Matching Items (86)
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The purpose of this study was to investigate how the human-animal relationship affects one's willingness to seek veterinary care for a pet. It is important to understand this topic because past research has shown that companion animals play a very large role in the lives of many people. However, there

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the human-animal relationship affects one's willingness to seek veterinary care for a pet. It is important to understand this topic because past research has shown that companion animals play a very large role in the lives of many people. However, there has been a decline in the frequency of veterinary visits despite an increase in the number of pets. The variables of the human-animal relationship that were tested were one's views on the intelligence of a pet and its ability to feel emotions, and the closeness one feels to a pet. Demographic factors were also considered. The dependent variable of one's willingness to seek veterinary care was measured by the amount one would spend on veterinary treatment for a healthy pet, the amount one would spend on an older pet, and the responsibility one feels for the health and well-being of one's pet. The study revealed that the closeness one feels to a pet and one's views on a pet's ability to feel emotion both have a positive correlation with one's willingness to seek veterinary care for a pet. However, there was no correlation between one's views on the intelligence of a pet and one's willingness to seek veterinary care, and there was only a very slight correlation between income and one's willingness to seek veterinary care. Understanding these factors could be important in ensuring that companion animals receive the necessary care to promote their health and well-being.
ContributorsMagnussen, Hailey Eve (Author) / Hruschka, Daniel (Thesis director) / Risley-Curtiss, Christina (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-05
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Curanderos are Hispanic traditional healers who attend to their clients through spiritual, natural, and physical techniques. Recent studies have shown that a subset of the Hispanic population refer to these healers for HIV and STD treatment and believe they are important in a collaborative targeted HIV intervention. Thus, curanderos were

Curanderos are Hispanic traditional healers who attend to their clients through spiritual, natural, and physical techniques. Recent studies have shown that a subset of the Hispanic population refer to these healers for HIV and STD treatment and believe they are important in a collaborative targeted HIV intervention. Thus, curanderos were interviewed and the lay population of Phoenix was sampled in order to get a better idea of the utility of these healers in an HIV prevention effort targeted at the Hispanic community. Due to the limitations of this study there was not sufficient enough data to make significant conclusions; however the interviews with the curanderos were surprising in the they had significant roles as healers in the Phoenix area, patients have referred to them for HIV and STD treatment, and a couple of the healers have integrated western medical knowledge into their practice.
ContributorsMartinez, Justin Anthony (Author) / Maupin, Jonathan (Thesis director) / Hruschka, Daniel (Committee member) / Aguilera, Miguel (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2013-05
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We, a team of students and faculty in the life sciences at Arizona State University (ASU), currently teach an Introduction to Biology course in a Level 5, or maximum-security unit with the support of the Arizona Department of Corrections and the Prison Education Program at ASU. This course aims to

We, a team of students and faculty in the life sciences at Arizona State University (ASU), currently teach an Introduction to Biology course in a Level 5, or maximum-security unit with the support of the Arizona Department of Corrections and the Prison Education Program at ASU. This course aims to enhance current programs at the unit by offering inmates an opportunity to practice literacy and math skills, while also providing exposure to a new academic field (science, and specifically biology). Numerous studies, including a 2005 study from the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC), have found that vocational programs, including prison education programs, reduce recidivism rates (ADC 2005, Esperian 2010, Jancic 1988, Steurer et al. 2001, Ubic 2002) and may provide additional benefits such as engagement with a world outside the justice system (Duguid 1992), the opportunity for inmates to revise personal patterns of rejecting education that they may regret, and the ability of inmate parents to deliberately set a good example for their children (Hall and Killacky 2008). Teaching in a maximum security prison unit poses special challenges, which include a prohibition on most outside materials (except paper), severe restrictions on student-teacher and student-student interactions, and the inability to perform any lab exercises except limited computer simulations. Lack of literature discussing theoretical and practical aspects of teaching science in such environment has prompted us to conduct an ongoing study to generate notes and recommendations from this class through the use of surveys, academic evaluation of students' work and ongoing feedback from both teachers and students to inform teaching practices in future science classes in high-security prison units.
ContributorsLarson, Anika Jade (Author) / Mor, Tsafrir (Thesis director) / Brownell, Sara (Committee member) / Lockard, Joe (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2015-05
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Environmental and genetic factors contribute to schizophrenia etiology, yet few studies have demonstrated how environmental stimuli impact genes associated with the disorder. Immediate early genes (IEGs) are of great interest to schizophrenia research because they are activated in response to physiological stress from the environment, and subsequently regulate the expression

