<p> The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of cognitive tasks on gait parameters in a collegiate athlete population. Forty-six current collegiate student-athletes from men&rsquo;s football, women&rsquo;s basketball, and women&rsquo;s volleyball participated in the study. Each participant completed five single task trials walking at a self-selected pace on a ten-meter walkway free of obstacles and other distractions and then completed five dual task trials of walking while completing a cognitive task of either counting backwards from 100 by 7s or spelling common five letter words backwards. Paired samples t-tests showed all gait parameters, including step count (<i> t</i>(45) = -13.301, <i>p</i> &lt; .001), gait cycle (<i> t</i>(45) = -14.710, <i>p</i> &lt; .001), cadence (<i> t</i>(45) = 12.132, <i>p</i> &lt; .001), nominal speed (<i> t</i>(45) = 18.229, <i>p</i> &lt; .001), peak medial lateral acceleration (<i>t</i>(45) = 2.948, <i>p</i> = .005), peak anterior acceleration (<i>t</i>(45) = 7.005, <i>p</i> &lt; .001), and postural sway (<i>t</i>(45) = 5.355, <i>p</i> &lt; .000) were statistically different, <i>p</i> &lt; .05, between the single and dual task trials. During the single task trials, participants walked faster, took less steps, and had higher acceleration and postural sway values than they did during the dual task trials. Normative reference values for these gait parameters were also determined for this specific population. </p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to determine if diet and/or body composition influences resting plasma apelin concentration. (Abstract shortened by ProQuest.) </p>

<p> In the learning and cognitive fields it has been well established that a two-way interaction between instructor and participant is more beneficial for learning. Within Motor Control and Learning, this process comes to fruition through what is known as self-controlled practice. The purpose of this study is to determine how goals influence the process of self-controlled practice. It was hypothesized that there will be a difference in learning between the self-controlled group (SC) and a yoked group (Y) as well as a difference in learning between the SC groups with respect to timing goal. One hundred and twenty young adults participated in this experiment. Participants in the self-control group were provided control over the amount of practice trials they completed during practice while participants in the yoked group received the same amount of practice trials as the individuals in the self-control group. Additionally, self-control participants were grouped according to timing goals. Error score measures were collected to assess changes in performance. Results indicated partial confirmation of differences due to stringency of the timing goal, as well as, no differences between self-control and yoked groups.</p>

<p> The capstone of the Doctor of Athletic Training program is a Dissertation of Clinical Practice Improvement (DoCPI). The DoCPI is designed to examine and articulate an athletic trainer&rsquo;s evolution as a scholarly practitioner. Included in this extensive document is a Plan of Advanced Practice, which encompasses an understanding of current clinical practices, professional goals, strengths and weaknesses, and a blueprint for my clinical practice future. Reflecting on patient-reported outcomes and clinical strengths and weaknesses combined to contribute to the chapters that are contained within this DoCPI. The final research multi-site study reflects the philosophy of the DAT in its mission to engage in action research and utilize practice-based evidence to address local clinical practice challenges and enhance clinical decision making. The exploration of the effects of Mulligan Concept&reg; positional sustained natural apophyseal glides on mechanical neck pain within the athletic population has provided a means to directly treat non-traumatic musculoskeletal injury of the cervicothoracic region without reluctance. The point of engaging in action research is not to discover new knowledge or argue theories but rather to obtain insight that has practical applications to the solution of a specific problem. The following DoCPI offers evidence of how action research can be integrated and applied in a clinically meaningful way as well as depict my adventure from a novice athletic trainer to advanced practitioner.</p>

