Digital Commons Network^™

Public Playgrounds: An Examination Of Current Issues Associated With Public Play Facilities, Albert V. Ranaldi Jr.

Open Access Master's Theses

The issues surrounding playgrounds are in need of attention. This research paper attempts to address the safety and developmental concerns regarding playground equipment and design. Since the most immediate concern is safety, the discussion will focus on issues concerning playground safety. A brief history of playground development, developmental theories of play, and safety issues will be presented. Discussion of these issues will lead to recommendations for a mandatory public playground safety policy and program. The standards for the safety policy and program will be adopted from the 1991 U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's Handbook For Public Playground Safety, the 1993 …

Enhancing Social Service To At-Risk Children, James Paglia

Open Access Master's Theses

The Children, Youth & Families Issue Group, part of the University of Rhode Island's Cooperative Extension Service, has provided education outreach and technical assistance to community based social service providers since 1990. In an effort to enhance the effectiveness of the programming which they provide the group initiated a research project designed to illuminate strategies for increasing the effectiveness of community-based service provision. This study uses the theory of developmental contextualism as presented by Dr. Richard Lerner to suggest ways in which service providers can enhance their effectiveness by understanding the particular context of their community.

The study focuses on …

Improving Open-Space Subdivisions In Charlton, Massachusetts: Connecting Back To The Land, Bruce E. Keller

Open Access Master's Theses

In Charlton, Massachusetts, the current open-space subdivision option doesn't work well for the benefit of people or wildlife, but rather allows the developer to cut costs without giving a more beneficial design in return. Open space "islands" are being created that have no connectivity with one another, making them little more than buffers of undisturbed land within and among developments. While these buffers are somewhat useful from an aesthetic perspective, better regulations and design guidelines would be helpful in creating more useable "corridors" for wildlife and trails for people, which in return will help to preserve wildlife biodiversity and provide …

Evaluating Urban Enterprise Zones As A Policy For Inner-City Minority Communities, Beth Ashman Collins

Open Access Master's Theses

Can enterprise zones have any long-term effects on the economic status of minority populations or on the concentration of poverty in urban neighborhoods? This question was tackled from two perspectives. First, do enterprise zone interventions make sense in the context of existing models of racial inequality and ghetto development. Second, do the existing literature and evaluation studies provide evidence that enterprise zones are benefiting the urban poor in general and poor minorities in particular?

This study examines five selected official evaluations of state enterprise zone programs looking at how incentives are targeted toward specific populations and places and whether benefits …

Molecular Analysis Of The Genetically Programmed Process Of Plant Senescence, Jane Ellen Knapp

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Water Column Stratification And Mixing Events In Narragansett Bay During Winter And Spring, James Emery Andrews

Open Access Master's Theses

We deployed a buoy in the West Passage of Narragansett Bay, approximately one km east of Hope Island, within a bathymetric depression of approximately twice the surrounding water depth. The buoy contained an onboard logging computer and had three YSI-600 instruments, each capable of measuring temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH and pressure, logging at three different depths in the water column at a 20 minute sampling interval. The first deployment started on 6 January 1997 and lasted 18 days before problems required retrieving the buoy. Additionally, problems with the salinity sensors in this deployment made it impossible to use most …

Waves Of Change: Women, Work, War, And Wedlock In Colonial Newport, Rhode Island, 1750-1775, Jonathan M. Beagle

Open Access Master's Theses

The intent of this thesis is to explore connections between gender relations and the construction of a local discourse by which residents of late colonial Newport, Rhode Island, interpreted the coming American Revolution. Historians in recent years have documented a relationship between gender and the rhetoric of the Revolution and separately have linked the development of commercial economies to a desire for independence in the colonies. However, relatively unexplored are the possible connections between the nature of gender relations within the emergent economies and the appeal for independence.

The emergence of an urban economy in Newport dominated by commerce and …

An In Vivo Evaluation Of The Lhrh Agonist Deslorelin For Therapeutic Application, Lori Ann Hayes Underhill

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Establishing An Animal Model To Study The Effects Of Sine Wave Electromagnetic Fields On Chondrosarcoma Tumor Growth And An Investigating Of The Use Of Ion-Pair Hplc Analysis Of Nucleotides In Chondrosarcoma Tumor, Rong You

Open Access Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Individual Differences In Timing Measures: Continuation Tapping, Relaxation Time, Reaction Time, And Critical Flicker Fusion, Anna S. Klevak

