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Sadie, My Grandmother, Michael C. Vocino

Technical Services Faculty Publications

Recollections on the author's maternal grandmother.

A Dangerous Professor Loses A Friendship, Michael C. Vocino

Technical Services Faculty Publications

A brief essay/short story based on the author's experience as a gay university professor and how creative teaching methods ended one of his vital friendships.

Division Of Research And Economic Development Annual Report For Fy2011, Uri Division Of Research And Economic Development

Reports (Research and Economic Development)

Annual report for the Division of Research and Economic Development of the University of Rhode Island for the year 2010-2011.

Includes statistics of project proposals, expenditures, URI Foundation Awards, previous annual report summaries and awards received by individual academic and administrative departments.

Division Of Research And Economic Development Monthly Report For February 2011, Uri Division Of Research And Economic Development

Reports (Research and Economic Development)

The monthly reports include statistics for project proposals and awards received by individual academic and administrative departments at the University of Rhode Island.

Division Of Research And Economic Development Monthly Report For March 2011, Uri Division Of Research And Economic Development

Reports (Research and Economic Development)

The monthly reports include statistics for project proposals and awards received by individual academic and administrative departments at the University of Rhode Island.

Division Of Research And Economic Development Monthly Report For January 2011, Uri Division Of Research And Economic Development

Reports (Research and Economic Development)

The monthly reports include statistics for project proposals and awards received by individual academic and administrative departments at the University of Rhode Island.

Division Of Research And Economic Development Monthly Report For April-May 2011, Uri Division Of Research And Economic Development

Reports (Research and Economic Development)

The monthly reports include statistics for project proposals and awards received by individual academic and administrative departments at the University of Rhode Island.

Division Of Research And Economic Development Monthly Report For December 2011, Uri Division Of Research And Economic Development

Reports (Research and Economic Development)

The monthly reports include statistics for project proposals and awards received by individual academic and administrative departments at the University of Rhode Island.

Division Of Research And Economic Development Monthly Report For October-November 2011, Uri Division Of Research And Economic Development

Reports (Research and Economic Development)

The monthly reports include statistics for project proposals and awards received by individual academic and administrative departments at the University of Rhode Island.

Division Of Research And Economic Development Monthly Report For July-September 2011, Uri Division Of Research And Economic Development

Reports (Research and Economic Development)

The monthly reports include statistics for project proposals and awards received by individual academic and administrative departments at the University of Rhode Island.

Coupling Sensitive In Vitro And In Silico Techniques To Assess Cross-Reactive Cd4+ T Cells Against The Swine-Origin H1n1 Influenza Virus, Brian C. Schanen, Anne S. De Groot, Leonard Moise, Matt Ardito, Elizabeth Mcclaine, William Martin, Vaughan Wittman, William L. Warren, Donald R. Drake Iii

Institute for Immunology and Informatics Faculty Publications

The outbreak of the novel swine-origin H1N1 influenza in the spring of 2009 took epidemiologists, immunologists, and vaccinologists by surprise and galvanized a massive worldwide effort to produce millions of vaccine doses to protect against this single virus strain. Of particular concern was the apparent lack of pre-existing antibody capable of eliciting cross-protective immunity against this novel virus, which fueled fears this strain would trigger a particularly far-reaching and lethal pandemic. Given that disease caused by the swine-origin virus was far less severe than expected, we hypothesized cellular immunity to cross-conserved T cell epitopes might have played a significant role …

Helicovax: Epitope-Based Therapeutic Helicobacter Pylori Vaccination In A Mouse Model, Steven F. Moss, Leonard Moise, Dong Soo Lee, Woojin Kim, Songhua Zhang, Jinhee Lee, Arlin B. Rogers, William Martin, Anne S. De Groot

Institute for Immunology and Informatics Faculty Publications

Helicobacter pylori is the leading cause of gastritis, peptic ulcer disease and gastric adenocarcinoma and lymphoma in humans. Due to the decreasing efficacy of anti-H. pylori antibiotic therapy in clinical practice, there is renewed interest in the development of anti-H. pylori vaccines. In this study an in silico-based approach was utilized to develop a multi-epitope DNA-prime/peptide-boost immunization strategy using informatics tools. The efficacy of this construct was then assessed as a therapeutic vaccine in a mouse model of gastric cancer induced by chronic H. pylori infection. The multi-epitope vaccine administered intranasally induced a broad immune response as determined …

Expression Of The Distalless-B Gene In Ciona Is Regulated By A Pan-Ectodermal Enhancer Module, Steven Q. Irvine, David A. Vierra, Brad J. Millette, Matthew D. Blanchette, Rachel E. Holbert

