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The Effects Of Climate Change On Macroalgal Growth, Trophic Interactions And Community Structure, Gordon Ober

Open Access Dissertations

Global climate change is threatening the structure, function, and health of ecosystems. While factors of climate change have been studied extensively over the past few decades, most research has focused on the response of single organisms or populations; as our ecosystems are comprised of complex interactions and relationships, it is of critical importance to understand how entire communities are going to be impacted by climate change. Ocean acidification (a by-product of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide, CO₂), and nutrient loading are two major forces of global change that are projected to have detrimental impacts on coastal marine species and …

Framework For The Automated Disassembly Of Electronic Waste Using The Soar Cognitive Architecture, Nicholas M. Difilippo

Open Access Dissertations

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the feasibility of integrating the cognitive architecture Soar with a robotic system to aid in the disassembly of electronic waste (e-waste). This study was broken up into different parts, first, to examine how well the different sensors and tools that composed the system worked before finally integrating the cognitive architecture Soar to assess how it improved the systems performance. Due to the increasing amounts of e-waste and the adverse effects it has on human health, a robotic system that can aid in the disassembly of e-waste is essential.

The first part in this …

Investigations On Biologically Active Carbohydrates From Natural Sources, Jiadong Sun

Open Access Dissertations

Complex carbohydrates exist in almost all species of plants, animals and microorganisms. Because of their physiochemical properties, they have been traditionally applied as emulsifiers and stabilizers in food, cosmetics, textiles and as pharmaceutical ingredients. Complex carbohydrates generally exist as a layer of thick, sequential, hydrous polymers consisting of monosaccharides and non-carbohydrate substituents such as acetate, pyruvate, and phosphate. While complex carbohydrates are generally believed to serve as structural support or energy sources for the producing organisms, their potential biomedical properties have been less investigated. Our understanding of the biological activities of complex carbohydrates is further complicated since most have been …

The Young And The Restless: Socializing Trumps Sleep, Fear Of Missing Out, And Technological Distractions In First-Year College Students, Sue K. Adams, Desirée N. Williford, Annemarie Vaccaro, Tiffani S. Kisler, Alyssa Francis, Barbara M. Newman

Human Development and Family Science Faculty Publications

College students are a sleep-deprived population, with first-year students facing a number of specific challenges to sleep. As students transition into and through the first year of college, sleep may be sacrificed for a variety of reasons. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with fifteen first-year students, exploring factors that impacted sleep during the first semester of college. Study participants identified three unique but related themes that impacted their sleep: socializing trumps sleep; fear of missing out; and social/technological distractions. Implications are provided for balancing social, academic and biological demands in emerging adulthood.

In Vivo Validation Of Predicted And Conserved T Cell Epitopes In A Swine Influenza Model, Andres H. Gutiérrez, Crystal Loving, Leonard Moise, Frances E. Terry, Susan L. Brockmeier, Holly R. Hughes, William D. Martin, Anne S. De Groot

Institute for Immunology and Informatics Faculty Publications

Swine influenza is a highly contagious respiratory viral infection in pigs that is responsible for significant financial losses to pig farmers annually. Current measures to protect herds from infection include: inactivated whole-virus vaccines, subunit vaccines, and alpha replicon-based vaccines. As is true for influenza vaccines for humans, these strategies do not provide broad protection against the diverse strains of influenza A virus (IAV) currently circulating in U.S. swine. Improved approaches to developing swine influenza vaccines are needed. Here, we used immunoinformatics tools to identify class I and II T cell epitopes highly conserved in seven representative strains of IAV in …

Hydrothermal Venting And Mineralization In The Crater Of Kick'em Jenny Submarine Volcano, Grenada (Lesser Antilles), Steven Carey, Rene Olsen, Katerine L.C. Bell, Robert Ballard, Frederic Dondin, Christopher Roman, Clara Smart, Marvin Lilley, John Lupton, Brad A. Seibel, Winton Cornell, Craig Moyer