Open Access Dissertations

In order to investigate human time sense individual differences in timing were studied in a sample of 39 healthy adults at rest. Fast Muscular Relaxation Time, Preferred Muscular Relaxation Time, Critical Flicker Fusion Threshold, Continuation Tapping, and Simple and Choice Reaction Times were examined with the aim of determining both linear and non-linear relationships among the measures. Several significant linear relationships among the variables were obtained. Subjects with higher Critical Flicker Fusion threshold exhibited significantly less overall variability in timing, (p < 0. 001) and showed a slower increase in variability with increasing interstimulus interval. The Simple Reaction Time was positively correlated with the Fast Relaxation time (p < 0.05). The finding of a positive association between Choice Reaction time and Simple Reaction time (p < 0.001) was replicated in the present research. Subjects whose scores were located in the middle of the Preferred Muscular Relaxation Time (PMRT) distribution of scores exhibited less overall variability in Continuation Tapping (p < 0.05) in comparison with subjects who were located at both ends of the PMRT distribution of scores. The effect was attributed to the mechanism of a biological clock.

Some evidence for a relationship between the continuation tapping task and the single-response tasks was found. There was a …

The U.S. National Marine Sanctuary Program: Effectiveness Of Diver Education In The Florida Keys, Rebekah Resnick Padgett

Open Access Master's Theses

This thesis examines the educational program of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS), and its effectiveness for divers and snorkelers. It was hypothesized that intended educational messages were not reaching divers and snorkelers at the sanctuary. Between late December 1996 and early January 1997, 194 surveys were conducted in person in the Key Largo region. Data was collected regarding the demographics of the divers and snorkelers and their purposes for coming to dive in the Keys. In particular, information was accumulated regarding whether they learned anything about the marine environment of the Florida Keys, what they learned, and how …

Influence Of Environmental Stress On Biomass Partitioning In Transgenic Tobacco Plants Expressing The Movement Protein Of Tobacco Mosaic Virus, S. Balachandran, Richard J. Hull, R. A. Martins, Y. Vaadia, W. J. Lucas

Plant Sciences and Entomology Faculty Publications

The influence of various environmental factors on biomass partitioning between shoots and roots in transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) plants expressing the movement protein (MP) of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) was investigated. TMV-MP-expressing transgenic plants exhibited a root-to-shoot ratio that was approximately 40% below that of transgenic vector control plants. When transgenic plants expressing the TMV-MP were subjected to water-stress conditions, the root-to-shoot ratio was increased to a value comparable to that of control plants subjected to the same water-stress treatment. Although the root-to-shoot ratio was increased by N or P deficiencies, the TMV-MP-induced alteration in biomass partitioning was not overcome. …

Effect Of Wind And Tidal Advection On Distribution Patterns Of Rock Crab Cancer Irroratus Megalopae In Block Island Sound, Rhode Island, Michael Clancy, J. Stanley Cobb

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The planktonic period of benthic marine invertebrates can significantly affect distribution patterns of benthic juveniles. In this paper we address the relationship between advection and the subsequent abundance of planktonic megalopae of the rock crab Cancer irroratus in Block Island Sound, Rhode Island (USA), over an 8 yr period. At small scales (several meters distance with samples taken simultaneously), megalopae were found to be similarly distributed; at larger temporal (tens of minutes) and spatial scales (hundreds of meters) megalopae were very patchy, which indicates a complex, highly variable pattern of abundance typical of planktonic systems. Using the receptor-mode trajectory capability …

Monitoring And Modeling Primary Production In Coastal Waters: Studies In Massachusetts Bay 1992-1994, John R. Kelly, Peter H. Doering

Graduate School of Oceanography Faculty Publications

During 1992-1994, we made shipboard incubations suitable for determining rates of primary production in water from Boston Harbor, Massachusetts Bay, and Cape Cod Bay (Massachusetts, USA). These measurements were part of an extensive baseline monitoring program to characterize water quality prior to diversion of effluent from Boston Harbor directly into Massachusetts Bay via a submarine outfall diffuser. Production (P) was measured using whole-water samples exposed to irradiance (I) levels from ~5 to 2000 µE m^-2 s^-1. P-I incubations were performed on 6 surveys a year, spaced to capture principal features of the annual production cycle. The number …

Curricular Report No. 1996-97-3 From The Graduate Council To The Faculty Senate, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Bills

No abstract provided.

