Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Communicative Constitution Of Environment: Land, Weather, Climate, Leanna K. Smithberger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

My project examines the communicative constitution of environment: how we mediate environment in discursive practice, and arrange chaotic and complex timeplaces into organized relationships of agents and objects which act and are acted upon. Climate scholars across disciplines are calling for a paradigm shift in how we understand, study, inhabit, and relate to Earth’s varied environments. In this dissertation, I demonstrate how communication practices do the work of constituting the environment as we know it, and therefore conclude with the hopeful suggestion that these same practices can be used to do the work of a paradigm shift — that is, …

Commodity Futures Returns And Policy Uncertainty, Deepa Bannigidadmath, Paresh Kumar Narayan

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

This paper investigates whether economic policy uncertainty is predictable using three sets of commodity futures market variables, namely the equal-weighted average of futures excess returns, the excess returns on a portfolio of going long in backwardated commodities, and the excess returns on a portfolio of going short in contango commodities as predictors. We find significant evidence of both in-sample and out-of-sample predictability. Combination forecasts also reveal strong evidence of predictability. Our findings remain unchanged following several robustness tests.

What A Load Of Rubbish! The Efficacy Of Theory Of Planned Behaviour And Norm Activation Model In Predicting Visitors’ Binning Behaviour In National Parks, Kourosh Esfandiar, Ross Dowling, Joanna Pearce, Edmund Goh

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

A specific concern for many park managers is the generation of waste by visitors. One way to combat this issue in national parks is to encourage visitors to put their litter in a bin. This study investigates binning behaviour, as a type of pro-environmental behaviour, of visitors to Yanchep National Park, Australia. Using structural equation modelling, this study tested an integrated structural model combining the theory of planned behaviour and the norm-activation model with data from 219 visitors to this park. The study tried to move away from measuring visitors' pro-environmental intention and instead gathered data based on their current …

Socastee Interview, Participant #04, March 30, 2021, Jennifer Mokos, Jaime Mccauley

Flood Survivor Interviews

A community member of the Rosewood neighborhood in Socastee is interviewed by a CCU student.

Investigating Decadal Changes Of Multiple Hydrological Products And Land-Cover Changes In The Mediterranean Region For 2009–2018, Wenzhao Li, Sachi Perera, Erik Linstead, Rejoice Thomas, Hesham El-Askary, Thomas Piechota, Daniele Struppa

Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science Faculty Articles and Research

Land-cover change is a critical concern due to its climatic, ecological, and socioeconomic consequences. In this study, we used multiple variables including precipitation, vegetation index, surface soil moisture, and evapotranspiration obtained from different satellite sources to study their association with land-cover changes in the Mediterranean region. Both observational and modeling data were used for climatology and correlation analysis. Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) Land Data Assimilation System (FLDAS) and Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) were used to extract surface soil moisture and evapotranspiration data. Intercomparing the results of FLDAS and GLDAS suggested that FLDAS data had better …

Tribal Revegetation Project Final Project Report: 92-Acre Area, Area 5 Radioactive Waste Management Complex, Nevada National Security Site, Nevada, Jeremy Spoon, Brittany Kruger, Richard Arnold, Kate Monti Barcalow, Tribal Revegetation Committee, Trc

Anthropology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Nuwu (Southern Paiute), Newe (Western Shoshone), and Nuumu (Owens Valley Paiute) are linguistically related, Numic-speaking peoples who are part of the broader Uto-Aztecan language group. Numic peoples view the land as a holistic, living, sentient being with feelings and purpose. The land is personified with human characteristics and it needs to be experienced to be understood through “learning by doing.” Numic peoples do not support ground disturbing activities within their ancestral lands, including activities tied to the storage of low-level radioactive waste or classified materials on the NNSS, which they view as culturally inappropriate. These deep-rooted ancestral connections are the …

Forecasting Of The Covid-19 Epidemic: A Scientometric Analysis, Pandri Ferdias, Ansari Saleh Ahmar

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study presented a scientometric analysis of scientific publications with discussions of forecasting and COVID-19. The data of this study were obtained from the Scopus database using the keywords: ( TITLE-ABS-KEY (forecast) AND TITLE-ABS-KEY (covid)) and the data were taken on March 26, 2021. This study was a scientometric study. The data were subsequently analyzed using the VosViewer and Bibliometrix R Package. The results showed that “COVID-19” was the keyword most frequently used by researchers, followed by “forecasting” and “human”. Authors who discussed the topic of forecasting COVID-19 come from 83 different countries/regions, with the most articles sent by authors …

Hacking 4 Environment: Oceans Ocg 503, Joanna Burkhardt

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

Socastee Interview, Participant #03, March 26, 2021, Jennifer Mokos, Jaime Mccauley

Flood Survivor Interviews

A community member of the Rosewood neighborhood in Socastee is interviewed by a CCU student.

