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Design And Development Of Ph Sensitive Nanomedicine For Targeted Drug Delivery, Mohan C. Pereira

Open Access Dissertations

Targeted drug delivery has been the major topic in drug formulation and delivery. As nanomedicine emerges to create nano-scale therapeutics and diagnostics, it is still essential to embed targeting capability to these novel systems to make them useful. Design of robust nanomedicine with universal targeting capabilities could provide effective solutions to the ever increasing demand of curing and preventing major diseases.

Diseases like carcinoma & ischemia are accompanied with hypoxia and acidosis. Because of the elevated glycolysis and acidosis in the diseased cells, they show a lower pH in the surface of the cells which promotes the appearance of aggressive …

Prescriptions Of Intergroup Conflict: The Role Of Implicit And Explicit Associations Of Violence, Justine N. Egan

Open Access Dissertations

Violence is pervasive in our world. The acceptability of violence as a societal norm sets the stage for interpersonal and intergroup conflicts. One source of such conflict is that individuals differ in how they perceive violence and violent behavior. Previous research found that individuals differ in their explicit attitude evaluations of violence. The first manuscript in this dissertation expanded upon this research area with an examination of implicit attitude evaluations of violence. This manuscript addressed the creation of a new measure of implicit attitude evaluations of violence and nonviolence using the Implicit Association Test (IAT). Participants were asked about their …

The Potential Of Indonesian Microalgal Strains To Support Eastern White Shrimp (Litopenaeus Vannamei) Aquaculture, Wa Iba

Open Access Dissertations

Indonesia is well known for abundant aquatic resources, both marine and freshwater, including fishes, zooplankton and phytoplanktonic microalgae. However, relatively little information is available about microalgal resources despite their potential to be used as live feed in the hatchery phase of aquaculture of a number of marine species. The use of local microalgae is desirable in local hatcheries because they tend to grow better with high yield under local conditions, thus reducing the risk of culture crash and production cost while preventing disease vectors that may introduced by foreign microalgae strains. In this dissertation, the potential of Indonesian microalgae to …

The Influence Of Hydrothermal Plumes On Midwater Ecology, And A New Method To Assess Pelagic Biomass, Brennan Theodore Phillips

Open Access Dissertations

Submarine hydrothermal vent fields introduce buoyant plumes of chemically altered seawater to the deep-sea water column. Chemoautotrophic microbes exploit this energy source, facilitating seafloor-based primary production that may transfer to pelagic consumers. This dissertation synthesizes a growing body of scientific evidence supporting the hypothesis that hydrothermal plumes are the energetic basis of unique deep-sea pelagic food webs, including secondary and tertiary consumers. Contemporary largescale plume events associated with periods of eruptive activity suggest that hydrothermal plumes may have influenced basin-scale ocean chemistry during periods of increased submarine volcanism. The author speculates that hydrothermal plumes are capable of driving both positive …

Cadmium Contributes To Breast Cancer Development By Influencing Cell Adhesion Network, Zhengxi Wei

Open Access Dissertations

Cadmium (Cd) is carcinogenic and a well-established human health risk. Epidemiological and experimental studies have demonstrated that Cd is associated with breast cancer. We reported previously that Cd promoted breast cancer cell growth. Whether Cd treatment also causes epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and progression to metastasis in breast epithelial cells is unknown. The dissertation described here investigated the effect of Cd in breast cancer progression.

Noncancerous breast epithelial MCF10A cells, non-metastatic HCC 1937 and HCC 38 cells, and metastatic MDA-MB-231 cells were treated with 1 or 3 µM Cd for 4 weeks. The increase in the expressions of N-cadherin and vimentin …

A History Of Their Own: A Conversation With Vicki L. Ruiz, Anupama Arora, Laura K. Muñoz, Sandrine Sanos

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Establishing An Anthropogenic Nitrogen Baseline Using Native American Shell Middens, Autumn Oczkowski, Thomas Gumbley, Bobbi Carter, Ruth Carmichael, Austin T. Humphries

Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Sciences Faculty Publications

Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, has been heavily influenced by anthropogenic nutrients for more than 200 years. Recent efforts to improve water quality have cut sewage nitrogen (N) loads to this point source estuary by more than half. Given that the bay has been heavily fertilized for longer than monitoring programs have been in place, we sought additional insight into how N dynamics in the system have historically changed. To do this, we measured the N stable isotope (δ¹⁵N) values in clam shells from as early as 3000 BP to the present. Samples from Native American middens were compared …

Local Ecological Knowledge Of Fishermen In Rhode Island And The Dominican Republic: State Of Their Fisheries, Changes And Adaptations, Elizabeth Layli Mclean

Open Access Dissertations

The failure to sustain fisheries is attributed to simultaneous effects of overfishing and to natural disturbance on fish habitats. Many conservation and management efforts are not successful in sustaining the fisheries. There is a growing need to broaden our understanding of people’s knowledge and their fisheries and to consider new approaches that will lead to effective conservation that enables us to sustain fisheries and protect the environment. This study examines the use of fishers’ local ecological knowledge (FEK) to characterize fishing communities and their practices, to assess the state of the fisheries, and the usefulness of this knowledge for conservation …

Toward Intelligent Cyber-Physical Systems: Algorithms, Architectures, And Applications, Bo Tang

Open Access Dissertations

Cyber-physical systems (CPS) are the new generation of engineered systems integrated with computation and physical processes. The integration of computation, communication and control adds new capabilities to the systems being able to interact with physical world. The uncertainty in physical environment makes future CPS to be more reliant on machine learning algorithms which can learn and accumulate knowledge from historical data to support intelligent decision making. Such CPS with the incorporation of intelligence or smartness are termed as intelligent CPS which are safer, more reliable and more efficient.

This thesis studies fundamental machine learning algorithms in supervised and unsupervised manners …

Characterization Of The Role Of The Phosphatase And Tensin Homolog, Pten, In Dna Crosslink Repair, Elizabeth Ann Vuono

Open Access Dissertations

Fanconi Anemia (FA) is a rare autosomal and X-linked disease characterized by multiple congenital abnormalities, progressive bone marrow failure, and cancer predisposition. FA is caused by a biallelic mutation of any one of 21 genes; the proteins encoded by these genes regulate the removal of DNA interstrand crosslinks (ICLs) and are essential for maintaining chromosomal stability. This pathway is tightly regulated by posttranslational modifications (PTMs) such as ubiquitination and phosphorylation. Several kinases such as ATM, ATR and PLK1 have been linked to the pathway but no phosphatase has been firmly linked to the pathway. PTEN is a duel specificity phosphatase, …

Biosolids As A Roadside Soil Amendment, Edwin M. Fava Iii

Open Access Master's Theses

Vegetation is a critical component of the roadside environment. It supplies services that include stabilizing soil, filtering runoff and debris before it enters drains and water supplies, and providing visually appealing scenery for drivers. These services are threatened when soil is unable to provide an environment suitable to the needs of perennial vegetation, leading to annual, often invasive, species that out-compete and thrive in dry, low nutrient and disturbed habitats dominating the environment. As a means of improving the availability of the macronutrient nitrogen, a limiting nutrient for many plants, we amended roadside soil in Saunderstown, Rhode Island with seven …

Effects Of Residual Waste Material As Agricultural Soil Amendments On Soil Greenhouse Gas Fluxes, Ashley Waggoner

Open Access Master's Theses

Anthropogenic causes of rising levels of greenhouse gases (GHG) such as CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O in the earth’s atmosphere are increasingly of concern due to their effects on climate change. Much of the earth’s carbon is retained in sinks created when atmospheric C is transformed into various forms of soil organic matter (SOM) and stored as stable, decay-resistant SOM for variable periods of time. When land is in its natural state, SOM is generally at a natural equilibrium of C inputs and outputs. Land use changes, particularly cultivation and conventional agricultural practices, have resulted …

The Response Of Molting Homarus Americanus To Ocean Acidification Projections, Erin Lyn Mclean

