Low physical activity levels and high serum C-reactive protein (CRP) levels are risk factors for coronary artery disease (CAD) in both men and women. However, postmenopausal women who take hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may have increased risk of CAD because of HRT-related increases in serum CRP. There are two manuscripts in this dissertation. The purpose of the first manuscript was to determine whether higher physical activity energy expenditure was associated with lower serum CRP, independent of oral HRT status and body fatness, in 133 postmenopausal women. Higher physical activity energy expenditures were significantly associated with lower serum CRP levels (r=-0.21, p=0.0l9), independent of oral HRT use, age, smoking behavior, alcohol consumption, aspirin use, and statin use. However, in the complete multivariate model, which included body fat, the association between higher physical activity and lower serum CRP levels was abolished. The purpose of the second study was to quantify the biological variability of insulin resistant CAD risk factors in a sample of 8 postmenopausal women. Risk factor outcomes, including serum total cholesterol, serum triglycerides (TG), serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), serum glucose, plasma insulin, serum CRP, waist and hip circumferences, abdominal sagittal diameter, body fat, systolic (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure, and self-reported physical activity energy expenditure, were measured on two occasions, 7-12 days apart. High absolute biological variability values (by standard error of measurement) were observed for serum TG (32.0 mg/dl), serum CRP (5.6 mg/l), SBP (4.0 mmHg), and physical activity (9.4 kcal/kg/week). High relative biological variability (by within-subjects coefficient of variation ���27.3%) was also observed for serum TG, serum CRP, and physical activity. Bland-Altman plots identified individual outliers for serum TG, serum CRP, plasma insulin, and SBP. Together, the results suggest that the correlations between lower levels of serum CRP and higher levels of physical activity, though significant, may have been attenuated by the high biological variability of both serum CRP and physical activity. Thus, the importance of higher levels of physical activity, in decreasing serum CRP and the concomitant risk of heart disease, may be underestimated in the absence of serial measurement of serum CRP and physical activity. / Graduation date: 2002

The purpose of this study was to determine women's perceptions of their physical activity needs and preferences, survey their evaluation of how the Intramural Sports Department accommodates those needs and preferences, and determine if and how intramural sports programming might be adjusted to serve women better. An open-ended survey was administered to female Oregon State University intramural sports participants and potential participants; the survey probed for customer needs, communication aspects, and assessment of program services. Utilizing a grounded theory analysis, five significant findings emerged from the survey results. The first category, women participate in intramural sports for the social aspects, revealed that female respondents participate in the intramural sports program to enjoy the camaraderie that takes place with friends and other participants; this finding is consistent with past research. A lack of opportunities and a desire for a team formation service emerged as the second category; this category indicated a barrier to participation in intramural sports. The third category that emerged indicated that respondents have a desire for multiple skill levels from which to choose to participate; however, a lack of female participation prohibits a multiple skill level option. Although past research has suggested that women prefer a cooperative playing environment, the fourth significant finding indicated that survey results did not confirm nor disconfirm that theory. Female participants and potential participants reported a desire for both competitiveness and cooperativeness in their playing environments. The final significant finding indicated that women are getting the message about intramural sports; however, the message does not entice them to participate. Interactive interviews with three participants and two potential participants confirmed the research findings and analysis. Suggestions to assist with team formation, increase female participation, reduce participation barriers, provide a mixture of competitiveness and cooperativeness, enhance promotion efforts, and conduct future research are presented. / Graduation date: 1996

The purpose of this study was to compare the muscular strength and endurance of thirty-two men 51 to 79 years of age who engage in weight training (WT), aerobic training (AT), cross training (CT), or no training (S). The design employed in the study was a 2x2 between subjects factorial design with weight training and aerobic training as the two factors. A KIN/COM isokinetic dynomometer was used to test muscular strength and endurance of the dominant leg extensors and chest/shoulder complex. Strength of the leg extensors and chest/shoulder complex were measured as peak torque and peak force, respectively, at a velocity of 60 degrees/second. Endurance of the same muscle groups was measured as the percent decline over 50 continuous maximal contractions at a velocity of 180 degrees/second. A two-way between subjects ANOVA and independent t-tests were used to analyze the difference between mean muscular strength and mean muscular endurance for each group. A significant weight training effect was found for leg strength, with the WT and CT groups (Weight Trained groups) exhibiting a greater peak torque than the AT and S groups (Non-Weight Trained groups). Participating in one of three training programs was found to have a significant effect for chest and shoulder strength, with the WT, CT, and AT groups exhibiting a greater peak force than the S group. However, no significant difference was found between the WT, CT, and AT groups for chest/shoulder strength. The WT group was found to have significantly greater muscular endurance of the leg compared to the S group. No other training effects were observed between any of the groups for either muscular endurance test. / Graduation date: 1992

