Digital Commons Network^™

Attitudes Of Rural Westerners On The Environment And Conservation, Robert Bonnie, Drew Bennett, Emily Pechar Diamond, Elizabeth Rowe

Communication Studies Faculty Publications

This report builds on the Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions’ (NIEPS) report Understanding Rural Attitudes Toward the Environment and Conservation in America. Using the same polling, focus groups, and rural stakeholder leader interviews data from this earlier report, we focus here on the attitudes of rural western voters by taking a deeper look at data from western rural voters.

Does Providing Scientific Information Affect Climate Change And Gmo Policy Preferences Of The Mass Public? Insights From Survey Experiments In Germany And The United States, Emily Diamond, Thomas Bernauer, Frederick Mayer

Communication Studies Faculty Publications

The use of information provision has been criticized as an ineffective way to increase support for evidence-based environmental policies, but it remains a dominant strategy among policy communicators. Using a survey experiment on climate change and genetically modified food (GMO) policy preferences in Germany and the United States (N = 3,000 total), we investigate how information provision shapes environmental policy attitudes and whether this effect is moderated by trust in science and trust in the source of messages. Findings show that information provision significantly shifted policy preferences towards the prevailing scientific opinion, but primarily among individuals whose prior attitudes conflicted …

University Manual 2019-2020, Uri Faculty Senate

University Manual Archive

No abstract provided.

Reduced Levels Of Cerebrospinal Fluid/Plasma Aβ40 As An Early Biomarker For Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy In Rtg-Di Rats, Xiaoyue Zhu, Feng Xu, Michael D. Hoos, Hedok Lee, Helene Benveniste, William Van Nostrand

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

The accumulation of fibrillar amyloid β-protein (Aβ) in blood vessels of the brain, the condition known as cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), is a common small vessel disease that promotes cognitive impairment and is strongly associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Presently, the clinical diagnosis of this condition relies on neuroimaging markers largely associated with cerebral macro/microbleeds. However, these are markers of late-stage disease detected after extensive cerebral vascular amyloid accumulation has become chronic. Recently, we generated a novel transgenic rat model of CAA (rTg-DI) that recapitulates multiple aspects of human CAA disease with the progressive accumulation of cerebral vascular amyloid, largely composed …

Thermo-Responsive Fluorescent Nanoparticles For Multimodal Imaging And Treatment Of Cancers, Nikhil Pandey, Jyothi Menon, Masaya Takahashi, Jer-Tsong Hsieh, Jian Yang, Kytai T. Nguyen, Aniket S. Wadajkar

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Theranostic systems capable of delivering imaging and therapeutic agents at a specific target are the focus of intense research efforts in drug delivery. To overcome non-degradability and toxicity concerns of conventional theranostic systems, we formulated a novel thermo-responsive fluorescent polymer (TFP) and conjugated it on the surface of iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) for imaging and therapeutic applications in solid tumors. Methods: TFP-MNPs were synthesized by copolymerizing poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), allylamine and a biodegradable photoluminescent polymer, and conjugating it on MNPs via a free radical polymerization reaction. Physicochemical properties of the nanoparticles were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, dynamic …

Improving Immunogenicity And Safety Of Flagellin As Vaccine Carrier By High-Density Display On Virus-Like Particle Surface, Yiwen Zhao, Zhuofan Li, Xiaoyue Zhu, Yan Cao, Xinyuan Chen

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Flagellin is a protein-based adjuvant that activates toll-like receptor (TLR) 5. Flagellin has been actively explored as vaccine adjuvants and carriers. Preclinical and clinical studies find flagellin-based vaccines have a risk to induce systemic adverse reactions potentially due to its overt activation of TLR5. To improve safety and immunogenicity of flagellin as vaccine carriers, FljB was displayed at high densities on hepatitis b core (HBc) virus-like particle (VLP) surface upon c/e1 loop insertion. FljB-HBc (FH) VLPs showed significantly reduced ability to activate TLR5 or induce systemic interleukin-6 release as compared to FljB. FH VLPs also failed to significantly increase rectal …

Estimation Of Self-Sustained Activity Produced By Persistent Inward Currents Using Firing Rate Profiles Of Multiple Motor Units In Humans, Babak Afsharipour, Nagib Manzur, Jennifer Duchcherer, Keith K. Fenrich, Christopher K. Thompson, Francesco Negro, Katharina A. Quinlan, David J. Bennett, Monica A. Gorassini

