, which used in this study were: TheNormalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Vegetation ConditionIndex (VCI). The change analysis presented in this study is based on thestatistics extracted from the …

Geochemical Evaluation Of Heavy Metals (Cd, Cr, Fe, And Mn) In Sediment Of Shatt Al-Basrah, Iraq, Zahraa Al-Janabi, Shahed Zaki, Jinnan Alhassany, Abdul Hameed Al-Obaidy Al-Obaidy, Eman. Awad, Afrah Maktoof

Engineering and Technology Journal

In this study, the sediment of Shatt Al-Basrah canal, was evaluated to illustrate the distribution of 4 heavy metals Cd, Cr, Fe and Mn in sediments collected from 5 sites. The assessment of heavy metals was conducted using three indices; the geoaccumulation index (I-geo), the enrichment factor (E.F.) and Pollution Index (PI). According to I-geo, the sediments collected from all sampling locations were unpolluted by Cd, Cr and Fe, where their values are less than 0 (<0), except Mn ranged between 0.98 to 1.37, the Igeo values for Mn show that sediments of Shatt Al-Basrah are unpolluted to moderately polluted for all sampling locations. Based on The enrichment factor, the sediment of Shatt Al-Basrah canal are classified as followed; significant enrichment for Cd, moderate enrichment to significant enrichment for Cr and deficiency to minimal enrichment for Mn. PI, which is based on individual metal Concentrations, shows that all sampling sites have no pollution effect for Cd, Cr and Mn, except Fe, which cause Slightly pollution affect in all site.

Combined Estimation Of Herpetofauna And Avian Detection Frequency In A Suburban Ecosystem In As A Function Of Land Use Development, Isabelle L. Barnes, Jake Gerardi, John E. Quinn

Cities and the Environment (CATE)

Biodiversity is under threat as natural and semi-natural ecosystems continue to decrease in frequency and extent as a function of increased urban development, among other drivers. However, it has become clear that some levels of urban development can continue to support some biodiversity. However, it is not clear how species within different taxonomic groups may respond to similar types and extents of development. Thus, data are needed to assess relationships between urban development and multi-taxa detection patterns. To begin to address this gap, we conducted a concurrent analysis of anuran and avian diversity along an urban-to-peri-urban transect in Greenville, South …

Seabirds As Ecosystem Engineers: Providing Arthropod Habitat On Oceanic Islands., Kanon Mizukoshi, Kazuto Kawakami, Takashi Kamijo

Marine Ornithology

Seabirds play several important ecological roles on oceanic islands through their high-density breeding. Their ecosystem functions—such as nutrient cycling through excretion or terrestrial vegetation disturbance through trampling—are well known; however, little is known of their roles as ecosystem engineers. Nests and burrows can be densely concentrated in seabird colonies, by which seabirds can affect adjacent terrestrial ecosystems, especially affecting arthropods that use these structures as food or habitats. However, studies investigating the species composition of arthropods that inhabit seabird nests are limited. To characterize the arthropod faunas in seabird nests, this study surveyed and analyzed 90 nests of three seabird …

Seasonal Variation In Trophic Niche And Resource Use In Great Black-Backed Gulls Larus Marinus., Samuel Langlois Lopez, Nina J. O’Hanlon, Jared Wilson, Rona A. R. Mcgill, Francis Daunt, Elizabeth A. Masden

Marine Ornithology

Seabirds experience variable extrinsic and intrinsic pressures throughout the annual cycle that affect their ability to forage. Consequently, their foraging strategies may vary between breeding and non-breeding seasons due to the constraints of central-place foraging during the former. Here, we studied a population of a generalist seabird, the Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus, breeding at a colony on the Isle of May, Scotland. We quantified seasonal variation in sexual segregation, trophic position, trophic niche width, and resource use by examining stable isotopes in feathers collected from adults. We found no sexual segregation, but we detected population- and individual-level shifts …

Interrupting The Retention Cycle: The Impact Of Relationship-Centered One-To-One Literacy Tutoring On Affective And Cognitive Outcomes For At-Risk Third-Grade Readers, Amy Nussbaum

The Reading Professor

Third grade serves as a critical literacy benchmark in Indiana, where students who do not pass the Indiana Reading Evaluation and Determination (IREAD) assessment may face retention. The consequences of retention are particularly pronounced for students living in high-poverty communities, where inequitable access to literacy opportunities often compounds existing academic challenges. This article examines a six-week, relationship-centered literacy intervention implemented at an underserved Catholic school in South Bend, Indiana. Through a partnership with Tutor-ND, trained community tutors provided one-to-one, evidence-based literacy instruction to students at risk of retention following unsuccessful performance on IREAD. Drawing upon research related to high-impact tutoring, …

