Digital Commons Network^™

Coculture Of Probiotic Bacteria In Algal Feedstocks For Disease Management In Bivalve Hatcheries, Samuel Hughes

Open Access Master's Theses

Bivalve hatcheries include microalgae culture operations as a food source for stock, and these algae cultures harbor dynamic bacterial communities. Because algae from these cultures and their commensal microbiota are distributed to stock larval tanks daily upon feeding, the presence of pathogenic Vibrio spp. in hatchery microalgae cultures is a threat to stock health and survival. This study investigates the algal/bacterial and bacterial/bacterial interaction between four popular species of microalgae feedstock, a Vibrio sp. of known pathogenicity to bivalves (V. coralliilyticus RE22 [RE22]), a probiotic marine bacterium with demonstrated effectiveness in reducing larval shellfish mortality in culture operations …

A Pilot Qualitative Evaluation: Youth Perception On Plastic Straws Before And After Education Intervention, Elizabeth Smith

Open Access Master's Theses

The objective of this work was to conduct a qualitative pilot study investigating the change in youth perceptions of single-use plastic straws before and after an educational intervention. To achieve this goal six female students, ranging from 12 to 14 years old, were interviewed on their knowledge about single-use plastic straws, their frequency of use, and their general understanding of current environmental issues. They were then shown two educational videos pertaining to the history of single-use plastic straws and their current usage status. After one week students were interviewed again and asked questions to reflect on the information shown to …

The Social Acceptability Of Shellfish Aquaculture In Washington, Katie Rubstello

Open Access Master's Theses

Domestic aquaculture continues to meet public resistance in the U.S. even though the U.S. imports a growing amount of farmed seafood. This study applies the normative evaluation approach to aquaculture in the South Puget Sound, Washington and uses data from an online survey to evaluate how local residents feel about two different types of shellfish aquaculture methods (rafts; bottom culture) in natural and developed settings. This study also evaluates public perceptions of the social and environmental impacts of shellfish aquaculture and examines how a farmed Atlantic salmon escape in Puget Sound in 2017 affected participant views of aquaculture. Findings revealed …

Coastal Zone Access And The Pell Elementary School Sail Newport Program: Experiential Education Outcomes In Newport, Rhode Island, Leah Feldman

Open Access Master's Theses

Newport, Rhode Island is a diverse community. Although there is a population of very wealthy households in Newport, roughly 11% of the population lives below the poverty line. Newport is one of the more demographically diverse communities in Rhode Island, with 49.7% of its populous identifying as white, 27.1% identifying as black, and 18.2% identifying as Hispanic. The state of Rhode Island consists of 81% white, 6.5% African American and 5.8% other races and ethnicities. In this thesis I discuss the effects of a place-based experiential environmental education program, the Pell Elementary School Sail Newport Program, on this diverse demographic …

Plastic Perceptions: Surveying Public Opinion Of Plastic Pollution In Rhode Island, Sabrina Pereira

Open Access Master's Theses

This research surveyed 200 coastal and noncoastal Rhode Island residents to determine their perceptions of marine plastic debris and their support for plastic and paper bag legislation. The results suggest that one’s residency, or geographic distance from the coast, has no bearing on plastic and paper bag policy support and that most participants, 77%, classify plastic pollution as a serious threat to various types of wildlife, the marine environment, human health, and Rhode Island’s economy. The data also seems to suggest support for a statewide plastic bag ban and a statewide fee of 10 cents on paper bags as a …

Identification Of 15 Phthalate Esters In Commercial Cheese Powder Via Cyclodextrin-Promoted Fluorescence Detection, Benjamin B. Cromwell

Open Access Master's Theses

Human exposure to toxicants such as environmental pollutants, carcinogens, and endocrine disruptors occurs via a variety of mechanisms, including through the use of commercial products that contain these toxicants. Among such commercial products, many classes of food products have been found to contain toxicants, including phthalate and phthalate esters, which have traditionally been detected using mass spectrometry-based techniques. Reported herein is the use of gas chromatography mass spectrometry and cyclodextrin-promoted fluorescence detection to accomplish the sensitive (0.124µM limits of detection) detection of 15 phthalate esters in commercial cheese powder used in macaroni and cheese products. These results highlight the versatility …

Anthelmintic Efficacy Of Pelleted Cranberry Vine Against Gastrointestinal Nematodes Of Sheep, Bailey Chalut

