Digital Commons Network^™

Impact Of Resistance Training On Bone Mineral Densityand Performance In Competitive Female Gymnasts, Andrew M. Procopio

Open Access Master's Theses

This study investigated the effects of a ten week resistance training intervention on bone mineral density and performance measures in competitive female adolescent gymnasts. Previous research indicates resistance training improves performance and reduces injury risk. Resistance training as a mode to reduce injury risk may be of primary importance in sports with history of high injury rates but low participation in resistance training, such as gymnastics. Sixteen female adolescent gymnasts between the ages of 12-20 competing at Junior Olympic levels 7-10 were recruited. Participants were divided into resistance training (N = 10 age; 13.5±1.00 years, height; 155.19±8.38 cm, weight; 51.58±9.63 …

Assessment Of Food Safety Handling Practices At Farmers’ Markets In Rhode Island, Elizabeth Gran Vandeputte

Open Access Master's Theses

From 2001 to 2010, foodborne illness outbreaks increased in the US and 17% of the outbreaks were from produce. High-risk, whole produce at farmers’ markets present unique challenges to food safety practices in regards to temperature controls, potable water, and exposure to contaminants. Use of a Smartphone application decreases behavior change in those being observed as they are unaware of the observation taking place. The purpose of this descriptive study was to use direct observations to identify unsafe food handling practices among high-risk produce vendors at Rhode Island farmers’ markets. This study used a Smartphone application as a tool for …

Parental Perceptions Of The Rhode Island Expanded Food And Nutrition Education Program, Patrick Cooper Van Asch

Open Access Master's Theses

Childhood obesity in the United States has more than doubled over the last thirty years. As of 2012 in the United States, the percentage of obese children and adolescents ages 2 – 19 years remains alarmingly high at 16.9%. Childhood obesity is a major public health concern as obesity is associated with multiple health complications and increased mortality and morbidity. The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) targets low-income households and provides knowledge and skills to improve nutritional well-being. The goal of this project was to explore: 1) participant satisfaction with regards to the current Rhode Island Expanded Food …

Effect Of High- And Low-Fodmap Diet Instruction On Fodmap Intake And Dietary Quality In Healthy Young Adults, James O'Toole

Open Access Master's Theses

Objective: Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is the most commonly diagnosed Gastrointestinal (GI) condition in the United States affecting 30 million (10%) people. Symptoms include abdominal pain, bloating, distension, excessive wind and altered bowel habits when anatomical abnormalities and inflammation have been excluded. A low-FODMAP diet is now considered as an effective strategy for managing symptoms of IBS in Australia, with interest expanding across the world. Several limitations of a low-FODMAP diet pertaining to dietary quality and health benefits have been suggested. Malabsorbed FODMAPs provide multiple benefits which include a natural laxative effect due to their osmotic effects, a prebiotic …

College Students Perceptions Of Environmentally Conscious Eating Behaviors: A Formative Evaluation, Victorine Shores

Open Access Master's Theses

Objective: This study was a formative evaluation of modules related to Green Eating. Perceptions of the motivational value of the modules were assessed.

Design: This study was a cross-sectional study using secondary data.

Participants: 224 college students.

Intervention: Participants completed one of three online modules. Participants established a goal for the module they viewed and determined their self-efficacy (SE) in meeting their goal.

Main Outcomes: Motivational value was assessed using the Instructional Materials Motivation Survey (IMMS); IMMS scores were compared between modules. Goal congruency (relationship to module topic) and SE were compared between modules.

Analysis …

The Nutrition And Physical Assessment Of Patients With Neurological Disorders, Dara Lyn Lobuono

Open Access Master's Theses

Objective: To describe cognitive, nutritional and physical functioning status of those with diagnosed neurological disorders for at least one year.

Design: This is a cross-sectional study.

Setting: University of Rhode Island’s Speech and Hearing Clinic.

Participants: Community-dwelling adults living with Parkinson’s disease (PD) or acquired brain injury (ABI) for ≥ 12 months.

