Digital Commons Network^™

Healthcare Provider Counselling For Weight Management Behaviours Among Adults With Overweight Or Obesity: A Cross-Sectional Analysis Of National Health And Nutrition Examination Survey, 2011–2018, Mary L. Greaney, Steven Cohen, Furong Xu, Christie L. Ward-Ritacco, Deborah Riebe

Public Health Faculty Publications

Objectives To determine if adults with overweight or obesity received counselling from their healthcare providers (HCPs) to lose weight and/or adopt healthful behaviours associated with weight loss, and whether they took action on their HCPs’ recommendations.

Design Cross-sectional analysis of 2011–2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data.

Sample NHANES respondents aged 18+ who were overweight/obese and had seen an HCP in the previous 12 months (n=13 158).

Methods Respondents reported if their HCPs recommended they control/lose weight, increase exercise/physical activity (PA) and/or reduce fat/calorie intake, and if they adopted the offered recommendation(s). Weighted logistic regression models examined receipt …

The Body In Isolation: The Physical Health Impacts Of Incarceration In Solitary Confinement, Justin D. Strong, Keramet Reiter, Gabriela Gonzalez, Rebecca Tublitz, Dallas Augustine, Melissa Barragan, Kelsie Chesnut, Pasha Dashtgard, Natalie Pifer, Thomas R. Blair

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

We examine how solitary confinement correlates with self-reported adverse physical health outcomes, and how such outcomes extend the understanding of the health disparities associated with incarceration. Using a mixed methods approach, we find that solitary confinement is associated not just with mental, but also with physical health problems. Given the disproportionate use of solitary among incarcerated people of color, these symptoms are most likely to affect those populations. Drawing from a random sample of prisoners (n = 106) in long-term solitary confinement in the Washington State Department of Corrections in 2017, we conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews; Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale …

Legacy And Novel Per- And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances In Juvenile Seabirds From The U.S. Atlantic Coast, Anna R. Robuck, Mark G. Cantwell, James P. Mccord, Lindsay M. Addison, Marisa Pfohl, Mark J. Strynar, Richard Mckinney, David R. Katz, David N. Wiley, Rainer Lohmann

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are anthropogenic, globally distributed chemicals. Legacy PFAS, including perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), have been regularly detected in marine fauna but little is known about their current levels or the presence of novel PFAS in seabirds. We measured 36 emerging and legacy PFAS in livers from 31 juvenile seabirds from Massachusetts Bay, Narragansett Bay, and the Cape Fear River Estuary (CFRE), United States. PFOS was the major legacy perfluoroalkyl acid present, making up 58% of concentrations observed across all habitats (range: 11–280 ng/g). Novel PFAS were confirmed in chicks hatched downstream of a fluoropolymer production site in …

Reducing Ageism: Changes In Students' Attitudes After Participation In An Intergenerational Reverse Mentoring Program, Skye N. Leedahl, Sereny Brasher, Dana L. Lobuono, Bethany M. Wood, Erica L. Estus

Pharmacy Practice and Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Ageism is a societal concern that greatly affects the social, emotional, physical, and mental health of older adults. One way to decrease ageist attitudes and improve the treatment of older adults is to address and improve age stereotypes among young adults. Using data from students participating in an intergenerational digital-learning program, the present study investigated change in students' stereotypes of older adults and aging. We examined change from pre- and post-scores in student attitudes toward older adults and the type of adjectives used to describe older adults. We also analyzed responses to open-ended questions about changes in perception of older …

Acquisitions Unit Annual Report 2019-2020, Andrée J. Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Annual Report of the Acquisitions Unit, University Libraries, University of Rhode Island for FY2020. Covers personnel, work flow, special projects, and serial, monograph, and e-resource acquisitions. Supplemental files include data on library materials expenditures by a number of variables as well as important working documents from the year.

