Digital Commons Network^™

Polyphenol Microbial Metabolites Exhibit Gut And Blood–Brain Barrier Permeability And Protect Murine Microglia Against Lps-Induced Inflammation, Shelby L. Johnson, Riley D. Kirk, Nicholas A. Dasilva, Hang Ma, Navindra P. Seeram, Matthew Bertin

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Increasing evidence supports the beneficial effects of polyphenol-rich diets, including the traditional Mediterranean diet, for the management of cardiovascular disease, obesity and neurodegenerative diseases. However, a common concern when discussing the protective effects of polyphenol-rich diets against diseases is whether these compounds are present in systemic circulation in their intact/parent forms in order to exert their beneficial effects in vivo. Here, we explore two common classes of dietary polyphenols, namely isoflavones and lignans, and their gut microbial-derived metabolites for gut and blood–brain barrier predicted permeability, as well as protection against neuroinflammatory stimuli in murine BV-2 microglia. Polyphenol microbial metabolites (PMMs) …

The Professional Is Political: On Citational Practice And The Persistent Problem Of Academic Plunder, Brittney M. Edmonds

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Effect Of Exercise On Cognitive Function In Persons With Dementia: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Southey F. Saul

Open Access Dissertations

As the population ages, the number of people suffering from dementia will rise significantly. Current estimates of total societal cost of dementia exceed $8 billion dollars (US). Epidemiological studies have shown that increased lifetime engagement in exercise reduces cognitive decline and the incidence of dementia in normal older adults. While existing research suggests that lifelong exercise may be preferable, the adoption of exercise at any age and stage of dementia-onset to delay or reverse cognitive decline is worthwhile given the prevalence of sedentary lifestyle, and the increasing proportion of older adults and dementia incidence. Recently, trials have started to explore …

Krill Motion In The Southern Ocean: Quantifying In Situ Krill Movement Behaviors And Energetics, Mary Kathryn Kane

Open Access Dissertations

Krill are a major link in the transfer of carbon between primary production and upper trophic level organisms, like whales and penguins, in the Southern Ocean. However, not much is known about in situ individual krill behaviors, and there have been no seasonal comparisons of individual krill motility in the Southern Ocean. To address how individual krill movement behaviors and energetic requirements shift between seasons, we used a novel stereo-camera and environmental sensor system to observe krill in three bays in the Western Antarctic Peninsula in May-June 2013 (i.e., the late austral autumn) and December 2014 (i.e., the late austral …

Behavior And Transport Of Organic Acids In The Troposphere Using Observational Data And Models, Victoria Ann Treadaway

Open Access Dissertations

Formic acid (HFo) and acetic acid (HAc) have both natural and anthropogenic sources and a role in the atmospheric processing of carbon. These organic acids also have an increasing importance in setting the acidity of precipitation as nitrate and sulfate concentrations have decreased. This dissertation examines HFo and HAc tropospheric formation and transport in the continental United States using observations and models. Observational data from two field campaigns were collected with the peroxide chemical ionization mass spectrometer (PCIMS) using iodide clusters for both HFo and HAc recorded at mass-to-charge ratios of 173 and 187. The first campaign, the Deep Convective …

Real-Time Geometry-Based Feedback For Design Engineers On The Environmental Impact Of Manufacturing, Amanda Bligh

Open Access Dissertations

In this dissertation study, the concept of an energy shadow, which represents all the work done by the interacting systems back to the earth-based inputs needed to produce a product, is used as a metric to investigate the development of a real-time, geometry-based software tool to assist design engineers in evaluating the environmental impact of manufacturing. A literature review of the energy metrics of consumed energy, exergy, and emergy was conducted to evaluate which may best serve as the thermodynamic framework for representing an energy shadow. Following the comparison and evaluation of the possible metrics emergy was selected as it …

Use Of Hyphenated Mass Spectrometry To Uncover True Nafld Effect On Human Drug Disposition Proteins, Benjamin Joseph Barlock