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Kick'em Jenny is a frequently erupting, shallow submarine volcano located 7.5 km off the northern coast of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles subduction zone. Focused and diffuse hydrothermal venting is taking place mainly within a small (∼70 × 110 m) depression within the 300 m diameter crater of the volcano at depths of about 265 m. Much of the crater is blanketed with a layer of fine‐grained tephra that has undergone hydrothermal alteration. Clear fluids and gas are being discharged near the center of the depression from mound‐like vents at a maximum temperature of 180°C. The gas consists of 93–96% …

The Fishery And Ecology Of Cittarium Pica In The West Indies, Reuban James-Allen Macfarlan

Open Access Dissertations

Cittarium pica, the West Indian Top Shell or “whelk,” is an understudied but culturally and ecologically important intertidal gastropod in the Caribbean. The species faces overexploitation and possible extirpation in much of its range due to a confluence of factors including life-history traits, a diffuse artisanal fishery, and lack of basic scientific knowledge. The undocumented, unregulated, and unreported nature of artisanal and small-scale commercial harvesting of this species renders its study quite different from that of other more recognizable species such as conch or spiny lobster. Here I have compiled four manuscripts that address specific questions related to the …

Diet Of The Endangered Big-Headed Turtle Platysternon Megacephalum, Yik-Hei Sung, Billy C.H. Hau, Nancy E. Karraker

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Populations of the big-headed turtle Platysternon megacephalum are declining at unprecedented rates across most of its distribution in Southeast Asia owing to unsustainable harvest for pet, food, and Chinese medicine markets. Research on Asian freshwater turtles becomes more challenging as populations decline and basic ecological information is needed to inform conservation efforts. We examined fecal samples collected from P. megacephalum in five streams in Hong Kong to quantify the diet, and we compared the germination success of ingested and uningested seeds. Fruits, primarily of Machilus spp., were most frequently consumed, followed by insects, plant matter, crabs and mollusks. The niche …

Denitrifying Bioreactors For Nitrate Removal: A Meta-Analysis, Kelly Addy, Arthur J. Gold, Laura E. Christianson, Mark B. David, Louis A. Schipper, Nicole A. Ratigan

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Meta-analysis approaches were used in this first quantitative synthesis of denitrifying woodchip bioreactors. Nitrate removal across environmental and design conditions was assessed from 26 published studies, representing 57 separate bioreactor units (i.e., walls, beds, and laboratory columns). Effect size calculations weighted the data based on variance and number of measurements for each bioreactor unit. Nitrate removal rates in bed and column studies were not significantly different, but both were significantly higher than wall studies. In denitrifying beds, wood source did not significantly affect nitrate removal rates. Nitrate removal (mass per volume) was significantly lower in beds with <6-h hydraulic retention times, which argues for ensuring that bed designs incorporate sufficient time for nitrate removal. Rates significantly declined after the first year of bed operation but then stabilized. Nitrogen limitation significantly affected bed nitrate removal. Categorical and linear assessments found significant nitrate removal effects with bed temperature; a Q₁₀ of …

Dietary Antioxidants And Flight Exercise In Female Birds Affect Allocation Of Nutrients To Eggs: How Carry-Over Effects Work, Megan M. Skrip, Navindra P. Seeram, Tao Yuan, Hang Ma, Scott R. Mcwilliams

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Physiological challenges during one part of the annual cycle can carry over and affect performance at a subsequent phase, and antioxidants could be one mediator of trade-offs between phases. We performed a controlled experiment with zebra finches to examine how songbirds use nutrition to manage trade-offs in antioxidant allocation between endurance flight and subsequent reproduction. Our treatment groups included (1) a non-supplemented, non-exercised group (control group) fed a standard diet with no exercise beyond that experienced during normal activity in an aviary; (2) a supplemented non-exercised group fed a water- and lipid-soluble antioxidant-supplemented diet with no exercise; (3) a non-supplemented …

