Digital Commons Network^™

Development And Validation Of The Cognitive Behavioral Physical Activity Questionnaire, Susan M. Schembre, Casey P. Durand, Bryan J. Blissmer, Geoffrey W. Greene

Kinesiology Faculty Publications

Purpose: Develop and demonstrate preliminary validation of a brief questionnaire aimed at assessing social cognitive determinants of physical activity (PA) in a college population.

Design: Quantitative and observational.

Setting: A midsized northeastern university.

Subjects: Convenience sample of 827 male and female college students age 18 to 24 years.

Measures: International Physical Activity Questionnaire and a PA stage-of-change algorithm.

Analysis: A sequential process of survey development, including item generation and data reduction analyses by factor analysis, was followed with the goal of creating a parsimonious questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was used for confirmatory factor analysis and construct validation was confirmed against …

Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Of Immunosuppresive, Mwlod A. Ghareeb

Open Access Dissertations

The immunosuppressive agents used to prevent rejection of transplanted organs include cyclosporine (CsA), everolimus (EVE), mycophenolic acid (MPA), prednisolone (PLN), sirolimus (SIR) and tacrolimus (TAC). Because of the narrow therapeutic index and high inter- and intra-subject variability of these agents, therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is an integral part of immunosuppressive therapy following organ transplantation. The immunosuppressants incidence and severity of side effects correlate with the degree of exposure while under-dosed patients can be at a greater risk for allograft rejection. Currently, whole blood or plasma samples that are obtained via venipuncture are used for routine immunosuppressive monitoring. The limitations of …

Are All Red Algal Parasites Cut From The Same Cloth?, Eric D. Salomaki, Christopher E. Lane

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Parasitism is a common life strategy throughout the eukaryotic tree of life. Many devastating human pathogens, including the causative agents of malaria and toxoplasmosis, have evolved from a photosynthetic ancestor. However, how an organism transitions from a photosynthetic to a parasitic life history strategy remains mostly unknown. This is largely because few systems present the opportunity to make meaningful comparisons between a parasite and a close free-living relative. Parasites have independently evolved dozens of times throughout the Florideophyceae (Rhodophyta), and often infect close relatives. The accepted evolutionary paradigm proposes that red algal parasites arise by first infecting a close relative …

The Combined Effects Of Tai Chi, Resistance Training, And Diet On Physical Function And Body Composition In Obese Older Women, S. A. Maris, D. Quintanilla, A. Taetzsch, A. Picard, J. Letendre, L. Mahler, Ingrid E. Lofgren, Furong Xu, M. J. Delmonico

Kinesiology Faculty Publications

Obesity is a major health problem in the USA, especially in minority populations over the age of 60 years, and the aging process can cause adverse effects on physical function. Previous research has shown that Tai Chi, resistance training (RT), and diet result in overall health improvements.However, the combination of these specific interventions has yet to be translated to obese olderwomen in an urban setting.The purpose of this studywas to examine a combined intervention on the primary outcomes of physical function and body composition. Using a nonrandomized design, 26 obese women (65.2 ± 8.1 years) completed a 12-week intervention; participants …

Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes December 11, 2014, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes

No abstract provided.

Top 10 Medicinal Plants And Their Groundbreaking Impact On Modern Medicine, Jordan N. Patterson, Joan Marie Lausier

Senior Honors Projects

This paper describes ten plants that having been groundbreaking drugs in the past century that were all derived from plants. I chose to do my project on this topic because of my family’s history with natural medicine. In 1999 my mother was diagnosed with Bile Duct cancer and the doctors gave her only a couple of weeks to live. The doctors recommended chemotherapy and radiation, but the results seemed negative for the situation. After some extensive research, my parents found St. Georges Medicinal Wellness Center located in the tiny village of Bad Aibling, Germany. This hospital along with offering traditional …

Federal Agency Efforts To Advance Media Literacy In Substance Abuse Prevention, Alan M. Levitt, Robert W. Denniston

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This article describes and reflects upon efforts to generate greater support for media literacy and critical thinking within the strategies and programs of the Federal government, primarily in agencies with an interest in youth substance abuse prevention. Additionally, some of the inherent challenges and obstacles that impacted the ability to expand these efforts are discussed.

