Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Influence Of Dietary Variety And Course Sequence On Fruit Intake In Preschool-Aged Children, Chelsi Celcilia Cardoso

Masters Theses

Background: Fruit and vegetable (F&V) intake in preschool-aged children remains below recommendations. As the environment can affect food consumption, this study tested the effects of two environmental factors, dietary variety and course sequence, on fruit and overall intake of a snack in preschool-aged children. Methods: Using a 2 x 2 x 2 design (between-subjects factor of order and the within-subjects factors of dietary variety and courses), 16 children (4.1 + 0.7 years of age, 56.3% female, 75.0% White, 93.8% non-Hispanic or Latino, and 0.5 + 1.3 BMI z-score) from 2 preschool classrooms (classroom 1 [n = 7] and …

Autoimmune-Mediated Beta-Cell Death & Dysfunction: Potential Role Of Signaling Through The Fas Receptor, Carlie Joelle Frydman

Masters Theses

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is an endocrine disorder that continues to afflict a growing proportion of the U.S. population. Characterized by an autoimmune attack on the pancreatic [beta] cells that leads to their destruction, T1DM develops from absolute insulin deficiency resulting in chronic hyperglycemia. Although the disease requires lifelong insulin therapy and confers enhanced risk for long-term complications, the mechanism of [beta] cell death remains unclear. Fas receptor signaling is critical among cells of hematopoietic origin for its role in immune homeostasis and mediation of target cell death. Fas receptor-ligand interactions might also have a role in [beta] cell …

Biomechanical Differences Of Two Common Football Movement Tasks In Studded And Non-Studded Shoe Conditions On Infilled Synthetic Turf, Elizabeth Anne Brock

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to examine kinematic and kinetic differences in three shoe conditions (traditional football shoes with natural and synthetic turf studs and a neutral running shoe) during two common football movements (a 180° cut and a land-cut movement) on infilled synthetic turf. Fourteen recreational male football players performed five trials in all three shoe conditions for a 180° cut as well as a land-cut maneuver. The kinematic and kinetic variables were analyzed with a 3 x 2 (shoe x movement) repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA, p<0.05). Peak free moment was significantly greater for the land-cut trials (p<0.001). Vertical GRFs were significantly greater for the land-cut trials (p<0.001). A cleat x movement interaction was seen for time to vertical impact GRF (p=0.048). A cleat main effect was found for time to vertical impact between natural turf cleat and synthetic turf cleat (p=0.019). Vertical loading rate was significantly greater in land-cut trials. Peak medial GRFs showed a significant cleat x movement interaction (p=0.002). The results from this study suggest that land-cut movement elicit greater vertical GRF and vertical impact loadings rates. The running shoe had significantly less dorsiflexion range of motion (ROM) than the synthetic turf studs. A significant cleat main effect was found for peak eversion velocity (p=0.005). Post hoc comparisons showed that it was significantly smaller in shoe than that natural turf stud (p=0.016) and synthetic turf stud (p=0.002). In general, there was a lack of differences between the shoe conditions for GRFs and kinematic variables. For the 180° cut movement, natural turf studs produced lowest peak medial GRF compared to the synthetic turf studs and the shoe. The results from this study suggest that land-cut movement elicit greater vertical GRF and vertical impact loadings rates. In general, there was a lack of differences of GRFs and kinematic variables between the shoe conditions. For the 180° cut movement, natural turf studs produced lowest peak medial GRF compared to the synthetic turf studs and the shoe. Overall, increased GRFs, especially in combination with rapid change of direction and deceleration may increase the chance of injury.

Active Video Gaming Compared To Unstructured, Outdoor Play In Children: Measurements Of Estimated Energy Expenditure And Measured Percent Time In Moderate-To-Vigorous Physical Activity, Susan Brittin Macarthur

Masters Theses

It is recommended that children and adolescents participate in > 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) per day. Despite the current recommendations and positive health benefits, many children and adolescents still do not engage in regular physical activity (PA).