Evolutionary Dynamics Of Tree Invasions: Complementing The Unified Framework For Biological Invasions, Rafael D. Zenni, Ian A. Dickie, Michael J. Wingfield, Heidi Hirsch, Casparus J. Crous, Laura A. Meyerson, Treena I. Burgess, Thalita G. Zimmermann, Metha M. Klock, Evan Siemann, Alexandra Erfmeier, Roxana Aragon, Lia Montti, Johannes J. Le Roux

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Evolutionary processes greatly impact the outcomes of biological invasions. An extensive body of research suggests that invasive populations often undergo phenotypic and ecological divergence from their native sources. Evolution also operates at different and distinct stages during the invasion process. Thus, it is important to incorporate evolutionary change into frameworks of biological invasions because it allows us to conceptualize how these processes may facilitate or hinder invasion success. Here, we review such processes, with an emphasis on tree invasions, and place them in the context of the unified framework for biological invasions. The processes and mechanisms described are pre-introduction evolutionary …

Observation Of Diurnal Variations In Mesoscale Eddy Sea-Surface Currents Using Goci Data, Ji-Eun Park, Kyung-Ae Park, David S. Ullman, Peter C. Cornillon, Young-Je Park

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

The surface current field of a mesoscale eddy in the East Sea (Sea of Japan) was derived from consecutive Geostationary Ocean Color Imager chlorophyll-a (chl-a) concentration images using the normalized maximum cross-correlation method. The estimated current field of the eddy exhibited anticyclonic structure demonstrated by the objective dynamic thresholds of correlation coefficients. The eddy periphery was defined by fitting an ellipse to subjectively selected points from the frontal map of chl-a concentration data. Radial distribution and hourly variation of the current speed around the eddy were presented. In terms of the magnitude and direction, the estimated …

Metagenomic Investigation Of The Geologically Unique Hellenic Volcanic Arc Reveals A Distinctive Ecosystem With Unexpected Physiology, Anastasis Oulas, Paraskevi N. Polymenakou, Rekha Seshadri, H. James Tripp, Manolis Mandalakis, A. David Paez-Espino, Amrita Pati, Patrick Chain, Paraskevi Nomikou, Steven Carey, Stephanos Kilias, Christos Christakis, Georgios Kotoulas, Antonions Magoulas, Natalia N. Ivanova, Nikos C. Kyrpides

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Hydrothermal vents represent a deep, hot, aphotic biosphere where chemosynthetic primary producers, fuelled by chemicals from Earth's subsurface, form the basis of life. In this study, we examined microbial mats from two distinct volcanic sites within the Hellenic Volcanic Arc (HVA). The HVA is geologically and ecologically unique, with reported emissions of CO₂‐saturated fluids at temperatures up to 220°C and a notable absence of macrofauna. Metagenomic data reveals highly complex prokaryotic communities composed of chemolithoautotrophs, some methanotrophs, and to our surprise, heterotrophs capable of anaerobic degradation of aromatic hydrocarbons. Our data suggest that aromatic hydrocarbons may indeed be …

Fossil Dna Persistence And Decay In Marine Sediment Over Hundred-Thousand-Year To Million-Year Time Scales, John B. Kirkpatrick, Emily A. Walsh, Steven D'Hondt

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

DNA in marine sediment contains both fossil sequences and sequences from organisms that live in the sediment. The demarcation between these two pools and their respective rates of turnover are generally unknown. We address these issues by comparing the total extractable DNA pool to the fraction of sequenced chloroplast DNA (cpDNA) in sediment from two sites in the Bering Sea. We assume that cpDNA is a tracer of non-reproducing fossil DNA. Given >150,000 sequence reads per sample, cpDNA is easily detectable in the shallowest samples but decays with depth, suggesting that sequencing-based richness assessments of communities in deep subseafloor sediment …

