Digital Commons Network^™

La Double Vie De Baudelaire: Le Trouble Bipolaire Et La Dépendance À L’Opium, Kristen Murphy

Senior Honors Projects

Charles Baudelaire (April 9th, 1821- August 31st,1867) the nineteenth century French poet, was an eccentric and scandalous character who pushed the boundaries of decency and literature quotidianly. Today he is considered the father of the modernist literary movements and is well respected in literary circles. However, during Baudelaire’s lifetime, his great work Les Fleurs du Mal (The Flowers of Evil) was censored by the French government, he was constantly bankrupt, attempted suicide once, and was an opium addict. Charles Baudelaire did not lead a cheerful life and his works show this darkness. In Les Fleurs du Mal, Baudelaire constantly refers …

Hao Bu Hao: A Survival Guide For Zhejiang University, Jenna N. D’Amico

Senior Honors Projects

In an ever-expanding global society, we must learn to embrace other cultures much different from our own. The University of Rhode Island’s International Engineering Program has opened several opportunities for students to work and live in an environment much different from that in Kingston, the most recent one being at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. The first group was sent to Hangzhou during the summer of 2006 for seven weeks to learn Mandarin and learn about the Far East. The fourteen of us lived in a dorm, studied Mandarin Chinese, visited cultural and historical sites, and took in all …

China And Latin America: A Match Made In Trade Heaven Or Dependency Reloaded?, Meghan Skira

Senior Honors Projects

China’s economy is expanding rapidly, and the emerging powerhouse is searching for energy resources, raw materials, and markets to maintain its economic growth. China has shown an insatiable appetite for Latin American natural resources, commodities, and agricultural products, from oil to lumber to copper to soybeans. Trade values between the two regions increased greatly from $1.3 billion in 1980 to about $13 billion in 2000 to over $50 billion in 2005. Latin America has the raw materials that China needs to fuel its economic expansion and offers a large market for cheap Chinese manufactured goods. Many analysts claim that Sino-Latin …

Environmental Stewardship On The Uri Campus, Joseph A. Santiago, Lauri Leach, Michela O’Rourke, Rachel Toppi

Student Affairs Digital Community Development

This poster campaign and report was an effort to get environmental stewardship to be more of a part of the student government at URI. It was used to raise awareness and link people's actions to theory so that future work could be built off this and assessed for its effectiveness.

Division Of Research And Economic Development Annual Report For Fy2007, 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 2006-2007.

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

Monarch Butterfly Oviposition On Swallow-Worts (Vincetoxicum Spp.), Richard A. Casagrande, J. E. Dacey

Plant Sciences and Entomology Faculty Publications

As black swallow-wort, Vincetoxicum nigrum L. Moench, and pale swallow-wort, V. rossicum (Kleopow) Barbar., spread throughout the northeastern United States and southern Canada, there is concern about the impact of these invasive plants on populations of the native North American monarch butterfly Danaus plexippus L. Recent laboratory studies in New York and Ontario, Canada, have found little or no oviposition by monarch butterflies on the two Vincetoxicum species. In Rhode Island, we found 10.5–21.7% oviposition on Vincetoxicum species relative to common milkweed Asclepias syriaca L. in choice tests and 11.9–20.3% in no-choice tests in 2 yr of laboratory testing. These …

Ecological And Socioeconomic Impacts Of Invasive Alien Species In Island Ecosystems, Jamie K. Reaser, Laura A. Meyerson, Quentin Cronk, Maj De Poorter, L. G. Eldrege, Edmund Green, Moses Kairo, Pepetua Latasi, Richard N. Mack, John Mauremootoo, Dennis O'Dowd, Warea Orapa, Soetikno Sastroutomo, Alan Saunders, Clare Shine, Sigurdur Thrainsson, Leliua Vaiutu

