Exercise Physiology Commons^™

Effects Of A Leucine Supplementation On Mitochondrial Markers In Pre-Cachectic Female Mice, Breanna Williams

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Cancer cachexia is a wasting syndrome characterized by extreme weight and skeletal muscle loss that results in death in many tumor bearing individuals. Because skeletal muscle requires a high amount of energy to function, skeletal muscle fiber cells need healthy mitochondria to function. When skeletal muscle loss atrophy occurs, the mitochondrial network is degraded. Different treatments for this muscle atrophy are being studied, one of which is a leucine supplementation since leucine has been found to stimulate skeletal muscle growth in other studies. However, current data suggests that a leucine supplementation in cachexic individuals exacerbates this atrophy. PURPOSE: This study …

Effects Of Mindfulness And Stress Management On Neurocardiovascular And Psychological Outcomes, Aditi P. Vyas

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

There has been a higher prevalence of developing anxiety due to frequent episodes of stress among adults in recent years. Chronic anxiety can contribute to the prevalence of elevated blood pressure and hypertension. High anxiety and stress also contribute to overactivation of the sympathetic nervous system which can be quantified by increased muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA). Sympathetic overactivation can lead to vasoconstriction and loss of arterial elasticity. Anxiety, MSNA, blood pressure, and arterial stiffness are all interconnected, thus studying these relationships is crucial to understand the underlying mechanisms for prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Non-pharmacological and mind-body …

Metabolic And Cardiovascular Marker Alterations During Critical Training In Wildland Firefighters, Shae Gurney

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Introduction: Wildland firefighters (WLFFs) are confronted with numerous physical and mental stressors. Pre-fire season includes an intense 2-week critical training (CT) period; a preparatory phase of multiple activities that can result in injury, illness, and rhabdomyolysis. The purpose of this study was to identify physiologic changes in metabolic, inflammatory, and oxidative stress biomarkers during 2 weeks of CT in WLFFs.

Methods: Eighteen male (29.4 ± 1.1 yr, 182.1 ± 1.6 cm) and three female (26.7  2.6 yr, 169.5  4.2 cm) participants were recruited from a Type I interagency hotshot crew and monitored over their 2-week CT. Fitness was …

Effects Of Life-Long Wheel Running Behavior On Plantar Flexor Contractile Properties, Alexander Nicholas Beechko

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Aging in skeletal muscle is characterized by a loss in muscular performance. This is in part related to the direct loss of muscle mass due to senescence, known as sarcopenia. With age, skeletal muscles lose force production, contractile speed, and power production. The force velocity relationship of muscle is a product of force production and contraction speed, both of which decline with age; however, the mechanisms and trajectory of this decline are not well understood. Exercise has positive effects on muscle, and thus may assist in maintaining performance in old age. However, few long-term studies have been performed to examine …

Rising Rural Body-Mass Index Is The Main Driver Of The Global Obesity Epidemic In Adults, Con Burns, Tara Coppinger, Janette Walton, Et Al

Publications

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities1,2. This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity3,4,5,6. Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to …

Thermoregulatory Dysfunction In Multiple Sclerosis, Dustin R. Allen

Applied Physiology and Wellness Theses and Dissertations

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive neurological disease of the central nervous system (CNS) affecting an estimated 2.3 million people worldwide. Marked by lesions in the brain and spinal cord, MS leads to conduction abnormalities in the CNS. Evidence suggests ~60% of individuals with MS experience temporary worsening of their symptoms upon exposure to heat. Adding complexity, observational evidence suggests these individuals exhibit reduced thermoregulatory responses in upon increases in core temperature. Consequently, these individuals face a vicious cycle of heat sensitivity and thermoregulatory dysfunction, substantially impacting their quality of life. With this in mind, our lab is dedicated to …

Factors Affecting Injury History And Their Overall Impact On Athletic Performance In Distance Runners, Trevor Norris

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Distance running is a very precise mechanism of many intricate movements and abilities of the body. The amount of miles that a distance runner must run puts a lot of very intense stresses on one’s body. These stresses often appear at the bone level and lead to many injuries such as stress reactions and stress fractures but also may play important roles in tissue damages such as strains and pulls. In this study, we used division one college distance runners and examined many intricacies between their level of fitness and overall composition. These include looking at imbalances, dominant traits, and …

Changes In Intragastric Temperature Reflect Changes In Heat Stress Following Tepid Fluid Ingestion But Not Ice Slurry Ingestion, Christopher J. Stevens, Ben Dascombe

Journal of Human Performance in Extreme Environments

This study examined the effects of fluid and ice slurry ingestion on the relationship between intragastric temperature and rectal temperature in humans during physical activity. The purpose was to identify a technique to quantify changes in heat stress in situations when temperature probes are not feasible and when time constraints do not allow for a period long enough for an indigestible temperature capsule to reach the lower gastrointestinal tract. Eight moderately trained male runners inserted a rectal probe and ingested a telemetric capsule before randomized, crossover, pre-exercise ingestion of 7.5 mL x kg^-1 x BM^-1tepid fluid (22°C) …

Myogenin Modulates Exercise Endurance By Altering Skeletal Muscle Metabolism, James Eric Meadows

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The function of myogenic regulatory factors (MRFs) during adult life is not well understood. The requirement of one of these MRFs, myogenin (Myog), during embryonic muscle development suggests an equally important role in adult muscle. In this study, we have determined the function of myogenin during adult life using a conditional allele of Myog. In contrast to embryonic development, myogenin is not required for adult viability, and Myog-deleted mice exhibited no remarkable phenotypic changes during sedentary life. Remarkably, sedentary Myog-deleted mice demonstrated enhanced exercise endurance during involuntary treadmill running. Altered blood glucose and lactate levels in sedentary Myog-deleted mice after …

Effects Of Estrogen On Muscle Damage In Response To An Acute Resistance Exercise Protocol, Megan R. Wolf

Honors Scholar Theses

Creatine Kinase (CK) is used as a measure of exercise-induced muscle membrane damage. During acute eccentric (muscle lengthening) exercise, muscle sarcolemma, sarcoplasmic reticulum, and Z-lines are damaged, thus causing muscle proteins and enzymes to leak into the interstitial fluid.

Strenuous eccentric exercise produces an elevation of oxygen free radicals, which further increases muscle damage. Muscle soreness and fatigue can be attributed to this membrane damage. Estradiol, however, may preserve membrane stability post-exercise (Brancaccio, Maffulli, & Limongelli, 2007; Carter, Dobridge, & Hackney, 2001; Tiidus, 2001). Because estradiol has a similar structure to Vitamin E, which is known to have antioxidant properties, …