Digital Commons Network^™

The Importance Of Course Offerings On The Topic Of Environmental Sustainability At The University Of Rhode Island, Sarah Kane

Senior Honors Projects

For my project, I created a survey for University of Rhode Island students’ exploring their experiences and interest in course offerings on sustainability.  I am distributing it to students through different mediums such as email, Facebook and in person. Through my analysis of the results, I am seeking some evidence about whether or not students at this institute feel that our school offers enough courses on this topic and whether or not students are interested in taking courses on this topic.

As a business major, I have taken several courses where we learned about surveying and analysis of the results. …

Effectiveness Of The Uri Senior Nutrition Awareness Project (Snap) Nutrition Education Programs With Older Rhode Islanders, Brittany L. Loriquet

Senior Honors Projects

SNAP is a federally-funded, free community nutrition program administered through the RI Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—Education (SNAP-Ed), housed in the URI Department of Nutrition and Food Sciences. SNAP targets low-income older adults throughout Rhode Island, educating about 250 individuals each month. A monthly topic of current interest is addressed using an appropriate newsletter, recipe, and interactive component that are delivered at various senior centers and other venues.

As the SNAP undergraduate program assistant since September 2009, I have had the opportunity to create nutrition education materials and to assist in the delivery of community nutrition programming to low-income older adults. …

Cultural Competency: A Student's Examination Of Haiti, Heidi Dotson

Senior Honors Projects

Cultural Competency: A Student’s Examination of Haiti

Heidi Dotson

Faculty Sponsor: Gail Faris, Women’s Center

On January 12, 2010 the world watched as a 7.0 milliwatt earthquake brought Haiti to her knees. It did not take long before the international community had arrived to help Haiti rise from the rubble. On October 21, 2010 the Center for Disease Control confirmed a cholera epidemic in Haiti. One year after the earthquake, only five percent of the rubble had been cleared, and more than one million Haitians were living as refugees in “temporary” tents. Watching all of this from my “temporary” beach …

Associations Between Diet Quality And Perceived Quality Of Life In Overweight And Obese Older Adults, Klara Zolotnitskaya

Senior Honors Projects

Objective: To determine whether an association between health related quality of life (HRQOL) and dietary quality exists in overweight [body mass index (BMI) 25-29.9 kg/m²] and obese (BMI ≥ 30.0 kg/m²) older adults.

Design: A cross-sectional study.

Participants and Setting: One-hundred and nine overweight and obese older adults, 20 male and 89 female, ages 55-80 years from four Rhode Island senior centers. Participants were recruited from two urban senior centers, one in Warwick and one in Cranston, and two rural senior centers, one in North Kingstown and one in South Kingstown.

Measurements: Anthropometrics (height, weight, waist …

Jcpenney Priced For Life Campaign, Michael Dolan

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

The JCPenney “Priced for Life” campaign was designed as Syracuse University’s entry for the National Student Advertising Competition, an event held by the American Advertising Federation. As a member of the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications team for the competition, I helped to make this integrated advertising campaign a reality.

The goal of this campaign is to retain women aged 25-34 who currently shop at JCPenney and also capture new customers who fall within that demographic. It is also designed to increase frequency and grow share of wallet among members of this target audience. The proposed campaign runs from …

Is Creativity Related To Physical Health? The Relationships Between Creativity, Flow, Self-Esteem, Physical Activity And Health-Related Quality Of Life, Molly Siwula

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

The relationship between creativity and overall health has not been widely examined, as researchers have previously focused mainly on the association between creativity and mental illness. Certain aspects of the creative personality (i.e. high physical energy, intelligence, passion, and self-discipline) may predict engagement in healthy behaviors. Creativity has been shown to positively relate to self-esteem, which also has been linked to general health. In addition, both athletes and creative individuals tend to experience flow. This study examined self-esteem and flow as possible mechanisms to partially account for the relationship between creativity and general health. Community participants (N = 83) …

Using Polymerase Chain Reaction To Detect Nifh And Vnfdgk In A Novel Acidophilic Microbial Community, Samantha L. Flowers

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Acidophiles are widely known for their ability to exploit harsh environments, typically consisting of high temperatures, dissolved metal concentrations, and acidic conditions. Consequently, different acidophilic species are employed industrially in applications such as biomining and bioleaching. However, their full potential in bioremediation, and in industrial practices, has yet to be fully explored because many of these acidophiles are difficult to culture in laboratory conditions or have yet to be properly identified. This investigation focuses on a novel community sampled from the Richmond Mine site in Iron Mountain, California, consisting of a filamentous fungus and prokaryotes. This consortium can be cultured …

You Are What You Eat: Photographic Portrait Series, Danielle Carrick

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

You Are What You Eat is a photographic portrait series drawing visual parallels between food and people. Each portrait consists of not one, but two separate images – a person and the food they resemble. The series pays homage to portrait photography and food photography but is defined by neither.

