The “Free Hormone Hypothesis” posits that only free, unbound hormone is biologically active and available to tissues. Conventional biomedical wisdom proposes that corticosteroid-binding globulin (CBG) normally binds 90-95% of blood glucocorticoid (GC), rendering it unavailable to tissues. Under chronic stress, GC levels greatly exceed binding capacity resulting in impaired bodily function and reduced fitness. However, under normal conditions in northern and southern flying squirrels, less than 10% of GC is bound, presenting a major challenge to the hypothesis. To assess the extent of variation in these properties among vertebrates, I compared all species (88) with known GC and CBG and levels. 92% conform reasonably to known convention. Flying squirrels appear as extreme species, as do New World monkeys, yet both groups evolved from ancestors that followed normal convention. I speculate as to how this state evolved and persisted through time.

This thesis investigated whether or not the parents of children seen in emergency treatment department could learn the child's medical regime better if reinstructed on the regime in a quiet place after the child has been discharged from the department. An experimental group reinstructed under the above conditions was compared with a control group.The investigation revealed that there was better learning of medical instructions by those parents reinstructed on the medical regime under the ideal conditions in the emergency treatment department.Ball State UniversityMuncie, IN 47306

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 200-224). Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 200-224). Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2001. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xii, 150 p. : ill. Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-150).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, 2010. / Title from screen (viewed on March 3, 2010). Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI). Advisor(s): Joseph A. DiMicco, Sherry F. Queener, Daniel E. Rusyniak, Michael R. Vasko. Includes vitae. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 126-147).

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Golf is an individual sport in which performance is publicly judged daily on the basis of a golfer's scores. Elite golfers, who are required to play well on a consistent basis in order to maintain rankings, must be able to handle competitive situations and pressure in order to succeed. This study explores the sources of stress, stress reactions (emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and physiological), and coping strategies used by elite amateur and professional female golfers. Four elite amateur golfers and four professional golfers participated in this study. Structured individual interviews were used to gain insight into the sources of stress, stress reactions, and coping strategies used by the two groups of golfers. The responses given by the elite amateur golfers and the professional golfers were analyzed, and common themes were developed. The results indicate that stress is an individual response to each golfer's perception of her ability to cope with a situation. Although they recognized stress at different and in different ways, these golfers used some common cognitive and behavioral strategies to deal with stressful situations. It is important for sport psychologists to understand the common sources of stress, stress reactions, and effective coping strategies used by elite golfers, in order to generate effective stress intervention programs for golfers of all skill levels. / xi, 125 leaves ; 29 cm.

This thesis examines the behavioral, structural, cellular, and epigenetic changes observed in offspring exposed to different prenatal stressors. A number of questions were answered in this thesis that contribute to a basic understanding of the mechanisms by which early experiences alter long-term outcomes. These include: 1) What epigenetic modifications are associated with prenatal stress? 2) What are the structural and cellular changes in the brains of offspring that correspond to prenatal stress exposure? 3) How do these epigenetic and structural changes manifest as behavioral changes? And 4) What are the consequences of varying the level of prenatal stress?The key findings were that not all prenatal stress is the same. Variations to the intensity and nature of the stress dramatically alter offspring outcomes. Second, prenatal stress produces changes at many levels and these changes can be functionally related. Expression changes were identified in genes involved in altering dendritic morphology, which in turn modifies behaviour. For the first time, a comprehensive examination of brain plasticity occurred following prenatal stress. Additionally, this thesis demonstrated that brain changes related to prenatal stress are age-dependent and sex-dependent. The effects of prenatal stress on the pre-weaning brain are dramatically different than those observed in adulthood. Also, the sex of the offspring significantly influences neuroanatomical and epigenetic modifications. This finding is of critical importance because a majority of prenatal stress research is conducted on male offspring only. Taken together these discoveries emphasize that perturbations to development during the prenatal period produce persistent changes in the structure and functioning of the brain that will influence all subsequent experiences / xx, 201 leaves ; 29 cm

The present study was performed to determine if pigs varying in their susceptibility to stress, adapted to a casein-based diet, experience an improvement in biochemical parameters related to stress and behaviour compared to pigs adapted to the traditional western canadian cereal-based swine diet. Experiment 1 involved separating fifty-eight, 8-week old pigs according to genotype with respect to the halothane gene. Within each genotype pigs were divided into 2 groups and assigned to either a control diet or to a diet where most of the protein source was substituted for casein. All animals were adapted to diet for 6 weeks and experienced a weekly blood sampling stressor. Day 1, 14 and 35 of the plasma samples were analyzed for glucose, cortisol, ACTH, insulin, pyridoxal 5$ sp prime$-phosphate (PLP), amino acid concentrations and dopamine-$ beta$-hydroxylase (DBH) activity; metabolic indices known to be responsive to stress. Experiment 2 involved separating fifty-seven, 14-week old pigs in the same manner, then adapting the pigs to their respective diets for a period of 4 weeks. Afterwards, pigs were transferred from their pen to a novel pen-maze situation where they had their behaviour monitored for a period of one hour. Results of these experiments have revealed that (1) the stress susceptible and carrier pigs experienced reduced day 35 plasma glucose, PLP concentrations and DBH activity compared to normal pigs; (2) dietary adaptation to the casein diet resulted in greater day 14 and 35 PLP levels and day 35 essential amino acid lysine, threonine, methionine, tryptophan and arginine concentrations compared to control-adapted pigs; (3) the carrier pigs investigated their surroundings more frequently than the stress susceptible pigs, and the normal pigs engaged in the through-maze behaviour more often than the stress susceptible pigs; and (4) adaptation to the casein diet, compared to the control diet, resulted in fewer displacement-type behaviours such as drinking