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The Effects Of Calorie Information Disclosures On Food Choice And Retailer-Related Outcomes, Christopher Berry

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Federal legislation will begin requiring the provision of calorie information on the menus and menu boards of restaurants and other retail food establishments with 20 or more locations in May 2018. Food retailers not included in this mandate can choose to voluntarily provide calorie information to consumers. However, there are concerns that this major policy change will not have the desired widespread positive effects on consumer choice behavior. Further, although proponents of calorie labeling argue that consumers have the right to know the calorie content of their food orders, many food retailers have argued that calorie labeling is too expensive …

Assessing The Sustainability Of Waiwai Subsistence Hunting In Guyana With Implications For Co-Management In Amazonian Indigenous Reserves, Christopher Shaffer, Charakura Yukuma, Elisha Marawanaru, Phillip Suse

Open Access Publishing Support Funded Articles

While bushmeat hunting is critical to the livelihoods of millions of people throughout the tropical world, it is also a major threat to wildlife conservation. Assessing the sustainability of hunting has been a major goal in conservation biology but developing methods that accurately predict patterns of prey depletion has proven notoriously problematic. In this study, we sought to assess the sustainability of the hunting of indigenous Waiwai in Guyana by comparing results from the most commonly used static sustainability index, the production model, with results from spatially explicit biodemographic models for three indicator species; tapirs Tapirus terrestris, spider monkeys …

Promoting Gastrointestinal Health And Decreasing Inflammation With Whole Grains In Comparison To Fruit And Vegetables Through Clinical Interventions And In Vitro Tests, Julianne Kopf

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The incidence of metabolic syndrome and its side effects are increasing throughout the world. Diet plays a key role in reducing the risk of metabolic syndrome, possibly mediated by metabolic activity of the gut microbiota. Whole grains (WG) and fruits and vegetables (FV) are two food groups that are commonly promoted for their ability to reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome. However, these two food groups provide vastly different nutrients that likely impact health via different mechanisms. Therefore, the primary objective of this research was to determine the impact of consuming recommended amounts of whole grains and fruit and vegetables …

Validation Of Extrusion Processing For The Safety Of Low-Moisture Foods, Tushar Verma

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Salmonella in low-moisture foods is an emerging challenge due to numerous food product recalls and foodborne illness outbreaks. The new Food Safety Modernization Act requires the food processors to validate their process controls that indeed kills the desired number of bacteria. This research had two major objectives: 1) Develop a response surface model for Salmonella inactivation during the extrusion of low-moisture food 2) Evaluate the use of Enterococcus faecium NRRL B-2354 as an adequate surrogate for Salmonella during the extrusion of low-moisture food. Oat flour was selected as a low-moisture food model. For inoculation, cocktail of five different strains of …

Body Composition At Birth And Its Relationship With Neonatal Anthropometric Ratios: The Newborn Body Composition Study Of The Intergrowth-21st Project, José Villar, Fabien A. Puglia, Tanis R. Fenton, Leila Cheikh Ismail, Eleonora Staines-Urias, Francesca Giuliani, Eric O. Ohuma, Cesar G. Victora, Peter Sullivan, Fernando C. Barros, Ann Lambert, Aris T. Papageorghiou, R. Ochieng, Yasmin A. Jaffer, Douglas G. Altman, Alison J. Noble, Michael G. Gravett, Manorama Purwar, Ruyan Pang, Ricardo Uauy, Stephen H. Kennedy, Zulfiqar A. Bhutta

Paediatrics and Child Health, East Africa

Background: We aimed to describe newborn body composition and identify which anthropometric ratio (weight/length; BMI; or ponderal index, PI) best predicts fat mass (FM) and fat-free mass (FFM).

