Digital Commons Network^™

A Tale Of Two Walls: A Comparison Of The Green Wall Projects In Inner Mongolia And The Sahelo-Saharan Regions, Daniel Chen Ratilla

Budhi: A Journal of Ideas and Culture

Desertification as a bio-physical stressor threatens food and water security, and is exacerbated by climate change. Other issues such as peace, gender equity, and livelihood are some examples of socio-economic issues also connected to desertification. This is apparent in the cases of Inner Mongolia and the Sahelo-Saharan region, where desertification has spurred the creation of afforestation projects, colloquially known as “Green Walls”: these are the Three-North Shelterbelt Project, and the Great Green Wall of the Sahara and the Sahel Initiative, respectively. This paper explores the principles of environmental ethics (such as vulnerability, common goods, biological and cultural diversity, and environmental …

Sustaining Temporal Peace: A Worldview For Sustainable Living Inspired By Saint Augustine's Philosophy, Joseph Emmanuel D. Sta. Maria

Budhi: A Journal of Ideas and Culture

My paper aims to use the philosophical resources of Saint Augustine’s thought, particularly as found in the City of God, in order to sketch a basic worldview which can educate and lead people towards living lives that promote sustainable development. Specifically, I wish to show how Saint Augustine’s concepts of order, rightly ordered love, and temporal peace can serve as material to create a rough metaphysical framework in which human beings are understood to be an integrated part of a greater whole which is the earth. The ethical corollary of this framework is that human beings should act in such …

Nakaparsuaan, Kadagaan, And Panaglunit Ti Daga: Climate Justice And Environmental Ethics In Ilokano Life, Aurelio S. Agcaoili

Budhi: A Journal of Ideas and Culture

The work offers an interpretation of the world as understood and being lived until today by Ilokanos. Such a reading involves the plumbing into linguistic and cultural data as proofs of an inchoate philosophy that has been preserved in the minds of the Ilokano people and which continues to guide their conduct. The world, understood as the physical environment, peoples, and communities, is linked back to the problem of social justice and stewardship of living and nonliving things, to the issue of who calls the shots in the unethical exploitation of these resources, and to the lessons that can be …

Casar Public Lecture: The Results Are Out! Implications Of The Us 2024 Elections On Egypt & The World: Looking At A Broader Perspective’, The Prince Alwaleed Center For American Studies And Research Casar

Performances, Events, and Presentations

DONALD TRUMP WON THE 2024 US ELECTIONS!

CASAR Public Panel Discussion: The results are out! Implications of the US 2024 Elections on Egypt & the World: Looking at a Broader Perspective."

Speakers: From AUC: Amb. Karim Haggag - Dr. Manar El-Shorbagi , and from the University of Central Florida Mr.David Dumke.

The panel was moderated by CASAR Director Dr.Mark Deets.

The panelists deliberated about the possible implications of this election round from several perspectives, analyzing the impact on Egypt, the region & the world.

Learn more about CASAR and follow us: CASAR website: https://gapp.aucegypt.edu/academics/c...

Facebook: / casar-auc-egypt-461110727349183

Instagram: https://instagram.com/casar2003?igshi.. …

The Meatpacking Industry Needs Stronger Worker Protections And Enhanced Oversight, India Luxton, Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern

Center for Policy Research

Meatpacking plants are hazardous workplaces with high injury rates and poor working conditions, negatively impacting the health of the industry’s predominately immigrant and refugee workforce. The COVID-19 pandemic illuminated ongoing concerns in the industry, including the problems associated with consolidation and concentration, worker safety, and poor public health outcomes. This brief summarizes findings from a study that used data from 39 interviews with local, state, and federal officials and bureaucrats, worker advocates, and workers to analyze meatpacking policymaking and oversight during COVID-19. The authors find that a lack of industry oversight and decreased regulation contribute to unsafe environments, and injustices …

Environmental Governance Challenges Of Indigenous Forest Recognition: Climate Solution Ideal And Its Uneven Outcomes In Indonesia, Abdurrahman Abdullah, Micah R. Fisher, Muhammad Alif K. Sahide

Forest and Society

Formal policies on Indigenous land and forest rights recognition are increasingly being promoted as a climate solution in global forums. While this suggests a clear discursive victory for environmental justice movements, there has been less attention on the aftermaths of recognition. This in part owes to the novelty of policies on Indigenous land and forest recognition, but also due to the tendency among proponents to view formal legal victories as a means and ends of advocacy. In this paper, we spotlight what happens after recognition in Kajang, the site of the first Indigenous community to formally regain authority over state …

