Maternal supply of nutrients is critical for the developing fetus during all stages of gestation. The altered lipid metabolism that is often seen in pregnancies complicated by obesity and insulin resistance may negatively impact maternal supply to the fetus. More women are entering pregnancy overweight or obese and recently body mass index (BMI) has been found to be a positive predictor for decreased maternal plasma phospholipid concentrations of the long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) docosahexanoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (ARA). These nutrients play important roles in early development and their availability is critical to fetal growth and development. The purpose of the present study was to assess if maternal serum fatty acids in the second trimester of pregnancy are associated with BMI. Serum samples are frequently stored after blood draws during pregnancy and the availability of these samples provided the opportunity to examine if serum samples collected from non-fasting, pregnant women could provide information similar to what has previously been reported for BMI and fatty acid status in pregnancy. Sera from 265 women from the Foundation for Blood Research (FBR, Maine) were analyzed for fatty acid content using gas chromatography. The BMIs of each participant around 13-18 weeks of gestation were provided by FBR. Participants were grouped by BMI category and fatty acid concentrations were compared across BMI categories. There were significant differences for weight percent of the LCPUFA eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) as well as for the total ω3 LCPUFA. In this data set BMI was a negative predictor of maternal serum concentrations of DHA and EPA. These results support previous findings for fatty acids in plasma phospholipids of pregnant women. We conclude that increased BMI may negatively impact maternal LCPUFA concentrations and stored sera may be used to further assess this relationship.

Chronic inflammation is involved in the adipose tissue dysfunction through regulation of endocrine and storage function of adipocytes. As a representative proinflammatory cytokine, TNF-α was reported to inhibit expression of adiponectin. However, the mechanism of inhibition remains to be identified. Here, we provide experimental evidence that TNF-α inhibits adiponectin at both transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels. In three animal models (aP2-P65, ob/ob and high fat diets-fed mice), an increase in TNF-α expression was associated with a decrease in adiponectin expression. In 3T3-L1 adipocytes, TNF-α inhibition of adiponectin was observed at mRNA and protein levels. Luciferase reporter assay and mRNA stability tests suggest that the mRNA reduction is a consequence of inhibition of gene transcription and mRNA stability. TNF-α inhibited expression and function of PPAR-γ, an activator of adiponectin gene promoter. The inhibitory activity of TNF-α was blocked by chemical inhibitors of NF-κB or recombinant IκBα (ssIκBα), suggesting that the IκBα/NF-κB pathway mediates the TNF-α signal. The inhibition was attenuated by troglitazone, C/EBPs were required for PPAR-γ expression and their activities were reduced by HDAC3, a nuclear receptor corepressor. The study suggests a signaling pathway of TNF/NF-κB/HDAC3/CEBPs/PPAR-γ/-Adiponectin for inhibition of adiponectin transcription by TNF-α.

This study is an examination of infant communication and maternal responsivity in order to determine the impact of training on mother-infant communicative interaction. A sample of three mothers and their infants were observed during 10 minute free play sessions before and after a training intervention. The focus of the training was the principles of parenting contained in the Right-from-Birth: A Parenting Series (Grace & Lindsey, 2003) training. A multiple baseline design was used to measure maternal responsiveness to infant communication. Positive and negative maternal responses, as well as the rate of infant communication were also measured. Results showed an increase in positive maternal responses and a corresponding decrease in negative maternal responses. These findings underscore the importance of training on correct interpretation and appropriate maternal responses to infants communicative cues, in order to encourage positive mother-infant interactions.

