Digital Commons Network^™

“Whenever You Are Using Media, You Should Always Have A Purpose”: A Study Of Chinese Immigrant Mothers’ Media Practices, Xiaoning Gui, Daniel G. Krutka

Journal of Media Literacy Education Pre-Prints

This qualitative study explores how eleven Mandarin-speaking Chinese immigrant mothers of young children in a southwestern U.S. city navigate and mediate media in their households. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Findings show mothers balance media’s educational affordances with concerns about health and age-appropriate content, employing gatekeeping, time limits, and purposeful sharing. Mothers described children as learners, co-learners, and cultural connectors, sometimes reversing mediation by teaching mothers about U.S. media norms. Interpreted through a lens of Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy while also drawing on Confucian concepts, results underscore the need for early childhood educators to honor immigrant families’ practices while fostering …

Showcasing Student Scholarship: Digitalcommons@Uri And Pressbooks, Julia Lovett

Faculty Learning Day 2026

Would your students like to publish their scholarship beyond the classroom? In this session, participants will learn how to utilize DigitalCommons@URI, our institutional repository, for sharing and preserving student research projects. We will also look at Pressbooks, a tool for both creating new content and discovering existing open educational resources. Finally, we will touch on how faculty can utilize these tools for faculty scholarship.

A History Of University Of Rhode Island Partnerships In The Philippines With Marine Resources And Fisheries Management As Primary Drivers, Michael A. Rice, Donald D. Robadue, Brian Crawford

Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Revival Of Honor Killing In Iranian Kurdistan: A Sociological Analysis Of Gender, Land, And Identity, Parviz Sobhani

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

Honor is a foundational yet restrictive sociocultural construct in Kurdish society of western Iran. Transgressions of its boundaries, particularly by women, are historically met with violent sanction. Despite processes of modernization, honor killings have re-emerged as a conspicuous phenomenon in Iranian Kurdistan, suggesting an active revival rather than a passive residue of tradition. This study employed a qualitative, interpretive phenomenological approach. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 21 social scientists and researchers from January 2022 to February 2024 in Iranian Kurdistan.  A grounded theory framework guided the thematic analysis. Findings reveal a dual symbolic encoding of honor: it …

When Protection Becomes Predation: Militarized Masculinity And Sexual Violence In Northeastern Nigeria, Tosin Osasona

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

The study investigates the structural and situational drivers of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) perpetrated by state security actors in the context of Nigeria’s counterinsurgency campaigns in Borno State. Drawing on militarized masculinity and strain and deprivation theories, and using a qualitative, interpretive research design, the study argues that CRSV is not an isolated or episodic form of deviance by individual soldiers and security personnel but is embedded in routine military–civilian interactions. Advancing an interactionist explanation of CRSV in Nigeria’s Islamist counterinsurgency operations, the study demonstrates that the likelihood of sexual violence increases through the interaction of gendered institutional norms, operational …

The Confluence Of Conflict-Induced Vulnerability, Organized Crime, And Sex Trafficking In Receiving States: A South African Civil Society Perspective, Monique Emser

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

The crime-conflict nexus has been well-documented in conflict-affected and post-conflict states. Criminal networks make use of manifold methods and strategies to exploit individual and structural vulnerabilities, particularly those affected by war, displacement, and precarious migration journeys, forming the backbone of most conflict-induced trafficking ecosystems, whether in countries of origin, transit, or receipt. This article examines the intersection of sex trafficking, diaspora communities, and organized crime within South Africa as a receiving state from a civil society perspective. It underscores the deficiencies in traditional, reductionist, enforcement-based approaches to counter-trafficking by the state, where nested subsystems, such as those produced by endemic …

Acquisitions Unit Annual Report 2025-2026, Andrée J. Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Annual Report of the Acquisitions Unit, University Libraries, University of Rhode Island for FY2026. 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.