A Narrative-Restorative Framework For Addressing School Bullying, Tristan Patel, Michelle Myers, Daniel Stewart

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Bullying in schools is often addressed through punitive deterrence practices, solution-focused counseling, or restorative conferencing. These approaches often fail to recognize or account for the power imbalance that ultimately sustains bullying. This article discusses a narrative-restorative intervention to address bullying as a relational and communal issue, rather than relying on isolation or deterrence practices. The limitations of the dominant models discussed highlight the role of power in shaping bullying dynamics and connect legal and ethical responsibilities of narrative-restorative practices. Situated within the framework of California education law and professional ethical standards, at its core, undercover anti-bullying teams aim to redistribute …

The Al-Bahah Paradox: Divergent Patterns Of Increased And Decreased Infectious Disease Incidence Relative To National Saudi Rates Over 12 Years Of Surveillance, Mohammed A. A. Alqumber

Saudi Medical Journal

Objective: To identify statistically significant deviations in notifiable infectious disease incidence between Al-Bahah region and national Saudi averages, and to generate hypotheses that may inform future epidemiological, microbiological, and public health investigations. Methods: In April 2026, a 12-year retrospective ecological study (2013–2024) was conducted using surveillance data from the Saudi Ministry of Health for 37 notifiable infectious diseases across 20 health regions. Cumulative incidence rates, standardized morbidity ratios (SMRs), and Z-tests compared observed cases in Al-Bahah against national estimates. Results: Overall incidence was 15.8% lower in Al-Bahah than nationally (86.42 versus 102.68; incidence rate ratios = 0.842; p …

Exotic Two-Spined Trap-Jaw Ants (Odontomachus Haematodus) In Urban Parks Of Hattiesburg, Mississippi: Recommended Sampling Methods And Notes On Nesting Biology, Caroline M. Marley, Vinny Halsey, Lila Blackburn, Kayla D. Stan, Kaitlin M. Baudier

Midsouth Entomologist

The two-spined trap-jaw ant, Odontomachus haematodus (Linnaeus), is native to South America and was introduced to the United States via Mobile, Alabama in the mid-twentieth century. Misidentification as a native congener for several decades has inhibited the study of the ecology of O. haematodus in its introduced range within the Gulf Coastal Plain. We conducted a multimethod survey to: 1) assess the abundance of O. haematodus across urban parks in Hattiesburg, MS, the northernmost published record in this species’ exotic range, 2) establish which sampling methodologies are most effective for conducting urban surveys of O. haematodus, and 3) study …

Review Of Phytoplankton Community Structures And Their Environment In Ugandan Waters: A Case Of Murchison Bay And Napoleon Gulf, Northern Lake Victoria, Samiha M. Gharib, Ahmed M. Heneash, Mohamed A. Heneash

Blue Economy

Victoria Lake has seen a significant deterioration in water quality since the 1960s, facing serious ecological challenges due to physicochemical, and biological processes, as well as human activities in the surrounding watershed. The primary factor contributing to this decline is eutrophication, which has caused a shift in the dominant phytoplankton species from diatoms to nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria. This shift has resulted in persistent algal blooms. This review centers on the Ugandan waters of Lake Victoria, specifically in Napoleon Gulf and Murchison Bay. It examines the composition of phytoplankton species, their numerical abundance, spatial distribution, and total biomass, as measured by chlorophyll …

Dietary Stability Of The Eurasian Beaver Revealed By Hair Stable Isotopes, Linas Balčiauskas, Rasa Vaitkevičiūtė Koklevičienė, Andrius Garbaras, Inga Garbarienė, Laima Balčiauskienė

Turkish Journal of Zoology

The Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) is a keystone ecosystem engineer whose expanding populations increasingly occupy agricultural landscapes. Hair stable  isotope analysis was applied to reconstruct assimilated diet in 56 legally  hunted beavers in Lithuania in 2024–2025. Stable carbon isotope values were tightly  clustered (–25.53 ± 0.10‰ SE), while those for nitrogen showed greater variability (5.38 ± 0.20‰ SE), indicating limited interindividual dietary differentiation.  Generalized linear models revealed no significant effects of sex, year, or month, and  age-related differences were limited to the youngest individuals. Comparison with  published Polish data showed no significant differences in mean isotope values.  Overall, the results …

The Impact Of Perceived Sustainable Design Characteristics On Enhancing Well-Being In Residential Environments: An Empirical Study, Zainab Ibrahim Abass