<p> Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NALFD) is characterized as excessive lipid accumulation in the liver in the absence of excessive alcohol consumption. NAFLD is generally considered benign; however, at an undefined threshold, lipid accumulation becomes toxic; i.e., lipotoxic, triggering an inflammatory response progressing to steatohepatitis or nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). Currently, pharmaceutical interventions provide limited benefits for the treatment of NAFLD and NASH. Lifestyle modifications such as caloric restriction and increasing physical activity to promote weight-loss may provide a more effective therapeutic approach. It remains unclear; however, if a negative caloric balance induced by diet alone or in combination with physical activity is the most effective strategy for reducing hepatic inflammation during weight-loss. <b> Purpose:</b> To determine if weight-loss by caloric restriction when combined with unrestricted physical activity will show lower expression of hepatic inflammation in obese, male C57BL/6 mice when compared to diet alone. <b> Methods:</b> To induce obesity, 8-week old, male C57BL/6 mice were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) (60% kcal from fat) for 10 weeks. An age-matched group of male mice were fed a low-fat diet (LFD) (10% kcal from fat) for the entire 18 weeks of the study, which served as the lean controls. After 10-weeks, mice fed the high-fat diet were randomly assigned to one of three groups for 8-weeks: 1) a high-fat diet , 2) a low-fat diet (DIET) (10% kcal from fat) or 3) a low-fat diet plus <i>ad libitum</i> access to a running wheel (DIET+PA). At the end of the 8 weeks, mice were sacrificed using approved humane methods and plasma and hepatic tissue were collected. Plasma was analyzed for circulating concentrations of total cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, insulin, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-&alpha; (TNF-&alpha;). The degree of insulin resistance was estimated using the vi homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Hepatic total lipids, triglycerides, and cholesterol were measured to characterize the degree of lipotoxicity in the tissue. To determine changes in the inflammatory profile of the liver, the expression of hepatic levels of interleukin 1 &beta;(IL-1&beta;), interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 10 (IL-10), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-&alpha;), interferon gamma (IFN-&gamma;), and transforming growth factor-&beta;1 (TGF-&beta;1) mRNA were measured by quantitative RT-PCR. <b>Results:</b> DIET+PA mice had significantly (P&lt;0.05) lower body mass and hepatic triglyceride and cholesterol levels than the LFD, HFD, and DIET groups. The addition of exercise in the DIET+PA group lead to significantly (P&lt;0.05) lower expression of IFN-&gamma; mRNA when compared to HFD mice. These positive changes in hepatic inflammatory profiles were not seen with diet alone. In addition DIET+PA mice had significantly higher expression of IL-6 mRNA and IL-1&beta; in the liver than HFD mice. <b>Conclusion:</b> The addition of exercise to a calorie restrictive diet promoted a reduction of hepatic pro-inflammatory factors and increase of anti-inflammatory factors greater than diet alone. These findings suggest that exercise should be a key component to the prevention and treatment of NAFLD and prevention of NASH.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of training at varying levels of body weight support on running biomechanics. The 8-week training intervention had volunteers (<i>n</i>=33) complete 24 sessions running at either no support (100BW), 25% body weight support (75BW), or 50% body weight support (50BW). Video footage was captured of the runners&rsquo; pre- and post- training at the three levels of BW support and stride kinematics were determined. Differences in stride characteristics and joint kinematics between the three BW support conditions and two time points of data collection were evaluated using a 3 x 2 x 3 mixed ANOVA. The 75BW and 50BW group elongated their stride and quickened their cadence as a result to training when evaluated at 75BW and 50BW. Joint kinematics did not change as a result to training. Gait was not altered when returning to 100BW after training at 75BW or 100BW. </p>

<p>The purpose of this retrospective study was to observe the consequence of sports-related concussions on athletes who were evaluated initially in a prolonged time frame regarding symptom recovery, cognitive recovery, postural stability recovery, and neuropsychological recovery to athletes who were evaluated immediately. This is a descriptive, retrospective chart review of physically active athletes whom were evaluated on an outpatient basis by licensed neuropsychologist at a Physical Therapy Clinic. Data was extracted and this study showed that ?prolonged? athletes experienced more symptoms at time of injury as well as time of initial evaluation compared to ?typical-acute? athletes. Furthermore, ?prolonged? athletes performed significantly worse on the ?eyes open, firm surface? portion of a balance assessment as well the visual memory composite on ImPACT. This study concludes immediate help sought from a licensed specialist in concussions is important to prevent delayed recovery.

