Thesis (M.S.)--University of Alabama at Birmingham, 2006. / Description based on contents viewed Jan. 29, 2007; title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references (p. 70-78).

<p>ABSTRACT</p><p>Overweight and obesity is an increasing problem worldwide although high-income countries take a leed. High BMI during pregnancy and delivery constitute to many risks for both the mother and her outcome. Intervention programmes with the purpose to get the pregnant women to eat healthier and to excercise more are now working out in many different shapes. The effect of these activities varies. The aim of this study was to investigate if interventions during pregnancy, with women who’s BMI are 25 or more, affects health of the mother and her expected child, delivery outcome and self estimated health. The design of this study was quantitative. A total of 163 women participated in this study who took place i two cities in Sweden. All of the women gave birth at the same hospital. 96 of the women participated in the intervention group and 69 in the comparison group. Data was analyzed using SPSS. The results shows that most of the women (60 percent), choose not to participate in water aerobics. The results of the women who used a stepcounter showed that the women were more active during early pregnancy than later on. Results showed that there was a significantly increased risk for complications during delivery if the women had gained more than seven kilograms during pregnancy. Overweight women who had a weight gain of more than seven kilograms also had an increased risk for delivering large babies (more than 4000 gram), compared with those who gained less. There were no difference in self estimated health between the groups. The results of the study shows that a weight gain less than eight kilograms is positively associated with less complications during pregnancy. Women should be helped to get motivated to live a healthy and active life during pregnancy. What motivates pregnant women towards healthier living needs to be examined further.</p>

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2008. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 84-90). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--University of West Florida, 2005. / Title from title page of source document. Document formatted into pages; contains 186 pages. Includes bibliographical references.

Tuning to an optimal stimulus is a widespread property of neurons in cortex. We propose that such tuning is a consequence of normalization or gain control circuits. We also present a biologically plausible neural circuitry of tuning.

Fetal exposure to an intrauterine environment affected by maternal obesity and excessive gestational weight gain (GWG) pose several adverse short- and long-term health risks to infants. Excessive GWG and maternal obesity are of high priority to public health across many nations. Improving maternal and child health can be achieved by encouraging women to meet Institute of Medicine (IOM) weight gain recommendations, sound clinical guidance, and other forms of support. Another means of helping women adhere to weight gain guidelines is by making use of the near ubiquitous nature of mobile technology and promoting healthy pregnancies through reliable mobile health (mHealth) applications (apps). The objective of the first study of this thesis was to examine the associations between psychosocial factors and achieving IOM-recommended weight gain during pregnancy. Cross-sectional data were collected from pregnant and postpartum women who responded to a validated questionnaire, the Electronic Maternal health survey. Multiple linear logistic regression analyses were used to determine correlates associated with meeting IOM guidelines. The objective of the second study was to conduct a preliminary exploration of women’s attitudes towards an evidence-based, mHealth app, SmartMoms Canada, as a valid source of pregnancy-related information and its ability to offer physical activity, nutrition, and lifestyle support. Focus groups were organized to assess women’s attitudes towards the app and inductive thematic content analysis was utilized to interpret focus group data. It was found that self-efficacy and perceived controllability of behaviours are important factors contributing to whether women meet IOM weight gain recommendations. Further, pregnant women are quite receptive to mHealth technology and positively viewed the future prospective of SmartMoms Canada as a means of promoting overall maternal health. Combined, these findings will contribute to our understanding of how to best improve maternal-fetal health outcomes in the near future.

The present study used a discounting task with differing contextual variables to examine how variables effect discounting between studies and future health related behaviors. Thirty nine participants completed two discounting questionnaires, each included hypothetical food choices paired with a weight loss or stable weight. Participants were instructed to complete each survey based on either their current weight or a gain of 75 pounds, and each survey included two identical hypothetical menu options. One menu incorporated low calorie foods, while the other incorporated moderately healthy foods, and participants were instructed to select the menu they preferred based on weight loss/no weight loss and hypothetical weight presented in instruction. Visual analysis of the results showed a difference in discounting across the conditions; participants appeared to be more impulsive at their current weight. At normal weight, visual analysis of the switch values show that the proportional value of the switch ranged from 1.0 at the lowest proportional delay level to .75 at proportional delay 1. In the hypothetical weight gain condition, this occurred at a level of .95 at the lowest proportional delay and .75 at delay 1. In a visual analysis of AUC comparisons, participants’ scores are higher in the 75 pound weight condition than the normal weight condition, and farther from 0 in the 75 pound weight condition.