A New Synthesis Of Arctic-Boreal Carbon Fluxes For Improved Carbon Budget Estimates, Anna Virkkala, Isabel Wargowsky, Judith Vogt, Mckenzie Kuhn, Susan Natali, Brendan Rogers, Mathias Goeckede, Kyle Arndt, Jennifer Watts, Tiffany Windholz, Simran Madaan

Faculty Publications

The Arctic-boreal zone and its permafrost regions have historically been sparsely measured for carbon dioxide and methane fluxes. This data sparsity has created significant uncertainties in Arctic-boreal carbon budget estimates. However, over the past decade, the availability of Arctic-boreal carbon flux data has increased substantially. Yet, it remains scattered across different repositories, papers, and unpublished sources, making it hard to estimate more accurate Arctic-boreal carbon budgets. To address this research gap, we have compiled a database of Arctic-boreal carbon fluxes (ABCFlux v2) from flux repositories, literature, and site principal investigators, which will be openly distributed. The database includes carbon dioxide …

The Climate Impact Of Tropical Peatland Degradation, René Dommain, Steve Frolking, Aurich Jeltsch-Thömmes, Fortunat Joos, John Couwenberg, Paul Glaser, Alexander Cobb, Charles Harvey

Faculty Publications

Southeast Asia is a global hotspot of peatland degradation and related greenhouse gas emissions. Anthropogenic impacts, mainly associated with agricultural conversion, shift Southeast Asian peatlands from carbon sinks to significant carbon sources. Here we first describe the impacts of anthropogenic drainage on landscape-scale carbon dynamics of individual peatlands and then use an impulse‐response model of radiative forcing to quantify the climate impacts of peat-carbon losses. Whereas water-table elevation (i.e. drainage depth) determines the magnitude of CO2 emissions at the site-scale, the geometric arrangement of artificial drainage networks determines carbon losses on the landscape-scale. Among all peatland greenhouse gas fluxes, the …

A Study Of The Near-Surface Vertical Distribution And Chemistry Of Pollutants In Cold-Climate Urban Areas With The Novel Pact-1d Model, Jonas Kuhn, Jochen Stutz, Meeta Cesler-Maloney, William R. Simpson, Thorsten Bartels-Rausch, Tjarda J. Roberts, Jennie L. Thomas, Jack E. Dibb, Laura Heinlein, Michael O. Sunday, Cort Anastasio, Kathleen Fahey, James H. Flynn, Fangzhou Guo

Faculty Publications

Cold-climate urban areas often face severe air pollution events in wintertime because of residential heating and vehicle emissions into shallow surface inversion layers. Many state-of-the-art regional chemistry-transport models cannot capture the small spatio-temporal scale of the transport and chemical processes occurring in these environments.Here we introduce a new version of our one-dimensional atmospheric chemistry and transport model, PACT-1D that includes continuous exchange of atmospheric air with the interstitial air of a snow layer and a kinetic treatment of multi-phase chemical processes in air and snow. PACT-1D allows modeling and assessment of the interaction of transport, chemistry, and emissions on the …

A Study Of The Near-Surface Vertical Distribution And Chemistry Of Pollutants In Cold-Climate Urban Areas With The Novel Pact-1d Model, Jonas Kuhn, Jochen Stutz, Meeta Cesler-Maloney, William R. Simpson, Thorsten Bartels-Rausch, Tjarda J. Roberts, Jennie L. Thomas, Jack E. Dibb, Laura Heinlein, Michael O. Sunday, Cort Anastasio, Kathleen Fahey, James H. Flynn, Fangzhou Guo

Faculty Publications

Cold-climate urban areas often face severe air pollution events in wintertime because of residential heating and vehicle emissions into shallow surface inversion layers. Many state-of-the-art regional chemistry-transport models cannot capture the small spatio-temporal scale of the transport and chemical processes occurring in these environments.Here we introduce a new version of our one-dimensional atmospheric chemistry and transport model, PACT-1D that includes continuous exchange of atmospheric air with the interstitial air of a snow layer and a kinetic treatment of multi-phase chemical processes in air and snow. PACT-1D allows modeling and assessment of the interaction of transport, chemistry, and emissions on the …

