Digital Commons Network^™

Radiofrequency And Near-Infrared Responsive Core-Shell Nanostructures Using Layersome Templates For Cancer Treatment, Animesh Pan, Md Golam Jakaria, Samantha A. Meenach, Geoffrey D. Bothun

Chemical, Biomolecular, and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

We report a multifunctional nanotherapeutic platform based on liposomes loaded with drug and iron oxide nanoparticles (IONs) coated with a gold nanoshell synthesized using a polyelectrolyte (layersome) soft templating technique. IONs and gold nanoshells were used to provide combined hyperthermia and triggered drug release via radio frequency (RF) or near-infrared (NIR) stimulation. IONs and the anticancer drug doxorubicin (DOX) were coencapsulated inside liposomes composed of zwitterionic phosphatidylcholine, anionic phosphatidylglycerol, and cholesterol lipids. Coating the magneto-liposomes with positively charged poly-l-lysine enriched the interface with gold anions to form a dense gold nanoshell and protected the structure against deformation and DOX cargo …

Avian Bornaviral Ganglioneuritis: Current Debates And Unanswered Questions, Susan Boatright-Horowitz

Psychology Faculty Publications

Avian bornaviral ganglioneuritis, often referred to as parrot wasting disease, is associated with a newly discovered avian virus from the taxonomic family Bornaviridae. Research regarding the pathogenesis and treatment for this disease is ongoing, with implications for understanding other emerging human and nonhuman diseases, as well as the health and ecology of wildlife. At this time, numerous questions remain unanswered regarding the transmission of the disease, best practices for diagnostic sampling and testing, and whether currently used drug therapies are effective or harmful for afflicted birds. The pathogenesis of the disease also remains unclear with many birds showing resistance to …

Competition Among Native And Invasive Phragmites Australis Populations: An Experimental Test Of The Effects Of Invasion Status, Genome Size, And Ploidy Level, Petr Pysek, Jan Cuda, Petr Smilauer, Hana Skalova, Zuzana Chumova, Carla Lambertini, Magdalena Lucanova, Hana Rysava, Pavel Travnicek, Kristyna Semberova, Laura A. Meyerson

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Among the traits whose relevance for plant invasions has recently been suggested are genome size (the amount of nuclear DNA) and ploidy level. So far, research on the role of genome size in invasiveness has been mostly based on indirect evidence by comparing species with different genome sizes, but how karyological traits influence competition at the intraspecific level remains unknown. We addressed these questions in a common‐garden experiment evaluating the outcome of direct intraspecific competition among 20 populations of Phragmites australis, represented by clones collected in North America and Europe, and differing in their status (native and invasive), genome …

Fruit Syndromes In Viburnum: Correlated Evolution Of Color, Nutritional Content, And Morphology In Bird-Dispersed Fleshy Fruits, Miranda A. Sinnott-Armstrong, Chong Lee, Wendy L. Clement, Michael J. Donoghue

Nutrition Faculty Publications

Premise

A key question in plant dispersal via animal vectors is where and why fruit colors vary between species and how color relates to other fruit traits. To better understand the factors shaping the evolution of fruit color diversity, we tested for the existence of syndromes of traits (color, morphology, and nutrition) in the fruits of Viburnum. We placed these results in a larger phylogenetic context and reconstructed ancestral states to assess how Viburnum fruit traits have evolved across the clade.

Results

We find that blue Viburnum fruits are not very juicy, and have high lipid content and large, …

Biotechnology Seminar Btc 102, Michael Cerbo

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

Momentum: Research & Innovation For Spring 2020, University Of Rhode Island

Publications (Research and Economic Development)

The Spring 2020 issue of Research & Innovation, a periodical focused on research at the University of Rhode Island.

Momentum: Research & Innovation For Spring 2020, University Of Rhode Island

Publications (Research and Economic Development)

The Spring 2020 issue of Momentum: Research & Innovation, a periodical focused on research at the University of Rhode Island.

