Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 137-139).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2004. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 109-116). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio State University, 1975. / Bibliography: leaves 28-29. Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center.

Purpose: The purposes of this study were (1) to compare the androgen and lipid profiles, metabolic syndrome prevalence as well as insulin and HOMA-IR levels in women with and without PCOS as risk factors for developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) and (2) to study the effects of apple supplementation and resistance exercise on androgen levels, lipid levels, body weight, and metabolic syndrome (MetX) risk factors in women with PCOS. Methods: Baseline data evaluated 22 women with PCOS and 22 height-weight matched controls. Of the 22 women with PCOS, 16 completed the intervention and because of the high dropout rate controls were not included in the intervention. In a 2x2 factorial design using dried apples and resistance exercise, control supplement was 70g of Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats because of similar macronutrient content. Exercise consisted of full body routines twice a week, using 3 sets of 12 repetitions max (12 RM). SPSS for Windows, Version 16.0 software was used to determine descriptive statistics, t-tests, Pearson and Spearman correlations, and one-way ANOVA and factorial ANOVA. Results: At baseline, there was no significant difference between women with PCOS and the controls in age, weight, BMI, Insulin, HOMA-IR, and total T. However, the women with PCOS had significantly higher free T levels and lower SHBG concentrations when compared to the controls (p<0.05). The control women had a more atherogenic lipid profile with significantly higher glucose, total cholesterol, and LDL-C levels than the women with PCOS (p<0.05). The women with PCOS tended to have higher WC than the controls (p<0.1). TG and blood pressure were not significantly different. MetX prevalence was higher (18%) in the controls than the women with PCOS (4.54%). Pearson correlations revealed significant positive correlations between BMI and Insulin/HOMA-IR as well as WC and Insulin/HOMA-IR in all women of this study. Spearman correlation analysis revealed a tendency for FAI and BMI to rank positively in the women with PCOS only (p<0.1). In all women of this study, FAI levels were negatively correlated with SHBG, concurrent to published literature (p<0.001). Intervention results include the following: There was a significant increase in SHBG levels in the women supplemented with apples only (p<0.01) as well as a significant decrease in FAI (p<0.05). Women supplemented with dried apples and participating in the resistance exercise program resulted in significant decreases in total T only (p<0.05) (n=6). Fasting blood glucose was significantly increased in the cereal groups (n=6) after the intervention period and was associated with the higher glycemic index found in the cereal when compared to the apple treatment groups (p<0.05). Increases of vii total cholesterol and LDL-C were seen in the combination therapy and in the control group (no apples-no exercise) (p<0.05). In accordance with other published literature, exercise groups had a tendency to increase HDL-C after the intervention (p<0.1). Conclusion: The women without PCOS were at an increased risk for developing CVD when compared to the women with PCOS because of the more atherogenic lipid profile, higher glucose levels, and higher MetX prevalence presented in this population. Intervention of apple supplementation and resistance exercise did not ameliorate MetX symptoms, insulin or HOMA-IR, however supplementation showed potential for decreasing total T levels and increasing SHBG concentrations in women with PCOS. The small sample size may have increased variability in this study and a larger sample size is needed to evaluate the effects of apple supplementation and resistance exercise in women. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Nutrition, Food, and Exercise Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Spring Semester, 2010. / November 20, 2009. / Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Metabolic Syndrome, Cardiovascular Disease, Apple Polyphenols, Testosterone, Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin / Includes bibliographical references. / Maria T. Spicer, Professor Directing Thesis; Daniel McGee, University Representative; Cathy Levenson, Committee Member.

