Life Sciences Commons^™

Two Decapod Crustaceans, Panopeus Herbstii And Petrolisthes Armatus, Stabilize Their Gaze Using Achromatic Visual Cues, But Not The Angle Of Linearly Polarized Light, M. Janakis, S. Guirges, A. C. Grant, I. Paris, E. F. Lopresti, Daniel Isaac Speiser

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Expanding Functionalities Of Immune Receptors Through Simultaneous Transfer Of Sensor And Helper Nlrs, Dongjiao Wang, Qibin Wu, Daowen Wang, Youxiong Que, Zheng Qing Fu

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Stabilized And Unstabilized Sampling Methods Result In Differential Fecal 16s Rrna Microbial Sequencing Results, Christopher E. Stamper, Andrew J. Hoisington, Joseph C. Ellis, Christopher A. Lowry, Lisa A. Brenner

Faculty Publications

Over the past decade, studies have been conducted to increase the understanding of associations between the fecal microbiome and human health. In conjunction, researchers have investigated the effects of study design, methods, molecular processing, and sequencing techniques. However, a lack of standardization of fecal sample collection methodology has introduced heterogeneity in sequencing results. Sources of variability include sample collection methods, storage temperatures, and transport times. Here we present 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing results from two sample collection methods (unstabilized sterile swab and stabilized OmniGene Gut Kits) collected from the same fecal specimens. The paired samples were collected either at …

Expanding Functionalities Of Immune Receptors Through Simultaneous Transfer Of Sensor And Helper Nlrs, Dongjiao Wang, Qibin Wu, Daowen Wang, Youxiong Que, Zheng Qing Fu

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Growth Of Cylindrical Micelles And Their Use To Prepare Porous Materials With Tailored Dimensions And Alignment, Mengxue Zhang, Xiaomeng Li, Chuanbing Tang, Morgan Stefik

Faculty Publications

Materials with cylindrical pores are optimal for electrochemical devices and filtration due to their straight paths with minimal tortuosity when aligned. Polymer templates have led to many individual cylindrical architectures however the independent tailoring of pore and wall dimensions has remained elusive. Here short cylindrical micelle templates (PEO-b-PS) with glassy cores enabled the fabrication of sample series with constant cylindrical pore diameter (∼63 nm) and tailored wall thickness (TiO₂, ∼45–100 nm). This ShortCyl series (aspect ratio 4.25) had modest alignment that was attributed to the low free-energy cost for misalignment. Though the plasticized micelles (DCM present) …

Application And Comparison Of Satellite-Derived Sea Surface Temperature Gradients To Identify Seasonal And Interannual Variability Off The California Coast: Preliminary Results And Future Perspectives, Jorge Vazquez-Cuervo, Marisol García-Reyes, David S. Wethey, Daniele Ciani, Jose Gomez-Valdes

Faculty Publications

The application of satellite-derived sea surface temperature in coastal regions is critical for resolving the dynamics of frontal features and coastal upwelling. Here, we examine and compare sea surface temperature (SST) gradients derived from two satellite products, the Multi-Scale Ultra-High Resolution SST Product (MUR, 0.01° grid scale) and the Operational SST and Ice Analysis (OSTIA, 0.05° grid scale), available through the Group for High Resolution SST (GHRSST). Both products show similar seasonal variability, with maxima occurring in the summer time frame. Additionally, both products show an increasing trend of SST gradients near the coast. However, differences exist between the two …

A 12,800-Year-Old Layer With Cometary Dust, Microspherules, And Platinum Anomaly Recorded In Multiple Cores From Baffin Bay, Christopher R. Moore, Vladimir A. Tselmovich, Malcolm A. Lecompte, Allen West, Stephen J. Culver, David J. Mallinson, Mohammed Baalousha M.Sc, Ph.D., James P. Kennett, William M. Napier, Michael Bizimis, Victor Adedeji, Seth R. Sutton, Gunther Kleteschka, Kurt A. Langworthy, Jesus P. Perez, Timothy Witwer, Marc D. Young, Jordan Jeffreys, Richard C. Greenwood, James A. Malley

Faculty Publications

The Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis (YDIH) posits that ~12,800 years ago Earth encountered the debris stream of a disintegrating comet, triggering hemisphere-wide airbursts, atmospheric dust loading, and the deposition of a distinctive suite of extraterrestrial (ET) impact proxies at the Younger Dryas Boundary (YDB). Until now, evidence supporting this hypothesis has come only from terrestrial sediment and ice-core records. Here we report the first discovery of similar impact-related proxies in ocean sediments from four marine cores in Baffin Bay that span the YDB layer at water depths of 0.5–2.4 km, minimizing the potential for modern contamination. Using scanning electron microscopy …

