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Computational Close Reading: A Critique Of Digital Literary Methodology, Damiano Consilvio

Open Access Dissertations

Computational Close Reading intervenes in digital humanities and American literary scholarship to negotiate a significant institutional and disciplinary problem: the devaluation of close reading and interpretation in digital humanities applications to literary studies in favor of more distant modes of reading. To remedy this issue, I pursue a core question meant to bring the literary and the digital into a more perfect confluence, as a demonstration of possibilities meant to run counter to these preconceptions about computational reading: how “close,” if close at all, can digital technologies bring us to the interpretive elements of literary texts? I argue that they …

Book Review: Mind Over Media: Propaganda Education For A Digital Age, Faith Rogow

Journal of Media Literacy Education

No abstract provided.

From Oceanography To Critical Marketing By Way Of Dismantling Fast Fashion: The Purposeful Research Trajectory Of Deniz Atik, Beatriz De Quero Navarro, Annamma Joy

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

Deniz Atik’s curiosity and persistence has led her to dive in the complex waters of a powerful and ubiquitous contemporary phenomenon: fast fashion. From a critical perspective on marketing studies, Atik has addressed the impact of fast fashion on the environment, workers’ rights, consumer welfare, and the global system of industries and philosophies around fashion markets. Problematizing the logics of sustainability, western beauty standards and consumer vulnerability in terms of identity and representation are central analyses in her literature that proposes new perspectives on the universe of constructs related to fast fashion to be analyzed in the context of post-modern …

A Mollicutes Metagenome-Assembled Genome From The Gut Of The Pteropod Limacina Rangii, Zachary T. Pimentel, Patricia S. Thibodeau, Bongkeun Song, Ying Zhang

Cell and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

A nearly complete genome of an uncultured Mollicutes sp. was obtained from the metagenome of the gut of Limacina rangii (open-ocean snail), an important grazer and prey for higher trophic animals along the rapidly warming region of the western Antarctic Peninsula.

Competing Visions Of Fundamental Global Change: Comparative Book Review Of Rethinking Humanity By Seba & Arbib, Cristian Ziliberberg

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

No abstract provided.

Turning Red: Tradition, Repression, Mommy Issues, And A Millennial Way Of Growing Up, Hazal Bayar

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

No abstract provided.

A Global Palette Of Insightful Reviews, Nikhilesh Dholakia, Deniz Atik

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

No abstract provided.

Emerging Harmful Algal Blooms Caused By Distinct Seasonal Assemblages Of A Toxic Diatom, Alexa R. Sterling, Riley D. Kirk, Matthew J. Bertin, Tatiana A. Rynearson, David G. Borkman, Marissa C. Caponi, Jessica Carney, Katherine A. Hubbard, Meagan A. King, Lucie Maranda, Emily J. Mcdermith, Nina R. Santos, Jacob P. Strock, Erin M. Tully, Samantha B. Vaverka, Patrick D. Wilson, Bethany D. Jenkins

Cell and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

Diatoms in the Pseudo-nitzschia genus produce the neurotoxin domoic acid. Domoic acid bioaccumulates in shellfish, causing illness in humans and marine animals upon ingestion. In 2017, high domoic acid levels in shellfish meat closed shellfish harvest in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island for the first and only time in history, although abundant Pseudo-nitzschia have been observed for over 60 years. To investigate whether an environmental factor altered endemic Pseudo-nitzschia physiology or new domoic acid-producing strain(s) were introduced to Narragansett Bay, we conducted weekly sampling from 2017 to 2019 and compared closure samples. Plankton-associated domoic acid was quantified by LC-MS/MS and Pseudo-nitzschia …

Prevention Of Child Sexual Abuse In South Africa: Assessing The Role Of Parents, Community Leaders, Educators, And Social Workers, Nosisa Mabetshe, Emeka E. Obioha, Ishmael Mugari, Elphina N. Cishe

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Child sexual abuse is a global problem and is prevalent in South Africa. Child sexual abuse significantly harms the victims. This study looked at child sexual abuse prevention, focusing on the community, school system, and social workers. A mixed methods research method was used. Data were collected from 115 questionnaire respondents, of which 15 in-depth interview participants were selected. The sample was selected using purposive sampling and stratified random sampling techniques. Low reporting of incidents is hindering the effective response to child sexual abuse. The study revealed the significant role parents and community members could play in preventing child sexual …

Rapidly Declining Body Size In An Insectivorous Bat Is Associated With Increased Precipitation And Decreased Survival, Christina M. Davy, Valerie Von Zuben, Pila M. Kukka, Brian D. Gerber, Brian G. Slough, Thomas S. Jung

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Reduced food availability is implicated in declines in avian aerial insectivores, but the effect of nutritional stress on mammalian aerial insectivores is unclear. Unlike birds, insectivorous bats provision their young through lactation, which might protect nursing juveniles when prey availability is low but could increase the energetic burden on lactating females. We analyzed a 15-year capture–mark–recapture data set from 5312 individual little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus) captured at 11 maternity colonies in northwestern Canada, to test the hypothesis that nutritional stress is impacting these mammalian aerial insectivores. We used long-bone (forearm [FA]) length as a proxy for relative access to …

Faculty Senate Meeting Agenda September 29, 2022, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Meeting Agendas

No abstract provided.