The increase in blood levels of GLP-1 with dietary resistant starch is thought to be associated with the activities of hypothalamic NPY/AgRP neurons and the gene expression of glucokinase in the ARC of the hypothalamus. Exendin-4 has been shown to be associated with fatty acid synthesis and oxidation. In this project, it was proposed that 1) food intake will be decreased in GLP-1R KO mice, the glucokinase (GK) mRNA expression in the liver and in the hypothalamus, the hypothalamic NPY mRNA expression will be up-regulated by exendin-4 treatment; and 2) exendin-4 will decrease fatty acid synthesis and increase fatty acid oxidation. In order to investigate these hypotheses, animal experiments were performed. Exendin-4 treated WT and GLP-1R KO mice were injected with exendin-4 at 100µg/Kg body weight or vehicle for 7 days. The exendin-4 treated mice and the vehicle mice were subdivided into fed and fasted groups. There were 8 groups of mice (n=8). Food intake after refeeding at 1h, 2h and 4h was measured. At end of the study, the blood glucose level, the GK, CPT1, AOX1, SCD1, FAS, SREBP1c and PPARã mRNA expressions in liver, and the GK and NPY mRNA expressions in hypothalamus were measured. In this study, the food intake of GLP-1R KO mice at 1h, 2h and 4h was significantly less than in WT mice, and the FAS expression in liver was significantly higher in GLP-1R KO mice than WT mice. Exendin-4 treatment decreased blood glucose, and increased the GK gene expression in liver, but not in the hypothalamus. The food intake and the NPY gene expression were not altered by exendin-4. Only the AOX mRNA expression was increased by exendin-4. CPT1, SCD1, FAS, SREBP1c, and PPARã mRNA were not changed. GLP-1 might have beneficial effects on improving the impairment of nutrient sensing system induced by aging. The up-regulated FAS gene expression might be one possible mechanism for higher body fat in GLP1R KO mice. The lowering body fat storage effect of exendin-4 may be due in part to the increase of the fatty acid oxidation in liver.

The purpose of this study was to assess the perception of Louisiana Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program (FSNEP) participants diet and other lifestyle measures and their consistency with the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans and MyPyramid compared to eligible non-participants in Louisiana. The study sample included FSNEP adult participants (Group 1; n=30) and adult non-FSNEP participants (Group 2; n=26) from 5 parishes in Louisiana. Nine focus group discussions (FGD) were conducted with Group 1 (n=5) and Group 2 (n=4) participants. The FGD assessed perceptions and practice in the last six months of: (a) increasing eating fruit and vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat dairy products intake by one or more serving per day; (b) increasing 30-minute moderate activity by four or more days a week; and (c) balancing energy intake from food with calories expended. Focus group discussions were conducted together with a survey to assess population characteristics. Anthropometric measures taken show no significant difference in body mass index (BMI) (32.5 ± 9.9 standard deviation and 35.8 ± 9.5 standard deviation) and percent body fat (41.9 ± 9.6 standard deviation and 44.1 ± 7.1 standard deviation) between participants and non-participants, respectively. Focus Group Discussion analysis suggested that Group 1 and Group 2 participants exhibited similar lifestyle behaviors mainly by increasing low/non-fat dairy, fruit and vegetable, and whole grain intake in the last six months. Group 1 participants received more nutrition education sessions than Group 2 participants. The latter group received nutrition sessions from non-FNP sources including hospitals, physicians and grocery stores through talks and taste testing. Conversely, Group 1 participants received more nutrition education sessions from the FNP funding. Different community agencies collaborated and a variety of delivery methods were used. Additionally, 4 healthy lifestyle behaviors were observed for Group 1. This study provided the basis for future research to assess the participants perception Louisiana FSNEP assistance to make healthy dietary choices and practice a healthy lifestyle.

The widespread availability of parallel computing architectures has lead to research regarding algorithms and techniques that best exploit available parallelism. In addition to the CPU parallelism available; the GPU has emerged as a parallel computational device. The goal of this study was to explore the combined use of CPU and GPU parallelism by developing a hybrid parallel CPU/GPU cloth simulation application. In order to evaluate the benefits of the hybrid approach, the application was first developed in sequential CPU form, followed by a parallel CPU form. The application uses Backward Euler implicit time integration to solve the differential equations of motion associated with the physical system. The Conjugate Gradient (CG) algorithm is used to determine the solution vector for the system of equations formed by the Backward Euler approach. The matrix/vector, vector/vector, and vector/scalar operations required by CG are handled by calls to BLAS level 1 and level 2 functions. In the sequential CPU and parallel CPU versions, the Intel Math Kernel Library implementation of BLAS is used. In the hybrid parallel CPU/GPU version, the Nvidia CUDA based BLAS implementation (CUBLAS) is used. In the parallel CPU and hybrid implementations, OpenMP directives are used to parallelize the force application loop that traverses the list of forces acting on the system. Runtimes were collected for each version of the application while simulating cloth meshes with particle resolutions of 20x20, 40x40, and 60x60. The performance of each version was compared at each mesh resolution. The level of performance degradation experienced when transitioning to the larger mesh sizes was also determined. The hybrid parallel CPU/GPU implementation yielded the highest frame rate for the 40x40 and 60x60 meshes. The parallel CPU implementation yielded the highest frame rate for the 20x20 mesh. The performance of the hybrid parallel CPU/GPU implementation degraded the least as it transitioned to the two larger mesh sizes. The results of this study will potentially lead to further research regarding the use of GPUs to perform the matrix/vector operations associated with the CG algorithm under more complex cloth simulation scenarios.

