Digital Commons Network^™

Seasonal Patterns In Stable Isotope And Fatty Acid Profiles Of Southern Stingrays (Hypanus Americana) At Stingray City Sandbar, Grand Cayman, Lisa A. Hoopes, Tonya M. Clauss, Nicole E. Browning, Alexa J. Delaune, Bradley M. Wetherbee, Mahmood Shivji, Jessica C. Harvey, Guy C. M. Harvey

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Ecotourism opportunities in the marine environment often rely heavily on provisioning to ensure the viewing of cryptic species by the public. However, intentional feeding of wildlife can impact numerous aspects of an animals’ behavior and ecology. Southern stingrays (Hypanus americana) provisioned at Stingray City Sandbar (SCS) in Grand Cayman have altered diel activity patterns and decreased measures of health. This study looked at seasonal changes in stable isotope (SI) and fatty acid (FA) profiles of provisioned stingrays at SCS. Plasma δ15N was higher in male stingrays (11.86 ± 1.71‰) compared to females (10.70 ± 1.71‰). Lower values for …

Bioinformatics Of Corals: Investigating Heterogeneous Omics Data From Coral Holobionts For Insight Into Reef Health And Resillience, Lenore J. Cowen, Judith Klein-Seetharaman, Hollie M. Putnam

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Coral reefs are home to over 2 million species and provide habitat for roughly 25% of all marine animals, but they are being severely threatened by pollution and climate change. A large amount of genomic, transcriptomic and other -omics data from different species of reef building corals, the uni-cellular dinoagellates, plus the coral microbiome (where corals have possibly the most complex microbiome yet discovered, consisting of over 20,000 different species), is becoming increasingly available for corals. This new data present an opportunity for bioinformatics researchers and computational biologists to contribute to a timely, compelling, and urgent investigation of critical factors …

Short-Term Treatment With Dabigatran Alters Protein Expression Patterns In A Late-Stage Tau-Based Alzheimer's Disease Mouse Model, Jaclyn Iannucci, Shelby L. Johnson, Mark Majchrzak, Benjamin J. Barlock, Fatemeh Akhlaghi, Navindra P. Seeram, Abhik Sen, Paula Grammas

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Proteins that regulate the coagulation cascade, including thrombin, are elevated in the brains of Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients. While studies using amyloid-based AD transgenic mouse models have implicated thrombin as a protein of interest, the role of thrombin in tau-based animal models has not been explored. The current study aims to determine how inhibiting thrombin could alter oxidative stress, inflammation, and AD-related proteins in a tau-based mouse model, the Tg4510. Aged Tg4510 mice were treated with the direct thrombin inhibitor dabigatran or vehicle for 7 days, brains collected, and western blot and data-independent proteomics using mass spectrometry with SWATH-MS acquisition …

Speciation‐By‐Depth On Coral Reefs: Sympatric Divergence With Gene Flow Or Cryptic Transient Isolation?, Carlos Prada, Michael E. Hellberg

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The distributions of many sister species in the sea overlap geographically but are partitioned along depth gradients. The genetic changes leading to depth segregation may evolve in geographic isolation as a prerequisite to coexistence or may emerge during primary divergence leading to new species. These alternatives can now be distinguished via the power endowed by the thousands of scorable loci provided by second‐generation sequence data. Here, we revisit the case of two depth‐segregated, genetically isolated ecotypes of the nominal Caribbean candelabrum coral Eunicea flexuosa. Previous analyses based on a handful of markers could not distinguish between models of genetic …

Apoe-Modified Liposomes Mediate The Antitumour Effect Of Survivin Promoter-Driven Hsvtk In Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Xiuli Mu, Xi Wang, Yan Wei, Chaochao Wen, Qi Zhang, Chunyang Xu, Chang Liu, Chan Zhang, Fanxiu Meng, Na Zhao, Tao Gong, Rui Guo, Gongqin Sun, Gaopeng Li, Hongwei Zhang, Qin Qin, Jun Xu, Xiushan Dong, Lumei Wang, Baofeng Yu

