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Graduate Council Report No. 2004-2005-5a, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Committee Reports and Appendices

No abstract provided.

The Four Hundred Twenty-Ninth Report Of The Curricular Affairs Committee, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Bills

No abstract provided.

Division Of Research And Economic Development Annual Report For Fy2005, Uri Division Of Research And Economic Development

Reports (Research and Economic Development)

Annual report for the Division of Research and Economic Development of the University of Rhode Island for the year 2004-2005.

Includes statistics of project proposals, expenditures, URI Foundation Awards, previous annual report summaries and awards received by individual academic and administrative departments.

Tick Saliva Is A Potent Inhibitor Of Endothelial Cell Proliferation And Angiogenesis, Ivo M.B. Francischetti, Thomas N. Mather, José M.C. Ribeiro

Plant Sciences and Entomology Faculty Publications

We report for the first time that saliva of the hard tick and Lyme disease vector,Ixodes scapularis,is a potent inhibitor of angiogenesis. Saliva (≤ 1:500 dilutions) or salivary gland (0.1–0.5 pairs/assay) dose-dependently inhibits microvascular endothelial cell (MVEC) proliferation. Inhibition was also detected with the saliva of the cattle tick Boophilus microplus but not with the salivary gland of Anopheles gambiae, An. stephensi, Lutzomyia longipalpis, Phlebotomus papatasi, Aedes aegypti, Culex quinquefasciatus, and Cimex lectularius. Inhibition of MVEC proliferation by I. scapularis saliva was accompanied by a change in cell shape (shrinkage of the cytoplasm with loss of cell-cell interactions) and apoptosis …

The Transcriptome Of The Salivary Glands Of The Female Western Black-Legged Tick Ixodes Pacificus (Acari: Ixodidae), Ivo M.B. Francischetti, Van My Pham, Ben J. Mans, John F. Andersen, Thomas N. Mather, Robert S. Lane, José M.C. Ribeiro

Plant Sciences and Entomology Faculty Publications

Sequencing of an Ixodes pacificus salivary gland cDNA library yielded 1068 sequences with an average undetermined nucleotide of 1.9% and an average length of 487 base pairs. Assembly of the expressed sequence tags yielded 557 contigs, 138 of which appear to code for secreted peptides or proteins based on translation of a putative signal peptide. Based on the BLASTX similarity of these contigs to 66 matches of Ixodes scapularis peptide sequences, only 58% sequence identity was found, indicating a rapid divergence of salivary proteins as observed previously for mosquito and triatomine bug salivary proteins. Here we report 106 mostly full-length …

Surfo Technical Report No. 2006-01, Surfo

SURFO Technical Reports

The 2005 technical reports written by undergraduate students participating in the SURFO (Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships in Oceanography) Program while at the University of Rhode Island.

Aggregate Measures Of Ecosystem Services: Can We Take The Pulse Of Nature?, Laura A. Meyerson, Jill Baron, Jerry M. Melillo, Robert J. Naiman, Robin I. O'Malley, Gordon Orians, Margaret A. Palmer, Alexander S. P. Pfaff, Steven W. Running, Osvaldo E. Sala

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

National scale aggregate indicators of ecosystem services are useful for stimulating and supporting a broad public discussion about trends in the provision of these services. There are important considerations involved in producing an aggregate indicator, including whether the scientific and technological capacity exists, how to address varying perceptions of the societal importance of different services, and how to communicate information about these services to both decision makers and the general public. Although the challenges are formidable, they are not insurmountable. Quantification of ecosystem services and dissemination of information to decision makers and the public is critical for the responsible and …

Small-Scale Field Experiments Accurately Scale Up To Predict Density Dependence In Reef Fish Populations At Large Scales, Mark A. Steele, Graham E. Forrester

