Digital Commons Network^™

Evaluation Of A School-Based Fruit And Vegetable Intervention Using A Digital Photography Method, Natalie Ruth Weisfeld

Open Access Master's Theses

Objective: The primary objective is to use digital photography of food to assess if a policy, systems, and environment (PSE) intervention increases the amount and variety of healthful fruits and vegetables consumed at lunch by low-income 5th graders.

Design: Quasi-experimental design.

Participants/Setting: The sample consisted of low-income 5^th grade students in the Providence School District, n = 130 (treatment school, n=75, control school, n=55).

Intervention: Both the treatment and control students were assessed at baseline and post intervention to determine amount consumed and variety of fruit and vegetable using a digital photography of food method. …

Examining Diet Quality And Sleep Duration In Overweight/Obese Adults In A Weight Loss Intervention, Megan Naquin

Open Access Master's Theses

Statement of the Problem: The rate of increased body mass index (BMI) in the adult US population has been alarming within recent decades. Decreased sleep duration has been associated with higher BMI and lower diet quality. BMI and diet quality have been found to be associated with one another as well. The average US adult diet quality score has been indicated as moderately low, which is often associated with higher BMI. In order to confront these alarming rates, weight loss interventions have been researched. A strategy often seen in weight loss success is self-monitoring. Wearable devices, such as the …

Food Insecurity And Its Association With Testing, Daniel Riley

Open Access Master's Theses

Food insecurity is a major concern across the educational population. Even with several federal programs combating the issue, there are still students in K-12 schools as well as at college and university who do not have access to the nutrition that they need on a daily basis. This lack of necessary food can lead to detrimental educational effects due to the increase in behavioral issues and the loss of academic achievement. These harmful effects can lead students to underperform in school. In the last several years, a new federal program, the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), has been implemented in schools …

Are Feeding Practices Of Family Child Care Home Providers Related To Child Fruit & Vegetable Intake?, Tayla M. Carter

Open Access Master's Theses

Objectives: To explore the relationship between three feeding practice constructs (role modeling, encouragement, and pressure to eat) of family child care home (FCCH) providers, and fruit and vegetable intake of the preschool-aged children in their care.

Participants: Subjects were family child care home providers and the children in their care. Participants were recruited from Providence, Rhode Island and surrounding areas of Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Methods: Baseline data, collected during a two-day home visit from an ongoing cluster-randomized trial, Healthy Start/Comienzos Sanos, were used (n=61 FCCH). Feeding practice data was collected using the Environment and Policy Assessment and …

Maternal Sociodemographic Characteristics And Prenatal Diet Quality, Haley Wynne Parker

Open Access Master's Theses

Studies examining prenatal diet quality in the US indicate that pregnant women are not currently meeting national dietary recommendations. Though prenatal diet quality is generally poor, certain population sub-groups may be disproportionately impacted, however, few studies have examined diet quality disparities in pregnant women. In order to better understand disparities in prenatal diet quality, this study seeks to characterize the relationship between maternal sociodemographic factors and prenatal diet quality, specifically examining socioeconomic status, race, pre-pregnancy BMI, and gestational weight gain as an exploratory aim. Cross sectional data from the Infant Feeding Practices Study II informed this secondary analysis. To explore …

City Of Providence Community Readiness For An Obesity Prevention Intervention, Jessie Boukarim

Open Access Master's Theses

In order to prevent early childhood obesity, community-wide interventions are needed. However, few studies have assessed a community’s readiness to prevent childhood obesity among 0-5 year old children. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the level of readiness to prevent obesity among 0-5 year olds in Providence, RI.

Key informant interviews with local leaders of organizations that work with 0- 5 year old children in Providence (n=12) were completed using the community readiness model (CRM). The CRM’s level of readiness ranges from 1 (no awareness) to 9 (high level of community ownership). Furthermore, the CRM is comprised …

Preschool Teacher Characteristics: Professional Development And Classroom Quality, Jillian Connelly

Open Access Master's Theses

Effects of professional development, moderated by teacher characteristics, on classroom quality in early childhood settings were evaluated using secondary data from the Teacher Professional Development Study (funded by the NCRECE), as accessed through Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR). 210 teachers in early childhood settings received different forms of professional development and were randomly assigned to treatment groups. The goal of the professional development was to increase classroom quality as measured by the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS). At the completion of the study, four groups existed: Course and Consultancy, Course only, Consultancy only, and Control. Initial results …

