Physical Sciences and Mathematics | Open Access Articles

Combating Forced Labour And Human Trafficking In Africa: The Role Of Endogenous And Exogenous Forces, Ambe J. Njoh, Elizabeth N.M. Ayuk-Etang

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

It is widely believed that indigenous culture and tradition are at the root of the human trafficking and forced labour problem in Africa. Adherents to this viewpoint also claim that endogenous as opposed to exogenous forces impede efforts to eradicate the problem. This study employed a loglinear regression model to test the tenability of this claim. It hypothesized an inverse association between indigenous culture/tradition and efforts to combat human trafficking. The hypothesis was rejected. It is shown that anti-trafficking initiatives are less successful where indigenous tradition is dominated, or has been usurped, by imported cultural practices.

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Probabilistic Approach To Modeling Lava Flow Inundation: A Lava Flow Hazard Assessment For A Nuclear Facility In Armenia, Laura J. Connor, Charles B. Connor, Khachatur Meliksetian, Ivan Savov

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Probabilistic modeling of lava flow hazard is a two-stage process. The first step is an estimation of the possible locations of future eruptive vents followed by an estimation of probable areas of inundation by lava flows issuing from these vents. We present a methodology using this two-stage approach to estimate lava flow hazard at a nuclear power plant site near Aragats, a Quaternary volcano in Armenia.

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Emerging Technology Monitors Ice-Sea Interface At Outlet Glaciers, Timothy H. Dixon, Denis Voytenko, Chad Lembke, Santiago De La Pena, Ian Howat, Noel Gourmelen, Charles Werner, Björn Oddsson

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Recent melting in Greenland and Antarctica has led to concerns about the long-term stability of these ice sheets and their potential contributions to future sea level rise. Marine-terminating outlet glaciers play a key role in the dynamics of these ice sheets; recent mass losses are likely related to increased influx of warmer water to the base of outlet glaciers, as evidenced by the fact that changes in ocean currents, calving front retreats, glacial thinning, mass redistribution based on satellite gravity data, and accelerating coastal uplift are roughly concurrent [e.g., Holland et al., 2008; Wouters et al., 2008; Jiang …

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Evidence For Low-Angle Normal Faulting In The Pumqu-Xianza Rift, Tibet, Patrick W. Monigle, John Nabelek, Jochen Braunmiller, N. Seth Carpenter

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Low-angle normal faulting is widely discussed as a possible mechanism for continental extension, however, unambiguous evidence for seismogenic low-angle normal faulting is lacking. Here, we investigate seismicity along a short segment of the Pumqu-Xianza Rift (PXR) in southern Tibet, where the HiCLIMB seismic array recorded over 500 earthquakes between 2004 July and 2005 August. Hypocentres of the 40 best recorded earthquakes are approximately 20–25 km west of the rift and tightly clustered at about 10 km depth, consistent with moment tensor depths of the 11 largest (3.4 ≤M_w≤ 4.5) earthquakes. Events in this group have N-S striking …

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Active Deformation Near The Nicoya Peninsula, Northwestern Costa Rica, Between 1996 And 2010: Interseismic Megathrust Coupling, Lujia Feng, Andrew V. Newman, Marino Protti, Victor Gonzalez, Yan Jiang, Timothy H. Dixon

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

We use campaign and continuous GPS measurements at 49 sites between 1996 and 2010 to describe the long-term active deformation in and near the Nicoya Peninsula, northwestern Costa Rica. The observed deformation reveals partial partitioning of the Cocos-Caribbean oblique convergence into trench-parallel forearc sliver motion and less oblique thrusting on the subduction interface. The northern Costa Rican forearc translates northwestward as a whole ridge block at 11 ± 1 mm/yr relative to the stable Caribbean. The transition from the forearc to the stable Caribbean occurs in a narrow deforming zone of ∼16 km wide. Subduction thrust earthquakes take 2/3 of …

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Spectacular Lightning Revealed In 2009 Mount Redoubt Eruption, Sonja A. Behnke, Ronald J. Thomas, Paul R. Krehbiel, Stephen R. Mcnutt