Open Access Master's Theses

Marine calcifiers, especially those in their larval and juvenile stages, are thought to be most vulnerable to ocean acidification (OA) due to the effects of carbon dioxide (CO₂) on growth and shell mineralogy. However, recent evidence is contradictory. We monitored molting activity, length and weight in early benthic phase juvenile American lobster Homarus americanus (Milne-Edwards 1837) under elevated CO₂ conditions (500 µatm, 1100-1300 µatm, and 2000-2700 µatm) to determine how OA affects growth at this life stage. Molted shells were analyzed for magnesium (Mg²⁺) and calcium (Ca²⁺) content by laser ablation inductively coupled …

Dropping Behavior In The Pea Aphid: How Does Environmental Context Affect Anti-Predator Responses?, Katharine Van Nostrand Harrison

Open Access Master's Theses

The relationship between predator and prey has traditionally focused on the act of consumption. More recently, interest has shifted to the intimidation of prey through predator presence and the resulting alterations in prey morphology, behavior, or development. These prey responses, broadly called non-consumptive effects, are energetically costly to prey and can result in changes in prey populations. The study of non-consumptive effects can help further explain complicated trophic level relationships and food webs. The pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum (Hemiptera: Aphididae), is a small, phloem-feeding insect that has developed an array of anti-predator responses when threatened. Dropping from a host plant, …

Effects Of Physical Activity, Diet, & Self-Efficacy On Physical Function In Older Adults, Katlynn Mathis

Open Access Master's Theses

Background: Many older adults (OA) demonstrate decreased physical function (PF) which may lead to disability. Increased physical activity (PA), eating a healthful diet, and maintaining higher self-efficacy (SE) each improve PF in older adults, but few studies have examined if the combination of these three variables have an additive effect on PF. Additionally, few longitudinal studies have assessed the change in PF in relation to the changes in PA, diet, and SE. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine: (a) the relationship between PF and PA levels, fruit and vegetable intake (F&V), and exercise SE; (b) …

Validation Of Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis For The Measurement Of Appendicular Lean Mass In Older Women, Kayla Mahoney

Open Access Master's Theses

Segmental multi-frequency bioelectrical impedance analysis (SMF-BIA) has been shown to be a valid, more portable, and less expensive alternative to dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) for the measurement of appendicular lean mass (ALM) in several populations. However, few studies have examined the validity of SMF-BIA specifically among populations of older women classified as sarcopenic or dynapenic. The aim of this cross sectional study was to investigate the accuracy of SMF-BIA compared to the gold standard DXA for the measurement of ALM among sarcopenic and/or dynapenic older women. Physical function, ALM, strength, and anthropometric tests were performed to determine the presence …

Acceptability, Short Term Impacts, And Relationships Of Variables Of A Processed Food Module, Jacqueline Corbett

Open Access Master's Theses

Objective: The purpose if this study was to evaluate the acceptability and short term impacts of an online educational module focusing on processed foods and explore the relationships between food addiction and related eating behaviors.

Methods: This single-group study used the Instructional Materials Motivation Survey (IMMS) to evaluate the module, MANOVA to assess knowledge, decisional balance, and self-efficacy change pre and post module, and multiple regression to assess variable contributions to the Yale Food Addiction Scale (YFAS) score.

Results: The module was rated positively (> 3.5) on the IMMS. Participants significantly increased knowledge, decisional balance pros, and self-efficacy. Baseline decisional …

Internalized Heteronegativity & Resilience In Relation To The Health Of Sexual Minorities Of Color, Isabel V. Rodriguez

Open Access Master's Theses

Internalized oppression and minority/social stress are negatively correlated with various physical and mental health indicators. The research on internalized oppression for sexual minorities is deceptively vast. It appears that extensive literature is available on the subject, but a deeper analysis indicated that the existing literature is limited with respect to the diversity of the populations studied. This study endeavored to explore the relationship between internalized heteronegativity, resilience, physical/general health perceptions and mental health among sexual minorities that also identify with a racial/ethnic minority group. Participants for this study were recruited from New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island, from community …

