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- Creators: School of Life Sciences
- Status: Published
Description
There has been an alarming rise in the prevalence of obesity which has been attributed to the paralleled rise in consumption of high-fat foods. It’s commonly accepted that high-fat diets can lead to increased weight gain, however not all fats have the same physiological action. This study primarily focuses on the effect of canola oil, a monounsaturated fat, on energy homeostasis and body composition when it’s given as a supplement to a high-fat diet composed of saturated fatty acid. Rodent models were divided into three dietary groups: 1) low-fat diet (LFD), 2) high-fat diet (HFD) and 3) canola oils supplemented HFD (HF+CAN). After 4 weeks of dietary intervention, samples of epididymal fat, perinephric fat, and liver were analyzed across the three groups to see if the changes in energy homeostasis could be explained by the cellular behavior and composition of these tissues. Interestingly, the supplement of canola oil appeared to reverse the deleterious effects of a saturated fat diet, reverting energy intake, body weight gain and adipose tissue sizes to that (if not lower than that) of the LFD group. The only exception to this effect was the liver: the livers remained larger and fattier than those of the HFD. This occurrence is possibly due to a decrease in free fatty acid uptake in the adipose tissues—resulting in smaller adipose tissue sizes—and increased fatty acid uptake in the liver. The mechanism by which this occurs has yet to be elucidated and will be the primary focus of upcoming studies on the effect of monounsaturated fat on other diets.
ContributorsZuo, Connie Wanda (Author) / Washo-Krupps, Delon (Thesis director) / Deviche, Pierre (Committee member) / Herman, Richard (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Western diets, high in dietary fat and red meat, are associated with hyperglycemia and weight gain, symptoms that promote insulin resistance and diabetes. Previous studies have shown that elevated glucose promotes glycation of circulating proteins such as albumin, which is thought to lead to hyperglycemia complications. It was hypothesized that diets with no meat consumption (pesco-vegetarian and lacto-vegetarian) would reduce protein glycation, in comparison to a diet with meat. Forty six healthy adult omnivorous subjects were randomized into one of three groups and instructed to either consume red meat (i.e. meat) or poultry twice per day (control), eliminate meat and increase fish consumption (pesco-vegetarian), or adopt a vegetarian diet devoid of fish, meat or poultry (lacto-vegetarian) for four weeks. Fasting plasma samples were collected from participants at baseline and after 4 weeks of the dietary intervention. Plasma glucose concentrations were measured using a commercially available kit. Percent glycated albumin was measured on a separate aliquot of plasma by mass spectrometry. Plasma glucose concentrations were significantly increased following 4-weeks of pesco-vegetarian diet (P=0.002, paired t-test). Neither the lacto-vegetarian (P=0.898) or the control diet (P=0.233) affected plasma glucose concentrations. Despite the significant increase in plasma glucose following a pesco-vegetarian diet, no change in percent glycated albumin was observed (P>0.50, ANOVA). These findings may indicate a protective effect of the pesco-vegetarian diet on protein glycation in the presence of elevated plasma glucose and suggest the need for additional studies to examine the link between increased fish consumption and glucose regulation.
ContributorsRaad, Noor (Author) / Sweazea, Karen (Thesis director, Committee member) / Borges, Chad (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
With the rising prevalence of obesity and diabetes, novel treatments to help mitigate or prevent symptoms of these conditions are warranted. Prior studies have shown that fossilized plant materials found in soil lowers blood sugar in a mouse model of diabetes. The goal of this study is to determine whether a similar organometallic complex (OMC) could prevent insulin resistance in the skeletal muscle brought on by chronic high fat intake by examining the protein expression of key enzymes in the insulin signaling pathway and examining glucoregulatory measures. Six-week-old periadolescent male Sprague-Dawley rats (n=42) were randomly chosen to be fed either a high fat diet (HFD) (20% protein, 20% carbohydrates [6.8% sucrose], 60% fat) or a standard chow diet (18.9% protein, 57.33% carbohydrates, 5% fat) for 10 weeks. Rats from each diet group were then randomly assigned to one of three doses of OMC (0, 0.6, 3.0 mg/mL), which was added to their drinking water and fasting blood glucose was measured at baseline and again at 10 weeks. After 10 weeks, rats were euthanized, and soleus muscle samples were isolated, snap-frozen, and stored at -80°C until analyses. Fasting plasma glucose was measured using a commercially available glucose oxidase kit. Following 6 and 10 weeks, HFD rats developed significant hyperglycemia (p<0.001 and p=0.025) compared to chow controls which was prevented by high dose OMC (p=0.021). After 10 weeks, there were significant differences in fasting serum insulin between diets (p=0.009) where levels were higher in HFD rats. No significant difference was seen in p-PI3K expression between groups. These results suggest that OMC could prevent insulin resistance by reducing hyperglycemia. Further studies are needed to characterize the effects of diet and OMC on the insulin signaling pathway in skeletal muscle, the main site of postprandial glucose disposal. This study was supported by a grant from Isagenix International LLC as well as funds from Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University, Tempe Campus.
