Adherence to Appropriate Instructional Practice Guidelines in American College and University Physical Activity Programs

Background/Purpose: Higher education physical activity programs (HEPAP) in physical education have existed in American college and universities for over 100 years. Initially used to teach physical education and promote physical activity to prepare students for potential wartime conflicts, they have evolved in response to changes in societal and educational purposes and needs. In 2008, NASPE published its updated Guidelines for Appropriate Instructional Practice in Higher Education Physical Activity Programs. The guidelines educate professionals about effective physical education for post-secondary students, but knowledge of their use is limited. The purpose of the study was to examine familiarity and adherence to these guidelines.;Method: Researchers developed and piloted an electronic survey to assess familiarity and adherence with the guidelines related to curriculum and instruction. The survey included 61- items arranged in pre-existing content areas: Administration/Support, Assessment, Instruction Strategies, Professionalism, Learning Environment, and Curriculum. The survey was distributed to HEPAP representatives at U.S. colleges/universities offering a physical education teaching degree (N=596).;Analysis/Results: In total, 159 participants (26.7%) initiated the survey with 90 (15.1%) providing usable responses and the remaining 69 (11.5%) excluded due to no HEPAP or incomplete data. The data were transformed into categorical levels indicating a high degree of overall familiarity (96.7% full or partially familiar) and adherence (99% full or partially adherent). Full adherence to the content areas ranged from 91.8% (Administration/Support) to 0% (Instruction Strategies). Significant associations between Administration/Support and location (AAHPERD district)( chi2(10, n=71) = 23.98, p= .008) and Assessment and location (chi2(10, n=90) =19.39, p=.036) were seen.;Conclusions: College physical education programs have been called on to provide students opportunities to develop an appreciation for, and increased participation in lifetime activity. While overall adherence to relevant professional guidelines appears high among HEPAPs, there is room for improvement in selected areas including Instruction Strategies and Assessment.;Key Words: program evaluation, college physical activity program, college student

The ethos of the Oklahoma oil boom frontier, 1905-1929

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Oklahoma, 1970Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-114

The Impact of COVID-19 on Transgender Body Image and Mental Health: A Qualitative Perspective

This thesis is an examination of the role that public spaces and social groups play in the strengthening of the body image and mental health of transgender individuals. Using Minority Stress Theory and the theories of West and Zimmerman concerning “doing” gender, along with Goffman’s theories of gender advertisement and interaction rituals, a discourse can be created on the impact on transgender individuals’ body image and mental health during public health issues that require stay-at-home mandates. When public health issues like COVID-19 occur, transgender people find themselves isolated, creating a potential for heightened issues with body dysphoria, depression, and other mental health issues. Using an online qualitative interview tool and interviews of transgender individuals, insight can be gained on how the lack of public spaces and access to social support groups creates a mental health issue for this group as they are finding themselves forced to stay away from the safe spaces they know. This insight and subsequent discourse can then be used to create helpful options to assist transgender individuals that may find themselves struggling with issues that arise during situations like COVID-19 that require stay-at-home restrictions

The Effects Of Moringa Oleifera On Stress Induced Immune Modulation In Mice

In both humans and animals, stress causes the body to release adrenaline, cortisol and other stress hormones that cause changes within the body, which include modulation of the immune system. Stress in mammals can cause changes in the profile of immune cells circulating in the blood. Environmental and nutritional stressors can be considered two of the most common animal stressors. In the presence of stress there is an increase in the number of circulating neutrophils and a decrease in the number of lymphocytes within the blood. The physiological changes that occur in animals in response to acute and chronic stress have been shown to have a role in the etiology of many diseases and can lead to enhanced susceptibility to disease. The Moringa oleifera tree is a tree that is exceptionally rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that promote health and immunity. The objective of my study was to evaluate the effect of Moringa oleifera on stress induced mice and monitor any change on lymphocyte and neutrophil numbers. Using a mouse model, we compared stress induced changes in neutrophil and lymphocyte numbers within the blood of mice that drank Moringa Tea to mice that drank water for 5 days. One 1-hr acute stress and 1 12-hr chronic stress experiments were performed with 1 replication each. It was hypothesized that stressed mice that drank tea would have a higher lymphocyte and neutrophil count than those that drank just water. The data show that after the 12 hr chronic stress period, the lymphocyte count was significantly increased (t=4.128, p=0.0189) in the stressed Moringa tea group compared to the non-stressed tea group, the neutrophil count also significantly increased in the stressed Moringa tea group when compared to both water/stress (t=4.083, p=0.0126) and tea/ no stress groups (t= 4.263, p=0.0126). These data suggest that Moringa may have the potential to be used as a supplemental feed ingredient that when added to the food ration of livestock animals could help alleviate stress induced immune modulation

Development of Improved Dengue 2 Antigen Configurations for a Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Virus Replicon Particle-Launched Dengue Vaccine

Dengue has become one of the most important vector-borne diseases. There is currently no licensed dengue vaccine. The envelope glycoprotein is the major target of neutralizing antibodies. Researchers have tried to identify the most antigenic configuration of the envelope protein in different vaccine platforms. In this study, six dengue 2 E configurations, including full-length E, truncated forms of E and the domain III subunit, were expressed as antigen using the Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus replicon paricle system and characterized in vitro and in vivo. Each construct was immunogenic in mice; however, there was a correlation between protein secretion and neutralizing responses. Two truncated and soluble configurations of E encoding amino acid changes from the previously evaluated DEN2 prME-VRP sequence elicited significant neutralizing immune responses. These amino acid changes may be important in the structure of neutralizing epitopes or for proper folding, processing and secretion, leading to improved neutralizing antibody responses

Modeling Volcanic Ash Particle Impingement In The Hot Sections Of A Gas Turbine Engine

A computational study was conducted of axisymmetric droplet impingement on a flat surface at low droplet Reynolds numbers. The study was motivated by deposition of melted volcanic ash particles within gas turbine engines, which can pose significant safety risk for jet aircraft encountering volcanic ash clouds. The computations were performed using the combined level-set volume-of-fluid method for Reynolds numbers Re in range 0.05≤Re≤10, typical of volcanic ash impingement problems. Computational results were compared to typical assumptions for approximate droplet impact models at high Reynolds number. The computational predictions were validated using existing experimental data. The computations indicate that contact radius increases over short time in proportion to the square root of time, in agreement with short-time analytical predictions. The droplet shape was well approximated by a truncated spherical cap, which spread on the substrate surface an increasing amount as Re was increased. The axial velocity component was approximately independent of radius over most of the droplet, and the radial velocity component was observed to vary log-normally with axial distance. The dissipation rate was distributed throughout the droplet for low Reynolds numbers cases, but became increasingly localized near the contact line as the Reynolds number increased past unity

A Comparison of Traditional Versus Electronic Word Wall Instruction on Word Identification in Kindergarteners with Developmental Disabilities

The purpose of this preliminary investigation was to examine the effectiveness of using a word wall strategy on the word identification skills of kindergarteners with developmental disabilities (DD). An alternating treatment design was used to examine the use of the word wall strategy and whether there were differences in children’s word identification and on the teacher’s sense of efficacy when using small-group traditional word wall instruction (Cunningham, 2000) versus an individualized electronic word wall (Narkon, Wells, & Segal, 2011) instructional format. Results indicated that both strategies were effective. However, children with motivational and attentional issues may differentially benefit from the EWW approach