Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Associations Of Cooking Self-Efficacy And Frequency Of Icook-4h Youth Participants With Dietary Quality And Bmi At Baseline, Amber Donaldson Ford

Masters Theses

Background: With increased obesity has come increased ready-made and fast food consumption and decreased homemade food consumption. Previous studies have shown associations between cooking self-efficacy (SE) and cooking frequency (CF) with dietary quality and weight status. Cooking interventions have shown positive associations with dietary outcomes, such as increased fruit and vegetable intake and decreased fast food consumption. There is still much unknown about SE and CF, especially among youth.

Objective: The objective of this project was to determine baseline SE and CF and the associations with dietary quality and body mass index (BMI) of youth enrolled in iCook 4-H.

Methods: …

The Human Intruder Test: An Anxiety Assessment In Rhesus Macaques (Macaca Mulatta), Emily J. Peterson

Masters Theses

The human intruder test (HIT) is a noninvasive tool widely used for assessing anxiety in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). This thesis explores the HIT procedure and applies it to a population of monkeys with a self-injurious behavioral pathology. Individual variation on this test can be used to assess anxiety and temperament. The first experiment of this thesis applied two different procedures of the HIT to 17 monkeys at UMass. Monkeys displayed little response to the intruder, and no significant differences were detected for the two procedures. To determine whether these responses were unique to the UMass monkeys, their …

Characterization Of The Reconstituted And Native Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Type Iii Secretion System Translocon, Kathryn R. Monopoli

Masters Theses

The Type III Secretion (T3S) system is a system utilized by many pathogenic bacteria to inject proteins into host cells during an infection. Effector proteins enter the host cell by passing through the proteinaceous T3S translocon, which forms a pore on the host cell membrane. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that utilizes the T3S system, and very little is known about how the P. aeruginosa translocon forms.

The proteins PopB and PopD are believed to assemble into the P. aeruginosa translocon. A pore-forming heterocomplex of PopB and PopD has been reconstituted in model membranes, however this heterocomplex has not …

Enzyme Catalyzed Alginate Nanogels For Drug Delivery, Danna Nichole Sharp

Masters Theses

Developing nanoscale carriers for the delivery of therapeutics is an important topic of investigation in current biomedical research. As opposed to traditional drug delivery systems, nanoscale systems offer enhanced tissue and cell permeation in addition to reducing drug elimination from the body. Biological based therapeutics such as DNA and proteins are now widely employed in medical applications and research has focused on using nanoscale drug delivery systems to administer these more effectively. Current synthesis methods of nanoscale biotherapeutic carriers face significant challenges. Among these are creating carriers with: sizes between 10-200 nm, low polydispersity, and non-cytotoxic materials. In this thesis, …

Nutrition Marketing On The Front-Of-Package: 2007-2014, Ana Elizabeth Hoffmann

Masters Theses

Objective: The objectives of this research were to describe the proportion of packaged foods with front-­‐of package nutrition marketing or marketing to children that were high in saturated fat, sodium, and/or sugar content, and to delineate changes in the proportions of these foods from 2007 to 2014.

Methods: Front-­‐of-­‐pack nutrition marketing, child marketing, and nutrient criteria from the Nutrition Facts Label on all packaged food items in a large Midwestern supermarket were recorded in 2007 (n = 5,500) and again in 2014 (n = 6,324). Products were coded as high/not high in saturated fat, sodium, and/or sugar according to agreed …

Do Increases In Fruit Intake Lead To Substitutive Eating Patterns And Decreases In Overall Energy Intake In Normal Weight Adults?, Shireen Amanda Sobhani

Masters Theses

Background: It is suggested that increasing intake of fruits and vegetables may lead to decreased energy intake via substitution of higher energy-dense foods, such as snack foods (SF; i.e. candy, chips, cookies). This study investigated the impact of increasing fruit (F; grapes) intake, via increased portion size, on SF (potato chips) intake during a meal and whether increases in F intake affected total meal energy intake, via reducing SF intake (substitutive eating), in normal-weight adults. A secondary objective investigated whether the relative reinforcing value (RRV) of SF was a moderator of the substitutive relationship between F and SF.

