Digital Commons Network^™

Does Neglect As A Child Affect Later Life Loneliness?, Gina Barbera

Open Access Master's Theses

Individuals who experience neglect within the first eighteen years of their life are at risk of experiencing later life loneliness. This study aims to determine if the type of neglect experienced (emotional or physical) affects the relationship with loneliness later in life and to determine if there is a relationship between the age an individual experiences neglect and their level of loneliness later in life. This was accomplished by using a subsample of 169 women aged 18-86 who reported experiencing at least one form of neglect. Demographic indicators, the 17-item ACEs questionnaire (Felietti et al., 1998), and the UCLA Loneliness …

Effect Of Resistance Training On Power, Strength, And Performance In Collegiate Cheerleaders, Amanda Stors

Open Access Master's Theses

This study investigated the muscular power, strength and sport-specific performance changes in female collegiate cheerleaders who participate in resistance training, versus those who did not. Previous research (1, 9, 11, 13, 16, 18, 20) indicates that collegiate cheerleaders should participate in resistance training programs, however, this is the first study to have investigated the effects of one. Twenty-two female collegiate cheerleaders between the ages of 18-23 years were recruited from the University’s cheerleading team and completed the study. Participants were divided into. resistance training (RT) (n = 12; age: 19.74±0.96 years; height: 161.95±7.99 cm; body mass: 64.37±13.80 kg; body fat …

Urinformed Spring 2024, Urinformed

URInformed: The URI Employees' Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Urinformed Fall 2024, Urinformed

URInformed: The URI Employees' Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Uri Undergraduate And Graduate Course Catalog 2024-2025, University Of Rhode Island

URI Course Catalogs Archive

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

Land For Whom? Diversity, Land Trusts, And Farmers And Gardeners From Marginalized Backgrounds In New England, U.S., Julie C. Keller, Blake Harrison, Corey Lang

Environmental and Natural Resource Economics Faculty Publications

Land trusts in the U.S. play an important role in preventing the loss of farmland to development. Farmers seeking affordable land may benefit from these conservation efforts. Yet the distribution of these benefits across farmer groups is unclear. This study asks: To what extent are land trusts meeting the needs of farmers and gardeners from marginalized backgrounds? Interviews with land trust staff and focus groups with marginalized farmers and gardeners in New England, USA reveal discrepancies in how diversity and land access are discussed. Access to adequate, affordable land was a serious concern among farmers and gardeners, yet few land …

Using Bird Odor To Deter Mammalian Predators From Depredating Shorebird Nests, Nicole D. Defelice

Open Access Master's Theses

Managing for populations of nesting piping plovers (Charadruis melodus) along the Atlantic coast has always been a challenge for state, federal, and conservation organizations. Though piping plovers face numerous threats, such as human disturbance and habitat degradation, controlling nest predators remain a challenge. In this study, we evaluated a non-lethal technique to deter mammalian predators from disturbing and predating shorebird nests by deploying chemically-extracted bird odors in areas where piping plovers historically nest, with the idea that predators will key in on the scents, realize there is no “food reward” associated with the scent, and then lose interest …

Efnep Peer Educator Facilitators And Barriers To Teaching Physical Activity To Adult Participants, Luisa Santos

Open Access Master's Theses

Background: The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) aims to improve the health-related behaviors of limited-resource families. Increasing physical activity (PA) is an EFNEP core priority; however, anecdotal evidence suggests that EFNEP peer educators (PE) are challenged to incorporate PA into adult programming. Objective: To assess the facilitators and barriers that EFNEP PE face when incorporating PA-related content in adult classes. This preliminary study, conducted in the Northeast region of the US, will inform expansion of this research nationally. Study Design, Settings, and Participants: This qualitative study consisted of virtual semi-structured interviews with EFNEP PE (n=15) …

The Uri Free Farmers’ Market And Food Access Among College Students, Maria Meola

Open Access Master's Theses

Background: Campus-based programs to promote food access have become more prevalent on college campuses due to rising food insecurity among students. Despite this, there is a notable gap in qualitative research investigating students' experiences regarding food access and intervention acceptability. In 2021, the University of Rhode Island (URI) Free Farmer’s Market (FFM) was developed to promote student access to produce from URI campus farms. Objective: This study aims to assess student perceptions surrounding use and acceptability of the URI FFM and also understand the role this plays in student changes to food access throughout the semester. Study Design, …

Evaluation Of The Effects Of O-Glcnacylation And Hypoxia On Estradiol Production By Bovine Granulosa Cells, Lauren Decastro

