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The Effects Of Dietary Protein At Breakfast And Across The Day On Appetite Control & Satiety, Food Intake, And Sleep Quality, Jess A. Gwin

Open Access Dissertations

The movement to adopt healthful lifestyle practices to reduce the prevalence of obesity and associated chronic diseases has garnered global interest [1]. As such, the desire to consume more protein-rich foods is a commonly used strategy due to the documented improvements in weight management observed with higher-protein (HP) diets, ranging from 1.2-1.6 g protein•kg body weight-1•d-1[2-6]. One postulated mechanism through which HP diets elicit greater weight (and fat) losses includes the improvements in ingestive behavior which appear to be mediated by a number of satiety-stimulating, physiological and/or hedonic pathways, and lead to reductions in daily food intake [3]. The main …

Investigating The Purported Slow Transit And Starch Digestion Of Whole Grain Foods, Elizabeth Anne Pletsch

Open Access Dissertations

Epidemiological studies have strongly supported the substitution of whole grains or whole grain foods for refined grains in the diet to reduce the risk of type II diabetes and other chronic diseases. However, the mechanisms of whole grain digestion, and the properties that are responsible for the associated responses of low glycemia and slow transit time of whole grains are still not well understood. The moderated glycemic response related to consumption of whole grains is largely associated with dietary fiber, yet there are properties of other components, such as starch itself, that warrant further investigation. Gastric emptying rate, or the …

Quality And Nutritional Impacts Of Extrution On Pearl Millet And Nutrient Dense Native Plant Blends, Cheikh Ndiaye

Open Access Dissertations

Significant efforts have been placed on the development of strategies to address micronutrient deficiencies in Sub-Saharan parts of Africa. Improving the nutritional value of staple foods, including cereals, is a key component of such strategies as traditional cereals such as millet and sorghum are mostly consumed in these areas. Of micronutrient deficiencies, iron, zinc and vitamin A are most critical, and mostly deficient in staple cereal foods. One option to improve the nutrient density of cereal foods is to leverage natural micronutrient dense plant materials that exist locally, and can be formulated into cereals products. Such products can be combined …

Plant Mediated Effects On Tritrophic Interactions In The Solanaceae-Hornworm System, Michael A. Garvey

Open Access Dissertations

Top-down pressure from parasites is thought to be a key driver in herbivore diet breath, but studies investigating the evolution of food plant shifts as a defense against natural enemies in the environment are still lacking in the literature. I examined how plants alter insect-enemy interactions for a specialist herbivore utilizing solanaceous food plants, Manduca sexta (the tobacco hornworm) and the parasitoid wasp, Cotesia congregata, as a model. In this study, I documented parasite infections in a field population of M. sexta, and then investigated from an eco-immunological perspective how plant toxins influence susceptibility to parasites in order to explain …

Identification Of Novel Therapeutic Targets For Chronic Pain, Doungkamol Alongkronrusmee

Open Access Dissertations

Chronic pain is a debilitating disorder associated with various diseases such as arthritis and diabetic neuropathy and is also commonly observed during withdrawal from chronic use of opioids or alcohol. Mu opioid receptor (MOR) agonists have become a mainstay of pain therapy for thousands of years. While opioids are effective for acute pain, they are not useful for chronic pain and carry several adverse effects. This poor control of chronic pain urges a need for developing novel targets for chronic pain relief. Here we have examined different promising targets including delta opioid receptor (DOR), DOR-MOR heteromers and adenylyl cyclase type …

Manipulating Light Quality, Light Intensity, And Carbon Dioxide Concentration To Optimize Indoor And Greenhouse Production Of Annual Bedding Plant Seedlings, Joshua Ken Craver