Iraqi Journal of Architecture and Planning

Creating a sustainable living environment is crucial to improving well-being and reducing stress among urban populations, particularly through architecture, urban planning, and public health research. The growing importance of environmental sustainability for human health is limited by current empirical research on the impact of sustainable housing on well-being, due to insufficient conceptualisation and assessment of the perceived attributes of the residential environment. This study aims to examine the potential impact of perceived sustainable design characteristics on well-being using both quantitative and qualitative indicators to establish criteria for examining residents' views on sustainability attributes. Data were collected from high-density housing areas …

Zheng Zhenduo And The Problem Of Priority In World Literature, Daniel M. Dooghan

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

This essay investigates how Zheng Zhenduo (郑振铎 1898–1958) developed a theory of world literature in response to threats to China both politically from without and culturally from within. Centered on an analysis of his 1922 article “A View on the Unification of Literature” (Wenxue de tongyiguan 文學的統一觀), the essay argues that although Zheng believed like many of his contemporaries in the transformative effects of reading world literature in translation, that does not constitute the entirety of his theorization of world literature. Instead, he accepted the first-move advantage of other national literatures in defining both world literary standards and literature …

The Relationship Between Access To Basic Safe Drinking Water And Under-Five Mortality In Indonesia: An Ecological Study, Jasmin Jadevra Fezantino, Raquel Amanda Salmasari, Hanania Carrisa, Zahra Annisaa Hudaya

Jurnal Nasional Kesehatan Lingkungan Global

Infant mortality remains a worrying public health issue, particularly in areas with poor access to drinking water and sanitation. In 2020, Papua Province recorded an infant mortality rate of 49.04 per 1,000 live births and West Papua 47.23. These figures are far above the national average. This study aims to determine the relationship between access to safe drinking water and infant mortality rates in provinces in Indonesia. This study used an ecological design with secondary data from the 2023 Indonesian Health Survey and the 2023 Directorate of Public Health. The analysis was descriptive and followed by a Spearman correlation test. …

Spatial Mapping Of Malaria Cases And Risk Factors Of Its Spread In West Java Province In 2019: An Ecological Study, Nazhira Haliza Putri, Azkia Afiatun Najah Wahyudi, Suhayla Bilqisth Abdi, Mutmainnah Mutmainnah, Nasywan Grananda Rahmantoro, Grace Napitupulu

Jurnal Nasional Kesehatan Lingkungan Global

Malaria is a significant health problem in Indonesia, especially in West Java Province which is at high risk due to its population density and environmental conditions. The incidence of malaria is associated with climate factors (rainfall, humidity, and air temperature). This study aims to study the spatial mapping of malaria cases and their relationship with climate factors. This study used an ecological study design. Secondary data from the West Java Health Office and the West Java Central Statistics Agency in 2019. Univariate and bivariate analysis with the study population covering the entire population of West Java, with a sample of …

Patterns And Determinants Of Measles Among Suspected Cases In Jakarta: Insight From Surveillance Data 2022-2024, Widya Inayah, Nurhayati Adnan Prihartono, Retno Henderiawati, Oktaviana Nugraheni, Dwi Gayatri

Jurnal Epidemiologi Kesehatan Indonesia

Measles remains a public health concern in Indonesia, including Jakarta, contributing to the country’s disease burden. Sustained transmission during 2022-2024, despite reported vaccination coverage above  90%, suggests the presence of vulnerable groups. This study aimed to describe patterns and identify factors associated with laboratory-confirmed measles in Jakarta during 2022-2024. A cross-sectional study was conducted using routine surveillance data from all individuals reported as suspected measles cases during the study period. Descriptive analysis summarizes the distribution, while multivariable analysis identifies associated factors. Of the 4,194 suspected cases of measles, 22.8% were laboratory-confirmed positive. Showed a fluctuating temporal pattern, increasing from 20.6 …

Environmental Assessment Of The Shatt Al-Basra Canal: Petroleum Hydrocarbons, Heavy Metals And Water Quality, Mohammed A. Jasim Aldoghachi, Bassam A. B. Alabdul Aziz, Shurooq Al-Mosawi

Journal of King Abdulaziz University: Marine Science

The environmental assessment of the Shatt al-Basra Canal in the area of the regulatory was studied. Petroleum hydrocarbons and heavy elements (cobalt (Co), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and chromium (Cr)) in the waters of this area were analyzed. In addition, some water quality characteristics were evaluated (salinity, total dissolved solids (TDS), pH, oxygen, biological oxygen demand (BOD₅), chemical oxygen demand (COD), nitrate (NO_3^-), nitrite (NO_2^-), phosphate (PO₄ ^-3), and ammonia (NH₃). Petroleum hydrocarbons had been recorded in studied area and dominated with medium-chain alkanes, namely decane …

