Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent forms of cancer in the world today. The search for effective treatment and screening methods is a highly active area of research. The Digital Image-based ElastoTomography (DIET) project is a new breast cancer screening system under development, where surface motion from the mechanically actuated breast is measured in 3D, and used as input to an inverse problem solving for breast elasticity. Cancerous lesions appear as high contrast features, being an order of magnitude stiffer than healthy tissue. The 3D motion capture is measured by an array of digital cameras using computer vision techniques. This thesis presents a complete imaging system and algorithms for the capture of 3D breast surface motion. The main components of the 3D motion capture system are the hardware and software image capture system, camera calibration, intra-image feature tracking, and 3D surface and motion reconstruction. Accurate algorithms for each of these components are developed, with a view to future development and potential modifications needed for a clinically-appropriate system. A number of the algorithms developed have potential applications outside of the DIET system. Proof of concept studies demonstrate the viability of the system, with full motion reconstruction being performed on silicone gel phantoms, designed to approximate human soft tissue, in a number of laboratory experiments.

The effect of weight gain on college students may lead to physical and emotional problems that could continue into adulthood. Identifying behavioral, demographic, and psychological factors that impact college student’s weight status could aid in developing programs to help reduce weight and prevent weight gain in overweight and obese college students. This study evaluated the dietary habits, physical activity, and psychosocial characteristics of college students entering a university-sponsored weight loss program. Results suggest that the majority of participants have experienced weight gain in the past year and none have experienced weight loss. The student’s diets tended to include less than the recommended amounts of fiber, calcium, vitamin A, fruits, and vegetables. Diets tended to include more than the recommended amounts of protein, carbohydrate, and sodium according to the USDA Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) and the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Students living on campus were found to participate in significantly greater amounts of strenuous physical activity than students living off campus. Self-efficacy for food consumption and physical activity was not found to have a significant effect on calories consumed or calories burned. A significant correlation was not found to exist between BMI and depression in this sample of college students.

No description available.

Hyperhomocysteinemia, an elevation of blood homocysteine levels, is a metabolic disorder associated with dysfunction of multiple organs. Previous studies have shown that hyperhomocysteinemia is related to fatty liver. However, the underlying mechanism remains speculative. The objective of the present study is to investigate the regulatory mechanism of hepatic inflammatory response and cholesterol metabolism during metabolic disorders. In the present study, hyperhomocysteinemia was induced in Sprague-Dawley rats by feeding a high-methionine diet. The mRNA and protein expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), a pro-inflammatory factor, were significantly elevated in the liver of hyperhomocysteinemic rats. An activation of NF-B and a stimulation of oxidative stress were observed in the same liver tissue in which COX-2 was induced. Inhibition of NF-B or oxidative stress effectively abolished hepatic COX-2 expression, inhibited the formation of inflammatory foci, and improved liver function. Activity of HMG-CoA reductase, the rate-limiting enzyme of cholesterol biosynthesis, was markedly elevated in the liver of hyperhomocysteinemic rats, which may contribute to the hepatic lipid accumulation induced by hyperhomocysteinemia. Administration of Berberine (5mg/ kg body weight/ day for 5 days) inhibited HMG-CoA reductase activity via upregulating AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)-mediated phosphorylation of HMG-CoA reductase. Berberine treatment reduced hepatic cholesterol content and ameliorated liver function. In addition, the regulatory mechanism of HMG-CoA reductase activation was investigated in C57BL/6 mice fed a high-fat diet. There was a significant increase in hepatic HMG-CoA reductase mRNA and protein expression as well as enzyme activity. The DNA binding activity of sterol regulatory element binding protein (SREBP)-2 (a transcription factor of HMG-CoA reductase) and Sp1 (a transcription factor of SREBP-2) were both increased in the liver of mice fed a high-fat diet. The in vitro study in palmitic acid-treated HepG2 cells further confirmed that inhibition of Sp1 by siRNA transfection abolished palmitic acid-induced SREBP-2 and HMG-CoA reductase mRNA expression. In conclusion, the present study have demonstrated that (1) Hepatic COX-2 expression is induced via oxidative stress mediated NF-B activation during hyperhomocysteinemia; (2) Dietary berberine reduces cholesterol biosynthesis by elevating AMPK-mediated HMG-CoA reductase phosphorylation; (3) HMG-CoA reductase is upregulated by Sp1-mediated SREBP-2 activation in the liver during high-fat diet feeding.