Site-Based Assessment Of Oyster Shellfisheries And Associated Bio-Physical Conditions In Ghana And The Gambia, E. O. Chuku, I. Okyere, J. Adotey, S. Abrokwah, E. Effah, R. Adade, D. W. Aheto

Coastal Resources Center Technical Reports

No abstract provided.

John Kuada And Madei Mangori, How To Succeed As An Entrepreneur In Africa: A Practical Guide And Cases (2021), Felix M. Edoho Sr

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

This is a book review of How to Succeed as an Entrepreneur in Africa: A Practical Guide and Cases by Professor John Kuada and Madei Mangori. Despite what is going on about the region, the entrepreneurial success story in African environment is not at all an oxymoron. Across African continent, individuals in several countries, such as Botswana, Ghana, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, have enacted entrepreneurial triumphs, and the success stories are largely untold. Kuada and Mangori now tell the story of successful entrepreneurial ventures across Africa.

Generation And Computational Characterization Of A Complex Staphylococcus Aureus Lipid Bilayer, Faramarz Joodaki, Lenore M. Martin, Michael L. Greenfield

Chemical, Biomolecular, and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Studies indicate a crucial cell membrane role in the antibiotic resistance of Staphylococcus aureus. To simulate its membrane structure and dynamics, a complex molecular-scale computational representation of the S. aureus lipid bilayer was developed. Phospholipid types and their amounts were optimized by reverse Monte Carlo to represent characterization data from the literature, leading to 19 different phospholipid types that combine three headgroups [phosphatidylglycerol, lysyl-phosphatidylglycerol (LPG), and cardiolipin] and 10 tails, including iso- and anteiso-branched saturated chains. The averaged lipid bilayer thickness was 36.7 Å, and area per headgroup was 67.8 Ų. Phosphorus and nitrogen density profiles showed …

Acquisitions Unit Annual Report 2021-2022, Andrée J. Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Annual Report of the Acquisitions Unit, University Libraries, University of Rhode Island for FY2022. Covers personnel, work flow, special projects, and serial, monograph, and e-resource acquisitions. Supplemental files include data on library materials expenditures by a number of variables as well as important working documents from the year.

Impact Of Warming On Aquatic Body Sizes Explained By Metabolic Scaling From Microbes To Macrofauna, Curtis Deutsch, Justin L. Penn, Wilco C.E.P. Verberk, Keisuke Inomura, Martin Georg Endress, Jonathan L. Payne

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Rising temperatures are associated with reduced body size in many marine species, but the biological cause and generality of the phenomenon is debated. We derive a predictive model for body size responses to temperature and oxygen (O2) changes based on thermal and geometric constraints on organismal O2 supply and demand across the size spectrum. The model reproduces three key aspects of the observed patterns of intergenerational size reductions measured in laboratory warming experiments of diverse aquatic ectotherms (i.e., the “temperature-size rule” [TSR]). First, the interspecific mean and variability of the TSR is predicted from species' temperature sensitivities of hypoxia tolerance, …

A Comparison Of American Women's Experiences With Both Gestational Surrogate Pregnancies And Spontaneous Pregnancies, Jennifer Lahl, Kallie Fell, Kate Bassett, Frances H. Broghammer, William M. Briggs

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

This article evaluates the pregnancy experiences of American women by comparing their spontaneous or non-surrogate pregnancies with their gestational surrogate pregnancies. Data were collected through structured interviews using an online video platform. In total, 96 interviews were conducted. Data revealed that a woman was more likely to have a pregnancy that was high-risk during a surrogate pregnancy than during a non-surrogate pregnancy, independent of maternal age or gravidity (OR 11.4, 3.5-36.6; p<.0001). A surrogate pregnancy had three times higher odds of resulting in a cesarean section (p<.0001) and was five times more likely to deliver at an earlier gestational age (p<.0001). Women in this study were significantly more likely to experience postpartum depression following the delivery of surrogate children than after delivering their non-surrogate children (p=.01), and overall, they were more likely to have adverse outcomes during a surrogate pregnancy. The rate of new post-surrogacy chronic health issues for women of color was significantly higher than for women identified as white (p<.0001). We found that women’s economic disadvantage was a major contributor to the decision to proceed with surrogacy. This study confirms that health disparities exist for women with surrogate pregnancies compared to non-surrogate pregnancies, which can lead to long-term complications after a surrogate pregnancy. In terms of biomedical ethics, it raises important social, economic, and political issues related to surrogacy, all requiring further exploration. Future research will build on the present work in further helping us to understand the circumstances and consequences involved for women in surrogacy.

