Physiology Commons^™

Determining The Optimal Combination Of Lifting Method And Intensity For Power Production During The Hang Clean 2016, Thomas P. Murray

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the optimal combination of lifting method and load intensity for power production during the hang clean. Twenty college students (18 male, 2 female) performed one set of three repetitions of the hang clean at four different intensities for each method while standing on a force platform embedded in the floor. Intensities were set at 50%, 60%, 70%, and 80% 1RM and the methods tested were Contact, where the participant maintained contact with the force platform throughout the lift, and Jump, where the participant jumped through the pull phase of the lift and …

The Effect Of Descriptive Norms On Resistance Exercise Self-Efficacy In College-Aged Females 2016, Justin Kompf

Master's Theses

Resistance training is a form of physical activity that provides substantial health benefits. Despite these widespread benefits, participation in resistance training is considerably low, particularly among females. To engage in a skill-related activity such as resistance training, individuals need to have confidence in their abilities. Self-efficacy is a cognitive construct that is used to describe situation-specific self-confidence. Descriptive norms are a type of social norm that describes the behavior of others. Descriptive norms have been useful in positively changing health related behaviors. The exact mechanism of how descriptive norms alter behavior is unknown. However, it has been show in research …

Do Running Kinematics Change On The Alter-G Treadmill? [2016], Brittany Lavaute

Master's Theses

The Alter-G lower body positive pressure treadmill, also known as the antigravity treadmill, provides a unique means of exercising for rehabilitation patients and low-impact training in athletes. The purpose of this study was to examine the interaction effect of four different treadmill weighted conditions and three different running velocities (2.68 m.s-1, 3.13 m.s-1, and 3.58 m.s-1) on the kinematic variables of step length, step rate, contact time, and flight time on the Alter-G treadmill (AG) and on the regular treadmill (TM). Fifteen participants completed two separate days of testing. All individuals ran at four different conditions (100%, 80%, 60%, and …

Transition Between Phases Of The Annual Cycle: Spring Migration To Breeding In Nearctic-Neotropical Songbirds, Kristen Marie Covino

Dissertations

Appropriate timing of each life-history stage is crucial for seasonally migratory species. The temporal constraints faced by migratory songbirds require that they overlap preparation for breeding with spring migration. However, previous work has focused primarily on male birds and has produced inconsistent results regarding the degree of overlap between these two life-history stages. I study the degree to which migrating male and female songbirds prepare for breeding throughout spring migration as they move towards their breeding grounds. Overall, male migrants show a significant degree of breeding preparation during spring migration as determined by circulating testosterone levels and their ability to …

Growth And Productivity Of Irrigated Rice (Oryza Sativa L.) For A Tropical High Altitude Environment In Rwanda, Elie Rene Gasore

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Yield components, grain yield, biomass and plant N accumulation, and N fertilizer responses of irrigated rice (Oryza sativa, L.) were evaluated for a tropical inland valley environment in the high altitudes in Rwanda. Effects were measured for nitrogen (N) fertilizer rate (0, 60, 90,120,150,180 kg N ha-1), season, growth stage and cultivar of different subspecies and plant types during 2012 dry season (DS) and 2013 wet season (WS) at Cyili Rice Research Farm (1380 m above sea level). Variations in irradiance (17.2± 0.32 MJ m-2 day-1 in DS and 9.4 ± 0.66 MJ m-2 day-1in WS) were linked to seasonal …

The Effects Of Hypohydration On Neurocognitive, Balance, Vestibular Ocular Motor Functions And Mood State, Satoshi Iida

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Inconsistent findings have been observed on the impact of hydration state on cognitive functions. The isolated effect of hypohydration on neurocognitive performance, balance, vestibular ocular motor function and mood outcomes in widely used concussion assessment tools has not been studied. The purpose of this study was to investigate how hypohydration affected the results in concussion testing batteries. A single-blind randomized crossover design was used. Thirteen healthy males (22 ± 4y, 180.9 ± 5.7cm) without history of concussion within the past six months or any condition or disease that could influence outcome measurements participated in this study. Each subject completed concussion …

Response Of Leukocyte Profiles To Corticosterone Manipulation In The Prairie Rattlesnake (Crotalus Viridus), Jill E. Guillette