Open Access Master's Theses

The global population is on the rise putting pressure on the agricultural industry to increase production and increase the global food supply. The dairy industry has responded to this pressure by genetically selecting for higher milk production. This increase in production has coincided with a decline in fertility among dairy cows, due in part to a loss of reproductive cyclicity. Ovarian cyclicity and, in turn, reproductive cyclicity, is dependent upon proper development of ovarian follicles and the function of the cells that comprise the follicle and support the oocyte. One of these cell types is the granulosa cell. Granulosa cells …

Measuring Motivation For Effective Headache Self-Management: An Application Of The Transtheoretical Model Of Behavior Change, Hayley M. Lindsey

Open Access Master's Theses

Migraine is a highly prevalent disease that often reduces quality of life and can be a financial burden to individuals and societies. Migraine frequency and severity are associated with sleep, stress, exercise, diet, and treatment use. Effective migraine management likely requires the use of a multiple health behavior change model. The current study applied the Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change to migraine among adults to better understand factors influencing adults’ readiness to practice effective migraine self-management. Focus groups were conducted with 22 adults experiencing recurrent migraines. Through thematic analysis, seven key themes emerged: 1) effective migraine self-management includes several health …

Composite Hedonic Scores And Subjective Palatability Ratings In Young Adults Consuming Three Breakfast Meals Differing By Level Of Food Processing And Nutritional Quality, Ilayna Seibold

Open Access Master's Theses

Objective: To compare subjective palatability ratings across three meals differing by processing and nutritional quality (NQ) in healthy young adults. The aim was to match meals for subjective palatability in preparation for a larger crossover study. As such, an interim analysis was planned to determine if the meals were tracking towards similar ratings or not.

Methods: In this within-subjects individualized-testing study, 30 consented participants reported demographics. They each came for one 1-hour lab visit to sample three matched (flavor profiles, macronutrients, energy) test meals differing by processing and NQ: Low Ultra-Processed food (UPF)/High NQ (Meal 1), High UPF/High …

Associations Between Fatty Acid Status And Postpartum Depressive Symptoms In Ghanaian Women At 6 Months Postpartum: A Secondary Data Analysis, Kelly L. Zarka

Open Access Master's Theses

Introduction: Postpartum depression (PPD) affects 10-20% of women globally and has a negative impact on maternal and infant health. Omega-3 fatty acids have been implicated in psychiatric health due to their anti-inflammatory properties, contrasting with the proinflammatory effects of omega-6 fatty acids. Within Ghana, 2% of an estimated 2.3 million people are living with mental illness and are not seeking treatment due to poor attitudes surrounding mental health. We do not fully understand the risk factors associated with the development of PPD, and therefore how to inform pro-grams seeking to make positive reforms in this area.

Methods: This …

Improving The Diet Quality Of Wic-Participating Women Using Digital Food Environments, Yarisbel Melo Herrera

Open Access Dissertations

Maternal diet plays a critical role during the perinatal period, impacting both short- and long-term health outcomes in women and their children. Lower-income individuals are at higher risk of having a low diet quality. Therefore, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) aims to reduce the negative impacts of low socioeconomic status on the diet of its participants (low-income pregnant and postpartum women and children up to age 5) to promote optimal short- and long-term health outcomes. Numerous studies show that WIC improves children’s diet quality, but associations in women have been insufficiently evaluated. While there …

Knockoff Methods For Nonlinear Feature Selection In Data With Categorical Features, Behrooz Khalil Loo

Open Access Master's Theses

This thesis addresses the challenge of nonlinear feature selection in datasets that include categorical features. Conventional feature selection methods often struggle with nonlinear relationships and are ineffective in handling categorical variables. This limitation leads to suboptimal model performance and interpretability issues. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop methodologies that can robustly handle nonlinearities and categorical features simultaneously.

To tackle this problem, this thesis proposes and explores novel knockoff methods. Knockoff methods have shown promise in feature selection tasks by generating "knockoff" features that mimic the statistical properties of the original features, enabling robust variable selection while controlling the …

The Interaction Of Early Life Experiences, Physical Health, And Socio-Economic Status On Neurocognitive Function In Youth, Janis Gaudreau

Open Access Master's Theses

Previous research demonstrates that cognitive and brain function and development during childhood are associated with greater physical activity (PA) levels, fitness, income, less adverse early life experiences (ELE), healthier body mass index (BMI), body composition of lean and fat mass, and fewer experiences of mental health disorders.