Open Access Master's Theses

Gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) represent a major health concern in small ruminants as well as a constraint for producers. The prevalence of anthelmintic resistance in small ruminant GIN has increased rapidly worldwide, creating the need for alternative control methods to address the issue. The discovery that plant secondary compounds, including proanthocyanidins (PAC), suppress GIN infections has provided promise for alternative methods of GIN control. Although the mechanism is not well understood, studies have shown in vitro and in vivo evidence of anti-parasitic effects of bioactive plants. Recently a study from our laboratory provided in vitro evidence of anthelmintic activity of cranberry …

Growth Of Saccharina Latissima In Aquaculture Systems Modeled Using Dynamic Energy Budget Theory, Celeste T. Venolia

Open Access Master's Theses

Aquaculture is an industry with the capacity for further growth that can sustainably feed an increasing human population. Sugar kelp (Saccharina latissima) is of particular interest for farmers as a fast-growing species that benefits ecosystems. However, as a new industry in the U.S., farmers interested in growing S. latissima lack data on growth dynamics. To address this gap, we calibrated a Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) model to data from the literature and a 2-year growth experiment in Rhode Island (U.S.). Environmental variables forcing model dynamics included temperature, irradiance, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) concentration, and nitrate and ammonium concentration. …

Rhode Island’S Agricultural Production And Climate Change: Practices, Perceptions, And Limitations, Mishreky N. Lawandy

Open Access Master's Theses

Climate change is projected to have significant impacts on the productivity and sustainability of agricultural production in coming years. In order to safeguard agricultural productivity and strengthen the resilience of regional food systems, farmers and other agricultural stakeholders will need to explore and adopt on-farm practices that are adaptive and/or mitigative. Understanding how farmers perceive and respond to climate change on their farms is essential to resilience building efforts.

The goal of this research is to address the lack of information on the concerns and response strategies of food-producing specialty crop growers in the U.S. Northeast, specifically the state of …

Comparative Effects Of Tolfenamic Acid And Donepezil On Behavior And Tau Pathology Biomarker Levels, Abdullah G. Alharbi

Open Access Master's Theses

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease and is considered the predominant cause of dementia worldwide. Pathologically, the disease has been attributed to excessive accumulation of amyloid-β peptide and hyperphosphorylated tau protein leading to the formation of amyloid plaques and tau tangles, respectively. Currently, management of AD is extensively based on cholinesterase inhibitors, such as donepezil (DPZ), which provide symptomatic improvement. While there is no disease-modifying treatment, our lab has shown that tolfenamic acid (TA), a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), has potential disease-modifying properties independent of its anti-inflammatory effects. Thus, here we intended to compare it with DPZ, the …

Development Of Bayesian And Non-Bayesian Melphalan Pharmacokinetic Model From Literature-Generated Data, Enoch Cobbina

Open Access Master's Theses

Published articles constitute a huge repository of population pharmacokinetic (Pop PK) models that can be repurposed to answer dose-related questions. We present a Simulation-Informed-Statistically-Aided (SISA) method that can be used to select population pharmacokinetic models from literature for repurposing.

Seven published melphalan PK models, and 1 reference model from FDA NDA submission documents were selected. A 30 minute IV infusion of 140 mg/m² of melphalan was simulated using each of the 7 models. The predictive performance of each of the models were evaluated using a proposed method called modified standard normal deviate (mSND). Five models, M1, M3, M4, M5 …

Nanostructured Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy Sensor For Marine Pollutants, Timo Küster

Open Access Master's Theses

Excess concentrations of nitrate and phosphate in seawater can lead to harmful algae blooms that damage coastal ecosystems, pose health risks and adversely impact commercial activity. Early in situ detection of over-nutrification is necessary for rapid response and mitigation plans. Commercial nitrate and phosphate sensors utilize UV-Vis spectroscopy methods. Those sensors show interference with ions present in seawater and are prone to biofouling, necessitating new approaches for in situ monitoring. Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a technique theoretically capable of single molecule detection, and therefore may be a promising approach for nitrate and phosphate detection. However, there are clear …

The Bacterial Symbionts Of Closely Related Hydrothermal Vent Snails With Distinct Geochemical Habitats Show Broad Similarity In Chemoautotrophic Gene Content, Roxanne A. Beinart, Chengwei Luo, Konstantinos T. Konstantinidis, Frank J. Stewart, Peter R. Girguis

