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The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of glucose ingestion on glycogen use andresynthesis during moderate exercise in untrained rats. Female Wistar rats (avg. wt.= 262 g) were assigned to either a control (C), control exercise (CE) or experimental exercise (EE) group. To examine glycogen resynthesis during exercise from a carbohydrate feeding, the EE animals were given 1 ml of a 10% glucose solution enriched with U-14C-glucose via stomach tube and run for 1h at 20.6 m/min. To distinguish between glycogen synthesis from endogenous versus exogenous sources, the CE animals were given a 0.1 ml tail-vein injection of U-14C-glucose tracer and run for 1h at 20.6 m/min. The C animals served as resting controls. Immediately after sacrifice, samples of the liver, soleus m., plantaris m., gastrocnemius m. and w. vastus m. were removed and analyzed for glycogen concentration and 14C activity in a glycogen pellet. Muscle and liver glycogen was 4.72 umol/g and 5.16 umol/g, respectively, higher (p<0.05) in the EE animals than in the CE animals. The average 14C activity of the muscle glycogen (mean ± SE) (182.85+ 31.79 cpm/g) was greater (p<0.05) than that of the liver (47.44 + 8.10 cpm/g), indicating a greater exogenous glucose incorporation into muscle glycogen than liver glycogen during exercise. However, this activity represented less than 2% of the remaining glycogen found in each tissue. Thus, it appears that the glycogen sparing observed with the glucose feeding in untrained rats was the result of an increased contribution of blood glucose to muscle metabolism.Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306

Forty Sprague Dawley rats were randomly separated into one of three experimental groups: Run-Trained (RT), Swim-Trained (SW), or Control (CON). The runners were further separated into 2 groups: Good-runners (RT1), or Poor-runners (RT2) according to their performance on the treadmill. All of the trained groups were endurance trained at approximately 80% V02 max for two hours per day, five days per week in the appropriate mode of exercise. After nine weeks of equi-intensity training, the perimetrial fat pads were removed and the calls isolated. The adipocytes from the trained animals were significantly smaller in volume and diameter than the adipocytes from the controls. Adipocytes from all of the trained groups were significantly more sensitive to insulin than the CON group according to the definition by Kahn (60). The cells from the RT1 and SW groups were significantly more responsive to insulin than both the RT2 and CON groups. The adipocytes from the RT1 group were also significantly more responsive to insulin than the SW group. The differences in cell responsiveness to insulin were highly correlated to the average size of the cells studied. From the data presented in this study threeconclusions were drawn: 1) Both running and swimming at the reported intensity, duration, and frequency have a significant effect on the morphology and metabolism of the isolated adipocyte, 2) Adipocyte morphology, insulin sensitivity, and insulin responsiveness are dependent on the frequency, intensity, and duration of a given exercise training protocol, and 3) Each type of exercise training has its own drawbacks: with swimming, the rats may experience some hypoxia which may alter their metabolic fuel utilization, and during running not all of the animals may be capable or willing to complete the run.Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306

Augmented Soft Tissue Mobilization, a massage therapy which uses a solid instrument rather than human fingers to treat musculoskeletal injuries, has been successful in treating tendinitis. Davidson et al. studied the functional and morphological affects of ASTM on collagenase induced Achilles tendinitis in Sprague-Dawley rats. Morphological observations showed a significant increase in the number and activation of fibroblasts in the ASTM treated Groups. The authors suggested that the physical force of ASTM may promote tendon healing via increased fibroblast recruitment. An important, but unexplained, question is how ASTM would affect the fibroblasts of native, noncollagenase injured, tendons. Studies have shown that mechanical forces can alter cellular functions. The purpose of this study was to examine the morphological changes in native Sprague-Dawley rat Achilles tendons after ASTM therapy using different application pressures.Three animal Groups were randomly established: A) control Group with no ASTM; B) light ASTM with 1 Newton of pressure; and C) heavy ASTM with 3 Newtons of pressure. Upon completion of the therapy, the Achilles tendons of each Group were examined with light and electron microscopy techniques to assess fibroblast number, tendon morphology, and the presence of type I and type III collagen. Fibroblast counts from each Group were compared using a two-way ANOVA, multiple regression, and curvilinear regression analysis. Morphological differences were shown between the three Groups, especially between the non force Group and the two force Groups. The ASTM Group treated with one Newton demonstrated the greatest mean fibroblast count (165.1+/-55.8&160.7+/-49.8). Electron microscopy revealed the presence of activated fibroblasts in the tendons of the two force Groups, ASTM Groups. Polarizing microscopy showed a dramatic increase in the amount of Type III collagen in the two force Groups compared to the non force Group.Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306

The purpose of this study was to determine the validity of the Ebbeling one-stage submaximal treadmill protocol to estimate maximal oxygen uptake in overweight males and females. Forty-five male and females (36.5±10.9 years; 170.2±9.9 cm; 77.9±9.0 kg) were categorized into overweight groups using a BMI of 25-29.9 kg/m2. The subjects performed a submaximal protocol that consisted of one 4-minute stage with individualized speeds of 2.0-4.5 mph at 5% grade and subsequently performed a maximal exercise test. There were significant relationships between observed and estimated VO2max for males (r=.796), females (r=.426), and gender combined (r=.844). There was an underestimation in the estimation of VO2max in the present study when comparing males (10%), females (26%) and gender combined (17%) subjects. The results indicated that a body mass index between the values of 25-29.9 kg/m2 did create a difference in estimating VO2max in the present study when comparing that to Ebbeling et al. (1991).Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306 / School of Physical Education