Your Path To Transplant: A Randomized Controlled Trial Of A Tailored Computer Education Intervention To Increase Living Donor Kidney Transplant, Amy D. Waterman, Mark L. Robbins, Andrea L. Paiva, John D. Peipert, Crystal S. Kynard-Amerson, Christina J. Goalby, Lashara A. Davis, Jessica L. Thein, Emily A. Schenk, Kari A. Baldwin, Stacy L. Skelton, Nicole R. Amoyal, Leslie A. Brick

Cancer Prevention Research Center Faculty Publications

Background:

Because of the deceased donor organ shortage, more kidney patients are considering whether to receive kidneys from family and friends, a process called living donor kidney transplantation (LDKT). Although Blacks and Hispanics are 3.4 and 1.5 times more likely, respectively, to develop end stage renal disease (ESRD) than Whites, they are less likely to receive LDKTs. To address this disparity, a new randomized controlled trial (RCT) will assess whether Black, Hispanic, and White transplant patients’ knowledge, readiness to pursue LDKT, and receipt of LDKTs can be increased when they participate in the Your Path to Transplant (YPT) computer-tailored …

A Polymorphic Microdeletion In The Rgs9 Gene Suppresses Ptb Binding And Associates With Obesity, Chong Shen, Meenakshi Sharma, Daniel C. Reid, Pengtao Li, Jeremy Celver, Norhashimah Abu Seman, Jinfeng Chen, Senthil K. Vasan, Hairu Wang, Tianwei Gu, Ying Liu, Wan Nazaimoon Wan Mohamud, Hongbing Shen, Kerstin Brismar, William G. Fairbrother, Abraham Kovoor, Harvest F. Gu

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Objective: RGS9 is a member of the family of Regulators of G-Protein Signaling (RGS) proteins defined by the presence of an RGS domain which can accelerate the GTPase-activity of G protein Gα subunits. An insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism of the nucleotide sequence TTTCT (rs3215227) has been identified in the human RGS9 gene, which matches the consensus high affinity binding motif for the ubiquitously expressed RNA binding Polypyrimidine Tract Binding Protein (PTB). In this study, we evaluate the genetic association and functional relevance of this polymorphism in type 2 diabetes and obesity.

Subjects and methods: We genotyped a larger population …

Circulating Micrornas In Pancreatic Juice As Candidate Biomarkers Of Pancreatic Cancer, Jin Wang, Massimo Raimondo, Sushovan Guha, Jinyun Chen, Lixia Diao, Xiaoqun Dong, Michael B. Wallace, Ann M. Killary, Marsha L. Frazier, Timothy A. Woodward, Jing Wang, Subrata Sen

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Development of sensitive and specific biomarkers, preferably those circulating in body fluids is critical for early diagnosis of cancer. This study performed profiling of microRNAs (miRNAs) in exocrine pancreatic secretions (pancreatic juice) by microarray analysis utilizing pancreatic juice from 6 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients and two pooled samples from 6 non-pancreatic, non-healthy (NPNH) as controls. Differentially circulating miRNAs were subsequently validated in 88 pancreatic juice samples from 50 PDAC, 19 chronic pancreatitis (CP) patients and 19 NPNH controls. A marked difference in the profiles of four circulating miRNAs (miR-205, miR-210, miR-492, and miR-1427) was observed in pancreatic juice collected …

Journal Usage Report For Fiscal Year 2014, Michael A. Cerbo Ii

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Journal usage for the University Libraries are listed alphabetically by authority title. The report includes the usage statistics taken from each vendor and incorporated in Serials Solutions 360 Counter.

The report is broken down monthly for fiscal year 2014 and shows each journal's usage per month and the total usage for the year..

Electronic Journals Overlap Analysis 2014, Michael A. Cerbo Ii

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Overlap analysis for the University of Rhode Island's electronic journals are complied alphabetically by database name. The report shows the number or titles that are exclusive to that database as compiled by Serials Solutions.

The table located under the report gives a brief explanation of the headings used in the analysis.

The Glanville Fritillary Genome Retains An Ancient Karyotype And Reveals Selective Chromosomal Fusions In Lepidoptera, Virpi Ahola, Marian R. Goldsmith, Et Al

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Previous studies have reported that chromosome synteny in Lepidoptera has been well conserved, yet the number of haploid chromosomes varies widely from 5 to 223. Here we report the genome (393Mb) of the Glanville fritillary butterfly (Melitaea cinxia; Nymphalidae), a widely recognized model species in metapopulation biology and eco-evolutionary research, which has the putative ancestral karyotype of n¼31. Using a phylogenetic analyses of Nymphalidae and of other Lepidoptera, combined with orthologue-level comparisons of chromosomes, we conclude that the ancestral lepidopteran karyotype has been n¼31 for at least 140My. We show that fusion chromosomes have retained the ancestral chromosome segments and …

Serials Solutions Click-Through Statistics By Provider And Database 2013-2014, Andrée J. Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Statistics on the total number of database and journal-level clicks, by provider and database, of Serials Solutions tools at the University of Rhode Island Libraries by month for 2013-2014. Clicks may have originated from the A-Z full text electronic journal list (at http://zu4tq4pb5v.search.serialssolutions.com/), from OpenURL links ("360 Link"), or the 856 fields of Serials Solutions-generated MARC records ("360 MARC Updates").