Socastee Interview, Participant #01, March 26, 2021, Jennifer Mokos, Jaime Mccauley

Flood Survivor Interviews

A community member of the Rosewood neighborhood in Socastee is interviewed by CCU students.

Building And Using Digital Libraries For Etds, Edward A. Fox

The Journal of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite the high value of electronic theses and dissertations (ETDs), the global collection has seen limited use. To extend such use, a new approach to building digital libraries (DLs) is needed. Fortunately, recent decades have seen that a vast amount of “gray literature” has become available through a diverse set of institutional repositories as well as regional and national libraries and archives. Most of the works in those collections include ETDs and are often freely available in keeping with the open-access movement, but such access is limited by the services of supporting information systems. As explained through a set of …

Evaluation Of Manual And Semi-Automated Deep-Seated Landslide Inventory Processes: Willapa Hills, Washington, Tiffany E. Justice

Dissertations and Theses

Recent advances in remote sensing data and technology have allowed for computational models to be designed that successfully extract landforms from the landscape. The goal of this work is to create one such semi-automated model to extract deep-seated landslides located in complex geomorphic terrain. This is accomplished using geographic object-based image analysis (GEOBIA) techniques, considered by leaders in the field of image analysis to have an advantage over traditional automated classification methods. GEOBIA methods can mimic human visual interpretation by including more characteristic features used to assess the relationship between image data and the ground surface such as color reflectance …

The Impact Of Twitter On The National Hockey League And Its Players, Benjamin Strauss

Honors Projects in Data Science

This study offers a new perspective on collecting and analyzing Twitter data surrounding the National Hockey League (NHL) to identify any trends or relationships between the data and overall performance during the 2021 abbreviated season. This paper provides and in-depth analysis by studying a sample of sixty of the top NHL players, specifically those who are typically top performers in the league, spanning over all thirty-one teams and all positions, this study was able to identify a deeper and broader perspective of what implications can be drawn from analyzing data from Twitter to both predict and reflect both individual player …

The Bluff River Trail: A Community Land Ethic, Kelly F. Davis

Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies ETDs

The Bluff River Trail (BRT) is a future 10+ mile trail along the San Juan River corridor in the 4-Corners region of the Southwestern United States. By asking, what is the land ethic of the Bluff Community? this qualitative study identifies behaviors and beliefs, or land ethics, between seven Bluff residents and the San Juan River corridor. A land ethic contributes to the social re/production of space; therefore, third space theory contextualizes intersecting and contradicting spatialities evidenced in data. Data collection consisted of semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and focus groups. I used a qualitative content analysis pulling from grounded theory to …

Stabilization Of Cultural Innovations Depends On Population Density: Testing An Epidemiological Model Of Cultural Evolution Against A Global Dataset Of Rock Art Sites And Climate-Based Estimates Of Ancient Population Densities, Richard Walker, Anders Eriksson, Camille Ruiz, Taylor Howard Newton, Francesco Casalegno

Department of Information Systems & Computer Science Faculty Publications

Demographic models of human cultural evolution have high explanatory potential but weak empirical support. Here we use a global dataset of rock art sites and climate and genetics-based estimates of ancient population densities to test a new model based on epidemiological principles. The model focuses on the process whereby a cultural innovation becomes endemic in a population; predicting that this cannot occur unless population density exceeds a critical threshold. Analysis of the data; using a Bayesian statistical framework; shows that the model has stronger empirical support than a proportional model; where detection is directly proportional to population density; or a …

Polymorphism And Polysemy In Images Of The Sefirot, Martin Zwick

Complex Systems Faculty Publications and Presentations

The resurgence of interest in Kabbalistic diagrams (Segol, Busi, Chajes) raises the question of how diagrams function in religious symbolism. This question can be approached via methods used in the graphical modeling of data. Specifically, graph theory lets one define a repertoire of candidate structures that can be applied not only to quantitative data, but also to symbols consisting of qualitative components. A graph is a set of nodes and links between nodes. What nodes and links are is unspecified in this definition. The Kabbalistic Ilan is – partially – a graph. The Sefirot are its nodes; the paths connecting …

Mass Incarceration In Nebraska: Data And Historical Analysis Of Inmates From 1980-2020, Anna Krause

Honors Program: Senior Projects (Public)

