Thesis (M.S.) in Food Science and Human Nutrition--University of Maine, 2006. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 75-80).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

No description available.

The Hartford Financial Services Company and the Ford Motor Company

Background: Bone metabolism is a dynamic balance, consisting two major courses: bone resorption and bone formation. Bone loss during aging is an age-associated process. There are several aspects changing with age in bone, including bone mechanical behavior, bone mineral matrix, bone proteins, genetic and molecular signaling in bone cells physiology. Based on the above factors, when the formation decreases, it leads to a disorder disease: osteoporosis, characterized by low bone mineral density and degenerating microstructure, resulting in increased risks of bone fractures. Many previous studies aim on how to reduce bone resorption, but there is a study shows that Smurfl has an important role in inhibiting osteoblast activity but not influencing osteoclast activity. And Ckip-1 (casein kinase-2 interacting protein-I) can reinforce the process. This thesis focuses on CKIP-1 functional role in regulating bone formation and the results are discussed on the basic of micro CT data analysis. Aim: Evaluate the functional role of CKIP-1 in regulating bone formation through BMP signaling pathway in established osteoporosis rats model on bone hismorphometric parameters. Methods: The bodies of tibia and femur were obtained from thirty-six six-month-old female rats which had been divided into either CKIP-1 knockout(KO;n=18)group or CKIP-1 wild type(WT;n=18)group. According to rats age, a timeline was divided into three parts:4 months,6 months and 8 months. Every time point included two groups(K0=6; WT=6). Ten days and three days before sacrificed, Calcein green(l Omg/kg)and xylenol orange(30mg/kg)would be injected intraperitoneally in all the rats to symbol the surface of bone formation. After sacrifice, the tibia and femur bodies would be scanned and reconstructed as 3D images by micro CT. Results: Figure decrease in micro CT parameters during aging is attenuated in KO group. Conclusion: The negatively functional role of CKIP-1 in monitoring bone formation in aging bone can be a good way and high specificity regulate bone formation. Keywords: CKIP-l(Casein kinase-2 interacting protein-l);KO groups(knockout);WT groups(wild type);Micro CT.

This study explored the cognitive performance of poor and good sleepers in college students and older adults including inhibition, sustained attention, processing speed, spatial ability, attention set shifting, short term and working memory. Demographic measures, health measures, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, the Sleep Self-Efficacy scale, WAIS III Block Design and Digit Span, Trail Making Test Part A and B, psychomotor Vigilance Task, and the Multisource Interference task were given to participants. Sleep group accounted for the variance in cognitive performance even after controlling for education, depression, health, and age in the older adults. Age differences were not observed in sleep self-efficacy but were observed for self-reported sleep quality and cognitive performance. Sleep onset latency was a significant predictor of cognitive performance in older adults and sleep duration was significant for college students. Implications of the study include accidents, academic performance, and mental well-being as a result of cognitive deficit due to sleep loss.

<p> Alzheimer&rsquo;s disease (AD) is associated with substantial healthcare utilization costs, resulting in a public health priority. In this study, the relationship between the demographic characteristics of age, gender, and type of health insurance; the presence of comorbidities of older Puerto Rican residents diagnosed with AD; and their healthcare utilization patterns (i.e., medical office and emergency room visits and hospital admissions) was examined using Andersen&rsquo;s behavioral model. Data from the 2013 Puerto Rico Health Study was used in this retrospective cohort design study. All AD cases aged &ge; 60 years were extracted using systematic random sampling. One-way ANOVA-WELCH, Mann-Whitney U test, and negative binomial regressions determined if there was a relationship between independent and dependent variables. Results indicated a statistically significant relationship between age, gender, health insurance type, and presence of comorbidities factors and healthcare utilization patterns among older Puerto Ricans with AD. From the results, opportunities were identified for further research and changes in professional practices in order to initiate discussions and action plans to improve services coordination for older Puerto Ricans with AD. Findings might impact social change by inspiring modifications to the public health infrastructure. These modifications may lead to enhanced disease management support, promoted social justice, and increased resources to improve healthcare access and quality of care, and overall enhancement of health outcomes, for Puerto Ricans living with AD.</p><p>