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Minimizing the impact of invasive alien species (IAS) on islands and elsewhere requires researchers to provide cogent information on the environmental and socioeconomic consequences of IAS to the public and policy makers. Unfortunately, this information has not been readily available owing to a paucity of scientific research and the failure of the scientific community to make their findings readily available to decision makers. This review explores the vulnerability of islands to biological invasion, reports on environmental and socioeconomic impacts of IAS on islands and provides guidance and information on technical resources that can help minimize the effects of IAS in …

Phragmites Australis: It's Not All Bad, Laura A. Meyerson

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Selective Cysteine Protease Inhibition Contributes To Blood-Feeding Success Of The Tick Ixodes Scapularis, Michalis Kotsyfakis, Shahid Karim, John F. Andersen, Thomas N. Mather, José M. C. Ribeiro

Past Departments Faculty Publications (CELS)

Ixodes scapularis is the main vector of Lyme disease in the eastern and central United States. Tick salivary secretion has been shown as important for both blood-meal completion and pathogen transmission. Here we report a duplication event of cystatin genes in its genome that results in a transcription-regulated boost of saliva inhibitory activity against a conserved and relatively limited number of vertebrate papain-like cysteine proteases during blood feeding. We further show that the polypeptide products of the two genes differ in their binding affinity for some enzyme targets, and they display different antigenicity. Moreover, our reverse genetic approach employing RNA …

Respiration Of Escherichia Coli In The Mouse Intestine, Shari A. Jones, Fatema Z. Chowdhury, Andrew J. Fabich, April Anderson, Darrel M. Schreiner, Anetra L. House, Steven M. Autieri, Mary P. Leatham, Jeremy J. Lins, Mathias Jorgensen, Paul S. Cohen, Tyrrell Conway

Cell and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

Mammals are aerobes that harbor an intestinal ecosystem dominated by large numbers of anaerobic microorganisms. However, the role of oxygen in the intestinal ecosystem is largely unexplored. We used systematic mutational analysis to determine the role of respiratory metabolism in the streptomycin-treated mouse model of intestinal colonization. Here we provide evidence that aerobic respiration is required for commensal and pathogenic Escherichia coli to colonize mice. Our results showed that mutants lacking ATP synthase, which is required for all respiratory energy-conserving metabolism, were eliminated by competition with respiratory-competent wild-type strains. Mutants lacking the high-affinity cytochrome bd oxidase, which is used when …

L-Fucose Stimulates Utilization Of D-Ribose By Escherichia Coli Mg1655 Δfucao And E. Coli Nissle 1917 Δfucao Mutants In The Mouse Intestine And In M9 Minimal Medium, Steven M. Autieri, Jeremy J. Lins, Mary P. Leatham, David C. Laux, Tyrrell Conway, Paul S. Cohen

Cell and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

Escherichia coli MG1655 uses several sugars for growth in the mouse intestine. To determine the roles of l-fucose and d-ribose, an E. coli MG1655 ΔfucAO mutant and an E. coli MG1655 ΔrbsK mutant were fed separately to mice along with wild-type E. coli MG1655. The E. coli MG1655 ΔfucAO mutant colonized the intestine at a level 2 orders of magnitude lower than that of the wild type, but the E. coli MG1655 ΔrbsK mutant and the wild type colonized at nearly identical levels. Surprisingly, an E. coli MG1655 ΔfucAO ΔrbsK mutant was eliminated from …

Role Of Motility And The Flhdc Operon In Escherichia Coli Mg1655 Colonization Of The Mouse Intestine, Eric J. Gauger, Mary P. Leatham, Regino Mercado-Lubo, David C. Laux, Tyrrell Conway, Paul S. Cohen

Cell and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

Previously, we reported that the mouse intestine selected mutants of Escherichia coli MG1655 that have improved colonizing ability (M. P. Leatham et al., Infect. Immun. 73:8039-8049, 2005). These mutants grew 10 to 20% faster than their parent in mouse cecal mucus in vitro and 15 to 30% faster on several sugars found in the mouse intestine. The mutants were nonmotile and had deletions of various lengths beginning immediately downstream of an IS1 element located within the regulatory region of the flhDC operon, which encodes the master regulator of flagellum biosynthesis, FlhD₄C₂. Here we show …

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

Freshman Record

No abstract provided.