Air Quality Improvements Can Strengthen China's Food Security, Xiang Liu, Bowen Chu, Rong Tang, Yifan Liu, Xing Li, Jingfeng Xiao, Ankur Desai, Haikun Wang

Faculty Publications

China, with nearly 20% of the world's population, achieves self-sufficiency in major grain production using only about 10% of the global arable land. To further ensure food security in China, it is crucial to gain a deep understanding of the driving factors behind grain production. Climate change, water scarcity, and air pollution pose serious threats to food production. Air quality in China is among the poorest in the world, thus quantifying its impact on grain production not only holds significance for maintaining its food security but also provides valuable insights into future air quality management policies. Here, we conducted a …

Beyond Climate In Placencia, Belize: Navigating Environmental Change In The Anthropocene, Rory E. Mckenna

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Examining opportunities for climate resilience requires an evaluation of lived experiences of environmental change which benefits from transdisciplinary perspectives. This research examines those experiences through the lens of anthropogenic change which allows for a critical focus on local conditions of environmental change specific to Placencia Village, Belize, over time. An anthropology of the anthropocene framing shifts the focus from the results of the global phenomenon responsible for climate change to the implications of local human-caused environmental change on natural systems, human-environment relationships and dynamics, and the future trajectories of these relationships. Through the use of interviews, go-alongs, participatory mapping, transdisciplinary …

Creating A Sense Of Place When Implementing A New Emergency Department In Denmark: A Qualitative Study, Jeanette Wassar Kirk, Per Nilsen, Ove Andersen, Nina Thórný Stefánsdóttir, Mette Bendtz Lindstrøm, Byron J Powell, Tine Tjørnhøj-Thomsen

2020-Current year OA Pubs

BACKGROUND: Physical locations play an essential yet often overlooked role in healthcare implementation processes. Implementation Science frameworks such as the Theoretical Domains Framework, the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, and the Implementation in Context framework acknowledge the importance of the physical environment, but they often treat it as a passive backdrop for change. However, from a cultural geographic perspective, spaces and places are dynamic, influencing behavior, social structures, and the acceptance of new practices. This study aims to explore how managers and emloyees develop a sense of place in a new emergency department (ED) and how these spatial dynamics influence …

Air Quality Improvements Can Strengthen China's Food Security, Xiang Liu, Bowen Chu, Rong Tang, Yifan Liu, Xing Li, Jingfeng Xiao, Ankur Desai, Haikun Wang

Faculty Publications

China, with nearly 20% of the world's population, achieves self-sufficiency in major grain production using only about 10% of the global arable land. To further ensure food security in China, it is crucial to gain a deep understanding of the driving factors behind grain production. Climate change, water scarcity, and air pollution pose serious threats to food production. Air quality in China is among the poorest in the world, thus quantifying its impact on grain production not only holds significance for maintaining its food security but also provides valuable insights into future air quality management policies. Here, we conducted a …

The Climate Impact Of Tropical Peatland Degradation, René Dommain, Steve Frolking, Aurich Jeltsch-Thömmes, Fortunat Joos, John Couwenberg, Paul Glaser, Alexander Cobb, Charles Harvey

Faculty Publications

Southeast Asia is a global hotspot of peatland degradation and related greenhouse gas emissions. Anthropogenic impacts, mainly associated with agricultural conversion, shift Southeast Asian peatlands from carbon sinks to significant carbon sources. Here we first describe the impacts of anthropogenic drainage on landscape-scale carbon dynamics of individual peatlands and then use an impulse‐response model of radiative forcing to quantify the climate impacts of peat-carbon losses. Whereas water-table elevation (i.e. drainage depth) determines the magnitude of CO2 emissions at the site-scale, the geometric arrangement of artificial drainage networks determines carbon losses on the landscape-scale. Among all peatland greenhouse gas fluxes, the …

The Stranger Society: The Case Of Economic And Social Development In The Tropics, Peter Murphy

Budhi: A Journal of Ideas and Culture

The economic and social prosperity of nations are usually attributed to functional requirements—such as honest government, effective transport and communication networks, health care and education—and development strategies such as investment in infrastructure. However, beyond a certain point peak economic and social success relies as much on human ingenuity as on capital investment. The article proposes that the world’s most prosperous societies have three recurring characteristics that foster such ingenuity: (1) they are all closely connected to trading portals, (2) they nourish paradoxical belief systems that underscore a proclivity for intellectual abstraction and pattern-based interaction, and (3) they are stranger societies …