Radioactive Contamination And Climate Warming Affect Physiological Performance Of Chornobyl Barn Swallows, Zbyszek Boratyríski, Timothy Mousseau, Anders Pape Møller

Faculty Publications

Global warming and degradation of natural habitats are the two main factors causing ecophysiological stress on individuals and risk for biodiversity. Hyperthermia is a common response to stress in homeothermic animals, in particular to heat, pathogens and environmental contamination. Resilience of biological systems to global warming may be deteriorated in polluted habitats. Here we investigated how body temperature of a wild bird, the barn swallow (Hirundo rustica), responded to global warming while simultaneously exposed to radioactive contamination from the Chernobyl accident. Our results showed that both high air temperatures (t = 15.55, df = 335, p <  0.0001) and elevated environmental radioactive contamination (t = 5.18, df = 8.09, p = 0.0008) increased internal body temperature of individuals. The additive effect suggests that birds might suffer hyperthermia in locally contaminated habitat (1.47% body temperature increase) while simultaneously exposed to globally rising temperatures (1.95% body temperature increase), potentially reducing the fitness of individual and the maintenance of breeding colonies. The cumulative and interactive negative effects of multiple stressors, such as those emerging from increasing habitat degradation and climate change, will likely contribute to biodiversity losses globally.

The Ring-Finger Ubiquitin E3 Ligase Rfel1 Targets Wheat Npr3 For Degradation To Confer Broad-Spectrum Resistance Against Biotrophic Fungal Pathogens, Liuhui Qiao, Kunpu Zhang, Jinyan Li, Ziming Zhang, Xiao Sun, Huiyun Liu, Ziyue Li, Nannan Ni, Ximei Ma, Jianhui Zhao, Guangwei Li, Xiaohuan Jin, Wenming Zheng, Daowen Wang, Zheng Qing Fu, Huan Wang

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Activation And Suppression Mechanisms Of The Nrg1 Helper Nlrs, Yu-Ru Wang, Ruize Zhang, Daowen Wang, Yong Wang, Zheng Qing Fu

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Assessing Effectiveness Of Runnel Restoration In New England Salt Marsh Habitats, David M. Burdick, Grant Mckown, Gregg Moore, Jenny Gibson, Wenley Ferguson, John Herbert, Nancy Pau, Susan Adamowicz, Geoff Wilson

Faculty Publications

Rising sea levels that increase flooding in salt marshes recovering from hydrologic impairments is reducing nesting habitat for salt marsh sparrows. Abandonment of colonial farming practices (1600s through 1900s) has resulted in large, waterlogged basins characterized by shallow depressions (pannes) dominated by short-form Spartina alterniflora and unvegetated megapools that are subsiding. A relatively new technique designed to provide regular tidal flooding and drainage to the waterlogged basins that have formed on the marsh is runnelling – creation of shallow hydrologic features on the marsh surface. Will runnels result in revegetation of pannes and pools with productive perennial grasses that are …

Non-Spectator Behavior Of A Neutral Phosphine Ligand Driven By A Redox-Active Boron Cluster, Jared R. Riffle, Cash L. Jowers, Sarah Luna, Mark D. Smith, Dmitry V. Peryshkov

Faculty Publications

A new concept of ligand ambiphilicity that relies on the redox behavior of the indirectly coordinated boron cluster scaffold instead of the direct involvement of a single center in a ligand is introduced. A copper(I) complex of a carboranyl-based triphosphine, [t^BuP-closo-{C₂B₁₀}-^PhP-closo-{C₂B₁₀}-t^BuP]CuPF₆, in acetonitrile solution coordinates an exogenous X− anion (X− = Cl− or N3−) at the phosphorus center of the ligand and not at the cationic metal site to form [t^BuP(X)-nido-{C₂B …

Resilience Mediates The Association Between Discrimination And Psychological Distress Among Rural, Black Women In South Carolina: A Structural Equation Model, Camryn Garrett, Abhisheak Aggrawal, Huiyi Xia, Cheuk Chi Tam, Bankole Olatosi Ph.D., Sarah Wilcox Phd, Xiaoming Li Ph.D., Shan Qiao Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

Introduction

The marginalization of intersecting racial, gender, and rural identities compounds the structural vulnerabilities (e.g., discrimination, stigma, health disparities) experienced by Black women in South Carolina’s rural areas. Discriminatory experiences can deteriorate mental health; however, resilience can potentially reduce the ill effects of discrimination by decreasing associated psychological distress. This study examines the mediating role of resilience in the association between discrimination and psychological distress among rural, Black women in South Carolina in the post-pandemic era.