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

The explosive eruption of Alaska's Mount Redoubt volcano in March and April 2009 provided a superb opportunity for studying volcanic lightning. The energetic explosions produced powerful volcanic lightning storms, the largest of which rivaled the intensity of the massive supercell thunderstorms that frequent the midwestern Great Plains. Although lightning often has been observed in the plumes of explosive volcanic eruptions, only a handful of detailed studies have delved into the origins of volcanic lightning. Active volcanoes tend to be situated in remote locations, where they are difficult to observe, and often have sudden, unpredicted eruptions. Even when the eruptions are …

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Prioritizing Habitat Restoration Goals In The Tampa Bay Watershed, Mark C. Rains, Shawn Landry, Valerie Seidel, Thomas L. Crisman

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

No abstract provided.

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The Importance Of Craniofacial Sutures In Biomechanical Finite Element Models Of The Domestic Pig, Jen A. Bright

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Craniofacial sutures are a ubiquitous feature of the vertebrate skull. Previous experimental work has shown that bone strain magnitudes and orientations often vary when moving from one bone to another, across a craniofacial suture. This has led to the hypothesis that craniofacial sutures act to modify the strain environment of the skull, possibly as a mode of dissipating high stresses generated during feeding or impact. This study tests the hypothesis that the introduction of craniofacial sutures into finite element (FE) models of a modern domestic pig skull would improve model accuracy compared to a model without sutures. This allowed the …

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Impact Of Hono On Global Atmospheric Chemistry Calculated With An Empirical Parameterization In The Emac Model, Yasin F. Elshorbany, B. Steil, C. Bruehl, J. Lelieveld

USF St. Petersburg campus Faculty Publications

The photolysis of HONO is important for the atmospheric HOx (OH + HO2) radical budget and ozone formation, especially in polluted air. Nevertheless, owing to the incomplete knowledge of HONO sources, realistic HONO mechanisms have not yet been implemented in global models. We investigated measurement data sets from 15 field measurement campaigns conducted in different countries worldwide. It appears that the HONO/NOx ratio is a good proxy predictor for HONO mixing ratios under different atmospheric conditions. From the robust relationship between HONO and NOx, a representative mean HONO/NOx ratio of 0.02 has been derived. Using a global chemistry-climate model and …

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Crystal Structure Of Graphite Under Room-Temperature Compression And Decompression, Yuejian Wang, Joseph E. Panzik, Boris Kiefer, Kanani K. M. Lee

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Recently, sophisticated theoretical computational studies have proposed several new crystal structures of carbon (e.g., bct-C4, H-, M-, R-, S-, W-, and Z-carbon). However, until now, there lacked experimental evidence to verify the predicted high-pressure structures for cold-compressed elemental carbon at least up to 50 GPa. Here we present direct experimental evidence that this enigmatic high-pressure structure is currently only consistent with M-carbon, one of the proposed carbon structures. Furthermore, we show that this phase transition is extremely sluggish, which led to the observed broad x-ray diffraction peaks in previous studies and hindered the proper identification of the post-graphite phase in …

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Geology Of National Parks Modules For The Spreadsheets Across The Curriculum Library, H. L. Vacher, Thomas C. Juster, Judy Mcllrath, Mark Rains

Geology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

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Comparisons Of Observed And Modeled Oh And Ho2 Concentrations During The Ambient Measurement Period Of The Ho(X)Comp Field Campaign, Y. Kanaya, A. Hofzumahaus, H. -P. Dorn, T. Brauers, H. Fuchs, F. Holland

USF St. Petersburg campus Faculty Publications

A photochemical box model constrained by ancillary observations was used to simulate OH and HO2 concentrations for three days of ambient observations during the HO(x)Comp field campaign held in Julich, Germany in July 2005. Daytime OH levels observed by four instruments were fairly well reproduced to within 33% by a base model run (Regional Atmospheric Chemistry Mechanism with updated isoprene chemistry adapted from Master Chemical Mechanism ver. 3.1) with high R-2 values (0.72-0.97) over a range of isoprene (0.3-2 ppb) and NO (0.1-10 ppb) mixing ratios. Daytime HO2(*) levels, reconstructed from the base model results taking into account the sensitivity …

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First Year Morphological Evolution Of An Artificial Berm At Fort Myers Beach, Florida, Katherine Brutsche, Ping Wang

Geology Faculty Publications

This Coastal and Hydraulics Engineering Technical Note (CHETN) documents the sediment characteristics and first year morphological evolution of an artificial berm placed just offshore in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, based on a series of field data collection periods during the first year after the berm construction.