We used the Child Mind Institute’s Healthy Brain Network open-access dataset to evaluate neurocognitive outcomes in children. We predicted that children with combined greater SES and positive physical health outcomes, alongside fewer adverse ELE, will exhibit greater cognitive function and resting state electroencephalography (EEG) outcomes, and fitness and PA will positively protect neurocognitive …

Probing The Anoxic World Of Coastal Marine Sediments In New England: Understanding The Novel Partnership Between Protists And Their Bacterial Symbionts, Raúl A. Gutiérrez

Open Access Master's Theses

In the oxygen-depleted environments of New England's coastal marine sediment, microbial communities engage in symbiotic interactions to overcome energy deficiencies from oxygen limitation. Among these interactions, ciliates, known for their ability to form diverse symbiotic relationships, play a prominent role. The ciliated protozoa, Metopus sp. commonly form symbiotic relationships with bacteria and archaea that support their fermentative metabolism (Fenchel and Finlay, 1995), though the diversity of these partnerships, particularly in the ocean, is poorly known. To gain insights into the interactions between Metopus ciliate cultures and their microbial partners, we employed Fluorescence in Situ Hybridization (FISH) with species-specific probes. We …

Surveying Seafood Preferences And Potential Neophobia Of Underutilized Species In Rhode Island Consumers, Alejandro Rojas

Open Access Master's Theses

Commercial fish stocks are currently in decline with over eighty seven percent at fully exploited or overexploited levels. The overfishing of economically valuable target species is one major cause of these population declines, which is why there has been significant focus on urging consumers to try more underutilized or unheard-of species. However, the question remains: are consumers willing to try these species? Given potential barriers like food neophobia, which is a biological human avoidance of unknown foods, it is important to find out the current seafood preferences of consumers to influence marketing and legislation. The goals of this study were …

Analysis Of The Imperial And Racial Relationship In Santo Tomas Interment Camp And Manila, Wwii, Seongbin Hyun

Open Access Master's Theses

This thesis examines the experiences of American and European civilians in Manila, Philippines following the attack on Pearl Harbor. The introduction addresses the inconsistencies and contradictions between internee documents and official records. Additionally, it highlights the disparities between American colonial governance and racial perspectives in the pre-war Philippines and the conditions of internees in the Santo Tomas Internment Camp. By analyzing the circumstances and relationships of internees before February 1944, the thesis explores issues such as racial beliefs, colonial hierarchy, and American exceptionalism. The goal of this thesis is not to dispute the suffering of Allied citizens in the STIC …

Financial Education And Budgeting Behavior Among College Students: Extending The Theory Of Planned Behavior, Xiawei Tan, Jing Jian Xiao, Kexin Meng, Jiuping Xu

Human Development and Family Science Faculty Publications

This study examines the association between financial education and budgeting behavior among college students. Under the guidance of the extended theory of planned behavior, we use a comprehensive measure of budgeting behavior and explore mediating factors between financial education and budgeting behavior. Financial education was measured by both frequency and intensity of taking courses in finance and economics in college. Data from a sample of college students across China were analyzed using structural equation modeling and serial mediation analysis to explore the mediating roles of attitudes, subjective norms, perceived control, and budgeting intentions in this relationship between financial education and …

Considerations And Challenges In Support Of Science And Communication Of Fish Consumption Advisories For Per- And Polyfluoroalkyl Substances, Jonathan Michael Petali, Erin L. Pulster, Christopher Mccarthy, Heidi M. Pickard, Elsie M. Sunderland, Jacqueline Bangma, Courtney C. Carignan, Anna Robuck, Kathryn A. Crawford, Megan E. Romano, Rainer Lohmann, Katherine Von Stackelburg

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Federal, state, tribal, or local entities in the United States issue fish consumption advisories (FCAs) as guidance for safer consumption of locally caught fish containing contaminants. Fish consumption advisories have been developed for commonly detected compounds such as mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls. The existing national guidance does not specifically address the unique challenges associated with bioaccumulation and consumption risk related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). As a result, several states have derived their own PFAS-related consumption guidelines, many of which focus on one frequently detected PFAS, known as perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS). However, there can be significant variation between …

Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Hospital Practices That Support Breastfeeding In The United States, Jane Lazar Tucker

Open Access Dissertations

Breastfeeding is the optimal form of infant nutrition and has many health benefits for mothers as well as infants (CDC, 2022a; Victora et al., 2016). Though rates of breastfeeding have improved in recent years, disparities in breastfeeding persist among Black and Hispanic women compared to White women (Beauregard et al., 2019; Chiang et al., 2021), despite similar intentions to breastfeed across all racial/ethnic groups (Hamner et al., 2021). Hospital practices that support breastfeeding, such as the baby being placed skin-to-skin immediately after delivery or staying in the room with the mother throughout the hospital stay, are known to predict breastfeeding …

Effects Of Western Diet Or Exercise Exposure In A Novel Rat Model Of Late-Onset Alzheimer’S Disease, Jennifer M. Mattar

Open Access Dissertations

Sporadic, late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (LOAD) accounts for a staggering 98% of cases yet does not arise from a single genetic mutation. Rather, an extensive body of research has revealed that LOAD is likely the result of complex interactions between genetics and several lifestyle factors. There exists a substantial gap in understanding the mechanisms behind LOAD development and the impacts of lifestyle on disease progression. Enhanced rodent models may help elucidate mechanisms by which LOAD develops. This longitudinal study introduces a novel rat model of LOAD (CrAβ), created using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing technology to express humanized Aβ. The effects of a …

