Digital Commons Network^™

What Can Hydrography Between The New England Slope, Bermuda And Africa Tell Us About The Strength Of The Amoc Over The Last 90 Years?, T. Rossby, Jaime B. Palter, Kathleen A. Donohue

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

The Gulf Stream is the only pathway in the subtropical North Atlantic by which warm water flows poleward. This transport of warm water and return of cold water at depth is called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). The dynamic method is applied to hydrocasts collected since the 1930s to estimate upper-ocean transport (0–1,000 m) between the U.S. Continental Slope and Bermuda and separately to Africa with focus on the longest directly observable timescale. Calculating transport between the Slope and Bermuda eliminates the Gulf Stream's northern and southern recirculation gyres, while calculations between the Slope and Africa remove all other …

Birds Of A Feather Eat Plastic Together: High Levels Of Plastic Ingestion In Great Shearwater Adults And Juveniles Across Their Annual Migratory Cycle, Anna R. Robuck, Christine A. Hudak, Lindssy Agvent, Gwenyth Emery, Peter G. Ryan, Vonca Perold, Kevin D. Powers, Johanna Pendersen, Michael A. Thompson, Justin J. Suca, Michael J. Moore, Craig A. Harms, Leandro Bugoni, Gina Shield, Trevor Glass, David N. Wiley, Rainer Lohmann

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Limited work to date has examined plastic ingestion in highly migratory seabirds like Great Shearwaters (Ardenna gravis) across their entire migratory range. We examined 217 Great Shearwaters obtained from 2008–2019 at multiple locations spanning their yearly migration cycle across the Northwest and South Atlantic to assess accumulation of ingested plastic as well as trends over time and between locations. A total of 2328 plastic fragments were documented in the ventriculus portion of the gastrointestinal tract, with an average of 9 plastic fragments per bird. The mass, count, and frequency of plastic occurrence (FO) varied by location, with higher …

Seasonal Variation And Deposition Of Atmospheric Organophosphate Esters In The Coastal Region Of Shanghai, China, Yuxin Ma, Yuchen Luo, Jincai Zhu, Jinghua Zhang, Guoping Gao, Wenying Mi, Zhiyong Xie, Rainer Lohmann

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

The coastal megacity Shanghai is located in the center of the Yangtze River Delta, a dominant flame retardants (FRs) production region in China, especially for organophosphate esters (OPEs). This prompted us to investigate occurrence and seasonal changes of atmospheric OPEs in Shanghai, as well as to evaluate their sources, environmental behavior and fate as a case study for global coastal regions. Atmospheric gas and particle phase OPEs were weekly collected at two coastal sites - the emerging town Lingang New Area (LGNA), and the chemical-industry zone Jinshan Area (JSA) from July 2016–June 2017. Total atmospheric concentrations of the observed OPEs …

Organophosphate Ester Pollution In The Oceans, Zhiyong Xie, Pu Wang, Xin Wang, Javier Castro-Jiménez, Roland Kallenborn, Chunyang Liao, Wenying Mi, Rainer Lohmann, Maria Villa-Costa, Jordi Dachs

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

The large-scale use of organophosphate esters (OPEs) as flame retardants and plasticizers has led to their prevalence in the environment, with still unknown broader impacts. This Review describes the transport and occurrence of OPEs in marine systems and summarizes emerging evidence of their biogeochemical and ecosystem impacts. Long-range environmental transport via the atmosphere and ocean currents distributes OPEs from industrialized regions to the open ocean. OPEs are most prevalent in coastal regions, but notable concentrations are also found in the Arctic and regions far from shore. Air–water interactions are important for the transport of OPEs to remote oceans and polar …

A Decade Of Time Series Sampling Reveals Thermal Variation And Shifts In Pseudo-Nitzschia Species Composition That Contribute To Harmful Algal Blooms In An Eastern Us Estuary, Katherine M. Roche, Alexa R. Sterling, Tatiana A. Rynearson, Matthew Bertin, Bethany D. Jenkins

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

In 2016-17, shellfish harvesting closed for the first time in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, USA, from domoic acid (DA), a neurotoxin produced by diatoms of the Pseudo-nitzschiagenus. Pseudo-nitzschia have occurred frequently for over 60 years in Narragansett Bay’s Long-Term Plankton Time Series (NBPTS), therefore it is surprising that the first closure only recently occurred. Pseudo-nitzschia species are known to vary in their toxin production, thus species identification is critical for understanding the underlying ecological causes of these harmful algal blooms (HABs). DNA in plankton biomass can be preserved for many years, so molecular barcoding of archived samples is useful …

