Digital Commons Network^™

Promise Of A Low Power Mobile Cpu Based Embedded System In Artificial Leg Control, Robert Hernandez, Fan Zhang, Xiaorong Zhang, He Huang, Qing Yang

Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper presents the design and implementation of a low power embedded system using mobile processor technology (Intel Atom™ Z530 Processor) specifically tailored for a neural-machine interface (NMI) for artificial limbs. This embedded system effectively performs our previously developed NMI algorithm based on neuromuscular-mechanical fusion and phase-dependent pattern classification. The analysis shows that NMI embedded system can meet real-time constraints with high accuracies for recognizing the user's locomotion mode. Our implementation utilizes the mobile processor efficiently to allow a power consumption of 2.2 watts and low CPU utilization (less than 4.3%) while executing the complex NMI algorithm. Our experiments have …

Hormonal And Pheromonal Effects Of 20-Hydroxyecdysone In The American Lobster, Homarus Americanus, Michael W. Sipala

Open Access Dissertations

20-hydroxyecdysone (20E), the active principle of the molting hormone in the American lobster has significant effects on the animals’ agonistic behavior and has been shown to influence the outcome of agonistic interactions. Animals injected with 20E are significantly more aggressive than saline-injected control animals, and premolt animals, which have high circulating levels of 20E in their hemolymph, are more successful than intermolt animals in agonistic interactions. 20E has been shown to act as an internal modulator of neuromuscular physiology: there is an increase in the amplitude of excitatory post-synaptic potentials in the claw opener muscle and a decrease of them …

Language Impairment In Children Perinatally Infected With Hiv Compared To Children Who Were Hiv-Exposed And Uninfected, Mabel L. Rice, L. Buchanan, George K. Siberry, Kathleen M. Malee, Bret Zeldow, Toni Frederick, Murli U. Purswani, Howard J. Hoffman, Patricia A. Sirois, Renee Smith, Peter Torre Iii, Susannah M. Allison, Paige L. Williams

Pharmacy Practice and Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Objective - To investigate risk for language impairment in children perinatally infected or exposed to HIV.

Methods - We evaluated the prevalence of language impairment (LI) in 7–16 year old children with perinatal HIV infection (HIV+) compared to children HIV-exposed and uninfected (HEU), using a comprehensive standardized language test (CELF-4). LI was classified as primary LI (Pri-LI) (monolingual English exposure and no cognitive or hearing impairment), concurrent LI (Con-LI) (cognitive or hearing impairment), or no LI. Associations of demographic, caregiver, HIV disease and antiretroviral treatment (ART) factors with LI category were evaluated using univariate and multivariable logistic regression models.

Results …

Influence Of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms In Factor Viii And Von Willebrand Factor Genes On Plasma Factor Viii Activity: The Aric Study, Marco Campos, L. Buchanan, Fuli Yu, Maja Barbalic, Yang Xiao, Lloyd E. Chambless, Kenneth W. Wu, Aaron R. Folsom, Eric Boerwinkle, Jing-Fei Dong

Pharmacy Practice and Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Factor VIII (FVIII) functions as a cofactor for factor IXa in the contact coagulation pathway and circulates in a protective complex with von Willebrand factor (VWF). Plasma FVIII activity is strongly influenced by environmental and genetic factors through VWF-dependent and independent mechanisms. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the coding and promoter sequence in the FVIII gene have been extensively studied for effects on FVIII synthesis, secretion, and activity, but impacts of non–disease-causing intronic SNPs remain largely unknown. We analyzed FVIII SNPs and FVIII activity in 10 434 healthy Americans of European (EA) or African (AA) descent in the Atherosclerosis Risk …

Gendered Patterns In High Achievement In Mathematics For Grades 4, 6, And 8, Laura J. Falvey

Open Access Dissertations

The issue of underrepresentation of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers is especially important to the future of the United States in current times when STEM careers play an increasingly important role in the global economy (Toulmin & Groome, 2007; United States Department of Labor, 2007). The pool of students who enter careers in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics first appear in elementary school and overwhelmingly come from those with high achievement in mathematics (Berryman, 1983; Tai, Liu, Maltese, & Fan, 2006).