A Four-Year, Seven-State Reforestation Trial With Eastern Hemlocks (Tsuga Canadensis) Resistant To Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (Adelges Tsugae), Ian G. Kinahan, Gabrielle Grandstaff, Alana Russell, Chad M. Rigsby, Richard A. Casagrande, Evan L. Preisser

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

We conducted over a decade of research into individual eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis; hemlock) trees that are potentially resistant to hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae; HWA), an invasive xylem-feeding insect that is capable of rapidly killing even mature trees. Following clonal propagation of these individuals, in 2015 we planted size- and age-matched HWA-resistant and HWA-susceptible hemlocks in HWA-infested forest plots in seven states. In 2019, we re-surveyed the plots; 96% of HWA-resistant hemlocks survived compared to 48% of susceptible trees. The surviving HWA-resistant trees were also taller, produced more lateral growth, retained more foliage, and supported lower densities of the …

Sub-Lethal Predatory Shell Damage Does Not Affect Physiology Under High Co2 In The Intertidal Gastropod Tritia Reticulata, Leonardo Querobim Yokoyama, Alexander Turra, Coleen Suckling, Gabriela Torres, Andrew Davies, Ian Mccarthy

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Ocean acidification (OA) poses a major threat to marine animals, especially marine shelled invertebrates such as molluscs. Although many organisms are capable of compensating for the effects of OA, this can impose physiological costs and impact performance (e.g. through increased metabolism and decreased growth). Sublethal injuries on shells may provoke changes in energy allocation. Under acidified conditions, organisms would spend less energy on reproduction and somatic growth to repair the damage. Therefore, we analysed the physiological responses of the intertidal gastropod Tritia reticulata during shell regeneration under OA conditions. We simulated a sub-lethal predation event (a notch in the outer …

Latinx Boys And Juvenile Delinquency, Judy Van Wyk

Sociology and Anthropology Faculty Publications

This study examines Latinx boys in the juvenile justice system and addresses acculturation theory to assess whether or not adjudicated foreign-born Latinx boys are more delinquent than others before adjudication, and whether or not these boys are a bigger burden on the juvenile justice system than others. The present study addresses data and methodological issues that plague the current research using the Ocean Tides Database containing multi-year (1975–2019) cross sectional data for 1,083 adjudicated boys. Multivariate analyses confirm that Latinx immigrant youth who are delinquent pose no greater threats to the American public either before or after adjudication than US-born …

Remote Sensing Applications In Monitoring Of Protected Areas：A Bibliometric Analysis, Peili Duan, Yeqiao Wang, Peng Yin

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

The development of remote sensing platforms and sensors and improvement in science and technology provide crucial support for the monitoring and management of protected areas. This paper presents an analysis of research publications, from a bibliometric perspective, on the remote sensing of protected areas. This analysis is focused on the period from 1991 to 2018. For data, a total of 4546 academic publications were retrieved from the Web of Science database. The VOSviewer software was adopted to evaluate the co-authorships among countries and institutions, as well as the co-occurrences of author keywords. The results indicate an increasing trend of …

The Effects Of Dietary Linoleic Acid And Hydrophilic Antioxidants On Basal, Peak, And Sustained Metabolism In Flight‐Trained European Starlings, Wales A. Carter, Kristen J. Demoranville, Barbara J. Pierce, Scott R. Mcwilliams

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Dietary micronutrients have the ability to strongly influence animal physiology and ecology. For songbirds, dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) and antioxidants are hypothesized to be particularly important micronutrients because of their influence on an individual's capacity for aerobic metabolism and recovery from extended bouts of exercise. However, the influence of specific fatty acids and hydrophilic antioxidants on whole‐animal performance remains largely untested. We used diet manipulations to directly test the effects of dietary PUFA, specifically linoleic acid (18:2n6), and anthocyanins, a hydrophilic antioxidant, on basal metabolic rate (BMR), peak metabolic rate (PMR), and rates of fat catabolism, lean catabolism, and …

Implanted Satellite Transmitters Affect Sea Duck Movement Patterns At Short And Long Timescales, Juliet S. Lamb, Peter W. C. Paton, Jason E. Osenkowski, Shannon S. Badzinski, Alicia M. Berlin, Tim Bowman, Chris Dwyer, Luke J. Fara, Scott G. Gilliland, Kevin Kenow, Christine Lepage, Mark L. Mallory, Glenn H. Olsen, Matthew C. Perry, Scott A. Petrie, Jean-Pierre L. Savard, Lucas Savoy, Michael Schummer, Caleb S. Spiegel, Scott R. Mcwilliams

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Studies of the effects of transmitters on wildlife often focus on survival. However, sublethal behavioral changes resulting from radio-marking have the potential to affect inferences from telemetry data and may vary based on individual and environmental characteristics. We used a long-term, multi-species tracking study of sea ducks to assess behavioral patterns at multiple temporal scales following implantation of intracoelomic satellite transmitters. We applied state-space models to assess short-term behavioral patterns in 476 individuals with implanted satellite transmitters, as well as comparing breeding site attendance and migratory phenology across multiple years after capture. In the short term, our results suggest an …