An Ambitious Vision For The Future Of Scientific Ocean Drilling, Paula Bontempi

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Trawl Impacts On The Relative Status Of Biotic Communities Of Seabed Sedimentary Habitats In 24 Regions Worldwide, C. Roland Pitcher, Jan G. Hiddink, Simon Jennings, Jeremy Collie, Ana M. Parma, Ricardo Amoroso, Tessa Mazor, Marija Sciberras, Robert A. Mcconnaughey, Adriaan D. Rijnsdorp, Michel J. Kaiser, Petri Suuronen, Ray Hilborn

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Bottom trawling is widespread globally and impacts seabed habitats. However, risks from trawling remain unquantified at large scales in most regions. We address these issues by synthesizing evidence on the impacts of different trawl-gear types, seabed recovery rates, and spatial distributions of trawling intensity in a quantitative indicator of biotic status (relative amount of pretrawling biota) for sedimentary habitats, where most bottom-trawling occurs, in 24 regions worldwide. Regional average status relative to an untrawled state (=1) was high (>0.9) in 15 regions, but <0.7 in three (European) regions and only 0.25 in the Adriatic Sea. Across all regions, 66% of seabed area was not trawled (status = 1), 1.5% was depleted (status = 0), and 93% had status > 0.8. These assessments are first order, based on parameters estimated with uncertainty from meta-analyses; we recommend …

Simulated Impact Of Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement On Atmospheric Co2 Removal In The Bering Sea, Hongjie Wang, Darren J. Pilcher, Kelly A. Kearney, Jessica N. Cross, O. Melissa Shugart, Matthew D. Eisaman, Brendan R. Carter

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE) has the potential to mitigate ocean acidification (OA) and induce atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) removal (CDR). We evaluate the CDR and OA mitigation impacts of a sustained point-source OAE of 1.67 × 10¹⁰ mol total alkalinity (TA) yr⁻¹ (equivalent to 667,950 metric tons NaOH yr⁻¹) in Unimak Pass, Alaska. We find the alkalinity elevation initially mitigates OA by decreasing pCO₂ and increasing aragonite saturation state and pH. Then, enhanced air-to-sea CO₂ exchange follows with an approximate e-folding time scale of 5 weeks. Meaningful modeled OA mitigation …

Potential Interactions Between Diatoms And Bacteria Are Shaped By Trace Element Gradients In The Southern Ocean, Alexa R. Sterling, Laura Z. Holland, Randelle M. Bundy, Shannon M. Burns, Kristen N. Buck, P. Dreux Chappell, Bethany D. Jenkins

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

The growth of diatoms in the Southern Ocean, especially the region surrounding the West Antarctic Peninsula, is frequently constrained by low dissolved iron and other trace metal concentrations. This challenge may be overcome by mutualisms between diatoms and co-occurring associated bacteria, in which diatoms produce organic carbon as a substrate for bacterial growth, and bacteria produce siderophores, metal-binding ligands that can supply diatoms with metals upon uptake as well as other useful secondary compounds for diatom growth like vitamins. To examine the relationships between diatoms and bacteria in the plankton (diatom) size class (> 3 µm), we sampled both bacterial …

The Influence Of Tik Tok On Body Image, Hannah Wood

Major Papers by TMD Master of Science Students

No abstract provided.

Uri Undergraduate And Graduate Course Catalog 2022-2023, University Of Rhode Island

URI Course Catalogs Archive

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

Predicting Carbon Stocks In Tidal Marsh Soils, Fidaa Janoudi

Open Access Master's Theses

Tidal marsh soils serve as important blue carbon storage sink ecosystems which are currently being threatened by rising sea levels. Previous studies have suggested that exist-ing estimates of tidal marsh blue carbon stocks may be inaccurate and overestimated. Currently, we do not have a clear quantification of how much soil organic carbon (SOC), also referred to as blue carbon in coastal ecosystems, is being stored in tidal marsh soils, and how influential geomorphic factors could be on soil carbon stocks. In this study, our goal was to use geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing tools to model soil organic …

