Striped bass population genetic structure and bait panel development for mixed stock analysis

The delineation of genetic stock structure and population connectivity are key components in the effective management of exploited fishes, and in preserving the biocomplexity of populations which is critical for maintaining a species resilience to environmental and anthropogenic pressures. The information gained from identifying the genetic structure among populations is important for ensuring that the spatial scale of management makes biological sense, for identifying genetically compatible individuals to be used in stocking and supplementation efforts, and for use in population assignment methods. This body of research focuses on delineating the genetic stock structure of Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis) and building a genetic panel capable of assigning unknown individuals to a population of origin, in order to provide a highly accurate tool for fisheries management. In Chapter 1 I determine the population genetic structure among nine spawning locations of striped bass in the US and Canada and evaluate the power of my genetic data to assign individuals to their spawning river of origin. In Chapter 2, I build and validate a sequence capture panel to be used for conducting mixed stock analyses on striped bass

Self-Preparation: From New England to the Mississippi Delta

Self-Preparation: From New England to the Mississippi Delta Emily Wojtusik Faculty Sponsor: Gail Faris, Women’s Center I have been accepted into the Teach for America (TFA) 2011 Corp, in the Mississippi Delta teaching elementary education. I was born and raised in Connecticut, and have attended the University of Rhode Island for the past 4 years. I have studied sociology with a concentration in criminology. This Senior Honors Project is both related to my areas of study and represents a slight departure that will prepare me for my teaching responsibilities in the Delta. This project is a comprehensive study involving social and political action in the Delta from the past to the present. The four components are (1) investigation of regional history and statistics regarding jobs, education, housing, and healthcare, (2) interviews with a URI faculty member who is a Native Mississippian as well as those who have spent time teaching in Mississippi, (3) interviews with TFA alumni who have previously taught in the Delta region, and who currently remain active there, and (4) a reflection on how all of the information gathered has prepared me culturally, academically, and affectively to soon begin teaching in my own classroom in August. By the time students from low-income communities reach eighth grade, they are on average 3 years behind their more affluent (and more often white) peers in math and reading. This gap widens to 4 years by grade twelve. One of the key ideas that TFA emphasizes as being at the heart of a new teacher’s experience is ‘building a strong knowledge base’. Before trying to develop this in children, I decided to build it in myself first. This project will show how the personal experiences of others can help me to create a foundation of knowledge before my transition to the Delta. Additionally, TFA implies the importance of ‘working to effect significant gains with respect and humility’. Relying on my first hand encounters, I will be learning about the struggles, diversity, and other key issues in regard to poverty and educational inequity. As a result, I hope to be better equipped to examine my own background and biases, and to capitalize on how these will affect my teaching and my students’ learning. College has been a building block in my life. The coursework I have experienced throughout my undergraduate career at URI has allowed me to develop empathy for the disenfranchised, and a maturing self-awareness. This combination led me to apply to TFA. In continuation, through TFA, I hope to be a catalyst in making a difference in children’s lives regarding how they value and pursue education. This project is the first step toward that goal

1,3-Propanediol production from glycerol with a novel biocatalyst Shimwellia blattae ATCC 33430: Operational conditions and kinetics in batch cultivations

Shimwellia blattae ATCC 33430 as biocatalyst in the conversion of 1,3-propanediol from glycerol is herein evaluated. Several operational conditions in batch cultivations, employing pure and raw glycerol as sole carbon source, were studied. Temperature was studied at shaken bottle scale, while pH control strategy, together with the influence of raw glycerol and its impurities during fermentation were studied employing a 2 L STBR. Thereafter, fluid dynamic conditions were considered by changing the stirring speed and the gas supply (air or nitrogen) in the same scale-up experiments. The best results were obtained at a termperature of 37ºC, an agitation rate of 200 rpm, with free pH evolution from 6.9 and subsequent control at 6.5 and no gas supply during the fermentation, employing an initial concentration of 30 g/L of raw glycerol. Under these conditions, the biocatalyst is competitive, leading to results in line with other previous works in the literature in batch conditions, reaching a final concentration of 1,3-propanediol of 13.84 g/L, with a yield of 0.45 g/g and a productivity of 1.19 g/(L·h) from raw glycerol