The present study used healthy questionnaires to evaluate the compounding effects of weight loss and weight gain in choosing to exercise. The questionnaire was distributed to 31 participants via social media outlets. Demographic information was also recorded such as height, weight, ethnicity, and income. The height and weight recorded was used to correlate the BMI with the AUC values. This data did not show a strong correlation between body mass index with high or low AUC values, these values were evenly distributed between underweight, normal/average weight, and overweight participants. . The questionnaires designed to assess how people view exercise and to determine if there is a pattern with sequencing delays with the calculated switch point and AUC. Statistical and visual analyses were conducted at the group and participant level. The switch points, were documented from each delay and was calculated to determine the compounding sequence that was preferred from each participant. The results from the study indicated that participants chose to exercise immediately within the first day, when the consequence was to lose weight. The results for the gain condition indicated that participants would gain weight instead of exercise, to a certain limit (100 days), when they chose to then engage in exercise behavior regularly. The conclusion of this study shows that the longer the delay the less valued the outcome is. This is important when understanding the obesity epidemic within the United States.

Submitted by José Henrique das Neves null (nevesjh@fmvz.unesp.br) on 2017-09-01T17:31:36Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese para Defesa JHN.pdf: 1967282 bytes, checksum: 987c72f8fc71fc7bd2e1168935e030d2 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luiz Galeffi (luizgaleffi@gmail.com) on 2017-09-01T17:44:42Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 neves_jh_dr_bot.pdf: 1967282 bytes, checksum: 987c72f8fc71fc7bd2e1168935e030d2 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-09-01T17:44:42Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 neves_jh_dr_bot.pdf: 1967282 bytes, checksum: 987c72f8fc71fc7bd2e1168935e030d2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-08-18 / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / A bovinocultura brasileira possui destaque no cenário mundial, sendo o Brasil um dos maiores produtores de carne. No entanto, o parasitismo por nematódeos gastrointestinais gera prejuízos na produção destes animais, devido a ação dos parasitas, gastos com medicamentos e manejo dos animais. Este estudo teve por objetivo de avaliar fatores relacionados ao uso de antihelmínticos em bovinos das raças Nelore, Simental e de cruzamento ½ Nelore x ½ Simental, quantificando o ganho em peso, de bovinos naturalmente parasitados, após a administração de anti-helmíntico ivermectina, sulfóxido de albendazol e sem tratamento. Foram avaliados bezerros e bezerras de três a cinco meses de idade, em quatro fazendas. Dividiu-se os bovinos em três grupos sendo: G1- tratados a cada 28 dias com ivermectina, G2 - tratados a cada 28 dias com sulfóxido de albendazol e G3 - grupo controle, sem tratamento. A cada 28 dias realizou-se pesagens e coleta de fezes para exames coproparasitológicos. Conclui-se que bovinos não tratados com anti-helmínticos apresentaram desempenho corporal inferior aos animais com tratamento antihelmíntico a base de ivermectina e sulfóxido de albendazol, independente da raça. Porém, as perdas ocasionadas devido ao parasitismo por nematódeos gastrintestinais variam de propriedade para propriedade. / Brazilian cattle breeding stands out in the world scenario, with Brazil being one of the largest meat producers. However, parasitism by gastrointestinal nematodes generates germplasm in the production of these animals, due to an action of the parasites, drug spending and animal management. The objective of this study was to evaluate factors related to the use of anthelmintics in bovines of the Nelore, Simmental and ½ Nelore x ½ Simental crossbreed, quantifying the gain in weight of naturally parasitized bovines after the administration of anthelmintic ivermectin, albendazole sulfoxide and untreated. Calves and heifers were oriented from three to five months of age on four farms. The cattle were divided into three groups: G1 - treated every 28 days with ivermectin, G2 - treated every 28 days with albendazole sulfoxide and G3 - control group, without treatment. Every 28 days we performed weighing and stool collection for coproparasitological exams. It was concluded that bovine animals not treated with anthelmintics presented lower body performance than animals with antihelminthic treatment, an ivermectin base and albendazole sulfoxide, regardless of race. However, losses caused due to parasitism by gastrointestinal nematodes vary from property to property. / FAPESP: 2014/02961-0

Thesis is focused on comparison of dietary mixtures used in the nutriton of sterlet. While there are no special diets for sturgeons used in Czech Republic, I compared two mostly used trout dietary mixtures, which are used in sterlet nutrition. Feeding experiment was held in fish-hatchery Mydlovary, the aim was to find out differences in gain in weight, mortality and growth equability and to set feeding coefficients (SGR, RGR, FCR, FCE).