Methods: Air-displacement plethysmography (PEA POD) was used to estimate FM, FFM, and body fat percentage (BF%). Associations between FFM, FM, and BF% and weight/length, BMI, and PI were evaluated in 1,019 newborns using multivariate regression analysis. Charts for FM, FFM, and BF% were generated using a prescriptive subsample (n = 247). Standards for the best-predicting anthropometric ratio were calculated utilizing the same population used for the INTERGROWTH-21st Newborn Size Standards (n = …

Using Neonatal Skin To Study The Developmental Programming Of Aging, Leryn J. Reynolds, Brett J. Dickens, Benjamin B. Green, Carmen J. Marsit, Kevin J. Pearson

Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences Faculty Publications

Numerous studies have examined how both negative and positive maternal exposures (environmental contaminants, nutrition, exercise, etc.) impact offspring risk for age-associated diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and others. The purpose of this study was to introduce the foreskin as a novel model to examine developmental programming in human neonates, particularly in regard to adipogenesis and insulin receptor signaling, major contributors to age-associated diseases such as obesity and diabetes. Neonatal foreskin was collected following circumcision and primary dermal fibroblasts were isolated to perform adipocyte differentiation and insulin stimulation experiments. Human neonatal foreskin primary fibroblasts take up lipid when …

Regulation Of Haplid Phenotypes In Ustilago Maydis By Ammonium Transporters And Components Of The B Mating Locus., Rena Margaret Wallen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Fungi that can switch from budding to a filamentous infectious state have evolved mating type loci. Ustilago maydis, the maize pathogen, must mate with compatible partners possessing different alleles at two mating type loci for successful host infection. The a locus encodes pheromones and receptors, while the b locus encodes subunits of a heterodimeric transcription factor that regulates expression of virulence genes. Mating is triggered by environmental signals, including nutrient deprivation. My goal was to determine the fate of nitrogen starved haploid cells without a compatible mating partner. On solid low ammonium media, wild-type U. maydis filaments. I examined …

Novel Insight Into The Liver-Lung Axis In Alcohol-Enhanced Acute Lung Injury., Lauren G. Poole

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background. Individuals who chronically abuse alcohol are almost 4 times more likely to develop Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), the most severe form of Acute Lung Injury (ALI), but the mechanisms by which alcohol abuse sensitizes the lung to injury are poorly understood. However, the lung appears to share many parallel mechanisms of injury with the liver- a primary target of alcohol abuse. The overarching goal of this dissertation was therefore to expand on established mechanisms of alcohol-induced liver injury to ask innovative questions about mechanisms of alcohol-enhanced acute lung injury, as well as to develop new tools that may …

Advances In Tumor-Targeted Therapy Using Nanomedicine., Divya Karukonda

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite continuous improvement and significant progress made in diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for cancer, it is still the leading cause of death worldwide. Although conventional chemotherapy has made significant advances in improving patient survival the indiscriminate destruction of normal cells leads to severe side effects and poor clinical outcomes. Thus, there is a need for effective delivery of drugs to the tumor site avoiding normal tissues to reduce toxicity in the rest of the body. For this reason, a novel multidisciplinary field called Nanotechnology has evolved in recent years and advances in this field have contributed to the development of …

Coal Ash Exposure And Asthma In Children., Jack Anthony Pfeiffer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the association between exposure to coal ash in the home among children aged 6-14 and asthma. Data was collected using personal modular impactors, lift tape samples, toe/finger nail samples, questionnaires, and peak flow meters. Laboratory methods used to analyze the samples included gravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) / energy dispersive x-ray (EDX), and proton-induced x-ray emission (PIXE). Statistical methods used to analyze the data included the Chi Square Test of Independence, logistic regression, the Hosmer-Lemeshow Goodness of Fit test, Fisher’s Exact Test, and the Anderson-Darling Normality Test. Sample size was small, making statistical significance in calculated …

An Economic Analysis Of A Total Allowable Catch-Individual Transferable Quota System In A Developing Country Heterogeneous Fishery: An Application To The Digha Fishery In West Bengal, India, Nadeeka Weerasekara

Department of Agricultural Economics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis contributes to the literature of economics of small-scale fishery communities and fishery management in developing nations. In the first section we review literature on state of the fishery resource and the livelihoods in the globe and performance of fishery management systems in developing and developed countries. Second section discusses the results of an empirical study on the economics of subsistence fishers in Digha-Shankarpur in Eastern India. Results of the empirical study shows by-catch by the trawlers leads to the depletion of target fish stock of the subsistence fishers. Underutilization of the capacity by the subsistence fishers due to …