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Field experiments provide rigorous tests of ecological hypotheses but are usually limited to small spatial scales. It is thus unclear whether these findings extrapolate to larger scales relevant to conservation and management. We show that the results of experiments detecting density-dependent mortality of reef fish on small habitat patches scale up to have similar effects on much larger entire reefs that are the size of small marine reserves and approach the scale at which some reef fisheries operate. We suggest that accurate scaling is due to the type of species interaction causing local density dependence and the fact that localized …

A New Model To Estimate Daily Energy Expenditure For Wintering Waterfowl, Richard A. Mckinney, Scott R. Mcwilliams

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Current models to estimate daily energy expenditure (DEE) for free-living birds are limited to either those that use fixed thermoregulatory costs or those that more accurately estimate thermoregulatory costs, but require extensive and often logistically difficult measurements. Here, we propose a model based on basal metabolic rate (BMR), activity budgets, and site-specific energetic costs of thermoregulation that requires only simple measures of ambient temperature and wind speed to provide estimates of DEE. We use the model to calculate the DEE of Buffleheads (Bucephala albeola) wintering at six habitats that afford differing degrees of protection from exposure within Narragansett …

Habitat Selection And Home Range Size Of Ruffed Grouse In Rhode Island, Erik G. Endrulart, Scott R. Mcwilliams, Brian C. Tefft

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Bonasa umbellus (Ruffed Grouse) are one of many wildlife species that require early successional forest and whose populations have declined as New England forests have matured. We studied habitat selection and home range size of Ruffed Grouse in oak-hickory forests in Rhode Island to determine the importance of different habitat types for grouse. Home range size did not significantly differ by age or gender (mean = 103 ± 24.91 ha). Habitat selection was assessed at two spatial scales: home range and study area scale. At the study area scale, grouse selected early successional forest, mixed deciduous-conifer stands, deciduous forest, and …

Reservoir Competence Of Native North American Birds For The Lyme Disease Spirochete, Borrelia Burgdorferi, Howard S. Ginsberg, P. A. Buckley, Maxon G. Balmforth, Elyes Zhioua, Shaibal Mitra, Francine G. Buckley

Past Departments Faculty Publications (CELS)

Reservoir competence for the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, was tested for six species of native North American birds: American robin, gray catbird, brown thrasher, eastern towhee, song sparrow, and northern cardinal. Wild birds collected by mist netting on Fire Island, NY, were held in a field laboratory in cages over water and locally collected larval ticks were placed on the birds, harvested from the water after engorgement, and tested for infection by direct fluorescent-antibody staining after molting to the nymphal stage. American robins were competent reservoirs, infecting 16.1% of larvae applied to wild-caught birds, compared with 0% of …

Woodland Type And Spatial Distribution Of Nymphal Ixodes Scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae), Howard S. Ginsberg, Elyes Zhioua, Shaibal Mitra, James Fischer, P. A. Buckley, Frank Verret, H. Brian Underwood, Francine G. Buckley

Past Departments Faculty Publications (CELS)

Spatial distribution patterns of black-legged ticks, Ixodes scapularis, in deciduous and coniferous woodlands were studied by sampling ticks in different woodland types and at sites from which deer had been excluded and by quantifying movement patterns of tick host animals (mammals and birds) at the Lighthouse Tract, Fire Island, NY, from 1994 to 2000. Densities of nymphal ticks were greater in deciduous than coniferous woods in 3 of 7 yr. Only engorged ticks survived the winter, and overwintering survival of engorged larvae in experimental enclosures did not differ between deciduous and coniferous woods. Nymphs were not always most abundant …

Asymptotic Behavior Of A System Of Linear Fractional Difference Equations, Mustafa Rs Kulenović, M. Nurkanović

Mathematics Faculty Publications

We investigate the global asymptotic behavior of solutions of the system of difference equations x_n+1 = (a + x_n)/(b + y_n), y_n+1 = (d + y_n)(e + x_n), n = 0,1…, where the parameters a, b, d, and e are positive numbers and the initial conditions x0 and y0 are arbitrary nonnegative numbers. We obtain some asymptotic results for the positive equilibrium, of this system.

