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Effects Of Protein Timing And Energy Balance On Body Composition In Collegiate Athletes, Ashley Licata
Effects Of Protein Timing And Energy Balance On Body Composition In Collegiate Athletes, Ashley Licata
All ETDs from UAB
The current literature indicates that energy balance and protein consumption influence body composition. However, the effects of protein intake, timed protein supplementation, and energy balance on body composition have not yet been fully investigated in collegiate athletes. The purpose of this research was to assess collegiate athletes using hourly food and exercise data to examine how protein timing and energy balance relate to body composition. Aims 1 and 2 focus on collegiate female soccer athletes and further our understanding of the potential roles that protein amount and frequency and hourly energy balance play in optimizing fat mass and fat-free mass. …
The Strategy Of Federally Qualified Health Centers: The Influence Of Context And Performance Implications, Seongwon Choi
The Strategy Of Federally Qualified Health Centers: The Influence Of Context And Performance Implications, Seongwon Choi
All ETDs from UAB
The three papers included in this dissertation attempt to provide empirical evidence on the relationship among strategies employed by Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), the contextual factors and consequent performance. The findings of these studies contribute to the existing body of literature on FQHC strategies and performance. In addition, the findings also provide key practical implications to FQHC managers as well as policymakers. Overall, the results of this dissertation suggest that the FQHC strategy on spatial differentiation is associated with a set of organizational and environmental factors. However, there was little support for the relationship between Medicaid expansion and FQHC …
Obesity In People With Spinal Cord Injury: Secondary Data Analysis Of National Spinal Cord Injury Database, Huacong Wen
Obesity In People With Spinal Cord Injury: Secondary Data Analysis Of National Spinal Cord Injury Database, Huacong Wen
All ETDs from UAB
People with disabilities are 1.5-2.5 times more likely to be obese than those without disabling conditions. We have learned a lot about obesity in the general population. However, the neurological deficits of people with spinal cord injury (SCI) make it difficult to generalize the findings in the general population to the SCI population. Therefore, the purposes of this dissertation were to 1) assess racial differences in body mass index (BMI) change over 5 years; 2) evaluate the role of neighborhood in the relationship between race and obesity; 3) examine the impact of BMI at the time of injury on 1-year …
Competitive Strategies Of Hospitals: Antecedents And Association With Financial Performance, Akbar Ghiasi
Competitive Strategies Of Hospitals: Antecedents And Association With Financial Performance, Akbar Ghiasi
All ETDs from UAB
In this three-paper dissertation, first, we examined the relationship between strategic group membership and hospital financial performance in terms of operating margin. The results revealed the important role of strategy on financial performance of a hospital. In the second paper, organizational and environmental antecedents of hospital’s business strategy choice were studied. The results showed that environmental and organizational factors may predict the business strategy choice of hospitals. The third paper investigated the moderating effect of environmental instability on the relationship between strategic group membership and financial performance. Environmental instability does not strongly affect the relationship between hospital strategic group membership …
Using Behavioral Health Data From A Health Information Exchange: An Examination Of Facilitators And Barriers, Randyl Cochran
Using Behavioral Health Data From A Health Information Exchange: An Examination Of Facilitators And Barriers, Randyl Cochran
All ETDs from UAB
Behavioral health disorders are common, and they frequently co-occur with chronic physical illnesses. Behavioral health patients with chronic physical illnesses are three times more likely to be readmitted to the hospital within 30 days of discharge than non-behavioral health patients. Readmissions among behavioral health patients are costly: $817 million in readmissions costs are related to mood and psychiatric disorders. High readmission rates are attributed, in part, to poor exchange of health-related information between various care providers. Health information exchanges (HIEs) are effective in chronic disease management, but their effectiveness in integrated care delivery is unclear. This study examined facilitators of …
Effects Of Differential Fore Aft Resistance On Propulsive Force Generation During Walking In Nonimpaired And Poststroke Individuals, Avantika Naidu
Effects Of Differential Fore Aft Resistance On Propulsive Force Generation During Walking In Nonimpaired And Poststroke Individuals, Avantika Naidu
All ETDs from UAB
Background: Impaired paretic limb-loading dynamics and force-generation ability due to hemiparesis are partially responsible for permanent locomotor deficits poststroke. During walking, inability of the paretic limb to generate sufficient propulsive-forces causes reliance on compensatory strategies, wherein the nonparetic limb generates the majority of propulsive-forces needed for forward progression and speed modulation. Purpose: To investigate factors that can improve paretic limb propulsion and walking function, I present four studies. The first pertains to a protocol for a poststroke body-weight-support treadmill-training (BWSTT) study, while the others concern a mechanistic exploration of propulsive-force generation during walking against combined and differential FA resistance. Methods: …
Physical Activity Promotion Among Adolescents With Pediatric Onset Multiple Sclerosis, Elizabeth Morghen Sikes
Physical Activity Promotion Among Adolescents With Pediatric Onset Multiple Sclerosis, Elizabeth Morghen Sikes
All ETDs from UAB
Pediatric onset multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic and disabling disease of the central nervous system with an onset before 18 years of age. Youth with pediatric onset MS may benefit from physical activity as evidenced by past research suggestsing higher levels of physical activity are associated with reduced physical and psychosocial disease manifestations. Unfortunately, published estimates of physical activity participation among those with pediatric onset MS are very low (<10 min/day). This dissertation aimed to describe the current literature regarding physical activity among youth with pediatric MS, and to further explore experiences, patterns, correlates, and potential confounders of physical activity for the ultimate purpose of informing future behavior change interventions. Results are presented through five single study chapters. Briefly, interventions developed to promote physical activity for adolescents with pediatric onset MS should be individually tailored, include a strong social component, aim to educate regarding safety and outcomes of physical activity, and differentially target weekday and weekend day activity and sedentary behavior. Social cognitive theory (SCT) is an appropriate method for promoting physical activity behavior change among youth with pediatric onset MS, and SCT constructs including exercise goal setting, barriers self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and social support should be incorporated in the intervention as appropriate. Further, physical activity is seemingly an appropriate method for the management of functional limitations for youth with pediatric onset MS. Clinicians and researchers seeking to promote physical activity among those with pediatric onset MS may find this dissertation especially useful in providing a framework for the development of behavior change interventions.
