Digital Commons Network^™

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

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

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

Anti-Black Racism And White Supremacy Soc/Apg 140x, Karen Morse

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

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

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

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

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

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Statistics for 2019-2020 on the total number of OpenURL requests by journal title and ISSN made to the Ex Libris Alma link resolver for items held by the University of Rhode Island Libraries. Includes only the top 500 journals.

Information provided includes journal Title, ISSN, EISSN, Number of Requests, Number of Clicked Requests, % Clicks from Requests.

Alma Link Resolver Subject Report 2019-2020, Andrée J. Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Statistics for 2019-2020 on the number of OpenURL requests by Library of Congress classification code made to the Ex Libris Alma link resolver for items held by the University of Rhode Island Libraries.

Information provided includes Classification Code, Classifications, Number of Requests, Number of Clicked Requests, and % Clicks from Requests.

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

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

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

Measuring Health Related Quality Of Life For Dengue Patients In Iquitos, Peru, William H. Elson, Amy R. Riley-Powell, Amy C. Morrison, Esther E. Gotlieb, Erik J. Groessl, Jhonny J. Cordova, J. Esther Rios, W. Lorena Quiroz, Alfonso S. Vizcarra, Robert C. Reiner, Christopher M. Barker, Gonzalo M. Vazquez-Prokopec, Thomas W. Scott, Alan L. Rothman, John P. Elder, Valerie A. Paz-Soldan

Cell and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

Previous studies measuring the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of individuals with dengue focused on treatment seeking populations. However, the vast majority of global dengue cases are unlikely to be detected by health systems. Representative measurements of HRQoL should therefore include patients with disease not likely to trigger treatment-seeking behavior. This study based in Iquitos, Peru used the Quality of Wellbeing Scale-Self Administered, a survey that enquires about not only physical health, but also psychological health, self-care, mobility, and usual social activities, and rates HRQoL between 0 (death) and 1 (optimum function), to evaluate the impact of dengue on HRQoL. …

Mesozooplankton Grazing Minimally Impacts Phytoplankton Abundance During Spring In The Western North Atlantic, Francoise Morison, James Joseph Pierson, Andreas Oikonomou, Susanne Menden-Deuer

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

The impacts of grazing by meso- and microzooplankton on phytoplankton primary production (PP) was investigated in the surface layer of the western North Atlantic during spring. Shipboard experiments were performed on a latitudinal transect at three stations that differed in mixed layer depth, temperature, and mesozooplankton taxonomic composition. The mesozooplankton community was numerically dominated by Calanus finmarchicus at the northern and central station, with Calanus hyperboreusalso present at the northern station. The southern station was >10 °C warmer than the other stations and had the most diverse mesozooplankton assemblage, dominated by small copepods including Paracalanus spp. Microzooplankton grazing was …

The Response Of Synechococcus Sp. Pcc 7002 To Micro-/Nano Polyethylene Particles - Investigation Of A Key Anthropogenic Stressor, Mary C. Machado, Gina V. Vimbela, Tania T. Silva-Oliveira, Arijit Bose, Anubhav Tripathi

Chemical, Biomolecular, and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Microplastics or plastic particles less than 5 mm in size are a ubiquitous and damaging pol- lutant in the marine environment. However, the interactions between these plastic particles and marine microorganisms are just starting to be understood. The objective of this study was to measure the responses of a characteristic marine organism (Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002) to an anthropogenic stressor (polyethelene nanoparticles and microparticles) using molecular techniques. This investigation showed that polyethylene microparticles and nanoparticles have genetic, enzymatic and morphological effects on Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002. An RT-PCR analysis showed increases in the expression of esterase and hydro- lase genes …

Allopatric And Sympatric Drivers Of Speciation In Alviniconcha Hydrothermal Vent Snails, Corinna Breusing, Shannon B. Johnson, Verena Tunnicliffe, David A. Clague, Robert C. Vrijenhoek, Roxanne A. Beinart