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Persistent inward calcium and sodium currents (I_P) activated during motoneuron recruitment help synaptic inputs maintain self-sustained firing until de-recruitment. Here, we estimate the contribution of the I_P to self-sustained firing in human motoneurons of varying recruitment threshold by measuring the difference in synaptic input needed to maintain minimal firing once the I_P is fully activated compared with the larger synaptic input required to initiate firing prior to full I_P activation. Synaptic input to ≈20 dorsiflexor motoneurons simultaneously recorded during ramp contractions was estimated from firing profiles of motor units decomposed from high-density surface-EMG. To avoid …

Endurance Exercise Training In Pulmonary Hypertension Increases Skeletal Muscle Electron Transport Chain Supercomplex Assembly, Danielle J. Mccullough, Nouaying Kue, Thomas Mancini, Alexander Vang, Richard T. Clements, Gaurav Choudhary

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Pulmonary hypertension is associated with pronounced exercise intolerance (decreased V ċ O₂ max) that can significantly impact quality of life. The cause of exercise intolerance in pulmonary hypertension remains unclear. Mitochondrial supercomplexes are large respiratory assemblies of individual electron transport chain complexes which can promote more efficient respiration. In this study, we examined pulmonary hypertension and exercise-induced changes in skeletal muscle electron transport chain protein expression and supercomplex assembly. Pulmonary arterial hypertension was induced in rats with the Sugen/Hypoxia model (10% FiO₂, three weeks). Pulmonary arterial hypertension and control rats were assigned to an exercise training protocol …

Deficient Virtue In The Phaedo, Douglass Reed

Philosophy Faculty Publications

Plato seems to have been pessimistic about how most people stand with regard to virtue. However, unlike the Stoics, he did not conclude that most people are vicious. Rather, as we know from discussions across several dialogues, he countenanced decent ethical conditions that fall short of genuine virtue, which he limited to the philosopher. Despite Plato's obvious interest in this issue, commentators rarely follow his lead by investigating in detail such conditions in the dialogues. When scholars do investigate what kind of virtue, if any, Plato thinks is open to non-philosophers, they typically look to the Republic. But in the …

Combined Effect Of Herbivory And Salinity Stress On The Common Reed, Phragmites Australis, Jennifer Soukup

Open Access Master's Theses

With the rapid decline of Phragmites australis in the Mississippi River Delta (MRD) and increasing threat of land erosion, understanding the possible contributing factors to reed dieback have become increasingly apparent. In this study, we use a greenhouse experiment to examine how the combination of salinity and herbivory could contribute to carbon starvation and ultimately reed dieback in reed stands of North American native and/or the introduced European in New England wetlands. We measured the aboveground biomass, leaf water content, leaf toughness, and specific leaf area, as well as carbohydrate levels and starch content across three salinity treatments with and …

Trends In Chondrichthyan Research: An Analysis Of Three Decades Of Conference Abstracts, D. S. Shiffman, M. U. Ajemian, J. C. Carrier, T. S. Daly-Engel, M. M. Davis, N. K. Dulvy, R. D. Grubbs, N. A. Hinojosa, J. Imhoff, M. A. Kolmann, C. S. Nash, E. W. M. Paig-Tran, E. E. Peele, R. A. Skubel, Bradley M. Wetherbee, L. B. Whitenack, J. T. Wyffels

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Given the conservation status and ecological, cultural, and commercial importance of chondrichthyan fishes, it is valuable to evaluate the extent to which research attention is spread across taxa and geographic locations and to assess the degree to which scientific research is appropriately addressing the challenges they face. Here we review trends in research effort over three decades (1985–2016) through content analysis of every abstract (n = 2,701) presented at the annual conference of the American Elasmobranch Society (AES), the oldest and largest professional society focused on the scientific study and management of these fishes. The most common research areas …

Contrasting Immunomodulatory Effects Of Probiotic And Pathogenic Bacteria On Eastern Oyster, Crassostrea Virginica, Larvae, Tejashree H. Modak, Marta Gomez-Chiarri

Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Sciences Faculty Publications

Several Vibrio spp. cause acute and severe mortality events in hatcheries where larvae of bivalve mollusks are reared, potentially leading to subsequent shortage of bivalve seed for the grow-out industry. In particular, strains of Vibrio coralliilyticus have been identified as a major cause of disease in Pacific, Crassostrea gigas, and eastern, C. virginica, oyster hatcheries in the United States of America. Probiotic bacteria are an inexpensive, practical, and natural method of disease control. Previous research shows that pretreatment of larval oysters with probiotic bacteria Bacillus pumilus RI06–95 (RI) and Phaeobacter inhibens S4 (S4) significantly decreases mortality caused …