Introduction Of Foreign Genes Into The Tissue Of Live Fish By Direct Injection And Particle Bombardment, Marta Gomez-Chiarri, Sandra K. Livingston, Carlos Muro-Cacho, Sunny Sanders, Robert Paul Levine

Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Sciences Faculty Publications

We compared 2 methods of direct gene delivery into live rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss tissue, with the final goal of developing DNA-based vaccines for bacterial diseases in salmonids. The introduction of plasmid constructs containing the luciferase and β-galactosidase reporter genes was achieved either by direct injection or by particle bombardment with DNA-coated gold microparticles. Luciferase expression was observed in homogenates of trout flank muscle and skin 2 d after injection of 10 to 100 pg of DNA per fish or bombardment of 1 pm gold particles coated with 5 to 25 pg DNA per fish at helium pressures ranging from …

Acquisitions Unit Annual Report 1995-1996, Martha H. Kellogg

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Annual report of the Acquisitions Unit, University Library, University of Rhode Island for fiscal year 1995-1996. Covers staffing, technology, acquisitions of monographs and serials, binding and processing.

For monographs, includes four years of monthly statistics (1992/93-1995/96) on requests searched, duplicates returned, titles ordered, titles claimed, volumes added by acquisition type, approvals returned, microforms added, media added, and invoices processed.

For serials and processing, includes four years of monthly statistics (1992/93-1995/96) on volumes withdrawn, titles added, volumes added, volumes bound, volumes processed, volumes mended, and microforms added.

Dynamic Exponent Of The Two-Dimensional Ising Model And Monte Carlo Computation Of The Subdominant Eigenvalue Of The Stochastic Matrix, M. P. Nightingale, H. W.J. Blöte

Physics Faculty Publications

We introduce a novel variance-reducing Monte Carlo algorithm for accurate determination of correlation times. We apply this method to two-dimensional Ising systems with sizes up to 15×15, using single-spin flip dynamics, random site selection, and transition probabilities according to the heat-bath method. From a finite-size scaling analysis of these correlation times, the dynamic critical exponent z is determined as z=2.1665(12).

The Three Hundred And Thirty-Ninth Report Of The Curricular Affairs Committee, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Bills

No abstract provided.

Curricular Report No. 1995-96-8 From The Graduate Council To The Faculty Senate, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Bills

No abstract provided.

The Three Hundred And Thirty-Eighth Report Of The Curricular Affairs Committee, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Bills

No abstract provided.

Curricular Report No. 1995-96-7 From The Graduate Council To The Faculty Senate, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Bills

No abstract provided.

The Three Hundred And Thirty-Sixth Report Of The Curricular Affairs Committee, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Bills

No abstract provided.

The Three Hundred And Thirty-Fifth Report Of The Curricular Affairs Committee, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Bills

No abstract provided.

The Three Hundred And Thirty-Third Report Of The Curricular Affairs Committee: Proposal For A Bachelor Of Science Degree In Environmental Plant Biology, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Bills

No abstract provided.

The Three Hundred And Thirty-Second Report Of The Curricular Affairs Committee: Proposed Bachelor Of Science Degree In Marine Biology, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Bills

No abstract provided.

Report Of The Electronic Information Resources Task Force, Robin Devin, Nadine Baer, Joanna Burkhardt, David Clayton, Ken Morse, Pauline Moulson, John Osterhout, Andree Rathemacher, Tim Tierney, Charlene Yang

University Libraries Reports & Statistics

Report of the Electronic Information Resources Task Force of the University of Rhode Island Libraries. The report outlined a set of twelve recommendations related to Web-based access to electronic indexes and journals. The charge to the task force was the following: "Evaluate the range of the electronic information and delivery mechanisms relevant to the programs of the University of Rhode Island; Identify means to provide access to relevant electronic journals; Develop a plan for implementing new resources and/or changing the configuration of existing resources; Develop a working strategy and plan for integrating traditional library resources with electronic resources. "Work with …

The Three Hundred And Thirty-First Report Of The Curricular Affairs Committee, University Of Rhode Island Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Bills

No abstract provided.

Role Of Lipopolysaccharide In Colonization Of The Mouse Intestine By Salmonella Typhimurium Studied By In Situ Hybridization, Tine Rask Licht, Karen Angeliki Krogfelt, Paul S. Cohen, Lars Kongsbak Poulsen, John Urbance, Søren Molin

Past Departments Faculty Publications (CELS)

An avirulent, streptomycin-resistant Salmonella typhimurium strain, SL5319, and its lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-deficient mutant strain, SL5325, differ in their ability to colonize the large intestines of streptomycin-treated mice. When fed to mice independently, the strains colonize equally well, but when fed together, the LPS-deficient mutant is outcompeted by the wild-type strain during establishment in the gut (J.J. Nevola, B.A.D. Stocker, D.C. Laux, and P.S. Cohen, Infect. Immun. 50:152-159, 1985). In the present study, the spatial distribution in the intestinal mucosal layer of the two strains was visualized by specific hybridization to bacterial rRNA in histological sections of mouse colon and cecum. The …

Appropriations (1996): Report 04

Appropriations (1996)

No abstract provided.