This study examines Nebraska Department of Corrections inmate data from 1980-2020, looking specifically at inmate demographics and offense trends. State-of-the-art data analysis is conducted to collect, modify, and visualize the data sources. Inmates are organized by each decade they were incarcerated within. The current active prison population is also examined in their own research group. The demographic and offense trends are compared with previous local and national research. Historical context is given for evolving trends in offenses. Solutions for Nebraska prison overcrowding are presented from various interest groups. This study aims to enlighten all interested Nebraskans on who inhabits their …

Multi-Step-Ahead Exchange Rate Forecasting For South Asian Countries Using Multi-Verse Optimized Multiplicative Functional Link Neural Networks, Kishore Kumar Sahu, Sarat Chandra Nayak, Himansu Sekhar Behera

Karbala International Journal of Modern Science

The dynamic nonlinearity approach, coupled with the exchange rate data series, makes its future predictions difficult. Sophisticated methods are highly desired for effective prediction of such data. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) have shown their ability to model and predict such data. This article presents a multi-verse optimizer (MVO) based multiplicative functional link neural network (MV-MFLN) model to forecast the exchange rate data. Functional link neural network (FLN) makes use of functional expansion for input data with a fewer number of adjustable neuron weights, which makes it capable of learning the uncertainties accompanying the exchange rate data. In contrast to the …

Technological Countermeasures Of Copyright Piracy Enforcement In Nigeria: An Alternative To Creative Works Owners’ Livelihood In A Monolithic Economy Post Covid-19, Leonard Ume

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The Coronavirus pandemic is a global problem that came with its attendant economic shock that is higher than the one brought by World War 1 and 2 put together. The attendant consequences expectedly landed Nigeria economy to recession. Nigeria over the years has been grappling with the problem of diversification of her economy to forestall the ugly impact of monolithic economy. This paper investigated the effect of using technology in fighting intellectual copyright piracy which will encourage the citizens to harness their creative endowment to eke out a living with its resultant effect on the reduction of unemployment. The study …

Primate Conservation & Endangered Species Hunting In Madagascar, Cortni Borgerson

Sustainability Seminar Series

Ever wonder, “Who hunts endangered species and why?” Borgerson’s research demonstrates the importance of understanding human incentives when designing conservation action. Dr. Cortni Borgerson is excited to share with us her efforts working with local communities to better understand and improve food security in areas of high biodiversity, so that we may simultaneously support forests and the people who live within them.

Growing Biodiverse Urban Futures: Renaturalization And Rewilding As Strategies To Strengthen Urban Resilience, Steffen Lehmann

Architecture Faculty Research

How are our cities using nature-based solutions to confront the challenges posed by a warming climate, the loss of biodiversity and major resource depletion? This article discusses the opportunities and benefits of applying the concepts of regreening and rewilding of cities. The article engages with key sources and summarizes the background and development of regreening and nature-based solutions and important policies, concerns and perspectives of international and national organizations. It introduces the integration of nature-based solutions (NBS) as a strategy in urban planning with the aim to strengthen urban resilience and to slow down the biodiversity decline. Rewilding areas in …

The General Psychopathology Factor (P) From Adolescence To Adulthood: Disentangling The Developmental Trajectories Of P Using A Multi-Method Approach, Alexandria M. Choate

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Considerable attention is directed towards studying co-occurring psychopathology through the lens of a general factor (p-factor). However, the developmental trajectories and stability of the p-factor have yet to be fully understood. Study 1 first examined the explanatory power of dynamic mutualism theory — an alternative framework positing the p-factor to be a product of lower-level symptom interactions rather than the inherent cause of them. Predictions of dynamic mutualism were tested using three distinct statistical approaches including: longitudinal bifactor models, random-intercept cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPMs), and network models. Next, given prior suggestions that borderline personality disorder (BPD) could be a marker …

Bibliometric Review Of Monsoon Rainfall Prediction Models: With Special Reference To Use Of Artificial Intelligence In Rainfall Prediction, Shilpa Manoj Hudnurkar, Neela Rayavarapu Dr.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Rainfall is a result of several complex atmospheric processes making it challenging to predict. For countries whose economy is dominated by agricultural sector, accurate rainfall prediction is highly essential. A huge network of weather stations is spread across the globe for the observation of meteorological parameters. These generate vast amounts of data which can be used to accurately predict the weather. This necessitates the use better tools such as various artificially intelligent algorithms. This study aims to explore global research trends in monsoon rainfall prediction techniques using Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN). Scopus database has been used …

Arid Zone Rangeland Pastures And Fire, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Natural resources factsheets

Fire is integral to many ecosystems in the Western Australian rangelands. Rangeland fires affect more than just pastoralists and the businesses they run: these fires affect community safety and health, regional economies, societal and cultural values of landscape, biodiversity and tourism.