This study examined mathematics achievement data for students in grades 4, 6, and 8 in …

Beyond The Black Horizon: Perspectives Of African American Collegians Who Studied Abroad, Aaron Ian Bruce

Open Access Dissertations

Although U.S. colleges and universities continue to discuss creative ways to increase the number of African American collegians participating in study abroad, this research is limited when revealing the unique perspectives of African American collegians who have studied abroad. Traditionally an emphasis on program success has been placed on the quantity of study abroad participants rather than the quality of African American student support and engagement; the personal reflections through the lens of African American race and identity are often overlooked. A series of culturally responsive, guided interviews were conducted with African American collegians from a variety of institutions across …

Recent Arctic Climate Change And Its Remote Forcing Of Northwest Atlantic Shelf Ecosystems, Charles H. Greene, Bruce C. Monger, Louise P. Mcgarry, Matthew D. Connelly, Neesha R. Schnepf, Andrew J. Pershing, Igor M. Belkin, Paula S. Ftratantoni, David G. Mountain, Robert S. Pickart, Rubao Ji, James J. Bisagni, Changsheng Chen, Sirpa M. A. Hakkinen, Dale B. Haidvogel, Jia Wang, Erica Head, Peter Smith, Alessandra Conversi

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

During recent decades, historically unprecedented changes have been observed in the Arctic as climate warming has increased precipitation, river discharge, and glacial as well as sea-ice melting. Additionally, shifts in the Arctic’s atmospheric pressure field have altered surface winds, ocean circulation, and freshwater storage in the Beaufort Gyre. These processes have resulted in variable patterns of freshwater export from the Arctic Ocean, including the emergence of great salinity anomalies propagating throughout the North Atlantic. Here, we link these variable patterns of freshwater export from the Arctic Ocean to the regime shifts observed in Northwest Atlantic shelf ecosystems. Specifically, we hypothesize …

Introduction To Special Section On Recent Advances In The Study Of Optical Variability In The Near‐Surface And Upper Ocean, T. Dickey, David Farmer, Et Al

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Optical variability occurs in the near‐surface and upper ocean on very short time and space scales (e.g., milliseconds and millimeters and less) as well as greater scales. This variability is caused by solar, meteorological, and other physical forcing as well as biological and chemical processes that affect optical properties and their distributions, which in turn control the propagation of light across the air‐sea interface and within the upper ocean. Recent developments in several technologies and modeling capabilities have enabled the investigation of a variety of fundamental and applied problems related to upper ocean physics, chemistry, and light propagation and utilization …

Dominant Eukaryotic Export Production During Ocean Anoxic Events Reflects The Importance Of Recycled Nh4+, Meytal B. Higgins, Rebecca S. Robinson, Jonathan M. Husson, Susan J. Carter, Ann Pearson

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

The Mesozoic is marked by several widespread occurrences of intense organic matter burial. Sediments from the largest of these events, the Cenomanian–Turonian Oceanic Anoxic Event (OAE 2) are characterized by lower nitrogen isotope ratios than are seen in modern marine settings. It has remained a challenge to describe a nitrogen cycle that could achieve such isotopic depletion. Here we use nitrogen-isotope ratios of porphyrins to show that eukaryotes contributed the quantitative majority of export production throughout OAE 2, whereas cyanobacteria contributed on average approximately 20%. Such data require that any explanation for the OAE nitrogen cycle and its isotopic values …

A Serpentinite-Hosted Ecosystem In The Southern Mariana Forearc, Yashuiko Ohara, Mark K. Reagan, Katsunori Fujikura, Hiromi Watanabe, Katsuyoshi Michibayahi, Teruaki Ishii, Robert J. Stern, Ignacio Pujana, Fernando Martinez, Guillaume Girard, Julia Ribeiro, Maryjo Brounce, Naoaki Komori, Masashi Kino

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Several varieties of seafloor hydrothermal vents with widely varying fluid compositions and temperatures and vent communities occur in different tectonic settings. The discovery of the Lost City hydrothermal field in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge has stimulated interest in the role of serpentinization of peridotite in generating H₂- and CH₄-rich fluids and associated carbonate chimneys, as well as in the biological communities supported in highly reduced, alkaline environments. Abundant vesicomyid clam communities associated with a serpentinite-hosted hydrothermal vent system in the southern Mariana forearc were discovered during a DSV Shinkai 6500 dive in September 2010. We named this …