Integration Of Media Pedagogy In Teacher Education Classrooms, Author Information Removed

JMLE Submissions Open for Review

In an era where classrooms are increasingly influenced by media and socio-cultural dynamics, teacher education must evolve to incorporate critical dimensions like gender sensitization and media literacy. This study explores the role of media pedagogy in developing gender awareness among pre-service teachers in India. The study focuses on conceptualization of media pedagogy, intersectionality and teacher education classrooms and adopts an interdisciplinary approach for media and gender. A module was developed and then implemented with 30 preservice teachers, followed by focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews with 10 teacher educators. The research study is guided by Methodology for Interdisciplinary Research (MIR) …

Cognitive Media Literacy In The Digital Age: Structural And Behavioral Dimensions Of Inequality, Elif Pınar Aciyan Şen, Murad Karaduman

Journal of Media Literacy Education Pre-Prints

The expansion of digital technologies has not only transformed media production and consumption but also reshaped the cognitive conditions through which individuals interpret information. Drawing on W. James Potter’s (2004) cognitive model of media literacy, this study explores how cognitive dimensions of media literacy relate to digital inequalities among adults. To operationalize the model, index variables were developed for its four subdimensions, knowledge structures, personal locus, competencies, and skills, using multiple theoretically defined item domains. Based on a stratified face-to-face survey with 400 adults in Antalya, Türkiye, multiple regression analyses reveal that age and education are the strongest predictors of …

Mapping Media Literacy Assessment: A Systematic Review To Connect The Dots, Lara Azar, Casey Frechette, Hafsa Zia, Joy Amulya

Journal of Media Literacy Education

The goal of this study was to address persistent challenges in assessing media literacy by reviewing assessments developed between 2011 and 2020. We combined landscape analysis, research synthesis, and grounded theory to select assessments, identify key attributes, iteratively code, analyze, and create an integrated synthesis of approaches to media literacy assessments. The analysis classified media literacy constructs by learning dimension (knowledge, skills, attitudes, behaviors) and participation mode (consumption, engagement, creation). The results showed that while most assessments focused on consumption-oriented constructs, engagement- and creation-oriented constructs were also included. Assessments primarily served three research purposes: evaluating media literacy levels in populations, …

How To Incorporate Media Literacy Into General Education Curricula, Dennis O. Frohlich, David Magolis

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Media literacy scholars have long championed the inclusion of media literacy courses in all levels of education, from K-12 to collegiate levels. Universities’ general education curricula are one possible site for inclusion of a media literacy course. However, with each discipline vying for a spot in a university’s general education system, a course in media literacy can easily be overlooked or excluded. In this paper, we detail our efforts to successfully incorporate several media literacy courses into our university’s general education curriculum. This is a process we went through twice under two different general education systems. This paper will detail …

Aligning Horizon Scanning Approaches With Differing Needs And Topics At The Science–Policy Interface On Chemicals, Waste, And Pollution, Gabriel Sigmund, Ricardo O. Barra, Michael G. Bertram, Miriam L. Diamond, Alex T. Ford, İPek İMamoğLu, Jinhui Li, Rainer Lohmann, Andreas SchäFfer, Martin Scheringer, KateřIna ŠEbková, Maria Clara V. M. Starling, Noriyuki Suzuki, Penny Vlahos, Roland Weber, Bryan W. Brooks

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Knowledge on chemicals, waste, and pollution is shaped by geographical, financial, and disciplinary biases, which can cause blind spots for key emerging issues, including those relevant to low income countries and vulnerable communities. Scientists, practitioners, affected communities, and policy makers working in the areas of the newly established Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Chemicals, Waste, and Pollution (ISP-CWP) have interest in identifying issues of potential and emerging relevance that currently escape their attention. Horizon scanning offers a critical tool to identify such issues. Here, we provide guidance on aligning horizon scanning approaches with differing objectives, audiences, and thematic scopes. We structure …

Bad Mothers In Translation: Early Motherhood In Contemporary Turkish Editions, Merve Sevtap Süren

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

This article examines how three recent Anglophone novels of early motherhood, namely, Szilvia Molnar’s The Nursery (as Süt Lekesi), Rachel Yoder’s Nightbitch (as Gece Kancığı), and Claire Kilroy’s Soldier Sailor (as Asker ile Denizci), circulate in Turkish translation in a context shaped by pronatalist moral economies. Pairing peritextual analysis (covers, back-cover copy, blurbs, and bio notes) with close readings of selected key scenes of postpartum crisis, feral transformation, and toddler-year burnout, I show how Turkish editions both render and manage maternal negativity: translation choices modulate voice, affect, and register, while peritexts frame these mothers for local readability …