Each pairing is based on physical attributes of the food subject and human model. For example, the freckled face of a man is side by side with a sesame seed bagel, the pattern and coloring of both mirroring each other. Likewise, a tall, thin girl is perfectly posed to resemble …

A Guide To Student Publications, Molly Gittell Gallagher

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Abstract not Included

What The Health Magazine Redesign, Sarah Glaser

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

I was art director for the Fall 2009 and Spring 2010 issues of What the Health magazine, a student-run publication on campus at Syracuse University. To put together the issues I oversaw an entire design department consisting of photographers and graphic artists. Photography assignments often came in late leaving little time for design work, and I did not feel satisfied with the ultimate layout design of the magazine. For my capstone project I took on the challenge creating a final book combining the strongest pieces from both original issues in a redesigned layout. I wanted to overcome the inconsistency that …

Ye People: Irish Travellers In Transition, Mackenzie Reiss

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Ye People: A Photographic Account of Irish Travellers in Transition

Tradition is what links one generation to the next. It is a cause for pride, a sense of belonging, and a way of life. For Irish Travellers living in Dublin, this legacy is in jeopardy. Recent legislation by the Irish government has caused the Travelling community to re-evaluate its terms of existence. For a people who only knew a life on the road, the Housing Act of 1992, banning roadside encampments, has come as a devastating blow. What was once commonplace, has become a rarity. Gone is the sight of …

Grassroots Poverty And Grassroots Human Rights: Grounding Theory In Practice, Scott Collison

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Philosophical discourse on human rights is broad and contested, and not all of it agrees with human rights practice. None of the common philosophical problems, such as the reconciliation between theory and human rights law, the debate between civil-political and socio-economic rights, or even what sort of thing human rights are, has been answered definitively. What is uncontested, however, is the fact that human rights are far from fulfilled in the world today, as world poverty and inequality persist into the 21^st century.

A recent trend across the board—from philosophy to development studies to human rights practice—is to view …

Regulation Of Immediate Early And Epithelial–Mesenchymal Transition Genes Expression By Adipocytokines In The Female Reproductive Tract, Zhufeng Yang

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Individuals who are overweight or obese are at increased risk for cancer.  However, the mechanistic link between obesity and cancer is poorly defined.  Adipose tissue produces hormones and pro-inflammatory cytokines with mitogenic properties.  Many of these hormones and cytokines are altered in obese individuals and may lead to disruption of the normal balance between cell proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine how adipocyte-derived factors regulate the expression of genes that contribute to cell proliferation and migration.  To compare immediate early gene (cell proliferation) and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (cell migration) gene expression between untreated and …

Analysis Of Long-Term Selection (28 Generations) For Reproduction, Growth, And Carcass Traits In Swine, Wan-Ling Hsu

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The objectives were 1) to estimate responses from 28 generations of selection for increased pigs born alive (BA) with additional selection for increased 180 d weight (WT) and longissimus muscle area (LMA) and decreased backfat (BF) in the last eight generations, 2) to estimate genetic parameters for an array of traits, and 3) to investigate whether a plateau in response for BA has occurred. All lines were derived from the same Large White/Landrace composite population. Index selection for ovulation rate and embryo survival (G0-11) was initiated in L2 in 1981; L1 was selected randomly control line for L2 (G0-23). L2 …

Effects Of Feeding High Levels Of Wet Distillers Grains And Straw On Beef Quality, Siroj Pokharel

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This research was conducted to investigate the effects of feeding high levels of wet distillers grains plus solubles (WDGS) with straw on fatty acids profiles, lipid stability, retail color, and proximate composition (fats and moisture) of aged beef. Cattle (n = 336; 270 ± 9 kg) were fed corn/5% straw; 40 Distillers grain (WDGS)/5% straw; 70 WDGS/8% straw; 70 WDGS/25% straw; 77.5 WDGS/9% straw; 77.5 WDGS/17% straw, and 85 WDGS/10% straw on dry matter (DM) basis. There were significant increases in the proportions of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), omega 6, omega 3, and trans fatty acids when high levels …