Open Access Dissertations

Annual bedding plant seedlings (plugs) are commonly produced in northern latitudes during the late winter and early spring when the natural daily light integral (DLI) in greenhouses is below recommended levels. Greenhouse supplemental lighting (SL) provides a means of increasing the DLI, with high-pressure sodium (HPS) lamps representing the current industry standard. However, low-profile and high-intensity light-emitting diode (LED) fixtures have recently emerged as a possible alternative for greenhouse SL. Additionally, due to the emission of very little radiant heat, LEDs may be used for sole-source lighting (SSL) applications where plants are produced on vertical shelving units in warehouses or …

Food Quality Versus Quantity: Consumer's Value Perception And The Influence Of Eating Style, Li Ge

Open Access Dissertations

Increased portion size of commonly consumed foods has been considered a strong environmental factor contributing to food overconsumption. Regulatory interventions to reduce portion sizes in restaurants, however, are likely to be opposed by the foodservice industry due to concerns that reduced portions may negatively affect consumers’ value perception. These interventions may also be considered as paternalistic by some consumers. Three studies were conducted to examine possible approaches to the “portion inflation” problem from different perspectives, with the intention to seek balance between public health benefits and business interests, and between corporate responsibility and consumer responsibility.

In study one, two quasi-experiments …

The Design And Analysis Of Calcium-41 Clinical Trials To Study Treatments For Bone Loss, Courtney N. Henry

Open Access Dissertations

Calcium-41 (41Ca) is a biological tracer used to rapidly and sensitively monitor skeletal calcium metabolism. Measurements of the 41Ca:Ca ratio in urine quantify changes in net bone turnover (i.e. differences in bone formation and resorption). A biomedical application of 41Ca technology clinically assesses the efficacy of treatments for preventing bone loss, primarily targeting susceptible populations such as post-menopausal women.

This research initially describes a 41Ca simulation study to determine efficient 41Ca experimental designs that preserve the accuracy and reliability of estimation and the statistical power of our conventional design, whilst substantially lowering costs by reducing the number of samples and/or …

Effects Of Within-Day Dietary Protein Distribution On Changes In Plasma Amino Acid Concentrations And Body Composition, Joshua L. Hudson

Open Access Dissertations

The increasing prevalence of adults with overweight and obesity in the United States emphasizes the need for research on novel behavioral and lifestyle interventions such as dietary manipulation to modulate the epidemic. While consuming an energy-restricted diet is a proven method of reducing adiposity, adhering to and adopting a diet that is not self-chosen is difficult. Not unimportantly, reducing energy intake also typically results in a reduction in skeletal muscle mass. Skeletal muscle is important for facilitating functional movements, metabolizing glucose, and contributing to resting energy expenditure. Multitudinous research has focused on the macronutrient composition of an energy-restricted diet both …

Global Analyses Of Protein Complex Localization, Oligomerization, Composition, And Dynamics Using Quantitative Mass Spectrometry, Zachary M. Mcbride

Open Access Dissertations

Proteins perform essential processes in plant cells such as photosynthesis, protein translation, maintenance of metabolic flux, and signal transduction. Many of these functions could never be achieved using individual proteins. Consequently, many proteins oligomerize to form complexes that act as tunable molecular machines that perform work and transmit information. Cells contain thousands of protein complexes, yet the composition of the vast majority remain unknown. Previous high throughput approaches to identify protein interactions have relied on binary interactions or tagging individual proteins for purification. A new set of label free correlation profiling methods were developed that extracted native protein from Arabidopsis …

Effects Of Reduced Dietary Crude Protein On Gaseous Pollutant Emissions From A Swine Research Building, Shule Liu

Open Access Dissertations

Swine production is a primary source of protein and fat to human society, in the meanwhile, it continuously emits undesirable pollutant gases, including ammonia (NH3), hydrogen sulfide (H2S), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O), imposing adverse impacts on animal and human health as well as on the environment. Previous studies proved that reducing excessive dietary N was effective in mitigating NH3 emissions from pig production, but the reduction in NH3 emissions during different swine physiological stages were not reported yet as only a few studies were based on continuous monitoring in the field. Moreover, the effects of …