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Prior work has shown that when animals are stressed they have altered leukocyte profiles. The use of leukocyte profiles could provide an inexpensive and efficient method for determining stress. Here we present a validation of the use of leukocyte profiles for showing induced stress in Prairie Rattlesnakes (Crotalus viridus). Snakes (N=19) with masses ranging from 682g to 137g were used in a repeated measures design to examine the effect of hormone manipulation on leukocyte profiles. During each trial snakes were dosed with either corticosterone and sesame oil (1.1µg/g) or only sesame oil. Prior to dosing, baseline blood samples …

Validation Of The Use Of Doubly Labeled Water For Measuring Metabolic Rate In Timber Rattlesnakes (Crotalus Horridus), Caitlin Hirsh

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

The doubly labeled water method is an isotopic technique for measuring field metabolic rate and water flux rates of free-living animals. We present a validation of the use doubly labeled water for measuring metabolic rate and water loss in Timber Rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus). For this study seven animals of varying body size were used with masses ranging from 148 to 650 grams. Prior to dosing, blood samples were taken to establish background isotope levels for each animal. Snakes were injected with water enriched with isotopes of oxygen (18O) and hydrogen (2H, deuterium). The injected isotopes were then allowed to equilibrate …

Development Of Vip-Sst Interneuron Associations In Mouse Neocortex And Entorhinal Cortex, Aayushi A. Mehta

Honors Scholar Theses

Cortical networks depend upon inhibition through the neurotransmitter GABA to control and coordinate specific spatiotemporal circuit patterns, underlying the exquisite complexity of neural signaling. Disinhibition, a form of inhibition where inhibitory neurons inhibit other inhibitory cells, further aids in amplifying local neural processing in a selective, organized manner. A subset of GABAergic interneurons, vasoactive intestinal peptide-expressing (VIP) cells, preferentially inhibit somatostatin interneurons, which provide inhibitory input onto pyramidal cells, thus creating an archetypal circuit illustrating disinhibition in the cortex. The aim of this anatomical study was to investigate variations in GABAergic VIP synapses onto somatostatin-expressing inhibitory interneurons in mice at …

Genetic Variation In Long-Term And Short-Term Physiological Changes In Daphnia Magna During Acclimation To High Temperature, Bret L. Coggins

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The aquatic zooplankton crustacean Daphnia magna must be able to tolerate thermal stress in order to survive their native shallow ponds that are susceptible to drastic seasonal and diurnal temperature fluctuations as well as to globally increasing temperatures. Survival in such variable environments requires plastic responses that must include fundamental aspects of Daphnia biochemistry and physiology. Adaptive response to selection favoring such plastic phenotypes requires the presence of genetic variation for plastic response in natural populations. Adverse effects of elevated temperature on aquatic organisms are diverse and so are their plastic responses; among the most severe challenges aquatic organisms face …

The Effect Of Transformed Escherichia Coli On The Mouse Intestine Microbiome: The Microbial Metabolic Enhancement Hypothesis, Bryar P. Kader

Senior Honors Theses

Metabolic disorders affect around thirty-four percent of the population in the United States. Among these disorders is lactose intolerance, which results from diminished production of the human lactase enzyme. This disorder and others like it are genetically determined and cannot be cured. However, the use of transformed bacteria implanted in the colon may provide a means by which the faulty pathway can be bypassed. To test whether transformed bacteria have the capability to aid in the digestion of normally indigestible compounds, a transformed strain of Escherichia coli overexpressing the beta-galactosidase enzyme encoded by the lacZ gene was colonized in the …

Effects Of Sport-Specific Training Conditions On Performance In High School Field Hockey Players., Alexandra Hannah Roberts

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many sports (e.g. field hockey, lacrosse, ice hockey) require the use of a mouthguard (MG) and the constraint of carrying a stick during play. Previous research has shown that these two conditions individually can cause decrements to athletic performance; however no research has been conducted into effect of the combination of these two conditions on both aerobic and anaerobic performance parameters. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of both chronic (during all conditioning) and acute MG and stick (MG-STK) use on aerobic fitness and anaerobic capacity over the course of a 12-week training and competition …

Mini Series Presentations, Robert L. Moody Iv, Natasha S. Natraj

Senior Year Experience Student Projects

For the month of March, we implemented a mini education program at both EmblemHealth sites to engage, educate and empower members of the fitness center and weight management program. The program was designed to be fifteen minutes in length, allowing for more sessions over the course of 3 hours with one session a week alternating between topics. Upon survey evaluation of the 60 participants, they reported satisfaction with the overall program and validated the worth of EmblemHealth’s Fitness Center. The survey also showed that 10 out of 10 participants recognized sitting disease as a primary health concern after the presentation, …

Na/K-Atpase Amplification Of Oxidant Stress; A Universal But Unrecognized Clinical Target?, Joseph I. Shapiro Md

Joseph I Shapiro MD

Schematic showing Na/K‐ATPase as reactive oxygen species (ROS) amplifier system. CTS‐cardiotonic steroids, Orange dimer is Na/K‐ATPase. pNaKtide refers to peptide formed from epitope of Na/K‐ATPase a1 subunit known to bind Src tyrosine kinase fused with TAT leader sequence.

