This study will investigate the link between previous COVID-19 infection and future heart disease risk.

This study examines how each brain hemisphere contributes to motor control and coordination. Participants play virtual reality/computer games to look at how their arms move during different activities.

Endometriosis, is a disorder that occurs in women, is when tissue that should be normally found inside the womb is also found in sites outside of the womb. Endometriosis is a disorder that is associated with systemic inflammation. This disorder impairs the function of the endothelium, the cells that line the body’s blood vessels (endothelium). The endothelium helps to control blood flow in healthy vessels. Women with endometriosis not only have an increased risk for high blood pressure and high cholesterol, they also have an increased risk for cardiovascular disease. With this study, we will learn how systemic inflammation in endometriosis impairs the lining of blood vessels and increases the risk for cardiovascular disease.We will use a short term intervention with a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory to examine how inflammation impact endothelial function in women with endometriosis

There will be 4 in person visits, at all visits blood will be drawn. Two of the visits will be experimental visits where we will measure skin blood flow and blood flow in the brachial artery. Participants will be required to take a placebo or the drug salsalate for 4 days prior to each experimental visit.

$420

We are conducting an online survey study for parents of children with disabilities that explores their perceptions of participation in disability sport within their communities.

The proposed overall research aims to establish feasibility of delivering an individually-tailored, behavioral intervention to manage gestational weight gain [GWG] that adapts to the unique needs and challenges of overweight/obese pregnant women [OW/OB-PW] and will utilize control systems engineering to optimize this intervention; in other words, make this intervention manage GWG in OW/OB-PW as effectively and efficiently as possible.

You will be randomized into an intervention or attention control group from ~8 weeks gestation to ~37 weeks gestation with a BMI of 25-45 (>40 with physician consent).You will have 1 pre-intervention session that explains the study procedures and to get you ready for the study. Here you will also complete various measures of demographics, behavioral surveys, etc.Over the course of the study, you will weigh yourself each day, wear an activity monitor and complete various surveys. If you are randomized to the intervention group, you may have healthy eating demonstrations and/or physical activity sessions each week.You will have 1 post-intervention session where you will return your devices, complete a 30-60 minute interview and complete the last of the surveys.

$175

The earth’s climate is warming, and the number of heat waves has increased in recent years. At the same time, the number of adults over the age of 65 is growing. Humans sweat and increase blood flow to the skin to cool their body when they get hot. Older adults do not do this as well as young adults. This makes it harder to safely exercise in warm and/or humid conditions. It is important to learn about safe limits of heat and humidity for older adults to exercise. Also, nearly 40% of adults over age 50 take aspirin to lower their risk for heart disease. Our lab has shown that aspirin lowers the control of body heat.In this study, we will determine critical temperature and humidity environments above which normal body temperature cannot be maintained in young and older adults. We will also look at how aspirin may change critical temperature and humidity thresholds in older adults.

There will be 4 in person visits and sit, walk, or cycle at a low intensity in an environmental chamber.

360

The aim of this study is to understand how brain stimulation affects learning of a novel task on a virtual reality system. Participation involves playing virtual reality games during non-invasive brain stimulation.

Single visit, subjection to noninvasive brain stimulation during a reaching task.

40

AWS-PSU: Active Women's Study at Penn State University This research study is being conducted to evaluate the impact of exercise and reproductive function on bone strength. Eligible young women (age 18-30) are those that are generally healthy and either a) exercising and experiencing regular or irregular menstrual cycles, or b) not exercising and experiencing regular menstrual cycles.

The study will determine how the brain controls eye and hand movements during quiet upright stance.

There will be one visit to the lab (approximately 2 hours) in which participants will be required to make reaching movements towards virtual targets while standing upright. Participants will be required to wear comfortable shoes.

$20

The aim of this study is to determine the impact of cardiometabolic disease risk factors on cognitive performance and brain vascular function, as well as, to see if beetroot juice supplementation can improve these outcomes and reduce risk of cognitive decline and brain vascular dysfunction that is seen with aging and disease.