Environmental and genetic factors contribute to schizophrenia etiology, yet few studies have demonstrated how environmental stimuli impact genes associated with the disorder. Immediate early genes (IEGs) are of great interest to schizophrenia research because they are activated in response to physiological stress from the environment, and subsequently regulate the expression of downstream genes that are essential to neuropsychiatric function. An IEG, early growth response 3 (EGR3) has been identified as a main gene involved in a network of transcription factors implicated in schizophrenia susceptibility. The serotonin 2A receptor (5-HT2AR) seems to play an important role in schizophrenia and the dysfunction of the 5-HT2AR encoding gene, HTR2A, within the prefrontal cortex (PFC) contributes to multiple psychiatric illnesses including schizophrenia. EGR3's role as a transcription factor that is activated by environmental stimuli suggests it may regulate Htr2a transcription in response to physiological stress, thus affecting 5-HT2AR function in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between Egr3 activation and Htr2a expression after an environmental stimulus. Sleep deprivation is an acute physiological stressor that activates Egr3. Therefore to examine the relationship between Egr3 and Htr2a expression after an acute stress, wild type and Egr3 knockout mice that express EGFP under the control of the Htr2a promoter were sleep deprived for 8 hours. We used immunohistochemistry to determine the location and density of Htr2a-EGFP expression after sleep deprivation and found that Htr2a-EGFP expression was not affected by sex or subregions of the PFC. Additionally, Htr2a-EGFP expression was not affected by the loss of Egr3 or sleep deprivation within the PFC. The LPFC subregions, layers V and VI showed significantly more Htr2a-EGFP expression than layers I-III in all animals for both sleep deprivation and control conditions. Possible explanations for the lack of significant effects in this study may be the limited sample size or possible biological abnormalities in the Htr2a-EGFP mice. Nonetheless, we did successfully visualize the anatomical distribution of Htr2a in the prefrontal cortex via immunohistochemical staining. This study and future studies will provide insight into how Egr3 activation affects Htr2a expression in the PFC and how physiological stress from the environment can alter candidate schizophrenia gene function.
ContributorsSabatino, Alissa Marie (Author) / Gallitano, Amelia (Thesis director) / Hruschka, Daniel (Thesis director) / Maple, Amanda (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2014-05
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Some scholars have suggested that individuals are inclined to believe that they have souls because they are also inclined to believe that they have a core, immutable self. The present study will explore this question in several parts. First, what is the extent to which individuals report having a core

Some scholars have suggested that individuals are inclined to believe that they have souls because they are also inclined to believe that they have a core, immutable self. The present study will explore this question in several parts. First, what is the extent to which individuals report having a core self? Next, how do beliefs about a core self relate to belief or non-belief in an eternal soul? The final question looks at location as an extension of the core self and soul relationship. Where is the self perceived to reside within a dualistic framework, the body or the soul? This study assessed the stated beliefs of 200 respondents using Amazon Mechanical Turk as a recruiting platform. Greater belief in a core self was moderately associated with greater belief in an eternal soul (r= 0.30, p<.01), and with belief in the self as a reflection of the soul (r=0.31, p<.01) and as a reflection of the brain (r=0.21, p<.01). This suggests that belief in a core self does hold association with belief in an eternal soul. However, its perceived location seems to show little preference as residing withing the soul versus the body.
ContributorsLy, Destiny (Author) / Hruschka, Daniel (Thesis director) / Parker, John (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2014-12
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The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, was signed into law with the goals of providing quality and affordable health care to every American, but there is concern that not enough young adults are gaining health insurance. Some believe it is because of the "young invincible" mentality of being healthy enough

The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, was signed into law with the goals of providing quality and affordable health care to every American, but there is concern that not enough young adults are gaining health insurance. Some believe it is because of the "young invincible" mentality of being healthy enough to not need health insurance, and others claim that the cost of health care is the main reason behind low enrollment rates in young adults. However, young adults may not be obtaining insurance because of a lack of understanding and awareness concerning the ACA. Do young adults understand how the ACA functions, and does this understanding (or lack thereof) determine their opinions towards it? In order to research this question, students at Arizona State University were given the opportunity to complete a survey and interview detailing their knowledge of Obamacare and how they felt about the health care law. Results indicated that though many respondents supported the law, respondents did not feel like they had enough information to understand the health care law, affecting their knowledge of it. These findings imply that in order for the ACA to be considered successful among young adults, awareness and education of the law must increase in order for young people to feel like they have an adequate understanding of it.
Created2015-05
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This white paper serves as an accumulation of research to guide needle exchange program (NEP) policies in the state of Arizona to decrease the transmission of infectious diseases such as HIV and HCV.

