Digital Commons Network^™

How Landscape Change Affects Commercial And Recreational Fishermen’S Perceptions And Place Meanings, Talya Syvann Ten Brink

Open Access Dissertations

It is critical to plan for environmental change in order to mitigate its adverse effects on human wellbeing. This series of manuscripts examines the impacts of landscape change on commercial and recreational fishermen. Each manuscript provides a unique perspective on place meaning and place change. Using a mixed methods approach, data were collected and analyzed on fishermen’s perceptions of familiar places and on the changes that these places undergo. The first manuscript investigates the impact of offshore wind farms on commercial and recreational fishermen, using the first offshore wind farm in North America – the Block Island Wind Farm (Rhode …

Shock Response Of Soft Materials For Structural Applications, Koray Senol

Open Access Dissertations

Soft materials have been used extensively as energy absorbers in different industries such as marine, protective equipment, automotive, aerospace and transportation due to their light weight, low impedance, low mechanical stiffness and low strength. Foams, rubbers, polymers, hydrogels, and biological tissues are some examples of soft materials. Low density closed cell foams are widely used in marine and transportation industry as energy absorbers due to their light weight and low impedance. Mechanical responses of these materials are very sensitive to loading medium, rate and direction. Fundamental investigation into the mechanical response of these materials is paramount before they can be …

Tailoring Digital Health To Improve The Nutrition And Health Of People With Parkinson’S Disease, Dara Lyn Lobuono

Open Access Dissertations

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is an incurable, neurodegenerative movement disorder, impacting nearly one million Americans. By 2030 the number of people with PD (PwPD) is expected to double and with this growing population, informal caregiver responsibility will also increase. Nutritional status worsens as PD progresses, which impacts cognition, body composition, ability to perform activities of daily living (ADL) and quality of life (QOL), and increases caregiver burden. Nutritional screening and intervention for PwPD can improve health outcomes, but are often excluded from PD treatment plans.

Given the negative impact of PD on mobility and increased caregiver burden, digital technology could improve …

Influence Of Parent And Community Factors On Infant Snacking, Amy Michelle Moore

Open Access Dissertations

Snacking has increased among young children in recent decades, yet little is known about snacking during infancy. Therefore, three studies were conducted to explore the influence of parent and community factors on infant snacking. Across the three studies, findings suggest that infants are snacking on less healthy foods, mothers may offer snacks to prevent hunger and manage infant behavior, and less healthy snacks are widely available in the retail food stores. The first study was a secondary analysis of data from the Nurture study that examined the prevalence of less healthy snack intake at three time points (4-6, 7-9, and …

Feasibility Assessment Of Acid Mine Drainage And Municipal Wastewater Co-Treatment, Charles D. Spellman Jr.

Open Access Master's Theses

Acid mine drainage (AMD) and municipal wastewater (MWW) are two constituents that pose major environmental risks to surface waters if left untreated. Modern MWW treatment facilities are capable of removing organics and pathogens from wastewater before being discharged into surface waters. Although proven methods also exist for treating AMD, it is commonly untreated. Over the past few years, researchers have illuminated new approaches to simultaneously co-treat AMD and MWW. However, there is little research on combining the two waste streams within a conventional wastewater treatment plant for co-treatment. Co-treatment could facilitate metal removal from AMD while also improving MWW treatment …

Evolution Of A Subducted Carbon-Rich Filament On The Edge Of The North Atlantic Gyre, Alexis Johnson

Open Access Master's Theses

The oceanic biological carbon pump encompasses a variety of mechanisms by which CO2, fixed into organic form by phytoplankton, is transported from the sunlit surface layers to the interior ocean. Here, we investigate submesoscale and mixed layer subduction, the physical arm of the biological pump, estimated to represent approximately 20% of global organic carbon (POC) export. Seven biogeochemical Argo (BGC) profiling oats were analyzed for evidence of physical subduction of POC in the North Atlantic Ocean. While we do not yet have enough measurements to reveal basin wide spatial trends, a notable pattern is found in the seasonality, suggesting that …