In an attempt to determine the relationship between dietary fiber and estrogen levels in premenopausal adult women, seven subjects completed all of the requirements as volunteers for this study. The subjects consumed two experimental diets using a cross-over experimental design. One-half of the subjects were randomly assigned to a low-fiber treatment group and one-half were assigned to a high-fiber treatment group. Food records were utilized to determine fiber intake throughout the study. Nutrient intake during the experimental periods demonstrated significant differences indicating the affect of the varied dietary regimens. No significant difference was seen in mean estrogen levels between the low- and high-fiber experimental periods, however, a positive significant correlation (p<.05) was observed with the change in estrogen level and insoluble fiber intake. Further study with a larger subject sample would be beneficial in determining recommendations for amounts of insoluble fiber intake for the general population. / Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

The purpose of the study was to determine if there is a difference in nutrition knowledge and eating behaviors among collegiate male and female athletes and non-athletes. Although a vast majority of research has looked at female athletes, to date there has been limited research comparing athletes and non-athletes, specifically investigations involving males.A sample of male and female collegiate athletes and non-athletes completed an online questionnaire. The questions were formulated based the 2005 Food Guide Pyramid as well as factual nutrition knowledge questions. Once the survey was completed, the data was analyzed using the Pearson Correlation and ANOVA.A total of 1,252 participants completed the survey with a little over 78% being female. Only 7.2% (n=90) of the participants reported they were members of a collegiate sports team. The overall mean score for nutrition knowledge was 11.42 ±2.30 for all participants, representing a correct score of only 57%. Athletes had a mean score of 11.15 +2.55 and non-athletes with a mean score of 11.44 +2.28 showing no statistical difference. When comparing gender, females had a mean nutrition knowledge score of11.56 ±2.31 and males had a mean score of 10.90 ±2.22. Although females had a higher average knowledge score than males, this was not found to be statistically different.Eating behaviors were assessed using the 2005 Food Guide Pyramid. Males ate significantly more meals/day and servings of vegetables, grains, dairy and meats, nuts and beans than their female counter part. When looking at eating behaviors of athletes and non-athletes, very few statistical differences occurred. Athletes ate significantly more meals per day (3.29 ±.69) than non-athletes (2.65 ±.70). Similarly, athletes consumed significantly more (3.00 ±.74) cups of fruit per day than non-athletes (2.68 ±.59). No statistical differences were found between athletes and non-athletes for the amount of vegetables, grains, dairy, meats, nuts, and beans and fast food consumed. / Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to determine the impact of five 50-minute experiential lessons developed by the researcher on high school students’ knowledge about, attitude toward, and consumption of fruits and vegetables. Subjects in this study included a convenience sample of 41 high school students enrolled in Family and Consumer Sciences classes at Crothersville Junior/Senior High School in Crothersville, Indiana, in the spring semester of 2011. A pretest was given to students in the Adult Roles class (control; n=19) and the Nutrition and Wellness class (treatment; n=22), after which students in the treatment group received five lessons containing additional depth and laboratory experiences where students prepared and tasted various fruits and vegetables. At the conclusion of the lessons, and nine weeks after the unit, the posttest was given to the control and treatment groups. Results indicated the lessons significantly increased students’ knowledge compared to the control group (7.8 ± 1.5 vs. 4.6 ± 2.4, F=26.27; p = 0.000), and nine weeks after the curriculum test (6.9 ± 2.1 vs. 5.3 ± 2.9; F=4.46, p=0.041), but had a modest impact on these high school students’ attitudes toward and consumption of fruits and vegetables. / Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is becoming one of the leading causes of death in middle and low income countries, with ischaemic heart disease specifically being predicted to be the 4th and 5th causes respectively. The numerous risk factors for the development of CVD have been extensively researched; however, the same wealth of data is not available for the black South African population as there is for Caucasians. Although the same risk factors that are present in Caucasians have been seen to be present in the black South Africans, there are questions regarding the contributory roles of the individual risk factors, particularly within the context of urbanisation. The role of diet in CVD has been widely studied and it is known that with urbanisation there are dietary changes which are thought to add the development of CVD. With urbanisation, however, there are numerous other lifestyle changes taking place within a population, making it difficult to isolate and make conclusions of the individual role of diet. Added to this is the complex issue of assessing dietary intake. Assessing only nutrient or food intake does not give a holistic picture of dietary