Estimating The Sustainability Of Towed Fishing-Gear Impacts On Seabed Habitats: A Simple Quantitative Risk Assessment Method Applicable To Data-Limited Fisheries, C. Roland Pitcher, Nick Ellis, Simon Jennings, Jan G. Hiddink, Tessa Mazor, Michel J. Kaiser, Mervi I. Kangas, Robert A. Mcconnaughey, Ana M. Parma, Adriaan D. Rijnsdorp, Petri Suuronen, Jeremy S. Collie, Ricardo Amoroso, Kathryn M. Hughes, Ray Hilborn

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Summary

1. Impacts of bottom fishing, particularly trawling and dredging, on seabed (benthic) habitats are commonly perceived to pose serious environmental risks. Quantitative ecological risk assessment can be used to evaluate actual risks and to help guide the choice of management measures needed to meet sustainability objectives.
2. We develop and apply a quantitative method for assessing the risks to benthic habitats by towed bottom-fishing gears. The method is based on a simple equation for relative benthic status (RBS), derived by solving the logistic population growth equation for the equilibrium state. Estimating RBS requires only maps of fishing intensity and …

Effects Of Hiv Behavioral Interventions For Men Who Have Sex With Men - United States, 1988-2014, H. Elsa Larson

Open Access Dissertations

Men who have sex with men (MSM) in the United States continue to experience disproportionate HIV disease burden. Historically, most HIV prevention research has focused on reducing sexual risk behaviors through individual-level behavior change interventions. To date, behavioral interventions have not reduced HIV incidence among MSM and combination prevention approaches that package behavioral interventions with additive biomedical or structural interventions are now recommended. The last meta-analysis of HIV behavioral interventions for MSM was conducted in 2008. Since then sixteen new rigorous trials have been identified. New evidence and new recommendations justify an updated meta-analysis to identify the most promising and …

Nanoparticles Toxicity On Escherichia Coli: Batch And Kinetic Approach, Nelson M. Anaya-Archila

Open Access Dissertations

Silver and dysprosium oxide are two examples of materials used for the manufacturing of nanoparticles with current and future commercial relevance, respectively. Silver nanoparticles (nAg or AgNPs) are one of the most commonly used nanomaterials in consumer products and medical applications due to their antimicrobial properties. Dysprosium oxide nanoparticles (nDy₂O₃) are gaining interest for biomedical applications because of their fluorescence and paramagnetic properties, which can be used as contrast agents in magnetic resonance analysis. However, the fate of nAg and nDy₂O₃ and their possible negative impacts on the environment and public health are …

Lipid Nanoparticle Interactions And Assembles, Matthew Ryan Preiss

Open Access Dissertations

Novel liposome-nanoparticle assemblies (LNAs) provide a biologically inspired route for designing multifunctional bionanotheranostics. LNAs combine the benefits of lipids and liposomes to encapsulate, transport, and protect hydrophilic and hydrophobic therapeutics with functional nanoparticles. Functional nanoparticles endow LNAs with additional capabilities, including the ability to target diseases, triggered drug release, controlled therapeutic output, and diagnostic capabilities to produce a drug delivery system that can effectively and efficiently deliver therapeutics while reducing side effects. Not only could LNAs make existing drugs better, they could also provide an avenue to allow once promising non-approved drugs (rejected due to harmful side effects, inadequate pharmacokinetics, …

Isolation, Synthesis, And Metabolism Of Polyphenols: Stilbenoids, Gallotannins And Ellagitannins, Daniel B. Niesen

Open Access Dissertations

The roles of dietary polyphenols, such as resveratrol found in red wine and grape seed extract, have become an increasingly more popular research topic. Dietary polyphenols have even achieved media success for their potential benefits on human health and disease. The success is frequently attributed to the compounds’ antioxidant and reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging abilities. Not only are polyphenols highlighted as the benefitial health constituents of herbal remedies, but there are also two plant-polyphenol drugs approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration, Crofelemer (a proanthocyanidin oligomer from Croton lechleri) and Veregen (catechins from Camellia sinensis). …

Improved Modeling Of Image-Guided Thermal Ablation Procedures Towards Patient-Specific Treatment Planning Applications, Garron Deshazer

