Digital Commons Network^™

Suppressing Mir-21 Activity In Tumor-Associated Macrophages Promotes An Antitumor Immune Response, Mahnaz Sahraei, Balkrishna Chaube, Yuting Liu, Jonathan Sun, Alanna Kaplan, Nathan L. Price, Wen Ding, Stanley Oyaghire, Rolando Garcia-Milian, Sameet Mehta, Yana Reshetnyak, Raman Bahal, Paolo Fiorina, Peter M. Glazer, David L. Rimm, Carlos Fernandez-Hernando, Yajaira Suarez

Physics Faculty Publications

microRNA-21 (miR-21) is the most commonly upregulated miRNA in solid tumors. This cancer-associated microRNA (oncomiR) regulates various downstream effectors associated with tumor pathogenesis during all stages of carcinogenesis. In this study, we analyzed the function of miR-21 in noncancer cells of the tumor microenvironment to further evaluate its contribution to tumor progression. We report that the expression of miR-21 in cells of the tumor immune infiltrate, and in particular in macrophages, was responsible for promoting tumor growth. Absence of miR-21 expression in tumor- associated macrophages (TAMs), caused a global rewiring of their transcriptional regulatory network that was skewed toward a …

Career Choice Among First-Generation, Minority Stem College Students, Bryan Dewsbury, Cynthia Taylor, Amy Reid, Connie Viamonte

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

We qualitatively investigated ways in which undergraduates unpacked their perceptions of STEM careers after attending a seminar series that introduced them to diverse scientists. Using Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) as a guiding framework, we explored how culturally-specific realities impacted students’ career choices. Our findings suggest that familial ties and cultural expectations played key roles in determining how students navigated career choice. Our results have implications for how institutions navigate career pursuit discussions with students.

Zoo Animal Management Avs 327, Michael Cerbo

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

Curriculum And Standards Committee Report No. #2019-20-2 (Courses), University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Bills

No abstract provided.

Curriculum And Standards Committee Report No. #2019-20-2 (Courses), University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Bills

No abstract provided.

Curricular And Standards Committee Report No. #2019-20-2: Curricular Proposals, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Bills

No abstract provided.

A Newcomer's Guide To Functional Near Infrared Spectroscopy Experiments, Rand K. Almajidy, Kunal Mankodiya, Mohammadreza Abtahi, Ulrich G. Hofmann

Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

This review presents a practical primer for functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) with respect to technology, experimentation, and analysis software. Its purpose is to jump-start interested practitioners considering utilizing a non-invasive, versatile, nevertheless challenging window into the brain using optical methods. We briefly recapitulate relevant anatomical and optical foundations and give a short historical overview. We describe competing types of illumination (trans-illumination, reflectance, and differential reflectance) and data collection methods (continuous wave, time domain and frequency domain). Basic components (light sources, detection, and recording components) of fNIRS systems are presented. Advantages and limitations of fNIRS techniques are offered, followed by a …

Genetic Deficiency Or Pharmacological Inhibition Of Mir-33 Protects From Kidney Fibrosis, Nathan L. Price, Veronica Miguel, Wen Ding, Abhishek K. Singh, Shipra Malik, Noemi Rotllan, Anna Moshnikova, Jakub Toczek, Caroline Zeiss, Mehran M. Sadeghi, Noemi Arias, Angel Baldan, Oleg A. Andreev, Diego Rodriguez-Puyol, Raman Bahal, Yana K. Reshetnyak, Yajaira Suarez, Carlos Fernandez-Hernando, Santiago Lamas

Physics Faculty Publications

Previous work has reported the important links between cellular bioenergetics and the development of chronic kidney disease, highlighting the potential for targeting metabolic functions to regulate disease progression. More recently, it has been shown that alterations in fatty acid oxidation (FAO) can have an important impact on the progression of kidney disease. In this work, we demonstrate that loss of miR-33, an important regulator of lipid metabolism, can partially prevent the repression of FAO in fibrotic kidneys and reduce lipid accumulation. These changes were associated with a dramatic reduction in the extent of fibrosis induced in 2 mouse models of …

At The Nexus Between The National And The Global: The Discursive Construction Of The Turkish Halal Market In The Neoliberal Age, Yesim Kaptan