Cell and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a prevalent malignant tumour with high global morbidity and mortality associated with its multiple aetiologies, poor prognosis, resistance to chemotherapeutic drugs and high rate of recurrence. Here, we evaluated a gene therapy strategy that targets HCC using the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase/ganciclovir (HSVtk/GCV) suicide gene system in HCC cell lines and in an in vivo human HCC xenograft mouse model. Apolipoprotein E (ApoE)-modified liposomes were used for targeted gene delivery to the tumour tissue, and the survivin promoter was used to drive HSVtk expression in HCC cells. Our results showed that the survivin promoter was …

Are Fluoropolymers Really Of Low Concern For Human And Environmental Health And Separate From Other Pfas?, Rainer Lohmann, Ian T. Cousins, Jamie C. Dewitt, Juliane Gluge, Gretta Goldenman, Dorte Herzke, Andrew B. Lindstrom, Mark F. Miller, Carla A. Ng, Sharyle Patton, Martin Scheringer, Xenia Trier, Zhanyun Wang

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Fluoropolymers are a group of polymers within the class of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The objective of this analysis is to evaluate the evidence regarding the environmental and human health impacts of fluoropolymers throughout their life cycle(s). Production of some fluoropolymers is intimately linked to the use and emissions of legacy and novel PFAS as polymer processing aids. There are serious concerns regarding the toxicity and adverse effects of fluorinated processing aids on humans and the environment. A variety of other PFAS, including monomers and oligomers, are emitted during the production, processing, use, and end-of-life treatment of fluoropolymers. There …

The Body In Isolation: The Physical Health Impacts Of Incarceration In Solitary Confinement, Justin D. Strong, Keramet Reiter, Gabriela Gonzalez, Rebecca Tublitz, Dallas Augustine, Melissa Barragan, Kelsie Chesnut, Pasha Dashtgard, Natalie Pifer, Thomas R. Blair

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

We examine how solitary confinement correlates with self-reported adverse physical health outcomes, and how such outcomes extend the understanding of the health disparities associated with incarceration. Using a mixed methods approach, we find that solitary confinement is associated not just with mental, but also with physical health problems. Given the disproportionate use of solitary among incarcerated people of color, these symptoms are most likely to affect those populations. Drawing from a random sample of prisoners (n = 106) in long-term solitary confinement in the Washington State Department of Corrections in 2017, we conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews; Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale …

Reflections By Lisa Millett Rau: Kate Millett Memorial Service, Lisa Millett Rau

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

A Tribute By Nicole Fernandez Ferrer: Kate Millett Memorial Service, Nicole Fernandez Ferrer

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Fixing Social Media: Toward A Democratic Digital Commons, Michael Kwet

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

In the past few years, big Social Media networks like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have received intense scrutiny from the intellectual classes. This article critiques the dominant strain of criticism, the neo-Brandeisian School of antitrust, for its narrow focus on “regulated competition” as an appropriate means to “fix social media”. This essay calls for a socialist alternative: a democratic social media commons based on free and open source technology, decentralization, and democratic socialist legal solutions. It reviews how existing solutions like the Fediverse and LibreSocial work, and how they may provide answers for a better way forward.

Rethink Everything 1: Markets, Globalization, Development, Nikhilesh Dholakia, Deniz Atik

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

No abstract provided.

First Insights Into The Vertical Habitat Use Of The Whitespotted Eagle Ray Aetobatus Narinari Revealed By Pop‐Up Satellite Archival Tags, Lauran R. Brewster, Brianna V. Cahill, Miranda N. Burton, Cassady Dougan, Jeffrey S. Herr, Laura I. Norton, Samantha A. Mcguire, Marisa Pico, Elizabeth Urban-Gedamke, Kim Bassos-Hull, John P. Tyminski, Robert E. Hueter, Bradley M. Wetherbee, Mahmood Shivji, Neil Burnie, Matthew J. Ajemian

