I am a millennial : an honors thesis (HONRS 499)

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the characteristics of the newest generation to enter collegethe millennial generation. Most of the research and commentary on the millennial generation has been published by those outside of the generation. This thesis is an attempt to give millennials a voice in the literature. In this work, I briefly present some of the current research on the generation and then offer a critique from the perspective of millennial. Also included is commentary from other millennials in an attempt to offer a multitude of perspectives on various topics within the work. In the conclusion, I offer my predictions for the future of the millennial generation.Honors CollegeThesis (B.?

The CHANGE! Project: Changes in body composition and cardiorespiratory fitness in 10-11 year old children after completing the CHANGE! Intervention

Purpose: To assess the effects of the Children’s Health, Activity and Nutrition: Get Educated! intervention on body size, body composition and VO2peak in a sub-sample of 10-11 year old children. Method: Sixty children were recruited from 12 schools (N= 6 intervention) to take part in the CHANGE! sub-sample study. Baseline, post intervention and follow measures were completed in October 2010, March-April 2011, and June-July 2011 respectively. Outcome measures were BMI z-score, waist circumference, body composition assessed using DEXA (baseline and follow up only), and VO2peak. Results: Significant differences in mean trunk fat mass (control 4.72 kg, intervention 3.11 kg, p = 0.041) and trunk fat % (control 23.08%, intervention 17.75 %, p = 0.022) between groups were observed at follow up. Significant differences in waist circumference change scores from baseline to follow up were observed between groups (control 1.3 cm, intervention -0.2 cm, p = 0.023). Favourable changes in body composition were observed in the intervention group; however, none of these changes reached statistical significance. No significant differences in VO2peak were observed. Conclusion: The results of the present study suggest the multicomponent curriculum intervention had small to medium beneficial effects on body size and composition health outcomes

Development of a human model for the study of effects of hypoxia, exercise, and sildenafil on cardiac and vascular function in chronic heart failure

Background: Pulmonary hypertension is associated with poor outcome in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) and may be a therapeutic target. Our aims were to develop a noninvasive model for studying pulmonary vasoreactivity in CHF and characterize sildenafil's acute cardiovascular effects. Methods and Results: In a crossover study, 18 patients with CHF participated 4 times [sildenafil (2 × 20 mg)/or placebo (double-blind) while breathing air or 15% oxygen] at rest and during exercise. Oxygen saturation (SaO2) and systemic vascular resistance were recorded. Left and right ventricular (RV) function and transtricuspid systolic pressure gradient (RVTG) were measured echocardiographically. At rest, hypoxia caused SaO2 (P = 0.001) to fall and RVTG to rise (5 ± 4 mm Hg; P = 0.001). Sildenafil reduced SaO2 (−1 ± 2%; P = 0.043), systemic vascular resistance (−87 ± 156 dyn·s−1·cm−2; P = 0.034), and RVTG (−2 ± 5 mm Hg; P = 0.05). Exercise caused cardiac output (2.1 ± 1.8 L/min; P < 0.001) and RVTG (19 ± 11 mm Hg; P < 0.0001) to rise. The reduction in RVTG with sildenafil was not attenuated by hypoxia. The rise in RVTG with exercise was not substantially reduced by sildenafil. Conclusions: Sildenafil reduces SaO2 at rest while breathing air, this was not exacerbated by hypoxia, suggesting increased ventilation–perfusion mismatching due to pulmonary vasodilation in poorly ventilated lung regions. Sildenafil reduces RVTG at rest and prevents increases caused by hypoxia but not by exercise. This study shows the usefulness of this model to evaluate new therapeutics in pulmonary hypertension