Alma Link Resolver Title & Issn Report (Top 500) 2021-2022, Andrée J. Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Statistics for 2021-2022 on the total number of OpenURL requests by journal title and ISSN made to the Ex Libris Alma link resolver for items held by the University of Rhode Island Libraries. Includes only the top 500 journals.

Information provided includes journal Title, ISSN, EISSN, Number of Requests, Number of Clicked Requests, % Clicks from Requests.

Alma Link Resolver Subject Report 2021-2022, Andrée J. Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Statistics for 2021-2022 on the number of OpenURL requests by Library of Congress classification code made to the Ex Libris Alma link resolver for items held by the University of Rhode Island Libraries.

Information provided includes Classification Code, Classifications, Number of Requests, Number of Clicked Requests, and % Clicks from Requests.

Medford: A Human And Machine Readable Metadata Markup Language, Polina Shpilker, John Freeman, Hailey Mckelvie, Jill Ashey, Jay-Miguel Fonticella, Hollie Putnam, Jane Greenberg, Lenore J. Cowen, Alva Couch, Noah M. Daniels

Computer Science and Statistics Faculty Publications

Reproducibility of research is essential for science. However, in the way modern computational biology research is done, it is easy to lose track of small, but extremely critical, details. Key details, such as the specific version of a software used or iteration of a genome can easily be lost in the shuffle, or perhaps not noted at all. Much work is being done on the database and storage side of things, ensuring that there exists a space to store experiment-specific details, but current mechanisms for recording details are cumbersome for scientists to use. We propose a new metadata description language, …

Testimony, Violence, And Silence: An Examination Of Agamben And His Critics, Yagmur Uygarkizi

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

This paper investigates the difficulties faced by survivors of atrocities in testifying. I work on the case of female victims of domestic torture as reported by Jeanne Sarson and Linda MacDonald. The starting point is Giorgio Agamben’s Remnants of Auschwitz with his discussion on Primo Levi’s paradox and the testis/superstes/auctor distinction. I build on his nuances while arguing that he has not looked enough into power dynamics that render one speechless. “Unspeakable violence” refers simultaneously to incapacity and not being allowed to speak. Pain renders the victim speechless; perpetrators distort language and speak over survivors. Victims are often not allowed …

Emerging Contaminants: Fluorinated Alternatives To Existing Pfas, Ting Ruan, Jennifer Field, Ian Cousins, Rainer Lohmann, Guibin Jiang

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Cortisol On Abdominal Fat, Zach Guerrieo

Senior Honors Projects

ZACHARY GUERRIEO (Biological Sciences)

The effect of cortisol on abdominal fat accumulation

Sponsor: Brietta Oaks (Nutrition)

Cortisol is the stress hormone of the body, it increases sugars in the bloodstream, enhances the brain's use of glucose, and increases the availability of substances to repair tissues. A healthy person has a daily slope of cortisol where it is high when they wake up and then decreases throughout the day. Cortisol, however, can be high throughout the day for people who live stressful or unhealthy lives. There have been conversations that high cortisol can cause fat gain specifically in the abdominal area. …

The Invisible Injury, Makenzie Mcdonald

Senior Honors Projects

Concussions are one of the most common injuries seen in sports, and often occur during other activities, such as automobile accidents or falls. Yet unlike most other injuries they are invisible to the naked eye. Bumping your head into something normally does not cause any outwardly physical damage, and even if a scrape or bruise does form it is still impossible to tell if there is a traumatic brain injury underneath. However, concussions are a serious and dangerous injury that if left untreated could ultimately be fatal. Someone suffering from a concussion often suffers in silence and what can feel …

Performing From Under Penal Gaze: Examining What Incarcerated People Post To Tiktok, Lily B. Truppi

Senior Honors Projects

The prison walls previously keeping the lives of inmates private from the general population had been largely successful. In recent years, the creation of the internet and the accessibility of social media has transformed the way we can view and interact with the incarcerated population. Since the introduction of the social media app known as TikTok, the experience and lives of inmates have been posted and consumed by a larger portion of the population outside of academia. Within these videos inmates can express themselves through performance of culturally popular trends, their lives within prison, and establish identity in a place …