Genome Assembly Of The Chemosynthetic Endosymbiont Of The Hydrothermal Vent Snail Alviniconcha Adamantis From The Mariana Arc, Corrina Breusing, Nathan Hagen Klobusnik, Michelle A. Hauer, Roxanne A. Beinart

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Chemosynthetic animal-microbe symbioses sustain hydrothermal vent communities in the global deep sea. In the Indo-Pacific Ocean, hydrothermal ecosystems are often dominated by gastropod species of the genus Alviniconcha, which live in association with chemosynthetic Gammaproteobacteria or Campylobacteria. While the symbiont genomes of most extant Alviniconcha species have been sequenced, no genome information is currently available for the gammaproteobacterial endosymbiont of Alviniconcha adamantis—a comparatively shallow living species that is thought to be the ancestor to all other present Alviniconcha lineages. Here, we report the first genome sequence for the symbiont of A. adamantis from the Chamorro Seamount at the …

Analyzing Factors That Contribute To Attrition Of Underrepresented Undergraduate Students In Computer Science, Noura Albarakati

Open Access Dissertations

In recent years, women and underrepresented minority students have made significant advances in traditionally White male-dominated majors. Nevertheless, they are still underrepresented in most STEM majors. Consequently, many institutions in Higher Education are exploring ways to deliver environments that support those underrepresented students’ retention in science and engineering. This study sheds some light on women and minority students’ underrepresentation in computer science by exploring factors associated with their retention in the field.

This dissertation starts with an exploratory analysis that examines the attrition rate of underrepresented students who switched to other majors compared to their majority peers and investigates any …

Longitudinal Investigation Of Childhood Trauma And Emotiondriven Impulsivity, Svetlana Goncharenko

Open Access Dissertations

Exposure to childhood trauma is associated with numerous adverse psychological, physical, and behavioral health consequences. This highlight childhood trauma as a major public health problem. Addressing important gaps in the existing research, the proposed study clarifies the bidirectional and unique prospective associations between childhood trauma and both negative and positive emotion-driven impulsivity. This study utilized a sample of 11,872 participants from the ABCD study and conducted Cross Lagged Panel Models to evaluate the bisectional associations between childhood trauma and positive and negative emotion-driven impulsivity. Findings showed that earlier childhood trauma was associated with higher levels of later negative and positive …

A Multi-Year Investigation Of The Specialized Metabolite Composition Of Trichodesmium Spp., Christopher William Via

Open Access Dissertations

The specialized metabolite composition of members of the genus Trichodesmium is understudied in comparison to what is known about its ecological role as a dominant nitrogen fixer in oligotrophic tropical and subtropical waters. The occurrence of large surface accumulations, or blooms, comprised of these filamentous cyanobacteria is increasing globally and these events contain potentially toxic metabolites. Currently there is a lack of a systematic field and laboratory studies with respect to Trichodesmium spp. metabolic capacity. This study aims to determine the specialized metabolite profile of two members of the Trichodesmium genus examining cultivated specimens and environmental collections (from the Gulf …

The Impacts Of The Invasive Green Iguana (Iguana Iguana) On Agricultural Production And The Communities Of Puerto Rico — An Interdisciplinary Assessment, Christina N. De Jesus Villanueva

Open Access Dissertations

Invasive species are one of the most pressing threats to the conservation of biodiversity, to human health, and the economy today. Agricultural production and invasive species are often entangled in a complex web of interactions that ultimately decrease agricultural yield and lead to billions of dollars in losses. With no indicators of slowing globalization, it is imperative that we monitor the movement of potential pest species, prevent new introductions, and mitigate the impacts of invasive species. Comprehensive monitoring of potential invasions is not always possible, however, since it is often after a species is established that wildlife management and agricultural …

Reconstructing Nutrient Consumption In The Expanded Southern Ocean Of Pleistocene Glacial Periods, Basia A. Marcks

Open Access Dissertations

The emergence of the longer, high amplitude glacial cycles of the last ~1 million years are attributed, in part, to variations in the global overturning circulation and iron stimulation of biological carbon drawdown. Previously, data resolving the relative importance of these processes within the Southern Ocean did not exist. Here, I present high resolution records of foraminifera-bound nitrogen isotope values from ODP Site 1090, within the Subantarctic Zone (SAZ), and IODP Site U1475, beneath the modern Subtropical Frontal Zone (STFZ), spanning both the last glacial period (0 - 160,000 years ago) and the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT, 1,200,000 - 600,000 years …