Plant Genome Size Influences Stress Tolerance Of Invasive And Native Plants Via Plasticity, Laura A. Meyerson, Petr Pyšek, Magdalena Lučanová, Sarah Wigginton, Cao‐Tri Tran, James T. Cronin

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Plant genome size influences the functional relationships between cellular and whole‐plant physiology, but we know little about its importance to plant tolerance of environmental stressors and how it contributes to range limits and invasion success. We used native and invasive lineages of a wetland plant to provide the first experimental test of the Large Genome Constraint Hypothesis (LGCH)—that plants with large genomes are less tolerant of environmental stress and less plastic under stress gradients than plants with small genomes. We predicted that populations with larger genomes would have a lower tolerance and less plasticity to a stress gradient than populations …

Supportive Wind Conditions Influence Offshore Movements Of Atlantic Coast Piping Plovers During Fall Migration, Pamela H. Loring, James D. Mclaren, Holly F. Goyert, Peter W C Paton

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

In advance of large-scale development of offshore wind energy facilities throughout the U.S. Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), information on the migratory ecology and routes of federally threatened Atlantic Coast Piping Plovers (Charadrius melodus melodus) is needed to conduct risk assessments pursuant to the Endangered Species Act. We tagged adult Piping Plovers (n = 150) with digitally coded VHF transmitters at 2 breeding areas within the southern New England region of the U.S. Atlantic coast from 2015 to 2017. We tracked their migratory departure flights using a regional automated telemetry network (n = 30 stations) extending across a portion of …

Mitochondrial Dna Analysis Of Critically Endangered Chinese Pangolins (Manis Pentadactyla) From Nepal, Sandeep Shrestha, Ashish Bashyal, Ashna Dhaka, Thomas J. Mcgreevy Jr., Bill Buffum, Jyoti Joshi, Hemanta Kumari Chaudhary, Sanjay Nath Khanal

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Chinese Pangolins (Manis pentadactyla) are Critically Endangered and one of the most illegally traded mammals globally. We generated first COI sequences from five individuals of this species from Nepal. BLASTn search of our 600bp sequences at GenBank showed pair-wise identity between 99.17% and 100% to M. pentadactyla. There were three haplotypes and a total of five variable sites among five M. pentadactyla sequences. Neighbor-joining tree revealed that all M. pentadactyla from Nepal clustered into same group further splitting into two sub-groups albeit with low bootstrap value, suggesting potential multiple geographic origins. The K2P distance was 0.3% within …

Effectiveness Of Advanced Nitrogen-Removal Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems In A New England Coastal Community, Bianca Ross, Kevin P. Hoyt, George W. Loomis, José A. Amador

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Wastewater is a major source of nitrogen (N) to groundwater and coastal waterbodies, threatening both environmental and public health. Advanced N-removal onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS) are used to reduce effluent N concentration; however, few studies have assessed their effectiveness. We evaluated the total N (TN) concentration of effluent from 50 advanced N-removal OWTS in Charlestown, Rhode Island, USA for 3 years. We quantified differences in effectiveness as a function of N-removal technology and home occupancy pattern (seasonal vs. year-round use), and examined the relationship between wastewater properties and TN concentration. RX30 systems produced the lowest median TN concentration (mg …

Community Forestry: Sustainability And Equity Issues, Bill Buffum

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Governments around the world are increasingly handing over the authority for the management of national forests to the local communities. By 2016, governments in 62 countries had given communities legal rights to manage 732 million hectares of national forest. This approach has been particularly widespread in South Asia. Nepal and India have the oldest and largest programs in the region: community forest user groups in Nepal managed 22 million hectares of national forest in 2016, while forest protection committees in India managed 17 million ha of national forest in 2011. The experience of Nepal and India in the 1980s and …

Assessment Of Salt Marsh Change On Assateague Island National Seashore Between 1962 And 2016, Anthony Campbell, Yeqiao Wang

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Salt marshes provide extensive ecosystem services, including high biodiversity, denitrification, and wave attenuation. In the mid-Atlantic, sea level rise is predicted to affect salt marsh ecosystems severely. This study mapped the entirety of Assateague Island with Very High Resolution satellite imagery and object-based methods to determine an accurate salt marsh baseline for change analysis. Topobathy-metric light detection and ranging was used to map the salt marsh and model expected tidal effects. The satellite imagery, collected in 2016 and classified at two hierarchical thematic schemes, were compared to determine appropriate thematic richness. Change analysis between this 2016 map and both a …