habits. The main aim of this study was to determine the association between dietary intake and CVD risk in black South Africans in the context of urbanisation. Methods: The first study that forms part of this thesis was a case-control study aimed at exploring the risk factor profile and clinical presentation of black South African patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). In this study clinical, biochemical and nutrient intakes were compared with a black South African control group that were matched for age and body composition. The second study to form part of this thesis aimed to relate the dietary intakes of the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiological (PURE) study population to CVD risk associated with urbanisation, by using both nutrient intake and predefined diet quality scores (DQS). The Healthy Diet Indicator (HDI) and the Deficiency and Excess Score were carefully selected from the large number of available scores and adapted as best as possible for the black South African population. The third study aimed to investigate the role of dietary intake by using nutrients as well as food group consumption patterns as a risk factor in urbanised black South African CAD patients. The dietary habits of the coronary artery disease (CAD) patients were compared to that of an apparently healthy reference group of volunteers selected from the PURE study population. This urbanised reference group was from a similar socio- demographic background and was selected according to their risk for CVD. The Reynolds Risk score which includes C-reactive protein as factor was used to stratify the PURE population into CVD risk categories, in order to select the reference group, which had a low risk (<5%) of developing CVD within the next 10 years. Dietary intake was assessed by comparing nutrient and food group intake (including the ultra-processed food group category). Results and discussion: Black South African CAD patients had increased levels of the same risk factors that are seen in Caucasians with insulin resistance and LDL size being particularly significant in their contribution. Apart from a lower vitamin C intake, no differences in dietary intake and physical activity were observed between the CAD and control group. When comparing the dietary intake of the rural and urban group, the urban group, who had an increased CVD risk, had higher intakes of macro- and micronutrients as well as higher DQS. The DQS must however be interpreted with caution, as when looking at the absolute intakes of individual components of the scores, the urban group was still deficient in a numerous vital micronutrients. A similar picture was seen in the third study, in that the CAD patients also consumed more saturated fatty acids and ultra-processed foods than the reference group, as well as more of the “protective” foods such as fruit and vegetables. However, although their dietary habits could be considered prudent, they were still inadequate in numerous important micronutrients. Conclusion and recommendation: This thesis therefore shows that there are two sides of the story regarding the role of diet in CVD in black South Africans. Although it is important to follow prudent dietary guidelines so as to control the intake of nutrients and foods known to play a role in the development of CVD, it is just as important to ensure adequate intake of the foods rich in micronutrients known to protect against CVD. Dietary advice and prevention programs should also focus on the adequacy aspect of the diet, such as increasing fruit and vegetable and low fat dairy intake, not only on the prudent diet aspect. Additionally, nutrient intake alone does not adequately explain the link between diet and CVD and additional analyses such food consumption patterns are required. / Thesis (PhD (Dietetics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is becoming one of the leading causes of death in middle and low income countries, with ischaemic heart disease specifically being predicted to be the 4th and 5th causes respectively. The numerous risk factors for the development of CVD have been extensively researched; however, the same wealth of data is not available for the black South African population as there is for Caucasians. Although the same risk factors that are present in Caucasians have been seen to be present in the black South Africans, there are questions regarding the contributory roles of the individual risk factors, particularly within the context of urbanisation. The role of diet in CVD has been widely studied and it is known that with urbanisation there are dietary changes which are thought to add the development of CVD. With urbanisation, however, there are numerous other lifestyle changes taking place within a population, making it difficult to isolate and make conclusions of the individual role of diet. Added to this is the complex issue of assessing dietary intake. Assessing only nutrient or food intake does not give a holistic picture of dietary habits. The main aim of this study was to determine the association between dietary intake and CVD risk in black South Africans in the context of urbanisation. Methods: The first study that forms part of this thesis was a case-control study aimed at exploring the risk factor profile and clinical presentation of black South African patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). In this study clinical, biochemical and nutrient intakes were compared with a black South African control group that were matched for age