“Subjugated Knowledge And Narrative Justice”: An Interview With Grace M. Cho, Anupama Arora, Yuni Kim

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Beyond Liberal Apologies, Toward Abolitionist Trans Politics, Koda Sokol, Kaden Paulson-Smith

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

In the wake of Trump’s second election, the liberal fantasy of a benevolent state reared its head: the right policy, politician, or police officer will end anti-trans oppression. This article heeds the warning from generations of abolitionists before us that violence is not a defect of the state but endemic to it. By consequence, reforms that strengthen the state by expanding avenues for criminalization, resourcing the police, and incorporating more people into the military further jeopardize those subject to premature death, trans or otherwise. The current U.S. political regime’s overt cruelty provides an opening for widespread reckoning with the state’s …

Pfas Mixture Composition And Internal Exposure Profiles Shape Biological Responses Under Field-Realistic Exposure, Alan M. Vajda, Jill A. Jenkins, David W. Bertolatus, Denis R. Leblanc, Christopher J. Martyniuk, Zachary R. Hopkins, Andrea K. Tokranov, Abigail R. Dethloff, Joseph C. Tucker, Rainer Lohmann, Larry B. Barber

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) occur as complex mixtures, yet mixture-dependent biological effects under environmentally realistic exposure conditions remain poorly understood. We conducted multiyear (2018, 2019, 2021) continuous-flow, field-based exposures of male fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) using a low-PFAS reference well (REF; sum of measured PFAS (∑PFAS) 0.1–0.2 μg L^–1) and PFAS-contaminated groundwater from a fire-training area (FTA) at Joint Base Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Dilution treatments enabled separation of concentration and mixture effects. Groundwater from well FTA1 was perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) dominated (∑PFAS 10–31 μg L^–1), whereas groundwater from well FTA2 had higher concentrations and …

Pfas Toxicity: What’S True, What’S Not, And What Really Matters, Jamie C. Dewitt, Ian T. Cousins, Gretta Goldenman, Dorte Herzke, Rainer Lohmann, Mark Miller, Carla A. Ng, Martin Scheringer, Xenia Trier, Zhanyun Wang

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

A substantial body of evidence exists demonstrating that exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) poses a risk to human health. Data from epidemiological studies of those exposed occupationally or environmentally demonstrate adverse health risks, and these health effects are concordant with data from toxicological studies. Systematic reviews, conducted by agencies, organizations, and independent scientists that synthesize and integrate these data streams, have concluded that a range of health risks arise from PFAS exposure, including different types of cancer, especially kidney and testicular cancer, metabolic alterations such as increased liver enzymes and increased cholesterol, immune dysfunction such as reduced vaccination …

Rapid Visual Selection Of Transgenic Sorghum In Facilitated By Grf/Gif, Joelle Shamatta, Ryan Donnelly, Dylan Langton, Yu-Ton Chen, Mike Tilelli, Eric Myer, Albert P. Kausch

Poster Presentations

An accelerated transformation pipeline has been developed for functional genomics and trait gene analysis in Sorghum bicolor based on visual selection using the AmCyan reporter. Here, we combine a GRF4–GIF1 morphogenic regulator with a constitutively expressed AmCyan fluorescent reporter to enable early visual identification of transformed tissues from immature embryo (IE) explants and to shorten time‑to‑regeneration. We demonstrate a practical workflow in which AmCyan‑positive embryogenic clusters are visually recognized and excised 24-48 days after infection (DAI), and then rapidly regenerated directly into plants, in the absence of antibiotic/herbicide selection exposure. Further, we implement a 96‑well microplate reader assay that quantifies …

Alteration Of Spinal Serotonin Receptors After Prenatal Hypoxia Ischemia In An Animal Model, Tracy Santos, Landon Genry, Emily Reedich, Elvia Mena Avila, Brendan Moline, Katharina Quinlan, Marin Manuel

Poster Presentations

Cerebral palsy often results from perinatal hypoxia-ischemia and is characterized by motor and sensory dysfunction associated with altered serotonergic signaling in the spinal cord. The 5-HT₇ receptor, a G-protein-coupled receptor implicated in both motor control and nociceptive modulation, may thus play a critical role in these post-injury changes. However, the regional and developmental patterns of expression of 5-HTR₇ following HI injury are not well understood. In this study, we investigated the expression of spinal 5-HTR₇ in a neonatal rabbit model of HI injury at P1, P5, and P8 using Western blot analyses normalized to total protein. Tissue was isolated from …