The (En)Tangled Web They Weave: Stakeholder Perceptions Of The Large Whale Take Reduction Plan Process, Kimberly P. Ohnemus

Open Access Master's Theses

Negotiated rulemaking is a decision-making process that has been integrated into U.S. regulatory processes within the last three decades. Amendments to the Marine Mammal Protection Act in 1994 mandated the creation of Take Reduction Teams, stakeholder committees that use negotiated rulemaking to develop regulations to reduce marine mammal interactions with commercial fishing operations. The largest and least successful of these teams is the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team (ALWTRT), which is tasked with developing regulatory measures to protect the highly endangered North Atlantic right whale, as well as other large whale species. This study used semi-structured interviews with members …

Modeling Coral Reef Acoustic Propagation Loss, Kayla M. Thilges

Open Access Master's Theses

Quantification of an acoustic metric relating sound propagation on a coral reef to ecological parameters could enhance long-term ecological studies on coral reefs. The acoustic metric constructed in this study is coral reef propagation loss, or the sound intensity reduction with range, in a coral reef environment. Establishment of this benchmark parameterizes the geometric spreading and attenuation factors of the coral reef environment.

Two analyses are conducted in which both passive and active acoustics are used to measure the sound propagation environment across different fringing coral reef sites. In the first analysis, two passive acoustic studies in the literature captured …

Student Collaborations In Introductory Statistics Courses; A Network Study, Isabel S. Nowinowski

Open Access Master's Theses

Generation Z, also known as iGen, (individuals born between the mid-1990s and early 2010s), characterized as tech-savvy, independent, and visual, is beginning to graduate college and enter the workforce. While significant research effort has focused on understanding the learning preferences of the preceding Millennial generation (individuals born between the early 1980s and mid-1990s), less is known about the way technology has influenced the educational expectations and learning preferences of Generation Z. A deeper and broader understanding of the way this generation learns would allow universities to modify and enhance course structures and teaching methodologies to suit this incoming generation of …

“If I Was A Man, Then I’D Be The Man”: Understandings Of Gender, Race, And Social Class In Postfeminist Popular Culture, Jaclyn Griffith

Open Access Master's Theses

The following thesis is an analysis of the political messaging used by pop singer-songwriters Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift to construct their careers. Specifically, it focuses on how these two artists use their experiences of gender, race, and social class to actively effect change and empower themselves, and what expectations audiences have for them to do so and why. Grande and Swift experience sexism as women in a patriarchy, but both use their positions as subjugated members of society to create a profit and satisfy the public’s demand that they take socially progressive political stances, which earns them financial and …

Native American Marine Resource Management In Rhode Island Pre And Post Contact, Sarah Bowen

Open Access Master's Theses

This study examines Native American marine resource management as a coastal adaptation in Rhode Island. It argues that marine resource management techniques were developed by indigenous people between the Archaic and the Late Woodland period, and uses Rhode Island’s salt pond region as a case study. It then looks at how European settlement altered Native American coastal adaptations and changed marine resource management through commodification and eventually loss of access to subsistence bases. The study contrasts Native American management practices with European resource use through the end of the colonial period, and relates how indigenous conservation efforts are applicable to …

Underlying Values In Coral Restoration: Responses To The Coral Crisis, Cassandra Wilson

Open Access Master's Theses

Controversy has long existed among global coral experts over how to solve the coral crisis. This problem extends to the U.S. and its coral reef areas, but research on how this controversy influences restoration efforts in Florida is lacking. This study focused on Florida as an important and accessible case study to gain a closer look at the motivations behind coral conservation efforts taking place in real time. Due to a history of national and local coral legislation and consistent threats to Florida’s coral reef tract, coral restoration has emerged as a legitimate form of coral-care that some reef proponents …

Tracking Migratory Birds: Applying A Passive Tracking Technique Using Direction Of Arrival From Vhf Radio Tags, Jesse Moore