Serials Solutions Subject Search Report 2013-2014, Andrée J. Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Statistics on the total number of Serials Solutions subject searches at the University of Rhode Island Libraries by month for 2013-2014. Shows how many times the A-Z full text electronic journal list (at http://zu4tq4pb5v.search.serialssolutions.com/) was browsed by specific subjects.

Deep-Sea Octopus (Graneledone Boreopacifica) Conducts The Longest-Known Egg-Brooding Period Of Any Animal, Bruce Robison, Brad A. Seibel, Jeffrey Drazen

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Octopuses typically have a single reproductive period and then they die (semelparity). Once a clutch of fertilized eggs has been produced, the female protects and tends them until they hatch. In most shallow-water species this period of parental care can last from 1 to 3 months, but very little is known about the brooding of deep-living species. In the cold, dark waters of the deep ocean, metabolic processes are often slower than their counterparts at shallower depths. Extrapolations from data on shallow-water octopus species suggest that lower temperatures would prolong embryonic development periods. Likewise, laboratory studies have linked lower temperatures …

Effect Of Long-Term Dietary Arginyl-Fructose (Af) On Hyperglycemia And Hba1c In Diabetic Db/Db Mice, Kwang-Hyoung Lee, Kyoung-Soo Ha, Sung-Hoon Jo, Chong M. Lee, Young-Cheul Kim, Kwang-Hoe Chung, Young-In Kwon

Nutrition Faculty Publications

We have previously reported that Amadori compounds exert anti-diabetic effects by lowering sucrose-induced hyperglycemia in normal Sprague-Dawley rats. In the present study we extended our recent findings to evaluate whether α-glucosidase inhibitor arginyl-fructose (AF) lowers blood glucose level in diabetic db/db mice, a genetic model for type 2 diabetes. The db/db mice were randomly assigned to high-carbohydrate diets (66.1% corn starch) with and without AF (4% in the diet) for 6 weeks. Changes in body weight, blood glucose level, and food intake were measured daily for 42 days. Dietary supplementation of AF resulted in a significant …

Curricular Affairs Committee Report #515, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Committee Reports and Appendices

No abstract provided.

Honor The Molst, Teresa Guarino

Senior Honors Projects

End of life is a topic many people would rather avoid discussing. Even many healthcare providers are uncomfortable with the topic, and they are at the front line in terms of providing information to patients about their care options. Nevertheless, it is a topic of utmost importance. Regardless of what one values and what choices have been made, preferences and desires at the end of life should be honored. This was the aim of documents such as advanced directives, living wills, and durable power of attorneys for healthcare, but they have been found to not be consistently honored. Seeing this …

Effect Of Sulfur Amendments On Yield And Quality In Alliums, Rebecca Brown, Noah Leclaire-Conway

University of Rhode Island Vegetable Production Research Reports

In conclusion, sulfur fertilization appears to offer little or no benefit for allium vegetables in Rhode Island. Variety differences were much greater than the fertility effects, and growers who are experiencing issues with yield and storage life are encouraged to consider switching to better varieties.

Zutrition: Analyzing And Evaluating Diets Fed To Captive Mammals At Capron Park Zoo, Briell M. Dzierga

Senior Honors Projects

Zoos provide both experiential and educational opportunities for the general public to learn about animals found in a variety of habitats around the world. A successful zoo must provide a safe and enjoyable environment for the visitors, in addition to the species living within the enclosures. Animal husbandry and welfare are crucial aspects to which close attention must be paid, and zoos have a responsibility to attempt to approximate the captive species’ natural habitats and life histories. An essential part of maintaining a captive zoo animal’s health and wellbeing is providing the animal with an appropriate diet. In addition to …

A Study Of College Influences On Selected Health Behaviors, Kaitlyn S. Krajanowski

Senior Honors Projects

Background: Studies assessing the dietary and physical activity (PA) behaviors of college students in the United States and indicate that this population is underactive and does not consume the daily-recommended servings of fruit and vegetables (F&V). Research is needed to identify factors that inhibit or promote healthful behaviors.

Objective: To determine 1) if there is an association between having a meal plan and selected dietary behaviors, and 2) whether the likelihood of using the campus shuttle and taking the stairs is associated with physical activity.

Methods: Students enrolled in an introductory anatomy class completed a voluntary online survey that assessed …

Annual Report Honors Program And Visiting Scholars Committee 2013-2014, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Committee Reports and Appendices

No abstract provided.