Open Access Dissertations

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is growing in prevalence across the world and is associated with a significant economic cost. In addition to life style modification, no pharmacotherapy method is available to treat NAFLD. As the histology of the liver changes over the course of the disease, it can be expected that the liver proteome will change too. Included in the liver proteome are drug disposition proteins comprised of drug metabolizing enzymes and transporters. These proteins are responsible for the removal of drugs and endogenous compounds from the body. The goals of this dissertation were: (1) Develop methodology to accurately …

How Birds Respond To Antioxidant Capacity, Oxidative Damage, And Fuel Stores During Migration, Clara Cooper-Mullin

Open Access Dissertations

During migration, birds have an elevated metabolic rate and rely heavily on fat for fuel, creating a state where oxidative stress may be high if not counterbalanced by antioxidants. However, no previous studies have examined how birds utilize different aspects of the antioxidant system to combat oxidative damage during flight training, whether dietary antioxidants are absorbed and transported to the site of reactive species generation, the mitochondria, or how oxidative status interacts with fuel stores to shape decisions birds make during migratory stopovers. In this dissertation, I first introduce the physiological challenges of increased production of reactive species confronted by …

Long-Term Voluntary Wheel Running Does Not Alter Vascular Amyloid Burden But Reduces Neuroinflammation In The Tg-Swdi Mouse Model Of Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy, Lisa S. Robinson, Dominique L. Popescu, Maria E. Anderson, Nikita Francis, Joshua Hatfield, Joseph K. Sullivan, Steven I. Beigelman, Feng Xu, Brenda J. Anderson, William E. Van Nostrand, John K. Robinson

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Cardiovascular exercise (CVE) has been shown to be protective against cognitive decline in aging and the risk for dementias, including Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). CVE has also been shown to have several beneficial effects on brain pathology and behavioral impairments in mouse models of AD; however, no studies have specifically examined the effects of CVE on cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), which is the accumulation of amyloid-beta (Aβ) in the cerebral vasculature. CAA may be uniquely susceptible to beneficial effects of CVE interventions due to the location and nature of the pathology. Alternatively, CVE may exacerbate CAA pathology, due to added …

Optimized Fishing Through Periodically Harvested Closures, Paul G. Carvalho, Stacy D. Jupiter, Fraser A. Januchowski-Hartley, Jordan Goetze, Joachim Claudet, Rebecca Weeks, Austin T. Humphries, Crow White

Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Sciences Faculty Publications

1. Periodically harvested closures are a widespread, centuries‐old form of fisheries management that protects fish between pulse harvests and can generate high harvest efficiency by reducing fish wariness of fishing gear. However, the ability for periodic closures to also support high fisheries yields and healthy marine ecosystems is uncertain, despite increased promotion of periodic closures for managing fisheries and conserving ecosystems in the Indo‐Pacific.
2. We developed a bioeconomic fisheries model that considers changes in fish wariness, based on empirical field research, and quantified the extent to which periodic closures can simultaneously maximize harvest efficiency, fisheries yield and conservation of fish stocks. …

Draft Genome Sequence Of The Putative Marine Pathogen Thalassobius Sp. I31.1, Hilary J. Ranson, Jason Laporte, Edward Spinard, Andrei Y. Chistoserdov, Marta Gomez-Chiarri, David R. Nelson, David C. Rowley

Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Sciences Faculty Publications

Thalassobius sp. I31.1 is a putative pathogen involved in epizootic shell disease in the American lobster (Homarus americanus). We report here the draft genome sequence for Thalassobius sp. I31.1 and provide insight into its metabolism and links to environmental pollutant degradation.

Can Asl-Gloss Be Used As An Instructional Tool To Teach Written English To The Deaf?, Emma S. Rathkey

Open Access Dissertations

This study addressed the use of ASL-gloss as a potential method for improving reading ability and comprehension for those with profound deafness through the use of the Gray Silent Reading Test (GRST). ASL-gloss can be described as a written form of American Sign Language. Research suggests that on average, individuals who are deaf are reading at about a third- to fifth-grade level. Presently, there is limited research on the effects of using ASL-gloss with students who are deaf. Participants (n = 31) self-reported as having a profound hearing loss, used ASL as their primary or preferred language, and were over …

Dietary Polyphenols And Their Gut Microbiota Metabolites As Potential Treatments For Alzheimer's Disease, Kenneth N. Rose