Open Access Master's Theses

As the offshore wind power industry grows along the U.S Atlantic Coast, biologists need to assess potential conflicts between birds and wind turbines. There is a pressing need to develop accurate tracking systems that can evaluate movements of volant (flying) organisms near offshore wind facilities during both the pre-construction and post-construction phase in U.S. waters. Based on research in Europe, turbines at offshore wind facilities can present a collision risk to birds, as well as a migration barrier. Available tracking technology has difficulties tracking fine-scale temporal and spatial movements of small (<200 >g) volant organisms. The functionality of a direction …

The Impacts Of Hearing Loss On Social-Emotional Health, Lili Lan Lebrun Visgilio

Open Access Master's Theses

According to the World Health Organization, over 900 million people are expected to have disabling hearing loss by 2050. Most studies about hearing loss published thus far have focused on the impacts hearing loss has on adults above the age of 60. However, this study examines the relationship between hearing loss and social-emotional health in adults between the ages of 21 and 50. Literature describing the impact of hearing loss on the social-emotional health of young and middle aged adults is sparse. This study uses data from the 2011 wave of the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) obtained via the …

Approximate Inversion Of Mimo Systems For Precision Tracking, Roland G. Schurig

Open Access Master's Theses

The problem considered is the design of a digital control system for precision tracking control of a fully-coupled non-minimum phase MIMO plant. The first step is to design a 2-degree-of-freedom feedback tracking system using standard pole-placement or linear quadratic regulator techniques. The result is a stable closed-loop system having zero steady-state error to step inputs. In order to obtain precision tracking for other types of inputs, some kind of feedforward control is needed. Two different tracking architectures are considered in this thesis, both feature a feedforward inverse filter to enable precision tracking. The filters are the inverse of a closed-loop …

Gold And Copper-Cysteamine Nanoparticles For Radiation Therapy Enhancement On Cancer, Bindeshwar Sah

Open Access Dissertations

Radiation therapy is a common technique to kill cancer cells. The purpose of this experiment is the enhancement of radiation effect on the treatment of tumors. The main difficulty of radiation therapy is that it can damage cancerous cells as well as healthy cells. Gold nanoparticles can enhance effects of the radiation treatment on tumors due to the interaction of radiation with gold nanoparticles to produce extra electrons through the Auger effect. This causes reduced side effects on healthy cells though using less radiation dose and maximizes radiation damage on cancer cells through the extra electrons produced by the gold …

Confirmatory Factor Analysis Of The Wisc-Iv With A Trinidad Referred Sample, Cherisse Rambarose

Open Access Dissertations

There has been an extensive amount of research in the intelligence-assessment literature on the structure of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, fourth edition (WISC-IV; 2003a). Numerous studies show that the test’s general factor structure replicates across normative and referred groups, in the U.S. and globally. Thus far, few studies have been done examining the factor structure of this, and other intelligence tests with Caribbean samples. The current study adds to this body of literature by examining the factor structure of the WISC-IV with a referred sample from Trinidad. This study utilized archival data from a sample accessed through private …

Investigating Nat Products & Pharmaceuticals Targeting Inflammation In Neurodegenerative Diseases, Shelby L. Johnson

Open Access Dissertations

Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease (AD and PD, respectively) are the two most common neurodegenerative diseases. Currently, no interventions have been successful in stopping the progression of these diseases. Here, we utilize two independent strategies: the use of natural products and repurposed pharmaceuticals to target neuroinflammation in models of neurodegeneration.

Natural products have been used for their medicinal properties for centuries in traditional eastern medicine practices. Mucuna pruriens (Mucuna) is a well-known natural source of levodopa, typically prescribed in Ayurveda for PD. A novel levodopa reduced seed extract exhibited protective effects against oxidative stress and PD specific toxic agents, both in …

Chemical Investigation Of Bacterial Interactions Involving Pathogens, Hilary Joan Grant Ranson