Transcriptome Analysis Provides A Blueprint Of Coral Egg And Sperm Functions, Julia Van Etten, Alexander Shumaker, Tali Mass, Hollie M. Putnam, Debashish Bhattacharya

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Background

Reproductive biology and the evolutionary constraints acting on dispersal stages are poorly understood in many stony coral species. A key piece of missing information is egg and sperm gene expression. This is critical for broadcast spawning corals, such as our model, the Hawaiian species Montipora capitata, because eggs and sperm are exposed to environmental stressors during dispersal. Furthermore, parental effects such as transcriptome investment may provide a means for cross- or trans-generational plasticity and be apparent in egg and sperm transcriptome data.

Methods

Here, we analyzed M. capitata egg and sperm transcriptomic data to address three questions: (1) …

Squeezed By A Habitat Split: Warm Ocean Conditions And Old‐Forest Loss Interact To Reduce Long‐Term Occupancy Of A Threatened Seabird, Matthew G. Betts, Joseph M. Northrup, Jennifer A. Bailey Guerrero, Lindsay J. Adrean, S. Kim Nelson, Jennifer L. Fisher, Brian D. Gerber, Marie‐Sophie Garcia‐Heras, Zhiqiang Yang, Daniel D. Roby, James W. Rivers

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Theory predicts that species requiring multiple habitat types simultaneously should have heightened sensitivity to anthropogenic pressures, yet tests of this prediction are especially rare. We tested whether breeding site occupancy of the threatened marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) was driven by the synergistic effects of nesting habitat loss in forests, and changing ocean condi- tions. We paired 70,700 murrelet surveys at 19,837 sites across 20 years from the Oregon Coast Range with annual data on the extent of old forest and biophysical ocean conditions. Dynamic occupancy models indicated that local murrelet col- onization rates were strongly reduced during warm …

Science Communication Demands A Critical Approach That Centers Inclusion, Equity, And Intersectionality, Katherine N. Canfield, Sunshine Menezes, Shayle B. Matsuda, Amelia Moore, Alycia N. Mosley Austin, Bryan M. Dewsbury, Mónica I. Feliú-Mójer, Katharine W.B. Mcduffie, Kendall Moore, Christine A. Reich, Hollie M. Smith, Cynthia Taylor

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

We live in an era of abundant scientific information, yet access to information and to opportunities for substantive public engagement with the processes and outcomes of science are still inequitably distributed. Even with increasing interest in science communication and public engagement with science, historically marginalized and minoritized individuals and communities are largely overlooked and undervalued in these efforts. To address this gap, this paper aims to define inclusive science communication and clarify and amplify the field. We present inclusive science communication as one path forward to redress the systemic problems of inequitable access to and engagement with STEMM (science, technology, …

Urinformed Spring 2020, Urinformed

URInformed: The URI Employees' Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Crisis Management Art From The Risks To The Control: A Review Of Methods And Directions, Mohammed Abdalla, Louai Alarabi, Abdeltawab Hendawi

Computer Science and Statistics Faculty Publications

A crisis is an exceptional event that causes damage and negative impacts on organizations. For this reason, crisis management is considered as a significant action needed to follow crisis causes and consequences for preventing or avoiding these exceptional events from occurring again. Studies have devoted their efforts to proposing methods, techniques, and approaches in the crisis management direction. As a result, it is critical to provide a consolidated study that has an integrated view of proposed crisis management methods, crisis impacts, and effective response strategies. For this purpose, this paper first highlights the proposed techniques used in crisis management and …

An 'Ungentle' Punk: Revisiting Charles Lamb's Bookishness, Michael Robinson

Professional and Public Writing Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Forge V: Five Axis 3d Printer, Daniel Brogan, Emma Mccool-Guglielmo, Ryan Mullaney, Alex Pezzullo, Dalton Stein

Mechanical Engineering Capstone Design Projects

This report contains a comprehensive overview of the Team 09: 5-Axis 3D Printer Honors Capstone project. This project was presented by the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) of Newport, Rhode Island. Jim Leblanc from NUWC originally defined the problem as the design, building, and demonstration of a 3D printer with 5 degrees of freedom that can print complex geometry with reduced material support. Typical 3D printers use 3 axes of motion to position an extruder to print parts layer by layer. The limitations of traditional 3-axis 3D printers is that parts with overhangs require support material and parts can only …

A Description Of Approachable Nurses: An Exploratory Study, The Voice Of The Hospitalized Child, Bethany J. Petronio-Coia, Donna Schwartz-Barcott

College of Nursing Faculty Publications

Purpose: The 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child drew international attention to the right of a child to be heard. Researchers have enhanced the child’s voice in many settings, albeit few in the hospital. Nurse researchers investigating the hospital experiences of children have identified positive and negative patterns of communication. Potential characteristics of an approachable nurse were hinted at, although none explored the concept of approachability.