Alternative Strategies For Managing Pharmaceutical And Personal Care Products In Water Resources, Gabriel Eckstein, George William Sherk

Faculty Scholarship

In recent decades, concern has grown over the presence of pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs) in water. This concern stems from the possibility that the presence of PPCPs in water supplies may pose a threat to both human and environmental health. Such threats may be both direct (e.g., exposure to endocrine disrupting compounds) and indirect (e.g., emergence of antibiotic resistant bacteria). The water treatment and wastewater treatment community has been especially concerned over PPCPs because of PPCPs ubiquitous nature and their ability to persist or only partially degrade in water and during wastewater treatment. Studies done over the past …

An Investigation Of Potential Marketing Strategies For Entry Into The Shiitake Mushroom Industry In Utah, Imran Khan

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This study provides an analysis of the mushroom industry in the Utah with a focus on identifying opportunities for entry into the specialty mushroom market. Determining the strategic position of the mushroom industry requires the use of local information. In this study, a local survey of consumers in Northern Utah was used to generate specific information about consumer preferences and attitudes about mushrooms and how a new entrant might be positioned to address consumers’ wants and needs related to mushrooms, and specifically specialty mushrooms. Regression analysis and trend analysis were also performed using data obtained either from the survey or …

Everybody’S Gotta Do It, Mac Hamilton

Arrow Rock

No abstract provided.

Arrow Rock, 2010-2011, Full Issue

Arrow Rock

No abstract provided.

An Ecology Of Philanthropy: Community Composition And Nonprofit Revenue In The United States, Wendie Neesa Choudary

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

There is little doubt that most American cities are currently troubled places because of massive economic shifts that have marked the last two decades. Charitable giving has consistently been seen as the lifeblood of communities around the United States (Backman and Smith 2000). The primary purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between community composition and charitable giving. The impact of community characteristics (community composition, organizational composition, and community deterioration) on charitable revenues will be assessed using revenue data from the 2006-2007, 501(c)(3), 990, charitable organization forms along with United States county census data. One-way ANOVA and regression …

Characterization Of Polyphenolics In Cranberry Juice And Co-Products, Brittany Lynn White

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Historically, cranberry juice has been consumed to prevent urinary tract infections. These and other health benefits, including reduced risks of cancer and cardiovascular disease, are believed to be due to the presence of polyphenolics, specifically flavonoids. Cranberry pomace is the by-product of cranberry processing which consists of seeds and skins. This research focuses primarily on the effects of processing on the flavonoid composition of cranberries and cranberry pomace. First, the concentration of flavonoids during juice processing was evaluated. It was determined that anthocyanins were degraded readily compared to other flavonoids, and a significant amount of flavonoids were retained in the …

An Investigation Of The Composition, Microbial Digestion And Potential Applications Of An Industrial By-Product Of Seaweed Extraction, Juncal Nogales Esteban

Theses

Commercial preparation of seaweed extract from Ascophyllum nodosum, for use as fertilizer and soil improver, produces a residue which requires remediation. This residue is rich in nutrients and offers potential for other added-value products. The residue’s composition and microbial flora were studied, a microbial digestion system was developed, and extracts were screened for anti-hyaluronidase and anti-elastase activities.

The residue had a pH of 8.61±0.39, 16% (w/w) TS which comprised 40.6% minerals, 29.5% fibre, 20.9% lipid, 4.9% protein and 0.48% polyphenols. The microbial digestion included an initial 3-day anaerobic phase during which pH decreased from 9.12 to 7.89. At day 3, …

Sulforaphane Prevents Acetaminophen-Induced Hepatic Injury In Mice., Robin H. Schmidt 1984-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sulforaphane (SFN), an isothiocyanate found in cruciferous vegetables, is known to confer antioxidant protection in vivo. Rather than directly reacting with free radicals, however, SFN works by inducing Nrf2, a transcription factor that binds to the promoter regions of several known antioxidant genes and enhances detoxification. Because oxidative stress is a major contributor to acetaminophen (APAP)-induced hepatotoxicity, SFN may defend the liver against APAP overdose by activating the Nrf2 pathway and increasing endogenous antioxidant response. To test this hypothesis, mice were pre-treated with SFN for four days, injected with APAP on the fifth day, and sacrificed shortly thereafter. APAP overdose …