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Despite significant advances in our understanding of speciation in the marine environment, the mechanisms underlying evolutionary diversification in deep-sea habitats remain poorly investigated. Here, we used multigene molecular clocks and population genetic inferences to examine processes that led to the emergence of the six extant lineages of Alviniconcha snails, a key taxon inhabiting deep-sea hydrothermal vents in the Indo-Pacific Ocean. We show that both allopatric divergence through historical vicariance and ecological isolation due to niche segregation contributed to speciation in this genus. The split between the two major Alviniconcha clades (separating A. boucheti and A. marisindica from A. kojimai, …

Alterations In The Ribosomal Protein Bl12 Of E. Coli Affecting The Initiation, Elongation And Termination Of Protein Synthesis, Adam D. Younkin, Steven T. Gregory, Michael O'Connor

Cell and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

In bacteria, ribosomal protein bL12 forms the prominent stalk structure on the ribosome and binds to multiple, distinct translational GTPase factors during the sequential steps of translation. Using a genetic selection in E. coli for altered readthrough of UGA stop codons, we have isolated seven different mutations affecting the C-terminal domain of the protein that forms the interaction surface with translation factors. Analysis of these altered proteins, along with four additional alterations previously shown to affect IF2-ribosome interactions, indicates that multiple steps of translation are affected, consistent with bL12’s interaction with multiple factors. Surprisingly, deletion of the release factor GTPase, …

Proportional Fitness Loss And The Timing Of Defensive Investment: A Cohesive Framework Across Animals And Plants, Michael J. Sheriff, John L. Orrock, Maud Co Ferrari, Richard Karban, Evan L. Preisser, Andrew Sih, Jennifer S. Thaler

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The risk of consumption is a pervasive aspect of ecology and recent work has focused on synthesis of consumer–resource interactions (e.g., enemy–victim ecology). Despite this, theories pertaining to the timing and magnitude of defenses in animals and plants have largely developed independently. However, both animals and plants share the common dilemma of uncertainty of attack, can gather information from the environment to predict future attacks and alter their defensive investment accordingly. Here, we present a novel, unifying framework based on the way an organism’s ability to defend itself during an attack can shape their pre-attack investment in defense. This framework …

Air-Water Exchange And Distribution Pattern Of Organochlorine Pesticides In The Atmosphere And Surface Water Of The Open Pacific Ocean, Yali Li, Rainer Lohmann, Xinqing Zou, Chenglong Wang, Lin Zhang

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Surface seawater and lower atmosphere gas samples were collected simultaneously between 18°N and 40°S in the open Pacific Ocean in 2006–2007. Samples were analyzed for organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) to assess their distribution patterns, the role of ocean in the long-range transport (LRT), and the air-water exchange directions in the open Pacific Ocean. Such open ocean studies can yield useful information such as establishing temporal and spatial trends and assessing primary vs secondary emissions of legacy OCPs. Target compounds included hexachlorocyclohexanes (HCHs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs) and its derivatives, and chlordane compounds. Concentrations for α-HCH, γ-HCH, trans-chlordane (TC), and cis-chlordane (CC) were higher …

Scientists' Warning On Invasive Alien Species, Petr Pyšek, Philip E. Hulme, Dan Simberloff, Sven Bacher, Tim M. Blackburn, James T. Carlton, Wayne Dawson, Franz Essl, Llewellyn C. Foxcroft, Piero Genovesi, Jonathan M. Jeschke, Ingolf Kühn, Andrew M. Liebhold, Nicholas E. Mandrak, Laura A. Meyerson, Aníbal Pauchard, Jan Pergl, Helen E. Roy, Hanno Seebens, Mark Van Kleunen, Montserrat Vilà, Michael J. Wingfield, David M. Richardson