ContributorsLeaver, Jillian (Author) / Hruschka, Daniel (Thesis director) / Doran, Chris (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
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Many women are subject to role conflict. Between participating in their jobs and social expectations about duties as a mother, they might experience considerable stress trying to fulfill both those demanding roles. Data was analyzed from 182,617 women in 38 low- and middle-income countries from MICS surveys, using linear regression

Many women are subject to role conflict. Between participating in their jobs and social expectations about duties as a mother, they might experience considerable stress trying to fulfill both those demanding roles. Data was analyzed from 182,617 women in 38 low- and middle-income countries from MICS surveys, using linear regression to examine how a number of children and working status interact to predict life satisfaction and happiness. Having more children was almost always associated with lower life satisfaction and happiness. The only exception was that among women who worked, more children to a point was associated with greater life satisfaction. Notably, work had different associations with emotional well-being depending on how it was measured. Having a job was generally associated with lower happiness, but greater life satisfaction. There is little evidence of an interaction between work and children indicating role conflict. Indeed, for life satisfaction, working seems to counteract the negative effect of having more children. Determining how large the effect of having both children and jobs are in women's lives can help determine the burden placed on women today and how that burden can be alleviated.

ContributorsKhan, Arisha (Author) / Hruschka, Daniel (Thesis director) / Pedram, Christina (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
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With the accelerated emergence of telehealth systems being deployed with promises to access unreachable populations in today’s socially distant environment, it is increasingly important to understand the barriers that underprivileged populations face when trying to access healthcare through digital platforms. This research investigates the use of telehealth in social and

With the accelerated emergence of telehealth systems being deployed with promises to access unreachable populations in today’s socially distant environment, it is increasingly important to understand the barriers that underprivileged populations face when trying to access healthcare through digital platforms. This research investigates the use of telehealth in social and cultural sub-populations, focusing on how the diverse student population at Arizona State University (ASU) use the recently-launched ASU Telehealth system. Statistical analysis of demographic factors spanning the five categories of social determinants of health were coupled with population studies of the ASU student body to evaluate the reach of services and patient diversity across telehealth and in person health platforms. Results show that insurance, racial and international student identity influence the percentage of students within these demographic categories Also, though the ASU Telehealth patient body reflects ASU’s general student population, the platform did not increase the reach of Health Services and the magnitude of students served. using ASU Telehealth. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it is difficult to determine the validity and reliability of these findings. However, the findings and background research point to targeted marketing campaigns, intentional policy decision-making, post-pandemic telehealth resilience, and the continuation of quantitative and qualitative data collection as means to expand the impact and equity of ASU Telehealth into future iterations of the platform. Outputs of this study include web communication materials and qualitative data collection mechanisms for future use and implementation by ASU Health Services.

ContributorsShrikant, Maya Liza (Author) / Krasnow, Aaron (Thesis director) / Hruschka, Daniel (Committee member) / School for the Future of Innovation in Society (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
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This thesis contains three chapters, all of which involve using culturally inclusive education to explore the experiences of religious undergraduate biology students. The first chapter is an essay entitled "Toward Culturally Inclusive Undergraduate Biology Education," which describes a literature review performed with the aim of characterizing the landscape of cultural

This thesis contains three chapters, all of which involve using culturally inclusive education to explore the experiences of religious undergraduate biology students. The first chapter is an essay entitled "Toward Culturally Inclusive Undergraduate Biology Education," which describes a literature review performed with the aim of characterizing the landscape of cultural competence and related terms for biology educators and biology education researchers. This chapter highlights the use of 16 different terms related to cultural competence and presents these terms, their definitions, and highlights their similarities and differences. This chapter also identifies gaps in the cultural competence literature, and presents a set of recommendations to support better culturally inclusive interventions in undergraduate science education. The second chapter, entitled "Different Evolution Acceptance Instruments Lead to Different Research Findings," describes a study in which the source of 30 years of conflicting research on the relationship between evolution acceptance and evolution understanding was determined. The results of this study showed that different instruments used to measure evolution acceptance sometimes lead to different research results and conclusions. The final chapter, entitled "Believing That Evolution is Atheistic is Associated with Poor Evolution Education Outcomes Among Religious College Students," describes a study characterizing definitions of evolution that religious undergraduate biology students may hold, and examines the impact that those definitions of evolution have on multiple outcome variables. In this study, we found that among the most religious students, those who thought evolution is atheistic were less accepting of evolution, less comfortable learning evolution, and perceived greater conflict between their personal religious beliefs and evolution than those who thought evolution is agnostic.
ContributorsDunlop, Hayley Marie (Author) / Brownell, Sara (Thesis director) / Collins, James (Committee member) / Barnes, M. Elizabeth (Committee member) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05