Phylogenetic Analysis Of A Cryptic Microscopic Red Alga, Katelyn Wadland

Open Access Master's Theses

Red algae demonstrate significant phenotypic plasticity and convergent evolution, making morphological species identification difficult. Microscopic members of this lineage further complicate identification by their limited number of morphological features. An unidentified red algal epiphyte (minute in size and composed of a few cells) was discovered growing on another red alga (Camontagnea oxyclada) collected in Stanley, Tasmania, Australia. This organism was originally detected as contamination during routine DNA barcoding surveys. Genetic data facilitates the discrimination between morphologically similar red algae, including this unique sample of Camontagnea oxyclada with its unknown red algal epiphyte. The objective of this research was …

Airway Wall Deformation Under Smooth Muscle Contraction, Carlos Javier

Open Access Master's Theses

The objective of this thesis is the development and evaluation of a mathematical model that captures the deformation behavior of the human airway under smooth muscle contraction. The problem consists of a multilayered circular cylindrical tube subjected to an active contractile stress generated by the smooth muscle layer. The problem formulation assumes axisymmetric deformation for an incompressible isotropic neo-Hookean material. The model is formulated as fully nonlinear and accommodates large deformation, since these are expected in the human airway and other soft biological materials. The equilibrium equations are obtained, as well as the strain-displacement relationship, boundary conditions, and constitutive equations …

Characterizing Alternative Polyadenylation In Male Germ Cells Using Poly(A)-Seq, Holly Tran

Open Access Master's Theses

Post-transcriptional processing of mRNA subsequently determines its longevity, transport, and gene expression. Alternative polyadenylation (APA), one form of post-transcriptional processing, is the use of a variant polyadenylation signal and polyA-site for transcript cleavage and addition of adenine residues. The occurrence of this phenomenon in the 3’-untranslated region (3’UTR) can lead to transcript isoforms differing in 3’UTR length and as a result, alter the downstream cis-regulatory elements in use. Transcript modification at the 3’-end in alternative polyadenylation has been shown to foster a number of diseases in altering what would otherwise be normal protein expression and is furthermore emerging as a …

Reconstructing Common Era Relative Sea-Level Changes On The Gulf Coast Of Florida, Matthew Gerlach

Open Access Master's Theses

Previous research on relative sea-level (RSL) changes in the western North Atlantic identified variations in the timing and magnitude of sea-level oscillations during the past 2,600 years. Quantifying the disparities between these records is reliant upon a robust database of sea-level reconstructions with an appropriate spatial and temporal distribution that can potentially capture a range of ice sheet melt mass balance fingerprints and ocean dynamic processes. To address an absence of high-resolution Common Era sea-level data in the southeastern US, we reconstructed ~ 1.0 m of RSL change encompassing the past ~ 2,400 years from the Gulf Coast of Florida. …

Flow Sensing In The Deep Sea: Morphology Of The Lateral Line System In Stomiiform Fishes, Ashley Marranzino

Open Access Master's Theses

The deep sea is characterized by extreme environmental conditions including limited light availability, which makes non-visual sensory capabilities quite important. In addition to the visual, auditory, olfactory and gustatory systems found in all vertebrates, all fishes have a mechanosensory lateral line system. This system is composed of neuromast receptor organs on the skin and in bony canals on the head and trunk and is sensitive to unidirectional water flows and low frequency vibrations. Our knowledge about the lateral line system (LL) in deep-sea fishes is limited.

Of the taxa in which the LL has been described, there appears to be …

Evaluating A Novel Device For Calorie Reduction: The Bite Counter Study, Gregory G. Mayette

Open Access Master's Theses

Background: Self-monitoring dietary intake is a valuable behavior for those wishing to lose weight. Unfortunately, keeping food logs to determine kilocalorie (kcal) intake becomes very cumbersome and, this behavior change is rarely maintained. Although advances in technology have eased the burden of monitoring kcal intake, attrition remains a problem. The Bite Counter is a device worn on the wrist that uses bite count as a proxy for kcal intake, without the need for laborious food intake record keeping. The Bite Counter's efficacy in helping individuals decrease kcal intake by decreasing bite counts in free-living environments has not been tested. …

Three-Dimensional Kinematics Of The Jaws And Hyoid During Feeding In White-Spotted Bamboo Sharks, Bradley Scott