Methods

Black women (n = 300, mean age = 48.6) living in rural South Carolina were recruited from January to February 2024 using …

Summary Of Taxonomy Changes Ratified By The International Committee On Taxonomy Of Viruses (Ictv) From The Bacterial Viruses Subcommittee, 2025, Dann Turner, Evelien M. Adriaenssens, Rudolf I. Amann, Pavol Bardy, Nina Bartlau, Jakub Barylski, Stanislaw Błażejak, Majid Bouzari, Ariane Briegel, Yves Briers, Daniel Carrillo, Xia Chen, Dennis Classen, Ryan Cook, Marco A. Crisci, Arnaud Dechesne, Paulina Deptula, Bas E. Dutith, Bert Ely, Lars Fieseler, Et. Al.

Faculty Publications

This article summarises the activities of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses Bacterial Viruses Subcommittee, detailing developments in the classification of bacterial viruses. We provide here an overview of all new, abolished, moved and renamed taxa proposed in 2024, approved by the Executive Committee, and ratified by membership vote in 2025. Through the collective efforts of 74 international contributors of taxonomy proposals in this round, 43 ratified proposals have led to the creation of one new phylum, one class, four orders, 33 families, 14 subfamilies, 194 genera and 995 species. These proposals mark significant progress in refining the taxonomy …

The Relationship Between Hand Grip Strength And Cognitive Function In Middle-Aged And Elderly People In China: A Cross-Sectional Analysis Based On Charls Data, Haiwei Li, Jing Zhang, Peipei Cheng, Liwei Guo, Xuemei Sui M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D.

Faculty Publications

This study explores the relationship between hand grip strength (HGS) and cognitive function in China’s middle-aged and elderly population. We employed a cross-sectional design using data from 4535 participants aged ≥ 45 years from the 2015 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study national dataset. The relationships between HGS and various dimensions of cognitive function, as well as the association between HGS and cognitive impairment, were investigated using ordinary least squares regression models and logistic regression models. Dose–response relationships between HGS and cognitive impairment were modeled using restricted cubic spline curves. Subgroup and sensitivity analyses were performed to assess the robustness …

Longitudinal Associations Between Waking Movement Behaviors And Health-Related Quality Of Life In Older Adults: A Compositional Data Analysis Approach, Jaclyn P. Maher, Alexander Jochim, Yeongjun Seo, Brynn L. Hudgins, Iman F. Khan, Peyton A. Greco, Emily M. Postlehwait, Om L. Patel, Krista S. Leonard, Chih-Hsiang Yang, Denver M. Y. Brown

Faculty Publications

Objectives

Movement behaviors, such as sedentary behavior (SB), light intensity physical activity (LPA), and moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) are mutually exclusive, in that time spent in one behavior inevitably displaces time spent in another. Yet, few studies have simultaneously considered these health behaviors and their association with health-related quality of life (HRQoL), an important indicator of health and well-being in aging populations. This study aimed to explore the role of waking movement behaviors (i.e., SB, LPA, MVPA) in prospectively predicting HRQoL in older adults. The study further aimed to cross-validate associations between movement behaviors and HRQoL using …

A Caffeine And Theacrine Combination Improves Cognitive Performance In Tactical Personnel Under Physically Fatiguing Conditions, Blaine S. Lints, Adam T. Harrison, Sten O. Stray-Gundersen, Gianna F. Mastrofini, Riccardo F. Romersi, Noah K. Nakagawa, Mackenzie B. Yonder, Chimaobim E. Martin-Diala, Alexa J. Chandler, R. Davis Moore, Shawn M. Arent Ph.D., Cscs*D, Fissn, Facsm, Fnak

Faculty Publications

Background

Optimizing human performance under stressful physical and cognitive conditions is paramount during high-stakes military operations. As such, interventions to improve warfighter performance by mitigating task-induced cognitive performance deficits are necessary. While caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive substance in the world, common side effects (i.e. anxiousness, micro-saccades, irritability) may be detrimental to warfighter operations. Theacrine, a purine alkaloid similar in structure to caffeine but with a longer half-life, less habituation, and fewer side effects, is proposed as a caffeine-alternative to enhance cognitive resilience.