Design and methods: A qualitative, descriptive research design, including semi-structured interviews with seven school age children (ages 8-12, four girls and three boys) in a pediatric oncology service, was used to …

Systematic Review And Network Meta-Analysis With Individual Participant Data On Cord Management At Preterm Birth (Icomp): Study Protocol, Anna Lene Seidler, Lelia Duley, Anup C. Katheria, Catalina De Paco Matallana, Eugene Dempsey, Heike Rabe, John Kattwinkel, Judith S. Mercer, Justin Josephsen, Karen Fairchild, Ola Andersson, Shigeharu Hosono, Venkataseshan Sundaram, Vikram Datta, Walid El-Naggar, William Tarnow-Mordi, Thomas Debray, Stuart B. Hooper, Martin Kluckow, Graeme Polglase, Peter G. Davis, Alan Montgomery, Kylie E. Hunter, Angie Barba, John Simes, Lisa Askie

College of Nursing Faculty Publications

Introduction: Timing of cord clamping and other cord management strategies may improve outcomes at preterm birth. However, it is unclear whether benefits apply to all preterm subgroups. Previous and current trials compare various policies, including time-based or physiology-based deferred cord clamping, and cord milking. Individual participant data (IPD) enable exploration of different strategies within subgroups. Network meta-analysis (NMA) enables comparison and ranking of all available interventions using a combination of direct and indirect comparisons.

Objectives: (1) To evaluate the effectiveness of cord management strategies for preterm infants on neonatal mortality and morbidity overall and for different participant characteristics using IPD …

Eb4cast Approach Improves Science Communication With Stakeholders In A College-Based Health Program, Melissa D. Olfert, Makenzie L. Barr, Rebecca L. Hagedorn, Rachel A. Wattick, Wenjun Zhou, Tanya M. Horacek, Anne E. Mathews, Kendra K. Kattelmann, Tandalayo Kidd, Adrienne A. White, Onikia N. Brown, Jesse Stabile Morrell, Lisa Franzen-Castle, Karla P. Shelnutt, Carol Byrd-Bredbenner, Terezie Tolar-Peterson, Geoffrey W. Greene, Sarah E. Colby

Nutrition Faculty Publications

Communicating scientific results with community partners is often lacking in intervention programs, thus eB4CAST was developed to facilitate impact sharing. This article investigated using the eB4CAST dissemination tool to communicate impact from a campus-based obesity prevention program. Data from Get Fruved RCT university sites collected at baseline were used to generate eB4CAST reports. Experts (n = 13) and RCT sites (n = 15) were asked to provide feedback on eB4CAST reports based on appeal, understanding, and clarity. On all Likert items, participants rated above 7 on each (out of 10). Positive responses from open-ended questions included eB4CAST reports …

Kappa Opioid Receptor Antagonism: Are Opioids The Answer For Treatment Resistant Depression?, Alyssa M. Peckham, De La Cruz, Robert L. Dufresne

Pharmacy Practice and Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Introduction: Past trials of buprenorphine (BUP) in the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) have displayed favorable results, although its clinical utility was limited by the risk of abuse or physical dependence. By combining BUP with samidorphan (SAM), the euphoric high is negated by an opposing mechanism, which theoretically reduces addictive-like properties while allowing the antidepressant properties to remain. As such, the objective of this article is to analyze the results of BUP/SAM premarketing clinical trials as adjunctive treatment for treatment-resistant MDD.

Methods: A comprehensive PubMed/MEDLINE search was conducted through November 9, 2017, using the following search terms: depression, samidorphan, …

Prevalence And Factors Associated With Disruptive Behavior Among Iranian Students During 2015: A Cross-Sectional Study, Marzieh Araban, Ali Montazeri, L.A.R. Stein, Mahmood Karimy, Ali Ashgar Haeri Mehrizi

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Disruptive behavior can have lifetime consequences for youth. Prevention, early identification and treatment of disruptive behavior can improve outcomes for these youth. The purpose of the present study was to assess the prevalence of disruptive behavior among a sample of Iranian youth, and the relationship of disruptive behavior to other psychological phenomena that may be targeted for prevention, early identification and treatment.