A Review Of Nitrogen Isotopic Alteration In Marine Sediments, Rebecca S. Robinson, Markus Kienast, Ana Luiza Albuquerque, Mark Altabet, Sergio Contreras, Ricardo De Pol Holz, Nathalie Dubois, Roger Francois, Eric Galbraith, Ting-Chang Hsu, Tara Ivanochko, Samuel Jaccard, Shuh-Ji Kao, Thorsten Kiefer, Stephanie Kienkast, Moritz Lehmann, Philippe Martinez, Matthew Mccarthy, Jürgen Möbius, Tom Pedersen, Tracey M. Quan, Evgeniya Ryabenko, Andreas Schmittner, Ralph Schneider, Aya Schneider-Mor, Masahito Shigemitsu, Dan Sinclair, Christopher Somes, Anja Studer, Robert Thunell, Jin-Yu Yang

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Nitrogen isotopes are an important tool for evaluating past biogeochemical cycling from the paleoceanographic record. However, bulk sedimentary nitrogen isotope ratios, which can be determined routinely and at minimal cost, may be altered during burial and early sedimentary diagenesis, particularly outside of continental margin settings. The causes and detailed mechanisms of isotopic alteration are still under investigation. Case studies of the Mediterranean and South China Seas underscore the complexities of investigating isotopic alteration. In an effort to evaluate the evidence for alteration of the sedimentary N isotopic signal and try to quantify the net effect, we have compiled and compared …

Concurrent Activity Of Anammox And Denitrifying Bacteria In The Black Sea, John B. Kirkpatrick, Clara A. Fuchsman, Evgeniy Yakushev, James T. Staley, James W. Murray

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

After the discovery of ANaerobic AMMonium OXidation (anammox) in the environment, the role of heterotrophic denitrification as the main marine pathway for fixed N loss has been questioned. A 3 part, 15 month time series investigating nitrite reductase (nirS) mRNA transcripts at a single location in the Black Sea was conducted in order to better understand the activity of anammox and denitrifying bacteria. Here we show that both of these groups were active, as well as being concurrent in the lower suboxic zone over this time span. Their distributions, however, differed in that only expression of denitrification-type nirS …

Airborne Lidar Detection And Characterization Of Internal Waves In A Shallow Fjord, James H. Churnside, Richard D. Marchbanks, Jennifer H. Lee, Joseph A. Shaw, Alan Weidmann, Percy L. Donaghay

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

A dual-polarization lidar and photography are used to sense internal waves in West Sound, Orcas Island, Washington, from a small aircraft. The airborne lidar detected a thin plankton layer at the bottom of the upper layer of the water, and this signal provides the depth of the upper layer, amplitude of the internal waves, and the propagation speed. The lidar is most effective when the polarization filter on the receiver is orthogonal to the transmitted light, but this does not depend significantly on whether the transmitted light is linearly or circularly polarized. The depolarization is greater with circular polarization, and …

Uri Undergraduate And Graduate Course Catalog 2012-2013, University Of Rhode Island

URI Course Catalogs Archive

This is a downloadable PDF version of the University of Rhode Island course catalog.

Adolescent And Caregiver Perception Of Family Functioning: Relation To Suicide Ideation And Attempts, Jessica M. Lipschitz, Shirley Yen, Lauren M. Weinstock, Anthony Spirito

Psychology Faculty Publications

This study assessed the relationship between perceived family functioning and two indicators of suicidality in an adolescent sample. A total of 103 adolescents psychiatrically hospitalized for suicidal ideation and/or behavior completed a battery of self-report questionnaires assessing family functioning, negative affectivity, suicidal ideation in the past week assessed by Beck's Scale for Suicide Ideation (BSS; Beck et al., 1979), and past suicide attempts. Participants' primary caregivers also completed a questionnaire on family functioning. A paired samples t-test evaluated overall discrepancy between adolescent- and caregiver-reported family functioning. Linear and logistic regression models were used to evaluate the simple associations between …

Reflections On Intellectual Hybridity, Kimala Price

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

Drawing from the growing literature on interdisciplinarity and my own experiences as an intellectual hybrid, I discuss the personal and institutional challenges inherent in crossing disciplinary boundaries in the academy. I argue that boundary crossing is a natural occurrence and that the issue of (inter)disciplinarity is a matter of degree and of determining who gets to define the boundaries. Defining boundaries is not merely an intellectual enterprise, but also a political act that delineates what is, or is not, legitimate scholarship. This issue is especially salient to women's and gender studies during times of economic distress and educational budget cuts.