Ritual Purification And Bathing: The Location And Function Of Siloam Pool And Solomon’S Pool In Second Temple Period Jerusalem, Nahshon Szanton

'Atiqot

Excavations at the southern tip of the ancient city of Jerusalem uncovered four pools from the Early Roman period: two, Silwan Pool and Birkat el-Ḥamra, within the city walls, and two smaller pools on the outskirts of the city. This paper provides archaeological data that supports the identification of Birkat el-Ḥamra with Solomon’s Pool and the Silwan Pool with the Siloam Pool, both of which are mentioned in contemporary historical sources. Furthermore, the function of the pools is discussed: the larger, Solomon’s Pool, seems to have been an open swimming pool, while the Siloam Pool was used for ceremonies and …

A Treasure From Nahal Shalva: Exquisite Jewelry And A Coin Hoard From The Days Of The Bar Kokhba Revolt, Yael Abadi-Reiss, Gabriela Bijovsky, Shua Amorai-Stark, Naama Sukenik, Shoshana Israeli, Emil Aladjem

'Atiqot

A female skeleton adorned with unique jewelry items, and accompanied by a sword and cosmetic tools, was discovered within a pit at the site of Naḥal Shalva. Near the skeleton was a hoard of silver and gold coins from the days of the Bar Kokhba Revolt, which were kept in at least two linen purses. The hoard and its owner are the focus of this article, discussed in relation to the nearby settlement and the possible circumstances that led to their deposition at the site in the Early Roman period.

Effective Strategies Human Resource Business Leaders Use To Implement Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Initiatives That Reduce Worker Turnover, Kerese Whyte-Phillips

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Human resource (HR) business leaders who prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) champion a more dynamic and innovative workforce and alleviate labor turnover, a costly hindrance to growth. HR business leaders orchestrate these strategies, promoting an environment where diverse talents are valued and equitable opportunities abound, reducing labor turnover. Rooted in the social identity theory (SIT) and the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) framework, this qualitative pragmatic inquiry aimed to identify and explore effective strategies HR business leaders use to implement DEI initiatives that reduce employee turnover in the Southeast United States. The participants were seven HR business leaders in …

Economic Foundations Of Contraceptive Transitions: Theories And A Review Of The Evidence, Mahesh Karra, Joshua Wilde

Urban Studies and Planning Faculty Publications and Presentations

We review the foundations of the economic development–contraception nexus, focusing on the pathways through which economic factors drive contraceptive adoption and change. We investigate the channels through which the relationship between economic development and contraceptive dynamics is mediated. Using global data, we document the correlations between economic development and contraception transitions over time and across geographies. We briefly examine the evidence of the role of fertility, both desired and realized, as a central pathway through which the relationship has been historically theorized and empirically verified. We also discuss a range of mechanisms through which economic development drives contraceptive use independently …

Placing The Four Rounds Of Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations In The Twenty-First Century In A Historical And Philosophical Context, Michael J. Reimer Dr

Department of Political Science and Law Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This paper will take a three-pronged approach to the analysis of prior treaty negotiations and their comparison to the Israeli Palestinian conflict. The first prong, which will be addressed in the next section, will be a historical analysis of other treaty negotiations which resulted in end of conflict treaties. These examinations will include The Congress of Vienna, 1814-1815; the Portsmouth Treaty, 1905 which involved a Treaty between a European and a non-European state2 negotiated by the President of the United States and American Diplomats; the Paris Peace Conferences of 19193 ; and Multiparty Mediation in Cyprus, 1963-1965. In each of …

Scale-Dependent Effects Of Urban Canopy Cover, Canopy Volume, And Impervious Surfaces On Near-Surface Air Temperature In A Mid-Sized City, Carson Ralls, Anne Y. Polyakov, Vivek Shandas

Geography Faculty Publications and Presentations

Cities are significantly warmer than their surrounding rural environments. Known as the ‘urban heat island effect’, it can affect the health of urban residents and lead to increased energy use, public health impacts, and damage to infrastructure. Although this effect is extensively researched, less is known about how landscape characteristics within cities affect local temperature variation. This study examined how tree canopy cover, canopy volume, and impervious surface cover affect daytime near-surface air temperature, and how these effects vary between different scales of analysis (10, 30, 60, 90 m radii), ranging from approximate street corridor to city block size. Temperature …

The Akwesasne Black Hole: America’S Hidden Border Crisis, Anthony Puntasecca

University of Miami Inter-American Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Importance Of Creativity As A Leadership Trait In Times Of Uncertainty, Niall C. Hegarty, Gerald Cusack