Droop Models Of Nutrient–Plankton Interaction With Intratrophic Predation, S. R.-J. Jang, J. Baglama

Mathematics Faculty Publications

Droop models of nutrient–phytoplankton–zooplankton interaction with intratrophic predation of zooplankton are introduced and investigated. The models proposed in this study are open ecosystems which include both a constant and a periodic input nutrient models. A simple stochastic model mimics a randomly varying nutrient input is also presented. For the deterministic models it is shown analytically that intratrophic predation has no effect on the global asymptotic dynamics of the systems if either one of the populations has a negative growth rate. Numerical simulations are also used to investigate the effects of intratrophic predation. Unlike the deterministic models for which both populations …

Regulation Of The Vibrio Anguillarum Metalloprotease Empa By Posttranslational Modification, Andrew M. Staroscik, Steven M. Denkin, David R. Nelson

Cell and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

The zinc metalloprotease EmpA is a virulence factor in the fish pathogen Vibrio anguillarum. Previous studies have shown that two strains of V. anguillarum regulate empA differently. Strain M93Sm exhibits protease activity only in the presence of fish gastrointestinal mucus, while protease activity is detected in NB10 culture supernatant under all stationary-phase conditions. In this study, we use real-time reverse transcription-PCR to show that even in conditions where no protease activity is detected, empA transcription occurs. Western blot analysis revealed that EmpA is secreted as a ∼48-kDa proenzyme and that activation occurs extracellularly by the removal of a ∼10-kDa …

Phosphoryl Transfer Step In The C-Terminal Src Kinase Controls Src Recognition, Scot A. Lieser, Caitlin Shindler, Brandon E. Aubol, Sungsoo Lee, Gongqin Sun, Joseph A. Adams

Cell and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

All members of the Src family of nonreceptor protein tyrosine kinases are phosphorylated and subsequently down-regulated by the C-terminal Src kinase, Csk. Although the recognition of Src protein substrates is essential for a diverse set of signaling events linked to cellular growth and differentiation, the factors controlling this critical protein-protein interaction are not well known. To understand how Csk recognizes Src, the chemical/physical events that modulate apparent substrate affinity and turnover were investigated. Src is phosphorylated in a biphasic manner in rapid quench flow experiments, suggesting that the phosphoryl transfer step is fast and highly favorable and does not limit …

New Student Record : The University Of Rhode Island, The Interfraternity/Panhellenic Councils

Freshman Record

No abstract provided.

Renaissance 2005, University Of Rhode Island

URI Yearbooks

This is a digitized, downloadable version of the University of Rhode Island yearbook.

Antagonistic Interactions Among Marine Bacteria Impede The Proliferation Of Vibrio Cholerae, Richard A. Long, David C. Rowley, Eric Zamora, Jiayuan Liu, Douglas H. Bartlett, Farooq Azam

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Changes in global climate have raised concerns about the emergence and resurgence of infectious diseases. Vibrio cholerae is a reemerging pathogen that proliferates and is transported on marine particles. Patterns of cholera outbreaks correlate with sea surface temperature increases, but the underlying mechanisms for rapid proliferation of V. cholerae during ocean warming events have yet to be fully elucidated. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that autochthonous marine bacteria impede the spread of V. cholerae in the marine environment. It was found that some marine bacteria are capable of inhibiting the growth of V. cholerae on surfaces and that …

Plasma Clearance Of Lovastatin Versus Chinese Red Yeast Rice In Healthy Volunteers, Zhaoping Li, Navindra P. Seeram, Rupo Lee, Gail Thames, Chayo Minutti, He-Jing Wang, David Heber

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Objectives: It is now accepted that inhibition of cholesterol biosynthesis is effective in the primary and secondary prevention of heart disease. However, the perceived side-effects on muscle and liver reduce the general acceptance of statin drug therapy as well as compliance over the long term, which is necessary for prevention efforts to be successful. Chinese red yeast rice (CRYR) is a supplement containing lovastatin (monacolin K), eight other monacolins, pigments, tannins, and other phytochemicals. The authors previously reported on a double- blind placebo-controlled trial of CRYR supplement in 80 individuals demonstrating a significant decrease in cholesterol levels from 250 mg/dL …