Conservation Biological Control Of Western Bean Cutworm: Molecular Gut Content Analysis Of Arthropod Predators, Feeding Trials For Key Predators And Agricultural Surveys For Integrated Pest Management, Westen Ray Archibald

Department of Entomology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Western bean cutworm (WBC), Striacosta albicosta, is a major pest of corn in western Nebraska. In 1999, its range expanded into much of North America causing damage from Nebraska to Canada and Mexico. WBC periodically causes kernel damage as severe as 15 bu/ac for one larva/plant. Control for WBC relies on Bt corn hybrids with Vip3A and Cry1F traits and insecticides. There has been a 5.2-fold decrease in efficacy of Cry1F for WBC. Concerns over management tactics may be creating space for conservation biological control to become part of a WBC integrated pest management (IPM) program. Objective 1, used …

Modeling The Survival Of Salmonella In Soy Sauce-Based Products Stored At Two Different Temperatures, Ana Cristina Arciniega Castillo

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Acidified foods are defined in the regulations as “low acid foods to which acid(s) has been added to bring finished pH to 4.6 or below”. As the market for these products expands, an increasing number of them are being processed with reduced heat treatment, relying on acid alone to ensure the destruction of pathogens. When considering the survival rate of microbial pathogens in these products, pH, water activity, temperature, salt content and holding time are integral and must be considered together.

Despite improvements in production, handling, and distribution of food products in recent years, protecting consumers from foodborne illness still …

The Effect Of A Youth Cooking Intervention On Nutrition Knowledge And Healthy Eating Behaviors Among 4th & 5th Graders Attending Title I Schools, Ashley B. Walther

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Childhood obesity rates have dramatically increased since the 1980’s. This has become major public health concern because children who are overweight or obese are more likely to have obesity-related health issues and are more likely to be overweight or obese as adults. Obesity is also associated with poor dietary habits. Currently, children have dietary patterns that are low in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. In addition, many Americans lack the knowledge on how to prepare healthful meals and because of this there is a lack of a meal preparation knowledge being transferred to children. To help address these issues it …

Assessment Of The Campus Food Environment Using Components Of The Healthy Campus Environmental Audit, Candace Sorden

Department of Nutrition and Health Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The objective was to assess whether the food environment at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) campuses supports healthy eating behaviors using components of the Healthy Campus Environmental Audit (vending, dining, and convenience store audits). Secondary aims were to compare the UNL food environment to other college campuses and explore whether there are existing health promotion and obesity prevention initiatives, programs, pledges and/or policies at UNL.

Research team members accessed a secure online website to review training materials prepared by Syracuse University. Evaluators did audit practice trials to meet inter-rater reliability score standards (>80%). audits were conducted at designated sites …

The Daily Gamecock, 2017 Football Preview, University Of South Carolina, Office Of Student Media

August

No abstract provided.

Education And Nutrition Problems In Rural China, Rong Shi

Dissertations

The increasing inequality between rural and urban China has raised many concerns for Chinese scholars. A large gap exists not only in income but in health and education. The rural-urban disparities in health and education may contribute to greater income inequality in the future, thus leading to a vicious cycle. This study explores the factors that contribute to the increasing inequality in health and education between rural and urban China.

Using a randomized controlled trial in Shaanxi province, the first chapter studies the effectiveness of a supplemental meal program in improving students’ development outcomes. This study also compares the impact …

Safe Injection Facilities In The Tenderloin: Starting With Operational Plans, Bina Solanky

Master's Projects and Capstones

There are over 90 safe injection facilities (SIFs) in at least 11 countries around the world, except in the United States. SIFs are spaces where people who inject drugs (PWID) can bring their pre-obtained drugs in a hygienic space and use them under supervision. The goal of these sites is to reduce the harmful effects of injection drug use and refer PWID to other medical, social, and treatment services. The Safer Inside Coalition, a community-driven health initiative, in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco recommended opening a SIF in the Tenderloin to improve the health of the community and individual …