Frailty In Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease And Risk Of Exacerbations And Hospitalizations, Nathan Yee, Emily R. Locke, Kenneth C. Pike, Zijing Chen, Jungeun Lee, Joe C. Huang, Huong Q. Nguyen, Vincent S. Fan

College of Nursing Faculty Publications

Background: Frailty is a complex clinical syndrome associated with vulnerability to adverse health outcomes. While frailty is thought to be common in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the relationship between frailty and COPD-related outcomes such as risk of acute exacerbations of COPD (AE-COPD) and hospitalizations is unclear.
Purpose: To examine the association between physical frailty and risk of acute exacerbations, hospitalizations, and mortality in patients with COPD.
Methods: A longitudinal analysis of data from a cohort of 280 participants was performed. Baseline frailty measures included exhaustion, weakness, low activity, slowness, and undernutrition. Outcome measures included AE-COPD, hospitalizations, and mortality over …

Intergenerational Food-Focused Media Literacy In Jamaica, Michelle R. Nelson, Rachel Powell, Cagla Giray, Gail M. Ferguson

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Media use has been linked to unhealthy eating, but there is evidence that parent discussion about media and media literacy can inoculate against negative media effects. Therefore, we examined the relationships between mothers’ food-focused media literacy and their discussions about media and their adolescents’ food-focused media literacy in a survey of 82 mother-adolescent dyads in Jamaica, a middle-income country where obesity is rising. As expected, mothers’ food-focused media literacy was both greater than and positively related to their adolescents’ food-focused media literacy. The nature of the discussion (i.e., emotional intensity) about the time adolescents spent using media (TV, computer/electronics) positively …

Alma Link Resolver Title & Issn Report (Top 500) 2019-2020, Andrée J. Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Statistics for 2019-2020 on the total number of OpenURL requests by journal title and ISSN made to the Ex Libris Alma link resolver for items held by the University of Rhode Island Libraries. Includes only the top 500 journals.

Information provided includes journal Title, ISSN, EISSN, Number of Requests, Number of Clicked Requests, % Clicks from Requests.

Measuring Health Related Quality Of Life For Dengue Patients In Iquitos, Peru, William H. Elson, Amy R. Riley-Powell, Amy C. Morrison, Esther E. Gotlieb, Erik J. Groessl, Jhonny J. Cordova, J. Esther Rios, W. Lorena Quiroz, Alfonso S. Vizcarra, Robert C. Reiner, Christopher M. Barker, Gonzalo M. Vazquez-Prokopec, Thomas W. Scott, Alan L. Rothman, John P. Elder, Valerie A. Paz-Soldan

Cell and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

Previous studies measuring the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of individuals with dengue focused on treatment seeking populations. However, the vast majority of global dengue cases are unlikely to be detected by health systems. Representative measurements of HRQoL should therefore include patients with disease not likely to trigger treatment-seeking behavior. This study based in Iquitos, Peru used the Quality of Wellbeing Scale-Self Administered, a survey that enquires about not only physical health, but also psychological health, self-care, mobility, and usual social activities, and rates HRQoL between 0 (death) and 1 (optimum function), to evaluate the impact of dengue on HRQoL. …

Allopatric And Sympatric Drivers Of Speciation In Alviniconcha Hydrothermal Vent Snails, Corinna Breusing, Shannon B. Johnson, Verena Tunnicliffe, David A. Clague, Robert C. Vrijenhoek, Roxanne A. Beinart

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Despite significant advances in our understanding of speciation in the marine environment, the mechanisms underlying evolutionary diversification in deep-sea habitats remain poorly investigated. Here, we used multigene molecular clocks and population genetic inferences to examine processes that led to the emergence of the six extant lineages of Alviniconcha snails, a key taxon inhabiting deep-sea hydrothermal vents in the Indo-Pacific Ocean. We show that both allopatric divergence through historical vicariance and ecological isolation due to niche segregation contributed to speciation in this genus. The split between the two major Alviniconcha clades (separating A. boucheti and A. marisindica from A. kojimai, …

Exploring The Provider-Level Socio-Demographic Determinants Of Diet Quality Of Preschool-Aged Children Attending Family Childcare Homes, Alison Tovar, Patricia Markham Risica, Andrea Ramirez, Noereem Mena, Ingrid E. Lofgren, Kristen Cooksey Stowers, Kim M. Gans

Nutrition Faculty Publications

Since food preferences develop during early childhood and contribute to dietary patterns that can track into adulthood, it is critical to support healthy food environments in places where children spend significant amounts of time in, such as childcare. It is important to understand what factors influence the diet quality of children cared for in family childcare homes (FCCH). Methods: This study used baseline data from a cluster-randomized trial in FCCH, Healthy Start/Comienzos Sanos. Surveys capturing providers’ socio-demographic characteristics were completed. Food and beverage consumptions were estimated using the Dietary Observation in Childcare protocol, and diet quality was calculated using the …

Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes May 7, 2020, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes

No abstract provided.