Mouse Intestine Selects Nonmotile Flhdc Mutants Of Escherichia Coli Mg1655 With Increased Colonizing Ability And Better Utilization Of Carbon Sources, Mary P. Leatham, Sarah J. Stevenson, Eric J. Gauger, Karen A. Krogfelt, Jeremy J. Lins, Traci L. Haddock, Steven M. Audtieri, Tyrrell Conway, Paul S. Cohen

Cell and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

d-Gluconate which is primarily catabolized via the Entner-Doudoroff (ED) pathway, has been implicated as being important for colonization of the streptomycin-treated mouse large intestine by Escherichia coli MG1655, a human commensal strain. In the present study, we report that an MG1655 Δedd mutant defective in the ED pathway grows poorly not only on gluconate as a sole carbon source but on a number of other sugars previously implicated as being important for colonization, including l-fucose, d-gluconate, d-glucuronate, N-acetyl-d-glucosamine, d-mannose, and d-ribose. Furthermore, we show that the mouse intestine selects mutants of MG1655 Δedd and wild-type MG1655 that …

Simple Sequence Repeat-Based Consensus Linkage Map Of Bombyx Mori, Xue-Xia Miao, Shi-Je Xu, Ming-Hui Li, Mu-Wang Li, Jian-Hua Huang, Fang-Yin Dai, Susan W. Marino, David R. Mills, Peiyu Zeng, Kazuei Mita, Shi-Hai Jia, Yong Zhang, Wen-Bin Liu, Hui Xiang, Qiu-Hong Guo, An-Ying Xu, Xiang-Yin Kong, Hong-Xuan Lin, Yao-Zhou Shi, Gang Lu, Xianglin Zhang, Wei Huang, Yuji Yasukochi, Toshiyuki Sugasaki, Toru Shimada, Javaregowda Nagaraju, Zhong-Huai Xiang, Sheng-Yue Wang, Marian R. Goldsmith, Cheng Lu, Guo-Ping Zhao, Yong-Ping Huang

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

We established a genetic linkage map employing 518 simple sequence repeat (SSR, or microsatellite) markers for Bombyx mori (silkworm), the economically and culturally important lepidopteran insect, as part of an international genomics program. A survey of six representative silkworm strains using 2,500 (CA)n- and (CT)n-based SSR markers revealed 17-24% polymorphism, indicating a high degree of homozygosity resulting from a long history of inbreeding. Twenty-nine SSR linkage groups were established in well characterized Dazao and C108 strains based on genotyping of 189 backcross progeny derived from an F₁ male mated with a C108 female. The clustering was further focused to …

The Fetal Basis Of Amyloidogenesis: Exposure To Lead And Latent Overexpression Of Amyloid Precursor Protein And Β-Amyloid In The Aging Brain, M. Riyaz Basha, Wei Wei, Saleh A. Bakheet, Nathalie Benitez, Hasan K. Siddiqi, Yuan-Wen Ge, Debomoy K. Lahiri, Nasser H. Zawia

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

The fetal basis of adult disease (FeBAD) hypothesis states that many adult diseases have a fetal origin. According to FeBAD, injury or environmental influences occurring at critical periods of organ development could result in “programmatic” changes via alterations in gene expression or gene imprinting that may result in functional deficits that become apparent later in life. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that is characterized by excessive deposits of aggregated β-amyloid (Aβ) peptides, which are snippets of the β-amyloid precursor protein (APP). The predominately sporadic nature of AD suggests that the environment must play a role in neurodegeneration. …

Dietary Restraint, Self-Efficacy, And Gender Differences In Weight Loss Program Participants, Amy Elizabeth Sheeley