Renaissance 2007, University Of Rhode Island

URI Yearbooks

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

On The Depth And Scale Of Metabolic Rate Variation: Scaling Of Oxygen Consumption Rates And Enzymatic Activity In The Class Cephalopoda (Mollusca), Brad A. Seibel

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Recent ecological theory depends, for predictive power, on the apparent similarity of metabolic rates within broad taxonomic or functional groups of organisms (e.g. invertebrates or ectotherms). Such metabolic commonality is challenged here, as I demonstrate more than 200-fold variation in metabolic rates independent of body mass and temperature in a single class of animals, the Cephalopoda, over seven orders of magnitude size range. I further demonstrate wide variation in the slopes of metabolic scaling curves. The observed variation in metabolism reflects differential selection among species for locomotory capacity rather than mass or temperature constraints. Such selection is highest among epipelagic …

The Impact Of Feng Shui On Chinese Communication, Guo-Ming Chen

Communication Studies Faculty Publications

Feng shui, the art of space arrangement, has made a great impact on Chinese society. It reflects and shapes most of the traditional Chinese cultural values. Because feng shui continues to play an important role in the contemporary Chinese world, it is important for scholars in different disciplines to systematically study feng shui in order to better understand the Chinese way of thinking and behavior. The goal of this article is threefold: (1) to delineate the meaning of feng shui, (2) to examine the philosophical and cultural bases of feng shui, and (3) to analyze its impact …

Predator Hunting Mode And Habitat Domain Alter Noncinsumptive Effects In Predator-Prey Interactions, Evan L. Preisser, John L. Orrock, Oswald J. Schmitz

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Predators can affect prey populations through changes in traits that reduce predation risk. These trait changes (nonconsumptive effects, NCEs) can be energetically costly and cause reduced prey activity, growth, fecundity, and survival. The strength of nonconsumptive effects may vary with two functional characteristics of predators: hunting mode (actively hunting, sit‐and‐pursue, sit‐and‐wait) and habitat domain (the ability to pursue prey via relocation in space; can be narrow or broad). Specifically, cues from fairly stationary sit‐and‐wait and sit‐and‐pursue predators should be more indicative of imminent predation risk, and thereby evoke stronger NCEs, compared to cues from widely ranging actively hunting predators. Using …

A Decade Comparison Of Preterm Motor Performance At Age 4, Mary C. Sullivan, Kathleen Hawes

College of Nursing Faculty Publications

This was a prospective longitudinal study of two cohorts comprised of one full term and three premature infant groups born 10 years apart. Birth cohort, perinatal morbidity, and birth weight effects were investigated at age 4. Cohort 1 (1985–1989) had longer gestation, higher birth weight, and better Apgar scores than Cohort 2 (1996–1999), which had more intraventricular hemorrhage and bronchopulmonary dysplasia. Cohort and perinatal morbidity group, but not birth weight, predicted motor scores. Preterm Cohort 2 children had better oral motor, fine motor, and total motor scores, but lower visual motor integration scores than Cohort 1. Motor problems continue to …

Assessing Library Skills: A First Step To Information Literacy, Joanna M. Burkhardt

Technical Services Faculty Publications

As part of the University of Rhode Island Libraries' "Comprehensive Plan for Information Literacy," a three-credit class in the skills and concepts of information literacy was first offered in the fall of 1999. More than 1,000 undergraduate students have taken the class since that time. A pre-test was given at the beginning of each semester, followed up by a post-test at the end. The pre- and post-test results were analyzed to determine: (1) whether students improved their test scores over the course of the semester, (2) which concepts and skills students mastered, and (3) where the course might need revision …

The Impact Of Internet Usage On Adolescent Self-Identity Development, Janet H. Long, Guo-Ming Chen