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

This article analyzes a recently emerging halal market in Turkey and illuminates how discursive strategies foster the halal movement in an Islamic culture, and in a neoliberal economy. By exploring websites of the Turkish halal regulatory institutions and employing critical discourse analysis of the media materials, I demonstrate how Islamic actors (halal certification institutions and businesses) adapt, appropriate, and contest different discursive strategies to achieve legitimacy, to compete for distinction and to acquire power in a newly emerging and fiercely competitive, yet a globally defined field in a national economy. The discursive contestations of the actors shaped by the ambivalent …

Can Luxury Fashion Provide A Roadmap For Sustainability?, Zeynep Ozdamar-Ertekin

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

Fashion industry is one of the prominent industries in the world with critical negative impacts on the social and ecological environments. It constitutes a very complex and fragmented industry. The currently dominant model of "fast fashion," fulfills the desires of consumers who aspire to wear luxury fashion brands but cannot afford them, by offering them similar styles at affordable prices. However, the main principles of fast fashion, which are speed, affordability, change, disposable trends and aesthetic fads, contradict with sustainability goals and principles. Luxury fashion, on the other hand, emphasizes longevity, durability, authenticity, craftsmanship and quality, and can therefore be …

“Got Water?” The Effects Of Globalized Agribusiness On Consumers’ Access To Water Sources, Lorena Garcia-Ramon

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

This paper conceptually examines the consequences of globalized industrial agriculture on consumers’ access to clean water sources. It identifies the historical conditioners that allowed contemporary agribusiness corporations to gain the influence they currently hold over global water consumption, and it discusses the struggles that consumers face without access to clean water. The paper makes an original contribution by shifting the focus from the fact that vulnerable consumers do not have access to clean water to the reasons why they do not have access. It is suggested that water conservation strategies should not only be implemented at the consumer level, but …

Golgi Membrane Protein Gp73 Modified-Liposome Mediates The Antitumor Effect Of Survivin Promoter-Driven Hsvtk In Hepatocellular Carcinoma, Chang Liu, Chaochao Wen, Xi Wang, Yan Wei, Chunyang Xu, Xiuli Mu, Lina Zhang, Xuan Wang, Jiubo Tian, Peiyuan Ma, Fanxiu Meng, Qi Zhang, Na Zhao, Baofeng Yu, Tao Gong, Rui Guo, Hailong Wang, Jun Xie, Gongqin Sun, Gaopeng Li, Hongwei Zhang, Qin Qin, Jun Xu, Xiushan Dong, Lumei Wang

Cell and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common types of cancer worldwide, and there is currently no effective therapeutic strategy in clinical practice. Gene therapy has great potential for decreasing tumor-induced mortality but has been clinically limited because of the lack of tumor-specific targets and insufficient gene transfer. The study of targeted transport of therapeutic genes in HCC treatment seems to be very important. In this study, we evaluated a gene therapy approach targeting 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 …

Oyster Reefs In Northern Gulf Of Mexico Estuaries Harbor Diverse Fish And Decapod Crustacean Assemblages: A Meta-Synthesis, Megan K. La Peyre, Danielle Aguilar Marshall, Lindsay S. Miller, Austin T. Humphries

Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Sciences Faculty Publications

Oyster reefs provide habitat for numerous fish and decapod crustacean species that mediate ecosystem functioning and support vibrant fisheries. Recent focus on the restoration of eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) reefs stems from this role as a critical ecosystem engineer. Within the shallow estuaries of the northern Gulf of Mexico (nGoM), the eastern oyster is the dominant reef building organism. This study synthesizes data on fish and decapod crustacean occupancy of oyster reefs across nGoM with the goal of providing management and restoration benchmarks, something that is currently lacking for the region. Relevant data from 23 studies were identified, representing …

Virtual Reality And Oceanography: Overview, Applications, And Perspective, Noah L. Walcutt, Benjamin Knörlein, Tom Sgouros, Ivona Cetinić, Melissa M. Omand

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

With the ongoing, exponential increase in ocean data from autonomous platforms, satellites, models, and in particular, the growing field of quantitative imaging, there arises a need for scalable and cost-efficient visualization tools to interpret these large volumes of data. With the recent proliferation of consumer grade head-mounted displays, the emerging field of virtual reality (VR) has demonstrated its benefit in numerous disciplines, ranging from medicine to archeology. However, these benefits have not received as much attention in the ocean sciences. Here, we summarize some of the ways that virtual reality has been applied to this field. We highlight a few …

Curriculum And Standards Committee Report No. #2019-20-1, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Bills

No abstract provided.