Open Access Dissertations

Chemical communication mediates the vast majority of collective bacterial behaviors, orchestrating gene expression and community functions. A fundamental understanding of how pathogens are able to do this underlies the philosophy of natural product chemistry, providing insights into novel mechanisms for controlling pathogenic bacterial infections. To increase the effectiveness of antibiotics, alternative therapeutic approaches can be used that target bacterial phenotypes associated with infections, including swarming motility and quiescence. This dissertation explores molecules that interfere with such phenotypes in two different pathogens: uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) and Vibrio parahaemolyticus. Increased understanding of how bacterial behaviors can be modulated in pathogens …

Making Energetic Materials Safer, Michelle D. Gonsalves

Open Access Dissertations

Canine (K9) units and scientists developing explosives trace detection devices (ETDs) work with and are exposed to energetic materials when imprinting the dog or building instrument libraries. However, access to extremely hazardous materials, such as explosives, is limited, with a great need for training aids that provide a safe-handling and long shelf-life material. In order to address these needs, encapsulation of energetic materials, such as triacetone triperoxide (TATP), erythritol tetranitrate (ETN) and trinitrotoluene (TNT) in a polymer matrix have been developed, and extensively characterized to ensure explosive desensitization, controlled released, clean background odor and delivery of the pure explosive as …

Beyond The Negative Lens: A Strength-Based Approach To Understanding Sexual Minority Women’S Health, Angela Darosh

Open Access Dissertations

Introduction: It is well-documented that, compared to their heterosexual counterparts, sexual minority women (SMW) are at an increased risk for a variety of negative mental health outcomes, including depression, non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), suicidal ideation, and suicide attempts. According to the minority stress model, lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals are at an increased risk for adverse health outcomes because they experience excess stress as a result of belonging to a stigmatized group. In particular, sexual minority stress may be mediated by LGB-specific stressors including discrimination and victimization as a result of one’s sexual orientation, internalized homophobia, and concealment. The majority …

A Data-Driven Intermittent Online Coverage Path Planning Method For Auv-Based Bathymetric Mapping, Jianguang Shi, Mingxi Zhou

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Bathymetric mapping with Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) receives increased attentions in recent years. AUVs offer a lower operational cost and smaller carbon footprint with reduced ship usage, and they can provide higher resolution data when surveying the seabed at a closer distance if compared to ships. However, advancements are still needed to improve the data quality of AUV-based surveys. Unlike mobile robots with deterministic mapping performance, multibeam sonars used in AUV-based bathymetric mapping often yields inconsistent swath width due to the varied seabed elevation and surficial properties. As a result, mapping voids may exist between planned lawnmower transects. Although this …

Reorienting The Female Gothic: Curiosity And The Pursuit Of Knowledge, Jenna Guitar

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the mode of the Female Gothic primarily by examining how texts utilize the role of curiosity and the pursuit of knowledge, paying close attention to how female characters employ these attributes. Existing criticism is vital to understanding the Female Gothic and in presenting the genealogy of feminist literary criticism, and yet I argue, this body of criticism often produces elements of essentialism. In an attempt to avoid and expose the biases that essentialism produces, I draw from Sara Ahmed’s theory of queer phenomenology to investigate the connections between the way that women pursue and circulate knowledge through …

The Impact Of A Curricular Change On Undergraduate Human Anatomy And Physiology Students’ Academic Behavior And Performance, Jessica A. Adams

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation explores learning in context. Undergraduate introductory human anatomy and human physiology courses are either taught as discipline-specific or integrated anatomy and physiology (A&P) sequences. These courses are critically important to future health care professionals yet a consensus is lacking on the optimal course approach. Our institution underwent a curricular revision to change pedagogical methodologies from discipline-specific human anatomy and human physiology to an integrated A&P I and II sequence. Thus, providing a unique opportunity to study the potential impact of contextual learning. Specifically, over three years the effects integrating physiological concepts had on anatomy education were explored as …

Developing Stimuli-Responsive Biomaterial Systems For Drug Delivery In Tissue Engineering And Cancer Chemotherapy, Seyedeh Zahra Moafi Madani

Open Access Dissertations

Controlled and sequential drug delivery is a strategy to enhance the therapeutic effectiveness of drugs in a variety of biological processes and disease states. While many different drug delivery systems are developed recently, most cannot generate temporally complex delivery profiles of multiple therapeutics. These temporally complex profiles are critical for applications such as bone regeneration and cancer chemotherapy, where an orchestrated delivery of multiple drugs is required for an optimal outcome.