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Biological invasions are a global consequence of an increasingly connected world and the rise in human population size. The numbers of invasive alien species - the subset of alien species that spread widely in areas where they are not native, affecting the environment or human livelihoods - are increasing. Synergies with other global changes are exacerbating current invasions and facilitating new ones, thereby escalating the extent and impacts of invaders. Invasions have complex and often immense long-term direct and indirect impacts. In many cases, such impacts become apparent or problematic only when invaders are well established and have large ranges. …

Variable Growth Across Species And Life Stages In Caribbean Reef Octocorals, Natascha Borgstein, Diana M. Beltrán, Carlos Prada

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Growth rates often measured as linear extension rates can serve as a proxy for organismal performance across environments, yet few estimates of these growth rates exist, and fewer are reported from multi-year monitoring. We studied the effect of species, depth, exposure, and life stages on the linear extension rates of common octocorals inhabiting Caribbean reefs. We monitored 16 species from the families Briareidae, Gorgoniidae, and Plexauridae, including eight genera: Antillogorgia, Briareum, Eunicea, Gorgonia, Muricea, Muriceopsis, Plexaura, and Plexaurella. We surveyed over 2,000 colonies across eight reefs in Southwest Puerto Rico from 2003 to 2006. Our surveys include reefs …

Icdp Workshop On The Lake Tanganyika Scientific Drilling Project: A Late Miocene-Present Record Of Climate, Rifting, And Ecosystem Evolution From The World's Oldest Tropical Lake, James M. Russell, Philip Barker, Andrew Cohen, Sarah Ivory, Ishmael Kimirei, Christine Lane, Melanie Leng, Neema Maganza, Michael Mcglue, Emma Msaky, Anders Noren, Lisa Park Boush, Walter Salzburger, Christopher Scholz, Ralph Tiedemann, Shaidu Nuru, Christian Albrecht, Rahma Ali, Ramon Arrowsmith, Danstan Asanga, Yemane Asmerom, Charles Bakundukize, Thorsten Bauersachs, Catherine Beck, Melissa Berke, Emily Beverley, Martin Blaauw, Lisa Boush, Erik Brown, Chris Campisano, Barbara Carrapa, Isla Castaûeda, Andy Cohen, Sylvia Dee, Alan Deino, Cindy Ebinger

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

The Neogene and Quaternary are characterized by enormous changes in global climate and environments, including global cooling and the establishment of northern high-latitude glaciers. These changes reshaped global ecosystems, including the emergence of tropical dry forests and savannahs that are found in Africa today, which in turn may have influenced the evolution of humans and their ancestors. However, despite decades of research we lack long, continuous, well-resolved records of tropical climate, ecosystem changes, and surface processes necessary to understand their interactions and influences on evolutionary processes. Lake Tanganyika, Africa, contains the most continuous, long continental climate record from the mid-Miocene …

The Neutrally Buoyant Sediment Trap: Two Decades Of Progress, Margaret Estapa, James Valdes, Kaitlyn Tradd, Jackson Sugar, Melissa M. Omand, Ken Buesseler

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

The biological carbon flux from the ocean’s surface into its interior has traditionally been sampled by sediment traps, which physically intercept sinking particulate matter. However, the manner in which a sediment trap interacts with the flow field around it can introduce hydrodynamic biases, motivating the development of neutral, self-ballasting trap designs. Here, the performance of one of these designs, the neutrally buoyant sediment trap (NBST), is described and evaluated. The NBST has been successfully used in a number of scientific studies since a prototype was last described in the literature two decades ago, with extensive modifications in subsequent years. Originated …

Kinetics Of Phlip Peptide Insertion Into And Exit From A Membrane, Gregory Slaybaugh, Dhammika Weerakkody, Donald M. Engleman, Oleg A. Andreev, Yana Reshetnyak

Physics Faculty Publications

To advance mechanistic understanding of membrane-associated peptide folding and insertion, we have studied the kinetics of three single tryptophan pHLIP (pH-Low Insertion Peptide) variants, where tryptophan residues are located near the N terminus, near the middle, and near the inserting C-terminal end of the pHLIP transmembrane helix. Single-tryptophan pHLIP variants allowed us to probe different parts of the peptide in the pathways of peptide insertion into the lipid bilayer (triggered by a pH drop) and peptide exit from the bilayer (triggered by a rise in pH). By using pH jumps of different magnitudes, we slowed down the processes and established …

