Digital Commons Network^™

Bayesian Spatio-Temporal Modeling Of African Co2 Emissions (1990–2020): A Hierarchical Approach To Identify Determinants, Regional Trends, And Local Dynamics, Ebenezer Afrifa-Yamoah, Prince Mensah Osei

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Africa's unique position in global CO2 emissions demands rigorous analysis for effective climate policy development. Despite contributing only 4% to global emissions, the continent faces disproportionate climate impacts while undergoing rapid development and complex economic transitions. Current research lacks extensive continental analysis of the spatial dependencies, temporal evolution of emission patterns, and their key drivers, which is fundamental for evidence-based climate policy and sustainable development strategies. We applied Bayesian hierarchical spatio-temporal modeling to analyze CO2 emissions across African countries (1990–2020), integrating rotated empirical orthogonal function (REOF) analysis with spatial autocorrelation techniques (Local Moran's I and LISA) to capture complex emission …

Coupled Oscillators And Dielectric Function, T. Das, C. A. Ullrich, Ulrich D. Jentschura

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

A generalized Sellmeier model, also referred to as the Lorentz-Dirac model, has been used for the description of the dielectric function of a number of technologically important materials in the literature. This model represents the frequency-dependent dielectric function as a sum over Green functions of classical damped harmonic oscillators, much in analogy with the functional form used for the dynamic polarizability of an atom, but with one important addition, namely, a complex-valued oscillator strength in the numerator. Here, we show that this generalized functional form can be justified based on the response function of coupled damped oscillators. The encountered analogies …

Investigation Of Dynamic Regulation Of Tfeb Nuclear Shuttling By Microfluidics And Quantitative Modelling, Iacopo Ruolo, Sara Napolitano, Lorena Postiglione, Gennaro Napolitano, Andrea Ballabio, Diego Di Bernardo

Duncan NRI Faculty and Staff Publications

Transcription Factor EB (TFEB) controls lysosomal biogenesis and autophagy in response to nutritional status and other stress factors. Although its regulation by nuclear translocation is known to involve a complex network of well-studied regulatory processes, the precise contribution of each of these mechanisms is unclear. Using microfluidics technology and real-time imaging coupled with mathematical modelling, we explored the dynamic regulation of TFEB under different conditions. We found that TFEB nuclear translocation upon nutrient deprivation happens in two phases: a fast one characterised by a transient boost in TFEB dephosphorylation dependent on transient calcium release mediated by mucolipin 1 (MCOLN1) followed …

The Spice (Sustainable, Physics-Inspired Culinary Education) Lab – A Digestible Few-Nexus Educational Platform, Carla Ramsdell

National Collaborative for Research on Food, Energy, and Water Education (NC-FEW)

The SPICE (Sustainable, Physics-Inspired Culinary Education) Lab is a unique educational platform that enables participants from a wide disciplinary background to engage and become literate in the unique connections between food, energy and water. This small but mighty space allows for outreach education in many formats, including formal college courses, university-centered hands-on activities and public outreach.

The work performed in this space fills a unique need in the FEW-Nexus education opportunities because it is adaptable to many learners and learning opportunities and its focus on kitchen science makes these concepts approachable which can later be expanded to understand other critical …

Cultivating Place-Based Few-Nexus Awareness And Environmental Justice Through Community Science Data Talks, Imogen R. Herrick, Micheal Lawson, Todd Campbell, Shondricka Burrell

National Collaborative for Research on Food, Energy, and Water Education (NC-FEW)

Global challenges around food security, energy sustainability, and water scarcity demand interdisciplinary educational approaches. This project formed a network of universities collaborating with K–12 teachers to develop place-based Community Science Data Talks (CSDTs). These short, data-driven classroom activities highlight local FEW issues, emphasize environmental justice, and draw on students’ funds of knowledge and funds of feeling. Preliminary findings indicate enhanced student engagement, recognition of socioecological complexity, and constructive hope regarding community challenges. Ongoing work involves refining these modules, expanding geographical reach, and creating open-access resources for teachers. Ultimately, CSDTs foster data literacy and civic inquiry, both central to FEW-Nexus problem-solving.