Here, we developed three distinct biomaterial systems that each enable on-demand controlled or sequential drug release. These systems are based on varying external stimulus such as magnetic stimulation, radiofrequency …

Improving The Utilization Of Renewable Energies In Water Supply Systems Using Demand Side Management, Lukas Siemon

Open Access Master's Theses

The mitigation of global warming is one of the greatest challenges of the 21^st century. To reduce the emission of greenhouse gases, fossil fuels are being replaced with renewable energies. The increased share of solar and wind energy poses a complex challenge to the electricity grid due to the temporal variability in energy generation. Water supply is an energy intensive sector and entails a great potential to apply measures to synchronize the system’s energy demand to the renewable energy supply.

In this study, the potential of implementing demand side management into the water supply system operation is assessed with …

Improved Spatial Resolution Of Electroencephalogram Using Tripolar Concentric Ring Electrode Sensors, Xiang Liu, Oleksandr Makeyev, Walter Besio

Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

The electroencephalogram (EEG) is broadly used for research of brain activities and diagnosis of brain diseases and disorders. Although EEG provides good temporal resolution of millisecond or less, it does not provide good spatial resolution. There are two main reasons for the poor spatial resolution: the blurring effects of the head volume conductor and poor signal-to-noise ratio. We have developed a tripolar concentric ring electrode (TCRE) Laplacian sensor and now report on computer simulations comparing spatial resolution between conventional EEG disc electrode sensors and TCRE Laplacian sensors. We also performed visual evoked stimulus experiments and acquired visual evoked potentials (VEPs) …

Potential Implications Of Acid Mine Drainage And Wastewater Cotreatment On Solids Handling: A Review, Charles D. Spellman Jr., Travis L. Tasker, Joseph E. Goodwill, William H.J. Strosnider

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is a persistent and extensive source of water pollution and ecological degradation. Cotreating munici- pal wastewater (MWW) with AMD using existing infrastructure at conventional wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) may serve as a potential option for AMD abatement. However, commonly elevated iron and aluminum concentrations and low pH of AMD could negatively impact various processes at a WWTP. The focus of this mini review was on determining how cotreating MWW with AMD could impact the solids handling processes at a WWTP. While no studies have explored the solids that could be generated during cotreatment in a WWTP, …

Abatement Of Circumneutral Mine Drainage By Co-Treatment With Secondary Municipal Wastewater, Charles D. Spellman Jr., Travis L. Tasker, William H.J. Strosnider, Joseph E. Goodwill

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Acid mine drainage is a persistent and problematic source of water pollution. Co-treatment with municipal wastewater at existing wastewater treatment plants has several advantages; however, potential impacts on plant physicochemical and biological processes have not been well explored. The primary purpose of this bench-scale study was to examine the impact of co-treatment by combining a mild acid mine drainage at various ratios with municipal wastewater, followed by sludge settling and supernatant comparative analysis using a variety of effluent water quality parameters. These measurements were combined with carbonate system and adsorption isotherm modeling to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the experimental results. …

Infrared Lightbox And Iphone App For Improving Detection Limit Of Phosphate Detecting Dip Strips, H. Heidari-Bafroui, B. Ribeiro, A. Charbaji, C. Anagnostopoulos, M. Faghri

Mechanical, Industrial & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

In this paper, we report the development of a portable and inexpensive infrared lightbox for improving the detection limits of paper-based phosphate devices. Commercial paper-based devices utilize the molybdenum blue protocol to detect phosphate in the environment. Although these devices are easy to use and have a long shelf life, their main deficiency is their low sensitivity based on the qualitative results obtained via a color chart. To improve the results, we constructed a compact infrared lightbox that communicates wirelessly with a smartphone. The system measures the absorbance of radiation for the molybdenum blue reaction in the infrared region of …