Plant Cell Wall Modification During Tomato Processing And Its Effects On The Physical And Rheological Properties Of End Products, Xing Fei

Open Access Dissertations

Understanding the relationship between structure and functional properties in plant-cell-wall-derived foods has become a growing interest to both academia and industry. Tomato is one of the most cultivated vegetable crops and mostly is consumed as processed products in the form of suspensions. Rheological properties of tomato product, a key functional attribute, depends on both the serum and particle phases of these products. Although recent studies have suggested that the particle phase is the dominant factor, the relationship between fundamental particle properties and the bulk rheology of the suspension is still unclear. This research systematically evaluated the contributions of soluble pectin …

Understanding Macroscale Patterns And Processes Of Invasion, Gabriela Nunez-Mir

Open Access Dissertations

The increasing rate of biological invasions and their impacts are one of the major threats in the Anthropocene. However, certain knowledge gaps remain in our understanding of patterns and processes of invasion, despite an extensive body of research dedicated to this phenomenon. Highly-debated topics in invasion ecology could benefit from a macrosystems perspective. Studies performed at the macroscale are able to capture the effect of global-level processes that drive invasions, detect patterns that transcend taxonomic and geographic boundaries, and minimize biases stemming from the specificity of studies performed at more localized scales. Here, I aim to provide novel insights into …

Mechanism Of Adipose Tissue Specific Response To Heat Stress In Pigs., Huan Qu

Open Access Dissertations

Heat stress (HS) is a major problem facing the swine industry all over the world, especially during the hot summer months. The two major reasons pigs are highly susceptible to elevated ambient temperature are that they have substantial subcutaneous fat layer that serves as a barrier against effective heat dissipation and their lack of functional sweat glands on their skin surface for evaporative heat loss. Paradoxically, HS results in increased fat deposition in pigs. However, the fundamental causes of the increased adiposity during HS are unknown. Therefore, we conducted several in vivo and in vitro experiments to elucidate the precise …

Evaluating The Effect Ofsnap-Ed On Household Food Securitystatus And Dietary Intake Of Snap-Ed-Eligible Participants In Indiana., Rebecca Lynn-Anne Rivera

Open Access Dissertations

High prevalence of food insecurity and poor diet quality characterize the US low-income population qualifyingfor the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) when compared with higher income populations. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) is a federal nutrition education program available at no cost to the income-eligible population with the goal to improve diet qualitybypromoting adherence to the DietaryGuidelines for Americans (DGA) through nutrition education while also supporting the goal of SNAP to improve food security. Limited evidence suggests that SNAP-Ed improves diet-related outcomes such as food security, intake of fruits and vegetables, and other targeted positive health behaviors over short-term …

Magnetic Resonance Imaging For The Functional Analysis Of Tissues And Biomaterials, Luyao Cai

Open Access Dissertations

Articular cartilage provides mechanical load dissipation and lubrication between joints, and additionally provides protects from abrasion. At present, there are no treatments to cure or attenuate the degradation of cartilage. Early detection and the ability to monitor the progression of osteoarthritis is important for developing effective therapies. However, few reliable imaging biomarkers exist to detect cartilage disease before advanced degeneration in the tissue. One specialized MRI technique, termed displacements under applied loading by MRI (dualMRI), was developed to measure displacements and strain in musculoskeletal tissues, hydrogels and engineered constructs. However, deformation information does not directly describe spatial distributions of tissue …

Regulation Of Intestinal Lipid Storage And Mobilization, Alicia L. Carreiro

Open Access Dissertations

Dietary fat is an energy dense nutrient that also provides essential fatty acids and aids in the absorption of fat soluble vitamins. The process of dietary fat absorption regulates the amount and rate at which dietary fat enters circulation, and can therefore contribute to diseases such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease when it becomes dysregulated. Triacylglycerol (TAG), the major form of dietary fat, is efficiently absorbed (>95%) even when high amounts of fat are consumed. The digestive products of dietary fat are taken up by enterocytes, the absorptive cells of the small intestine, and rapidly re-synthesized into TAG. …

