Due to their impact on the environment, apparel companies have gradually begun to change manufacturing and production processes and provide consumers with environmentally responsible apparel product options. Among these consumers are Hispanics, a consumer group which research has shown to have a strong purchasing power and astounding population increase. Between 2000 and 2010, the total population in the United States increased by 23.7million people, with Hispanics accounting for over 50% of that total increase (Humes, Jones, & Ramirez, 2011). It is estimated that by 2125 Hispanics will account for 50% of the total U.S. population (Day, 1996). Additionally, between 1990 and 2006, Hispanic buying power had a 450% growth versus a 176% growth of the non-Hispanic population (Humphreys, 2008). It is expected that Hispanic buying power will increase to $1.2 trillion by the year 2012 (Humphreys, 2007). Specifically, females account for 80% of household buying decisions (Gogoi, 2005). With this substantial financial impact, it is imperative that retailers better understand this consumer group. Using the theory of planned behavior and acculturation theory, the purpose of this research was to study the effects environmental knowledge has on environmental attitude and the influence environmental attitude, subjective norms, and the perceived control have on behavioral intention to purchase environmentally responsible apparel products. An online survey of 548 female Hispanic university students in the southeast region of the United States was conducted to collect data in this empirical quantitative study. The study of 65 participants found significant relationships between: environmental knowledge and attitude; attitude and behavioral intent; subjective norms and behavioral intention; and perceived behavioral control and behavioral intent within the female Hispanic population. These results reflect the application of the Theory of Planned Behavior as a theoretical framework to aid in measuring the behavioral intention with respect to the purchase of environmentally responsible apparel products.

Chinese culture has dramatically influenced Western womens fashionable dress over many centuries. Researchers have studied Chinese dress and its influence on Western womens dress in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and early twentieth century. However, no research has systematically examined Chinese dress influences on Western womens dress from the time that China reopened its door to the West in the 1970s and into the twenty-first century. The purpose of this study is to trace Chinese influence in Western womens dress from 1960 to 2009 in American Vogue magazine. The specific aims of this study are to identify and record the influence of the Hanfu, Qipao, and Mao suit along with other Chinese dress characteristics, including accessories, hair styles, and makeup, on Western womens dress as depicted in the magazine over fifty years. The ways in which elements and patterns of Chinese dress were adopted into modern Western womens fashion was examined along with concurrent social changes and globalization by tracing a single popular fashion magazine, American Vogue. Content analysis was applied to answer the research questions. A total of 704 issues of American Vogue were examined and the frequencies of Chinese attributes present in both visual representations and written references in every issue were recorded. The visual counts were accompanied by examination of verbal text, such as articles, editorials, and figure captions that referred to China. The results indicate that Chinese influence in visual representations was seen throughout the entire research period in greater numbers than written references. The two decades with the highest numbers of occurances in both written references and visual representations were the 1970s and 1990s. Garment features had higher frequencies than fabric, accessories, and other features. As a garment type, Qipao had the greatest influence on Western womens dress. Collars appeared as the most influenced construction element depicted in Vogue. Political events, culture, globalization, and fashion trends all played important roles in the frequency of Chinese influences seen on Western womens fashionable dress in American Vogue.

The objective of these studies was to determine the association between dietary intakes of selected food groups, macronutrients, and micronutrients in mother-child dyads. This was a secondary analysis of data on low-income Black, Hispanic, and White children 3-5 years-old (y) participating in Head Start (HS) (n=650), and their mothers. Mothers served as a proxy for their child, and self-reported intake during a multiple-pass 24-hour recall interview for one weekend day. One weekend day was chosen since children attended HS during the week, and mothers may not know what their children consumed outside the home. Data were collected on childrens and mothers intakes of servings of snacks, sweets, fruit, and vegetables, and amounts of energy, dietary fiber, vitamin D, calcium, potassium, added sugars, saturated fatty acids (SFA), trans fat, and sodium. Analysis of variance was conducted to determine differences in intakes by race. Pearson partial correlation coefficients were determined to assess the associations of intakes between children and mothers. Both children and mothers met the recommendation for vegetables; however, they did not meet the recommendations for fruit, dietary fiber, vitamin D, calcium, or potassium. Further, they exceeded the recommendations for SFA and sodium. Intake of all food groups and nutrients in mothers was associated with intake of the corresponding food groups and nutrients in children (p<0.0001 for all). Nutrition professionals need to encourage mothers to consume healthy snacks, such as fruit and vegetables, and consume foods that are high in nutrients of public health concern, which include dietary fiber, vitamin D, calcium, and potassium. Nutrition professionals should also encourage mothers to consume low amounts of foods that are high in nutrients of overconsumption, which include added sugars, SFA, trans fat, and sodium. Modeling of these habits by mothers may encourage healthy eating habits in children.