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The Ci-Dll-B gene is an early regulator of ectodermal development in the ascidian Ciona intestinalis (Imai et al., 2006). Ci-Dll-B is located in a convergently transcribed bigene cluster with a tandem duplicate, Ci-Dll-A. This clustered genomic arrangement is the same as those of the homologous vertebrate Dlx genes, which are also arranged in convergently transcribed bigene clusters. Sequence analysis of the C. intestinalis Dll-A-B cluster reveals a 378 bp region upstream of Ci-Dll-B, termed B1, which is highly conserved with the corresponding region from the congener Ciona savignyi. The B1 element is necessary and sufficient to …

Regulator Of G Protein Signaling 9-2 (Rgs9-2) Mrna Is Up Regulated During Neuronal Differentiation Of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells, Meenakshi Sharma, Jeremy Celver, Abraham Kovoor

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

In this study we demonstrate up-regulation of mRNA for Regulator of G protein Signaling (RGS) 6, 7, 9 and 11, R7 family RGS binding protein (R7BP) and RGS9 anchor protein (R9AP) during neuronal differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs). This expression pattern was most robust for RGS9 whose transcript level was low in undifferentiated mESCs but increased over 125 fold when differentiating mESCs began to exhibit a neuronal precursor cell (NPC) phenotype. In addition, we demonstrate that RGS9 mRNA is expressed in neuronal stem cells isolated from embryonic mouse cortex. The expression of RGS9 in two distinct populations of …

Gender And Women's Studies Newsletter For Spring 2011, Uri Gender And Women's Studies Department

Gender and Women's Studies Publications

The Spring 2011 issue of Gender and Women’s Studies Newsletter, a periodical with articles written by faculty members and some related to events within the Gender and Women’s Studies program.

Modeling Habitat Associations For The Common Loon (Gavia Immer) At Multiple Scales In Northeastern North America, Anne Kuhn, Jane Copeland, John Cooley, Harry Vogel, Kate Taylor, Diane Nacci, Peter V. August

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Common Loon (Gavia immer) is considered an emblematic and ecologically important example of aquatic-dependent wildlife in North America. The northern breeding range of Common Loon has contracted over the last century as a result of habitat degradation from human disturbance and lakeshore development. We focused on the state of New Hampshire, USA, where a long-term monitoring program conducted by the Loon Preservation Committee has been collecting biological data on Common Loon since 1976. The Common Loon population in New Hampshire is distributed throughout the state across a wide range of lake-specific habitats, water quality conditions, and levels of …

A Mass Balance Approach To Identify And Compare Differential Routing Of 13C-Labeled Carbohydrates, Lipids, And Proteins In Vivo, Marshall D. Mccue, Adam Smith, Richard Mckinney, Boris Rewald, Berry Pinshow, Scott R. Mcwilliams

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

All animals route assimilated nutrients to their tissues where they are used to support growth or are oxidized for energy. These nutrients are probably not allocated homogeneously among the various tissue and are more likely to be preferentially routed toward some tissues and away from others. Here we introduce an approach that allows researchers to identify and compare nutrient routing among different organs and tissues. We tested this approach by examining nutrient routing in birds. House sparrows Passer domesticus were fed a meal supplemented with one of seven ¹³C-labeled metabolic tracers representing three major classes of macronutrients, namely, carbohydrates, …

Tick Bite Protection With Permethrin-Treated Summer-Weight Clothing, Nathan J. Miller, Erin E. Rainone, Megan C. Dyer, M. Liliana Gonzalez, Thomas N. Mather

Plant Sciences and Entomology Faculty Publications

The number of tick bites received by individuals wearing either permethrin-treated or untreated summer clothing (T-shirt, shorts, socks, and sneakers) was compared during a controlled indoor study. Pathogen-free nymphal Ixodes scapularis Say were placed on the left shoe, right leg, and left arm of 15 (5/treatment group/d) human volunteers wearing untreated outfits or outfits treated with permethrin either commercially or using a do-at-home treatment kit. The number and location of ticks attached to subjects' skin were recorded 2.5 h postinfestation. Subjects wearing outfits treated with permethrin received 3.36 times fewer tick bites than subjects wearing untreated outfits. No statistically significant …

Analysis Of Sustainable Pest Control Using A Pesticide And A Screened Refuge, John Ringland, Prasanth George

Mathematics Faculty Publications

We describe and analyze a ‘screened refuge’ technique for indefinitely sustaining control of insect pests using transgenic pesticidal crops or an applied pesticide, even when resistance is not recessive. The screen is a physical barrier that restricts pest movement. In a deterministic discrete‐time model of the use of this technique, we obtain asymptotic analytical formulas for the two important equilibria of the system in terms of the refuge size and the pest fitnesses, mutation rates, and mobility out of and into the refuge. One of the equilibria is stable and is the point at which the pest population is controlled. …

