Life Sciences Commons^™

Superhero Robotics, Frank Sup, Brian Umberger, Nick Sawyer

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

No abstract provided.

The Physical Activity Tracker Testing In Youth (P.A.T.T.Y.) Study: Content Analysis And Children's Perceptions, Brittany Masteller, John Sirard, Patty Freedson

Kinesiology Department Faculty Publication Series

Background: Activity trackers are widely used by adults and several models are now marketed for children.

Objective: The aims of this study were to (1) perform a content analysis of behavioral change techniques (BCTs) used by three commercially available youth-oriented activity trackers and (2) obtain feedback describing children’s perception of these devices and the associated websites.

Methods: A content analysis recorded the presence of 36 possible BCTs for the MovBand (MB), Sqord (SQ), and Zamzee (ZZ) activity trackers. In addition, 16 participants (mean age 8.6 years [SD 1.6]; 50% female [8/16]) received all three trackers and were oriented to the …

Glucose And Acute Exercise Influence Factors Secreted By Circulating Angiogenic Cells In Vitro, Sarah Witkowski, Gayatri Guhanarayan, Rachel Burgess

Kinesiology Department Faculty Publication Series

Circulating angiogenic cells (CAC) influence vascular repair through the secretion of proangiogenic factors and cytokines. While CAC are deficient in patients with diabetes and exercise has a beneficial effect on CACs, the impact of these factors on paracrine secretion from CAC is unknown. We aimed to determine whether the in vitro secretion of selected cytokines and nitric oxide (NO) from CAC is influenced by hyperglycemia and acute exercise. Colony-forming unit CAC (CFU-CAC) were cultured from young active men (n = 9, 24 ± 2 years) at rest and after exercise under normal (5 mmol/L) and elevated (15 mmol/L) glucose. …

Pericyte Nf-Κb Activation Enhances Endothelial Cell Proliferation And Proangiogenic Cytokine Secretion In Vitro, Katherine E. Labarbera, Robert D. Hyldahl, Kevin S. O'Fallon, Priscilla M. Clarkson, Sarah Witkowski

Kinesiology Department Faculty Publication Series

Pericytes are skeletal muscle resident, multipotent stem cells that are localized to the microvasculature. In vivo, studies have shown that they respond to damage through activation of nuclear-factor kappa-B (NF-κB), but the downstream effects of NF-κB activation on endothelial cell proliferation and cell–cell signaling during repair remain unknown. The purpose of this study was to examine pericyte NF-κB activation in a model of skeletal muscle damage; and use genetic manipulation to study the effects of changes in pericyte NF-κB activation on endothelial cell proliferation and cytokine secretion. We utilized scratch injury to …

Semi-Active Damping For An Intelligent Adaptive Ankle Prosthesis, Andrew K. Lapre

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Modern lower limb prostheses are devices that replace missing limbs, making it possible for lower limb amputees to walk again. Most commercially available prosthetic limbs lack intelligence and passive adaptive capabilities, and none available can adapt on a step by step basis. Often, amputees experience a loss of terrain adaptability as well as stability, leaving the amputee with a severely altered gait. This work is focused on the development of a semi-active damping system for use in intelligent terrain adaptive ankle prostheses. The system designed consists of an optimized hydraulic cylinder with an electronic servo valve which throttles the hydraulic …

Impact Of Mental Toughness Training On Psychological And Physical Predictors Of Illness And Injury, Aisha Visram

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Intense training for prolonged periods of time without adequate recovery can result in psychological problems and increased susceptibility to illness and injury in collegiate athletes. The Cognitive-Affective Model of Athletic Burnout (Smith, 1986), a framework for understanding the relationships among stressors, identifies cognitive appraisal as the mediating factor between negative or positive health outcomes, and therefore could be a target of interventions to reduce overtraining, burnout, injury, and illness. Mental toughness, the ability to perform at one’s best regardless of the circumstances, is a modifiable psychological construct that may influence cognitive appraisal. Altering an athlete’s interpretation of stressful situations through …

Providing Further Construct Validity For A Newly Developed Functional-Living Measure: The Movement And Activity In Physical Space (Maps) Score, Andrea M. Morand

Masters Theses 1911 - February 2014

Older adults face many age-related changes affecting functional ability. Function is defined as the interaction between a person and their real-world environment. Currently, no objective measures of function exist assessing the environmental component. A newly-developed measure of functional-living, the Movement and Activity in Physical Space (MAPS) score, combines accelerometer and geospatial data providing quantitative measurement of real-world function. Because MAPS is a new measure of functional-living, the purpose of the current study was to provide further construct validity for MAPS as a functional-living measure in older adults and to determine what combination of 3 days, using weekend and week days, …