Communication Studies Faculty Publications

This study examines the impact of Internet usage on the self-identity development in 10 students between the ages of 12 and 18. Using Erickson's Ego Identity Theory, the computer mediated communication (CMC) practices of students from private and public schools are evaluated through in-depth interviews. All students are frequent users of instant relay chat (IRC) and have a minimum of one year of experience with Instant Messenger. Identity development is examined using questions generated from a modified form of the Objective Measure of Ego-Identity Status developed by Adams and Ryan (2000). The four dimensions of Identity Development examined here are …

Synthesis And In Vitro Characterization Of Novel Dextran–Methylprednisolone Conjugates With Peptide Linkers: Effects Of Linker Length On Hydrolytic And Enzymatic Release Of Methylprednisolone And Its Peptidyl Intermediates, Suman Penugonda, Anil Kumar, Hitesh K. Agarwal, Keykavous Parang, Reza Mehvar

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

To control the rate of release of methylprednisolone (MP) in lysosomes, new dextran–MP conjugates with peptide linkers were synthesized and characterized. Methylprednisolone succinate (MPS) was attached to dextran 25 kDa using linkers with 1–5 Gly residues. The release characteristics of the conjugates in pH 4.0 and 7.4 buffers, blood, liver lysosomes, and various lysosomal proteinases were determined using a size-exclusion and/or a newly developed reversed-phase HPLC method capable of simultaneous quantitation of MP, MPS, and all five possible MPS-peptidyl intermediates. We synthesized conjugates with ≥90% purity and 6.9–9.5% (w/w) degree of MP substitution. The conjugates were stable at pH 4.0, …

Effects Of Density And Habitat Structure On Growth And Survival Of Harvested Coral Reef Fishes, Clare Louise Wormald

Open Access Dissertations

This study examines four species of ecologically similar, harvested coral-reef fishes to evaluate the influences of habitat on density, growth, and survival and tests for density dependence in growth and survival. I studied populations of Lutfanus apodus, L. synagris, Haemulon flavolineatum and H. plumierii on 8 coral reefs in the Bahamas using underwater visual surveys and mark-recapture studies. For L. apodus I used a large-scale density manipulation experiment to uncouple the relationship between density and habitat. I conducted field and laboratory tests of some of the critical assumptions of mark-recapture methods to ensure that my estimates of growth and survival …

Public Writing Inside And Outside The Classroom: A Comparative Analysis Of Activist Rhetorics, Eileen Medeiros

Open Access Dissertations

Public writing, or writing in the public sphere, is being heralded as the next step in composition studies. Embedded in public writing is the assumption that it fosters civic engagement and effects social change, the same assumptions that were made about service-learning in the 1990's--assumptions that have turned out to be incorrect, actually. This study is an investigation of those assumptions. Using a comparative methodology, this study examines the types of writing that students are producing in five different public writing classes located around the country and juxtaposes that writing with the writing produced by members of five national activist …

Uri Undergraduate And Graduate Course Catalog 2007-2008, University Of Rhode Island

URI Course Catalogs Archive

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

Effectiveness Of Social Competence Promotion On Disruptive Behavior:A Quantitative Review, Diane L. Whipple

Open Access Dissertations

A meta-analysis was conducted that examined the effects of both incorporating parents as treatment agents and involving a varying number of treatment agents in social-skills programs with 2,693 children displaying disruptive behavior. Children participated in social-skills training that included different combinations of treatment agents including clinicians, teachers, parents, and peers. Results indicated that programs incorporating a parent component and those not including parents as treatment agents both increased participants' social competence post-treatment. No evidence was found, however, that incorporating a parent component in programs increased treatment benefits. Social-skills training incorporating various combinations of one, two, three, and four treatment agents …

Analyses Of Parent And Teacher Responses On The Stress Survey Schedule For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders, Lisa A. Femia