Skeletal muscle damage is a common occurrence and can lead to severe complications. Early diagnosis of skeletal muscle damage is a leading factor in successful treatment and recovery. The ability to rapidly, accurately, and non-invasively diagnose muscle damage is predicated on the ability to detect various biomarkers in blood. Creatine kinase (CK) is a biomarker commonly used for this purpose, but limitations exist such as tissue specificity. Troponin I (TnI), a contractile protein in muscle, is a potential alternative. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), a technique used to determine the presence of a specific protein based on an antibody (Ab)-antigen (Ag) interaction, has been successfully applied in the detection of cardiac TnI (cTnI) to diagnose myocardial infarction (AMI). Attempts by other investigators to develop an ELISA assay for detecting skeletal muscle damage using skeletal troponin I (sTnI) have been unsuccessful because of cross-reactivity of the antibodies used with cTnI. The goal of this study was to initiate development of an ELISA for sTnI by testing four mammalian monoclonal antibodies (MAbs - 2G3, 8A12, 1F9, and 8F10) previously used for food science purposes and not for detecting skeletal muscle damage. These four MAbs were first screened for the ability to detect human sTnI by testing them against a protein extract from human skeletal muscle; three of the MAbs (2G3, 8A12, 1F9) reacted positively. Secondly, these three MAbs were then tested for cross-reactivity to cTnI with a beef heart protein extract, and only one of the three MAbs (1F9) was eliminated. Thirdly, limit of detection (LOD) was approximated for the MAbs 2G3 and 8A12; the approximate LODs were calculated to be 14 ng/ml and 35 ng/ml, respectively. Finally, the MAbs 2G3 and 8A12 were tested to see if sTnI could be detected in serum samples from human subjects with evidence of skeletal muscle damage based on CK values, but the results were inconclusive. In summary, the MAbs 2G3 and 8A12 are specific for human sTnI, but experimental conditions need to be further optimized to determine whether these two MAbs can detect sTnI in human serum and therefore be used to develop an ELISA-based assay for diagnosing skeletal muscle damage. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Nutrition, Food, and Exercise Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Spring Semester, 2009. / January 28, 2009. / Muscle damage, Troponin I / Includes bibliographical references. / Jodee Dorsey, Professor Directing Dissertation; Susan Lynn, Committee Member; Cathy Levenson, Committee Member; Yun-Hwa Hsieh, Committee Member.

The Primary purpose of this study was to assess the relationship of body mass index levels, nutritional knowledge, selected food habits, influences that effect food choices, and nutrition education among adolescent students enrolled in high school family and consumer sciences classes. The influences of some demographic factors on each of these variables were also investigated. These factors were adolescent's gender, grade level, ethnicity, Body Mass Index, and age. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences Education in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2003. / July 14, 2003. / Adolescent Students, Dietary Habits, Food Choices / Includes bibliographical references. / Marsha Rehm, Professor Directing Dissertation; Bonnie Greenwood, Committee Member; Edgar Newton Jackson, Jr., Outside Committee Member.

The health care and quality of life costs of traumatic brain injury (TBI) are growing annually. This is in part due to the fact that the effectiveness of the current treatments for TBI is limited. Recent work in animal models as well as clinical trials, has identified a positive role for the hormone progesterone in the treatment of TBI. Thus, this work sought to build on that observation and test the central hypothesis that the hormonally active form of vitamin D could be useful as an adjunct to progesterone treatment after medial frontal cortex contusion. To test this hypothesis, we first used direct measurements of water accumulation as the site of injury to examine the extent to which vitamin D acts to reduce edema associated with TBI. We also employed two forms of (standard proton and diffusion-weighted) high strength magnetic resonance imaging (900 MHz) to develop the methodology to make long term measurements of water accumulation and the effectiveness of interventions after TBI. The results from these combined methodologies suggest that vitamin D is an effective adjunct to treatment with progesterone by reducing acute edema that is frequently associated with poor long-term behavioral outcomes. Our initial attempts to identify the mechanisms responsible for the synergistic effect of vitamin D and progesterone included measurement of a number of proteins in and around the site of injury that are known to regulate the action of steroid hormones and water accumulation in the brain. Interestingly, neither injury nor treatment altered the expression of aquaporin-4 (AQP-4), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD), and 25-hydroxyvitamin D 24-hydroxylase (CYP24). However, there was a 3-fold increase in the progesterone receptor pregnane X (PXR) and in the Multidrug resistance-1 (MDR-1) observed with progesterone treatment compared to sham. These increases were suppressed by vitamin D3 treatment, suggesting a role for vitamin D3 as a PXR antagonist. In contrast, tumor necrosis factor-á expression, which is linked to inflammation, was elevated by the combination therapy. These results suggest that vitamin D may have a role in reducing edema at the site of injury; nevertheless, future work will be needed to identify the cellular and molecular mechanisms responsible for this observation and determine the impact of possible side effects such as enhanced inflammatory processes. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Nutrition, Food, and Exercise Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Fall Semester, 2008. / October 20, 2008. / TBI, Traumatic Brain Injury, Brain Trauma, Neuroprotection, Vitamin D, Progesterone, Edema, PXR, MRI, Neurosteroids / Includes bibliographical references. / Cathy W. Levenson, Professor Directing Thesis; Robert J. Contreras, Outside Committee Member; Jasminka Ilich-Ernst, Committee Member.