Grow Well/Crecer Bien: A Protocol For Research On Infant Feeding Practices In Low-Income Families, Ann M. Cheney, Tanya Nieri, Ana Ramirez Zarate, Gretel Garcia, Lucero Vaca, Esmirna Valencia, Colleen Versteeg, Arlene Molina, Michael Castillo, Alison Tovar

Nutrition Faculty Publications

Background

The prevalence of obesity among children remains high. Given obesity’s significant lifelong consequences, there is great interest in preventing obesity early in life. There is a need to better understand the relation of common infant feeding styles and practices to obesity in infants using longitudinal study designs. There is also an urgent need to understand the role of caregivers other than mothers in feeding. A better understanding of variation in feeding styles and practices can inform the identification of risk groups and the tailoring of interventions to them.

Methods

In partnership with Early Head Start programs across four counties …

Healthy Sleep Leads To Improved Nutrition And Exercise In College Females, Sue K. Adams, Elizabeth Dimond, Matthew J. Delmonico, Emily Sylvester, Chelsea Accetta, Carley Domos, Ingrid E. Lofgren

Nutrition Faculty Publications

Diet, sleep quality, and exercise are important determinants of physical, mental, and emotional health. College students are particularly vulnerable to impaired health, as they experience multiple unique stressors associated with college life that impact their ability to engage in healthy sleep, diet, and exercise habits. Our results found that exercise significantly mediated the association between sleep quality and diet. Improved sleep habits may increase a young woman's ability and desire to exercise, thus impacting her diet and nutrition. Findings suggest that clinicians can use a person's motivation in any one domain, or multiple domains, to impact other health domains.

Food Insecurity Is Associated With Increased Risk Of Obesity In Us College Students, Aseel El Zein, Sarah E. Colby, Wenjun Zhou, Karla P. Shelnutt, Geoffrey W. Greene, Tanya M. Horacek, Melissa D. Olfert, Anne E. Mathews

Nutrition Faculty Publications

Background

Food insecurity affects millions of Americans and college students are especially vulnerable. Little is known about the relation of food insecurity with weight status and dietary intake during this critical phase of emerging adulthood. Objectives

We aimed to examine the sex-specific associations of food insecurity with obesity and dietary intake among college students. The study also explored these associations by meal plan (MP) enrollment. Methods

This cross-sectional study included 683 second-year students at 8 universities in the United States. Food security status and dietary intake were assessed using the USDA Adult Food Security Survey and the Dietary Screener Questionnaire, …

Modeling The Potential Productivity Of Urban Agriculture And Its Impacts On Soil Quality Through Experimental Research On Scale-Appropriate Systems, John R. Taylor

Plant Sciences and Entomology Faculty Publications

Urban agriculture could play a central role in local and regional food sovereignty in developed countries, but in many cities, a lack of space and competition with other land uses limit production. Options for meaningfully advancing food sovereignty goals include sustainable intensification of existing urban farms and gardens; (2) expansion of production into interstitial and other underutilized spaces undevelopable for other purposes; and (3) expansion of production in protected environments. Observational studies suggest that–like smallholder agriculture in the Global South–urban home, community, and market gardens in the developed world can be highly productive–but often are not. Research on scale-appropriate systems …

The Effects Of Black And White Plastic Mulch On Soil Temperature And Yield Of Crisphead Lettuce In Southern New England, Rahmatallah Gheshm, Rebecca Brown

Plant Sciences and Entomology Faculty Publications

Annually, Americans consume an average of 24.5 lb of lettuce (Lactuca sativa) per capita, more than half of which is head lettuce. This study examined the impacts of using black and white-on-black polyethylene mulches on three crisphead lettuce cultivars for spring production in the open field, with data collected on the soil temperature and lettuce yields. Black polyethylene, white-on-black polyethylene, and bare ground were compared for effects on soil temperature, lettuce yields, and lettuce head height and diameter. Mean soil temperatures at a 5 cm depth were 18.9 °C under black polyethylene, 17.7 °C under white-on-black polyethylene, and …

Chemical And Biological Indicators Of Soil Health In Chicago Urban Gardens And Farms, Carmen M. Ugarte, John R. Taylor

Plant Sciences and Entomology Faculty Publications

Urban food production is conducted in highly heterogeneous environments that have undergone considerable manipulation by building, demolition, and/or industrial pollution. This study evaluated soil quality characteristics in urban sites currently used for vegetable production across an urban to peri-urban gradient in Chicago, IL, USA. Twenty-one sites were classified based on the scale of management as private home gardens, community gardens, institutional farms, and private urban farms. We quantified indicators of soil fertility, nematode trophic composition, and indicators of the food web status (Maturity Index, Enrichment Index, Channel Index, and Structure Index). We also quantified concentrations of soil contaminants including lead …