Creating Food-Energy-Water Education For Latine Communities In Miami, Oriana Calagna, Kathleen Quadorkus Fisher

National Collaborative for Research on Food, Energy, and Water Education (NC-FEW)

The study is a look into Miami's environmental landscape through a qualitative document analysis to inform the development of a culturally relevant curriculum and empower local communities with the knowledge and tools necessary to address them. Our study aims to address two central objectives: understanding Latine participation dynamics and unraveling FEW nexus themes within Miami's environmental discourse. Connections between these themes highlight the relevance of FEW issues to Latine communities in Miami. The research endeavors to inform the development of educational resources and interventions aimed at fostering pro-environmental behaviors and nurturing changemakers within Miami's diverse communities.

Teaching Disciplinary Ways Of Knowing Using Stem In Afnr, Elizabeth E. Ogar, Neil A. Knobloch, Hui-Hui Wang

National Collaborative for Research on Food, Energy, and Water Education (NC-FEW)

This study explores the integration of STEM in Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources (AFNR) education through a course designed to teach disciplinary ways of knowing such as scientific inquiry, engineering design, mathematical modeling, and agroecosystem thinking. The course prepares upper-level undergraduate and graduate students to design and implement STEM-integrated mini-units in both formal and nonformal settings. Emphasizing interdisciplinary approaches and real-world applications, the course encourages critical thinking and problem-solving in addressing global challenges like food security and sustainability. The outcomes include enhanced pedagogical skills, real-world STEM application, and increased student engagement, preparing learners for careers in STEM-related fields.

System Change, Not Climate Change: Collaborative Development Of A Few Nexus Experiential Learning Course For A Justice-Centered Comparative Study Abroad Program, Sonya Ahamed

National Collaborative for Research on Food, Energy, and Water Education (NC-FEW)

The International Honors Program (IHP) on Climate Change: The Politics of Land, Water and Energy Justice has been offered by the School for International Training (SIT) since 2013. This thematic multidisciplinary program currently travels to Morocco, Nepal, and Ecuador for one month each, introducing students to local food, water, and energy challenges in the context of a changing climate. In updating the program following its relaunch in 2023, renewed attention was given to the food, energy, and water nexus from a comparative perspective across and within these countries. This presentation will focus on the development of experiential learning cycles for …

The Few-Nexus: Using Soil To Grow Meaning And Relevance In Undergraduate General Education Earth Science Courses, Katherine Mccarville

National Collaborative for Research on Food, Energy, and Water Education (NC-FEW)

Soils are central to human survival, through their critical roles in regulating water supplies and providing the medium for most agricultural productivity. Even as fewer and fewer students know where their water and food come from, and where their wastes go, soils tend to be under-emphasized in Earth science general education courses. Combining a place-based focus on soils with the FEW-Nexus model provides an integrating context for concepts and information that students sometimes perceive as disconnected and irrelevant to them. This approach can transform the experiences and learning of undergraduate students in the Earth science general education curriculum.

The Scarlet – Volume Ciii, No. 8 (March 14, 2025), Scarlet Staff

The Scarlet (Student Newspaper) (2011-present)

The March 14, 2025 edition of The Scarlet (est. 1939), Clark University's student-run newspaper. The Scarlet is intellectually and editorially independent of the University.

Doc 2025-02 Neuroscience Co-Major, Full Program Proposal, University Of Dayton. Department Of Biology, College Of Arts & Sciences

Senate Documents

The Department of Biology in the College of Arts & Sciences (CAS) proposes to establish an innovative Co-Major in Neuroscience program. This Co-Major will comprise a new program offering in the Department of Biology complementing the existing Minor in Neuroscience.

Precision Phenotyping For Curating Research Cohorts Of Patients With Unexplained Post-Acute Sequelae Of Covid-19, Alaleh Azhir, Jonas Hügel, Jiazi Tian, Jingya Cheng, Ingrid V Bassett, Douglas S Bell, Elmer V Bernstam, Maha R Farhat, Darren W Henderson, Emily S Lau, Michele Morris, Yevgeniy R Semenov, Virginia A Triant, Shyam Visweswaran, Zachary H Strasser, Jeffrey G Klann, Shawn N Murphy, Hossein Estiri

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

BACKGROUND: Scalable identification of patients with post-acute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) is challenging due to a lack of reproducible precision phenotyping algorithms, which has led to suboptimal accuracy, demographic biases, and underestimation of the PASC.