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The whitespotted eagle ray Aetobatus narinari is a tropical to warm‐temperate benthopelagic batoid that ranges widely throughout the western Atlantic Ocean. Despite conservation concerns for the species, its vertical habitat use and diving behaviour remain unknown. Patterns and drivers in the depth distribution of A. narinari were investigated at two separate locations, the western North Atlantic (Islands of Bermuda) and the eastern Gulf of Mexico (Sarasota, Florida, U.S.A.). Between 2010 and 2014, seven pop‐up satellite archival tags were attached to A. narinari using three methods: a through‐tail suture, an external tail‐band and through‐wing attachment. Retention time ranged from 0 to …

Legacy And Novel Per- And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances In Juvenile Seabirds From The U.S. Atlantic Coast, Anna R. Robuck, Mark G. Cantwell, James P. Mccord, Lindsay M. Addison, Marisa Pfohl, Mark J. Strynar, Richard Mckinney, David R. Katz, David N. Wiley, Rainer Lohmann

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are anthropogenic, globally distributed chemicals. Legacy PFAS, including perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), have been regularly detected in marine fauna but little is known about their current levels or the presence of novel PFAS in seabirds. We measured 36 emerging and legacy PFAS in livers from 31 juvenile seabirds from Massachusetts Bay, Narragansett Bay, and the Cape Fear River Estuary (CFRE), United States. PFOS was the major legacy perfluoroalkyl acid present, making up 58% of concentrations observed across all habitats (range: 11–280 ng/g). Novel PFAS were confirmed in chicks hatched downstream of a fluoropolymer production site in …

Introduction: Oceans, Amelia Moore, Jerry K. Jacka

Marine Affairs Faculty Publications

In this introduction, we introduce the new editors of the journal and the new members of the editorial board. We then summarize the articles, highlighting the intellectual contributions they make to an environmental and social analysis of the world's oceans, ocean scientists, and marine species.

The World Coral Conservatory (Wcc): A Noah's Ark For Corals To Support Survival Of Reef Ecosystems, Didier Zoccola, Nadia Ounais, Dominique Barthelemy, Robert Calcagno, Françoise Gaill, Stephane Henard, Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, Max Janse, Jean Jaubert, Hollie M. Putnam, Bernard Salvat, Christian R. Voolstra, Denis Allemand

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Global change causes widespread decline of coral reefs. In order to counter the anticipated disappearance of coral reefs by the end of this century, many initiatives are emerging, including creation of marine protected areas (MPAs), reef restoration projects, and assisted evolution initiatives. Such efforts, although critically important, are locally constrained. We propose to build a “Noah's Ark” biological repository for corals that taps into the network of the world’s public aquaria and coral reef scientists. Public aquaria will serve not only as a reservoir for the purpose of conservation, restoration, and research of reef-building corals but also as a laboratory …

The Influence Of Boat Moorings On Anchoring And Potential Anchor Damage To Coral Reefs, Graham E. Forrester

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Recreational boating is increasingly popular and provides social and economic benefits, but can also have ecological impacts, including damage from anchoring on sensitive seabed habitats like coral reefs. Mooring buoys are commonly used to manage anchoring activity, and I tested whether they moderated anchoring on coral reefs in the British Virgin Islands. A spatial survey revealed that overall boat use (moored plus anchored) was 3.6 times higher at sites with moorings than those without. The density of boats anchored on coral reef was, however, reduced by roughly half at sites with moorings. A survey of two sites before and after …

Acquisitions Unit Annual Report 2019-2020, Andrée J. Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Annual Report of the Acquisitions Unit, University Libraries, University of Rhode Island for FY2020. 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.

The Instrumentalised User: Human, Computer, System, Scott Kushner

Communication Studies Faculty Publications

Humans who encounter social media platforms have a role to play. They are expected to generate content, a demand starkly illustrated by a mid-2010s Facebook prompt: “Write something.” This essay recuperates the history of this role, the “instrumentalised user,” and traces its development from the mid-1960s to the present. Drawing on evidence from scholarly texts in ergonomics, media studies, computer science, psychology, Human-Computer Interaction, and political economy, the essay traces the instrumentalised user’s emergence from decades of efforts to characterise and problematise those actors who encounter computing. Using Actor-Network Theory to show how humans and computing machinery were imagined to …

