University of Rhode Island

About: University of Rhode Island is a education organization based out in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Bay. The organization has 11464 authors who have published 22770 publications receiving 841066 citations. The organization is also known as: URI & Rhode Island College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts.

The Past, Present, and Future of the AVHRR Pathfinder SST Program

Abstract: With origins dating back to 1990, the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) Pathfinder Sea Surface Temperature (SST) Program has experienced a 20-year history of reprocessing space-based observations to create accurate, consistent, climate data records. Both scientific and programmatic aspects of this history are reviewed and summarized in this chapter, along with a review of the currently available Pathfinder SST data. In addition, a look forward to the next generation of Pathfinder currently under development is presented.

Environmental controls on the geographic distribution of zooplankton diversity

Abstract: Proposed explanations for the geographic distribution of zooplankton diversity include control of diversity by geographic variation in: physical and chemical properties of the near-surface ocean1,2,3; the surface area of biotic provinces4; energy availability5; rates of evolution and extinction6; and primary productivity7. None of these explanations has been quantitatively tested on a basin-wide scale. Here we used assemblages of planktic foraminifera from surface sediments to test these hypotheses. Our analysis shows that sea-surface temperature measured by satellite8 explains nearly 90% of the geographic variation in planktic foraminiferal diversity throughout the Atlantic Ocean. Temperatures at depths of 50, 100 and 150 m (ref. 9) are highly correlated to sea-surface temperature and explain the diversity pattern nearly as well. These findings indicate that geographic variation in zooplankton diversity may be directly controlled by the physical structure of the near-surface ocean. Furthermore, our results show that planktic foraminiferal diversity does not strictly adhere to the model of continually decreasing diversity from equator to pole. Instead, planktic foraminiferal diversity peaks in the middle latitudes in all oceans.

Growth and development rates of the copepod Calanus finmarchicus reared in the laboratory

Abstract: Development rates, nitrogen- and carbon-specific growth rates, size, and condition were determined for the copepod Calanus finmarchicus reared at 3 temperatures (4, 8, and 12°C) at non-limiting food concentrations and 2 limiting food concentrations at 8°C in the laboratory. Devel- opment rates were equiproportional, but not isochronal. Naupliar stage durations were similar, except for non-feeding stages, which were of short duration, and the first feeding stage, which was prolonged, while copepodite stage durations increased with increasing stage of development. Under limiting food concentrations at 8°C, development rates were prolonged but similar relative patterns in stage durations were observed. Body size (length and weight) was inversely related to temperature and positively related to food concentration. Condition measurements were not affected by tempera- ture, but were positively related to food concentration. Growth rates increased with increasing tem- perature and increased asymptotically with increasing food concentration. At high food concentra- tions, growth rates of naupliar stages were high (except for individuals molting from the final naupliar stage to the first copepodite stage, in which growth rates were depressed), while growth of copepodites decreased with increasing stage of development. Neither nitrogen nor carbon growth rates, the former a proxy for structural growth, were exponential over the entire life cycle, but rather sigmoidal. Carbon-specific growth rates were greater than nitrogen-specific growth rates, and this difference increased with increasing stage of development, reflecting an augmentation in lipid depo- sition in the older stages. However, nitrogen and carbon growth rates were more similar under food- limited conditions. Based on this study, we recommend that secondary production rates of Calanus finmarchicus and possibly other lipid-storing copepods not be estimated from egg production mea- surements alone, as has been suggested for other species of copepods, because growth, including structural growth, is not equivalent for all stages.

Evaluation of motivationally tailored vs. standard self-help physical activity interventions at the workplace.

Abstract: Purpose. This study compares the efficacy of a self-help intervention tailored to the individual's stage of motivational readiness for exercise adoption with a standard self-help exercise promotion intervention. Design. Interventions were delivered at baseline and 1 month; assessments were collected at baseline and 3 months. Setting. Eleven worksites participating in the Working Healthy Research Trial. Subjects. Participants (n = 1559) were a subsample of employees at participating worksites, individually randomized to one of two treatment conditions. Intervention. Printed self-help exercise promotion materials either (1) matched to the individual's stage of motivational readiness for exercise adoption (motivationally tailored), or (2) standard materials (standard). Measures. Measures of stage of motivational readiness for exercise and items from the 7-Day Physical Activity Recall. Results. Among intervention completers (n = 903), chi-square analyses showed that, compared to the standard intervention, tho...