Participants with and without high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar will be recruited. These are all considered cardiovascular disease risk factors.Individuals without multiple cardiovascular disease risk factors will have 2 visits and complete cognitive and blood vessel function assessments. There involves a blood draw in each visit. All study assessments are non-invasive. Total compensation is $30. Individuals with cardiovascular disease risk factors will have 5 total visits and complete cognitive and blood vessel function assessments. Additionally, participants will drink beetroot juice for 4 weeks to determine the potential health benefits on cognitive, blood vessel function, and metabolic health. There will involve blood draws and all assessments are non-invasive. Total compensation is up to $170.

$30 -170

We will conduct a pilot study to test feasibility of an innovative light device and blue-light glasses for promoting better sleep and a novel, smart water bottle for proper hydration. We will also examine women’s sleep and hydration behaviors in relation to their perceptions of pain, and obtain feedback from the participants on the overall patient intervention content to reduce prescription opioid use and promote behavioral pain management strategies after delivery.

Currently recruiting pregnant women who are in their 2nd or 3rd trimester.Attend a pre-session (in person OR remote) to explain the use of the water bottle, lighting devices, activity monitors, and weight scaleUse the devices for 22 days and complete surveys in your own homeAttend a post-session (in person OR remote) to return devices and participate an interview about the last 22 days

$100

As we walk, we have to achieve different task goals: stay on the path, keep moving forward, maintain balance, etc. This study will test young healthy adults walking on various types of paths to determine how they negotiate achieving these various task goals. We predict that for different walking tasks, these healthy adults will make different trade-offs between which goals to achieve in a systematic and predictable way.

There will be one in-person visit lasting no more than 3 hours. Participants will be asked to perform some basic vision, reaction time, and balance tasks. Participants will then be asked to walk on a treadmill in a virtual environment under a variety of conditions where the visual scene and/or paths being walked on change from trial to trial.

$20

This study will use interviews to explore to explore perceptions of rurality, physical activity behaviors and physical activity intervention preferences among rural older adults who live in Pennsylvania

This study continues our exploration into the mechanisms underlying the control of blood flow. During the experiments, we noninvasively measure skin blood flow (SkBF) and forearm blood flow (FBF) with a FLPI and venous occlusion plethysmography (VOP), respectively. The FLPI uses a low energy laser to measure SkBF. VOP uses blood pressure cuffs on the upper arm and wrist, and an elastic strain gauge encircling the forearm between the cuffs to measure the change in forearm-circumference over time from which we calculate FBF. For each experiment, we collect SkBF and FBF data for a 20-minute baseline, expose the skin of the forearms to negative pressure and then collect SkBF and FBF data for an additional 30-90 minutes. Each subject participates in 2 experiments that differ only in the protocol for the application of negative pressure (i.e. continuous, pulse).

This study aims to assess energy status in young sedentary and exercising women as it is related to menstrual status, bone health, psychological health, sleep variables, and cardiovascular function.

There will be three to four visits to the laboratory. Procedures include questionnaires, a blood draw, providing a hair sample, providing two saliva samples, cardiovascular measurements, and bone scans, as well as resting metabolic rate, cognitive, aerobic fitness, and countermovement jump testing. Participants will be asked to collect urine samples throughout one menstrual cycle, or 28 days for amenorrheic females. Exercise and physical activity will be recorded and monitored for seven days via logs and wearables. Food intake will be recorded for three days. Collegiate athletes will be tested twice; in-season and off-season.

The purpose of this voluntary research study is to determine the effects of different methods of promoting physical activity with wearable devices and technology.

Participants will participate in an 18-month study with virtual study visits.-Use provided digital tools (activity tracker and messages) to monitor physical activity-Set goals to increase physical activity levels based on national guidelines-Monitor weight and complete questionnaires at five times throughout the study (at the beginning, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months and 18 months)

Up to $235 and a Fitbit tracker and BodyTrace scale

The purpose of the study is to examine how slow eye movements called smooth-pursuit eye movements, contribute to hand-eye coordination. Participants will grasp a robotic manipulandum and using the manipulandum interact with virtual visual stimuli in an augmented-reality environment.

We are trying to better understand the ways in which people contract their muscles. Specifically, we want to learn more about how connections between our muscles influence how they produce forces. Participants in this study will have their calf muscle group activated while we record the individual muscles' electrical activity and the length of the muscle fibers.This research will help us to understand the underlying mechanical function of muscles in a more realistic context. This understanding may also have profound implications for current computer models of muscles, which most often ignore the connectivity between muscles.