Main Outcome Measure(s): Cognitive-linguistic status was measured via the Repeatable Battery for the Assessment of Neuropsychological Status (RBANS). Nutritional and cardio-metabolic status were measured using the dietary screening tool (DST), anthropometrics (height, weight, body mass index (BMI), body composition), biochemical (lipid and glucose …

The Effect Of An Ipad Application On The Quality Of Lunches Brought From Home By Middle School Children, Christina Pryor

Open Access Master's Theses

Objective: To evaluate the mobile application, LaLa Lunchbox, on improving the dietary quality of lunches brought from home.

Design: Quasi-experimental design.

Setting: Middle school in East, Greenwich, RI.

Participants: 25 students in the 6^th grade who were predominately white (72%) females (76%) with an average age of 11.2 years.

Intervention: For 4 weeks, LaLa Lunchbox app was used to create virtual lunchbox for each school day of the following week.

Main Outcome Measure: Lunch Quality Index (LQI) scores calculated based on the presence or absence of fruit, vegetables, protein, or empty calorie …

Influence Of A Within Meal Eating Rate Intervention On Overall Diet Quality In Overweight And Obese Women, Sean C. Krueger

Open Access Master's Theses

Background: Improved diet quality has been identified as a key factor in improving longevity and quality of life. Behavior change interventions seeking to influence diet quality and limit obesity often focus on caloric restrictions and quantities of foods consumed. No current interventions have focused solely on the act of eating, despite initial research that suggests that pace at which food is consumed during a meal may be influential.

Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate relationships between within-meal eating rate and diet quality, and the influence of participation in an eating rate intervention on diet quality. …

Effects Of Combined Tai Chi, Resistance Training And Diet On Percent Body Fat In Obese Older Women, Dinah Quintanilla

Open Access Master's Theses

Obesity is a public health problem affecting approximately 35.4% of Americans 60 years of age or older and African-American women are considered at high-risk for obesity. Exercise and diet are effective at reducing the risk of chronic diseases. Resistance training (RT) has been reported to preserve or increase skeletal muscle mass, functional status, well-being, and improve memory. Tai Chi (TC), a form of martial art, is an exercise composed of slow deliberate movements that can result in improvements in cardiovascular disease risk factors including body composition, but no studies have combined diet, RT and TC in a community-based study in …

Impact On Nutrition Risk In Community Dwelling Obese Women With Nutrition And Physical Activity Intervention, Amy Taetzsch

Open Access Master's Theses

Statement of the problem: There have been no studies examining a combination of behaviorally-based dietary education, resistance training, and Tai Chi on dietary quality and resilience.

Objectives: To examine the effect of a behaviorally-based diet education, resistance training, and Tai Chi intervention on dietary quality as well as physical resilience in obese older women.

Design: Community health outreach with a non-randomized quasi-experimental design. Setting: Urban senior center in Providence, Rhode Island.

Participants: There were 33 women with mean age of 65 ± 8.2 years and BMI of 37.3 ± 4.6 kg/m² who were enrolled in …

The Effects Of Tai Chi, Resistance Training, And Diet On Physical Function In Obese Older Women, Stephen Maris

Open Access Master's Theses

BACKGROUND: The increased prevalence of obesity and function limitations associated with aging are major public health problems in the U.S. The risk of developing obesity and functional limitations is higher in minority populations living in urban settings and previous research has shown that Tai Chi, resistance training, and diet individually result in increased levels of physical function and facilitate healthy weight loss. However, the combination of these specific interventions has yet to be examined in obese older women in an urban setting. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to examine a combined resistance training (RT), Tai Chi, …

Thyroid Hormones, Performance, And Psychological Changes On Overtraining In Female Distance Runners, Justin Nicoll

Open Access Master's Theses

Statement of the Problem: Overtraining (OT) is common in endurance sports. Perturbations in the hormonal milieu are common throughout OT literature. Thyroid hormones (TH) are altered by energy imbalances, and these imbalances are often present in female endurance athletes. Thyroid hormones also regulate metabolism, energy production, and therefore they may play a role in commonly cited symptoms of OT in these athletes. Alterations in TH status often occur slowly, and research investigating TH and their relationship in overtrained athletes is sparse. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships in TH and commonly cited symptoms of …

