Neuronal activity and subsequent calcium influx activates a signaling cascade that causes transcription factors in the nucleus to rapidly induce an early-response program of gene expression. This early-response program is composed of transcriptional regulators that in turn induce transcription of late-response genes, which are enriched for regulators of synaptic development and plasticity that act locally at the synapse.

This research examines the time used by teenagers, aged 16 to 19 years, the types of activities teenagers do, and the impact of internet usage on their non-fixed activities during weekdays. The data employed for this research is the 2009 National Household Travel Survey (NHTS 2009). For this study, socio-demographic factors (such as age, gender, race, work status, immigrant status, number of individuals in the household, number of children in the household, number of workers in the household, household income, and others), non-fixed activities (at home, shopping, personal business, physical, recreational and social, meals, religious, and others), time spent on non-fixed activities, and internet use among teenagers were taken into consideration. The methodology in this research uses an ordered response model to analyze internet usage, and a Multiple Discrete Continuous Extreme Value model (MDCEV) to analyze the activity participation. The results show that individual and household demographic characteristics have an impact on internet usage, as well as, internet usage is found to have a significant impact on the activity participation behavior of teenagers. / text

published_or_final_version / Journalism and Media Studies Centre / Master / Master of Journalism

published_or_final_version / Physics / Master / Master of Philosophy

The increasing evidence of associations between physical activity, sedentary behaviour, sleep duration and diet and both immediate and long term health implications is of public health concern. There is a need to further our understanding of the patterns of these behaviours and how they affect poor health indicators individually and simultaneously. This thesis aims to advance the current literature by investigating associations between multiple lifestyle behaviours and indicators for poor health and identifying patterns of physical activity, sedentary behaviour, sleep duration and dietary intake. Anthropometric measurements and bioelectrical impedance analysis were collected from 72 UK adults. These participants were asked to wear an ActiGraph GT1M accelerometer to objectively measure their physical activity and sedentary behaviour across 7 consecutive days. Over these 7 days, participants also completed a self-report daily sleep diary and a food frequency questionnaire. Participants were asked to complete these measurements at 4 different time points across the year in order to capture these behaviours over each season; 46 participants completed all 4 seasons. Using the data collected from the 72 participants who completed at least 1 season, regression analyses were conducted to identify associations between lifestyle behaviours and indicators for poor health. Repeated measures ANOVAs were conducted on data from 52 participants who provided the full 7 days of data during their initial measurement period to assess day of the week variations in physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep patterns. Repeated measures ANOVAs were also conducted on physical activity, sedentary behaviour, sleep and dietary intake data provided by the 46 participants who provided 4 seasons of data to assess seasonal variation. This thesis demonstrated that in a sample of relatively active, UK adults, time spent in moderate-vigorous physical activity and sedentary behaviour had a negative association with BMI and body fat percentage, increased time spent in moderate-vigorous physical activity was also associated with decreases in waist circumference. Light intensity physical activity had a positive association with BMI, body fat percentage and diastolic blood pressure. There were significant day of the week variations in light intensity physical activity, sedentary behaviour and time spent in bed, with light intensity physical activity and time in bed being significantly higher on a Sunday, whilst sedentary behaviour was significantly lower on a Sunday in this sample of UK adults. In addition to day of the week variations, there were seasonal variations in light intensity physical activity, sedentary behaviour and time spent in bed and sleep durations (weekdays only). Over the winter months, light intensity physical activity was significantly lower, whilst sedentary behaviour, time in bed and total sleep time was significantly higher. No seasonal variations in time spent in moderate-vigorous intensity physical activity or diet were observed in the present sample. This thesis demonstrates that lifestyle behaviours that have been found to affect health do vary over the week and across different seasons. This research has implications for surveillance studies which estimate these behaviours at one time point throughout the year, and also for interventions aimed at improving these behaviours which are implemented at just one time period of the year. Strategies for overcoming barriers to PA under unfavourable environmental conditions will be needed for this to be achieved, in addition to interventions reducing SB, even in the winter months.