Vennvax, A Dna-Prime, Peptide-Boost Multi-T-Cell Epitope Poxvirus Vaccine, Induces Protective Immunity Against Vaccinia Infection By T Cell Response Alone, Leonard Moise, R. Mark Buller, Jill Schriewer, Jinhee Lee, Sharon E. Frey, David B. Weiner, William Martin, Anne S. De Groot

Institute for Immunology and Informatics Faculty Publications

The potential for smallpox to be disseminated in a bioterror attack has prompted development of new, safer smallpox vaccination strategies. We designed and evaluated immunogenicity and efficacy of a T-cell epitope vaccine based on conserved and antigenic vaccinia/variola sequences, identified using bioinformatics and immunological methods. Vaccination in HLA transgenic mice using a DNA-prime/peptide-boost strategy elicited significant T cell responses to multiple epitopes. No antibody response pre-challenge was observed, neither against whole vaccinia antigens nor vaccine epitope peptides. Remarkably, 100% of vaccinated mice survived lethal vaccinia challenge, demonstrating that protective immunity to vaccinia does not require B cell priming.

Enhanced Bioavailability Of Fenoterol Transdermal Systems In Rabbits, A. H. Elshafeey, Y. E. Hamza, S. Y. Amin, Fatemeh Akhlaghi, H. Zia

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

The pharmacokinetic and bioavailability of fenoterol, a B2 adrenergic agonist were studied to determine the feasibility of enhanced transdermal delivery. Fenoterol has been widely used to treat asthmatic patients. Two fenoterol formulations were studied; the first was a liquid formulation of fenoterol in Transcutol: Oleic acid in a ratio 1:1(F1), while the second was a matrix system of fenoterol in Duro-tak® 87-2074 adhesive with 10% 1-dodecyl-2-pyrrolidinone as an enhancer (F2). For comparison, control matrix with fenoterol without any enhancer (F3) was also tested. The tested formulations were applied to the shaved back skin of rabbits using HILL TOP CHAMBER^{® …}

Anaerobic Respiration Of Escherichia Coli In The Mouse Intestine, Shari A. Jones, Terri Gibson, Rosalie C. Maltby, Fatema Z. Chowdhury, Valley Stewart, Paul S. Cohen, Tyrrell Conway

Cell and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

The intestine is inhabited by a large microbial community consisting primarily of anaerobes and, to a lesser extent, facultative anaerobes, such as Escherichia coli, which we have shown requires aerobic respiration to compete successfully in the mouse intestine (S. A. Jones et al., Infect. Immun. 75:4891-4899, 2007). If facultative anaerobes efficiently lower oxygen availability in the intestine, then their sustained growth must also depend on anaerobic metabolism. In support of this idea, mutants lacking nitrate reductase or fumarate reductase have extreme colonization defects. Here, we further explore the role of anaerobic respiration in colonization using the streptomycin-treated mouse model. We …

Genotype And Phenotypes Of An Intestine-Adapted Escherichia Coli K-12 Mutant Selected By Animal Passage For Superior Colonization, Andrew J. Fabich, Mary P. Leatham, Joe E. Grissom, Graham Wiley, Hongshing Lai, Fares Najar, Bruce A. Roe, Paul S. Cohen, Tyrrell Conway

Cell and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

We previously isolated a spontaneous mutant of Escherichia coli K-12, strain MG1655, following passage through the streptomycin-treated mouse intestine, that has colonization traits superior to the wild-type parent strain (M. P. Leatham et al., Infect. Immun. 73:8039–8049, 2005). This intestine-adapted strain (E. coli MG1655*) grew faster on several different carbon sources than the wild type and was nonmotile due to deletion of the flhD gene. We now report the results of several high-throughput genomic analysis approaches to further characterize E. coli MG1655*. Whole-genome pyrosequencing did not reveal any changes on its genome, aside from the deletion at the flhDC …

Substituted Coumarin Derivatives: Synthesis And Evaluation Of Antiproliferative And Src Kinase Inhibitory Activities, Abha Kathuria, Sarah Jalal, Rakesh Tiwari, Amir Nasrolahi Shirazi, Shilpi Gupta, Shiv Kumar, Keykavous Parang, Sunil K. Sharma