Caught Between A Rock And A Hard Place: The Title Ix Generation, Mathematics, And The State Of Feminist Quantitative Social Science Research, Jill R. Williams

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

In this essay I reflect on the fortieth anniversary of the Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act of 1972 (Title IX), which prohibited discrimination based on sex in federally funded education programs in the United States and inspired educational programs that encourage girls to pursue math and science careers. I argue that despite the feminist underpinnings of Title IX, in recent years feminism has discouraged the advancement of women in math and science by excluding quantitative research from its publications, quantitative researchers from women's and gender studies programs, and quantitative training from its curriculum. I examine my own experience of …

From The Editors, Anna M. Klobucka, Jeannette E. Riley, Catherine Villanueva Gardner

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Problem Of Protection: Rethinking Rhetoric Of Normalizing Surgeries, Amy Falvey

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

This essay focuses on the rhetoric of protection that emerges around infants who face the prospect of normalizing surgeries. Frequently, decisions to proceed with normalizing surgeries are made by doctors and parents with "protection" of the infant as a motivating force. "Protection," in such contexts, typically refers to protection of the infant from the inhospitable world that lies in wait for an individual whose body does not conform to social, morphological, and biological norms. While this concern may be valid and important, this essay argues that there are alternative narratives or notions of protection that must also be acknowledged and …

Negotiating The Insider/Outsider Status: Black Feminist Ethnography And Legislative Studies, Nadia E. Brown

Journal of Feminist Scholarship

This essay bridges the gaps in the literature within legislative studies by illustrating the usefulness of feminist ethnography as a methodological intervention into studying legislative behavior. Black feminist epistemology is a useful tool for making new knowledge claims within an existing body of knowledge. I use anecdotes and examples from my fieldwork in the Maryland state legislature to expose how race and gender impact both the process and the outcome of data collection. I demonstrate how my experience as an African American woman researcher whose work centers on Black women Maryland state legislators, which I situate within Black feminist epistemology, …

The Indirect Effect Of Earthworms On Methane Flux In Two Temperate Pasture Soils, Edward J. Avizinis

Open Access Master's Theses

Methane, a potent greenhouse gas, is produced or consumed by microorganisms in soil, depending on soil conditions. In general, anaerobic conditions promote activity of methanogenic Archaea, whereas aerobic conditions promote methane consumption by methanotrophic bacteria. Earthworms may have an effect on methane flux in soil by altering soil pore space, aeration, moisture content, and organic carbon availability, all of which affect the activities of methanogens and methanotrophs. As the range of European and Asian earthworm species expands throughout the United States, their potential effects on methane flux may have global implications.

My research focused on the effects of earthworms on …

Assessment Of Inundation Risk From Sea Level Rise And Storm Surge In Coastal National Parks, Angelica Murdukhayeva

Open Access Master's Theses

In coastal ecosystems, sea level rise and an increase in storm frequency and intensity are two major impacts expected to result from climate change. Coastal National Parks have many low-lying areas that are at risk from inundation resulting from these impacts. In order to help park managers meet their goal of preserving valuable resources, I developed a methodology to evaluate risk of inundation from sea level rise and storm surge at sentinel sites, areas of importance for natural, cultural and infrastructural resources.

I performed a literature review on the factors driving sea level rise in the Northeast, and conducted an …

Synthesis And Bioassay Of Novel Hybrid Antimicrobial Peptides (Amps), Designed To Increase Therapeutic Activity And Decrease Hemolysis, David E. Ryder

Open Access Master's Theses

There is currently a critical health issue of global concern; there are many types of bacterial pathogens that have evolved a resistance to many common, conventional antibiotics. In silico structural tools can be used to identify antimicrobial peptide (AMP) sequence modifications that result in better antibacterial therapeutics without increasing human erythrocyte hemolysis. Out of the five AMPs designed for this Thesis project, two were minor modifications of an existing Pleurocidin-Dermaseptin (P-DER) hybrid sequence. The in silico structural design strategies were used to determine on a biophysical level what made P-DER so effective. The tools included the Chou-Fasman secondary structure algorithm, …

Impact Of The Health It Up Intervention On Plasma Lipids And Glucose In College Students, Shira Hirshberg

Open Access Master's Theses

Purpose: Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) cause over 2200 American deaths daily and include coronary heart disease (CHD), the fifth leading cause of death in young adults. Those with diabetes mellitus are especially vulnerable to CHD, as heart disease death rates are two to four times higher in this population. Blood lipids and glucose can be used to estimate CVD risk, and include elevated plasma total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), triacylglycerol (TAG), low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), physical inactivity, overweight and obesity, diabetes mellitus and impaired fasting plasma glucose. Prevalence of these risk factors is evident in college students across …