There will be one in-person visit. At this visit, participants will have their calf muscle group activated while we record the individual muscles' electrical activity and the length of the muscle fibers.

$50

This is a cohort study examining the changes in the muscle that occur following ACL injury and reconstruction. This study aims to determine if significant changes to the muscles properties occur as a result of the graft taken for ACL reconstruction, and whether or not these changes serve as a risk factor for further injuries. This study will examine the muscles ability to use oxygen non-invasively, an important determinant of muscle endurance and allow for comparisons of this between individuals with ACL-reconstruction surgery and healthy, non-injured adults.

Participants will have their leg muscle strength and endurance measured using common clinical techniques used in physical medicine and rehabilitation sciences. They will also have their mitochondrial capacity assessed through the skin using a non-invasive procedure.

$60.00

The purpose of this study is to investigate psychobiological factors that impact the development and manifestation of eating disorder (ED) pathology in elite male and female athletes before and during their competitive season.

The purpose of this voluntary research study is to assess how changes in stress, cognitive flexibility, response inhibition, and reward delay predict the trajectory of eating disorder behaviors and associated side effects of energy deficiency from the off-season compared to the competitive season. Your participation in this study will last approximately the duration of one season of your sport, specifically 4-weeks of data collection prior to season commencement (baseline), 4-weeks of data collection during peak competition season, and 4-weeks of data collection during off-season. The total time spent in the lab will be approximately 10-14 hours. Procedures will occur three times and measurements will be taken twice following baseline measures (once during the peak competition season, once during off-season), if you agree to do so.

$50

The goal of this research is to understand the role of motion-processing areas on limb motor control. We will be using behavioral studies and combining that with functional brain imaging, EEG, and non-invasive brain stimulation using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). TMS has been used in thousands of studies and is a very safe method to understand brain function for eye hand coordination.

There will be three visits. Participants will under go brain scanning. They will perform eye-hand coordination tasks by grabbing a robotic manipulandum. During the eye-hand coordination tasks, participants' brain activity will be measured using electroencephalography (EEG) and muscle activity using surface electromyography (EMG). Researchers will also apply transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to temporarily inhibit and excite different brain areas. TMS is a noninvasive procedure that uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells

50

This research is being conducted to determine how oxygen extraction within exercising muscles is altered in younger and older women when beta-1 receptors (receptors that contribute to the rise in heart rate with exercise) are temporarily blocked through a medication infused into an arm vein. The findings will help us understand how aging affects the regulation of oxygen supply to working muscles is regulated with normal aging.

There will be 3 in person visits.Visit 1) Subjects will undergo a physical and one blood draw in the Clinical Research Center and then perform two recumbent cycling exercise trials on a stationary bike.Visit 2) Subjects will undergo a DXA scan and then perform two recumbent cycling exercise trials.Visit 3) Subjects will have an IV catheter inserted into an arm vein. They will then perform two recumbent cycling exercise trials. During one trial the will receive esmolol via the IV catheter and during the other they will receive saline via the IV catheter (random order).

$150

This study will improve our understanding of movement control and how strokes of different sides affect overall independence. Participants will complete the visit seated at a chair with sensors connected to the less-affected arm. They will then play a short virtual reality game and complete several questionnaires and assessments.

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of sickness and death. Studies have shown higher risk of CVD in African Americans (AA). The reasons for this higher risk are not well understood. Vitamin D may play a role in blood vessel health and reduce risk of CVD. Darker skin absorbs light from the sun, and reduces the amount of vitamin D made by the body. We think that lower vitamin D in AA may lead to reduced blood vessel health and increased risk of CVD. We also think that risk of low vitamin D levels in those with increasingly darker skin pigmentation may predispose them to vascular dysfunction over time. This study will look at differences in nitric oxide that helps blood vessels relax across individuals with a wide range of skin pigmentation. We will also look at “oxidant stress,” which can reduce nitric oxide. In this study, we will examine the function of blood vessels in the skin. The blood vessels in the skin are a model for blood vessels in other organs in the body. We will also look at the function of other, larger blood vessels in the body.This research is being done to find out why blood vessel function is reduced in young AA adults who are healthy, and to determine if reduced vitamin D in those with darker skin may cause reduced blood vessel function. The research is also being done to find out if vitamin D will improve blood vessel function. Approximately 30 people will take part in this study at the Noll Lab.