T Lymphocyte Responses To Flaviviruses — Diverse Cell Populations Affect Tendency Toward Protection And Disease, Luis Alberto Sanchez Vargas, Anuja Mathew, Alan L. Rothman

Cell and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

Dengue virus (DENV), Yellow Fever virus, West Nile virus, Japanese encephalitis virus and Zika virus are medically important flaviviruses transmitted to humans by mosquitoes and circulate in overlapping geographic areas. Cross-reactive immune responses have been demonstrated among the flaviviruses, particularly the four DENV serotypes. The immunological imprint left by a flavivirus infection can therefore have profound effects on the responses to subsequent infections. In this review we summarize recent research focusing on T cell responses to DENV using clinical samples from prospective cohort studies in Asia. These data suggest that durability of different T cell populations after …

Immune-Engineered H7n9 Influenza Hemagglutinin Improves Protection Against Viral Influenza Virus Challenge, Hyesun Jang, Lauren M. Meyers, Christine Boyle, Anne S. De Groot, Leonard Moise, Ted M. Ross

Cell and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

The influenza hemagglutinin (HA) isolated from avian H7N9 influenza virus strains elicit weak immune responses. This low immunogenicity may be due to a regulatory T cell (T_reg)–stimulating epitopes in HA from the H7N9 isolate A/Anhui/1/2013 (Anh/13). In this report, this T_reg stimulating sequence was removed from the wild-type (WT) H7 HA amino acid sequence and replaced with a conserved CD4 + T cell stimulating sequences from human seasonal H3N2 strains and designed OPT1 H7 HA. The effectiveness of this optimized H7 HA protein was determined using a humanized mouse (HLA-DR3) expressing the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) DR3 …

A Combinatorial Strategy For Overcoming Primary And Acquired Resistance Of Mek Inhibition In Colorectal Cancer, Junjun Chen, Jie Dai, Zhiming Kang, Ting Yang, Qi Zhao, Jinxiu Zheng, Xinxin Zhang, Jisheng Zhang, Jun Xu, Gongqin Sun, Lijun Yang, Tao Yang

Cell and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

Compared with traditional chemotherapeutic drugs, targeted therapeutic medicine has the advantages of high efficacy and less toxic side effects. However, in clinical practice for treatment of colorectal cancer, the primary and acquired resistance of these medicines limits their effectiveness in targeted therapy, therefore impedes the development of precision medicine and personalized therapy. Currently, there are limited number of drugs for targeted therapy of colorectal cancer, mainly monoclonal antibodies against EGFR or VEGFR inhibitors. Trametinib, a MEK inhibitor, has been applied in melanoma patient successfully, but not been used in clinical treatment of colorectal cancer because of its drug resistance. To …

A Critical Disability Studies Reading Of Beauty And The Beast: Détournement In Pedagogical Practice, Nicole Eilers

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Disney’s interpretation of the fairy tale, Beauty and the Beast, and the decisions made to include or exclude certain key elements of the original plot, provide insight into how ideas about what it means to be human have changed over time. Specifically, a critical disability studies reading of Beauty and the Beast brings to light the taken-for-granted category of disability as a social construct, the ever-shifting indicators of an individual’s normality/Otherness, and the socio-historical context that results in such distinctions. The intent of this paper is to (1) explain the theoretical framework behind a détournement, or counter-text, I created …

Drivers Of Future Alien Species Impacts: An Expert‐Based Assessment, Franz Essl, Bernd Lenzner, Sven Bacher, Sarah Bailey, Cesar Capinha, Curtis Daehler, Stefan Dullinger, Piero Genovesi, Cang Hui, Philip E. Hulme, Jonathan M. Jeschke, Stelios Katsanevakis, Ingolf Kuhn, Brian Leung, Andrew Liebhold, Chunlong Liu, Hugh J. Macisaac, Laura A. Meyerson, Et Al