Open Access Dissertations

Microwave ablation (MWA) is a minimally-invasive modality that is playing an increasingly vital role in the treatment of cancer and benign disease. These procedures involve the use of a microwave antenna (or an array of antennas) to deliver energy to raise tissue temperature above a thermal threshold to induce irreversible cell damage. Commonly used clinical MWA systems operate at frequencies of 2450 MHz and 915 MHz. Image-guided percutaneous MWA treatments can be guided by intraoperative ultrasound or computed tomography (CT) fluoroscopy, which allows the physician to deliver treatments precisely. As such, image-guided MWA has received substantial attention for the treatment …

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 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 …

Global Dynamics Of Some Discrete Dynamical Systems With Applications, Arzu Bilgin

Open Access Dissertations

In my first manuscript, I investigate the global character of the difference equation of the form

x_n+1 = f(x_n, x_n-1), n = 0, 1, ... (1)

with several period-two solutions, where f is increasing in all its variables. I show that the boundaries of the basins of attractions of different locally asymptotically stable equilibrium solutions or period-two solutions are in fact the global stable manifolds of neighboring saddle or non-hyperbolic equilibrium solutions or period two solutions. An application of my results give global dynamics of three feasible models in population dynamics which includes …

The Effects Of Spatial Resolution On Impervious Cover Classification In Watersheds And Riparian Zones In Vermont, Jessica N. Morgan

Open Access Dissertations

Impervious cover (roads, rooftops, etc.) is a known stressor on stream biota and habitat and is often used as an indicator for assessing the effects of urbanization on stream health. Understanding how spatial data resolution impacts estimates of impervious cover is important for effective modeling and management of water resources at multiple scales. However, broad scale classifications of high spatial resolution data can be time consuming and expensive. High spatial resolution data classifications in Vermont, USA were compared to nationally available impervious cover classifications in order to understand the impact of scale on impervious cover estimates. I used National Agriculture …

Healthcare Costs And Impact Of Medication Adherence On Outcomes In Patients On Novel Anticoagulant Therapy, Chinmay Deshpande

Open Access Dissertations

Introduction: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a very common condition that causes cardiac rhythm disturbance and affects 2.7 to 6.1 million individuals in the United States (US). Warfarin, which is considered as a gold standard anticoagulant for the last 50 years to treat AF has limitations pertaining to the risk of bleeding, interaction with drugs and requires frequent monitoring. Novel Oral Anti-Coagulants (NOAC including dabigatran and rivaroxaban) are new promising drugs which have shown better or similar efficacy to lower stroke risk and fewer side effects compared to warfarin in the clinical trials. To compete with warfarin, NOACs may need …

Detection Of Fluid Density Anomalies Using Remote Imaging Techniques, Clara Smart

Open Access Dissertations

Systematic and remote imaging techniques capable of detecting fluid density anomalies will allow for effective scientific sampling, improved geologic and biologic spatial understanding and analysis of temporal changes. This work presents algorithms for detection of anomalous fluids using an ROV-mounted high resolution imaging suite, specifically the structured light laser sensor and 1350kHz multibeam sonar system.

As the ROV-mounted structured light laser sensor passes over areas of active the turbulent nature of the density anomaly causes the project laser line, imaged at the seafloor, to blur and distort. Detection of this phenomena was initially presented in 2013 with significant limitations including …

Curricular Affairs Committee Minutes December 14, 2015, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Committee Reports and Appendices

No abstract provided.

Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes December 10, 2015, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes

No abstract provided.

Draft Genome Sequence Of The Marine Pathogen Vibrio Coralliilyticus Re22, Edward Spinard, Linda Kessner, Marta Gomez-Chiarri, D. C. Rowley, David R. Nelson

Cell and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

Vibrio coralliilyticus RE22 is a causative agent of vibriosis in larval bivalves. We report here the draft genome sequence of V. coralliilyticus RE22 and describe additional virulence factors that may provide insight into its mechanism of pathogenicity.