Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 150-188). Also available in print.

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University, 2005. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 88-89). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2005. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (November 7, 2006). Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.) University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (May 20, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

The purpose of this study was to determine how a soy-based diet modifies tissue-specific adipogenesis and the impact on the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in obese male lean and obese Zucker rats. Animals were randomly assigned to three diet groups for 17 weeks: casein control, whey control and soy protein. Physiological data were collected throughout the study and at week 14 animals were subjected to an OGTT. As previously demonstrated, obese soy-fed animals had greater final body weights and adiposity, and exhibited an increased food intake. Despite hypertrophic adipocytes in all obese animals, those fed soy protein presented with a benign obesity phenotype. Soy diets attenuated obesity-induced hepatic lipid accumulation and markers of inflammation. The obese soy-fed rats had greater adipocyte hypertrophy without an increase in adipocyte density (number per area), suggesting adipocyte hyperplasia in this group. This corresponded with maintenance of glucose tolerance and serum lipid profiles in the obese soy-fed group despite the greater adiposity. Transcript abundance of adipogenic regulatory genes revealed no significant diet effect at 17 weeks in adipose tissue, but did show greater modification of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in the liver. These results demonstrate benefits of a soy protein diet in amelioration of obesity-related pathologies such as non-alcoholic fatty liver and impaired insulin sensitivity. Furthermore, these outcomes may be mediated through an interaction of soy with the Wnt/β-catenin signaling.

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Elizabeth Dawn Grisley, for the Master’s degree in Cellular and Molecular Systemic Physiology, presented on November 6th, 2015, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: INFLUENCE OF DIET AND STROKE ON EXPRESSION OF GENES THAT MODULATE INFLAMMATION AND NEURONAL REMODELING IN THE ADULT AND AGED MALE RAT CEREBRAL CORTEX MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. Joseph L. Cheatwood Nearly 800,000 Americans are stricken by ischemic stroke each year. Other than care with post stroke rehabilitation there are no specific treatments for improving functional recovery. To improve the recovery of stroke patients we are investigating anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, and neuronal remodeling pathways. Estrogen receptor activators are known to be neuroprotective by initiating pathways through ERβ and ERα. The bioactive soy isoflavones, daidzein and genistein, do bind to these estrogen receptors. However, this binding alone is not sufficient to explain the ability of soy-based diets and purified isoflavones to reduce inflammation and improve neuroprotection and recovery after stroke. Herein, we focused on the Pparg, Arg-1, 14-3-3ε, Sirt1, Gap43, Synaptophysin, Sod-1, Bcl-xl, Bcl-2, and the Rtn4(Nogo-A) pathways to test the hypothesis that diets containing soy isoflavones and/or soy protein isolate will reduce inflammation and promote the expression of neuronal plasticity markers following stroke in adult and aged rats via these mechanisms. Adult and aged male Hooded Long Evans rats were fed a semi-purified diet of either 1) sodium caseinate (CAS), 2) sodium caseinate plus the isoflavones daidzein and genistein (CAS+ISO), or 3) soy protein isolate (SPI) for two weeks prior to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO). Permanent unilateral MCAO was performed and tissue was collected from both hemispheres at Day 0 (no stroke) and Day +3. Rats were maintained on their assigned diet throughout the experiment. RNA was extracted and cDNA synthesized for qPCR reaction. All data were normalized to Gapdh via the ΔΔCt method. qPCR analyses of the contralateral and ipsilateral brain tissue at 3 days after stroke resulted in upregulation of Sod-1, Sirt1, 14-3-3ε, Bcl-xl, Bcl-2, Gap43, Syp and Rtn4(Nogo-A) mRNA expression in the contralateral hemisphere. Only Pparg and Arg1 mRNA were found to be upregulated in the ipsilateral hemisphere. Through the upregulation of Pparg mRNA expression in the ipsilateral cortex we have established that the anti-inflammatory pathway is being initiated in our model. However it has been activated by a greater degree with the SPI treatment not the isoflavones daidzein and genistein alone as previously thought. It is unclear if the daidzein and genistein are working concurrently with one or more of the compounds found in the SPI treatment or if one or more additional compounds in the SPI has been the true activator. Since the tissue analyzed in this project was from animals that exhibited significant post stroke behavioral outcomes in a previous experiment we believed the influence of compensatory sprouting from the contralesional hemisphere was modulating the improvement of growth and anti-inflammatory factors to the injured ipsilateral hemisphere. Extensive research is still needed to confirm the source of activation in the PPARG pathway with the SPI treatment, the time and age points that transcriptional expression of our selected genes will activate or influence translational and/or post-translational effects and how the ischemic hemisphere is benefitting from compensatory sprouting from the contralateral hemisphere in this ischemic stroke model. By continuing in the directions mentioned above the mechanism by which isoflavones significantly improve post-stroke behavioral outcomes may be revealed.

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Paraguay has a long history of foreign involvement in its rural economy, dating back to even before the War of the Triple Alliance in the 1880’s. Whether it was yerba mate production or timber extraction, Paraguay’s rural activities were largely funded and run by foreign interests, with little room for participation by smallholders. With the growth in production of Genetically Modified (GM) soy, Paraguay continues to follow the same model for development, one of export-oriented agriculture produced primarily with foreign capital. The expansion GM soy in San Pedro, Paraguay is meeting with considerable resistance, though, as smallholders and landless workers claim that the use of the broad spectrum herbicide, glyphosate, threatens their health, land and livelihoods. The contentious debate that has sprung up around this issue has polarized Paraguayan society and oversimplified the problems facing Paraguay’s rural development society. The over-politicization of the conflict has eliminated the space for nuance in finding solutions and room for dialogue. / text

published_or_final_version / Zoology / Master / Master of Philosophy