Methods

Tactically trained participants (n = 20; F = 5; M = 16; age …

Designing Context-Specific Physical Activity Interventions For English Primary Schools: Key Learning From A Four-Month Rapid Ethnography, Robert Walker, Danielle House, Simona Kent-Saisch, Alice Porter, Ruth Salway, Lydia Emm-Collison, Michael W. Beets Med, Mph, Phd, David Revalds Lubans, Frank De Vocht, Russell Jago

Faculty Publications

Background

Physical activity is essential for children’s health. Primary schools offer an opportunity to equitably promote physical activity. However, school-based interventions have been shown to have little to no effect, potentially due to a lack of consideration of school heterogeneity. This study reports on a rapid ethnography study that was used to capture insights into English primary schools physical activity. The data are intended to inform the design of a context-specific intervention to improve pupil physical activity.

Methods

Three researchers conducted a four-month rapid ethnography study within three primary schools in Bristol, UK, between March and July 2024. Several methods …

Designing Context-Specific Physical Activity Interventions For English Primary Schools: Key Learning From A Four-Month Rapid Ethnography, Robert Walker, Danielle House, Simona Kent-Saisch, Alice Porter, Ruth Salway, Lydia Emm-Collison, Michael Beets Med, Mph, Phd, David Revalds Lubans, Frank De Vocht, Russell Jago

Faculty Publications

Background

Physical activity is essential for children’s health. Primary schools offer an opportunity to equitably promote physical activity. However, school-based interventions have been shown to have little to no effect, potentially due to a lack of consideration of school heterogeneity. This study reports on a rapid ethnography study that was used to capture insights into English primary schools physical activity. The data are intended to inform the design of a context-specific intervention to improve pupil physical activity.

Methods

Three researchers conducted a four-month rapid ethnography study within three primary schools in Bristol, UK, between March and July 2024. Several methods …

Predicting Sleep And Sleep Stage In Children Using Actigraphy And Heartrate Via A Long Short-Term Memory Deep Learning Algorithm: A Performance Evaluation, Robert Weaver Med, Phd, James White, Olivia Finnegan, Hongpeng Yang, Zifei Zhong, Keagan Kiely, Catherine Jones, Yan Tong, Srihari Nelakuditi, Rahul Ghosal, David E. Brown, Russell R. Pate Ph.D., Gregory J. Welk, Massimiliano De Zambotti, Yuan Wang, Sarah Burkart, Elizabeth L. Adams Phd, Bridget Armstrong, Michael Beets Med, Mph, Phd

Faculty Publications

Children's ambulatory sleep is commonly measured via actigraphy. However, traditional actigraphy measured sleep (e.g., Sadeh algorithm) struggles to predict wake (i.e., specificity, values typically < 70) and cannot predict sleep stages. Long short-term memory (LSTM) is a machine learning algorithm that may address these deficiencies. This study evaluated the agreement of LSTM sleep estimates from actigraphy and heartrate (HR) data with polysomnography (PSG). Children (N = 238, 5–12 years,52.8% male, 50% Black 31.9% White) participated in an overnight laboratory polysomnography. Participants were referred be-cause of suspected sleep disruptions. Children wore an ActiGraph GT9X accelerometer and two of three consumer wearables(i.e., Apple Watch Series 7, Fitbit Sense, Garmin Vivoactive 4) on their non-dominant wrist during the polysomnogram. LSTM estimated sleep versus wake and sleep stage (wake, not-REM, REM) using raw actigraphy and HR data for each 30-s epoch. Logistic regression and random forest were also estimated as a benchmark for performance with which to compare the LSTM results. A 10-fold cross-validation technique was employed, and confusion matrices were constructed. Sensitivity and specificity were calculated to assess the agreement between research-grade and consumer wearables with the criterion polysomnography. For sleep versus wake classification, LSTM outperformed logistic regression and random forest with accuracy ranging from 94.1to 95.1, sensitivity ranging from 94.9 to 95.9 across different devices, and specificity ranging from 84.5 to 89.6. The addition of HR improved the prediction of sleep stages but not binary sleep versus wake. LSTM is promising for predicting sleep and sleep staging from actigraphy data, and HR may improve sleep stage prediction.