Eating Pace Intervention Classes 3: Female Students At The University Of Rhode Island Feinstein Campus, Ruthann Sampson

Open Access Master's Theses

Background: Over one-third of the United States is obese. This weight status is associated with many negative health implications including cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Female college students are a sub-group especially prone to excess kilocalorie (kcal) consumption, leading to weight gain. Consuming food at a fast pace has been associated with increased kilocalorie consumption. Interventions reducing eating rate may be an effective method to reduce kilocalorie consumption in female college students.

Objective: To determine if a 5 week curriculum designed to reduce eating pace would decrease consumption rate (kcal/minute) and total kcal eaten at a control meal, in …

Increasing Breastfeeding In Wic Participants Using Information About Formula Cost As A Motivator, Viviane Fornasaro-Donahue

Open Access Master's Theses

Despite the widely documented health benefits of breastfeeding, breastfeeding rates continue to fall short of Healthy People 2020 Objectives, particularly among women enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). The amount of formula supplied by WIC often is insufficient to fully cover the infant’s demands, thus mothers need to purchase extra cans of formula in addition to what is provided by the WIC Program. However, prior to deciding whether to breastfeed or formula feed their infants, mothers may not be aware of the amount spent monthly on the purchase of extra formula. This information …

Characterization Of Maize Sex-Determination Gene Orthologs In Rice (Oryza Sativa L. Japonica Cv. Nipponbare), John Ventura

Open Access Master's Theses

Ensuring food security will be a crucial problem in the coming decades. Heterosis, the phenomenon where hybrid progeny exhibit increased vigor in comparison to their inbred parents, has been exploited to increase agricultural yield in maize (Zea mays) for decades due to its monoecious reproductive state. Unisexuality in maize is genetically controlled due to the concerted action of the Tassel seed1 (ts1), Tassel seed2 (ts2), and Silkless1 (sk1) genes. Orthologs of the Tassel seed genes and sk1 can be found in the rice genome even though rice maintains an ancestral cosexual floral …

Quantifying The Effects Of Tidal Restrictions And Plant Invasions On Resident Fish In Atlantic Coast Salt Marshes, Kimberly Lellis Dibble

Open Access Dissertations

This research investigates the combined effects of tidal restriction and Phragmites australis invasion on habitat quality for marsh fauna across a large geographic area while evaluating the reversal of those effects through ecological restoration. We used meta-analytic tools and published literature to examine differences in the quantity, condition, and diversity of fauna in invaded and restored marshes relative to uninvaded (reference) marshes in the mid-Atlantic and in New England. In addition, we collected data for two projects designed to move beyond the collection of community data (e.g., density, richness, as included in the meta-analysis) to assess the functional response of …

Pseudocalanus Copepods In The Bering Sea: Species Identification Intraspecific Diversity And Biogeography, Jennifer Bailey

Open Access Master's Theses

The calanoid copepod genus, Pseudocalanus, is an important secondary producer and widespread throughout the northern hemisphere. While ecologically important, previous work with this genus has been limited due to difficulties in morphometric identification. Here, Pseudocalanus species composition and distribution were examined in the Bering Sea through sequencing of the mitochondrial CO1 gene of 642 individuals from 10 locations. Phylogentic trees of inter- and intra specific diversity demonstrated that in the spring of 2010 (March-June), four species of Pseudocalanus co-existed at various locations across the shelf. Species composition in the middle shelf (50-100 m depth) was significantly different from composition …

Brain Penetration Of Tolfenamic Acid And Its Ability To Enhance The Cognitive Functions And To Lower Amyloid Pathology In Animal Models Of Alzheimer's Disease, Gehad Mohammed Subaiea

Open Access Dissertations

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that is responsible for up to 80% of all dementia cases. Hallmarks of AD include the presence of beta-amyloid (Aβ) deposits and twisted strands of abnormal hyperphosphorylated tau forming neurofibrillary tangles (NFT_s), which ultimately lead to damage and death of nerve cells in the brain. Symptoms of the disease include impairments in cognitive and functional abilities that gradually worsen as the disease progress. Finally, in advanced AD, patients become unable to perform basic daily activities, become more susceptible to infections, and ultimately die. Only five drugs are FDA-approved for use in …