A Comparison Of Different Methods Of Zero-Inflated Data Analysis And Its Application In Health Surveys, Si Yang

Open Access Master's Theses

Count data with excessive zeros and/or over-dispersion are prevalent in a wide variety of disciplines, such as public health, psychology, and environmental science. Different regression models have been proposed to deal with data with a preponderance of zero observations. These approaches include: a. transform the data to make it normal and use ordinary least-squares regression (LST); b. Poisson regression (Poisson); c. negative binomial regression (NB); d. zero-inflated Poisson regression (ZIP); e. zeroinflated negative binomial regression (ZINB); f. zero-altered Poisson regression (ZAP); and g. zero-altered negative binomial regression (ZANB). There is no clear guideline as to which one to use and …

The Effects Of Different Athletic Playing Surfaces On Jump Height, Force And Power, Kelly Murphy

Open Access Master's Theses

Problem Statement and Background: As artificial turfs (AT) become more commonplace, the number of recreational athletes playing on them increases. Some aspects of performance such as speed appear to be better on AT; yet higher rates of injury have been reported. Despite this information, there are still few published studies on outcomes of athletic playing surfaces on athlete performance. Further, there is no research that compares individual performance on AT, hard surfaces and different composite natural surfaces. The purpose of this study was to compare athlete performance on AT against two different natural turf bases and a hard surface. …

Effects Of Social Support On Individuals’ Results Of 12-Weeks Of Cardiac Rehabilitation, Danika Korpacz

Open Access Master's Theses

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of social support on an individual’s result of 12-weeks of cardiac rehabilitation. Specifically, this study investigated whether or not participants decreased their body mass index, increased their stress test duration, showed greater changes in their maximum attained heart during their stress test and overall improvements in health through their SF-36 scores.

METHODS: Fifty-five men and women from Rhode Island were recruited from The Miriam Hospital Center for Cardiac Fitness. All participants were currently participating in cardiac rehabilitation. They completed all twelve weeks, completed all necessary paperwork and …

Evaluation Of A Snap-Ed Family Meal Based Nutrition Education Curriculum, Aaron Slader

Open Access Master's Theses

Background: Families who have more frequent family meals make more healthy food selections and their children are less likely to be obese than families who eat together less frequently. A nutrition education curriculum that results in increased family meal frequency could be an effective approach to reducing obesity in children through improved nutrition eating behaviors.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a SNAP-Ed 4-week family meal focused nutrition education pilot curriculum to improve family meal frequency among low-income parents in Rhode Island.

Design: This study used a prospective, quasi-experimental design. Low-income parents at one …

Facebook, Twitter, & Qr Codes: An Exploratory Trial Examining The Feasibility Of Social Media Mechanisms For Recruiting Youth Participation To An Online Survey, Lucy L. Gu

Open Access Master's Theses

This study examined the effectiveness of three social media based recruitment channels for sampling rural adolescent populations for online health research. At present, there is no consensus on the optimal social media based vehicle for recruiting adolescents due to limited research. This exploratory study compared Facebook ads, Twitter, and QR code postcards at three different but demographically similar rural high schools. The results showed that QR code postcards had the highest response percentage and the lowest cost per recruited participant, whereas Twitter had the lowest response percentage and Facebook had the highest cost per recruited participant. Although this is the …

The Impact Of High And Low Fodmap Conditions On Blood Glucose Concentrations In Healthy Young Adults, Evan William Kerr

Open Access Master's Theses

Objective: Fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols (FODMAPs) are a group of carbohydrates that evade digestion in the small intestine and are subsequently metabolized by colonic microbiota. Colonic fermentation of FODMAPs has been linked to a prebiotic effect resulting in improved blood glucose response and subjective appetite. The purpose of this study was to examine how changes in FODMAP consumption effects blood glucose response and subjective appetite. Fasting breath hydrogen was also examined as an indicator of colonic fermentation.