Open Access Master's Theses

Elasmobranchs (sharks, skates and rays) use a distinct set of cartilaginous endochondral elements to capture and process prey using suction or bite mechanisms. In contrast, teleost use a complex linkage of dermal and endochondral bones to capture prey whether by suction or biting. This difference in complexity has, in part, enabled teleosts to radiate into a variety of different feeding styles where the jaw and hyoid arches are linked and function as a unit. However, elasmobranchs have decoupled depression of the lower jaw from depression of the hyoid arch and expand the buccal cavity using a different mechanism than teleosts. …

Native Bee Diversity And Pollen Foraging Specificity In Cultivated Highbush Blueberry (Ericaceae: Vaccinium Corymbosum L.) Plantings In Rhode Island, Zachary Scott

Open Access Master's Theses

Approximately 87% of flowering plants in the world are pollinated by animals. Bees are some of the most economically and ecologically important pollinators, necessary for the production of about one third of all crops. One such crop is highbush blueberry, grown throughout Rhode Island in small acreages. I conducted a survey of the bee species foraging on managed blueberry farms throughout Rhode Island, and analyzed their preference for blueberry pollen. I identified species using the DiscoverLife bee guides and confirmed the determinations with a taxonomist. I analyzed pollen loads, calculating percent blueberry pollen collected to determine which species were the …

Feasibility And Acceptability Of A Home-Based Intervention To Modify Maternal Food Parenting Practices, Amy Michelle Moore

Open Access Master's Theses

Background: Food parenting practices play an important role in the development of a child’s eating behaviors, and subsequent weight status early in life. Yet studies to modify and improve these practices are limited. This study explored the feasibility and acceptability of a novel home-based motivational interviewing (MI) intervention designed to modify and improve the food parenting practices of low-income mothers.

Methods: Mother-child dyads (N=15) were recruited from a Women, Infants and Children (WIC) office in southern Rhode Island. A non-experimental, pretest–posttest design was used to assess changes in maternal food parenting practices. Dyads participated in three home-based sessions …

Intimate Violence As It Relates To Risky Sexual Behavior Among At-Risk Females, Danielle C. Hill

Open Access Master's Theses

Rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among adolescents are on the rise (CDCP, 2011). The majority of adolescents who contract STIs do so through risky sexual behavior (Alleyne-Green et al., 2012). Previous literature has identified multiple correlates of risky sexual behaviors among adolescents, including physical and sexual victimization, mental health concerns, and substance use. Few studies, however, have examined these relationships together in a comprehensive model. The primary purpose of this study was to examine whether relationship violence was related to risky sexual behavior, and whether mental health symptoms and substance mediated this hypothesized relationship. Cross-sectional design was used, and …

Performance Evaluation Of Advanced Nitrogen Removal Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems, Brittany Victoria Lancellotti

Open Access Master's Theses

Wastewater from onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS; also known as septic systems) can be a significant source of nitrogen (N) to coastal ecosystems. Because N limits primary production in coastal ecosystems, excessive inputs can cause eutrophication, which results in the loss of ecosystem services. To reduce N loading to marine waters, advanced N-removal OWTS are installed in N-sensitive areas. However, once installed, final effluent total nitrogen (TN) concentration from these systems is not always monitored, making it difficult to determine the extent to which they contribute to lowering N loads. To determine how well these systems reduce influent TN concentration, …

Long-Term Impacts Of Invasive Herbivores On Tree Physiology, Growth, And Phenology: A Whole-Tree Perspective, Claire M. Wilson

Open Access Master's Theses

Insect herbivores play an essential role in structuring plant communities and species interaction therein. Plant response to herbivory, particularly to non-native insects, can be difficult to predict. A diverse array of feeding strategies, including leaf-chewing, wood-boring, and piercing-sucking, leads to varied plant responses following attack. Piercing-sucking insects are known to alter source-sink dynamics but are relatively understudied, particularly in woody plants. Two piercing-sucking invasive insects, hemlock woolly adelgid (Adelges tsugae; ‘HWA’) and the elongate hemlock scale (Fiorinia externa; ‘EHS’), are commonly found on eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis; ‘hemlock’) in the eastern United …