The Macular Study was a case control study that evaluated if parity and other participant characteristics predicted the diagnosis of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Women, compared to men, are at higher risk for AMD. AMD is one of the leading causes of blindness in the elderly population [1]. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n-3) is a long-chain fatty acid that is essential for the structure and function of the eye. During pregnancy the growing fetus depletes the maternal stores of DHA through placental transfer. The fetus needs an ample supply of DHA for proper retinal and central nervous system development. To date there is no research evaluating the number of pregnancies and their effect on development of AMD. We posed the question: Does the number of pregnancies have an effect on the development of AMD in women? Degree of AMD was documented and evaluated by four different eye doctors in Baton Rouge for 501 women. The women in the study completed a health history form that included demographic information, information about past pregnancies, and general health. Using analysis of variance (ANOVA), women with a higher number of births were more likely to be diagnosed with early, intermediate or advanced AMD versus those women never diagnosed (3.27 + 0.19, 3.64 + 0.22, 3.33 + 0.24 versus 2.53 + 0.15, number of children P<0.0001). Numerous risk factors were considered, along with parity, in subsequent analyses; these were age, race, eye color, smoking history, vitamin intake, fish oil intake, family history of AMD, history of hypertension, and body mass index (BMI). Using backwards-stepwise regression the most significant risk factors predicting the diagnosis of AMD were determined (P < 0.01) and entered into a logistic regression model. Age, parity, BMI, and BMI by parity significantly predicted the diagnosis of AMD. As age, BMI and the number of pregnancies increased, the probability of being diagnosed with AMD also increased. In conclusion, older women, with a higher BMI, who have had more pregnancies, were more likely to have AMD compared to younger women with a lower BMI and fewer pregnancies. It is important that future studies consider parity as a possible risk for AMD, especially as it relates to other participant characteristics. Such studies may provide insight as to why women are at greater risk for AMD.

One fiber that is being researched as a possible alternative to the petroleum based polyester fibers currently being used is polylactic acid (PLA). Being aware of the low heat resistance and degradation of PLA during processing is a concern for practical production and the performance of the polymer. Disperse dyed PLA film and solution dyed PLA film, along with un-dyed film and the original PLA pellets have been investigated to determine molecular weight. Infrared analysis has been conducted to examine the compounds found in the PLA samples at different steps in the polymer processing. Un-dyed PLA samples have been subjected to different heat treatments to observe the changes associated with temperature exposure. PLA has also been analyzed after dyeing to view the effects of the coloration method to the PLA structure.

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Background: As the prevalence of obesity has steadily increased, it has rapidly emerged as a major public health concern due to a high risk of morbidity and mortality. Rare missense and nonsense mutations in the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) gene are a cause of genetic forms of severe obesity, and targeted disruption of the mouse MC4R leads to obesity. The role of variation at the MC4R locus in influencing interindividual variation in body size and composition in the general population is controversial. Objective: To test the hypothesis that polymorphic variation at the MC4R locus is significantly associated with measures of adiposity in the general population. Methods: Two single nucleotide polymorphisms, -4599 T>G and -4850 T>C, in the 5¡¯-flanking region of MC4R were verified by resequencing in 16 individuals and genotyped in the larger sample by fluorescence polarization. 1,099 healthy, non-Hispanic white volunteers, age 30-54 years, were recruited from the Pittsburgh community. A medical and demographic history was collected and anthropomorphic measures were determined. ANOVA was used to assess the relationship between genotype and metabolic parameters. Results: BMI was greater in participants having a -4599 G allele (GG + TG genotypes) than among TT homozygotes (p < 0.03), and this association was of similar magnitude in both men (BMI 28.2 vs. 27.4) and women (BMI 26.5 vs. 25.9). Nominally defined overweight (BMI ¡Ý 27) also varied significantly (Chi-square = 6.874, p < 0.04) across -4599 genotypes (GG: 52.4%; TG: 46.8%, TT: 40.6%). A similar relationship was seen for the -4850 T>C SNP (CC: 53.2%; TC: 48.0%; TT: 41.4%; Chi-square = 6.256, p < 0.05). Finally, subjects with any -4599 G allele had significantly higher weight (177.0 vs. 172.8; p < 0.05) and percent of body fat (29.8% vs. 28.8%; p < 0.04). Greater waist circumference was also significantly associated with both the -4599 G allele (36.3 vs. 35.6; p < 0.04) and the -4850 C allele (36.4 vs. 35.6; p < 0.05). Conclusion: Common variation in the 5¡¯-flanking region of the MC4R gene is significantly associated with measures of adiposity in men and women in the general population.