Sex Differences In Metabolic Indices And Chronic Neuroinflammation In Response To Prolonged High-Fat Diet In Apoe4 Knock-In Mice, Jennifer M. Mattar, Mark Majchrzak, Jaclyn Iannucci, Sydney Bartman, John K. Robinson, Paula Grammas

Psychology Faculty Publications

Late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (LOAD) likely results from combinations of risk factors that include both genetic predisposition and modifiable lifestyle factors. The E4 allele of apolipoprotein E (ApoE) is the most significant genetic risk factor for LOAD. A Western-pattern diet (WD) has been shown to strongly increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, conditions which have been strongly linked to an increased risk for developing AD. Little is known about how the WD may contribute to, or enhance, the increased risk presented by possession of the ApoE4 allele. To model this interaction over the course of a lifetime, we exposed …

Defining Evolutionary And Developmental Patterns Of Lateral Line Scale Meristics Among Teleosts, Jenna Nadia O'Del

Open Access Master's Theses

Vertebral number and lateral line (LL) scale number are common meristiccharacters used to describe and compare species of bony fishes. These two characters have a spatial relationship originating in embryogenesis, with neuromasts located in register with myomeres, and each LL scale developing in association with a neuromast, resulting in typically one LL scale per vertebra (a 1:1 ratio). However, some fishes are known to have large numbers of lateral line scales, despite having a relatively small number of vertebrae, producing a 2:1 or even a 3:1 ratio. In Chapter 1, variation in this ratio (RLLS:V) is explored for the first …

The Influence Of Us Drug Price Dynamics On Cost-Effectiveness Analyses Of Biologics, Stephen Jon Kogut, R. Campbell, Steven D. Pearson

Pharmacy Practice and Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the influence of drug price dynamics in cost-effectiveness analyses.

Methods: We evaluated scenarios involving typical US drug price increases during the exclusivity period and price decreases after the loss of exclusivity (LOE). Worked examples are presented using the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review’s assessments of tezepelumab for the treatment of severe asthma and targeted immune modulators for rheumatoid arthritis.

Results: Tezepelumab case: yearly 2% price increases during the period of exclusivity and a post-LOE price decrease of 25% yielded an incremental cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gained that increased over the base case …

Investigation Of Novel Low Temperature Electrolytes For Lithium-Ion Batteries, Undugodage Nuwanthi Dilhari Rodrigo

Open Access Dissertations

Improving energy storge technology is vital to the worldwide adoption of renewable energy sources as well as the growth of electromobility. Therefore, recent research has been focused on developing rechargeable lithium-ion batteries enabling high energy and power density over a wide temperature range with improved safety. Unfortunately, the performance of lithium-ion batteries is dependent upon the operating temperatures. At subzero temperature, the performance of lithium-ion battery in carbonate-based electrolytes is decreased by increased cell resistance limiting lithium-ion transportation. Therefore, adjusting the electrolyte composition through use of novel solvents, electrolyte additives, alternative lithium salts and optimized solvent blends has been reported …

An Interpretative Phenomenological Study Of Undergraduate Student Wellness: Exploring Generation Z Student Wellness Experiences During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kristen Pepin

Open Access Dissertations

Qualitative research exploring undergraduate student wellness during a pandemic was scarce prior to the outbreak of COVID-19 and is still lacking. Studies investigating student wellness during pandemics often fracture the concept by quantitatively researching specific wellness dimensions (Cao et al., 2020; Galea et al., 2020; Tang et al., 2020) as opposed to exploring the construct from a holistic perspective. Additionally, few studies aim to understand how undergraduate students make meaning of wellness and their lived wellness experiences, specifically during a pandemic. Furthermore, emerging research (Huckins et al., 2020) corroborates the extant literature that posit student health behaviors were declining in …

Treprostinil, A Prostacyclin Analog, Protects Kidney From Renal Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury: Preclinical Studies In A Rat Model Of Acute Kidney Injury, Meiwen Ding

Open Access Dissertations

Renal ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) occurs in a variety of clinical settings, including sepsis, cardiac bypass, shock, or kidney transplantation. Renal IRI is often unavoidable and is a major cause of morbidity and mortality for this diverse set of patients. However, no pharmacological treatments for prevention or amelioration of renal IRI are available.