Design: This study utilized a single blind, randomized, crossover design. Healthy participants (n=16) were instructed to follow a low-FODMAP …

“By Goodly River's Uninhabited” Waterways And Plymouth Colony, Jordan Coulobme

Open Access Master's Theses

The colonists of Plymouth were dependent on aquatic environments for the dispersal and acquisition of ideas, goods, and people. This thesis builds on of the work of Donald Worster and Michael Rawson amongst others to examine the importance of water in Plymouth Colony.Ultimately this study utilizes primary documents to argue that the abundance of aquatic environments in the colonies played a crucial role in allowing for the establishment of a permanent colony in New England. The rise of environmental history over the past several decades presents a natural tool for analyzing the experiences of Plymouth's earliest settlers. Between the years …

Liposomes For The Controlled Delivery Of Multiple Drugs, Swapnil A. Malekar

Open Access Dissertations

Various pathological conditions, such as cancer, osteoporosis, AIDS, tuberculosis, and other pathologies, require the concurrent use of multiple drugs, known as combination therapy or polytherapy, for effective treatment. The concurrent delivery of multiple drugs in a single dosage form, such as a tablet, capsule or parenteral, has been demonstrated in a number of products, but current technologies for multiple drug delivery remain limited for broad application. Physicochemical incompatibility, limited aqueous and lipid solubility, and chemical instability of the individual drugs, as well as detrimental drug-drug and drug-excipient interactions within the multiple-component dosage form, may all compromise the development of stable, …

Nutritional And Immunological Evaluation Of Soy-Based Diets For Summer Flounder (Paralichthys Dentatus) Aquaculture, Daniel Ward

Open Access Dissertations

Summer flounder aquaculture has progressed significantly in the last twenty years, and diets have been optimized to provide optimal nutrition, ensuring a high quality final product. Recently, the focus of research has evolved toward finding a replacement for fish meal in diets for many species, as the demand for fish meal worldwide has caused the primary protein product to become increasingly economically volatile. Therefore, a series of experiments were designed to systematically evaluate feeds for summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus) including soy-based products as the primary protein source. The first feed trial involved the comparison of three diets; a …

Phytochemical Investigation Of The Traditional Botanical Medicine Iresine Celosia, Caroline Grace Killian

Open Access Dissertations

Iresine celosia L. is a traditional medicine used by the indigenous Mayan people for a variety of ailments. It is also the sole active ingredient in the Odyliresin™ formulation currently marketed to humans worldwide as an antioxidant and for the promotion of prostate health. However, Odyliresin™ has not been characterized phytochemically, or evaluated biologically for its intended use. This work represents the first comprehensive phytochemical investigation of the Odyliresin™ formulation botanical extract. To better understand its constitutive phytochemistry, a tailored isolation scheme was developed, using various chromatography resins (silica gel, LH-20), separation and purification techniques. In all, eleven compounds were …

Intrapartum Nurses’ Beliefs About Childbirth: A Descriptive Qualitative Study In Nurses That Provide Care To Women In Labor And Birth, Sylvia P. Ross

Open Access Dissertations

In the United States, a large gap exists between what is known as best evidence in maternal-newborn health and the routine practices at the frontline of maternity care. Intrapartum nurses are uniquely positioned to promote practices that are evidencebased and support the normal physiologic process of birth. This qualitative study explored intrapartum nurses’ beliefs about childbirth and the influence of their beliefs on their clinical practice, particularly practices that promoted normal physiologic birth. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 10 intrapartum registered nurses using Rubin and Rubin’s (2012) responsive interview model. All participants practiced on a labor and delivery unit …

The Bovine Spermatozoal Transcriptome And Sire Fertility, Christopher James Card

Open Access Dissertations

The goal of this dissertation research was to characterize the spermatozoal transcript profile of bovine cryopreserved spermatozoa. The main goal was to sequence the complete transcript profile from a population of sires across a wide fertility range utilizing RNA-Sequencing (RNA-Seq). Sequencing was then conducted to compare the spermatozoal transcript profiles of higher and lower fertility sires in an effort to determine the presence or absence of spermatozoal transcripts that may aid in improving fertility testing in sires. In addition to RNA-Seq analysis, other semen parameters such as morphology, DNA fragmentation, and RNA amount were analyzed for relationships with fertility.