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Symbiosis has evolved between a diversity of invertebrate taxa and chemosynthetic bacterial lineages. At the broadest level, these symbioses share primary function: the bacterial symbionts use the energy harnessed from the oxidation of reduced chemicals to power the fixation of inorganic carbon and/or other nutrients, providing the bulk of host nutrition. However, it is unclear to what extent the ecological niche of the host species is influenced by differences in symbiont traits, particularly those involved in chemoautotrophic function and interaction with the geochemical environment. Hydrothermal vents in the Lau Basin (Tonga) are home to four morphologically and physiologically similar snail …

Investigation Of Iron Mediated Molecular Transformations And Synthesis Of 2-Amino-Α-Carboline And Its Analogues Relevant For Dna Adduct Formation, Anita Adjoa Oppong

Open Access Dissertations

The discovery of new synthetic methods and routes for making new bonds is one of the highest incentives to an organic chemist. Innovative, efficient, effective, economical and exceptionally environmentally friendly synthetic methods are being continuously discovered. Transition metal catalyzed C-H activation has been unearthed as one of these methods, especially iron catalyzed direct C-H activation. Fundamental to making more discoveries is understanding the mechanism behind a specific reaction. To this end, the mechanism behind iron catalyzed C-H activation was investigated. Results indicate the intermediary transition state for the iron species involves an Fe(I) species but the attempt to synthesize this …

Remotely Activated Biomaterials For Optimizing The Temporal Profiles Of Therapeutic Molecules, Tania T. Emi

Open Access Dissertations

Remotely activated hydrogel-based biomaterials can maximize the therapeutic effects by providing localized deliveries and minimizing off-target side effects. Smart hydrogels respond to an externally applied stimulus by delivering therapeutic molecules. While showing promise in releasing molecules in a precise spatial manner, they do not inherently provide temporally dynamic delivery profiles (e.g., controlled timing, rates, and sequences) required to direct sequences of biological events.

Biological processes are characterized by a sequence of events regulated by a complex interplay of signaling factors. For example, in the instance of ischemia (where a tissue no longer receives oxygen and nutrients due to a lack …

Biomolecular Functionalization Of A Nanomaterial To Control Stability And Retention Within Live Cells, Mitchell Gravely, Mohammad Moein Safaee, Daniel E. Roxbury

Chemical, Biomolecular, and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Noncovalent hybrids of single-stranded DNA and single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have demonstrated applications in biomedical imaging and sensing due to their enhanced biocompatibility and photostable, environmentally responsive near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence. The fundamental properties of such DNA-SWCNTs have been studied to determine the correlative relationships between oligonucleotide sequence and length, SWCNT species, and the physical attributes of the resultant hybrids. However, intracellular environments introduce harsh conditions that can change the physical identities of the hybrid nanomaterials, thus altering their intrinsic optical properties. Here, through visible and NIR fluorescence imaging in addition to confocal Raman microscopy, we show that the oligonucleotide length …

Data Analytics For Wearable Iot-Based Telemedicine, Rassoul Diouf

Open Access Master's Theses

Parkinson’s disease (PD, Parkinson’s) is a common neurodegenerative disease affecting over 10 million individuals worldwide. Its main marker is the loss of dopamine-producing neurons in the substantia nigra, an area of the midbrain. The root cause of PD is currently unknown. Besides, the disease is progressive, and the symptoms worsen as the ones affected grow older. Motor symptoms such as tremors, slowness of movement, and muscular rigidity, along with other non-motor ones, such as trouble with sleep, may occur. The current solutions for PD are medication and, in cases when the disease does not respond to it as much as …

Computational Gene Association Based On Relative Species Displacement In Gene And Morphology Trees, Martin D. Hellwig

Open Access Dissertations

While a number of methods exist for gene based fin prediction, these studies are mostly limited to single sites and to binary morphological characters and they are very susceptible to missing data. Here we present GATRS (Gene Association in TRee Space), a novel algorithm than can operate on continuous morphological observations such as fin size and is robust to missing data by operating in gene tree space, analyzing linkages between entire genes and morphological traits. GATRS performs a large number of comparisons between closely related trees which requires a tree distance method that is particularly apt at distinguishing closely related …

Identifying Factors Of Success For Renewable Energy Growth In The United States Of America, Alaa Masrahi