Chemical composition of 25 pecan varieties revealed considerable differences in moisture (2.1-6.4%), protein (6.0-11.3%), lipid (65.9-78.0%), total soluble sugars (3.3-5.3%), ash (1.2-1.8%) and tannins (0.7-2.7%) when analyzed on an edible portion basis. Pecan varieties had similar protein polypeptide profiles as revealed by SDS-PAGE, IEF, and pecan pAb based Western blotting analysis. Both pH and ionic strength were important for pecan protein solubilization. Borate Saline Buffer (pH 8.45) was an optimum solvent for extraction of pecan proteins among the mild buffers tested. Protein solubility was minimal in pH 3-7 range and increased significantly on either side of this pH range. Increasing ionic strength from 0 to 4 M NaCl significantly improved (~8 fold) protein solubilization. Glutelin fraction (63.6%) accounted for the major portion of the total solubilized pecan proteins followed by globulin (31.5%), prolamin (3.4%) and albumin (1.5%) respectively. The majority of the pecan polypeptides were in the MW and pI range of 12,000-66,000 Da and pH 4.0-8.3 respectively. Pecan globulins contained the most glycoprotein polypeptides. Lysine was the first limiting essential amino acid in the defatted flour, globulin, prolamin and alkaline glutelin fractions. Leucine and tryptophan were the first limiting essential amino acid in albumin and acid glutelin fractions respectively. The minimum nitrogen solubility (5.9-7.5%) at 0.25-0.75 M TCA represented the non-protein nitrogen of pecan meal. Pecan pAb-based inhibition ELISA could detect pecan proteins as low as 32 ng/ml. The assay, however, was not suitable for specific detection of pecan in foods as it showed cross-reactivity to various tree nut and seed proteins. Pecan contained major allergenic polypeptides in the 50-66 kDa and 16-20 kDa range when tested with human sera IgE from 15 pecan allergic subjects. Pecan globulins contributed to the majority of 50-66 kDa allergens. ELISAs and Western blotting assays indicated that pecan proteins subjected to various thermal treatments remained antigenically stable. Complete proteolysis and loss of antigenicity was not observed in SGF and SIF in vitro digestion studies. Western blotting of SGF digested proteins displayed several low molecular weight antigenic peptides (16-20 kDa) that were either originally present in the pecan extract or were generated by pepsin under the digestion conditions. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2004. / April 22, 2004. / Antigenic Stability, Pecan, Allergy, Variety, Chemical Composition / Includes bibliographical references. / Shridhar K. Sathe, Professor Directing Dissertation; Kenneth H. Roux, Outside Committee Member; Cathy W. Levenson, Committee Member.