Elevational Variation In Body-Temperature Response To Immune Challenge In A Lizard, Francisco Javier Zamora-Camacho, Senda Reguera, Gregorio Moreno-Rueda

Dartmouth Scholarship

Immunocompetence benefits animal fitness by combating pathogens, but also entails some costs. One of its main components is fever, which in ectotherms involves two main types of costs: energy expenditure and predation risk. Whenever those costs of fever outweigh its benefits, ectotherms are expected not to develop fever, or even to show hypothermia, reducing costs of thermoregulation and diverting the energy saved to other components of the immune system. Environmental thermal quality, and therefore the thermoregulation cost/benefit balance, varies geographically. Hence, we hypothesize that, in alpine habitats, immune-challenged ectotherms should show no thermal response, given that (1) hypothermia would be …

The Influence Of Canine Aggression And Behavioral Treatment On Heart Rate Variability, Lydia Craig

Psychology Honors Projects

Dog aggression affects many, with nearly 5 million dog bites reported yearly in the United States alone. With the physical, emotional, and monetary costs of bites, it is of considerable interest to identify dogs that are likely to bite. One physiological measure that might serve as an index of aggression is heart rate variability (HRV), which refers to vagally mediated beat-to-beat change in heart rate. Low HRV has been associated with impaired emotional and behavioral regulation and stress in both humans and animals. To assess whether this measure corresponds with aggression in dogs, resting HRV was measured for dogs with …

Novel Compound Heterozygous Mutations Expand The Recognized Phenotypes Of Fars2-Linked Disease, Melissa A. Walker, Kyle Mohler, Kyle W. Hopkins, Derek H. Oakley, David A. Sweetser, Michael Ibba, Matthew P. Frosch, Ronald L. Thibert

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Mutations in mitochondrial aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases are an increasingly recognized cause of human diseases, often arising in individuals with compound heterozygous mutations and presenting with system-specific phenotypes, frequently neurologic. FARS2 encodes mitochondrial phenylalanyl transfer ribonucleic acid (RNA) synthetase (mtPheRS), perturbations of which have been reported in 6 cases of an infantile, lethal disease with refractory epilepsy and progressive myoclonus. Here the authors report the case of juvenile onset refractory epilepsy and progressive myoclonus with compound heterozygous FARS2 mutations. The authors describe the clinical course over 6 years of care at their institution and diagnostic studies including electroencephalogram (EEG), brain magnetic resonance …

Designing A Mobile Space Habitat Analog, Victor Kitmanyen, Matthew Burkhard, Timothy Disher

Human Factors and Applied Psychology Student Conference

No abstract provided.

Factors Affecting The Immune System Of The Ornate Box Turtle (Terrapene Ornata), Michelle W. Mcquinn, Abigail A. Neyer, Gwendolyn C. Bachman

UCARE Research Products

While many studies have detailed the complex intricacies of the endothermic immune system, relatively little is known about the immune system of ectotherms--specifically, reptiles. In an attempt to gain more knowledge about the factors affecting reptilian immune function, ornate box turtles (Terrapene ornata) were subjected to chronic stress in the form of high ambient temperatures in a semi-natural environment. It was hypothesized that chronic stress would lead to elevated levels of corticosterone in the blood, which would, in turn, suppress immune activity. It was found that body temperature and body mass in particular were significantly affected by chronic heat stress. …

Clinical Methods To Quantify Trunk Mobility In An Elite Male Surfing Population, James Furness, Michael Climstein, Jeremy Sheppard, Allan Abbott, Wayne Hing

Allan D. Abbott

Background

Thoracic mobility in the sagittal and horizontal planes are key requirements in the sport of surfing; however to date the normal values of these movements have not yet been quantified in a surfing population.

Objectives

To develop a reliable method to quantify thoracic mobility in the sagittal plane; to assess the reliability of an existing thoracic rotation method, and quantify thoracic mobility in an elite male surfing population.

Design

Clinical Measurement, reliability and comparative study.

Methods

A total of 30 subjects were used to determine the reliability component. 15 elite surfers were used as part of a comparative analysis …