Open Access Dissertations

Energy consumption has a complex relationship with its physical, demographic, and behavioral characteristics. The literature review showed that renewable energy is an increasingly important issue in energy security and sustainability. The research on renewable energy consumption identifies the driving and obstructing factors. Renewable energy growth is associated with complex, interacting variables and requires concerted, multidisciplinary efforts for effective research and development. Thus, the aim of this study is to demonstrate the importance of findings that influence renewable energy consumption among 22 states. Our study seeks to understand and assert the complex energy perspective via the relationship between factors and nature …

What To Eat And When: The Consequences Of Polyunsaturated Fat Consumption And Pace Of Changes To Body Lipid Composition In Songbirds, Wales Aran Carter

Open Access Dissertations

Diet mediates environmental influence on organismal performance, but diets must be broken down into their constituent compounds and integrated into organismal tissues before they can exert such influence. Thus, a full account of the relationship between diet and organismal performance requires descriptions of intermediate effects on body composition and tissue function, as well as the dynamics of composition and function over time. The work described in this dissertation investigates a case study of diet and organismal performance in songbirds: dietary polyunsaturated fats have been demonstrated to influence the metabolic performance of songbirds, but the influence of individual fatty acid compounds, …

Present Bias And Financial Behavior, Jing Jian Xiao, Nilton Porto

Human Development and Family Science Faculty Publications

Present bias is an important term in the theory of self‐control in behavioral finance. Empirical research finds that present bias is associated with undesirable spending, borrowing, and saving behaviors. Unlike previous research that focuses on one domain of financial behavior, the purpose of this study is to examine associations between present bias and a set of financial behaviors in various domains: spending, borrowing, saving, and money management. With data from a national urban sample in China, results show that some behavioral patterns are consistent with theoretical predictions that present biased consumers are more likely to spend in the present and …

The Influence Of Plastic Bag Bans On Pro-Environmental Behaviors In Rhode Island Coastal Communities, Eva Touhey

Open Access Master's Theses

One of the greatest threats to the natural environment is marine debris pollution. Single-use plastics, one of many contributors to marine debris, are causing the greatest harm, affecting the well-being of humans and animals. In an effort to mitigate plastic pollution, environmental policies are implemented to reduce the availability of single-use plastic products to the consumer. This research looks explicitly at single-use plastic bag policies to see if implemented plastic bag bans promote pro-environmental behaviors and broader support for plastic bag policies. This study sampled two communities in Rhode Island, one with a single-use plastic bag ban, Middletown, and one …

Assessing Consumer Preferences For Sustainability, Equity, And Welfare In The Aquarium Trade, Larynn Cutshaw

Open Access Master's Theses

Each year millions of fish and invertebrates are traded to support the home aquaria industry. Aquarium keeping is a popular hobby worldwide and the trade has the potential to provide socio-economic benefits to reef-adjacent communities while promoting environmental stewardship by consumers. However, current practices are negatively impacting the industry as the supply chain can be environmentally unsustainable and socially unequitable. Poor industry practices compromise the welfare of the organisms, leading to immense supply chain losses which exacerbate the sustainability and equity issues. Since the trade is demand-driven, consumers can play a role in addressing poor industry practices by using their …

The Burden Of Invisibility: A Case Study Of The Fisheries Crisis In Ghana, And Usaid/Ghana Sustainable Fisheries Management Project’S Gender Mainstreaming Strategy, Danielle Bilecki

Open Access Master's Theses

The Sustainable Fisheries Management Project’s primary goal is to create a more sustainable artisanal fishery in Ghana, in order to increase food security within the nation. One of SFMP’s strategies within this fisheries-based project was to implement a gender mainstreaming strategy in order to empower previously overlooked women stakeholders. This chapter will present the results of a study on the impacts of SFMP’s gender mainstreaming strategy on members of Ghana’s artisanal fisheries sector.

This study focuses on impacts primarily associated with fishers, fish processors, members of client and partner organizations, as well as the organizations themselves, and on the Ministry …

Improving Spatial Predictions Of Animal Resource Selection To Guide Conservation Decision Making, Brian Gerber, Joseph M. Northrup

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Resource selection is often studied by ecologists interested in the environmental drivers of animal space use and movement. These studies commonly produce spatial predictions, which are of considerable utility to resource managers making habitat and population management decisions. It is thus paramount that predictions from resource selection studies are accurate. We evaluated model building and fitting strategies for optimizing resource selection function predictions in a use‐availability framework. We did so by simulating low‐ and high‐intensity spatial sampling data that respectively predicted study area and movement‐based resource selection. We compared one of the most commonly used forms of statistical regularization, Akaike's …