Wastewater reclamation and reuse is imperative in water-starved areas such as the southwestern United States. In the Tucson Active Management Area, a geographic region defined for the purpose of groundwater management, the total demand for water already exceeds the available water supply, which consists of renewable ground water and the regional entitlement to Central Arizona Project water. Thus, the regional demand cannot be satisfied without resorting to groundwater mining unless water is reclaimed for local beneficial use. Less certain are the acceptable uses for reclaimed water and the nature of use-dependent treatments or water quality requirements that will protect human and ecological health. Disruption of thyroid-mediated actions is among the possible risks from chronic exposure to environmental contaminants. Endocrine disrupting compounds are generally of greater concern in this context than other trace contaminants because of the very low concentrations at which hormones induce physiological responses. Accordingly, a sensitive nuclear-based bioassay system was developed in order to evaluate environmental samples. A luciferase-reporter construct and the human thyroid receptor β (TR-β) construct in the human hepatoma cell line (HepG2) and human medulloblastoma cells (TE671) was evaluated for sensitivity. The transfected cells were exposed to the thyroid hormone, T3, in order to establish a lower thyroid hormone detection limit for the new bioassay procedure. The assay was then applied to environmental samples containing organics concentrated from final effluent derived from a conventional secondary wastewater treatment plant. The effluent samples activated thyroid receptor-mediated transcription. Also in this study, a two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE) was used as an in vitro bioassay to look for wastewater related alteration of cellular protein expression in the human breast cancer cell T47D. Steps in this bioassay include the one-dimensional separation of proteins by isoelectric focusing followed by orthogonal electrophoresis to isolate the proteins. The consistency of test response was examined for wastewater-dependent up- or down-regulation of protein expression. Some proteins that were upregulated were preliminarily identified via mass spectrometry. Here, the procedure is used to provide direct information regarding the probable effects of residual hormones in treated wastewater on the activities of human, estrogen-responsive cells in cell culture.

MECHANISMS OF DEPOLARIZATION INDUCED DENDRITIC GROWTH OF DROSOPHILA MOTOR NEURONS Cortnie Lauren Cherry The University of Arizona, 2006 Director: Richard B. Levine The study of the cellular mechanisms underlying dendritic growth contributes to our understanding of nervous system development, function and disease. Electrical activity is a fundamental property of neurons, and this property is utilized to influence the mechanisms involved in dendrite formation and maturation. Here we employ the Drosophila transgenic system to quantify dendritic growth of identified motor neurons using both in vitro and in vivo techniques. Two novel techniques are introduced: one a system to visualize and measure dendritic outgrowth in cultured neurons using reporter proteins, and the other using 3D reconstruction to measure the arborization of identified motor neurons in vivo. Both transgenic manipulation of K+ channel function and depolarizing concentrations of K+ in the culture medium result in an acceleration of dendritic outgrowth. Depolarization induced outgrowth is dependent on Plectreurys Toxin (PLTX)-sensitive voltage-gated calcium current and protein synthesis in cultured motor neurons. Depolarization leads to direct induction of fos, a protein that heterodimerizes with jun to make the functional transcription factor, AP-1. Fos, but not jun, is necessary for basal levels of dendritic growth, while both are necessary for depolarization induced outgrowth. Over-expression of AP-1 in control cells is sufficient to cause dendritic outgrowth. The transcription factor Adf-1 is also necessary for basal and depolarization induced growth, but unlike AP-1 is not sufficient to cause outgrowth when over-expressed. Another transcription factor CREB, on the other hand, is not necessary for basal levels of dendritic growth, but is necessary for depolarization induced dendritic growth. Over-expression of CREB, like Adf-1, is not sufficient to cause dendritic outgrowth. These findings present exciting new techniques for the study of the field of dendritic regulation and contribute to our understanding of the cellular mechanisms underlying dendritic growth.