and body composition. The second study to form part of this thesis aimed to relate the dietary intakes of the Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiological (PURE) study population to CVD risk associated with urbanisation, by using both nutrient intake and predefined diet quality scores (DQS). The Healthy Diet Indicator (HDI) and the Deficiency and Excess Score were carefully selected from the large number of available scores and adapted as best as possible for the black South African population. The third study aimed to investigate the role of dietary intake by using nutrients as well as food group consumption patterns as a risk factor in urbanised black South African CAD patients. The dietary habits of the coronary artery disease (CAD) patients were compared to that of an apparently healthy reference group of volunteers selected from the PURE study population. This urbanised reference group was from a similar socio- demographic background and was selected according to their risk for CVD. The Reynolds Risk score which includes C-reactive protein as factor was used to stratify the PURE population into CVD risk categories, in order to select the reference group, which had a low risk (<5%) of developing CVD within the next 10 years. Dietary intake was assessed by comparing nutrient and food group intake (including the ultra-processed food group category). Results and discussion: Black South African CAD patients had increased levels of the same risk factors that are seen in Caucasians with insulin resistance and LDL size being particularly significant in their contribution. Apart from a lower vitamin C intake, no differences in dietary intake and physical activity were observed between the CAD and control group. When comparing the dietary intake of the rural and urban group, the urban group, who had an increased CVD risk, had higher intakes of macro- and micronutrients as well as higher DQS. The DQS must however be interpreted with caution, as when looking at the absolute intakes of individual components of the scores, the urban group was still deficient in a numerous vital micronutrients. A similar picture was seen in the third study, in that the CAD patients also consumed more saturated fatty acids and ultra-processed foods than the reference group, as well as more of the “protective” foods such as fruit and vegetables. However, although their dietary habits could be considered prudent, they were still inadequate in numerous important micronutrients. Conclusion and recommendation: This thesis therefore shows that there are two sides of the story regarding the role of diet in CVD in black South Africans. Although it is important to follow prudent dietary guidelines so as to control the intake of nutrients and foods known to play a role in the development of CVD, it is just as important to ensure adequate intake of the foods rich in micronutrients known to protect against CVD. Dietary advice and prevention programs should also focus on the adequacy aspect of the diet, such as increasing fruit and vegetable and low fat dairy intake, not only on the prudent diet aspect. Additionally, nutrient intake alone does not adequately explain the link between diet and CVD and additional analyses such food consumption patterns are required. / Thesis (PhD (Dietetics))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

As increasing numbers of baby boomers enter retirement age, Georgia senior centers will be inundated with more computer-savvy seniors than ever before. Web-based nutrition education is a pragmatic option to complement the traditional classroom nutrition education sometimes hindered by the centers’ limited monetary and personnel resources. This exploratory observational study sought to pilot test a companion to classroom nutrition education, a prototype Dietary Approaches to Stopping Hypertension (DASH) diet website, for future implementation in Georgia senior centers. Classroom DASH diet lessons were designed and pilot tested on a convenience sample of community dwelling older adults in 6 metropolitan area centers (n=109). Next, the same lessons were incorporated into a senior-friendly DASH diet website specially designed to meet the needs of older adults and pilot tested on a second convenience sample in one center (n=5). Descriptive and analytical statistics were used to compare baseline and post-website blood pressures, body weights, and DASH-related nutrition knowledge. There was a significant difference in the scores for systolic blood pressure at baseline (M=145.60, SD=8.385) and post-website (M=136.40, SD=9.607) conditions; t(4)=3.74, p =.020. Diastolic blood pressure and weight showed no significant change. A survey of DASH-related knowledge, behaviors, and beliefs showed movement towards desired responses on 44% of survey questions after the intervention. An opinion survey collected seniors’ perspectives on their website experience. 100% of participants reported satisfaction with the website and willingness to continue using it. Refinements to the alpha-prototype website are recommended before further testing with a larger pilot study group. Although expanded research is necessary, results from this limited pilot test suggest that web-based nutrition education is a promising method to reinforce classroom lessons teaching dietary and lifestyle management of hypertension in Georgia senior centers. Multi-component nutrition education holds potential to address diversity in cultures, learning preferences, and functional limitations of Georgia seniors.