Multi-Antigen Vaccination With Simultaneous Engagement Of The Ox40 Receptor Delays Malignant Mesothelioma Growth And Increases Survival In Animal Models, Peter R. Hoffmann, Fukun W. Hoffmann, Thomas A. Premeaux, Tsuyoshi Fujita, Elisa Soprana, Maddalena Panigada, Glen M. Chew, Guilhem Richard, Pooja Hindocha, Mark Menor, Vedbar S. Khadka, Youping Deng, Leonard Moise, Lishomwa C. Ndhlovu, Antonio Siccardi, Andrew D. Weinberg, Anne S. De Groot, Pietro Bertino

Cell and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

Malignant Mesothelioma (MM) is a rare and highly aggressive cancer that develops from mesothelial cells lining the pleura and other internal cavities, and is often associated with asbestos exposure. To date, no effective treatments have been made available for this pathology. Herein, we propose a novel immunotherapeutic approach based on a unique vaccine targeting a series of antigens that we found expressed in different MM tumors, but largely undetectable in normal tissues. This vaccine, that we term p-Tvax, is comprised of a series of immunogenic peptides presented by both MHC-I and -II to generate robust immune responses. The peptides were …

Promiscuous Coxiella Burnetii Cd4 Epitope Clusters Associated With Human Recall Responses Are Candidates For A Novel T-Cell Targeted Multi-Epitope Q Fever Vaccine, Anja Scholzen, Guilhem Richard, Leonard Moise, Laurie A. Baeten, Patrick M. Reeves, William D. Martin, Timothy A. Brauns, Christine M. Boyle, Susan Raju Paul, Richard Bucala, Richard A. Bowen, Anja Garritsen, Anne S. De Groot, Ann E. Sluder, Mark C. Poznansky

Cell and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

Coxiella burnetii, the causative agent of Q fever, is a Gram-negative intracellular bacterium transmitted via aerosol. Regulatory approval of the Australian whole-cell vaccine Q-VAX^® in the US and Europe is hindered by reactogenicity in previously exposed individuals. The aim of this study was to identify and rationally select C. burnetii epitopes for design of a safe, effective, and less reactogenic T-cell targeted human Q fever vaccine. Immunoinformatic methods were used to predict 65 HLA class I epitopes and 50 promiscuous HLA class II C. burnetii epitope clusters, which are conserved across strains of C. burnetii. HLA binding …

The Significance Of Microbial Symbionts In Ecosystem Processes, Roxanne A. Beinart

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

It is increasingly accepted that the microbial symbionts of eukaryotes can have profound effects on host ecology and evolution. However, the relative contribution that they make directly to ecosystem processes, like energy and nutrient flows, is less explicitly acknowledged and, in many cases, only poorly constrained. Here, I explore the idea that, in some habitats, host-associated microbes may have an outsized role in ecosystem processes relative to functionally equivalent free-living microbes due to key aspects of the physiology, ecology, and evolution of symbiotic interactions. My research quantifying symbiont metabolism has shown that microbial symbionts have the potential to make a …

Advancements In Biomimetic Underwater Propulsion: Boundary Interactions And Crossflow Compensation, Matthew Perkins

Open Access Dissertations

Biomimetic propulsion is an active area of research in the field of robotics. This work presents advancements to help improve the performance of vehicles employing oscillating foil propulsion. For vehicles operating near the sea floor, ground effect on rolling and pitching foils was investigated in Manuscript 1. The ‘ground effect’ was found to be present and to cause a repulsion force on the foil as well as an increased thrust force. It was also shown that ground effect can be activated by biasing the foil into the ground effect zone while the vehicle maintains a greater distance from the boundary. …

An Omics Based Approach For The Identification Of Biomarkers In Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Using In Vitro Models Of Hepatic Steatosis, Anitha Saravanakumar

Open Access Dissertations

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is an “umbrella” term for the broad spectrum of the disease that begins from the simple steatosis to more progressive stages of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), that includes hepatocellular ballooning, inflammation, and fibrosis. NAFLD is a growing epidemic globally, with 25% of the population predicted to be diagnosed with this disease. Liver biopsy is the only definitive method of diagnosis, despite the widespread use of sonography and elastography to predict the disease state. There is no current FDA approved medication for NAFLD/NASH. This is partly due to the lack of translatable disease model to predict the …