One challenge for assisting children in becoming more active is sedentary screen-based activities (SBAs), such as watching television (TV), using computers, and playing sedentary video games (VGs), as SBAs may compete with time for being physically active in children. One modification to sedentary VGs that may increase PA in children is to alter them so that the VGs actually provide an …

Helmet Use Among Outdoor Recreational Rock Climbers Across Disciplines: Factors Of Use And Non-Use., Kevin Henri Hogan Soleil

Masters Theses

The use of helmets in outdoor recreational rock climbing is a risk management practice meant to offer some protection to climbers in the event of falls and falling objects. Helmets are used inconsistently across many disciplines of rock climbing including top-rope, sport lead, traditional lead and belay. Though climbing accidents involving head injuries are rare, many tend to be severe. The purpose of this study was to assess the rate at which helmets are being used, discover the most significant personal and environmental factors that influence use and non-use and differences between disciplines. The study surveys (N = 1481) …

Latin Hypercube Sampling And Partial Rank Correlation Coefficient Analysis Applied To An Optimal Control Problem, Boloye Gomero

Masters Theses

Latin Hypercube Sampling/Partial Rank Correlation Coefficient (LHS/PRCC) sensitivity analysis is an efficient tool often employed in uncertainty analysis to explore the entire parameter space of a model. Despite the usefulness of LHS/PRCC sensitivity analysis in studying the sensitivity of a model to the parameter values used in the model, no study has been done that fully integrates Latin Hypercube sampling with optimal control analysis.

In this thesis, we couple the optimal control numerical procedure to the LHS/PRCC procedure and perform a simultaneous examination of the effects of all the LHS parameter on the objective functional value. To test the effectiveness …

Accuracy Of Physical Activity Monitors In Persons With Class Iii Obesity, Matthew Gregory Browning

Masters Theses

Background Small, wearable monitors are widely used to assess physical activity (PA) in obesity treatment programs ranging from lifestyle interventions to post-bariatric surgical programs. Although wearable monitors can overcome the recall biases often associated with self-reports, the accuracy of these devices may be impacted by anthropometric measures, mode of PA, and wear location. Thus, it is important to examine the accuracy of objective PA monitors during commonly performed activities such as walking.

Methods Fifteen individuals with class III obesity completed a self-paced 6-minute walk while wearing the StepWatch 3 (SW3), Omron, Digiwalker (DW), SenseWear Pro 2 Armband (SWA), and Fitbit …

Assessment Of Physical Activity Levels Of Elementary School Students Participating In The Mornings In Motion Program, Andrew Michael Howard

Masters Theses

Purpose: To objectively assess the physical activity levels of students during three different time blocks on days when the Mornings in Motion before-school activity program is offered, and on days when it is not. Methods: Subjects were 69 elementary school children (8.5 ± 1.9 years) who were all apparently healthy. Subjects were all enrolled in the Mornings in Motion before-school physical activity program that was offered on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The program focuses on health related fitness through the implementation of aerobic activities, stretching to improve overall flexibility, as well as calisthenics to build muscular strength and endurance. Physical …

Organizational Cultural Competence Assessment Of Health-Related Academic Units, Alviony Febrina Pangloli

Masters Theses

The US is increasingly becoming more diverse; however, racial and ethnic minorities are more likely to experience health disparities and poor health outcomes. To better respond to the needs of diverse populations, cultural competence training for future health professionals is needed. Important to the cultural competence of individuals is organizational cultural competence. Models and recommendations have been developed to apply cultural competence education and training formally in government agencies, health care organizations, and academia. An example of such a model in academia is the Dotson Organizational Cultural Competence Model for Health-Related Academic Units, which consists of 4 domains (organizational accountability, …

Er-Localized Lull1 Function Is Required For The Abnormal Inm Concentration Of Disease-Related Delta-E Torsina, Kristen Nicole Holbrook

Masters Theses

DYT1 dystonia is an autosomal dominant neurological disease caused by a single amino acid deletion in the protein torsinA, resulting in expression of a mutant ΔE [delta E] torsinA isoform in DYT1 patients. Research has consistently found ΔE [delta E] torsinA abnormally concentrated in the nuclear envelope (NE) lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and this has led to the hypothesis NE accumulation of ΔE [delta E] torsinA may underlie disease pathogenesis.

We first investigated where and how ΔE [delta E] NE accumulation occurs. We found that ΔE [delta E] torsinA accumulates at the inner nuclear membrane (INM) NE subdomain. …