Exploring Familial Themes In Malaysian Students' Eating Behaviors, Car Mun Kok

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

As international students, Malaysian students have the added stress of adapting to new food as well as to the responsibilities of preparing their own meals. Failure to do so would jeopardize the health and studies of Malaysian students. In order to address this problem, the purpose of this study was to explore and understand the role of family on the eating behaviors and food choices of Malaysian students who live apart from their families. Five Malaysian students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln were interviewed. Six themes were identified in this study; “family plays an important role,” “family mealtimes,” parental preferences …

Examining Student Achievement And Motivation Using Internet-Based Inquiry In The Classroom, Julie M. Lokie

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of the pilot study was to compare middle school Family and Consumer Science student achievement and motivation in a classroom using Internet based inquiry to the achievement and motivation of students without the use of Internet based inquiry. The control group had 37 students and the experimental group had 21 students participate in the study.  Each group was taught a two-week lesson on child growth and development.  The control group was taught with a conventional, teacher-directed, method using textbooks and worksheets.  The experimental group was taught with computers and an Internet based inquiry method.  Students in each group …

Reassessing The Architecture Of The Health Beliefs Models In Low-Income Diverse Families, Krista B. Highland

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Health beliefs contribute to health outcomes. These health beliefs extend to include health beliefs parents have regarding their children’s health. However, the role of parental health beliefs remains unexplored among a low-income population. This study aims to assess these beliefs and the effects they have on child health. Furthermore, this study aims to delineate potential belief differences between socioecological-level groups (e.g. population density, Latino identification, and insurance coverage).  The long-term goal is to understand the relationships among various personal health beliefs and parental health beliefs, psychosocial factors, community factors, cultural factors, organizational factors, and healthcare perceptions among this at-risk population. …

Intent Of Expecting Fathers To Encourage Breastfeeding, Perceptions Of Support And Barriers To Encouraging Breastfeeding, Katrina Harwood

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Breastfeeding is well known to be the optimal feeding method for healthy infants.  Although the benefits of breastfeeding have been well documented, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) 2010 breastfeeding report card, breastfeeding rates at 3months, 6 months and 12 months post-partum have fallen below the objectives set by Healthy People 2010.  A mother’s decision to breastfeed has been associated with a variety of factors including, income, education level, geographic location and level of breastfeeding support provided by health care professionals, her mother and the infant’s father.  The father of the unborn child has been identified as being …

A New Single Workbout Test To Estimate Critical Power And Anaerobic Work Capacity, Haley Bergstrom

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of the present study was to develop a new 3-min, single workbout test to estimate critical power (CP) and anaerobic work capacity (AWC) using the Monark cycle ergometer with the resistance based on the individual’s body weight. Twelve moderately-trained adults (6 men and 6 women; mean age ± SD = 23.2 ± 3.5 yr) performed an incremental cycle ergometer test to exhaustion. The CP and AWC were estimated from the original work limit (W_lim) versus time limit (T_lim) relationship (CP_PT) and a 3-min all-out test (CP_3min) against a fixed resistance …

Genetic Intervention As A Lifestyle Approach An Analysis Of Disease And Treatment, Jennifer L. Dempton

HIM 1990-2015

Purpose: The scientific knowledge of how genes affect disease expression and evolution can facilitate more effective environmental and drug therapy interventions delivered by health care professionals. The purpose of this paper is to a) describe the role of genetic science in healthcare; b) explore genotype determinants for environmental and pharmacological interventions; c) and analyze ethical dilemmas, barriers to access, and allocation of resources based on genotype. Methods: A review of literature was conducted from the disciplines of nursing, medicine, psychology, and sociology using the CINAHL, Ebsco Host, Medline, and PsychINFO databases. The search was limited to peer reviewed, full text …

Effectiveness Of Nonpharmacological Techniques For Procedural Analgesia In The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Lauren E. Flaherty

HIM 1990-2015

The purpose of this thesis is to provide a critical analysis of research findings about nonpharmacological techniques used independently of pharmacological techniques to prevent or reduce procedural pain for infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). A synthesis of the current research related to nonpharmacological pain relief techniques for infants was conducted for this thesis. Nonpharmacological interventions reviewed in this study include: Kangaroo Care, swaddling, facilitated tucking, positioning, music, non-nutritive sucking and sucrose. An interdisciplinary review of the research was performed using the interdisciplinary databases Cumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health, PubMED, and PsychINFO. Inclusion criteria for this …