Curriculum And Standards Committee Report No. #2019-20-1, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Bills

No abstract provided.

Marine Plastic Pollution Afs 488g, Michael Cerbo

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

Marine Plastic Pollution Afs 488x, Michael Cerbo

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

A Multi-Year Examination Of Gardening Experience And Fruit And Vegetable Intake During College, Daniel Staub, Sarah E. Colby, Melissa D. Olfert, Kendra Kattelmann, Wenjun Zhou, Tanya M. Horacek, Geoffrey Greene, Ivana Radosavljevic, Lisa Franzen-Castle, Anne E. Mathews

Nutrition Faculty Publications

Gardening has been positively associated with fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption based on short-term studies among children, but long-term data among adolescents and young adults are lacking. This investigation sought to elucidate the association between gardening experience and FV intake among college students over a two-year period. Students (N = 593) from eight universities were assessed at the end of their freshman (Y1) and sophomore (Y2) years during the springs of 2016 and 2017, respectively. At each time point, participants completed the NCI FV Screener and questions related to gardening experience and FV-related attitudes and behaviors. Students were then categorized …

Orientalism, Resistance Or Global Harmony? Entangled Strands In The Film Isle Of Dogs, Soonkwan Hong

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

No abstract provided.

Virtual Idol Hatsune Miku: Case Study Of New Production/Consumption Phenomena Generated By Network Effects In Japan’S Online Environment, Hajime Kobayashi, Takashi Taguchi

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

Using Hatsune Miku, a vocaloid or a Desktop Music (DTM) software using voice synthesizer technology, as a case study, this paper explores how consumer generated media (CGM) and user generated content (UGC) diffused in Japan – rapidly at first and then at an erratic and not-so-rapid pace. The creative environment ushered in by the vocaloid platform, it appears, represents a form of "managed creativity", and not a rosy future characterized by a participatory turn to a widespread democratization of creative activity.

Critical Thinking From Japan: Additional Perspectives, Masaaki Takemura, Nikhilesh Dholakia

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

No abstract provided.

Adolescents' Digital Literacies In Flux: Intersections Of Voice, Empowerment, And Practices, Sandra Schamroth Abrams, Mary Beth Schaefer, Daniel Ness

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This article features a collaborative autoethnographic examination of three adolescent-researchers’ digital literacies. The participatory design punctuates the role of the adolescent-researchers as they explored their meaning-making practices. Such collaborative research, which included three adolescents and their parents, not only resurfaces parent-inquiry, but also brings the adolescent-researcher voice to the forefront of literacy research. Two research questions guided the investigation: (a) What do adolescent-researchers tell us about their digital and nondigital literacy practices? and (b) In what ways do adolescent-researchers’ retrospective examinations of their own practices reveal their perspectives of these practices and the power (and power struggles) that underlie them? …

Media Literacy Education In The Age Of Machine Learning, Teemu Valtonen, Matti Tedre, Kati Mäkitalo, Henriikka Vartiainen

Journal of Media Literacy Education

The media environment has radically changed over the past few decades. Transition and transformation of media platforms has enabled algorithms and automation to take over media processes such as production, content generation, curation, delivery, recommendation, and filtering of information. It has also enabled tracking of users’ actions, data mining, profiling, and the use of computational and machine learning techniques for purposes like behavior engineering, targeted advertisement, spread of mis- and disinformation, swaying political moods, and many others. In the field of media literacy education, the need to understand algorithm-driven media requires educators to re-think the connections between media literacy education …

Acquisitions Unit Annual Report 2018-2019, Andrée J. Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Annual Report of the Acquisitions Unit, University Libraries, University of Rhode Island for FY2019. 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.