Global Malnutrition: Challenges Associated With Current Intervention Strategies And Prevention Initiatives, Duncan Stiller

Senior Honors Projects

Few, if any, tribulations in the field of public health have managed to transcend the epidemiological transition from acute to chronic disease as malnutrition has. Officially, malnutrition is a category of diseases that includes micronutrient deficiency, under-nutrition (calories/protein), as well as excessive nutrition. The World Food Program estimates that 842 million people worldwide do not have access to enough food, approximately 146 million of which are children. The most serious types of hunger are known as Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM), with 20 million and 35 million respective cases each year occurring in children less than …

Rs744166 Polymorphism Of The Stat3 Gene Is Associated With Risk Of Gastric Cancer In A Chinese Population, Kevin Yuan, Huimin Liu, Lina Huang, Xiyun Ren, Jingjing Liu, Xiaoqun Dong, Wenjing Tian, Yunhe Jia

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

The aim of this study was to explore the association between polymorphisms in signal transducer and activator of transcription protein 3 (STAT3) and the risk of gastric cancer. In the present study, a case-control study was conducted in which rs2293152 and rs744166 polymorphisms in STAT3 were analyzed in 209 Chinese patients with gastric cancer and 294 cancer-free controls. The genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism method. For the rs744166 polymorphism, the TC genotype (adjusted OR = 0.60, 95% CI = 0.39–0.92, and P = 0.020) and CC genotype (adjusted OR = 0.41, 95% CI = …

Assessing Parental Self-Efficacy For Obesity Prevention Related Behaviors, Julie A. Wright, William G. Adams, Robert G. Laforge, Donna Berry, Robert H. Friedman

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Reliable, valid and theoretically consistent measures that assess a parent’s self-efficacy for helping a child with obesity prevention behaviors are lacking.

Objectives: To develop measures of parental self-efficacy for four behaviors: 1) helping their child get at least 60 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity every day, 2) helping one’s child consume five servings of fruits and vegetables each day, 3) limiting sugary drinks to once a week, and 4) limiting consumption of fruit juice to 6 ounces every day.

Methods: Sequential methods of scale development were used. An item pool was generated based on theory and qualitative interviews, …

The Effect Of Normally Consumed Amounts Of Sucrose Or High Fructose Corn Syrup On Lipid Profiles, Body Composition And Related Parameters In Overweight/Obese Subjects, Joshua Lowndes, Stephanie Sinnett, Sabrina Pardo, Von T. Nguyen, Kathleen J. Melanson, Zhiping Yu, Britte E. Lowther, James M. Rippe

Nutrition Faculty Publications

The American Heart Association (AHA) has advocated that women and men not consume more than 100 and 150 kcal/day, respectively, from added sugars. These levels are currently exceeded by over 90% of the adult population in the United States. Few data exist on longer-term metabolic effects when sucrose and High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), the principal sources of added dietary sugars, are consumed at levels typical of the general population. Sixty five overweight and obese individuals were placed on a eucaloric (weight stable) diet for 10-weeks, which incorporated sucrose- or HFCS-sweetened, low-fat milk at 10% or 20% of calories in …

First Evidence For The Presence Of Iron Oxidizing Zetaproteobacteria At The Levantine Continental Margins, Maxim Rubin-Blum, Gilad Antler, Rami Tsadok, Eli Shemesh, James A. Austin Jr., Dwight F. Coleman, Beverly N. Goodman-Tchernov, Zvi Ben-Avraham, Dan Tchernov

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

During the 2010–2011 E/V Nautilus exploration of the Levantine basin’s sediments at the depth of 300–1300 m, densely patched orange-yellow flocculent mats were observed at various locations along the continental margin of Israel. Cores from the mat and the control locations were collected by remotely operated vehicle system (ROV) operated by the E/V Nautilus team. Microscopic observation and phylogenetic analysis of microbial 16S and 23S rRNA gene sequences indicated the presence of zetaproteobacterial stalk forming Mariprofundus spp. – like prokaryotes in the mats. Bacterial tag-encoded FLX amplicon pyrosequencing determined that zetaproteobacterial populations were a dominant fraction of microbial community in …

No 4 2013 Tomato High Tunnel Variety Trial, Andrew M. Radin

University of Rhode Island Vegetable Production Research Reports

Descriptions of tomato varieties trialed in high tunnels, and a system used to trellis them at the Gardiner Crop Research Farm of URI, Kingston, RI

Coronary Heart Disease Risk Factors In College Students, Jennifer Arts, Maria Luz Fernandez, Ingrid E. Lofgren

Nutrition Faculty Publications

More than one-half of young adults aged 18–24 y have at least 1 coronary heart disease (CHD) risk factor and nearly one-quarter have advanced atherosclerotic lesions. The extent of atherosclerosis is directly correlated with the number of risk factors. Unhealthy dietary choices made by this age group contribute to weight gain and dyslipidemia. Risk factor profiles in young adulthood strongly predict long-term CHD risk. Early detection is critical to identify individuals at risk and to promote lifestyle changes before disease progression occurs. Despite the presence of risk factors and pathological changes, risk assessment and disease prevention efforts are lacking in …