Relationship Between Maximal Incremental And High-Intensity Interval Exercise Performance In Elite Athletes, Shih-Chieh Chang, Alessandra Adami, Hsin-Chin Lin, Yin-Chou Lin, Carl Pc Chen, Tieh-Cheng Fu, Chih-Chin Hsu, Shu-Chun Huang

Kinesiology Faculty Publications

This descriptive study aimed to explore the physiological factors that determine tolerance to exertion during high-intensity interval effort. Forty-seven young women (15–28 years old) were enrolled: 23 athletes from Taiwan national or national reserve teams and 24 moderately active females. Each participant underwent a maximal incremental INC (modified Bruce protocol) cardiopulmonary exercise test on the first day and high-intensity interval testing (HIIT) on the second day, both performed on a treadmill. The HIIT protocol involved alternation between 1-min effort at 120% of the maximal speed, at the same slope reached at the end of the INC, and 1-min rest until …

Seminar In Biological Sciences Bio 228, Michael Cerbo

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes May 7, 2020, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes

No abstract provided.

Enhancing Our Supply Chain: Working With Faculty To Embed Il Threshold Concepts, Amanda K. Izenstark, Mary Macdonald

Public Services Faculty Presentations

Slides from a presentation, "Enhancing our Supply Chain: Working with Faculty to Embed IL Threshold Concepts" Presented as part of the LOEX 2020 Annual Conference, offered online on 5 May 2020.

Abstract:

Collaborating with campus faculty developers and using active learning techniques, two academic librarians facilitated a 3.5 day seminar with the goal of connecting faculty's underlying course content with information literacy threshold concepts across a variety of disciplines. During the seminar, participants discovered concepts common across disciplines that enabled them to highlight core concepts in their own field in their courses. At the end, faculty participants were energized and …

Observing Waste Production And Bringing Sustainable Options To The Houses In Fraternity Circle, Lindsay Travers

Senior Honors Projects

In our ever-changing world, focusing on sustainability has become important due to human-caused climate change. As a result of our world changing and advancing, the majority of the population now moves at a fast pace. In some cases, this speed of living requires the easiest route possible when it comes to using resources or disposing of items. However, there have been many advancements that have given our world options to be more sustainable. In the 1970’s, recycling was introduced and groups ranging from large corporations to individual households began recycling items and reducing their overall waste production. This was a …

Year Long Water Quality Analysis Of White Horn Brook, Kevin Dyer

Senior Honors Projects

KEVIN DYER (Marine Biology)

Year-long Analysis of the Water Quality of White Horn Brook

Sponsor: Thomas Boving (Geological Sciences)

Water is the foundation for all life on earth and is the most vital resource on this planet. Despite this, oceans and waterways all over the world are being polluted and exploited in ways detrimental to their fundamental hydrologic functions. For instance, excess nitrate levels can lead to eutrophication which gives rise to harmful algae blooms. Low pH can cause the breakdown of CaCO3 exoskeletons of organisms, such mollusks. High temperature variations are major stressors to living things and can cause …

The Impact Of Stress On Diet, Sleep, And Exercise Amongst College Students, Jessica Rizzo

Senior Honors Projects

Stress is something that everyone faces in their lifetime and has an everlasting impact on their health. College students face high levels of stress throughout the semester, but how is that impacting their behavior? I conducted a survey alongside Dr. Melanson, a professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, to see just how college students are reacting to stress. The survey was circulated to different departments and classes to achieve a widespread collection of data. The survey remained completely anonymous and posed questions about eating, exercise, and sleep habits, along with questions on demographics and stress levels. Our …

Safe Sleep: Developmental Implications For Hospitalized Infants, Katherine Kohlsaat