Implementation And Evaluation Of A Nutriton-Focused Steam Summer Program For Urban Youth, Jacquelyn Potvin

Open Access Dissertations

Background: Youth from low-income, racially and ethnically diverse families are at increased risk for academic challenges and nutritionally inadequate diets. Summer programs offer an opportunity to foster interest and engage students in science, technology, engineering, art, and math (STEAM) education while addressing summer learning loss. Nutrition education early in life can help youth develop healthy dietary behaviors that they carry into adulthood. Project stRIde: Science and Technology Reinforced by Innovative Dietary Education was a summer program for 4-6th grade youth from racially and ethnically diverse and low-income families. The goal of the program was to engage youth in nutrition-centered …

Mechanistic And Toxicokinetic Analysis Of Perfluoroalkyl Substances: Proteomics Approach And The Role Of Fatty Acid Binding (Fabp), Seyed Mohamad Sadegh Modaresi

Open Access Dissertations

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are persistent chemicals used in many industries, known for their resilience and resistance to degradation. The extended half-lives of PFAS in the human body result in bioaccumulation, with serum half-lives for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) estimated at 3.4, 4.6, and 7.1 years, respectively. PFAS primarily accumulate in the liver, hypothesized due to their resemblance to fatty acids and their binding with liver fatty acid-binding proteins (LFABP), affecting lipid metabolism and leading to liver toxicity. Although extensive research has been performed on long-chain PFAS over the past decade, …

Advancing Clinical-Community Partnerships To Address Pediatric Food Insecurity, Nader Hamdi

Open Access Dissertations

Background: Children and families experiencing low income in the United States are at a greater risk of food insecurity (FI) and suboptimal diet quality than the general population. Childhood FI, which is associated with numerous poor health and developmental outcomes, has become so pervasive that the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends universal FI screenings. Routine FI screening in clinical settings presents opportunities for clinic-community partnerships to connect families experiencing FI with food access and nutrition education (FANE) programs. A variety of FANE programs, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program - Education (SNAP-Ed), are administered at the federal level to …

Learning From The Past: Environmental Impacts On Coral Performance, Reproduction, And Epigenetic Inheritance, Danielle M. Becker

Open Access Dissertations

Coral reef ecosystems face extreme challenges due to increasing ocean temperatures caused by anthropogenically induced global climate change and require reproductive replenishment for reef persistence. Corals and other marine invertebrates have exhibited the capacity for environmental memory, or the retention of information from prior environmental experiences, which can be inherited by subsequent generations (e.g., via non-genetic mechanisms). However, less is known about how molecular modifications in the coral epigenome influence acclimatization and adaptive responses to environmental variation within and across generations. Here, I present three manuscripts testing different mechanisms involved in coral’s physiological, reproductive, and epigenetic response to environmental perturbation …

Faux Feminism In A Capitalistic Fever Dream: A Review Of Greta Gerwig's Barbie (2023), Amy La Porte, Lena Cavusoglu

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

Somewhere between meaningful discourse about female agency and the commercial interests of a problematic doll franchise lies Mattel's box office hit film Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig. In a script-flipping interpretation of the real-world patriarchy, it catapults itself into overdue discussions about gender norms, objectification, and the pursuit of Westernized beauty ideals. While it may have introduced liberationist theories to a new generation of women, ultimately it is a film bound by cognitive dissonance. This paper will delve into the profit-making protagonist at the center of its story and argue the film's underlying incompatibility with diversity, feminism, and social …

Media Literacy Education For Parents: A Systematic Literature Review, Alicia Haywood, Sabrina Sembiante

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This systematic literature review examines emergent approaches toward media literacy education for parents. Method guidelines for review originated from the 2020 update of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement. The review sample consists of twelve studies, six originating in the United States, and six from other parts of the world. Findings include: (a) assessments of parent needs, interest in media literacy education, and receptiveness to learning, (b) integration of media literacy education with parental mediation instruction toward positive, healthy child development and socialization - shifts attention from reactive management of media effects to issue prevention …

Usage Statistics: Project Counter R5 Tr_J1 Report Fy2023 - Journal Requests (Excluding Oa_Gold) By Title, Andrée J. Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Project COUNTER R5 Report TR_J1 for the University of Rhode Island for the period from July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2023. The TR_J1 report is defined as "Journal Requests (Excluding OA_Gold)." This report presents an annual total only and only includes those platforms successfully configured for automated harvesting via SUSHI.

File for download is Excel spreadsheet generated by Alma Analytics.

Results:

Total Item Requests - 836,365

Unique Item Requests - 625,288