METHODS: In a retrospective case-control study, we developed a precision phenotyping algorithm for identifying cohorts of patients with PASC. We used longitudinal electronic health records data from over 295,000 patients from 14 hospitals and 20 community health centers in Massachusetts. The algorithm employs an attention mechanism to simultaneously exclude sequelae that prior conditions can explain and include infection-associated chronic conditions. We performed independent chart reviews …

Regulation Of Cell Cycle Proteins At The Extremes Of Copy Number Variation In Cancer, Hannah Tran

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Copy number variation is one of the main forms of genomic alteration in cancer genomes. The amplification of oncogenes or deletion of tumor suppressors commonly drives tumor formation. Average copy number variation events vary across cancer types; ovarian cancer has the highest average number of copy number changes, and pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma has the least. With the copy number differences between cancer types, it is likely that different mechanisms of producing copy number changes exist. We propose that a possible mechanism is cell cycle reversal, which was recently shown to potentially occur during the G2 phase of the cell cycle …

Artificial Intelligence And Communication Technologies In Academia: Faculty Perceptions And The Adoption Of Generative Ai, Aya Shata, Kendall Hartley

Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies Faculty Research

Artificial intelligence (AI) is ushering in an era of potential transformation in various fields, especially in educational communication technologies, with tools like ChatGPT and other generative AI (GenAI) applications. This rapid proliferation and adoption of GenAI tools have sparked significant interest and concern among college professors, who are dealing with evolving dynamics in digital communication within the class-room. Yet, the effect and implications of GenAI in education remain understudied. Therefore, this study employs the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) as theoretical frameworks to explore higher education faculty’s perceptions, attitudes, usage, and motivations, as the underlying …

Exploring Math Moments: Middle-Schoolers’ Phases Of Problem-Solving, Executive Functions In Practice, And Collaborative Problem Solving, K. Ann Renninger, R. Böheim, J. Corven, Maria Consuelo De Dios, Maeve R. Hogan, Moe Htet Kyaw, Ana G. Michels, Marina Nakayama, P. E. Torres, Helena Werneck De Souza Dias, Feven Yared

Educational Studies Faculty Works

Collaborative problem solving (CPS) has been shown to both engage and benefit students’ learning of mathematics. However, there is evidence that group work is not always easy to facilitate, in part because educators lack details about learners’ engagement during group work: the processes of problem solving involved, and how these are engaged. In this exploratory study, we focused on these processes in the moments of related math activity, or math moments, engaged by two groups of interested, urban, middle-school aged students during four sessions of work in the Virtual Math Teams (VMT) environment. We examined three phases of their problem …

Digital Vs. Non-Digital Interventions: A Study Of Intervention Types To Reach Fluency In Operations With Integers In Seventh-Grade Mathematics, Kathleen Brad

Education Doctorate Dissertations

Students in junior high school are struggling with mathematics (U.S. Department of Education, 2023). Mathematical fluency—the automatic and accurate recall of facts—is critical to mathematics learning. There is limited research on junior high school general education students and how we can help them master the foundational concepts. Without fluency, students rely heavily on their working memory to learn new mathematics skills. Fluency in operations with integers is one of those foundational topics of junior high school. With many new digital tools available, are digital interventions more effective than the methods teachers have been using? The researcher compared three intervention styles: …

Juvenile And Adult Survival Estimates Of American Kestrels Throughout The Full Annual Cycle In Eastern North America, Mercy Melo, Joseph M. Kolowski, Rebecca A. Mccabe, John A. Smallwood, Allison Cornell, David King, Jean François Therrien

Department of Biology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Measuring survival in a declining species provides the foundation for continued research, demographic modeling, and informed conservation strategies. Although American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) populations have continued to decline since the 1970s, little is known about their survival throughout the full annual cycle, making it difficult to identify factors responsible for these declines. We used radio telemetry to provide the first known-fate estimates of adult kestrel survival, and we present data across breeding stages, and between resident and migratory wintering individuals, in addition to separately modeling fledgling survival. Temporal and spatial stratification of study sites allowed for the investigation of different …