Primary Care Provider Time Limited Interventions For Obesity An Integrative Review, Kristie Finkenbinder

Student Projects for Graduate Degrees

Obesity and excess weight are significant health problems in the United States, affecting the majority of United States citizens. The prevalence of obesity is already a large burden on individuals and society, but the steady growth is an ominous warning of what’s to come. If not addressed, the various complications of obesity are multiple and significant with often both immediate and lifelong sequelae. With an already taxed healthcare system the additional costs of obesity related healthcare are further depleting resources. Primary care providers have the best opportunity to influence this population and are thus on the front lines of this …

Reconstructing Landscape Use Patterns Using Strontium Isotope Ratios, Marian Irene Hamilton

Anthropology ETDs

This dissertation uses modern habitats and fauna to model the variability and predictive power of strontium isotope ratios in identifying dispersal patterns in primates and habitat preference in primate and non-primate fauna. It concludes that there are significant isotopic differences between gallery forest and xeric grassland habitats in the same area and that these differences are reflected in fauna with habitat preferences for one or the other. It also identifies the most reliable methodological approaches for identifying the philopatric and dispersing sex in primate communities. Finally, it applies this methodological recommendation to strontium isotope data from South African hominins, concluding …

Is The Trail-Following Behavior Of Juvenile Physa Acuta Influenced By Kinship And Familiarity?, Tiana Bonventre

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Trail-following behavior is exhibited by many species ranging from insects to gastropods. In gastropods, this behavior serves many functions such as the facilitation of movement, homing, mate and conspecific location, organization, aggregation, and protection. Kin recognition is also a behavior that is exhibited by a wide variety of species including both vertebrate and invertebrate animals. Kin recognition serves many functions including social interactions and status, discrimination, which can lead to outcrossing, and cooperative behaviors that can increase the likelihood of survival. Familiarity with individuals may also contribute to survival through protection and enhanced cooperation. Kin recognition can involve familiarity in …

Seasonal Switching Affects Bacterial-Fungal Dominance In An Ecological System, Kristin Carfora

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

We consider a model inspired by producer-herbivore-decomposer soil food webs and determine the effect of ecological parameters on the decomposer pool. In particular, we observe how seasonal changes in the stoichiometric quality of the producer coupled with the efficiency of herbivory over the calendar year can induce a shift in the composition of the decomposer pool. Decomposers have a significant effect on the movement of essential nutrients throughout an ecosystem; we further determine how this shift between a bacterially dominated decomposer pool and a fungally dominated pool affects primary production and relative distribution of biomass of the other compartments.

A Population Characterization Of Allegheny Woodrats (Neotoma Magister) In The Hudson River Palisades Of New Jersey, Amanda Menasion

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Allegheny woodrats (Neotoma magister) are an endangered species within New Jersey, with a limited number of individuals found within one small area of suitable habitat along the Hudson River Palisades. There are very little detailed datum on the number of woodrats living at this location, however new conservation measures are being instituted to sustain this last remaining population in New Jersey. To gather additional data on the extent of the population of woodrats at this location, wildlife camera monitoring was conducted in two-week intervals at 10 separate locations that appeared to have satisfactory habitat for the woodrats but had not …

Increased Levels Of Oxidative Stress In Human Fibroblast Lung Cell Cultures And The Loss Of Mitochonndrial Function Due To Exposure To Particulate Matter From September 11, 2001, Lara Seder

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Not only did over 2,753 individuals perish on the morning of September 11, 2001, many have suffered from mental and physical illnesses ever since. Thousands of individuals experienced breathing complications, asthma and lung cancer. Clinical trials on cancer, including a patient who was exposed to the World Trade Center (WTC) dust, have seen a decrease in the progression of tumor growth with the use of oral nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH). NADH is naturally occurring within a cell’s mitochondria and aids in the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the energy of the cell. NADH is an anti-aging, energy enhancing substance that …