Senior Honors Projects

The rate at which an infant develops both physically and cognitively is significant during sleep, as this is the time when the entire body can dedicate its efforts to this cause. Parents of healthy infants follow the guidelines set by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) relating to safe sleep, and since their introduction in 1992, the rate of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) has decreased by 40% (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016). However, if an infant has been hospitalized since birth due to necessary invasive procedures such as open-heart surgery, these protocols cannot be initially implemented. Common …

Invasion Syndromes: A Systematic Approach For Predicting Biological Invasions And Facilitating Effective Management, Ana Novoa, David M. Richardson, Petr Pyšek, Laura A. Meyerson, Sven Bacher, Susan Canavan, Jane A. Catford, Jan Čuda, Franz Essl, Llewellyn C. Foxcroft, Piero Genovesi, Heidi Hirsch, Cang Hui, Michele C. Jackson, Christoph Kueffer, Johannes J. Le Roux, John Measey, Nitya P. Mohanty, Desika Moodley, Heinz Müller-Schärer, Jasmin G. Packer, Jan Pergl, Tamara B. Robinson, Wolf Christian Saul, Ross T. Shackleton, Vernon Visser, Olaf L.F. Weyl, Florencia A. Yannelli, John R.U. Wilson

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Our ability to predict invasions has been hindered by the seemingly idiosyncratic context-dependency of individual invasions. However, we argue that robust and useful generalisations in invasion science can be made by considering “invasion syndromes” which we define as “a combination of pathways, alien species traits, and characteristics of the recipient ecosystem which collectively result in predictable dynamics and impacts, and that can be managed effectively using specific policy and management actions”. We describe this approach and outline examples that highlight its utility, including: cacti with clonal fragmentation in arid ecosystems; small aquatic organisms introduced through ballast water in harbours; large …

Targeting Acidic Diseased Tissues By Ph-Triggered Membrane-Associated Peptide Folding, Yana Reshetnyak, Anna Moshnikova, Oleg A. Andreev, Donald M. Engelman

Physics Faculty Publications

The advantages of targeted therapy have motivated many efforts to find distinguishing features between the molecular cell surface landscapes of diseased and normal cells. Typically, the features have been proteins, lipids or carbohydrates, but other approaches are emerging. In this discussion, we examine the use of cell surface acidity as a feature that can be exploited by using pH-sensitive peptide folding to target agents to diseased cell surfaces or cytoplasms.

Light Fluctuations Are Key In Modulating Plankton Trophic Dynamics And Their Impact On Primary Production, Francoise Morison, Gayanotonia Franze, Elizabeth Harvey, Susanne Menden-Deuer

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Surface‐ocean mixing creates dynamic light environments with predictable effects on phytoplankton growth but unknown consequences for predation. We investigated how variations in average mixed‐layer (ML) irradiance shaped plankton trophic dynamics by incubating a Northwest‐Atlantic plankton community for 4 days at high (H) and low (L) light, followed by exposure to either sustained or reversed light intensities. In deep‐ML (sustained L), phytoplankton biomass declined (μ = −0.2 ± 0.08 d⁻¹) and grazing was absent. In shallow‐ML (sustained H), growth exceeded grazing (μ = 0.46 ± 0.07 d⁻¹; g = 0.32 ± 0.04 d⁻¹). …

Developing A Responsive And Adaptable Emergent Media Curriculum, Dennis Owen Frohlich, David Magolis

Journal of Media Literacy Education

The field of mass communication is constantly undergoing change and development, and the pace has accelerated with the advent of digital technologies. One challenge educators face is: how do we educate college students not just for today’s careers, but also for lifelong competencies with media? Against this backdrop, the Department of Media and Journalism at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania sought a new curriculum to capitalize on “emergent media,” that is, media that does not fit neatly into established mass communication disciplines such as journalism, telecommunications, public relations, and advertising. Our curriculum is centered around media literacy, skills development, and experiential …