Aim The purpose of this study is to compare the level of activity between playing wii Sports Tennis and wii Sports boxing, and the usual sports, and to see how the two variants are perceived.Issues:- How much strain ratio and energy consumption it gives to exercise wii sports compared with the playing of sport for real?- How do the test participants experience the different tests?- How are the two wii sports games against each other in terms of activity and fitness in the school environment? Method This is an experimental study in which 10 test participants (5 men and 5 women) have carried out four different physical tests. The tests consisted of either playing an exergame or playing a sport for 25 minutes. Physical activity was measured during the test using a heart rate monitor. All test participants completed all tests in the same order. After each test, all test participants filled out a questionnaire concerning their immediate subjective experiences of the test. The results from the questionnaire where later compiled with the results from the physical tests. Results The results showed that the physical activity of the tennis and wii tennis differed. Tennis generated in 30% higher average heart rate and 88% higher average energy expenditure. The comparison between boxing and wii boxing, gave no significant results. Wii boxing generated 32% higher average heart rate and 81% higher average energy expenditure compared to wii tennis. Test Study participants also considered wii boxing to be more suitable in physical education than wii tennis. They also felt that both wii boxing and tennis was more enjoyable than wii tennis. Conclusion Wii tennis generated the lowest physical activity as compared to the three other forms of exercise. The real sports were most suitable for school sports, however, wii boxing was more suitable than wii tennis. Test participants also considered the wii boxing as more enjoyable than wii tennis and tennis / Syfte och frågeställningar Syftet med denna studie är att jämföra aktivitetsgraden mellan att spela wii sports tennis och wii sports boxning och, de vanliga idrotterna, samt att se hur de båda varianterna upplevs. Frågeställningar: - Hur stor ansträngsningsgrad och energiförbrukning innebär utövande av wii sports jämfört med att utöva idrotterna på riktigt? - Hur upplever testdeltagarna de olika testerna? - Hur skiljer sig de två wii sportspelen beträffande aktivitet och lämplighet i skolmiljö? Metod Detta är en experimentell studie där 10 testdeltagare (5 män och 5 kvinnor) har genomfört 4 olika fysiska tester. Testerna bestod av att antingen spela ett träningsspel eller utöva en idrott i 25 minuter. Den fysiska aktiviteten mättes under testet med hjälp av pulsklocka. Alla testdeltagare genomförde alla tester i samma ordning. Efter varje avslutat test fick alla testdeltagare fylla i en enkät om deras omedelbara subjektiva upplevelser kring testet. Dessa sammanställdes sedan tillsammans med de fysiska resultaten. Resultat Resultaten visade att tennis och wii tennis skiljde sig åt. Tennis genererade 30% högre genomsnittlig arbetspuls och 88% högre genomsnittlig energiförbrukning. I jämförelsen mellan boxning och wii boxning fanns inga signifikanta resultat. Wii boxning genererade 32% högre genomsnittlig arbetspuls och 81% högre genomsnittlig energiförbrukning jämfört med wii tennis. Testdeltagarna i studien ansåg även att wii boxning passar bättre i skolidrotten jämfört med wii tennis. De upplevde även att både wii boxning och tennis var roligare än wii tennis. Slutsats Wii tennis genererade lägst fysisk aktivitet jämfört med de övriga tre motionsformer. De riktiga idrotterna ansågs mest appliceringsbara till skolidrotten, dock ansågs wii boxning lättare att applicera än wii tennis. Testdeltagarna ansåg också wii boxning som roligare än wii tennis och tennis.

Nineteen bovine muscles were removed from beef carcasses (n = 9). Muscles were trimmed free of fat, cut into 2.54 cm thick steaks, and were packaged in Styrofoam trays with polyvinylchloride overwrap. Steaks were assigned randomly to a day of retail display (0-, 1-, 2-, 3-, 4-, or 5-d). Steaks were evaluated over the course of retail display for objective measures of discoloration (metmyoglobin, oxymyoglobin, L*-, a*-, and b*-values), reducing ability (metmyoglobin reductase activity, resistance to induced metmyoglobin formation, and nitric oxide metmyoglobin reducing ability), oxygen consumption rate, oxygen penetration depth, myoglobin content, oxidative rancidity, and pH. Muscles were grouped according to objective color measures of discoloration. M. longissimus lumborum, M. longissimus thoracis, M. semitendinosus, and M. tensor fasciae latae were grouped as "high" color stability muscles, M. semimembranosus, M. rectus femoris, and M. vastus lateralis were grouped as "moderate" color stability muscles, M. trapezius, M. gluteus medius, and M. latissimus dorsi were grouped as "intermediate" color stability muscles, M. triceps brachi - long head, M. biceps femoris, M. pectoralis profundus, M. adductor, M. triceps brachi - lateral head, and M. serratus ventralis were grouped as "low" color stability muscles, and M. supraspinatus, M. infraspinatus, and M. psoas major were grouped as "very low" color stability muscles. Generally, muscles of high color stability had high resistance to induced metmyoglobin formation, nitric oxide reducing ability, and oxygen penetration depth and possessed low oxygen consumption rates, myoglobin content, and oxidative rancidity. In contrast, muscles of low color stability had high metmyoglobin reductase activity, oxygen consumption rates, myoglobin content, and oxidative rancidity and low resistance to induced metmyoglobin formation, nitric oxide metmyoglobin reducing ability, and oxygen penetration depth. Data indicate that discoloration differences between muscles are related to the amount of reducing activity relative to the oxygen consumption rate.

Ready to Roll? Understanding Activity, Mobility and Life Satisfaction among Residents Who Use Wheelchairs