Analysis Of Parameters For Improved Morphogenic-Regulator-Meditated-Transformation Using Immature Embryo Explants In Sorghum Bicolor., Ryan Donnelly, Yu-Ton Chen, Michael Tilelli, Erik A. Myers, Albert P. Kausch

Poster Presentations

Reliable Agrobacterium mediated transformation of Sorghum remains constrained by low transformation frequencies and the requirement for high quality immature embryos (IEs). A useful conceptual framework describes transformation efficiency T=V(Cd×Ci×Cr), as the product of DNA delivery (Cd), stable integration (Ci), regeneration competence (Cr), and experiment specific variables (V). Using this framework, in a multi-year study we systematically evaluated parameters predicted to influence DNA delivery and regeneration. Standard IE workflows established baseline developmental dynamics of somatic embryogenesis and regeneration. To increase DNA delivery, we tested Agrobacterium strains and ternary vir helper vectors, which enhanced bacterial attachment and transient reporter expression. To elevate …

Usage Statistics: Project Counter R5 Tr_J1 Report Fy2025 - Journal Requests (Controlled) By Title, Andrée Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Project COUNTER R5 / 5.1 Report TR_J1 for the University of Rhode Island for the period from July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025. The TR_J1 report is defined as "Journal Requests (Controlled)." This report presents an annual total only and only includes those platforms successfully configured for automated harvesting via SUSHI.

File for download is Excel spreadsheet generated by Alma Analytics.

Results:

Total Item Requests - 850,324

Unique Item Requests - 628,581

Usage Statistics: Project Counter R5 Dr_D1 Report Fy2025 - Database Search And Item Usage, Andrée Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Project COUNTER R5 / R5.1 Report DR_D1 for the University of Rhode Island for the period from July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025. The DR_D1 report is defined as "Database Search and Item Usage." This report presents an annual total only and only includes those platforms successfully configured for automated harvesting via SUSHI.

File for download is Excel spreadsheet generated by Alma Analytics.

Results:

Searches Automated - 38,089

Searches Federated - 1,810

Searches Regular - 1,304,882

Total Item Investigations - 933,864

Total Item Requests - 286,912

Usage Statistics: Project Counter R5 Tr_B1 Report Fy2025 - Book Requests Controlled) By Title, Andrée Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Project COUNTER R5 / 5.1 Report TR_B1 for the University of Rhode Island for the period from July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2025. The TR_B1 report is defined as "Book Requests Controlled)." This report presents an annual total only and only includes those platforms successfully configured for automated harvesting via SUSHI.

File for download is Excel spreadsheet generated by Alma Analytics.

Results:

Total Item Requests - 194,197

Unique Title Requests - 60,001

Pulmonary Obstruction And Age, Not Activity, Associate With Muscle Oxidative Impairment In Smokers With And Without Copd, Alessandra Adami, Fenghai Duan, Robert A. Calmelat, Zeyu Chen, Richard Casaburi, Harry B. Rossiter

Kinesiology Faculty Publications

Background: Low muscle oxidative capacity is an extrapulmonary manifestation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with unclear aetiology. We sought to characterize locomotor muscle oxidative capacity in never smokers and ever smokers with and without COPD and determine clinical and behavioural features associated with low muscle oxidative capacity.

Methods: Two hundred forty-three adults enrolled in the Muscle Health Study, an observational study ancillary to COPDGene. Gastrocnemius oxidative capacity was measured by near-infrared spectroscopy from the muscle oxygen consumption recovery rate constant (k). Physical activity was measured by accelerometry (vector magnitude units [VMU]/min). Pulmonary assessments included spirometry (FEV1%predicted), diffusing capacity (DLCO) …

Presence Of Legacy And Emerging Pfas In Human Liver Specimens Banked In The United States From 2000 To 2024, Juliana Agudelo Areiza, Jitka Becanova, Simon Vojta, Johanna Ganglbauer, Udayan Apte, Luigi Brunetti, Sean Kumer, Faiz Haque, Euna Kim, Elsie M. Sunderland, Rainer Lohmann, Fabian C. Fischer, Angela L. Slitt