Analysis Of Human Movement Patterns During Endurance Running, Joshua Paul Bailey

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Endurance running and participation in racing events has flourished over the last decade. Recreational runners enter the training period for an upcoming race at differing levels of fitness and training. As individuals sign-up for the race, they typically follow the commitment with an increase in training load. The increases in training load are accomplished through a combination of increasing mileage, or duration of running, and running intensity through increase velocity. These increases are theoretically being applied in a progressive overload principle, where the musculoskeletal system has time to adapt to the breakdown provided from the previous training session. Progressive overload …

The Influence Of Crossfit Training On Running Mechanics, Sophia D. Bradley

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Introduction

40 million Americans run regularly.1 Contrary to many runner’s beliefs, increased strength may be beneficial while not adding body mass. An increase in strength in specific muscles may improve running gait and performance. 9,6 Strength training may also play an important role in preventing common overuse injuries in running 11,12 Depending on the style of strength training, it may also have an enhanced benefit on running economy.4,16

Participation in CrossFit is also widely popular, with an increase in participation of 923% in the past ten years.2 CrossFit is a type of strength training in which most movements performed utilize …

Biomechanical Adjustments During Landing In Response To Task Perturbations, John Robert Harry

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Landing strategies are evaluated to determine a performer’s favored neuromusculo-skeletal solution for the performance of the task. Depending on the strategy employed, a performer might increase his or her musculoskeletal injury potential, as defined by increased impact forces and/or demands on the involved joints. In recent history, the manner in which a performer modifies his or her strategy has been evaluated following the application of an added external mass during the impact phase of landings performed from atop an elevated platforms or a hanging position from a raised bar. Furthermore, the strategies evaluated in contemporary research are quantified using biomechanical …

Impact Of Ingredient Branding On The Hotel Brand: Spillover Effect Of Branded Amenities, Eun Joo Kim

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Ingredient branding is a popular marketing strategy, in which a brand uses a different branded product as a component in the main one. Utilizing ingredient branding, a host brand can benefit from the positive evaluation of a component brand that customers are already aware of. Although the hotel industry has applied a substantial number of other brands as internal factors, there has been little awareness or research on ingredient branding. The main purpose of the study was to investigate 1) whether ingredient branding has a positive impact on a hotel brand equity and 2) whether the effect varies for different …

Hip Adduction: Abduction Ratio Differences Between Collegiate Male And Female Soccer Players, Addie Lucci

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Context: Soccer is a high-intensity sport resulting in injuries. Strength ratios have been used to identify areas of weakness and help prevent further injuries. Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a difference in hip adduction: abduction ratios in collegiate male and female soccer players. The hypothesis was that males will have a lower ratio than females. Design: Cohort Study. Setting: Research Center. Participants: Five male and nine female NCAA Division 1 soccer players were recruited for this study. Intervention: Independent variable is gender. Biodex Isokinetic Dynamometer was used for data collection. The subjects performed …

Egg Quality Traits And Predictors Of Embryo And Fry Viability In Red Snapper Lutjanus Campechanus, Agnés Bardon-Albaret, Eric Saillant

Faculty Publications

The quality of red snapper eggs is highly variable and unpredictable in aquaculture, leading to high mortality during early larval rearing. In this work, the viability of red snapper eggs was monitored from fertilization until unfed larvae expired because of exhaustion of vitelline reserves to determine egg quality traits in this species. The spawns were obtained via strip spawning wild-caught females following hormonal induction with chorionic gonadotropin. Females were induced immediately after capture (wild group, n = 17) or held captive for the entire maturation period prior to induction (captive group, n = 7). Candidate predictors of egg quality measured …

Oviposition Preference And Offspring Performance In Container Breeding Mosquitoes: Evaluating The Effects Of Organic Compounds And Laboratory Colonisation, David W. Allgood, Donald A. Yee

Faculty Publications

1. The preference–performance hypothesis (PPH) predicts that organisms lacking parental care should oviposit in habitats that optimise offspring performance. Preference–performance relationships were investigated for the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus Skuse) and the southern house mosquito (Culex quinquefasciatus Say) (Diptera: Culicidae), two medically important container-breeding species, in response to an organic chemical blend mimicking decaying plant matter. Additionally, the effects of long-term laboratory colonisation of Cx. quinquefasciatus using wild and laboratory strains were evaluated.