Provider-Sponsored Health Plans In The Post-Reform Era, Katherine Ann Meese
Provider-Sponsored Health Plans In The Post-Reform Era, Katherine Ann Meese
All ETDs from UAB
The rise and fall of managed care in the 1980s and 1990s saw many hospitals and health systems in the United States enter and subsequently exit the health insurance market in the form of provider-sponsored health plans (PSHP). The passage and implementation of the legislation such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) and the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) has ushered in an era of value-based reimbursement methods and a heightened focus on population health management, which has stimulated health care organizations to contemplate health plan ownership as a logical strategy. This study examined market …
Three Essays In Hospital Financial Distress: Prediction, Antecedents And Organizational Response, Neeraj Avinash Puro
Three Essays In Hospital Financial Distress: Prediction, Antecedents And Organizational Response, Neeraj Avinash Puro
All ETDs from UAB
The following essays examine the financial distress in acute care hospitals in the United States. The first essay examines the accuracy of prediction models of financial distress, the second explores the factors associated with financial distress and the third essay examines organizational response to financial distress. The first essay compares the predictive ability of three financial distress prediction models: modified Altman Z score (1993), Ohlson O score (1980) and Zmijewski (1984) to more accurately predict financial distress in U.S acute care hospitals. Building on the first essay, the second essay uses the most accurate predictive model to examine acute care …
Significance Of Acculturation, Assimilation, And Allostatic Load As Risk Factors For Obesity Among Hispanics, Yenni Elvia Cedillo
Significance Of Acculturation, Assimilation, And Allostatic Load As Risk Factors For Obesity Among Hispanics, Yenni Elvia Cedillo
All ETDs from UAB
Obesity has increased during the last two decades in the United States (U.S.) and is considered a major risk factor for chronic diseases within the Hispanic community. The burden of obesity in Hispanics is associated with higher rates of morbidity and mortality and an increase in healthcare costs. Hispanics’ challenges after migration extend to subsequent generations, putting the population at risk for disease development. Specifically, migration can lead to the adoption of health behaviors, beliefs, values, and language of the host country, a process known as acculturation, which has been associated with changes in health behaviors. Among the Hispanic population, …
Effects Of A Ketogenic Diet On Body Composition, Metabolic Health, And Quality Of Life In Ovarian And Endometrial Cancer Patients, Caroline Whitney Cohen
Effects Of A Ketogenic Diet On Body Composition, Metabolic Health, And Quality Of Life In Ovarian And Endometrial Cancer Patients, Caroline Whitney Cohen
All ETDs from UAB
Ketogenic diets (KDs) have garnered considerable research attention in recent years, having been investigated as a therapy for neurologic, metabolic, and even dermatologic diseases. Recent research has also focused on KDs as a potential intervention for cancer, with preclinical studies demonstrating profound effects such as inhibiting tumor growth, enhancing the effects of radiation and chemotherapy, and prolonging survival. However, to date few studies have been conducted in cancer patients. In order to determine if KDs might augment existing cancer treatment protocols, additional research is needed. Accordingly, the objective of this project was to conduct the first randomized, controlled trial examining …
Postpartum Body Composition And Breast Milk Hormones, Camille Schneider
Postpartum Body Composition And Breast Milk Hormones, Camille Schneider
All ETDs from UAB
The prevalence of both adult and child obesity continues to rise. Children born to mothers with obesity have a greater risk for future obesity and chronic disease. There is an increasing body of literature suggesting that pregnancy and infancy are critical periods influencing the child’s risk for obesity. However, little is known about whether consumption of breast milk from an obese mother might influence the child’s metabolic programming and growth. The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the association of maternal adiposity with insulin and leptin in breast milk and, in turn, whether breast milk insulin, leptin, and glucose …