Detection And Discrimination Of Natural And Synthetic Polysaccharides In A Solid-State Nanopore, Jonathan Nichols

Open Access Master's Theses

In 2007-08 over 100 people died as a result of a contaminated batch of the polysaccharide heparin, an otherwise life-saving anticoagulant drug. After the contaminant was discovered, the development of assays that detect the contaminant, a structurally similar molecule, oversulfated chondroitin sulfate, became a necessity. Solid-state nanopores, which can, with appropriate experimental design, readily detect single molecules of analyte, may be able to help distinguish the two with greater ease than conventional assays, and with greater throughput even at concentrations well below that of USP assays. Polysaccharides, especially naturally occurring polysaccharides, have a vast range of structures characterized by widely …

Amino Acid Isotope Discrimination Factors For A Carnivore: Physiological Insights From Leopard Sharks And Their Diet, John P. Whiteman, Sora L. Kim, Kelton W. Mcmahon, Paul L. Koch, Seth D. Newsome

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

Stable isotopes are important ecological tools, because the carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of consumer tissue reflects the diet. Measurements of isotopes of individual amino acids can disentangle the effects of consumer physiology from spatiotemporal variation in dietary isotopic values. However, this approach requires knowledge of assimilation patterns of dietary amino acids. We reared leopard sharks (Triakis semifasciata) on diets of squid (Loligo opalescens; 1250 days; control sharks) or squid then tilapia (Oreochromis sp.; switched at 565 days; experimental sharks) to evaluate consumer-diet discrimination factors for amino acids in muscle tissue. We found that control …

Characterizing The Functional Role And Regulated Assembly Of Protein Polymers Mind And Ftsa During Escherichia Coli Cell Division, Joseph Jake Conti

Open Access Dissertations

It is an immense undertaking for any organism, including a bacterium, to self-replicate. Accurate and rapid division is essential for bacteria to proliferate and produce progeny, especially in environments where there is competition for resources. The nucleoid, the region of the cell that contains the DNA, harbors the genetic information required to achieve robust division, but it is the assembly of the cell division machinery, collectively referred to as the divisome, that produces and coordinates the mechanical force necessary to divide a cell. The hallmark of prokaryotic cell division is the formation of a protein super-structure, called the Z-ring, which …

Examining Influences Of Parenting Styles And Practices On Physical Activity And Sedentary Behaviors In Latino Children In The United States: Integrative Review, Ana Cristina Lindsay, Minerva Wasserman, Mario A. Muñoz, Sherrie F. Wallington, Mary L. Greaney

Kinesiology Faculty Publications

Background: Research indicates that parents influence their children’s physical activity (PA) and sedentary behaviors (SB) through their parenting styles and practices.

Objective: The objectives of this paper were to evaluate existing research examining the associations between parenting styles, parenting practices, and PA and SB among Latino children aged between 2 and 12 years, highlight limitations of the existing research, and generate suggestions for future research.

Methods: The method of this integrative review was informed by methods developed by Whittemore and Knafl, which allow for the inclusion of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods studies. Using the Preferred Reporting Items …

Neonatal Readmission In Term Infants: Maternal, Infant, Provider And Institutional Factors, Angelita M. Hensman

Open Access Dissertations

Hospital readmissions are a patient safety and quality concern. Readmission rates in term-born infants in the past decade have been < 1.3% in the United States and < 8% globally. Most readmissions have been for jaundice/hyperbilirubinemia. Changes in exclusive breastfeeding rates, healthcare/institutional policies and demographics may have influenced the rate of neonatal readmission. Most literature on term-born neonatal readmission (within 28 days of birth) is conflicting and outdated. This study aimed to quantify the risk of maternal, infant, provider and institutional factors associated with neonatal readmission to the birth hospital in healthy term infants. Secondary aims estimated the incidence of neonatal readmission and characterized birth length of stay (in hours), readmission diagnosis, birth weight loss > 7% and breastfeeding quality ([LATCH score] ≤ 6). A nested case-control study (N=390) was conducted at a Level III hospital in the Northeastern United States. There were 11, 958 infants delivered between January 1, 2016 through May 8, 2017. A cohort of in-state domicile, healthy term (370/7 - 416/7 weeks gestation) infants (n = 5,940) admitted directly to the well-baby nursery were identified. Cases (n =130) were infants from the cohort readmitted within 28 days of …

Effect Of A Technology-Integrated, Nutrition Education Program On Low-Income Youths’ Dietary Intake, Kate Balestracci