Methods: Using …

The Effects Of Ovarian Hormones And Exercise On Gene Markers Of Cardiac Dysfunction, Anisha S. Patel

Masters Theses

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in women in the United States. Premenopausal women appear to have better cardiac function and lower risk of heart disease compared to male postmenopausal female counterparts. Ovarian hormone loss influences blood pressure homeostasis and causes systemic inflammation, which may result in chronic stress on the heart. Two key physiological changes in cardiac dysfunction are reemergence of the fetal gene pattern and myocardial remodeling. Physical activity has been linked to improved cardiac function. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of ovariectomy on early markers of cardiac dysfunction and fibrosis …

Evolutionary Convergence Of The Caffeine Biosynthetic Pathway In Chocolate Followed Duplication Of A Constrained Ancestral Enzyme, Andrew J. O'Donnell

Masters Theses

Caffeine biosynthesis is widely distributed in flowering plants and requires three consecutive methylation steps of xanthine alkaloids. Genes that have previously been reported to participate in the multi-step pathway in Coffea sp. (coffee) and Camellia sinensis (tea) encode members of the SABATH family of methyltransferases. Two genes highly expressed in fruits of Theobroma cacao (cacao) are orthologous to the caffeine genes in tea and appear to have diversified following gene duplication. Biochemical characterization of the enzymes (XMTs) encoded by these genes strongly suggest an unprecedented major pathway to theobromine, a precursor to caffeine. These findings imply that caffeine biosynthesis evolved …

Individualized Cognitive Rehabilitation For Adults With Acquired Brain Injury, Emily M. Aiken

Masters Theses

Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) can result from internal factors (e.g. tumor) or external causes (e.g. trauma). Three case studies of Korsakoff’s syndrome, meningioma, and traumatic brain injury (TBI), will be presented to illustrate the variety of cognitive deficits across different individuals with ABI. This study uses cognitive rehabilitation therapies to target individual cognitive symptoms. Results and discussion place emphasis on the use of prospective memory (PM) training for treating Korsakoff’s syndrome. The Memory for Intentions Screening Test (MIST) served as the assessment for PM analysis pre and post rehabilitation. The data from this study will be used as a model …

Thermo-Responsive Poly(N-Isopropylacrylamide) And Its Critical Solution Temperature Type Behavior In Presence Of Hydrophilic Ionic Liquids, Purnendu K. Nayak

Masters Theses

Thermo-responsive homopolymer poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), is a widely studied and used polymer. Our recent observations on thermal behavior of aqueous solutions of this polymer requires a short overview of existing results in order to understand the formation of different phases, both stable and unstable with the addition of hydrophilic Ionic liquids (ILs) 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([BMIM][BF₄]), 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([BMIM][OAc]) and 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium thiocyanate ([BMIM][SCN]) to the system. PNIPAM is soluble in cold water due to its inter- and intramolecular hydrogen bonding but phase separates upon heating at T > 32 , which is its lower critical solution temperature (LCST). PNIPAM exists in an …

Live Well Springfield – A Community Transformation Movement: Evaluation Of The Live Well Springfield Website, Jesse A. Mushenko

Masters Theses

The Live Well Springfield (LWS) movement is a collaborative effort of partner organizations in Springfield, Massachusetts. The project promotes healthy living by increasing knowledge and awareness of food and physical activity. A key LWS strategy was the creation of a website to function as an information hub. In addition to local event and health information, the website features 16 narratives depicting residents practicing healthy lifestyle choices, designed to encourage community engagement. To date, there has been no evaluation of the website’s reach and effect.

A mixed methods approach, surveys and focus group discussions, was designed to collect data from people …

The Effects Of Kinesio Tape On Sports Performance: Vertical Jump And Shuttle Run Performance In Women's College Basketball Players, Holly Wohltman

Masters Theses

Introduction: Since Kinesio tape (KT tape) was invented in the mid-1970s, studies have been lacking in producing strong evidence to support the claims of its ability to enhance performance. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of KT tape at enhancing sports performance, in the areas of vertical jump and shuttle run performance, in Illinois College Women's Basketball Team, participants ranged from 19-22 years of age.

Methods: There were eleven female basketball players ranging from the ages 19-22 years were recruited to participate in this study. All participants performed a vertical jump test and a shuttle run …