Open Access Dissertations

To date, the Stress Survey Schedule (SSS) is the only survey that comprises items that are highly relevant to problems often experienced by people with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). Information regarding the validity of this instrument, however, is limited. The current study collected information from parents and teachers of children between the ages of 3-18 with a primary diagnosis of ASD from multiple sites using the SSS. Convergent and divergent validity estimates were examined using Pearson product-moment correlations coefficients framed in a multi-trait--multi-method matrix. In addition, reference samples were developed for teacher and parent ratings, providing means and standard deviations …

Population Dynamics Of The Shortfin Mako, Isurus Oxyrinchus, In The Northwest Atlantic: An Examination Of Food Habits, Movement And Habitat, Survival, And Population Size, Anthony Darrell Wood

Open Access Dissertations

Until recently, fish and invertebrate species with high economic value were the main focus for stock assessment and fishery management plans. Though less economically important, elasmobranchs are being increasingly targeted by both commercial and recreational fisheries. In order to better understand the current status of the shortfin mako population in the northwest Atlantic, this thesis examined four aspects of shortfin mako population dynamics resulting in five manuscripts (chapters). The first chapter generated regression equations that allowed for back-calculation of bluefish (an important prey species) sizes from digested remains. The second chapter revisited the food habits and daily ration of shortfin …

Fundulus As The Premier Teleost Model In Environmental Biology: Opportunities For New Insights Using Genomics, Karen G. Burnett, Lisa J. Bain, William S. Baldwin, Gloria V. Callard, Sarah Cohen, Richard T. Di Giulio, David H. Evans, Marta Gómez-Chiarri, Mark E. Hahn, Cindi A. Hoover, Sibel I. Karchner, Fumi Katoh, Deborah L. Maclatchy, William S. Marshall, Joel N. Meyer, Diane E. Nacci, Marjorie F. Oleksiak, Bernard B. Rees, Thomas D. Singer, John J. Stegeman, David W. Towle, Peter A. Van Veld, Wolfgang K. Vogelbein, Andrew Whitehead, Richard N. Winn, Douglas L. Crawford

Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Sciences Faculty Publications

A strong foundation of basic and applied research documents that the estuarine fish Fundulus heteroclitus and related species are unique laboratory and field models for understanding how individuals and populations interact with their environment. In this paper we summarize an extensive body of work examining the adaptive responses of Fundulus species to environmental conditions, and describe how this research has contributed importantly to our understanding of physiology, gene regulation, toxicology, and ecological and evolutionary genetics of teleosts and other vertebrates. These explorations have reached a critical juncture at which advancement is hindered by the lack of genomic resources for these …

Epizootiology Of Quahog Parasite Unknown (Qpx) Disease In Northern Quahogs (=Hard Clams) Mercenaria Mercenaria, M. Maille Lyons, Roxanna Smolowitz, Marta Gomez-Chiarri

Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Sciences Faculty Publications

The economically important marine bivalve mollusc, Mercenaria mercenaria, (commonly called a northern quahog or hard clam), has endured considerable mortalities caused by a thraustochytrid pathogen called Quahog Parasite X (QPX). Data on the percent prevalence of QPX infections were compiled from published reports along with our data to describe the epizootiology of QPX disease.QPX infections occurred in clams collected from both cultured beds and wild populations, but a higher percentage of QPX cases (76.5%) were from cultured clam beds. In addition, samples from cultured beds had a significantly higher prevalence (29.2 ± 27.2%) of QPX infections compared with samples from …

In-Stream Denitrification: Pilot Studies And Site Characteristics On A Headwater Stream, Alison J. Milliman

Open Access Master's Theses

Increased loads of watershed nitrogen (N) are a major cause of water quality degradation, especially in coastal waters. According to regional budgets, only 20-30% of watershed N inputs reach coastal waters indicating there are N "sinks" across the landscape. Headwater streams can generate substantial N processing; however, several studies have observed minimal N retention within-streams. We assessed the reach-scale in-stream N removal and denitrification rates in one Rhode Island headwater stream. Using the constant rate injection method, we tracked the fate of isotopically enriched nitrate along a 500 meter stream reach. The objectives of this study were to assess the …