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent, bioaccumulative chemicals linked to liver toxicity and metabolic disease. 54 PFAS were measured in 211 adult human livers collected between 2000 and 2024 to reveal temporal trends, relative PFAS abundance, and demographic predictors of hepatic burden. PFAS were detected in 210 individuals, with 15 compounds found in ≥30 livers. Total summed PFAS concentrations decreased by 94% over the 24-year period in weighted linear regression, and by 68% after adjusting for age, sex, and liver health in multivariate models. Since 2019, a ∼950-fold variability in concentration was observed, and the PFAS profile in the …

Passive Communication Across Diverse Swarm Formations And Scales Utilizing Wake Signatures For Messaging And Object Inference, Bryan Varela

Open Access Master's Theses

Passive wake signatures in fluid flows can support perception and low-rate communication in swarms. In cluttered or contested underwater environments, conventional acoustic, radio, and optical links can be power-hungry, intermittent, or undesirable when low observability is required. Wake-mediated cues offer a local, directional channel that does not require line of sight because each agent naturally sheds coherent vortices that persist downstream and can be sampled by followers with only a small number of probes.

This study evaluates whether sparse downstream probes are sufficient to infer agent attributes and decode simple messages from wakes generated by established source shapes. Computational fluid …

The Role Of Parenting In Mitigating Epigenetic Cardiometabolic Risk In Predominantly Latino Preschoolers, Adamari López

Open Access Master's Theses

Background: Childhood obesity is a highly prevalent public health concern with significant consequences for health and development across the lifespan. Risk is disproportionately elevated among children from marginalized racial and ethnic groups and socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, highlighting persistent disparities in long-term health outcomes. Epigenomic mechanisms, including DNA methylation (DNAm), have emerged as a promising approach for understanding the biological embedding of metabolic risk; however, prior research has largely emphasized deficit-based models, with limited attention to protective family-level factors. The present study examined whether participation in a positive parenting intervention was associated with epigenetic cardiometabolic risk among preschool-aged children. Methods …

“For Rescuing His Horse”: An Anthrozoological Approach To Dissent In Seventeenth-Century New England, Richard Mcgee

Open Access Master's Theses

The seventeenth-century colonization of New England entailed varying social, political, economic, cultural, and religious processes that were driven by and impacted several peoples. However, the presence of animals is undermentioned. This thesis forms an animal history of seventeenth-century New England, explains how different peoples understood human-animal relations, and evaluates how human-animal connectivity impacted how people conceptualized and conducted settler-colonialism. This thesis especially interrogates why some Puritan colonists limited different understandings of human-animal relations in the 1600s, namely from Indigenous Peoples, Quakers, and dissenting colonists deemed criminals. This thesis proposes that some Puritans restricted different concepts of human-animal relations because those …

Exploratory Investigation Of Greenhouse Gas Emissions In A Natural And Restored Salt Marsh, Sophia Motta

Open Access Master's Theses

Coastal wetlands are typically considered greenhouse sinks, specifically playing an important role in the global carbon cycle (Chmura et al., 2003), but new studies have pointed to anthropogenic interference leading to the understanding that altered tidal salt marshes may also be producers of methane to the atmosphere, contributing to the greenhouse effect. Hydrologic alteration including due to sea level rise (SLR), peat subsidence, impounded water, and decreased accretion rate disruption can have negative effects on marsh biochemistry leading to potential changes in electron acceptor availability, redox gradient shifts, and microbial community structure within the environment. This research is intended to …

Herbivore Cues And Plant Damage-Associated-Compounds Jointly Alter Seed Germination And Seedling Herbivory, Katherine Overstrum

Open Access Master's Theses

While plant defense against herbivory is primarily thought to occur following attack, there is also evidence that plants can detect and respond to pre-attack cues. These cues include chemicals released from damaged conspecifics and kairomones, non-attack-related substances emitted by an herbivore that plants can detect and use to their benefit. It is unknown, however, whether or how plants react to the interaction of these pre-attack cues. We measured germination, growth, and herbivore susceptibility of B. nigra seedlings in an experiment that crossed the presence/absence of crushed B. nigra leaves with the presence/absence of mucus of a generalist herbivore, A. subfuscus …