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development provides this information to support pastoral managers making decisions about sustainable resource use.

Demand Forecasting For Lucky Cement, Muhammad Arsalan Rashid

CBER Conference

As we know that demand is the Quantities of a good or service that people are ready to buy at various prices within some given time, other factors besides price held constant I tried to forecast the sales for next years. I removed seasonality factors and applied other determinants to predict the demand. By using values of independent variables in my Regression, the Annual Sales of Lucky Cement for period 2020-2021 is found to be around 7.9 Million Tons.

Ua12/2/1 Housing Guide, Wku Student Affairs

WKU Administration Documents

Special magazine edition of the College Heights Herald, includes articles:

• Spainhoward, Emma. Editor’s Letter
• Secondhand Spruce-Up – Goodwill
• Harden, Olivia. Microwave Gourmet – Recipes
• Norvell, Abbey & Rylee McKee. Roommate Rules
• Crisp, Hannah. Desks with Major Personality
• Keeley, Josie. Troubleshooting Dorm Life
• Dees, Marshall. Reduce, Reuse, Upcycle
• Cleaning Playlist
• 5 Tips to Help the Planet & Your Utility Bill

Ecological Risk Assessment Of Managed Relocation As A Climate Change Adaptation Strategy, Aviv Karasov-Olson, Mark W. Schwartz, Julian D. Olden, Sarah Skikne, Jessica J. Hellmann, Sarah Allen, Christy Brigham, Danielle Buttke, David J. Lawrence, Abraham J. Miller-Rushing, Jeffrey T. Morisette, Gregor W. Schuurman, Melissa Trammell, Cat Hawkins Hoffman

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

Changing climate and introduced species are placing an increasing number of species at risk of extinction. Increasing extinction risk is increasing calls to protect species by relocating, or translocating, them to locations with more favorable biotic or climatic conditions. Managed relocation, or assisted migration, of species entails risks to both the conservation target organisms being moved as well as the recipient ecosystems into which they are moved.

Recognizing this risk, calls have been made for practitioners interested in considering a managed relocation project to engage in a serious risk assessment prior to advancing a project. We engaged a …

A Consent Framework For The Internet Of Things In The Gdpr Era, Gerald Chikukwa

Masters Theses & Doctoral Dissertations

The Internet of Things (IoT) is an environment of connected physical devices and objects that communicate amongst themselves over the internet. The IoT is based on the notion of always-connected customers, which allows businesses to collect large volumes of customer data to give them a competitive edge. Most of the data collected by these IoT devices include personal information, preferences, and behaviors. However, constant connectivity and sharing of data create security and privacy concerns. Laws and regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of 2016 ensure that customers are protected by providing privacy and security guidelines to businesses. Data …

Protocol For Monitoring Fish Communities In Small Streams In The Heartland Inventory And Monitoring Network, Version 2.0, Hope R. Dodd, David G. Peitz, Gareth Rowell, Janice A. Hinsey, David E. Bowles, Lloyd W. Morrison, Michael D. Debacker, Jennifer L. Haack-Gaynor, Jeffrey M. Williams

United States National Park Service: Publications

Executive Summary

Fish communities are an important component of aquatic systems and are good bioindicators of ecosystem health. Land use changes in the Midwest have caused sedimentation, erosion, and nutrient loading that degrades and fragments habitat and impairs water quality. Because most small wadeable streams in the Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network (HTLN) have a relatively small area of their watersheds located within park boundaries, these streams are at risk of degradation due to adjacent land use practices and other anthropogenic disturbances. Shifts in the physical and chemical properties of aquatic systems have a dramatic effect on the biotic community. …

Singapore Airlines: Profit Recovery And Aircraft Allocation Models During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Michelle L. F. Cheong, Ulysses M. Z. Chong, Anne N. T. A. Nguyen, Su Yiin Ang, Gabriella P. Djojosaputro, Gordy Adiprasetyo, Kendra L. B. Gadong

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

COVID-19 has severely impacted the global aviation industry, causing many airlines to downsize or exit the industry. For airlines which attempt to sustain their operations, they will need to respond to the increase in passenger and cargo demand, as countries recover slowly from the crisis due to the availability of vaccines. We built a series of spreadsheet models to first project the COVID-19 recovery rates by countries from 2021 to 2025, then forecast the passenger and cargo demand, using historical data as base figures. Using the financial and operation data, the revenue, expense, and profit can be projected, then an …