Method: The sample consisted of 600 high school students (300 boys and 300 girls; ages 15 to 18 years old) selected through multi-stage random sampling in Saveh city, of Iran, in 2015. Questionnaires assessed several phenomena including …

Stab Resistant Body Armor, Nolan Burkholder, Richard Doyen, Normand Manning, Ronald Nimaja

Mechanical Engineering Capstone Design Projects

The National Institute of Justice or NIJ Standard 0115.00 is the standard for minimum performance requirements for body armor resistant to slashes and stabs. Dr. Nassersharif, selected and assigned the team to design a vest that is spike-resistant, lightweight, and affordable. While designing, the team followed the design specifications given by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to determine test criteria and energy levels. The team focused on utilizing shear thickening fluid (STF) when designing body armor. Ideally, the use of STF will produce a lightweight, affordable protective garment that is stab-resistant. This design requires the use of a dilatant …

Effects Of Nanoparticle Size And Radiation Energy On Copper-Cysteamine Nanoparticles For X-Ray Induced Photodynamic Therapy, Bindeshwar Sah, Jing Wu, Adam Vanasse, Nil Kanatha Pandey, Lalit Chudal, Zhenzhen Huang, Wenzhi Song, Hongmei Yu, Lun Ma, Wei Chen, Michael Antosh

Physics Faculty Publications

The Copper-cysteamine (Cu-Cy) nanoparticle is a novel sensitizer with a potential to increase the effectiveness of radiation therapy for cancer treatment. In this work, the effect of nanoparticle size and the energy of X-rays on the effectiveness of radiation therapy are investigated. The effect of the particle size on their performance is very complicated. The nanoparticles with an average size of 300 nm have the most intense photoluminescence, the nanoparticles with the average size of 100 nm have the most reactive oxygen species production upon X-ray irradiation, while the nanoparticles with the average size of 40 nm have the best …

Propaganda In An Age Of Algorithmic Personalization: Expanding Literacy Research And Practice, Renee Hobbs

Communication Studies Faculty Publications

In this commentary, the author considers the rise of algorithmic personalization and the power of propaganda as they shift the dynamic landscape of 21st‐century literacy research and practice. Algorithmic personalization uses data from the behaviors, beliefs, interests, and emotions of the target audience to provide filtered digital content, targeted advertising, and differential product pricing to online users. As persuasive genres, advertising and propaganda may demand different types of reading practices than texts whose purpose is primarily informational or argumentative. Understanding the propaganda function of algorithmic personalization may lead to a deeper consideration of texts that activate emotion and tap into …

Torpedo Gatling, Seth Camara, Harrison Kenyon, James Vartanian

Mechanical Engineering Capstone Design Projects

Our group was tasked by the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC), to design a system in which multiple small diameter payloads can be deployed from a larger diameter cylinder. These payloads consist of sonobuoys and other projectiles, which will be launched rapidly within the larger cylinder. NUWC wants to create a system that is able to have the capability to deploy multiple projectiles out of a single, un-altered torpedo tube.

After many concept ideas and prototyping using tools such as CAD, 3-D printing, and finite element analysis, as well as discussing with our contact at NUWC, a final prototype was …

Shellfish Cytogenetics To Domesticate Oysters And Other Shellfish, Michael A. Rice

Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Sciences Faculty Publications

One of the key problems faced by oyster farmers in temperate regions of the world is that the condition of the oysters, or the relative ‘fatness’ of the meat, changes throughout the growing season in response to changes in water temperature and the seasonal availability of phytoplankton in the water as food for the oysters.

Modulation Of Receptor Interacting Protein Kinase 1 (Ripk1) Signaling During Dengue Virus Infection, Darshika Jeewanthi Udawatte

Open Access Dissertations

Dengue virus (DENV) infection is the most prevalent arthropod-borne virus disease. There are estimated 100 million symptomatic cases of dengue disease per year worldwide. A lack of effective antiviral therapies or vaccines makes DENV infections a major global health concern. Therefore, understanding the viral and host factors contributing to the disease pathogenesis is critical. DENV has been shown to effectively counteract host innate immune mechanisms. In particular, DENV protease, NS3 has emerged as an inhibitor of host cellular signaling by targeting crucial host proteins. Here we identified RIPK1 as a novel target of DENV NS3. RIPK1 is a central mediator …