Renal IRI is a multifactorial process and a major cause of acute kidney injury (AKI). During renal IRI, the initial decline in tissue oxygen reduces oxidative phosphorylation and depletes intracellular ATP stores, ultimately leading to mitochondria damage and disruption of renal tubular epithelial cell structure. One of the …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Homemade Explosives, Lindsay R. Mclennan

Open Access Dissertations

Homemade explosive (HME) is a general term used to encompass energetics easily prepared from materials that consumers can purchase, but because of sensitivity, stability, and/or performance, often have no legitimate commercial or military use. HME preparation has been described in many books and message board threads for years with varying levels of detail and correctness. The class of HMEs is broad and includes fuel/oxidizer mixtures (e.g. ammonium nitrate/fuel oil or ANFO), nitrate esters (e.g. erythritol tetranitrate, ETN), and peroxides (e.g. triacetone triperoxide, TATP). Though the energetic properties for many of these compounds have been known for over a century, they …

Acoustic And Optical Imaging Techniques For Characterizing Animal Distributions In The Pelagic Ocean, Benjamin Grassian

Open Access Dissertations

Biological processes in midwater habitats -- ocean areas between the sunlit surface layers and sea floor -- are critical drivers of ocean biogeochemical cycling, oxygen availability, fish population dynamics, and ecological interactions over a wide range of scales. Achieving high-resolution observations of the environmental and biological heterogeneity in the ocean's interior is important for understanding the status and evolution of the earth system at large. Traditional ocean sampling platforms (e.g. net systems, moored and shipboard sensors), are often unable to resolve marine biota at fine (cm-m) scales and over submesoscale (sub-km to kms) survey areas comparable to the relevant variability …

The Synthetic Development Of Innovative Supramolecular Architectures For The Purposes Of Drug Delivery And Biosensing, Lauren Elizabeth Seveney

Open Access Dissertations

When I first started my graduate journey at The University of Rhode Island, I knew I wanted to pursue my research in an organic chemistry research group. I was drawn to the DeBoef Group, as their research was profoundly interesting in the sense where the group conducted research in various fields. Where each group had a name amongst the graduate students, such as “the nanopore group”, or “the polymer group”, the DeBoef Group was just what it truly is at heart, “the synthesis group”. I always wanted to be a synthetic chemist, I enjoyed the work, and taking something from …

Analyte-Sensing Particles And Impact Of Plastics On Environmentally Abundant Bacteria, Tania Thalyta Silva De Oliveira

Open Access Dissertations

Nano and microscale materials exhibit exciting chemical, physical and biological properties that dictate how they function. Furthermore, their surface chemistry influences how they respond to a specific application and interact with their surroundings. In this dissertation, a technique used to synthesize tunable hybrid gold nanoparticles for environmental sensing applications by Raman is presented, as well as the fate of nano and microplastics when in the presence of an abundant bacteria in the aquatic environment.Gold nanoparticles are widely used in many applications due to their various properties, such as facile synthesis, biocompatibility, surface conjugation with various ligand types, and tunability. The …

Dyadic Experience Of Emotion Regulation For Families With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Coral L. Shuster

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation was constructed to better understand the role that emotion regulation(ER) difficulties have in the lives of children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Three research methods were utilized and are presented in this order: secondary data analysis, systematic literature review, and a cross-sectional observational study. The secondary data analysis (chapter one) aimed to understand the association between family conflict, child ER, parent perceived stress, and ASD-related social responsiveness in a sample of 2,229 children included in a nationwide longitudinal study. Findings suggest that higher social responsiveness scores predict more ER difficulties as reported by a parent. Parent perceived …

Hypertension, Rheumatoid Arthritis, And Hypothyroidism In Women Born Preterm Of The Women's Health Initiative, Pamela L. Brewer

Open Access Dissertations

Advances in perinatal and neonatal management, along with improved healthcare technologies, have increased the long-term survival of individuals who were born preterm. Millions of preterm birth survivors now reach adulthood. Premature birth, defined as birth before 37 weeks gestation, predisposes individuals to adverse health risks later in life. The Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) theory was used as a framework for this dissertation. The main tenets of the DOHaD theory are that early birth infers immature organ development and when coupled with maternal, neonatal, and environmental stressors, long-term health consequences and/or chronic disease may result. International studies report …