Among the public health relevant disorders, Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) is a degenerative disease affecting almost 2 million Americans. It is characterized by the loss of insulin-producing b-cells due to a T cell-mediated autoimmune response. The risk to develop T1D is HLA associated. HLA-DQ8-DR4 has been identified as the most prevalent HLA haplotype in the Caucasian T1D population. Although DQ8 has been demonstrated to be the primary genetic determinant of disease susceptibility, its predisposing effect is likely modulated by the expression of closely linked DR4 alleles. As one of hypotheses to explain the role of DR4 molecules in T1D etiology, the peptide competition model holds that DR4 competes to bind diabetogenic peptides with DQ8 and thus affects DQ8-restricted autoreactive CD4 T cell responses. However, the evidence of the competition is insufficient due to the lack of detection reagents and the difficulty of segregating the expression of DR4 from DQ8. In this study, we investigated the competition of peptides derived from Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase 65 (GAD65) a putative b-cell autoantigen. A panel of DQ8-restricted T cell lines was generated to serve as detection reagents to evaluate the peptide occupancy of DQ8. After demonstrating that a single peptide derived from GAD65 could bind both HLA-DQ8 and HLA-DR4, we compared CD4 T cell responses elicited by antigen presenting cells expressing DQ8 alone with those expressing DQ8 and DR4 simultaneously. Results indicated that the co-expression of HLA-DR4 diminished DQ8-restricted T cell responses. In addition, distinct DR4 subtypes were demonstrated to affect DQ8-restricted T cell responses differently, suggesting the variable degrees of peptide competition potentials. Taken together, this study provides the evidence that DR4 is able to compete for peptides with DQ8. The outcome of this competition decreases DQ8-restricted CD4 T cell responses, which may hence contribute to a peripheral tolerance mechanism and explain the modulating role of DR4 to the DQ8-conferred T1D susceptibility.

Prostate cancer is a public health concern, particularly to the African-American community. African-American men are disproportionately affected and experience prostate cancer rates about 60% more often than white Americans. It is the second leading cancer in men and it is second only to lung cancer in cancer related deaths. This is a significant public health problem. This paper will focus on the gene Interleukin 6 signal transducer isoform 1 (IL6ST), on chromosome 5q11.2, with polymorphisms relating to gp130 [rs 3730293 and rs 3729960]; both single nucleotide polymorphisms result in an amino acid change. The change is Glycine to Arginine for rs 3729960 which is located in exon 14 and Isoleucine to Threonine for rs 3730293 which is located in exon 10. Human IL-6 signaling requires the 80kDa IL-6R receptor, which is responsible for IL-6 specificity and the 130kDa glycoprotein, gp130, the signal transduction subunit for signal transduction to occur. IL-6 acts through its receptors which are polymorphic, and subsequently may cause it to have different functionality. A population based case/control study was conducted to evaluate the influence of gp130 snps on prostate cancer risk in an Afro-Caribbean male population of Tobago. This population was chosen because of the high prevalence of prostate cancer. A subset of 1000 samples taken from a study done by Bunker et al, was genotyped by PCR and fluorescence polarization methods. Statistical analysis yielded all estimated allele frequencies to be in Hardy Weinberg Equilibrium. Chi square analysis of the cases and controls yielded no significant association of the gp130 snps and prostate cancer risk.

Schizophrenia is a debilitating disorder characterized by disturbances in thought with lifetime prevalence of one percent. The public health burden of schizophrenia due to medical care, social disability, and co-morbid conditions is substantial. Genetic variation, viral infection, or interaction of the two could influence schizophrenia risk. An understanding of these disease pathways could lead to strategies for prevention and treatment of schizophrenia. We used a positional approach to identify schizophrenia candidate genes that could interact with cytomegalovirus and herpes simplex viruses (HSV). We focused on three groups of genes: TNF and MICB near D6S2672, which was associated with schizophrenia and CMV in our previous studies; IL1â, IL1RN, and IL10, immune related genes associated with schizophrenia in published articles; and IL-18, IL18BP, IL18RAP, IL12A, and IL12B, positional candidate genes in the IL-18 pathway. We used multiple case-control and family-based samples to test these hypotheses. We comprehensively sequenced TNF, and genotyped eight SNPs in a case-control sample. We detected no significant associations. We used a dual-luciferase expression assay to quantify TNF expression driven by common promoter haplotypes. Differences in TNF expression did not correlate with schizophrenia. To localize the D6S2672 association, we genotyped 26 SNPs spanning 100kb in a case-control sample. Based on suggestive associations, we selected five SNPs to assay among additional samples. A SNP in MICB was associated with schizophrenia in these samples. The opposite allele was associated with HSV1 in two non-schizophrenia groups. We used comprehensive sequencing data to select tag SNPs at IL1â, IL1RN, IL10, and IL-18 pathway genes. Tag SNPs were evaluated in a case-control sample. In IL1â, IL1RN, and IL10 significant associations were not detected. However, meta-analysis of rs16944 (IL1â 511) studies suggests modest, but significant, risk for schizophrenia in Caucasian samples. In IL-18 pathway genes, a IL18RAP SNP was associated with schizophrenia, the opposite allele was associated with HSV1. Identified associations with schizophrenia may be due to host gene-virus interaction. These genetic variants could clarify which patients are vulnerable to viral infection. Treatment or prevention may be feasible, if our results are confirmed. Further replicate studies are warranted, as are functional studies of associated polymorphisms.