Trophic Upgrading And Mobilization Of Wax Esters In Microzooplankton, Keyana Roohani, Brad A. Haubrich, Kai-Lou Yue, Nigel D'Souza, Amanda Montalbano, Tatiana A. Rynearson, Susanne Menden-Deuer, Christopher W. Reid

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Heterotrophic protists play pivotal roles in aquatic ecosystems by transferring matter and energy, including lipids, from primary producers to higher trophic predators. Using Oxyrrhis marina as a model organism, changes to the non-saponifiable protist lipids were investigated under satiation and starvation conditions. During active feeding on the alga Cryptomonas sp., the O. marina hexane soluble non-saponifiable fraction lipid profile reflected its food source with the observed presence of long chain mono-unsaturated fatty alcohols up to C25:1. Evidence of trophic upgrading in O. marina was observed with long chain mono-unsaturated fatty alcohol accumulation of up to C35:1. To the best of …

Bioluminescent Flashes Drive Nighttime Schooling Behavior And Synchronized Swimming Dynamics In Flashlight Fish, David F. Gruber, Brennan Phillips, Rory O'Brien, Vivek Boominathan, Ashok Veeraraghavan, Ganesh Vasan, Peter O'Brien, Vincent A. Pieribone, John S. Sparks

Ocean Engineering Faculty Publications

Schooling fishes, like flocking birds and swarming insects, display remarkable behavioral coordination. While over 25% of fish species exhibit schooling behavior, nighttime schooling has rarely been observed or reported. This is due to vision being the primary modality for schooling, which is corroborated by the fact that most fish schools disperse at critically low light levels. Here we report on a large aggregation of the bioluminescent flashlight fish Anomalops katoptron that exhibited nighttime schooling behavior during multiple moon phases, including the new moon. Data were recorded with a suite of low-light imaging devices, including a high-speed, high-resolution scientific complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor …

A Framework For The Development, Design And Implementation Of A Sustained Arctic Ocean Observing System, Craig M. Lee, Sandy Starkweather, Hajo Eicken, Mary-Louise Timmermans, Jeremy Wilkinson, Stein Sandven, Dmitry Dukhovskoy, Sebastian Gerland, Jacqueline Grebmeier, Janet M. Intrieri, Sung-Ho Kang, Molly Mccammon, An T. Nguyen, Igor Polyakov, Benjamin Rabe, Hanne Sagen, Sophie Seeyave, Denis Volkov, Agnieszka Beszczynska-Möller, Léon Chafik, Matthew Dzieciuch, Gustavo Goni, Torill Hamre, Andrew Luke King, Are Olsen, Roshin P. Raj, Thomas Rossby, Øystein Skagseth, Henrik Søiland, Kai Sørensen

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Rapid Arctic warming drives profound change in the marine environment that have significant socio-economic impacts within the Arctic and beyond, including climate and weather hazards, food security, transportation, infrastructure planning and resource extraction. These concerns drive efforts to understand and predict Arctic environmental change and motivate development of an Arctic Region Component of the Global Ocean Observing System (ARCGOOS) capable of collecting the broad, sustained observations needed to support these endeavors. This paper provides a roadmap for establishing the ARCGOOS. ARCGOOS development must be underpinned by a broadly endorsed framework grounded in high-level policy drivers and the scientific and operational …

Nephromyces Represents A Diverse And Novel Lineage Of The Apicomplexa That Has Retained Apicoplasts, Sergio A. Munoz-Gomez, Keira Durnin, Laura Eme, Christopher Paight, Christopher E. Lane, Mary B. Saffo, Claudio H. Slamovits

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

A most interesting exception within the parasitic Apicomplexa is Nephromyces, an extracellular, probably mutualistic, endosymbiont found living inside molgulid ascidian tunicates (i.e., sea squirts). Even though Nephromyces is now known to be an apicomplexan, many other questions about its nature remain unanswered. To gain further insights into the biology and evolutionary history of this unusual apicomplexan, we aimed to 1) find the precise phylogenetic position of Nephromyces within the Apicomplexa, 2) search for the apicoplast genome of Nephromyces, and 3) infer the major metabolic pathways in the apicoplast of Nephromyces. To do this, we sequenced a metagenome …

Alma Link Resolver Title & Issn Report (Top 500) 2018-2019, Andreé J. Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Statistics for 2018-2019 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.