“Smart Trap”: A Portable Device For Real-Time Mosquito Capturing And Classification Using Image-Based Analysis, Fahim Rahman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Capturing mosquitoes in real-time and taking high-quality images for classification with state-of-the-art methods is not only time-consuming but also expensive. Sometimes even carefully controlled environments and experimental setups fail to capture living mosquitoes. Catching live mosquitoes is necessary to be able to study aspects of their physiology and behavior that cannot be investigated by collections of resting mosquitoes and dead specimens, and to help estimate the local population numbers. My thesis introduces a “Smart Trap”, a small portable device that can attract mosquitoes in real-time, capture them, take high-quality images with dual cameras, and store those images in the cloud. …

Using A Descriptive Analysis And Functional Analysis To Determine The Topography Of Attention For Attention-Maintained Problem Behaviors, Sarah M. Loupe

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the benefits of using descriptive analysis (DA)-informed functional analysis(FA) conditions to determine the functional relationship between problem behaviors and the topography of attention maintaining them. Three male participants completed the study, ranging in age from 7-12 years. Following indirect assessments with care providers, a DA was conducted during four 15-min observations. The results of the DA were used to calculate the probability of a specific topography of attention following a problem behavior P(SR/B) and the unconditional probability of a specific topography of attention in the absence of problem behavior divided by all occurrences of that topography UP(SR-B/SR). …

Distributed Repeaters For Extending The Range Of Harmonic Rf Tags, Trevor Saunders

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Passive harmonic Radio Frequency (RF) tags are highly advantageous compared to theiractive counterparts due to their ability to operate effectively in environments that are cluttered or where access to the tag for battery maintenance is challenging, dangerous and/or time consuming. They are also resistant to the local oscillator (LO) phase noise in radar applications where the doppler frequency from slow moving targets is buried beneath the noise. One of the major constraints of passive harmonic RF tags, however, lies in their operating range and the significant amount of power required to overcome the conversion loss and activate the nonlinear device …

The Sustainability Stones: Culturally Embedded Conservation Strategies And Their Vulnerability In Maupiti, French Polynesia, Russell Fielding, Fiona Gimenez

Honors College Faculty Publications

This paper explores culturally embedded conservation strategies through the lens of the traditional agroforestry and fisheries cycles in Maupiti, French Polynesia. By pairing certain breadfruit cultivars with specific fish species, the island’s community created a culinary system that regulates the seasonal consumption of marine resources, making the sustainable use of those resources more likely. While modern pressures such as reduced breadfruit diversity, competition with imported foods, and climate change have weakened these traditional practices, they remain an example of local ecological knowledge guiding conservation. The study highlights the threat of losing sustainable resource-use practices and biodiversity as both biodiversity and …

Examining Intersectional Queer Biases In Large Language Models: A Combined Statistical And Visual-Qualitative Approach For Quantification And Explanation, Huu Duong (Chip) Nguyen

Computer Science Senior Theses

Despite significant advancements in research on (intersectional) social biases in Large Language Models (LLMs), intersectional biases affecting subgroups within the LGBTQ+ community remain critically understudied. Existing bias detection methodologies often prioritize quantification but lack depth in explaining the specific stereotypes/biases that shape evaluation metrics. To address these gaps, this study proposes a combined statistical and visual-qualitative approach to quantify and identify persistent intersectional queer biases in five recent, state-of-the-art LLMs through a downstream story generation task. Findings from analysis uncover substantial evidence of stereotypes that perpetuate harmful, reductive narratives against intersectionally marginalized groups within the LGBTQ+ community. To promote public …

Indigenous Futures: Decolonizing Conservation And Restoring Ecological Sovereignty, Jasmine Beach

University Honors Theses

This study examines how members of Indigenous-led conservation organizations perceive the ecological and social implications of colonial conservation ideologies in the context of contemporary grassroots strategies. By analyzing the ongoing impact of conservation frameworks in Kenya, this research highlights the role of Indigenous-led initiatives in advancing sustainable, community-driven alternatives. Using a Two-Eyed Seeing approach, which integrates Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) with Western scientific methods, the study employs qualitative, semi-structured interviews with leaders from Zawadisha, KENVO, Wildlife Works, and CER-Kenya. Findings indicate that these organizations, particularly those led by women, actively restore biodiversity, enhance climate resilience, and challenge exclusionary conservation policies. …

Role Of Classroom Openness In Digital Literacy And Online Civic Engagement Among Filipino High School Students, Ma. Glenda Wui, Jessica Sandra R. Claudio, Jie Zhang, Carl Russel R. Reyes, Rosselle Trishia Reyes, Enrique Niño P. Leviste