Open Access Dissertations

Childhood obesity is an important public health problem as it relates to several chronic diseases and continues to be high, particularly among low-socioeconomic (SES) and racial and ethnic minority populations. In 2011-2014, 25.0% of Hispanic 6-11-year-old school-aged children were considered to be obese or extremely obese, followed by 21.4% of non-Hispanic black children and 13.6% of non-Hispanic white children. When compared to higher-SES children of the same ethnicity and race, low-SES Hispanic, white, and black children were 2.7, 1.9 and 3.2 times more likely to be obese, respectively. Contributing to the obesity epidemic among children is the excess consumption of …

Eastern Oyster Larval Transcriptomes In Response To Probiotic And Pathogenic Bacteria, Tejashree Modak

Open Access Dissertations

Oysters are described as keystone species serving an important ecological role. As filter-feeders they help in maintaining water quality. Oyster reefs provide refuge and support to different organisms. The eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, native to the East Coast of United States and Gulf of Mexico is a part of the rapidly growing aquaculture industry. Aquaculture production depends on a healthy and constant supply of oyster larvae that are provided by hatcheries. Several hatcheries on the east coast that provide C. virginica seed to oyster farms face significant losses owing to Vibrio infections causing massive larval mortalities. Use of antibiotics …

Marketing And Poverty Alleviation: Synergizing Research, Education, And Outreach Through The Subsistence Marketplaces Approach, Madhubalan Viswanathan, Arun Sreekumar

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

In this article, we describe our journey through the creation and development of the stream of subsistence marketplaces, summarize our learning, and discuss implications at the intersection of the field of Marketing and poverty alleviation. Distinct from macro level economic research in impoverished contexts, or mid-level approaches, such as the base of the pyramid (BOP) approach in business strategy, this approach is rooted at the micro-level, enabling bottom up understanding of buyer and seller. The term, subsistence marketplaces, reflects understanding these contexts in their own right, not just as markets to sell to, but as individuals, communities, consumers, …

Infant Feeding Beliefs, Attitudes, Knowledge And Practices Of Chinese Immigrant Mothers: An Integrative Review Of The Literature, Ana Cristina Lindsay, Qun Le, Mary Greaney

Public Health Faculty Publications

Chinese are a fast-growing immigrant population group in several parts of the world (e.g., Australia, Canada, Europe, Southeast Asia, United States). Research evidence suggests that compared to non-Hispanic whites, individuals of Asian-origin including Chinese are at higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes at a lower body mass index (BMI). These risks may be possibly due to genetic differences in body composition and metabolic responses. Despite the increasing numbers of Chinese children growing up in immigrant families and the increasing prevalence of obesity among Chinese, little research has been focused on children of Chinese immigrant families. This …

Curricular Affairs Committee Minutes December 11, 2017, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Committee Reports and Appendices

No abstract provided.

General Education Committee Report #2017-18-4, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Bills

No abstract provided.

General Education Committee Report #2017-18-4, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Bills

No abstract provided.

Globalization Tumult And Civilizational Greatness, Pradip N. Khandwalla

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

In the kind of tumultuous, strife-torn, and stressful world we are living in, we need to ask the questions: “Is our civilization moving in the right direction? What makes a civilization great?” Greed for power and greed for money, unless offset by a shared conception of civilizational excellence, often degenerate into widespread corruption, fraud, and violence. In developing countries like India, the challenge is to design a civilization that uses the creativity and enterprise of the market economy, the freedom of choice of democracy, and the altruism of the developmental state – to reverse degeneration and foster social, economic, and …

Urinformed December 2017, Urinformed

URInformed: The URI Employees' Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Patient–Provider Communication And Counseling About Gestational Weight Gain And Physical Activity: A Qualitative Study Of The Perceptions And Experiences Of Latinas Pregnant With Their First Child, Ana Cristina Lindsay, Sherrie F. Wallington, Mary Greaney, Marcia M. Tavares Machado, Gabriela P. De Andrade

Public Health Faculty Publications

Latina women in the United States (U.S.) are disproportionately affected by obesity and are more likely to begin pregnancy overweight and gain excessive weight during pregnancy. The prenatal care period represents a window of opportunity for women to access the healthcare system and receive preventive services, education, nutritional support, and other social services to improve pregnancy outcomes. Excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) has numerous negative short- and long-term consequences for both the mother and newborn. We explored nulliparous Latina women’s perceptions about their experiences communicating with their primary healthcare provider about GWG and physical activity (PA) to identify possible intervention …

Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes November 16, 2017, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes

No abstract provided.