A Pathogen Outside Its Host: F. Tularensis Survival In Water, Aisling Macaraeg

Senior Honors Projects

Francisella tularensis is a Gram-negative pathogenic bacterium and is the causative agent for tularemia. While our understanding of F. tularensis survival in the environment is limited, it is clear they can persist in freshwater aquatic environments for long periods of time. Currently, there is a gap in knowledge with the understanding of the genes involved with the long-term survival of F. tularensis in an aquatic environment. In the laboratory setting, it has been found that lower temperatures seem to allow longer survival. The aim of this project is to identify laboratory conditions that allow F. tularensis to survive longterm in …

How Sensory Enrichment Influences The Behavior Of Two-Toed Sloths In Captivity, Jessica Daltorio

Senior Honors Projects

No abstract provided.

Freely Dissolved Organochlorine Pesticides (Ocps) And Polychlorinated Biphenyls (Pcbs) Along The Indus River Pakistan: Spatial Pattern And Risk Assessment, Muhammad Sohail, Syed Ali Musstjab Akber Shah Eqani, Habib Bokhari, Muhammad Zaffar Hashmi, Nadeem Ali, Ambreen Alamdar, Joel E. Podgorski, Dave Adelman, Rainer Lohmann

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Freely dissolved OCPs and PCBs were measured by using polyethylene passive samplers at 15 sites during 2014 throughout the stretch of the Indus River to investigate the spatial pattern and risk assess. Levels (pg/L) of dissolved ∑OCPs and ∑PCBs ranged from 34 to 1600 and from 3 to 230. Among the detected OCPs, dissolved DDTs (p,p′-DDE, followed by p,p′-DDT) predominated with levels of 0.48 to 220 pg/L. The order of occurrence for other studied OCPs was as follows: HCB, endosulfans, chlordanes, and HCHs. Spatially, dissolved (pg/L) ∑OCPs varied (p < 0.05) as the following: surface water of the alluvial riverine zone (ARZ) showed the highest levels (114) followed by the frozen mountain zone (FMZ) (52.9), low-lying zone (LLZ) (28.73), and wet mountain zone (WMZ) (14.43), respectively. However, our zone-wise PCB data did not exhibit significant differences (p > 0.05). Principal component analysis/multilinear regression results …

Perkinsus Marinus Suppresses In Vitro Eastern Oyster Apoptosis Via Iap-Dependent And Caspase-Independent Pathways Involving Tnfr, Nf-Kb, And Oxidative Pathway Crosstalk, Erin M. Witkop, Gary H. Wikfors, Dina A. Proestou, Kathryn Markey Lundgren, Mary Sullivan, Marta Gomez-Chiarri

College of Nursing Faculty Publications

The protozoan parasite Perkinsus marinus causes Dermo disease in eastern oysters, Crassostrea virginica, and can suppress apoptosis of infected hemocytes using incompletely understood mechanisms. This study challenged hemocytes in vitro with P. marinus for 1 h in the presence or absence of caspase inhibitor Z-VAD-FMK or Inhibitor of Apoptosis protein (IAP) inhibitor GDC-0152. Hemocytes exposure to P. marinus significantly reduced granulocyte apoptosis, and pre-incubation with Z-VAD-FMK did not affect P. marinus-induced apoptosis suppression. Hemocyte pre-incubation with GDC-0152 prior to P. marinus challenge further reduced apoptosis of granulocytes with engulfed parasite, but not mitochondrial permeabilization. This suggests P. marinus-induced apoptosis suppression …

Transformation Of Lipid Vesicles Into Micelles By Adding Nonionic Surfactants: Elucidating The Structural Pathway And The Intermediate Structures, Igor Kevin Mkam Tsengam, Marzhana Omarova, Elizabeth G. Kelley, Alon Mccormick, Geoffrey D. Bothun, Srinivasa R. Raghavan, Vijay T. John

Chemical, Biomolecular, and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

The phospholipid lecithin (L) and the nonionic surfactant Tween 80 (T) are used together in various contexts, including in drug delivery and oil spill remediation. There is hence a need to elucidate the nanostructures in LT mixtures, which is the focus of this paper. We study these mixtures using cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM), coupled with dynamic light scattering and small-angle neutron scattering. As the concentration of Tween 80 is increased, the vesicles formed by lecithin are transformed into spherical micelles. We identify bicelles (i.e., disc-like micelles) as well as cylindrical micelles as the key stable nanostructures formed at intermediate …