<p> This study examined the physiological changes resulting from an eight-week training program on a lower body positive pressure treadmill (LBPPT) at three different levels of body weight (BW). Thirty-three healthy college aged students (age: 25 &plusmn;7 years) participated in this study. Participants performed a graded exercise test (GXT) and trained in one of three groups with differing percentages of BW. Following the progressive training program, another GXT was performed to assess the effects of training. A one-way ANOVA was used to compare the absolute change among groups from pre-training to post-training. The 100% BW group improved their relative VO_2peak when compared to the 50% BW group (p = 0.02). Relative VO_2peak for the 75% BW group was not different than either the 100% BW (p = 0.14) or the 50% BW group (p = 0.66). Based on the results, it appears that running at a BW of 75% or less results in no improvement in aerobic capacity when compared to running at 100% BW.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to determine if different cueing techniques could alter knee mechanics during the cutting maneuver. Twenty competitive female soccer players (age 21.9 &plusmn; 3.3 years, height 1.68 &plusmn; 0.3 m; mass 68.2 &plusmn; 8.2 kg) participated in this study. Each participant performed three trials for each cue: verbal (VER), visual (VIS), and kinesthetic (KIN). A significant omnibus <i>F</i> test was observed for knee flexion range of motion (ROM) and peak knee flexion (PKF), respectively, (<i> F</i> (3,54) = 5.009, <i>p</i> = 0.004) (<i>F</i> (3,54) = 3.769, <i>p</i> = 0.016). Post hoc comparisons revealed that the KIN cue resulted in higher peak knee (PKF; <i>p</i> =0.048) and knee flexion ROM; <i>p</i> =0.014), while VIS cue also results in higher (PKF; <i>p</i> =0.044) and higher (PKROM; <i>p </i> = .010). Effects can be seen at the knee, hip and torso using different cueing techniques during the two-step cutting maneuver.</p>

Using knee wraps (KW) as an ergogenic aid has been commonly practiced in various sports such as powerlifting, strongman, and Olympic weightlifting. There is limited research investigating the effects of using KW during back squat (BS) and none regarding vertical jump (VJ). This dissertation investigates the effects of wearing KW on BS and VJ performance through a series of studies. The first study was designed to observe acute and long term effects of using KW on VJ performance. VJ performance decreased when KW were worn and was not considered an ergogenic aid for VJ. The second study was designed to observe the effects of wearing KW on BS performance and the effects of two BS protocols on VJ performance by measuring VJ immediately before and after the completion of each BS protocol. Force, velocity and power characteristics of the BS improved after repeated testing and training BS protocols. The protocols had no effect on VJ performance. The third study required participants to perform the BS protocols with and without KW with a heavier training load and repetition volume as well as perform more post-exercise VJ tests compared to the second study. Observations suggest wearing KW improves BS performance and that VJ is unaffected by BS protocols designed for strength. Observations regarding wearing KWs during the BS and VJ include: 1) reduced VJ height, 2) increased BS concentric force, velocity, and power, 3) reduced BS eccentric velocity, 4) prevent decreases in BS concentric velocity and power in protocols with heavy training loads. These studies had several limitations including: 1) small sample sizes in each study (eight to twelve subjects completed each study), 2) fitness/athleticism of population (recreationally active college age males), 3) accuracy of measuring devices used during data collection of the VJ height (Vertec ± 1 inch) and BS performance (linear position transducer: distance ± 1cm, time ± 0.001s), 4) using one knee wrap material and technique across three studies. Future studies should test: 1) stronger more athletic populations, 2) BS and VJ protocols with varying intensity, volume and rest times, 3) a variety of knee wrap materials and techniques.