Isocitrate Dehydrogenase Mutation In Vibrio Anguillarum Results In Virulence Attenuation And Immunoprotection In Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus Mykiss), Xiangyu Mou, Edward J. Spinard, Shelby L. Hillman, David R. Nelson

Cell and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

Background

Vibrio anguillarum is an extracellular bacterial pathogen that is a causative agent of vibriosis in finfish and crustaceans with mortality rates ranging from 30% to 100%. Mutations in central metabolism (glycolysis and the TCA cycle) of intracellular pathogens often result in attenuated virulence due to depletion of required metabolic intermediates; however, it was not known whether mutations in central metabolism would affect virulence in an extracellular pathogen such as V. anguillarum.

Results

Seven central metabolism mutants were created and characterized with regard to growth in minimal and complex media, expression of virulence genes, and virulence in juvenile rainbow …

Divergent Responses In Growth And Nutritional Quality Of Coastal Macroalgae To The Combination Of Increased Pco2 And Nutrients, Gordon T. Ober, Carol S. Thornber

Natural Resources Science Faculty Publications

Coastal ecosystems are subjected to global and local environmental stressors, including increased atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) (and subsequent ocean acidification) and nutrient loading. Here, we tested how two common macroalgal species in the Northwest Atlantic (Ulva spp. and Fucus vesiculosus Linneaus) respond to the combination of increased CO₂ and nutrient loading. We utilized two levels of pCO₂ with two levels of nutrients in a full factorial design, testing the growth rates and tissue quality of Ulva and Fucus grown for 21 days in monoculture and biculture. We found that the opportunistic, fast-growing Ulva exhibited increased …

A Systems Biology Approach To The Development Of Commercial Bioprocesses: 1,4-Butanediol And Beyond, Stephen Van Dien

Amgen Seminar Series in Chemical Engineering

Production of biobased chemicals by fermentation at competitive titer, rate, and yield involves optimizing the cellular resources normally devoted to biomass formation and directing them towards product formation. Systems and synthetic biology tools are the key to surmounting these challenges. As an example success of this approach, Genomatica has developed a complete bioprocess for commercial scale production of 1,4-butanediol (BDO) from carbohydrate feedstocks. BDO is a chemical intermediate (> 3B lbs/yr) that goes into a variety of products including automotive parts and apparel, and is currently produced commercially through energy-intensive petrochemical processes. Systems biology, diagnostic ‘omics’ experiments, and novel synthetic …

Easier Said Than Done: A Qualitative Study Conducted In The Usa Exploring Latino Family Child Care Home Providers As Role Models For Healthy Eating And Physical Activity Behaviours, Ana Cristina Lindsay, Mary L. Greaney, Sherrie F. Wallington, Julie A. Wright

Kinesiology Faculty Publications

Objective Latinos are the largest and most rapidly growing minority population group in the USA and are disproportionally affected by obesity and related chronic diseases. Child care providers likely influence the eating and physical activity behaviours of children in their care, and therefore are important targets for interventions designed to prevent childhood obesity. Nonetheless, there is a paucity of research examining the behaviours of family child care home (FCCH) providers and whether they model healthy eating and physical activity behaviours. Therefore, this study explored Latino FCCH providers’ beliefs and practices related to healthy eating, physical activity and sedentary behaviours, and …

Alma Link Resolver Title & Issn Report (Top 500) 2016-2017, Andrée J. Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Statistics for 2016-2017 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.

Acquisitions Unit Annual Report 2016-2017, Andrée J. Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Annual Report of the Acquisitions Unit, University Libraries, University of Rhode Island for FY17. 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.

Assessment Of Nutrition And Physical Activity Environments In Family Child Care Homes: Modification And Psychometric Testing Of The Environment And Policy Assessment And Observation, Amber E. Vaughn, Stephanie Mazzucca, Regan Burney, Truls Østbye, Sara E. Benjamin Neelon, Alison Tovar, Dianne S. Ward

Nutrition Faculty Publications

Early care and education (ECE) settings play an important role in shaping the nutrition and physical activity habits of young children. Increasing research attention is being directed toward family child care homes (FCCHs) specifically. However, existing measures of child care nutrition and physical activity environments are limited in that they have been created for use with center-based programs and require modification for studies involving FCCHs. This paper describes the modification of the Environment and Policy Assessment and Observation (EPAO) for use in FCCHs.