In many behavioral paradigms, repeated exposures to a particular stimulus or event results in lower immediate early gene (IEG) expression. First, it was investigated if a similar reduction in IEG expression in the brain areas controlling male sexual behaviors would be observed after repeated copulation experiences in male Japanese quail. The results showed that IEG expression, as assessed by egr-1 immunoreactivity, did not increase in the POM, the BST, or the PAG after a copulation episode in highly sexually experienced subjects. One possibility was that the pattern of initial elevation of neuronal activity during the early trials of sexual interactions and the lack of increase in IEG expression later was associated with the novelty of sexual stimuli. While early exposures to certain stimuli constitute a new learning experience, the significance of such exposures would be lower as the level of experience increases. It was hypothesized that the introduction of a novel stimulus would increase the IEG expression in the POM, the BST and the PAG of experienced subjects. To evaluate this prediction, subjects were tested to see if they learn to respond to females decorated with distinct novel artificial cues after repeated exposures. The results showed that control subjects that did not have sexual experiences with decorated females discriminate against such females and directed their responses to normal females. Trained subjects did not show such preferences and responded to both types of females. In the next experiment, contrary to the prediction, no increase in IEG expression was observed after the introduction of the novel stimulus. This might be due to lower sexual motivation in subjects exposed to novel females. Effects of sexual experience were also tested in the catecholaminergic system. It was hypothesized that TH innervation in the POM and the BST would increase as a result of sexual experience. IEG expression in the catecholaminergic areas was predicted to be lower after repeated sexual experiences. The results showed no effect of experience in either tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) innervation, nor TH-egr-1 colocalization. These findings suggest that experience-related changes in male sexual behavior may be mediated by a different neurotransmitter system. / text

published_or_final_version / Gerontology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Accurate perception and control of self-motion is vital for human survival. Most animals rely on vision for navigating through complex environments. In this thesis, I investigated how vision influence perception and guide self-motion from two aspects: (1) what visual information humans pick up from the environment to form their perception and guide their self-motion; (2) how the degeneration of the basal ganglia and cerebellum, the two largest subcortical nuclei connecting the visual and motor areas of the brain, affect the controller’s performance. Study 1 examined the condition under which optic-flow information beyond velocity field helps heading perception. I systematically varied the amount of information in velocity field through manipulations of field of view (FOV). The amount of optic-flow information beyond velocity field was manipulated by two types of displays. I found heading bias increased with the reduction of FOV only when optic-flow information beyond velocity field was not available. Study 2 investigated whether the information investigated in Study 1 is sufficient and necessary for active control of heading. I used the similar display simulations as study 1 with the exception that the vehicle orientation was perturbed pseudo-randomly. Participants used a joystick, under both velocity and acceleration control dynamics, to continuously rotate the vehicle orientation back to its heading direction. The results showed that participants’ accurate performance under condition that only provided velocity field information was further improved when optic-flow information beyond velocity field was available. Study 3 examined the relative contributions of three visual cues (i.e., heading from optic flow, bearing, and splay angle) for lane-keeping control. Observers controlled the car’s lateral movement to stay in the center of the lane while facing two random perturbations affecting the use of bearing or splay angle information. I found that performance improved with enriched flow information. In the presence of splay angles, participants ignored bearing angle information. Study 4 investigated the roles of the basal ganglia and cerebellum in motor control task using brain-damaged patients. Participant’s task was to use the joystick to keep a blob in the center of the display while the horizontal position of the blob was perturbed pseudo-randomly. This task is not a self-motion task but mimics real-world lane-keeping control. Both the Parkinson’s disease patients and cerebellar patients showed impaired motor control performance in comparison with the healthy controls. In conclusion, the visual information used for motor control in general depends on the task. For traveling along a curved path, the velocity field contains sufficient information for heading perception and heading control. Optic-flow information beyond velocity field improves heading perception when the velocity field does not contain sufficient information. It also helps heading control when available. For lane-keeping control, adding optic flow information improves participants’ performance. Splay angle information plays a more important role than does bearing angle information. The visual information used for motor control changes when certain brain areas are damaged. Parkinson’s disease patients and cerebellar patients show the inability to process visual input effectively for online motor control. / published_or_final_version / Psychology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Background: Cognitive deficit is prominent in schizophrenia patients. We investigated the decision-making ability among schizophrenia patients and healthy controls based on their performance in the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), a laboratory task developed for measuring individuals’ decision-making ability. We hypothesized that deficits in IGT performance in schizophrenia patients could be specifically ameliorated by smoking tobacco. In order to test this hypothesis, we compared smoking and non-smoking schizophrenia patients with healthy subjects, on their IGT performance. Method: Ten smokers with schizophrenia, 9 non-smokers with schizophrenia, 16 non-psychiatric non-smokers and 7 non-psychiatric smokers were administered the computerized version of IGT. The Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) was used to assess the degree of smoking dependence of subjects and to group the smokers and non-smokers. Results: Subjects with schizophrenia performed significantly worse than non-psychiatric controls on IGT. Moreover, smokers with schizophrenia performed significantly better than non-smokers in the task. Furthermore, when comparing IGT performance of all the 4 groups, non-psychiatric non-smokers performed significantly better than psychiatric smokers in the IGT. Conclusions: Similar to the results of previous research, schizophrenia patients performed worse than controls in the IGT, suggesting impairments in risk/ reward decision-making. Cigarette smoking may partially ameliorate schizophrenia patients’ performance deficits on neurological tasks, including the IGT. These findings on schizophrenia patients are clinically important since it is believed that the ability to make timely and correct decisions can result in good treatment compliance and coping strategies thus facilitates recovery. Last but not least, further research is needed to explain how smoking tobacco facilitates cognitive functioning in schizophrenia patients. / published_or_final_version / Psychological Medicine / Master / Master of Psychological Medicine

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