Differences In Children’S Food And Beverage Consumption Between School And Summer: Three-Year Findings From The What’S Up (Undermining Prevention) With Summer Observational Cohort Study, Michael Beets Med, Mph, Phd, Sarah Burkart, Christopher D. Pfledderer, Elizabeth L. Adams Phd, Robert Weaver Med, Phd, Bridget Armstrong, Keith Brazendale, Xuanxuan Zhu, Alexander Mclain, Gabrielle Turner-Mcgrievy Ph.D., Rd, Russell R. Pate, Andrew T. Kaczynski, Amanda Fairchild, Brian Saelens, Hannah Parker, Amy L. Yaroch, Emily Eglitis, Anthony J. Holmes

Faculty Publications

Background

Summer vacation is a time when youth gain excessive weight. A key driver of unhealthy weight gain is poor dietary quality. The absence of consistent structure (e.g., school), is hypothesized to be one of the reasons for lower diet quality during summer. This study examined differences in school and summer dietary quality among a diverse cohort of children across three years. We also examined the impact of attending structured programs on children’s diets.

Methods

Parents of 1,032 children (age 5–14 years, 48% girls) completed a time use diary each day for 14-days during school (April/May) and again in summer …

Human Contributions To Global Soundscapes Are Less Predictable Than The Acoustic Rhythms Of Wildlife, Panu Somervuo, Tomas Roslin, Brian L. Fisher, Bess Hardwick, Deirdre Kerdraon, Dimby Raharinjanahary, Eric Tsiriniaina Rajoelison, Patrik Lauha, Lukas Griem, Petteri Lehikoinen, Pekka Niittynen, Esko Piirainen, Markus Lumme, Ville-Matti Riihikoski, Orlando Acevedo-Charry, Solny A. Adalsteinsson, Maaz Ahmad, Sandra Alcobia, Jón Aldará, Tad Dallas

Faculty Publications

Across the world, human (anthropophonic) sounds add to sounds of biological (biophonic) and geophysical (geophonic) origin, with human contributions including both speech and technophony (sounds of technological devices). To characterize society’s contribution to the global soundscapes, we used passive acoustic recorders at 139 sites across 6 continents, sampling both urban green spaces and nearby pristine sites continuously for 3 years in a paired design. Recordings were characterized by bird species richness and by 14 complementary acoustic indices. By relating each index to seasonal, diurnal, climatic and anthropogenic factors, we show here that latitude, time of day and day of year …

Effectiveness Of A Telephone-Delivered Walk With Ease Program On Arthritis-Related Symptoms, Function, And Activity: A Randomized Trial, Christine Pellegrini Ph.D., Sara Wilcox Phd, Yesil Kim, Scott Jamieson, Katherine Devivo, Daniel Heidtke

Faculty Publications

Objective

Walk With Ease (WWE) is a six-week arthritis-appropriate evidence-based physical activity program traditionally offered in a face-to-face format. Because many populations encounter participation barriers to in-person programs, WWE was modified for telephone delivery (WWE-T). The short- and long-term effects of this program on physical activity and arthritis-related outcomes were examined.

Methods

Participants (n = 267) with arthritis were randomized to WWE-T or a wait list control. WWE-T participants received two telephone calls per week (one group and one individual call) for six weeks. Group calls focused on arthritis education and social support. Individual calls focused on problem-solving and goal …

Purification Of Uranium Tetrafluoride Using Ammonium Bifluoride, Kyle R. Foster, Juliano Schorne-Pinto, Ronald E. Booth, Annabelle Husek, Mina Aziziha, Hunter B. Tisdale, Bernie W.N. Fitzpatrick, Hans Conrad Zur Loye, Markus H.A. Piro, Theodore M. Besmann

Faculty Publications

A method of purification for UF₄ utilizing NH₄HF₂ was investigated to remove oxygen and hydrate impurities from the salt. The original salt exhibited a melting point at 915–920 °C, which corresponds to the eutectic temperature of the UF4-UO2 system, showing clear signs of oxygen contamination. To purify the salt, an air-tight reaction vessel inside an argon glovebox was used to react UF4/NH4HF2 mixtures at elevated temperatures under a continuous flow of inert gas. The process yielded a significantly purer UF4 salt as confirmed via inert gas fusion, X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry and inductively coupled plasma-optical …

Redundant Functions Of Mir156-Targeted Squamosa Promoter Binding Protein-Like Transcription Factors In Promoting Cauline Leaf Identity, Darren Manuela, Liren Du, Qi Zhang, Yifei Liao, Tieqiang Hu, Jim P. Fouracre, Mingli Xu