Open Access Dissertations

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a debilitating neurodegenerative disorder that has no cure, no therapies to stop the disease progression, and limited palliative care options. As the 6th leading cause of death in the United States, it is necessary to discover therapeutics which can alter disease progression to alleviate the burden on patients, caregivers, and healthcare systems. In the search of therapeutics for AD, dietary polyphenols have become the topic of research as epidemiological evidence suggests that exposure to dietary polyphenols, such as a Mediterranean diet, over one’s life, reduces the risk of dying from AD. Additionally, evidence from rodent models …

Oyster-Associated Microbial Community Dynamics, Rebecca Jean Stevick

Open Access Dissertations

Oysters are keystone species in the coastal environment, providing ecological, economic, and cultural services. A significant ecosystem service is their ability to improve water quality by filtration and denitrification. These ecological functions are made possible by oyster-associated microbes, but may also be threatened by microbial pathogens. This positions the oyster as a model system for the study of marine host-associated microbial diversity and function. However, studies of microbial diversity and function in shellfish are lacking, particularly in response to environmental perturbations. As coastal ecosystems change due to anthropogenic impacts and climate variability, it is important to understand how the oyster …

An ‘Omics Approach To Diet & Structure Impact On Perfluoroalkyl Substance Induced Liver Disease, Marisa Pfohl

Open Access Dissertations

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a family of environmental toxicants, are ubiquitous in the environment and the human population. PFAS are manmade chemicals that have been widely used in manufacturing since the 1940s. PFAS are extremely resistant to degradation leading to their accumulation within the environment and the general population. The most concentrated PFAS member present in the general population, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), has been linked to suppressed vaccine response, high serum cholesterol, low fetal birth weight, thyroid disease, increased markers of liver injury, and even certain types of cancers. PFOS was voluntarily phased out of manufacturing due to its bioaccumulutive and …

Bad Gurley Feminism: The Myth Of Post-War Domesticity, Erin Amann Holliday-Karre

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

According to feminist history, the 1950s constitute a lapse in feminist literature as women in the post-war era were ushered into the realm of domesticity. In this article I argue that this perceived literary “gap” was both created and perpetuated by feminist historians and scholars who insist that Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique (1963) was the defining feminist text of the time. I offer an alternative discourse to that of Friedan by presenting feminist writers who challenge, rather than adopt, masculine ideology as the means to women’s empowerment. I end by encouraging feminists to allow commonly dismissed feminists from the …

Maternal Restricted- And Over-Feeding During Gestation Result In Distinct Lipid And Amino Acid Metabolite Profiles In The Longissimus Muscle Of The Offspring, Dominique E. Martin, Amanda K. Jones, Sambhu M. Pillai, Maria L. Hoffman, Katelyn K. Mcfadden, Steven A. Zinn, Kristen E. Govoni, Sarah A. Reed

Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Sciences Faculty Publications

Maternal over- and restricted-feeding during gestation have similar negative consequences for the offspring, including decreased muscularity, increased adiposity, and altered metabolism. Our objective was to determine the effects of poor maternal nutrition during gestation (over- and restricted-feeding) on the offspring muscle metabolite profile. Pregnant ewes (n = 47) were fed 60% (RES), 100% (CON), or 140% (OVER) of NRC requirements starting at day 30.2 ± 0.2 of gestation. Offspring sample collection occurred at days 90 and 135 of gestation, and within 24 h of birth. C2C12 myoblasts were cultured in serum collected from offspring at birth (n = …

Catch Composition And Selectivity Of Fishing Gears In A Multi-Species Indonesian Coral Reef Fishery, Austin T. Humphries, Kelvin D. Gorospe, Paul G. Carvalho, Irfan Yulianto, Tasrif Kartawijaya, Stuart J. Campbell

Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Sciences Faculty Publications

There are millions of small-scale fishers worldwide that rely on coral reefs for their livelihood. Yields from many of these coral reef fisheries, however, have been declining. In Indonesia and other coral reefs worldwide, management approaches are dominated by marine protected areas but other options including gear-restrictions may be feasible and more adaptive to local ecological and social conditions. Yet, there is little data on the impacts and selectivity of fishing gears for coral reef fisheries. In this paper, we present results from a case study on the island of Lombok, where we examine the selectivity and overlap in catch …