Introducing Ipe To Uri, Julia Gervais

Senior Honors Projects

The World Health Organization defines Interprofessional education (IPE) as “when two or more students within the health or social science fields learn together during their professional training in order to enable effective collaboration and improve health outcomes”(World Health Organization, 2010). IPE is vital to the health professions because it allows for professionals to adapt a holistic approach that is patient-centered. The core competencies of IPE are: Values and Ethics for Interprofessional Practice; Roles and Responsibilities for Collaborative Practice; Interprofessional Communication Practices; and Interprofessional Teamwork and Team-Based Practice. An online event conducted via WebEx was held for University of Rhode Island …

The Impact Of Stress On Diet, Sleep, And Exercise Amongst College Students, Jessica Rizzo

Senior Honors Projects

Stress is something that everyone faces in their lifetime and has an everlasting impact on their health. College students face high levels of stress throughout the semester, but how is that impacting their behavior? I conducted a survey alongside Dr. Melanson, a professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences, to see just how college students are reacting to stress. The survey was circulated to different departments and classes to achieve a widespread collection of data. The survey remained completely anonymous and posed questions about eating, exercise, and sleep habits, along with questions on demographics and stress levels. Our …

The Realities Of Plant-Based Dieting, Katie Sause

Senior Honors Projects

KATIE SAUSE (Environmental and Natural Resource Economics)

The Realities of Plant-Based Dieting

In modern society, dieting has become a social norm, however, due to improper nutritional education, the transition to limiting diets can lead to adverse health effects. The societal pressures to adhere to extreme beauty standards lead individuals, especially women, to adopt diets based on their incorrect notions about nutrition and health. When this occurs, the dietary goal becomes weight loss rather than health improvements. This paper focuses on two plant-based diets: vegetarianism and whole foods-plant based. To capture the short- term bodily impacts from transitioning to a plant-based …

Safe Sleep: Developmental Implications For Hospitalized Infants, Katherine Kohlsaat

Senior Honors Projects

The rate at which an infant develops both physically and cognitively is significant during sleep, as this is the time when the entire body can dedicate its efforts to this cause. Parents of healthy infants follow the guidelines set by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) relating to safe sleep, and since their introduction in 1992, the rate of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) has decreased by 40% (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016). However, if an infant has been hospitalized since birth due to necessary invasive procedures such as open-heart surgery, these protocols cannot be initially implemented. Common …

Plant-Based Diet: How It Affects Health, Sarah Marsland

Senior Honors Projects

This research project aims to investigate the relationship between plant-based dieting and overall health, specifically the prevention and reversal of chronic disease. Two subjects committed to eating a plant-based diet comprised of primarily vegetables, fruits, whole grains and non-processed foods for six weeks. Before beginning, they were asked about their current health status, including a complete health history, and their knowledge of plant-based eating. Throughout the research period, the subjects shared what they were eating, challenges they faced, and any benefits they noticed. Upon completion of the diet, they answered questions about their experience. With this information, the researcher was …

A Health/Media Literacy Intervention Improves Adults’ Interpretations Of Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Advertising, Yvonnes Chen, Kathleen J. Porter, Wen You, Paul Estabrooks, Jamie M. Zoellner

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Although excessive sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) intake is linked to numerous adverse health consequences, media literacy interventions rarely address the influences of food and beverage marketing with a specific focus on adults. This randomized controlled trial study investigated (1) whether media literacy education modifies adults’ perceptions of SSB advertising and (2) whether changes are moderated by health literacy. Results from the multilevel mixed-effects regression analyses with the intention-to-treat last-observation-carried-forward method showed that compared to MoveMore (a matched-contact comparison condition), SIPsmartER (an intervention condition) participants significantly enhanced their skillsets across media literacy domains (i.e., authors/audiences, messages/meanings, representation/reality) between baseline and …

Curriculum And Standards Committee Report No. #2019-20-10 (Courses), University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Bills

No abstract provided.