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Crystal Growth, Thermal, Optical, Magnetic And Electrochemical Properties Of Mo2Ta2O11, Md Abdullah Al Muhit, Alevtina A. Maksimova, Sean C. Wechsler, Habiba Binte Kashem, Gopabandhu Panigrahi, Gregory Morrison, Morgan Stefik, Hans Conrad Zur Loye

Faculty Publications

Single crystals of the transition metal oxide Mo2Ta2O11 were grown for the first time using molten flux synthesis. The compound crystalizes in the trigonal space group R 3‾m (no. 166) with lattice parameters a = b = 5.6267(1) Å and c = 25.1424(6) Å and a unit cell volume of 689.36(3) ų. The structure of Mo2Ta2O11 is composed of alternating layers of TaO6 octahedra and MoO4 tetrahedra connected via corner-sharing. CaH2 was used to achieve a partial low temperature reduction of Mo2Ta2O11. The electrochemical lithiation of polycrystalline Mo2Ta2O11 was also investigated for the first time. Mo2Ta2O11 underwent a …

A Demand Systems Analysis Of Energy Sources In The United States, Rafael Bakhtavoryan

Faculty Publications

This study estimates a Generalized Exact Affine Stone Index model to quantify demand structure among such energy sources as natural gas, coal, nuclear, wind, solar, and geothermal energy, employing monthly time-series data ranging from January of 2009 through December of 2020. The demand for natural gas, coal, and nuclear energy emerges as inelastic. A significant substitutability relationship is empirically established between the energy sources. All the computed expenditure elasticities are positive, with natural gas being the most sensitive and nuclear energy being the least sensitive to energy source expenditures. Pre-committed consumption is found for geothermal energy. Finally, the welfare implications …

Daily Movement Activities Are Associated With Within-Person Instability Of Cognitive Function In Older Adults: Evidence From An Ambulatory Assessment Study, Chih-Hsiang Yang, Donald Hedeker, Jongwon Lee, Halle Prine, Donna Coffman, Jingkai Wei, Jonathan George Hakun

Faculty Publications

Background and Objectives

Physical inactivity and excessive sedentary time (ST) are associated with poor cognitive health in older adults. However, current literature largely relies on cross-sectional designs or in-lab cognitive assessments, which do not adequately reflect cognitive function in naturalistic settings. Further, existing studies have largely overlooked the variability or the instability in daily cognitive function, which represents a critical marker of cognitive decline. This ambulatory assessment study examined the temporal associations of daily movement behaviors with the mean levels and the variability of cognition among older adults at risk of dementia. Research Design and Methods

96 older adults from …

Evaluating Potential Changes From Nitrogen To Phosphorus Nutrient Limitation Of Phytoplankton Growth In North Inlet Estuary, Catherine Schlenker, James L. Pinckney

Faculty Publications

In marine systems, molar ratios of the biolimiting inorganic nutrients, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), are assumed to follow the “Redfield ratio” (N:P = 16:1), which is often used to infer nutrient limitation of phytoplankton biomass. Traditionally, estuaries are considered N-limited (N:P <  16) but with higher coastal N-loading, reports of P-limitation (N:P > 16) have increased. In recent decades, nutrient loading in North Inlet Estuary (NIE) has changed such that dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN):dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) ratios increased from ca. 7 to 20 (2002–2021). This suggests that primary production in NIE may be transitioning from N-limitation to NP co-limitation or primary P-limitation. Due to high N:P ratios, we hypothesized that …

Photo-Crosslinked Persistent Micelle Templates With Near Universal Solvent Compatibility, Coby S. Collins, Mengxue Zhang, Cj Strurgill, Christian X. Ruff, Bryce Melton, Morgan Stefik

Faculty Publications

The controlled preparation of porous nanomaterials from block polymer templates is important for diverse applications from energy devices to optical coatings and sorbents. The architectural dimensions determine the overall performance for many of these applications, however the independent control of these dimensions has remained limited to a narrow range of solvent conditions for kinetically trapped (“persistent”) micelle templates. Polymers with a photo-reactive chemistry are shown to enable cross-linked micelle templates that universally remain persistent under diverse solvent conditions. Specifically, poly(poly(ethylene glycol methacrylate))-b-poly(butyl methacrylate-co-coumarin methacrylate) (OBC) was prepared by RAFT polymerization and the resulting micelles were crosslinked …