Sociology & Anthropology Department Faculty Publications

The recent prominence of social media use necessitates new approaches in forming citizenship practices among the youth, the primary users of these platforms. While schools play a critical role in instilling civic values, dispositions, and skills among young people, it is equally important to examine the role digital literacy plays in facilitating civic engagement. Digital literacy pertains to technical skills in using social media, obtaining knowledge and information on social media, and communicating or expressing opinions on social media. The current study examined the relationship of classroom openness to online civic engagement with digital literacy as a mediating variable. The …

Machine Learning For Time Series Prediction In Psychotherapy, Ian Goodwin

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The need for quality mental health care is great, but many clinics face limited resources as they work to help clients. Predictions of a client’s future mental state during a course of therapy have the potential to inform decisions by individual therapists and counseling clinics. In this paper, we use archival OQ-45 data from a large university counseling center to examine the ability of many simple, rule-of-thumb predictive methods, as well as more complex methods (ridge regression, random forests, and LSTMs), to predict the next value in a time series of distress scores based on the previous scores. Learned inference …

Seeing The Storm: Leveraging Multimodal Llms For Disaster Social Media Video Filtering, Holden Clark

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Emergency management relies on the rapid triage of information to respond appropriately to disaster events. Social media platforms can provide emergency managers with ground-level insights, and videos, in particular, offer an immersive medium for understanding public responses and on-the-ground conditions. However, the overwhelming volume of irrelevant or redundant videos complicates their use for emergency response. This paper investigates the use of multimodal large language models (MLLMs)–specifically the Gemini 1.5 flash model–to automate the identification of relevant videos shared on X (formerly Twitter) during hurricanes. We develop and evaluate a framework to test the accuracy of different prompting styles and question …

2024 Rmap Non-Residential Parcels Data Summary Report Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Npl Site Bpsou, Environmental Standards, Inc., Pioneer Technical Services, Inc.

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

No abstract provided.

Refugium Amidst Ruins: Unearthing The Lost Flora That Escaped The End-Permian Mass Extinction, Huiping Peng, Wan Yang, Mingli Wan, Jun Liu, Feng Liu

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Searching for land refugia becomes imperative for human survival during the hypothetical sixth mass extinction. Studying past comparable crises can offer insights, but there is no fossil evidence of diverse megafloral ecosystems surviving the largest Phanerozoic biodiversity crisis. Here, we investigated palynomorphs, plant, and tetrapod fossils from the Permian-Triassic South Taodonggou Section in Xinjiang, China. Our fossil records, calibrated by a high-resolution age model, reveal the presence of vibrant regional gymnospermous forests and fern fields, while marine organisms experienced mass extinction. This refugial vegetation was crucial for nourishing the substantial influx of surviving animals, thereby establishing a diverse terrestrial ecosystem …

Coherent Enhancement Of Qed Cross Sections In Electromagnetic Backgrounds, T. Heinzl, B. King, D. Liu

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

We introduce form factors that relate the amplitude of a quantum electrodynamics (QED) process in vacuum to its corresponding background-field process. The latter is characterized by a reduced S-matrix element where one or more photon field operators are replaced by classical background fields. In the associated Feynman diagram, external photon lines are supplanted with lines representing the c-number field. This modifies the cross section by factors proportional to powers of the Fourier amplitude of the classical field (and its complex conjugate). We demonstrate this explicitly by comparing different reaction channels of low-energy photon-photon scattering in a classical background. We find …

Educational Intervention Through Telemedicine And Its Impact On Kidney Function In Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease: A Systematic Review, Luh P.F. Larasanty, Anna W. Widayanti, Tri M. Andayani

Journal of Health Research

Background: Educational intervention is a strategy that can be used to improve chronic kidney disease (CKD) patient adherence and can be provided through telemedicine. The goal of this study was to identify impact of educational intervention through telemedicine on kidney function of CKD patients.

Method: A systematic review of randomized and non-randomized controlled trials (2013–2022) was conducted using PubMed and Scopus, following PRISMA guidelines. Study quality was assessed with the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT).

Results: From a total 460 articles identified, 9 controlled trial articles using estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) as a kidney function parameter were included …