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Alcohol, Stress, And Sex In The Bed Nucleus Of The Stria Terminalis, Nicholas Burski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) costs the U.S. billions of dollars each year and is a leading cause of preventable death. AUD leads to many health complications, and those who suffer from AUD will often have stress and anxiety disorder comorbidities. To better understand this connection between AUD and stress and anxiety disorders, restraint stress (RS) and chronic-intermittent ethanol exposure (CIE) procedures were used on rats to analyze neuroinflammation via ELISA in the infralimbic and prelimbic cortices, and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST). Levels of proinflammatory cytokines, TNF-α and IL-1β, were found to be elevated across different tests …

Stress, Stress Appraisal And Coping In Athletic Trainers During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Lawson Holton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: There have been many studies conducted on the stress and mental health of frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) over the past months since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Very limited literature has examined the effect of the pandemic on athletic trainers (ATs). Objective: The aim of this investigation was to examine the stress, stress appraisal, and coping measures of ATs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Participants were recruited members from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association (NATA). The Perceived Stress Scale-10 was used to measure stress, the Stress Appraisal Measure was used to measure stress appraisal, and the Brief COPE was used …

University Students Using Physical Activity As A Coping Strategy During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Jory Fulcher

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is the most recent threat to global health (Fauci, Lane, & Redfield, 2020), impacting university students’ mental and physical health. Few studies currently exist that investigate the impact of online learning and COVID-19 have on stress and coping in university students (Bao, 2020; Xiao et al., 2020). Therefore, the purpose of the study was to investigate if students were using physical activity as a coping strategy for stress during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey assessing student stress, physical activity, and coping flexibility was completed by 276 undergraduate students (mean age 21.1 ± 2.7 …

Cortisol In Hair As A Measure Of Chronic Stress During Sow Gestation And The Pattern Of Cortisol In Blood During Parturition In Sows, Talia Everding

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cortisol is known as the stress hormone, as it influences many metabolic processes to maintain glucose homeostasis during stressful experiences, including physical and psychological stress. It can be detected in biological matrices such as blood and hair and is released rapidly during sudden stressors and continuously during longterm stress. Blood cortisol fluctuates rapidly in response to acute stressors like pain, exertion, and fear; in hair cortisol accumulates steadily over the period of hair growth and may be useful for detecting chronically elevated cortisol resulting from long-term stress. The objective of this research was to, 1) determine the influence of a …

Evaluating The Effects Of Yeast Cell Wall Component, Phytochemical Oil, And Vitamin E On Sow Antioxidant Status And Growth Performance Of Dam And Offspring, Lily P. Hernandez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Times of high metabolic activity in gestation and lactation, as well as periods of stress at weaning, can lead to greater incidences of oxidative stress in the dam and offspring during the suckling and post-weaning period. Oxidative stress is an imbalance between prooxidant molecules and the antioxidant defense system that can negatively impact growth and/or reproductive performance. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of a yeast cell wall component (Citristim, ADM Nutrition, Quincy, IL), peppermint oil, and ɣ-tocopherol in gestation and lactation diets to alleviate the impact of oxidative stress on maternal reproductive and offspring growth …

Relationship Of Stress, Sleep, Physical Activity, And Food Insecurity On Eating Behaviors And Obesity, Amy Lee Richards

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is an urgent need to find effective interventions to prevent and reduce obesity as it is associated with chronic disease and decreased quality of life. Gaining a better understanding of how modifiable variables such as stress, sleep, physical activity, and food insecurity are related to eating behaviors associated with obesity is essential to guide the direction of future interventions and research. Interventions that hold promise need to be tested to determine if they have merit or not. This dissertation presents three papers. Two papers are cross-sectional studies evaluating associations between eating behaviors, obesity, and modifiable variables (stress, sleep, physical …

Investigating The Relationship Among Sleep, Stress, And Body Mass Index In At-Risk First-Year College Students, Grace A. Violette