Population Genetic Structure Of Sardinella Aurita And Sardinella Madurensis In The Eastern Central Atlantic Region (Cecaf) In West Africa, Evelyn Takyi

Open Access Master's Theses

Marine fishes represent a valuable resource for the global economy and food consumption, but many species experience high levels of exploitation necessitating effective management plans. Long term sustainability of these resources may be jeopardized from insufficient knowledge about intra-specific population structure. Restriction-site associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq) methods are revolutionizing the field of population genomics in non-model organisms as they can generate a high number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) even when no reference genomic information is available. Sardinella aurita and Sardinella maderensis are non-model species lacking reference genomes. Using double-digest restriction-site associated DNA (ddRAD) sequencing, we surveyed variation in 6,078 …

Developing Student Voice Through Twitter: Using Media Literacy Education To Inspire Civic Engagement, Kristen Beatty

Open Access Master's Theses

Public education in the United States must continue to connect the classroom with the mediated lives of students outside the classroom. Participation, particularly within social media platforms, provides tremendous opportunities for students but require the development of media literacies. Utilizing the New Media Literacies Framework (Jenkins, Purushotma, Weigel, Clinton, & Robison, 2006) to connect students with the educational goal of developing their voices and encouraging civic engagement may effectively prepare students to participate in democracy. Social media platforms provide students with an opportunity to become active participants in online communities. In addition, with the appropriate guidance, participation within social media …

Maternal Blood Pressure In Relation To Low Birth Weight And The Effect Of A Nutritional Supplement, Alyssa Abreu

Open Access Master's Theses

Background: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy impact over 10% of pregnancies worldwide, while increasing the risk of low birth weight. Research is conflicting on the effect of nutrient supplementation on hypertension during pregnancy. The cutoffs to define hypertension have also recently changed to include a lower systolic blood pressure, and little research has examined the association between the newly proposed blood pressure cutoffs and low birth weight.

Objectives: Our objectives were to 1) evaluate the impact of prenatal lipid-based nutrient supplement consumption on maternal blood pressure; and 2) assess the association between maternal blood pressure during early and late …

Knowledge Concerning Health Factors And Cognitive Performance: Development And Expert Validation Of A Perceptions Questionnaire, Caitlin Ogram Buckley

Open Access Master's Theses

The promotion of brain health is often perceived through an illness model, as research tends to focus on risk reduction in regards to neurodegenerative disease. However, research indicates that healthy individuals can potentially improve their cognitive performance through the adoption of health-promoting behaviors such as diet, exercise, and the management of chronic medical conditions (e.g. Type 2 Diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol). It is less clear how well this message has been disseminated to the general public. The current study aims to advance a critical foundation for brain health research by developing a questionnaire to assess public beliefs …

When The Alternative Becomes Hegemonic: A Textual Analysis Of The Royal Tenenbaums, Patrick Crowe

Open Access Master's Theses

Wes Anderson has been designated by many as one of the first ‘Indiewood’ directors. While his films possess a quirky, atypical, and oddball visual and aesthetic style, at least one of his films, The Royal Tenenbaums, offers performances of gender and race—particularly of white masculinity—that reinforce a number of gender and racial stereotypes (Beynon, 2002; Buchbinder, 2013; Connell, 1995; Kimmel, 1996; Moss, 2011). In this thesis, I conduct a critical textual analysis on The Royal Tenenbaums to illuminate the retrogressive gender and racial ideas that Anderson uses to constitute various performances or models of white masculinity. Most of my …

Design Of A Modular Soft Continuum Robotic Arm, Thomas Schwarz

Open Access Master's Theses

In this thesis, a modular design of a soft continuum robotic arm is developed. This design enables the connection of an arbitrary number of identical modules in order to build a snake-like robot in a plug-and-play fashion. After introducing the purpose and motivation of this research, the necessary basics for this project are presented, followed by a review of existing soft continuum robots in the state of the art. The main part of this work starts with presenting the design of the required 3D manufactured parts as well as the fabrication of the soft deformable body of the robot. With …

Molecular Mechanisms Of Protein Binding By Perfluoroalkyl Substances (Pfass), Michael Fedorenko

Open Access Master's Theses

Comparative investigation of the intermolecular chemical interaction (binding) between bovine serum albumin (BSA) and four polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFOA, PFNA, PFHxS, PFOS) by ¹⁹F NMR spectroscopy with synchronous observation of the ¹⁹F signals from both ends (head and tail) of the polyfluoroalkyl molecules was performed at three temperatures of 298K, 304K and 310K.

