Effects of Web-Based Self-Reporting: College Students’ Self-Efficacy Regarding Fruit and Vegetable Intake

This study evaluated the effect of an online diet-tracking tool on college students’ self-efficacy regarding fruit and vegetable intake. A convenience sample of students completed online self-efficacy surveys before and after a six-week intervention in which they tracked dietary intake with an online tool. Group one (n=22 fall, n=43 spring) accessed a tracking tool without nutrition tips; group two (n=20 fall, n=33 spring) accessed the tool and weekly nutrition tips. The control group (n=36 fall, n=60 spring) had access to neither. Each semester there were significant changes in self-efficacy from pre- to post-test for men and for women when experimental groups were combined (p<0.05 for all); however, these changes were inconsistent. Qualitative data showed that participants responded well to the simplicity of the tool, the immediacy of feedback, and the customized database containing foods available on campus. Future models should improve user engagement by increasing convenience, potentially by automation.

The Effect of Diet-Induced Obesity and Subsequent Weight Loss on Body Composition, Glucose Clearance, Metabolite Profile and Liver Amp-Activated Protein Kinase in Mice

Obesity, currently an epidemic, is a difficult disease to combat because it is marked by both a change in body weight and an underlying dysregulation in metabolism, making consistent weight loss challenging. We sought to elucidate this metabolic dysregulation resulting from diet-induced obesity (DIO) that persists through subsequent weight loss. We hypothesized that weight gain imparts a change in “metabolic set point” persisting through subsequent weight loss and that this modification may involve a persistent change in hepatic AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a key energy-sensing enzyme in the body. To test these hypotheses, we tracked metabolic perturbations through this period, measuring changes in hepatic AMPK. To further understand the role of AMPK we used AICAR, an AMPK activator, following DIO. Our findings established a more dynamic metabolic model of DIO and subsequent weight loss. We observed hepatic AMPK elevation following weight loss, but AICAR administration without similar dieting was unsuccessful in improving metabolic dysregulation. Our findings provide an approach to modeling DIO and subsequent dieting that can be built upon in future studies and hopefully contribute to more effective long-term treatments of obesity.

Incorporating grape seed antioxidants into a functional food model

Gemstone Team IMMUNE (Innovative Medicines for Maladies Utilizing Nutraceutical Enhancements)

Analysis of the effect of yoga on selective attention and mental concentration in young adults

Gemstone Team Om

Assessing teen risk behavior and later drug use

Gemstone Team Risky Business

Detection methods for common problems in solar home systems

Gemstone Team SHINE (Students Helping to Implement Natural Energy)

Crossing the cultural divide: assessing the needs of a local immigrant community

Gemstone Team CARE (Community Assessment of Resident Experiences)

Mobilizing Maryland: a look into the voting tendencies of students at the University of Maryland

Gemstone Team VOTE-CP (Voice of the Electorate - Collegiate Participation)

Improving the use of asset-building financial services by Latino immigrants in Langley Park, Maryland

Gemstone Team ANSWER Poverty (Assessing the Need for Services Which Effectively Reduce Poverty)

A study of the benefits of retrofitting cardiovascular exercise equipment of a gym with human energy harvesting technology

Gemstone Team HEAT (Human Energy Acquisition Technology)

Harvesting life's energy: increase in the aerotolerence of the electrogenic anaerobe geobacter sulfurreducens due to over-expression of superoxide dismutase and catalase

Gemstone Team iGEM

Excluding mammalian predators from diamondback terrapin nesting beaches with an electric fence

Gemstone Team Saving Testudo

Specializing pedestrian maps to address the needs of people using wheelchairs: a case study in community-sustainable information systems

Gemstone Team FASTR (Finding Alternative Specialized Travel Routes)

Glutamine supplementation and renal health

Gemstone Team Juiced

A navigation and object location device for the blind

Gemstone Team Vision