Energy Stores, Oxidative Balance, And Sleep In Migratory Garden Warblers ( Sylvia Borin) And Whitethroats ( Sylvia Communis) At A Spring Stopover Site, Andrea Ferretti, Scott R. Mcwilliams, Niels C. Rattenborg, Ivan Maggini, Massimiliano Cardinale, Leonida Fusani

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Little is known about how songbirds modulate sleep during migratory periods. Due to the alternation of nocturnal endurance flights and diurnal refueling stopovers, sleep is likely to be a major constraint for many migratory passerine species. Sleep may help to increase the endogenous antioxidant capacity that counteracts free radicals produced during endurance flight and reduces energy expenditure. Here, we investigated the relationship between sleep behavior, food intake, and two markers of physiological condition—the amount of energy reserves and oxidative status—in two migratory songbird species, the garden warbler (Sylvia borin) and the whitethroat (Sylvia communis). In garden warblers, birds with high …

Perceptions Of Healthcare And Medicine In Yogyakarta In Comparison To Providence, Lynnea Talbot

Senior Honors Projects

The way in which medicine is practiced and perceived varies across the world and is influenced by history. After a trip to Indonesia, and experiencing the local health centers first-hand, the differences in medical practices became evident. A comparison between the cities of Yogyakarta and Providence was performed with respect to different areas of medicine. The life expectancy values for the city of Providence were significantly higher than those for Yogyakarta. The top ten causes of death were examined for both cities: the number one cause being stroke in Yogyakarta and heart disease in Providence. Medical facilities and personnel, insurance …

Calf Heath And Oxidative Stress, Samantha Cardin

Senior Honors Projects

In recent years, beef cattle operations such as farms and ranches in the U.S. have surpassed 900,000 and have been steadily increasing. With this rise in the beef industry, comes a greater concern for calf health since it has huge impacts on production and viability. There are multiple different factors that can affect calf health ranging from the intrauterine environment to conditions early on post parturition. An improper maternal environment during pregnancy can impact fetal growth because it can decrease the amount of nutrients reaching the calf. This can lead to low birth weights and undeveloped organ systems. Additionally, if …

Relationship Between Dietary Magnesium Intake And Incident Heart Failure Among Older Women: The Whi, Wen-Chih Wu, Huang, Tracey H. Taveira, Mary B. Roberts, Lisa W. Martin, Gregory A. Wellenius, Karen C. Johnson, Joann E. Manson, Simin Liu, Charles B. Eaton

Pharmacy Practice and Clinical Research Faculty Publications

Background

Women represent a large proportion of the growing heart failure (HF) epidemic, yet data are lacking regarding optimal dietary and lifestyle prevention strategies for them. Specifically, the association between magnesium intake and HF in a multiracial cohort of women is uncertain.

Methods and Results

We included 97 725 postmenopausal women from the WHI (Women's Health Initiative) observational studies and placebo arms of the hormone trial. Magnesium intake was measured at baseline by a 122‐item validated food‐frequency questionnaire and stratified into quartiles based on diet only, total intake (diet with supplements), and residual intake (calibration by total energy). Incident hospitalized …

The Reliability Of Foot And Ankle Bone And Joint Kinematics Measured With Biplanar Videoradiography And Manual Scientific Rotoscoping, Jayishni N. Maharaj, Sarah Kessler, Michael J. Rainbow, Susan E. D'Andrea, Nicolai Konow, Luke A. Kelly, Glen A. Lichtwark

Kinesiology Faculty Publications

The intricate motion of the small bones of the feet are critical for its diverse function. Accurately measuring the 3-dimensional (3D) motion of these bones has attracted much attention over the years and until recently, was limited to invasive techniques or quantification of functional segments using multi-segment foot models. Biplanar videoradiography and model-based scientific rotoscoping offers an exciting alternative that allows us to focus on the intricate motion of individual bones in the foot. However, scientific rotoscoping, the process of rotating and translating a 3D bone model so that it aligns with the captured x-ray images, is either semi- or …

Variability Approaching The Thermal Limits Can Drive Diatom Community Dynamics, Stephanie Anderson, Tatiana A. Rynearson

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Organismal distributions are largely mediated by temperature, suggesting thermal trait variability plays a key role in defining species' niches. We employed a trait‐based approach to better understand how inter‐ and intraspecific thermal trait variability could explain diatom community dynamics using 24 strains from 5 species in the diatom genusSkeletonema, isolated from Narragansett Bay (NBay), where this genus can comprise up to 99% of the microplankton. Strain‐specific thermal reaction norms were generated using growth rates obtained at temperatures ranging from −2°C to 36°C. Comparison of thermal reaction norms revealed inter‐ and intraspecific similarities in the thermal optima, but significant …

Curriculum And Standards Committee Report No. #2019-20-8 (Courses), University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Bills

No abstract provided.