Chemical shifts of ¹⁹F NMR peaks in solutions of PFAS with BSA were used for evaluation of the dissociation constants, K_d, for both known mechanisms of PFAS binding with BSA: by hydrophobic interaction of the PFAS molecule tail with hydrophobic pockets in the …

Development Of A Paper-Based Microfluidic Device For The Detection Of Orthophosphate In Water, Brenno Ribeiro

Open Access Master's Theses

Phosphate is an essential nutrient for plant life in water that when in abundance can have a series of adverse effects on an ecosystem. As such it is of great interest to scientists and environmentalists alike to detect phosphate in the environment. The current state of detection technology leaves much to be desired however as devices are insensitive, ineffective, and sometimes expensive. This study presents a series of methods, systems, and devices that were developed in the pursuit of advancing the state of detection of orthophosphate in water. A lab-on-chip device was created utilizing the molybdenum blue reaction with a …

Towards A Unified Modeling Language (Uml) Profile To Address Digital Forensic Evidence Complexities, Robert J. Pallack Jr.

Open Access Dissertations

There is significant complexity in digital forensics due to the numerous device types and device implementations. This complexity is exacerbated by the need for digital evidence to be understood by a wide variety of stakeholders with varying technical backgrounds.

This study showed the utility of using software engineering Unified Modeling Language (UML) modeling techniques for addressing this complexity. Extensible, executable models for the digital forensics domain were developed depicting the relevant computational mechanisms involved in the who, what, when, where and how attributes of digital evidence creation.

Artifacts generated from the executable models enable a systematic constructive methodology utilizing the …

The Effect Of Season Upon The Life Cycle Of Haemonchus Contortus In Experimentally Infected Lambs, Marissa Brummett

Open Access Master's Theses

This project was developed to study the life cycle of the most pathogenic gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) affecting small ruminants, Haemonchus contortus. The main goal of the study was to test the effects that the environment and the age of the adult worm have on the resulting egg’s ability to hatch in vitro and the larvae’s ability to undergo exsheathment both artificially in vitro as well as in vivo within the rumen. A secondary study objective was to compare the results from the two exsheathment assays in order to see how well they correlate.

This study was designed to run …

Minimizing Bee Bycatch In Japanese Beetle Traps, Steven J. Sipolski

Open Access Master's Theses

Native and introduced bees were attracted to and captured in commercially available Japanese beetle, Popillia japonica Newman, traps baited with floral lure components (geraniol, eugenol, phenethyl propionate [3:7:3]). Studies in Rhode Island found that Bombus impatiens Cresson was significantly more attracted to geraniol alone and as a component in a floral lure blend than to either eugenol or phenethyl propionate alone. Xylocopa virginica L. was more selective in being primarily attracted to traps baited with higher amounts of geraniol in 2016. In 2016, 32 baited and eight unbaited traps captured 856 B. impatiens and 124 X. virginica in 11 days …

Associations Between Food Group Intake, Cognition, And Academic Achievement In Elementary Schoolchildren, Rachel Bleiweiss-Sande, Kenneth Chui, Catherine Wright, Sarah A. Amin, Stephanie Anzman-Frasca, Jennifer M. Sacheck

Nutrition Faculty Publications

Nutrition plays an important role in proper physical and cognitive functioning. However, there is limited evidence on the relationship between overall diet, cognition, and academic success in children, particularly among low-income and diverse groups. The objective of this study was to examine the relationships between healthful versus less healthful food group intake, cognitive performance, and academic achievement in a diverse sample of schoolchildren. 868 urban schoolchildren (age 8 to 10 years) participated in the study. Intake of healthful (fruits, vegetables, unsweetened beverages) and less healthful (sweet and salty snacks, sugar-sweetened beverages) food groups was determined via a food frequency questionnaire. …