Graduation date: 1992

Understanding the process of associative learning between environmental stimuli and cocaine is essential for the prevention of drug-use relapse and long-term treatment of cocaine dependence. Based on contemporary learning theories, empirical studies using natural rewards have shown that cognitive factors, such as uncertainty and prediction errors, play an important role in the process of reward associative learning. Uncertainty is the lack of an accurate predictor for reward while prediction error is defined as the discrepancy between expected and received reward. In this dissertation, we focused on the role of uncertainty and prediction error in cocaine-associative learning. Olfactory and visual cues during self-administration/conditioning sessions were used to induce cocainereward expectation and uncertainty in operant trained catheterized Sprague Dawley rats. The influence of cue-induced uncertainty and prediction error on nucleus accumbens dopamine (NAcc DA) following self-administration of cocaine and saline in these conditioned animals was then measured using in-vivo microdialysis. Results showed that cocaine-stimulated NAcc DA was enhanced in the presence of cues signaling cocaine reward uncertainty (Uncertainty) as compared to animals expecting to get cocaine (Certainty). Also omission of expected cocaine reward (Prediction Error) resulted in a significant depression of NAcc DA levels below baseline. Recently diazepam (a positive GABAA modulator) has been shown to disrupt cocaine-induced LTP and it has been suggested that this disruption can block the acquisition of drug-associated memories. We therefore hypothesized that diazepam-pretreatment during conditioning sessions would disrupt the learned responses to cocaine and saline in the presence of cue-induced uncertainty and prediction error. Our results show that diazepam pretreatment duringconditioning sessions, blocked the differential cocaine-stimulated NAcc DA response to cue-induced certainty and uncertainty. Moreover, on omission of expected cocaine reward (Prediction Error) there was no significant depression of NAcc DA below baseline. The findings of this dissertation thus highlight the importance of cognitive factors (uncertainty and prediction errors) in the process of cocaine-associative learning. They also provide a platform to further explore the influence of these factors on other neuroadaptations during cocaine-associative learning, which will help us develop effective behavioral and pharmacological therapies to prevent drug-use relapse.

The information processing approach was used as a basis for studying some brief visual memory processes in reading disabled children. Three aspects of processing were examined, viz. (i) Duration of icon persistence; (ii) Performance under different backward masking conditions; and (iii) Processing of information into a more durable short-term visual memory store. It was found that there were no differences in the duration of icon persistence in reading disabled children, but that these children exhibited marked impairment in performance in the tasks used in the latter two experiments. The reasons for the reading disabled children's poorer performance in these tasks were not apparent. Speculations about the strategies used by these children in approaching the tasks are made. Possible implications and directions for future research are discussed. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1980.

Athletes competing in contact sports commonly wear intra-oral dental mouthguards. Data are sparse concerning the influence of a mouthguard on breathing during exercise. We compared VE and VO2 during submaximal and maximal exercise on a skating treadmill (TM) while wearing an intra-oral dental mouthguard. Female varsity hockey players (n = 12) performed two skating tests on a TM with and without a mouthguard (WIPSS Jaw-Joint Protecto(TM)). The players wore the mouthguard during hockey practices prior to collection of ventilation data on the treadmill. Also, the players completed a questionnaire that examined their perceptions of the mouthguard in terms of ventilation, comfort and performance. A 10-point rating scale was used for this evaluation. Two performance tests on the skating treadmill examined the effect of the mouthguard on submaximal and maximal aerobic exercise. The subjects skated for 4 min at 2 submaximal velocities (14 and 16 km·h-1 ) separated by 5 min of passive recovery. A VO2 max test followed the submaximal tests and commenced at 18 km·h-1 with the velocity increasing by 1 km·h-1 every minute until volitional fatigue. VE, VO2, VCO 2 and RER were analyzed using a Sensor Medics 2900 metabolic cart. Two-way (2 conditions x 3 velocities) repeated measures ANOVAs were used to examine differences in VE, VO2 and HR. Ventilation was unchanged when skating at the two submaximal velocities. VO2 max was 48.8 ml·kg-1·min-1 using the intra-oral mouthguard and was 52.4 ml·kg-1·min -1 without a mouthguard. VE max was 108.5 L·min -1 using the intra-oral mouthguard and was 114.1 L·min -1 without a mouthguard. The results showed that VE max and VO2 max were lower using the mouthguard compared to the no mouthguard condition.

This series of experiments used the multiple learning and memory systems hypothesis of the mammalian nervous system to investigate the possibility that the amygdala, dorsal striatum, and hippocampal systems might, in certain situations, interact to produce behavior in the normal animal. Using variations of the conditioned-cue preference (CCP) task, evidence is presented showing that context-specific information acquired by the hippocampus interferes with acquisition of amygdala-based stimulus-reward learning. It was also demonstrated that there are amygdala-, dorsal striatum-, and hippocampus-based forms of place learning and that cue ambiguity and movement are important factors determining which of these learning and memory systems gain behavioral control in place learning situations. These findings provide evidence for interactions among learning and memory systems and implicate the amygdala and dorsal striatum in some types of non-hippocampal based place learning using distal cues.

Access to abstract permanently restricted to Ball State community only. / School of Physical Education, Sport, and Exercise Science

The present thesis investigates the effects of lesions to several hypothesized learning and memory systems on the morphine conditioned cue preference on the radial maze. Lesions of the structures thought to be centered to learning systems: the lateral nucleus of amygdala, fornix/fimbria, anterior dorsal striatum and posterior dorsal striatum, were made, In Experiment One, each structure was lesioned separately. Only lesions of the lateral nucleus of amygdala blocked morphine CCP learning. In Experiment Two, rats with combined lesions of fornix/fimbria and dorsal striatum, the lateral nucleus of amygdala and fornix/fimbria, as well as the lateral nucleus of amygdala and dorsal striatum were all impaired on morphine CCP. All of the rats with combined lesions were impaired in this CCP learning. These findings suggest that the lateral nucleus of amygdala is necessary for the morphine CCP. Participation of dorsal striatum or fornix/fimbria is also required. Some hypotheses about the interactions among the structures are discussed.