Impact Of A Nutritional Supplement During Gestation And Early Childhood On Child Salivary Cortisol, Hair Cortisol, And Telomere Length At 4–6 Years Of Age: A Follow-Up Of A Randomized Controlled Trial, Brietta M. Oaks, Seth Adu-Afarwuah, Sika Kumordzie, Mark L. Laudenslager, Dana L. Smith, Jue Lin, Rebecca R. Young, Charles D. Arnold, Helena Bentil, Harriet Okronipa, Maku Ocansey, Kathryn G. Dewey

Nutrition Faculty Publications

Dysregulation of the stress response can occur early in life and may be affected by nutrition. Our objective was to evaluate the long-term effect of nutritional supplementation during gestation and early childhood on child cortisol and buccal telomere length (a marker of cellular aging) at 4–6 years of age. We conducted a follow-up study of children born to women who participated in a nutritional supplementation trial in Ghana. In one group, a lipid-based nutrient supplement (LNS) was provided to women during gestation and the first 6 months postpartum and to their infants from age 6 to 18 months. The control …

Developing A Forecasting Model For Cholera Incidence In Dhaka Megacity Through Time Series Climate Data, Salima Sultana Daisy, Akm Saiful Islam, Ali S. Akanda, Abu Syed Golam Faruque, Nuhu Amin, Peter Kjaer Mackie Jensen

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

Cholera, an acute diarrheal disease spread by lack of hygiene and contaminated water, is a major public health risk in many countries. As cholera is triggered by environmental conditions influenced by climatic variables, establishing a correlation between cholera incidence and climatic variables would provide an opportunity to develop a cholera forecasting model. Considering the auto-regressive nature and the seasonal behavioral patterns of cholera, a seasonal-auto-regressive-integrated-moving-average (SARIMA) model was used for time-series analysis during 2000–2013. As both rainfall (r = 0.43) and maximum temperature (r = 0.56) have the strongest influence on the occurrence of cholera incidence, single-variable (SVMs) …

The Impact Of Maternal Supplementation During Pregnancy And The First 6 Months Postpartum On The Growth Status Of The Next Child Born After The Intervention Period: Follow‐Up Results From Bangladesh And Ghana, Katherine P. Adams, Seth Adu-Afarwuah, Malay K. Mridha, Brietta M. Oaks, Susana L. Matias, Charles D. Arnold, Sika M. Kumordzie, Harriet Okronipa, Maku E. Ocansey, Kathryn G. Dewey

Nutrition Faculty Publications

Pregnancy and breastfeeding make demands on maternal nutrient stores. The extent of depletion and the degree to which nutrient stores are replenished between pregnancies has implications for a mother's nutritional status at conception of the subsequent child and therefore that child's birth outcomes and growth. Using follow‐up data collected several years after a randomized effectiveness trial conducted in rural Bangladesh and a randomized efficacy trial conducted in semiurban Ghana, we evaluated the impact of maternal supplementation with small‐quantity lipid‐based nutrient supplements (LNS) or multiple micronutrients (MMN) through pregnancy (the index pregnancy) and 6 months postpartum on the growth status of …

Environmental Enrichment: Disentangling The Influence Of Novelty, Social, And Physical Activity On Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy In A Transgenic Mouse Model, Lisa S. Robison, Nikita Francis, Dominique L. Popescu, Maria E. Anderson, Joshua Hatfield, Feng Xu, Brenda J. Anderson, William Van Nostrand, John K. Robinson

Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Publications

Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is the deposition of amyloid protein in the cerebral vasculature, a common feature in both aging and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, the effects of environmental factors, particularly cognitive stimulation, social stimulation, and physical activity, on CAA pathology are poorly understood. These factors, delivered in the form of the environmental enrichment (EE) paradigm in rodents, have been shown to have beneficial effects on the brain and behavior in healthy aging and AD models. However, the relative importance of these subcomponents on CAA pathology has not been investigated. Therefore, we assessed the effects of EE, social enrichment (SOC), …