Pangasius fish, mainly Pangasius hypophthalmus (tra/swai) and Pangasius bocourti (basa), which belong to the Pangasiidae family of catfish, are imported farm-raised freshwater fish from Asian. Nowadays, the U.S. is one of the largest importers of Pangasius fish worldwide. As mounting quantities of Pangasius fish being imported every year, the names of "tra/swai" and "basa", however, seldom appear on restaurant menus. Since processed fish products in restaurants are not subjected to the requirement of labeling species/origins, it is unclear how and to what extend Pangasius are used in restaurants. The overall objective of this study was to investigate if Pangasius fish has been used as a substitute for domestic catfish (Ictaluridae family), high valued fish species, e.g. grouper and snapper, and fish products without specifying the species on the menu from local restaurants. In total, 47 different fish products from 37 local restaurants in a medium size city were sampled and a commercialized rapid lateral flow strip assay (EZ PangasiusTM kit) were used to identify Pangasius fish. The results showed that 26.7% of domestic catfish tested was substituted by Pangasius, and 22.2% of high-valued fish, grouper, was verified to be Pangasius while no cases of substitution for snapper, sea bass and sole samples tested were found. In addition, a high percentage (66.7%) of dishes displayed under the general name of "fish" on the menu were identified as Pangasius, revealing the favorable choice of imported Pangasius for various fish products due to its sensory quality and cheap price. Isoelectric focusing (IEF) was further conducted to characterize protein patterns of each sample in comparison with authentic fish standards, and the results showed that all the Pangasius positive samples were exclusively tra/swai rather than basa. One year later 7 tested Pangasius positive dishes, including 4 in catfish group and 3 without specifying the species, were sampled again as follow-ups. Indirect non-competitive enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (iELISA), which applied a Pangasius-specific monoclonal antibody (mAb) T7E10, was used to analyze these follow-up samples. The results revealed the continuous use of Pangasius as substitutes for domestic catfish (4 out of 4) and as "anonymous" ingredients for the products without labeling the species. This study exhibited the prevalence of Pangasius in restaurants and also revealed the existence of dishonest behaviors in restaurant business, which called for the need to set up specific measurements and regulations to discourage the fraudulent practice using tra/swai or basa. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise Science in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science. / Summer Semester 2015. / June 2, 2015. / Basa, Fish fraud, Immunoassay, Isoelectric focusing (IEF), Pangasius, Tra/swai / Includes bibliographical references. / Yun-Hwa Peggy Hsieh, Professor Directing Thesis; Shridhar Sathe, Committee Member; Michael Shatruk, Committee Member.

Objective: To determine whether focal knee cooling attenuates dynamic postural stability or decreases knee laxity and hamstring flexibility as compared to a room temperature trial. Design: Single-group, pretest-posttest control session design. Setting: University exercise physiology laboratory. Participants: Fourteen healthy college students (24 ± 3 years old). Intervention: Twenty-minute 5°C cooling pad application to the knee vs. room temperature (no cooling). Main Outcome Measures: Postural stability, anterior knee laxity and hamstring flexibility were measured before, immediately after and 20 minutes after either no cooling or a cooling pad application for 20 minutes. Skin temperature (lateral knee joint line) and subcutaneous temperature (medial knee joint line) were recorded every 5 minutes for the entire 20-minute treatment and for the 20-minute period following application. Results: Mean medial-lateral deflection (frontal plane position) measurement of postural stability increased immediately following cooling from .60 ± .59 to .93 ± .80. Anterior knee laxity decreased immediately following cooling from 8.40 ± .79 to 7.48 ± .78 mm. These differences were no longer evident following 20 minutes of rewarming at room temperature. Hamstring flexibility did not change with cooling. Skin temperatures decreased with cooling from 30.34 ± .89 to 18.26 ± 2.28°C and remained lower (24.99 ± .93°C) following 20 minutes of rewarming. Subcutaneous temperatures decreased with cooling from 28.40 ± 1.41 to 16.13 ± 2.59°C and remained lower (21.94 ± 1.38°C) following 20 minutes of rewarming. Conclusion: Application of a cooling pad to the knee attenuates or alters dynamic neuromuscular control in the frontal plane and decreases knee compliance immediately following the application. Cold treatment is commonly used following acute injury in sport and exercise. Alterations in the dynamic joint stability and biomechanic properties of the knee with cooling may increase the risk of injury if exercise or sport is resumed immediately following cold treatment. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Fall Semester, 2009. / October 29, 2009. / Cooling, Knee, Balance, Laxity / Includes bibliographical references. / Emily Haymes, Professor Directing Dissertation; Susan Lynn, University Representative; Lynn Panton, Committee Member.