The existing literature on religion and family indicates that religious beliefs and practices are correlated with various aspects of marriage and family life. Chinese immigrants are an important part of the U.S. population. However, very little is known about the relationship between religion and marriage for Chinese immigrants. The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between Christianity and marriage in Chinese immigrant families based on in-depth qualitative interviews. Sixteen highly religious Chinese Christian couples were interviewed to examine how religious faith influenced their perceptions of marriage and family life. Most of the participants in this study held advanced graduate degrees. Their ages ranged from 28-66, and the number of children ranged from one to four. Grounded theory methods (including open coding and axial coding) were applied to analyze the data. Based on my interview data, five central, emergent themes were indentified: 1) Moving from atheism to theism: God is love; 2) Changing perceptions of marriage: Marriage is established by God; 3) The importance of shared faith: Equally yoked; 4) Challenges with religious faith; and 5) A new priority: Put God first. Supporting qualitative data was presented in connection with each of these five themes. Implications for research and practice related to Chinese immigrants marriage and family in the U.S. are discussed.

In spite of the significance of social shopping in the context of fashion consumption, its definitions, boundaries, and explanations have not yet been systematically established in literature. The purpose of Study 1 was to develop a reliable and valid scale of social shopping for fashion. With the scale, Study 2 aimed to develop and test a structural model of social shopping process. In Study 1, a three-step procedure for scale development was followed: item generation, scale purification, and scale validation. As a result, a five-dimensional scale, along with sixteen behavioral items, was developed representing distinctive dimension of social shopping for fashion. The result suggests that social shopping for fashion involves dynamic and complex direct/indirect interpersonal exchanges and activities. Study 1 adds significant value to the literature in three ways. First, the scale is the first attempt to synthesize dispersed concepts of social shopping. Second, by providing a reliable and valid measure of social shopping for fashion, the results advance the area of research. Third, the scale is useful for a wide range of marketing and retailing applications. In Study 2, an online survey was conducted with a random sample consisting of a total of 5,280 undergraduates aged 18 to 29 years old enrolled at a large southeastern university. A total of 858 responses were analyzed using structural equation modeling. A structural model including motivational forces and consequences of social shopping behavior was developed and tested. The results indicated that social comparison orientations were generally found to be motivators of social shopping for fashion, and social shopping contributed to shopping satisfaction. The results, however, suggest that each dimension is driven by different dimensions of social comparison orientation and generates different types of satisfaction. This study increases the understanding of social shopping by simultaneously examining a causal model depicting comprehensive motivational forces and consequences of social shopping behavior. The results contribute to building a rigor of social comparison theory and consumer satisfaction theory in the context of fashion consumption. The results also provide industry professionals with strategic cues for creation of shopping environments wherein consumers social needs are better served and satisfied.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of humor as a coping strategy among Hurricane Katrina survivors. The data for this study were collected in the first wave of a larger project on families and disasters. Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) by combining Census data with storm damage estimates and purposive sampling, 50 participants affected by Hurricane Katrina from a single suburban community in Southern Louisiana in early spring 2006 were recruited and interviewed. When the interviews were qualitatively analyzed with a focus on humor, it became clear that families used humor even at such a devastating time. Based on a prior empirical conceptualization, five types of humor were found: language, expressive, impersonation, low humor and other orientation. The most frequent type of humor used was language with expressive humor as the second-most often used type of humor. The two new types of humor that emerged were post-disaster life and financial concerns. Because most of the families used humor in dealing with the devastation of the storm, disaster management professionals, including relief workers, should at the very least expect humor and might even encourage it depending on the situation.

Research on Native American families is limited and emphasizes the deficits of families and overlooks those Native American families that are thriving. This study seeks to illuminate the strengths of highly religious, Christian, Native American, married couples. The study employs a strengths-based perspective to examine how and why religious coping is meaningful and influential for these Native American couples enduring marriages and in their efforts to be responsive parents. From interviews of fifteen heterosexual, Native American, married couples (n=30), five themes emerged from the coding and analysis: 1) Faith and Culture: They go hand in hand, 2) Influence of Faith and Culture on marriage, 3) Generational Transference: If you dont have it, it wont be there, 4) Religious Coping, and 5) Challenges. Research and clinical implications are addressed.