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Understanding the likely future impacts of biological invasions is crucial yet highly challenging given the multiple relevant environmental, socio‐economic and societal contexts and drivers. In the absence of quantitative models, methods based on expert knowledge are the best option for assessing future invasion trajectories. Here, we present an expert assessment of the drivers of potential alien species impacts under contrasting scenarios and socioecological contexts through the mid‐21st century. Based on responses from 36 experts in biological invasions, moderate (20%–30%) increases in invasions, compared to the current conditions, are expected to cause major impacts on biodiversity in most socioecological contexts. Three …

Contrasting Effects Of Climate Change On Seasonal Survival Of A Hibernating Mammal, Lina S. Cordes, Daniel T. Blumstein, Kenneth B. Armitage, Paul J. Caradonna, Dylan Z. Childs, Brian Gerber, Julien Ga Martin, Madan K. Oli, Arpat Ozgul

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Seasonal environmental conditions shape the behavior and life history of virtually all organisms. Climate change is modifying these seasonal environmental conditions, which threatens to disrupt population dynamics. It is conceivable that climatic changes may be beneficial in one season but result in detrimental conditions in another because life-history strategies vary between these time periods. We analyzed the temporal trends in seasonal survival of yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventer) and explored the environmental drivers using a 40-y dataset from the Colorado Rocky Mountains (USA). Trends in survival revealed divergent seasonal patterns, which were similar across age-classes. Marmot survival declined during …

Alma Link Resolver Title & Issn Report (Top 500) 2019-2020, Andrée J. Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Statistics for 2019-2020 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 2019-2020, Andrée J. Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Statistics for 2019-2020 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.

The Physics Of Sports: A Textbook (With Answers), David R. Heskett

The Physics of Sports: A Textbook

This is the full PDF of The Physics of Sports: a Textbook by Professor David R. Heskett, University of Rhode Island Department of Physics. This version of the book includes answers. A version without answers, as well as all supplemental videos, are available here: https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/physicsofsports/

This book is intended to accompany a one-semester general education college science course. It is largely conceptual with some simple quantitative and semi-quantitative content. No previous physics background is necessary. Some math is needed - simple algebra and arithmetic. Questions and exercises are embedded throughout the text. Also included are homework questions and exercises for …

Thrombin, A Mediator Of Coagulation, Inflammation, And Neurotoxicity At The Neurovascular Interface: Implications For Alzheimer’S Disease, Jaclyn Iannucci, William Renehan, Paula Grammas

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

The societal burden of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is staggering, with current estimates suggesting that 50 million people world-wide have AD. Identification of new therapeutic targets is a critical barrier to the development of disease-modifying therapies. A large body of data implicates vascular pathology and cardiovascular risk factors in the development of AD, indicating that there are likely shared pathological mediators. Inflammation plays a role in both cardiovascular disease and AD, and recent evidence has implicated elements of the coagulation system in the regulation of inflammation. In particular, the multifunctional serine protease thrombin has been found to act as a mediator …

Traffic Jam At The Nuclear Pore: All Roads Lead To Nucleocytoplasmic Transport Defects In Als/Ftd, Claudia Fallini, Bilal Khalil, Courtney L. Smith, Wilfried Rossoll

Cell and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal late-onset neurodegenerative disease that specifically affects the function and survival of spinal and cortical motor neurons. ALS shares many genetic, clinical, and pathological characteristics with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and these diseases are now recognized as presentations of a disease spectrum known as ALS/FTD. The molecular determinants of neuronal loss in ALS/FTD are still debated, but the recent discovery of nucleocytoplasmic transport defects as a common denominator of most if not all forms of ALS/FTD has dramatically changed our understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms of this disease. Loss of nuclear pores and nucleoporin aggregation, …

The Physics Of Sports: A Textbook, David R. Heskett

The Physics of Sports: A Textbook

This is the full PDF of The Physics of Sports: a Textbook by Professor David R. Heskett, University of Rhode Island Department of Physics. This version of the book does not include answers. A version with answers, as well as all supplemental videos, are available here: https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/physicsofsports/

This book is intended to accompany a one-semester general education college science course. It is largely conceptual with some simple quantitative and semi-quantitative content. No previous physics background is necessary. Some math is needed - simple algebra and arithmetic. Questions and exercises are embedded throughout the text. Also included are homework questions and …