A Comparison Of Health Literacy Measurement Tools For A Sample Of College Students, Oyenike Ilaka

Public Health Undergraduate Program

PURPOSE: Different measurement tools can be used to measure the health literacy of college students, and each measure different aspects of health literacy. The purpose of this thesis is to understand how health literacy assessments vary. Identifying strengths and weaknesses of the different tools may lead to improved studies of the predictors and outcomes of health literacy in college students. METHOD: The data were collected from college students attending a public university in the Northeast region of the United States. A total of 249 participants were recruited by class survey administration and flyer recruitments. With the exception of the Single …

Surface Vs. Air Shipment Of Humanitarian Goods Under Demand Uncertainty, John H. Park, Burak Kazaz, Scott Webster

All Faculty Open Access Publications

The combination of insufficient funds and limited information regarding the demand in regions of desperate need presents a great challenge to many humanitarian organizations. This study examines how a humanitarian organization can minimize the expected shortage in delivering relief aid to regions of need, either though surface or air transportation, in the presence of demand uncertainty with a budget constraint. The study makes four contributions. First, we show that when there is reserved supply for air transportation, it is optimal to provide a higher service level through surface shipment to regions with greater demand uncertainty. Second, we show that the …

Perceptions Of College Students Towards Healthcare Provisions On Campus, Sarah Houtz

Honors Theses

Healthcare on university campuses is not a new concept. There is little evidence surrounding the effectiveness and adaptability of services provided to students by providers or healthcare facilities located on campus. Literature describes individual concepts of healthcare resources provided on campus including convenience, holistic care, abilities to refer to off campus specialty clinics, and factors related directly to the patient’s beliefs and values. However, there is a considerable gap in tools used to measure opinions directly related to the services, quality, perception, initiatives, and overall satisfaction with the provisions provided by healthcare professionals located on university campuses. Of the 23 …

Woman Personified: A Theoretical Framework For The Female Gender Of Personifications In Medieval Literature, Dinah Wouters

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

This article wants to provide a comprehensive answer to the question of why the majority of personifications in medieval literature are women. Especially, it seeks to refute the notion that female personifications of positive concepts would somehow escape or reverse the dominant gender ideology of its time. It brings together the different theories that have been proposed by scholars and situates them within a common framework. The article distinguish three levels to which these theories refer: these are, first, the level of the literal or the personification as a woman; second, the level of the figurative, or the idea that …

Medicine Beyond Doctors: Aphrodisiac Recipes In Tenth-Century Medicine And Cuisine, Shireen Hamza

Medieval Feminist Forum: A Journal of Gender and Sexuality

No abstract provided.

Comparative Analysis Of Survival And Decay Of Fecal Indicator Bacteria In Bovine Feces And Freshwater Microcosms, Reem Tariq

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Agricultural runoff can carry FIB that can pollute surface waters through the soil matrix. This study was designed to inspect the impact of temperature and matrix on the survival of FIB. The FIB were routinely enumerated over an 18-day period from fecal samples and freshwater microcosms maintained at 4oC, 22oC, and 35oC. It was found that the FIB studied underwent a primary growth of up to 1-log10 to 3-log10, highlighting the weakness of conventional FIB as indicators of pathogen contamination. The concentrations of FIB in the water phase were found to be significantly greater than those observed in the fecal …

Factors Impacting Bone Mineral Density (Bmd) Results Of Individuals With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities (Idd), Rhonda Mcnabb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are prone to certain diseases in their lifetime, such as osteoporosis. Absorption of calcium is essential to maintaining good bone health and preventing osteoporosis. This study examined primary care providers’ (PCPs) choice of calcium supplementation, as well as type of calcium supplementation, and the relationship between variables in the IDD population. Ten PCPs were asked to complete a 14-question web-based survey, with five surveys completed. Calcium citrate was the preferred supplement among respondents at 50%. Retrospective data was collected from patient records and included type of calcium supplement prescribed, bone density test results, …