Interrupted Blood Feeding In Ticks: Causes And Consequences, Djamel Tahir, Leon Meyer, Josephus Fourie, Frans Jongejan, Thomas N. Mather, Valérie Choumet, Byron Blagburn, Reinhard K. Straubinger, Marie Varloud

Plant Sciences and Entomology Faculty Publications

Ticks are obligate hematophagous arthropods and act as vectors for a great variety of pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, protozoa, and helminths. Some tick-borne viruses, such as Powassan virus and tick-borne encephalitis virus, are transmissible within 15–60 min after tick attachment. However, a minimum of 3–24 h of tick attachment is necessary to effectively transmit bacterial agents such as Ehrlichia spp., Anaplasma spp., and Rickettsia spp. to a new host. Longer transmission periods were reported for Borrelia spp. and protozoans such as Babesia spp., which require a minimum duration of 24–48 h of tick attachment for maturation and migration of the …

Moving Forward With Digital Disruption: What Big Data, Iot, Synthetic Biology, Ai, Blockchain, And Platform Businesses Mean To Libraries, Bohyun Kim

Technical Services Faculty Publications

Digital disruption, also known as “the fourth industrial revolution,” is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres. This issue of Library Technology Reports (vol. 56, no. 2) examines today’s leading-edge technologies and their disruptive impacts on our society through examples such as extended reality, Big Data, the Internet of Things (IoT), synthetic biology, 3-D bio-printing, artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and platform businesses in the sharing economy. This report explains

• how new digital technologies are merging the physical and the biological with the digital;
• what kind of transformations are taking place as a result in production, management, and …

Paleoenvironments, Taphonomy, And Stable Isotopic Content Of The Terrestrial, Fossil-Vertebrate–Bearing Sequence Of The El Disecado Member, El Gallo Formation, Upper Cretaceous, Baja California, México, David Fastovsky, Marisol Montellano-Ballesteros, Henry C. Fricke, Jahandar Ramezani, Kaori Tsukui, Gregory P. Wilson, Paul Hall, Rene Hernandez-Rivera, Geraldo Alvarez

Geosciences Faculty Publications

The Late Campanian (Late Cretaceous), upper part of the El Disecado Member, El Gallo Formation, Baja California, México, preserves a rich fossil assemblage of microvertebrates and macrovertebrates, silicified logs, macroscopic plant remains, and pollen that was likely deposited as the distal part of a subaerial fan. The unit was episodic and high energy, with its salient features deriving from active river channels and sheet, debris-flow deposits. Landscape stability is indicated by the presence of compound paleosol horizons, containing Fe₂O₃ mottling in B horizons, cutans, and calcium carbonate concretions. All of these features indicate wet/dry cyclicity in subsurface …

Assessing Health Professionals’ Perception Of Health Literacy In Rhode Island Community Health Centers: A Qualitative Study, Mary L. Greaney, Sherrie F. Wallington, Sankeerth Rampa, Vivian S. Vigliotti, Carol A. Cummings

Public Health Faculty Publications

Background: Limited health literacy is linked with poor health behaviors, limited health care access, and poor health outcomes. Improving individual and population health outcomes requires understanding and addressing barriers to promoting health literacy.

Methods: Using the socio-ecological model as a guiding framework, this qualitative study (Phase 1 of a larger ongoing project) explored the interpersonal and organizational levels that may impact the health literacy levels of patients seeking care at federally qualified community health centers (FQCHCs) in Rhode Island. Focus groups were conducted with FQCHC employees (n = 37) to explore their perceptions of the health literacy skills of …

Application Of A Biphasic Mathematical Model Of Cancer Cell Drug Response For Formulating Potent And Synergistic Targeted Drug Combinations To Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells, Jinyan Shen, Li Li, Niall G. Howlett, Paul S. Cohen, Gongqin Sun

Cell and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

Triple negative breast cancer is a collection of heterogeneous breast cancers that are immunohistochemically negative for estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor, and ErbB2 (due to deletion or lack of amplification). No dominant proliferative driver has been identified for this type of cancer, and effective targeted therapy is lacking. In this study, we hypothesized that triple negative breast cancer cells are multi-driver cancer cells, and evaluated a biphasic mathematical model for identifying potent and synergistic drug combinations for multi-driver cancer cells. The responses of two triple negative breast cancer cell lines, MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-468, to a panel of targeted therapy drugs were …