The …

Molecular Interaction In Carboxylesterases-Based Catalysis: Ontogenic Expression And Induction Through A Novel Element, Yi-Tzai Chen

Open Access Dissertations

Carboxylesterases (CES) catalyze both hydrolytic and synthetic reactions and play important roles in drug metabolism and lipid mobilization. Many factors such as age and dietary supplements have been shown to regulate the CES expression. The expression of CES1 shows the developmental regulation and is highly induced by antioxidants. The goals of this project were to determine whether CES2, like CES1, is developmentally regulated and to investigate how antioxidants induced the expression of CES1 at the molecular level.

The ontogenic studies showed the mRNA levels of CES2 exhibited a postnatal surge (1-31 days versus 35-70 days) in both liver and duodenum. …

The Green Eating Project: Web-Based Intervention To Promote Environmentally Conscious Eating Behaviors, Jessica T. Nash

Open Access Dissertations

The food system has been cited as unsustainable due to the reliance on natural resources and contribution to global pollution. Technological advances will play a major role in mitigating these negative consequences but consumers will also play a role through food choices. Green Eating (GE) is the concept of practicing more environmentally conscious eating behaviors and is currently defined as: eating locally grown foods, limited amounts of processed/fast foods, eating meatless meals at least one day per week, choosing organic foods as much as possible, and only taking what you plan on eating. Little research exists investigating college student perspectives’ …

Associations Between Family Food Behaviors, Maternal Depression, And Child Weight Among Low-Income Children, Karen Mccurdy, Kathleen S. Gorman, Tiffani S. Kisler, Elizabeth Metallinos-Katsaras

Human Development and Family Science Faculty Publications

Although low-income children are at greater risk for overweight and obesity than their higher income counterparts, the majority of poor children are not overweight. The current study examined why such variation exists among diverse young children in poor families. Cross-sectional data were collected on 164 low-income, preschool aged children and their mothers living in two Rhode Island cities. Over half of the sample was Hispanic (55%). Mothers completed measures of family food behaviors and depression while trained assistants collected anthropometric data from children at seven day care centers and a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program outreach project. Multivariate analysis of covariance …

Terpene Chemistry Of Eastern Hemlocks Resistant To Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, E. Alexa Mckenzie, Joseph S. Elkinton, Richard A. Casagrande, Evan L. Preisser, Mark Mayer

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Recent studies have identified a small number of individual eastern hemlock trees that demonstrate relative resistance to the introduced sap-feeding insect, the hemlock woolly adelgid. Using gas chromatography, we compared concentrations of twenty-two terpenoids in susceptible and relatively resistant trees, both in the forest and in propagated cuttings in a common-garden setting. Terpenoid concentrations were higher in twig tissue of resistant versus susceptible trees, across six sampling dates and at both sites. These changes may be particularly important because the hemlock woolly adelgid feeds on twig tissue. Because the common-garden cuttings were free of herbivores, the higher terpenoid concentrations are …

Public Services Annual Report 2012-2013, Deborah Mongeau

Public Services Reports

Annual report of the Public Services Department of the University of Rhode Island Libraries.

Bringing The World To School: Integrating News And Media Literacy In Elementary Classrooms, David Cooper Moore

Journal of Media Literacy Education

For three years, the Powerful Voices for Kids program, a university-school partnership program of the Media Education Lab at the University of Rhode Island, developed a multifaceted approach to integrate news and current events into in-school and after-school instruction in K-6 schools. Three case studies detailing the program’s impact on an undergraduate novice instructor, an in-school technology mentor, and an experienced classroom teacher illustrate the ways in which different stakeholders at the school approached news integration. Though approaches, interests, and values of each teacher vary considerably, all teachers share a commitment to the following classroom principles: (1) the use of …