University of Rhode Island

About: University of Rhode Island is a education organization based out in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Bay. The organization has 11464 authors who have published 22770 publications receiving 841066 citations. The organization is also known as: URI & Rhode Island College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts.

Premorbid relationship satisfaction and caregiver burden in dementia caregivers.

Abstract: Dementia caregiver appraisal of the quality of their current and premorbid relationship with the care recipient is associated with caregiving behaviors, caregiver mood, and the decision to end home care This study examined the contribution of premorbid relationship satisfaction to caregiver burden in dementia caregivers Live-in dementia caregivers (n = 72) completed several psychosocial measures Caregiver responses were used to divide them into low premorbid relationship satisfaction group (low) versus high premorbid relationship satisfaction group (high) Results indicate that premorbid relationship satisfaction is negatively associated with caregiver burden and quality of family functioning Caregivers with high satisfaction demonstrated significantly less burden and less reactivity to memory and behavior problems, and better problem solving skills and more effective communication compared with the low caregivers Findings are independent of length of caregiving, disease severity, care recipient daily functioning, and relationship type Relationship satisfaction may be an important contributor to caregiver burden

Evaluating Theories of Health Behavior Change: A Hierarchy of Criteria Applied to the Transtheoretical Model

Abstract: The most common criteria recommended by philosophers of science for evaluating theories were organised within a hierarchy ranging from the least to the most risky tests for theories of health behavior change. The hierarchy progressed across: (1) Clarity; (2) Consistency; (3) Parsimony; (4) Testable; (5) Predictive Power; (6) Explanatory Power; (7) Productivity; (8) Generalisable; (9) Integration; (10) Utility; (11) Efficacy; and (12) Impact. The hierarchy was applied to the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) as an example of a health behavior change theory. The application was from the perspective of critics and advocates of TTM. Examples of basic and applied research challenging and supporting TTM across the hierarchy of criteria are presented. The goal is to provide a model for comparing alternative theories and to evaluate progress across the hierarchy within a particular theory. As theories meet criteria at each step in the hierarchy, the research and applications they generate can have increasing impacts on the science and practice of health behavior change.

PAHs in air and seawater along a North-South Atlantic transect: Trends, processes and possible sources

Abstract: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were simultaneously measured in air and surface seawater between 49° N and 25° S in the open Atlantic Ocean. Elevated concentrations of PAHs (Σ10 PAHs ≈ 1.4–2.5 ng m−3 air, and 0.7–1 ng L−1 seawater) occurred in the Biscay Bay and off the northwest coast of Africa. The unexpectedly high concentrations off NW Africa were discussed assessing the possible contribution of the emerging oil industry along the African shore, the role of biomass burning and natural sources of PAHs. In the southern Atlantic, concentrations of PAHs were close to detection limits (Σ10 PAHs ≈ 0.02–0.5 ng m−3 air, and 0.06–0.5 ng L−1 seawater) and showed decreasing trends with increasing latitudes. Correlations of PAHs’ partial pressures versus inverse temperature were not significant, in contrast to results for polychlorinated biphenyls from the same transect. This could have been due to the importance of ongoing primary sources and the shorter atmospheric life-times of PAHs. Air–water fugacity...