2. Oviposition bioassays were conducted by releasing gravid mosquitoes into field enclosures with automobile tires containing low and high concentrations of the chemical blend, …

First-In-Human Clinical Trial Of Oral Onc201 In Patients With Refractory Solid Tumors, Mark N. Stein, Joseph R. Bertino, Howard L. Kaufman, Tina M. Mayer, Rebecca A. Moss, Ann W. Silk, Nancy Chan, Jyoti Malhotra, Loma Rodriguez, Joseph Aisner, Robert Aiken, Bruce G. Haffty, Robert S. Dipaola, Tracie Saunders, Andrew Zloza, Sherri Damare, Yasmeen Beckett, Bangning Yu, Saltanat Najmi, Christian Gabel, Sioghan Dickerson, Ling Zheng, Wafik S. El-Deiry, Joshua E. Allen, Martin Stogniew, Wolfgang Oster, Janice M. Mehnert

Internal Medicine Faculty Publications

Purpose: ONC201 is a small-molecule selective antagonist of the G protein–coupled receptor DRD2 that is the founding member of the imipridone class of compounds. A first-in-human phase I study of ONC201 was conducted to determine its recommended phase II dose (RP2D).

Experimental Design: This open-label study treated 10 patients during dose escalation with histologically confirmed advanced solid tumors. Patients received ONC201 orally once every 3 weeks, defined as one cycle, at doses from 125 to 625 mg using an accelerated titration design. An additional 18 patients were treated at the RP2D in an expansion phase to collect additional safety, …

Identification Of Risk Factors For Enteral Feeding Intolerance Screening In Critically Ill Patients, Lei Xu, Ting Wang, Ting Chen, Wen-Qun Yang, Ze-Ping Liang, Jing-Ci Zhu

Saudi Medical Journal

Objectives: To identify risk factors for enteral feeding intolerance screening in critically ill patients, thereby, provide some reference for healthcare staff to assess the risk of feeding intolerance, and lay the foundation for future scale development. Methods: This study used a mixed methodology, including a literature review, semi-structured interviews, the Delphi technique, and the analytic hierarchy process. We used the literature review and semi-structured interviews (n=22) to draft a preliminarily item pool for feeding intolerance, Delphi technique (n=30) to screen and determine the items, and the analytic hierarchy process to calculate the weight of each item. The study was conducted …

Kids Count The State Of The Child In Tennessee 2016, Tennessee. Commission On Children & Youth.

The State of the Child in Tennessee

No abstract provided.

Longitudinal Examination Of Social And Environmental Influences On Motivation For Physical Activity, Elizabeth Richards, M Mcdonough, R Fu

School of Nursing Faculty Publications

Background: Physical activity behavior is influenced by numerous factors including motivation, social interactions, and the walkability of the environment. Aim: To examine how social contexts and environmental features affect physical activity motivational processes across time. Methods: Participants (N=104) completed 3 monthly online surveys assessing self-determination theory constructs, social partners in physical activity, neighborhood walkability, and weekly physical activity. Longitudinal path analysis examined the degree to which physical activity was predicted by individual goals, orientation, and autonomy support and whether these associations were meditated by motivation and moderated by the social and environmental contexts of physical activity. Results: The effect …

Life-Shortening Wolbachia Infection Reduces Population Growth Of Aedes Aegypti, Eunho Suh, David R. Mercer, Stephen L. Dobson

Entomology Faculty Publications

Wolbachia bacteria are being introduced into natural populations of vector mosquitoes, with the goal of reducing the transmission of human diseases such as Zika and dengue fever. The successful establishment of Wolbachia infection is largely dependent on the effects of Wolbachia infection to host fitness, but the effects of Wolbachia infection on the individual life-history traits of immature mosquitoes can vary. Here, the effects of life-shortening Wolbachia (wMelPop) on population growth of infected individuals were evaluated by measuring larval survival, developmental time and adult size of Aedes aegypti in intra- (infected or uninfected only) and inter-group (mixed with …