Light-Driven Zonation And Community Structure Of Aerophytic Microalgae In A Tropical Limestone Cave (Gua Tempurung, Malaysia), Wan Maznah Wan Omar, Mohammad Basri Eshak, Luthfiana Aprilianita Sari, Zulaihat Hamza Abdullahi, Yusuf Abdullahi

International Journal of Speleology

Cave ecosystems host specialized phototrophic biofilms structured primarily by light availability, yet quantitative assessments of aerophytic microalgal community organization in tropical limestone caves remain limited. This study investigated spatial variation in the structure of aerophytic microalgal communities across four ecologically distinct zones (entrance, transition, penetration, and low light) of Gua Tempurung, Malaysia. Stratified sampling was conducted during three seasonal periods. Dominant phototrophic morphospecies were identified using microscopy, and community composition was analyzed in relation to key environmental variables. Twenty-three dominant microalgal morphospecies were recorded across the cave gradient. Cyanobacteria constituted the major component of both richness and abundance, followed by …

Vector-Borne Viral Diseases In Horses, Sunutcha Suntrarachun

The Thai Journal of Veterinary Medicine

Vector-borne viral diseases are major threats to equine health worldwide. These infections are transmitted by arthropod vectors such as mosquitoes, biting midges, and horseflies, resulting in clinical manifestations ranging from mild febrile illness to severe neurological, respiratory, circulatory, or hematologic disorders with high mortality rates. Major equine vector-borne viral diseases include African horse sickness (AHS), equine infectious anemia (EIA), equine encephalomyelitis (Eastern: EEE, Western: WEE, and Venezuelan: VEE), West Nile virus (WNV), and Japanese encephalitis (JE). Each disease is caused by a distinct viral pathogen and transmitted by specific vectors that influence their epidemiology and geographic distribution. Transmission occurs through …

Air Pollution And Public Health: Global Evidence And Implications, Mohammed Obaid Al-Mansoori

Al-Bahir

Globally, the issue of air pollution keep being one of most serious challenges that affecting environment and human health, coming from emissions of industries, transport, agriculture and also from the fuel people use in homes, in addition to natural events that make the situation worse. This review try to bring together the available evidences about the sources, types, and the health impacts of the main air pollutants, including the gaseous ones like SO₂, O₃, NO₂, and CO, and the particulate matter (PM₁₀, PM₂.₅). Exposure for short or long time to these pollutants is linked with many harmful outcomes, such as …

The Effect Of Weight Training With Blood Flow Restriction On Muscle Strength Development In Mma, Tomáš Kozák, Marek Kokinda, Pavel Ružbarský

Baltic Journal of Health and Physical Activity

Background: This study aimed to elucidate the effect of weight training with blood flow restriction (BFR) on explosive power and isokinetic strength in combat athletes. Materials and methods: The sample included 12 male MMA fighters divided into a control (19.50±0.50 years) and an experimental (18.00±1.00 years) group. Participants trained twice weekly for 8 weeks, with BFR in the experimental group. Explosive power was assessed using following tests by Optogait: countermovement push-up, kneeling countermovement push-up and kneeling squat push-up for upper limbs and countermovement jump, countermovement jump with free arms and squat jump for lower limbs. Isokinetic strength was measured by …

Offline Fashion Shopping Trends: Factors Influencing Millennial And Gen Z Purchase Decisions, Muhammad Alfikri, Ma'mun Sarma, Irni Rahmayani Johan

ASEAN Marketing Journal

Type of manuscript: Scientific Paper

Research Objective: This study aims to identify the characteristics and behaviour of millennials and generation Z in Medan City in purchasing fashion products, and analyse the influence of various factors such as information, lifestyle, word of mouth, technology, place, promotion, product, and price on their purchasing decisions, which include aspects of product choice, quantity, and time of purchase.

Design/methodology/approach: Data was collected online using Google Forms from 350 respondents. Respondents were millennials and generation Z who had shopped in person for at least the last 3 months, and the data was analysed using …

Ecological Support For Stem International Doctoral Student Success, Emily A. Crider

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

International doctoral students enrich U.S. institutions but often encounter challenges that affect belonging and academic success. This qualitative study examined the social, cultural, and institutional challenges faced by international STEM doctoral students and the role of faculty advisor relationships in their adaptation. Guided by ecological systems theory, interviews with eight participants revealed five major challenges: language barriers, cultural differences, building social networks, financial challenges, and navigating institutional processes. Positive faculty mentorship was critical, with effective advisors demonstrating empathy, adaptability, responsiveness, guidance, and trust while supporting professional development, funding, and networking. Microsystem and mesosystem interactions were most influential. Findings emphasize the …