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Six classes of coumarin derivatives (i.e. 3-alkyl-4-methylcoumarins, pyranocoumarins, coumarin carboxamides, quaternary ammonium coumarins, 7-aminocoumarins, and 4-aminocoumarins) were synthesized and evaluated for inhibition of cell proliferation of colon adenocarcinoma (HT-29), breast carcinoma (MDA-MB-468 or MCF-7), and human ovarian adenocarcinoma (SK-OV-3) cells. C-3-Alkyl substituted analogs of 4-methylcoumarins and pyranocoumarins, 5 and 6, inhibited the cell proliferation of MDA-MB-468 and SK-OV-3 cells by 53-74%, while 3-decyl substituted pyranocoumarin 10 and triethyl substituted quaternary ammonium coumarin derivative 29 inhibited the cell proliferation of HT-29 and SK-OV-3 cells by 63-72% at a concentration of 50 μM. Among all the compounds studied, C-3 decyl substituted …

Monoamine Neurotransmitters As Substrates For Novel Tick Sulfotransferases, Homology Modeling, Molecular Docking, And Enzyme Kinetics, Emine Bihter Yalcin, Hubert Strangl, Sivakamasundari Pichu, Thomas N. Mather, Roberta S. King

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) transmit the causative agent of Lyme disease in the Northeastern United States. Current research focuses on elucidating biochemical pathways that may be disrupted to prevent pathogen transmission, thereby preventing disease. Genome screening reported transcripts coding for two putative sulfotransferases in whole tick extracts of the nymphal and larval stages. Sulfotransferases are known to sulfonate phenolic and alcoholic receptor agonists such as 17β-estradiol, thereby inactivating the receptor ligands. We used bioinformatic approaches to predict substrates for Ixosc Sult 1 and Ixosc Sult 2 and tested the predictions with biochemical assays. Homology models of 3D protein …

Constitutive Immune Function In European Starlings, Sturnus Vulgaris, Is Decreased Immediately After An Endurance Flight In A Wind Tunnel, Silke Nebel, Ulf Bauchinger, Deborah M. Buehler, Lillie A. Langlois, Michelle Boyles, Alexander R. Gerson, Edwin R. Price, Scott R. Mcwilliams, Christopher Guglielmo

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Life-history theory predicts that animals face a trade-off in energy allocation between performing strenuous exercise, such as migratory flight, and mounting an immune response. We experimentally tested this prediction by studying immune function in European starlings, Sturnus vulgaris, flown in a wind tunnel. Specifically, we predicted that constitutive immune function decreases in response to training and, additionally, in response to immediate exercise. We compared constitutive immune function among three groups: (1) ‘untrained’ birds that were kept in cages and were not flown; (2) ‘trained’ birds that received flight training over a 15 day period and performed a 1-4 h …

Mothers' Ways Of Making It—Or Making Do?: Making (Over) Academic Lives In Rhetoric And Composition With Children, Kim Hensley Owens, Christine Peters Cucciarre, Deborah E. Morris, Lee Nickoson, Mary P. Sheridan

Professional and Public Writing Faculty Publications

This article focuses on five women's experiences “making it” as rhetoricians with children. Expanding the definition of success Michelle Ballif, Diane Davis and Roxanne Mountford set forth in Women's Ways of Making It in Rhetoric and Composition, the article offers suggestions for moving toward more family-friendly academic structures, not least by recognizing that the seemingly individualistic idea of choice—such as the choice to have children—rests uneasily with the often invisible structures that shape and delimit choices. The authors call for increased visibility of and acceptance for a greater range of possibilities for “making it” in the field today.

Learning Objects As Tools For Teaching Information Literacy Online: A Survey Of Librarian Usage, Lori S. Mestre, Lisa Baures, Mona Niedbala, Corinne Bishop, Sarah Cantrell, Alice Perez, Kate Silfen

Public Services Faculty Publications

Based on information gathered from two discussion sessions moderated by members of the Education and Behavioral Sciences Section’s Online Learning Research Committee a survey was conducted to identify how librarians use course/learning management systems and learning objects to deliver instruction. Objectives of the study were to identify the experiences of librarians who are using course/learning management systems; in what context learning objects are being developed and used; and the pedagogical considerations by librarians when creating online learning materials. In addition to discussing the results of the survey, a description of a “Toolkit for Online Learning” created by the Online Learning …

Aboard Gso: A Newsletter For Alumni And Friends Of The University Of Rhode Island’S Graduate School Of Oceanography For Winter 2011, Uri Graduate School Of Oceanography

Graduate School of Oceanography Publications

The Winter 2011 (Volume 9, Issue 2) issue of Aboard GSO: A Newsletter for Alumni and Friends of the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography, a periodical about GSO events, faculty research and essays by alumni.

Aboard Gso: A Newsletter For Alumni And Friends Of The University Of Rhode Island’S Graduate School Of Oceanography For Spring 2011, Uri Graduate School Of Oceanography

Graduate School of Oceanography Publications

The Spring 2011 (Volume 9, Issue 1) issue of Aboard GSO: A Newsletter for Alumni and Friends of the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography, a periodical about GSO events, faculty research and essays by alumni.