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study objective was to investigate relationships among body mass index (BMI), sleep quality/duration, and perceived stress in 1,176 first semester college students who enrolled in Get Fruved, an 8-state social marketing intervention to prevent unwanted weight gain. Research was limited to first-year college students at-risk for unwanted weight gain. Eligibility was based on self-report of inadequate fruit and vegetable intake and subjects meeting one or more health-risk criteria (e.g., high BMI). Students (mean age=181 years; 65% white) completed physical measurements and an online survey, including the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) (score range 0-21; ˃5=disordered sleep) and the Cohen …

Longitudinal Examination Of Perceived Stress And Depression Symptomology In Division I Student-Athletes, Bobby Daigle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

CONTEXT: Concussions are all too prevalent in amongst athletes. Concussions make up almost 5 percent of all collegiate athletic injuries. Concussions have been linked with many long lasting effects including depression and increased stress or anxiety.

OBJECTIVE: To longitudinally examine post-concussion depression and stress levels in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division 1 athletes.

DESIGN: Descriptive longitudinal study.

SETTING: National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I collegiate athletics.

PARTICIPANTS: Concussed and uninjured Division I collegiate athletes, ages 18-22, competing in football, women’s soccer, baseball, softball, and women’s track.

INTERVENTION(S): Participants completed the CES-D at baseline, 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months …

Effects Of Salinity And Ph Change On The Physiology Of An Estuarine Fish Species, Fundulus Heteroclitus Heteroclitus, Shauna M. Tietze

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sapelo Island, Georgia is a pristine environment characterized by many variable salt marsh habitats. Throughout the island, salinity ranges from freshwater to full strength seawater and acidity levels range from low pH (pH < 4.4) to above neutral (pH > 8). Fundulus heteroclitus (Mummichog) is a resident organism of the salt marsh environment that has evolved coping strategies to withstand fluctuations in temperature, salinity and pH. Field and laboratory studies have shown F. heteroclitus to exhibit broad tolerance of individual environmental stressors; however, there is limited information on their ability to handle multiple stressors simultaneously. The goal of this study was to determine if exposure to low …

The Temporal Nature Of The Acute Stress Response And Its Impact On Explicit Learning, Steven B. Hutchinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Acute stress is commonly experienced by many throughout their lives. Given the demanding lifestyle of many career paths, it's important to gauge the influence of these stressors upon cognitive performance. The present dissertation focus' upon explicit learning in attempts to explore one avenue of the stress-cognition relationship. The Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) was used as a lab stressor for Experiments 1 and 2, in which participants are asked to give a speech and complete a difficult math task in front of 2 evaluators trained to monitor non-verbal behavior. Experiment 1 investigates the dynamic stress response during the minutes following …

Effect Of Stress On Mucin Expression In The Gastrointestinal Tract Of Mice., Bupe Martha Habiyambere

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the effects of chronic stress on mucin expression in the GIT of mice. Sixteen ICR male mice were randomly divided into treated and control animals. Restraint stress was applied to the treated group for 21 days. Body weight (BW) changes and feed consumed (FC) were regularly recorded. After 21 days mice were euthanized and blood, GIT mucosa, and GIT sections were collected. Serum corticosterone levels were determined. The GIT sections were fixed, paraffin embedded, sectioned, and stained with AB-PAS to visualize goblet cells. Mucin expression was determined using qPCR. As expected stressed mice showed higher corticosterone than …

Monitoring A Potentially Stressful Situation In Captive Western Lowland Gorillas (Gorilla Gorilla Gorilla) Through Analysis Of Behavior And Urinary Cortisol, Douglas Skurski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The concept of quantifying animal welfare has received much discussion, in various industries such as agriculture, laboratory, and zoological facilities. Behavioral, physical, and physiological indicators of welfare have previously been used to assess animal welfare; each having advantages and disadvantages, ranging from the practicality of data collection, to the validity of the data and how it is interpreted. Concurrent assessment of multiple measures is a more robust way to examine animal welfare, which utilizes the advantages of each measure, and provides additional information on which to base conclusions and animal care management decisions. This study used measures of behavior and …