For this study, you will be asked to take vitamin D tablets every day for four weeks. You will be asked to come into the lab for testing on two days; once before vitamin D treatment and once after. During each testing visit we will perform tests of blood vessel function.

430

We plan to conduct a qualitative study exploring perspectives of physical therapists and people with disability regarding physical activity promotion

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. The loss of estrogen from menopause puts women at a greater risk of developing heart disease. The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of drinking beetroot juice on measures of blood vessel health and blood pressure. Participants will drink beetroot juice and placebo juice each for one week followed by blood pressure measurements and ultrasound imaging of an artery in the upper arm. A sub-aim of this study is to investigate the effects of estrogen status on blood vessel function between pre- and post-menopausal women.

There are a total of 6 in-person visits to the Clinical Research Center. You will be asked to drink beetroot juice (2 oz) every day for 7 days. Participants will undergo vascular assessments, blood pressure measurements, and blood draws (11 in total for 6 visits).

$120

Aging and obesity are independently associated with impairments in the body's responses to heat stress. However, the compounding effects of middle age and obesity on those responses during heat stress at rest or during physical activity have not investigated in obese, middle-aged individuals. This study aims to characterize heat stress responses in obese vs. non-obese middle-aged adults (aged 40-65 yrs) during passive (resting) and active (light physical activity) whole-body heat stress.

There will be five in-person visits. The first visit is a screening visit that will last a maximum of 1.5 hours, during which we measure your height, weight, blood pressure, and collect a blood sample to check markers of health. The second visit is a maximal exercise test which will last approximately 1 hour, during which you will perform an incremental exercise test on a treadmill. The other three visits are experimental visits. During one of those visits, you will lie in a hospital bed wearing a tub-lined suit through which warm water flows, heating up your body. We measure your internal body temperature with an ingestible pill, and we measure skin temperature with probes that we tape to the skin. During the body heating period, we measure your skin blood flow and sweat rate with small probes and capsules, respectively, that are placed on your forearm. During the other two visits, you perform light physical activity on a recumbent bicycle in a hot environment while we monitor your body temperature.

230

Endometriosis, is a disorder that occurs in women, is when tissue that should be normally found inside the womb is also found in sites outside of the womb. This disorder impairs the function of the endothelium, the cells that line the body’s blood vessels (endothelium). The endothelium helps to control blood flow in healthy vessels. Women with this disorder not only have an increased risk for high blood pressure and high cholesterol, they also have an increased risk for cardiovascular disease. They have a higher risk for cardiovascular disease, too. With this study, we will learn how endometriosis impairs the lining of blood vessels and increases the risk for disease. We will test two different intervention strategies to reduce long-term cardiovascular disease risk in women with endometriosis.

There will be 3 in person visits, blood draws will occur at all visits. On 2 of the visits blood flow experiments will be conducted. Participants will take oral medications.

360

This study will test the hypothesize that the combination of low-moderate to severe paresis and persistent motor deficits in the non-paretic arm limits functional independence in chronic stroke survivors. We, therefore, predict that intense remediation, focused on improving the speed, coordination, and accuracy of the less-impaired arm should improve functional independence.

There will be two evaluation sessions, 15 training sessions, and 3 post-test evaluation sessions

$2,100

Description: This research study is to assess energetic status, reproductive health, and bone health in a population of young exercising men. Secondarily, this study will also explore how diet, fitness, cardiovascular function, eating behaviors, stress, cognitive function, and sleep related to energy and reproductive outcomes in exercising men. Eligible young men (age 18-35) are those who are generally healthy and either a) exercising or b) not exercising.

There will be essentially 4 study visits - The first visit will include informed consent to take part in the study & completion of questionnaires and measurement of anthropometrics. Visit 2 will include tests of your metabolism, a blood draw, and assessment of diet and physical activity. Visit 3 will include tests of body composition, bone health, aerobic and anaerobic fitness, cognitive testing and reproductive function. Visit 4 will consist of a results meeting and return of wearable devices and logs.