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The Kamlet Laboratories Collection At The University Of South Florida, Dean F. Martin, Karina Bidani

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Jonas Kamlet (1914-1960) and his wife Edna (1915- 2011) founded the Kamlet Laboratory (as it was then called) in 1941 (I). It was in many ways a pioneering consulting laboratory that was unique for its approach and creativity. In 2006, the collected papers of the Kamlet Laboratories that were housed in two storage units in Sarasota, Florida, were donated to the University of South Florida (USF) Library, Tampa Campus, as noted elsewhere (I). This paper describes the background of the laboratory and indicates the potential value of the material in the Kamlet Chemical Laboratories Collection. The collection came to USF …

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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Combating Forced Labour And Human Trafficking In Africa: The Role Of Endogenous And Exogenous Forces, Ambe J. Njoh, Elizabeth N.M. Ayuk-Etang

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Probabilistic Approach To Modeling Lava Flow Inundation: A Lava Flow Hazard Assessment For A Nuclear Facility In Armenia, Laura J. Connor, Charles B. Connor, Khachatur Meliksetian, Ivan Savov

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Emerging Technology Monitors Ice-Sea Interface At Outlet Glaciers, Timothy H. Dixon, Denis Voytenko, Chad Lembke, Santiago De La Pena, Ian Howat, Noel Gourmelen, Charles Werner, Björn Oddsson

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Evidence For Low-Angle Normal Faulting In The Pumqu-Xianza Rift, Tibet, Patrick W. Monigle, John Nabelek, Jochen Braunmiller, N. Seth Carpenter

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Active Deformation Near The Nicoya Peninsula, Northwestern Costa Rica, Between 1996 And 2010: Interseismic Megathrust Coupling, Lujia Feng, Andrew V. Newman, Marino Protti, Victor Gonzalez, Yan Jiang, Timothy H. Dixon

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Spectacular Lightning Revealed In 2009 Mount Redoubt Eruption, Sonja A. Behnke, Ronald J. Thomas, Paul R. Krehbiel, Stephen R. Mcnutt

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Prioritizing Habitat Restoration Goals In The Tampa Bay Watershed, Mark C. Rains, Shawn Landry, Valerie Seidel, Thomas L. Crisman

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

The Importance Of Craniofacial Sutures In Biomechanical Finite Element Models Of The Domestic Pig, Jen A. Bright

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Impact Of Hono On Global Atmospheric Chemistry Calculated With An Empirical Parameterization In The Emac Model, Yasin F. Elshorbany, B. Steil, C. Bruehl, J. Lelieveld

USF St. Petersburg campus Faculty Publications

Crystal Structure Of Graphite Under Room-Temperature Compression And Decompression, Yuejian Wang, Joseph E. Panzik, Boris Kiefer, Kanani K. M. Lee

School of Geosciences Faculty and Staff Publications

Geology Of National Parks Modules For The Spreadsheets Across The Curriculum Library, H. L. Vacher, Thomas C. Juster, Judy Mcllrath, Mark Rains

Geology Faculty Publications

Comparisons Of Observed And Modeled Oh And Ho2 Concentrations During The Ambient Measurement Period Of The Ho(X)Comp Field Campaign, Y. Kanaya, A. Hofzumahaus, H. -P. Dorn, T. Brauers, H. Fuchs, F. Holland

USF St. Petersburg campus Faculty Publications

First Year Morphological Evolution Of An Artificial Berm At Fort Myers Beach, Florida, Katherine Brutsche, Ping Wang

Geology Faculty Publications

The Kamlet Laboratories Collection At The University Of South Florida, Dean F. Martin, Karina Bidani

Chemistry Faculty Publications