Modeling the Succinic Acid Bioprocess: A Review

Succinic acid has attracted much interest as a key platform chemical that can be obtained in high titers from biomass through sustainable fermentation processes, thus boosting the bioeconomy as a critical production strategy for the future. After several years of development of the production of succinic acid, many studies on lab or pilot scale production have been reported. The relevant experimental data reveal underlying physical and chemical dynamic phenomena. To take advantage of this vast, but disperse, kinetic information, a number of mathematical kinetic models of the unstructured non-segregated type have been proposed in the first place. These relatively simple models feature critical aspects of interest for the design, control, optimization and operation of this key bioprocess. This review includes a detailed description of the phenomena involved in the bioprocesses and how they reflect on the most important and recent models based on macroscopic and metabolic chemical kinetics, and in some cases even coupling mass transport.Depto. de Ingeniería Química y de MaterialesFac. de Ciencias QuímicasTRUEpu

Study of the enzymatic activity inhibition on the saccharification of acid pretreated corn stover

The inhibition of the enzymatic saccharification of acid pretreated corn stover (PCS) biomass due to several compounds either present in PCS or produced during saccharification has been studied. The prospective inhibitors tested were glucose ( 110 g L1 ), celobiose ( 24 g L1 ), xylose ( 50 g L1 ), arabinose ( 1.5 g L1 ), furfural ( 2gL1 ), hydroxymethylfurfural ( 1gL1 ), acetic acid ( 4gL1 ), and lignin ( 50 g L1 ). Each of these compounds was added at three different concentrations, being the concentration intervals different according to standard maximum concentrations of such compounds in the reaction medium, previously measured and described in literature. In addition, these experiments were employed to evaluate the standard error present during the evaluation of the results obtained in the inhibition reactions. Those results show that significant inhibition was only detected for lignin (more than 25 g L1 ) and it was also appreciable for glucose at high concentrations (above 75 g L1 ), although it was not remarkable at medium concentrations (40 g L1 ). On the other hand, neither of the remaining compounds tested presented any significant inhibitory effect at the usual process concentration range

Advancing stem cell technologies for conservation of wildlife biodiversity.

Wildlife biodiversity is essential for healthy, resilient and sustainable ecosystems. For biologists, this diversity also represents a treasure trove of genetic, molecular and developmental mechanisms that deepen our understanding of the origins and rules of life. However, the rapid decline in biodiversity reported recently foreshadows a potentially catastrophic collapse of many important ecosystems and the associated irreversible loss of many forms of life on our planet. Immediate action by conservationists of all stripes is required to avert this disaster. In this Spotlight, we draw together insights and proposals discussed at a recent workshop hosted by Revive & Restore, which gathered experts to discuss how stem cell technologies can support traditional conservation techniques and help protect animal biodiversity. We discuss reprogramming, in vitro gametogenesis, disease modelling and embryo modelling, and we highlight the prospects for leveraging stem cell technologies beyond mammalian species

Desarrollo de recursos didácticos adaptados para la Generación Z en el ámbito de la Ingeniería Química

En este Proyecto Innova-docencia se van a elaborar una serie de recursos didácticos que sirvan de apoyo a la docencia presencial y virtual de asignaturas del área de la Ingeniería Química a nivel de Grado y de Máster enfocados a la Generación Z

Hidrólisis enzimática de materiales lignocelulósicos

El desarrollo de la biorrefinería como modelo de producción análogo a las refinerías se ha visto favorecido tanto por las políticas ambientales adoptadas por los distintos organismos, tanto nacionales como plurinacionales, como por la previsible escasez futura de los combustibles fósiles y de las materias primas no renovables. La biorrefinería se define en la actualidad como la forma de producción basada en la biomasa que persigue obtener tanto productos químicos, finales o intermedios, como energía y alimentos a través de procesos ambientalmente sostenibles.Existen diversos tipos de biorrefinerías, tanto en función de los procesos que llevan a cabo, y los productos que ponen en el mercado, como del tipo de biomasa que emplean como materia prima. Dentro de las biorrefinerías que se están desarrollando en la actualidad, destacan aquellas que emplean biomasa lignocelulósica como materia prima. Esta biomasa se compone, fundamentalmente, de celulosa, hemicelulosa y lignina. Asimismo, cada uno de estos polímeros naturales puede ser procesado y separado en sus componentes fundamentales, que se pueden emplear como materias primas o productos intermedios en otros procesos.