Metabolism of the oestrogens and their conjugates

Optimal conditions for hydrolysis of urinary oestrogen conjugates in the human have been sought, A Β-glucuronidasesulphatase mixture (H, plmatia) is shown to be effective in cleaving the sulphate and glucosiduronate forms of some eight metabolites, A bacterial (E, coli) Β-glucuronidase preparation is particularly active in hydrolysing both oestrogen and 17- ketosteroid glucosiduronates. Using these techniques and other improved methodology, levels of seven or eight oestrogen metabolites have been measured in normal and diabetic pregnancy (human). Apparent abnormalities are seen in the diabetic state and tentative conclusions are drawn regarding sites of production of certain oestrogens during pregnancy.Metabolism of some free oestrogens have been studied in the human in vivo and in vitro and in certain other species in vitro. Oestriol and 16-epioestriol are shown to be not necessarily 'end products' of metabolism but to be variably metabolized by laying hen liver, erythrocytes of certain species and by the human in vivo. The 2-methoxylation of oestrone has been studied in rat liver fractions and the metabolism of the clinically useful synthetic compound 17α(-ethynyloestradiol-17Β-3-cyclopentyl ether has been delineated in the human.The conjugation patterns of urinary oestrogen metabolites in the pregnant and non-pregnant human are shown to be similar by a differential hydrolytic technique. The quantitative importance of oestrone in the sulphate fraction has been established as well as that of 16α-hydroxyoestrone and 16-ketooestradiol-17Β in the sulphoglucosiduronate fraction.It has been shown that tissues from the laying hen are more active, with respect to aulphurylation, towards phenolic steroids than to dehydroisoandrostarone. Also, liver from the same species directly interconverts the 3~sulphates of oestrone and 17Β-oestradiol. The ability of a rat liver preparation to sulphurylate the 3 position of phenolic steroids appears to be related to the constituents of ring D of the steroid.The glucosiduronates and sulphates of oestrone and 17Β-oestradiol have been successfully separated chromatographically and the procedure has been employed to prove that the human conjugates 17Β-oestradiol to yield both its 3- and 17-monoglucosiduronates. The fates of the latter two conjugates differ in vivo in that the former is subjected mainly to 17-dehydrogenation and little deconjugation, whereas the latter undergoes an enterohepatic type of metabolism with considerable deconjugation and reconjugation. The metabolism of the monoglucosides of 17Β-oestradiol in the human has been studied. The 3-glucoside residue is rapidly removed with the release, and extensive metabolism, of 17Β-oestradiol. The 17-glucoside residua is much less readily removed and the metabolism of the 17-glucosides of 17Β-oestradiol and 17α-oestradiol shows some resemblance to that of 17Β-oestradiol-17-glucosiduronate

Domestication constrains the ability of dogs to convey emotions via facial expressions in comparison to their wolf ancestors

Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) are the domestically bred descendant of wolves (Canis lupus). However, selective breeding has profoundly altered facial morphologies of dogs compared to their wolf ancestors. We demonstrate that these morphological differences limit the abilities of dogs to successfully produce the same affective facial expressions as wolves. We decoded facial movements of captive wolves during social interactions involving nine separate affective states. We used linear discriminant analyses to predict affective states based on combinations of facial movements. The resulting confusion matrix demonstrates that specific combinations of facial movements predict nine distinct affective states in wolves; the first assessment of this many affective facial expressions in wolves. However, comparative analyses with kennelled rescue dogs revealed reduced ability to predict affective states. Critically, there was a very low predictive power for specific affective states, with confusion occurring between negative and positive states, such as Friendly and Fear. We show that the varying facial morphologies of dogs (specifically non-wolf-like morphologies) limit their ability to produce the same range of affective facial expressions as wolves. Confusion among positive and negative states could be detrimental to human–dog interactions, although our analyses also suggest dogs likely use vocalisations to compensate for limitations in facial communication

Depressive symptoms, neuropsychological performance, and cognitive complaints among individuals with HIV

The rates of depression and neuropsychological impairment in HIV-positive populations are considerably higher than the general population. Consistent research suggests that depression is not related to cognitive impairment in HIV, however the majority of these studies were conducted with unidimensional or dichotomous measures of depression, weak methodologies, and small sample sizes. There is limited research suggesting that affective and somatic depressive symptoms alone may be associated with neuropsychological impairment in HIV, possibly through central nervous system dysfunction, yet no study to date has assessed this relation with an adequate sample size and a full neuropsychological battery. In addition, no study to date has adequately examined the factor structure of the Beck Depression Inventory-II among a sample of HIV-positive participants. In the current study, confirmatory factor analyses conducted on data collected from 1583 HIV-positive participants of the CNS HIV Antiretroviral Therapy Effects Research study (CHARTER) revealed the best fit for a three-factor model of depression, with cognitive, affective, and somatic symptom subtypes, over one and two-factor models. Depressive symptom subtypes were not differentially related to neuropsychological performance or cognitive complaints as hypothesized. This study is the first to examine the factor structure of depressive symptoms among HIV-positive participants and the relation of these factors to neuropsychological performance with adequate methodology and sample size. The results provide support for previous research suggesting that depression and neuropsychological function in the context of HIV have unrelated etiological and biological processes. Future research should utilize neuroimaging to examine these hypotheses further