<p> In 2017, 5.5 million Americans were estimated to have Alzheimer&rsquo;s dementia, and it is expected to affect 13.8 million American&rsquo;s by 2050 (Alzheimer&rsquo;s Association, 2017, p. 24). The estimated lifetime risk of Alzheimer&rsquo;s disease at age 45 is 1 in 5 for women, and 1 in 10 for men (Alzheimer&rsquo;s Association, 2017, p. 23). Dementia is one of the costliest medical conditions; related costs are projected to increase from $259 billion annually in 2017 to more than $1.1 trillion in 2050 (in 2017 dollars; Alzheimer&rsquo;s Association, 2017, p. 60). No current pharmacological treatment has the capacity to stop, slow, or reverse neurological damage caused by this fatal disease (Alzheimer&rsquo;s Association, 2017). Nonpharmacological therapies might delay or prevent symptom expression. In the current study, research relevant to reserve, mindfulness meditation, and Alzheimer&rsquo;s disease is examined. Conferring the most up-to-date research by gathering and integrating interdisciplinary data helps to clarify the direction of future research that ultimately could influence the discovery of a successful prevention or treatment for this debilitating disease. An integrated literature review was conducted by searching multiple databases on ProQuest, for articles containing specific key words (Alzheimer, dementia, mindfulness, meditation, &amp; reserve). Reserve is the brains capacity to compensate for pathology, and the literature appears to indicate that mindfulness meditation may play a strong role in the prevention of Alzheimer&rsquo;s disease and in the delay of symptom expression by utilizing underlying neural mechanisms which increase reserve. These underlying mechanisms include increased attention, reduced cortisol production, reduced oxidation, increased emotional regulation, increased brain volume, and improved sleep.</p><p>

Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T12:36:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 / Made available in DSpace on 2014-10-09T13:59:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 03981.pdf: 3648582 bytes, checksum: 289e3f8da88b110ea883c9749d9e35bc (MD5) / Dissertacao (Mestrado) / IPEN/D / Instituto de Pesquisas Energeticas e Nucleares - IPEN/CNEN-SP

abstract: The purpose of this dissertation was 1) to develop noninvasive strategies to assess skeletal muscle size, architecture, and composition in young and old adults (study #1) and 2) evaluate the impact of chemotherapeutic treatment on skeletal muscle satellite cells and capillaries (study #2). For study #1 ultrasound images were obtained from the quadriceps muscles of young (8 m, 8 f) and older (7 m, 5 f) participants on two occasions, separated by 5-15 days. Images were collected while the participants were both standing and supine, and were analyzed for muscle thickness, pennation angle, and echogenicity. In addition, test-retest reliability and ICCs were evaluated for each posture and when imaging sites remained marked or were re-measured from visit #1 to visit #2. Generally, in both younger and older adults muscle thickness was greater and echogenicity was lower in the anterior quadriceps when images were collected standing versus supine. Maintaining the imaging site between visits did not influence test re-test reliability for either age group. Older adults exhibited smaller muscle thickness, lower pennation angle and increased echogenicity. Further, variability for the use of ultrasound to determine muscle thickness and pennation angle was greater in older versus younger adults. Findings from study #1 highlight several methodological considerations for US-based assessment of skeletal muscle characteristics that should be considered for improving reproducibility and generalizability of US to assess skeletal muscle characteristics and function across the aging spectrum. This is particularly relevant given the emerging use of ultrasound to assess skeletal muscle characteristics in healthy and clinical populations. In the second study, ovariectomized female Sprague-Dawley rats were randomized to receive three bi-weekly intraperitoneal injections of the chemotherapeutic drug, Doxorubicin (DOX) (4mg/kg; cumulative dose 12mg/kg) or vehicle (VEH; saline). Animals were euthanized 5d following the last injection, and the soleus (SOL) and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles were dissected and prepared for immunohistochemical and RT-qPCR analyses. Relative to VEH, cross-sectional area (CSA) of the SOL and EDL muscle fibers were 26% and 33% smaller, respectively, in DOX animals (P<0.05). In the SOL satellite cell and capillary densities were 39% and 35% lower, respectively, in DOX animals (P<0.05), whereas in the EDL satellite cell and capillary densities were unaffected by DOX administration (P>0.05). In the SOL MYF5 mRNA expression was increased in DOX animals (P<0.05), while in the EDL MGF mRNA expression was reduced in DOX animals (P<0.05). Chronic DOX administration is associated with reduced fiber size in multiple skeletal muscles, however DOX appears to impact the satellite cell and capillary densities in a muscle-specific manner. These findings from study #2 highlight that therapeutic targets to protect skeletal muscle from DOX may vary across muscles. Collectively, these findings 1) improve the ability to examine muscle size and function in younger and older adults, and 2) identify promising therapeutic targets to protect skeletal muscle from the harmful effects of chemotherapy treatment. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Exercise and Nutritional Sciences 2018