Open Access Dissertations

Rates of overweight and obesity continue to rise each year with serious associated health risks. This study was conducted to explore gender differences between behavior change variables for both dietary fat reduction and exercise behaviors in a weight loss population. This research also investigated relationships between these psychosocial behavior change variables. Over 300 overweight and obese men and women enrolled in weight loss programs in the greater Boston area completed self-administered surveys. The behavior change variables surveyed included validated Transtheoretical Model (TTM) measures of stage of change for dietary fat reduction, situational confidence and temptation for dietary fat reduction, as …

Functional And Structural Study Of The Protein Tyrosine Kinase Csk, As A Model System, Sungsoo Lee

Open Access Dissertations

Protein phosphorylation, enzymatic transfer of γ-phosphate of adenosine triphosphate to a hydroxyl group of a recipient amino acid residue such as serine, threonine or tyrosine, is a fundamental control mechanism of cell signaling in eukaryotes. Most protein kinases, catalyzing protein phosphorylation, consist of multiple globular domains which play important roles in connecting signal transduction pathways. Due to their critical roles in cell signaling and the correlation between their activity and disease processes of the cell, many protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) are targets for inhibitor development. For the purposes of understanding their mechanisms in signal transduction and developing PTK inhibitors for …

Probing The Regulatory Mechanisms Of Protein Tyrosine Kinases, Using C-Terminal Src Kinase (Csk) As A Model System, Xiaofeng Lin

Open Access Dissertations

Protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) are important signal transducers. Most PTKs have a catalytic domain, which carries out catalysis, and regulatory domains, which regulate their activity. Autophosphorylation, the Tyr phosphorylation in the activation loop, is also a key regulatory mechanism for most PTKs. In this study, I probed the regulatory mechanisms of PTKs using Csk as a model system. Csk has two regulatory domains, SH3 and SH2, and a catalytic domain. In this study, I probed how the regulatory domains modulate Csk activity. First, the regulatory domains were required for Csk full activity, yet not involved in the recognition of Src, …

Evolutionary Numerical Methods Applied To Minimum Weight Structural Design And Cardiac Mechanics, Arun Unnikrishnan Nair

Open Access Dissertations

In this thesis numerical methods combining evolutionary optimization algorithms and finite element analysis are developed and applied to problems in cardiac mechanics and structural optimization. In the first application finite element analysis is combined with a real encoded genetic algorithm to determine unknown material parameters in constitutive model for ventricular myocardium using an inverse approach. As a second application suppression of global instabilities in minimum-weight Michell structures is investigated. A real encoded genetic algorithm is combined with a finite element eigenvalue buckling analysis for suppressing global buckling associated with minimum-weight structures. A novel finite element based evolutionary algorithm is developed …

Sex Change In Crepidula Fornicata: Influence Of Environmental Factors On Reproductive Success And The Timing Of Sex Change, Dina A. Proestou

Open Access Dissertations

Many organisms experience a sex change at some point in their life cycle. In order for this life history strategy to be adaptive, lifetime reproductive success must be maximized. The size advantage hypothesis predicts a universal size at sex change for all individuals; however, for most species, size at sex change varies both across and within populations, indicating that the reproductive success of the first sex is influenced by external factors. The objective of this research was to investigate the influence of environmental variables on the sex, reproductive success, and timing of sex change of the protandrous sequential hermaphrodite, Crepidula …

The Icdp Lake Bosumtwi Drilling Project: A First Report, Christian Koeberl, John Peck, John W. King, Bernd Milkereit, Jonathan Overpeck, Christopher Scholz

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

The 10.5 -km-diameter, 1.07-Ma Bosumtwi impact crater was the subject of a multi-disciplinary and international drilling effort of the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP) from July to October 2004. Sixteen different holes were drilled at six locations within the lake, to a maximum depth of 540 m. A total of about 2.2 km of core material was obtained. Despite some technical and logistical challenges, the project has been very successful and it is anticipated that the first scientific results will be available in late 2005.

Uri Undergraduate And Graduate Course Catalog 2005-2006, University Of Rhode Island

URI Course Catalogs Archive

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