The purpose of this study was to examine collegiate female swimmers' attitudes toward gender and coaching. The study also examined the coaching styles of male and females coaches and determined whether a difference between styles existed. A purposeful sample of 250 female swimmers from the Mid-American Conference (MAC) during the 2001-2002 swimming season participated in the study. Swimmers were required to have been coached by both female and male coaches in order to be eligible to participate. Addressing the purpose of this study, participants were asked to complete a 30-item questionnaire developed by the researcher. Frequency counts revealed that 23 of the 57 participants preferred a male coach to a female coach. Only two individuals reported their preference for a female with 32 participants citing no gender preference. Two sections, including 14 questions for each gender on the Gender Preference Instrument, assessed coaching style. Independent t -tests were calculated on each question (p < .05). Eight significant gender differences were observed on coaching styles, with the participating athletes scoring the male coach higher on all of the eight categories. / School of Physical Education

The Beothuk Indians were an extinct group of Amerinds who were among the earliest founders of Newfoundland. In literature, the Beothuk were described as perhaps being phenotypically more similar to Europeans than Asians (Gatschet 1890, Lloyd 1875, 1876a, Marshall 1996). In this research, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis was performed on a Beothuk individual in order to determine his haplotype and, perhaps, shed light on the origins of the Beothuk.For this analysis, a tooth of Nonosabasut, a Beothuk chief who died in 1819 was loaned from the Royal Museum of Scotland. Ancient DNA was extracted from 172 mg of dentin from the tooth. The DNA was cut with two blunt-end restriction enzymes, RsaI and HaeIII. Double-stranded DNA adapters were ligated to the blunt ends. A single adapter was used to amplify the resulting fragments using PCR. In this manner, two libraries of the DNA were created that could be readily reamplified using a small amount of the PCR product. mtDNA type was determined by amplifying specific regions and performing Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism analysis and sequencing. It was determined that the Beothuk individual had a 9-bp deletion at nucleotide position (np) 8272, an Alul restriction site at np 5176, and heteroplasmy for a HincII restriction site at np 13,259, indicating that the Beothuk individual falls into the Native American Haplogroup B. Haplogroup B is not present in modern Siberian populations, whereas the remaining Native American mtDNA haplogroups are. It has been hypothesized that Haplogroup B arrived in the Americas at a different time than haplogroups A, C, D, and X, about 16,000-13,000 YBP (Years Before Present) (Starikovskaya et al. 1998). Haplogroup B can be found in some modern Taiwanese, Japanese, Korean, Evenk, and other Asian populations.Sequencing of the D-Loop region revealed a G to A transition at np 16303. To our knowledge, this transition was never previously reported in a Native American. This transition has been reported in Tibetans, Koreans, Hans, and Japanese, all considered to be southeast Asian Causacoids (Torroni et al. 1993b, 1994b). This transition, also frequently described in the Caucasian Haplogroup H, is especially prevalent in Spain and among the Basque. It is described as a root haplotype of Haplogroup H whose expansion was estimated to be between 12,300-13,200 YBP (Torroni et al. 1998). This time estimate coincides with the expansion of Haplogroup B. One possible explanation for this transition may be some admixture of the Beothuk with a Caucasian population. / School of Physical Education

Cyclooxygenase (COX) is the enzyme that catalyzes the rate-limiting step in prostaglandin (PG) synthesis. In skeletal muscle, PGF2a, has been shown to regulate protein synthesis, and ibuprofen and acetaminophen have been shown to block the normal increase in PGF2a and muscle protein synthesis following resistance exercise in humans. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the expression of the COX-1 (COX-1 variants: COX-1 v1, -1v2, -1 b,, -1 b2, and -1b3) and COX-2 isoforms following resistance exercise to help elucidate the isoform or variant through which PGF2a, ibuprofen, and acetaminophen regulate muscle protein synthesis. Human skeletal muscle biopsy samples were taken from 16 individuals (8M, 8F) before, 4 h, and 24 h following a single bout of resistance exercise and analyzed using real-time RT-PCR. COX-Iv1 and COX-1v2 were the most abundant COX mRNA before exercise and remained unchanged (P>0.05) following exercise (i.e., constitutively expressed). Relatively few individuals expressed the intron 1-retaining COX-1 b variants (COX-1 b,, - 1b2, and -1 b3) at any time point, and when expressed these variants were in very low abundance. COX-2 was not expressed in any subject before exercise, but increased significantly (P<0.05) at 4 and 24 h following exercise. These results suggest that the intron 1-retaining COX-1 b,, -1 b2, and -lb3 variants are likely not the COX through which PGF2a is produced to stimulate skeletal muscle protein synthesis. PGF2a, stimulation, as well as ibuprofen and acetaminophen inhibition of skeletal muscle protein synthesis likely work through COX-2, or one of the constitutively expressed COX-1 variants (COX-lv1 or -1v2). / School of Physical Education, Sport, and Exercise Science

There is no abstract available for this dissertation. / Human Performance Laboratory

There is no abstract available for this dissertation. / School of Physical Education, Sport, and Exercise Science

The purpose of this study was to compare the growth response elicited by an acute bout of resistance exercise (RE) conducted on a traditional weight stack device (WS) and a flywheel device (FW). Eight recreationally trained males (25 ± 9 y, 77 ± 27 kg) performed 4 sets of 7 repetitions of bilateral knee extension on each exercise device separated by 7 days. Muscle biopsies were obtained from the vastus lateralis at rest and 4 hrs post-exercise to examine the expression of selected myogenic and proteolytic genes. RE increased (P < 0.05) mRNA expression of Myogenin (3.6 vs. 3.6 fold), and MyoD (2.2 vs. 2.0 fold) and decreased (P < 0.05) expression of Myostatin (1.4 vs. 1.5 fold) to a similar degree on both exercise devices. There was no change in the expression of Atrogin-1, MuRF-1 or MRF4 following RE on either device. The only device mediated difference in the expression of the selected genes was observed in Atrogin-1 which was lower following RE on the FW versus the WS device. The current data shows that in the initial hrs following RE, use of the FW is as effective as the traditional resistance training devices (WS) in promoting the induction of genes involved with muscle remodeling and growth. / School of Physical Education, Sport, and Exercise Science

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Baylor University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 134-146).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Baylor University, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 145-152).

Thesis (M. Sp. Sc. (Hons.))--University of New South Wales, 2000. / Also available online.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Australia, 2006.