Journal of the North American Management Society

The purpose of this article is to illustrate that in times of uncertainty and crisis leadership creativity is the key ingredient in ensuring the survival of the firm. In such times there is no stock solution - one size does not fit all. Hence, the important trait of creativity is a crucial component needed in organizational leadership. The article progresses through the various types of creativity and challenges to survival of organizations that require the presence of creativity and develops a creative LOOP system to promote continued organizational creativity. Triggered by the presence of Covid-19 and the natural exploration of …

Filomeno V. Aguilar, Jr., Migration Revolution: Philippine Nationhood And Class Relations In A Globalized Age, Anjeline De Dios

Budhi: A Journal of Ideas and Culture

Filomeno V. Aguilar, Jr., Migration Revolution: Philippine Nationhood and Class Relations in a Globalized Age

Paul Ricoeur's Anthropology Of Forgiveness, Guillermo R. Dionisio

Budhi: A Journal of Ideas and Culture

In his philosophical anthropology Paul Ricoeur sees man’s innate goodness, despite his propensity for evil, ramifying into many capacities, among them, forgiveness. The capacity to forgive, for Ricoeur, lies between the paralysis of the power to act due to human fault, and the possible lifting of this incapacity through the separation of the offending agent from his or her evil deeds. But if forgiveness obtains in isolating offenders from their evil deeds, their self-understanding, sense of responsibility, and identity might become distorted and inaccurate, and would make us question whether forgiveness should be horizontal, that is, conditional; or vertical, that …

“It’S Essential We Learn How To Grow For Ourselves”: The Legacies Of Black Gardening In Racialized Food Systems., Funmi Odumosu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I aim to investigate the impact of food racism on Black communities, with a specific focus on the importance of gardening in combatting food apartheid and fostering holistic connections to nature and community in school-aged children. Inequitable access to major retail supermarkets and unequal distribution of healthy food options are intentionally occurring patterns in the food spaces of predominately Black communities. These food system inequities exacerbate a lack of consumption and potential consequences on the health and well-being of children of color particularly during critical physical and cognitive developmental periods.

Many solutions to these inequities entail implementing …

Spatial Gap-Filling Of Himawari-8 Hourly Aod Products Using Machine Learning With Model-Based Aod And Meteorological Data: A Focus On The Korean Peninsula, Youjeong Youn, Seoyeon Kim, Seung Hee Kim, Yangwon Lee

Institute for ECHO Articles and Research

Given the complex spatiotemporal variability of aerosols, high-frequency satellite observations are essential for accurately mapping their distribution. However, optical remote sensing encounters difficulties in detecting Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) over cloud-covered regions, creating data gaps that limit comprehensive environmental analysis. This study introduces a spatial gap-filling method for Himawari-8/Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) hourly AOD data, using a Random Forest (RF) model that integrates meteorological variables and model-based AOD data. Developed and validated over South Korea from 1 January to 31 December 2019, the model effectively improved data coverage from 6% to 100%. The approach demonstrated high performance in blind tests, …

When South Meets South: A Case Of African-Philippines Treaty Relations, Noel Y. Sinco

Social Sciences and Development Review

The African-Philippines Relations connected through the manifestation of bilateral agreements with the respective African States with Egypt obtaining the most of it. The World Bank (2023) established the Small States Forum (SSF) mostly composed of the African States. The Philippines and specific African States share surprising similarities that qualify them as Small States under the World Bank (2023) definition. Sadly, the Philippines did not give enough attention to increase its African diplomatic base. The study mainly aims to analyze the depth of Philippine Relations with these African Small States and what diplomatic instruments these two states connect. The study found …

Between Autonomy And Automation: Mapping Practices Among Syrian Delivery Drivers In Beirut, Blake Atwood

Human-Machine Communication

This article studies the tension between autonomy and automation as it is experienced by Syrian refugee food-delivery drivers who work on the Toters app in Beirut, Lebanon. Central to this study are the freedom narratives these drivers construct, which reflect their ambivalent relationship with digital labor platforms. These narratives highlight how the algorithmic nature of the Toters app provides opportunities for self-employment and flexible work, crucial for refugees facing employment barriers and limited physical and social mobility in Lebanon. However, in these narratives, the drivers’ sense of autonomy is also often compromised by the app’s increasing automation, which imposes surveillance …