ContributorsStarr, Ashlee (Author) / Sweazea, Karen (Thesis director) / Johnston, Carol (Committee member) / Hyatt, JP (Committee member) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12
Description
Type II diabetes is a serious, chronic metabolic disease that has serious impacts on both the health and quality of life in patients diagnosed with the disease. Type II diabetes is also a very prevalent disease both in the United States and around the world. There is still a lot that is unknown about Type II diabetes, and this study will aim to answer some of these questions. The question posed in this study is whether insulin resistance changes as a function of time after the start of a high fat diet. We hypothesized that peripheral insulin resistance would be observed in animals placed on a high fat diet; and peripheral insulin resistance would have a positive correlation with time. In order to test the hypotheses, four Sprague-Dawley male rats were placed on a high fat diet for 8 weeks, during which time they were subjected to three intraperitonal insulin tolerance tests ((NovoLogTM 1 U/kg). These three tests were conducted at baseline (week 1), week 4, and week 8 of the high fat diet. The test consisted of serially determining plasma glucose levels via a pin prick methodology, and exposing a droplet of blood to the test strip of a glucometer (ACCUCHEKTM, Roche Diagnostics). Two plasma glucose baselines were taken, and then every 15 minutes following insulin injection for one hour. Glucose disposal rates were then calculated by simply dividing the glucose levels at each time point by the baseline value, and multiplying by 100. Area under the curve data was calculated via definite integral. The area under the curve data was then subjected to a single analysis of variance (ANOVA), with a statistical significance threshold of p<0.05. The results of the study did not indicate the development of peripheral insulin resistance in the animals placed on a high fat diet. Insulin-mediated glucose disposal was about 50% at 30 minutes in all four animals, during all three testing periods. Furthermore, the ANOVA resulted in p=0.92, meaning that the data was not statistically significant. In conclusion, peripheral insulin resistance was not observed in the animals, meaning no determination could be made on the relation between time and insulin resistance.
ContributorsBrown, Kellen Andrew (Author) / Caplan, Michael (Thesis director) / Herman, Richard (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
This creative thesis project aimed to create career development resources that School of Life Sciences majors could use to enhance their college experience, expand the breadth of relevant career options for School of Life Sciences majors, and confront and divert career problems through the implementation of these career development resources. Students encounter career problems when their intention and action diverge. These career problems may cause a student to stop their pursuit of a given career, change majors, or even stop schooling completely. It is the objective of this project to help resolve these career problems by introducing a career development resource flyer that educates the student about a given career, provides coursework to guide a student towards this career path, familiarize students with extracurricular efforts necessary for this position, propose valuable resources that the student can utilize to learn more about the career, and offer a question and answer portion for further career and professional understanding. In order to create these career development resource flyers a variety of professionals, both with and without relationships with Arizona State University were contacted and interviewed. The answers gathered from these interviews were then utilized to create the career flyers. The project was successful in creating five distinct career development resource flyers, as well as a blank template with instructions to be used in the future by the School of Life Sciences. The career development resource flyers will be utilized by the School of Life Sciences advising staff for future exploratory majors, but is not limited to just these students. Aspirations are set to create an expansive reservoir of these resources for future generations of students to access in hopes that they will be better suited to find a career path that they are passionate about and be better prepared to attain.
ContributorsGallegos, Darius Sloan (Author) / Wilson Sayres, Melissa (Thesis director) / Downing, Virginia (Committee member) / DeNardo, Dale (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
A point of care glucose sensor using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) with a glutaraldehyde-linked enzyme shows promise as an effective biosensor platform. This report details the characterization of various factors on optimal binding frequency (OBF) and sensor performance to better prepare the sensor for future experimentation. Utilizing a screen printed carbon electrode, the necessary amount of glucose oxidase was determined to be 10 mg/mL. Binding time trials ranging from 1-3 minutes demonstrated that 1.5 minutes was the optimal binding time. This timeframe produced the strongest impedance response at each glucose concentration. Using this enzyme concentration and binding time, the native OBF of the biosensor was found to be 1.18 Hz using vector analysis. Temperature testing showed little change in OBF in sensors exposed to 4 \u00B0C through 43.3 \u00B0C. Only exposure to 60 \u00B0C resulted in rapid OBF change which was likely due to glucose oxidase becoming denatured. Humidity tests showed little change in OBF and sensor performance between sensors prepared at the humidities of 7.5%, 10.625% and 16.5% humidity. Alternatively, solutions containing common interference molecules such as uric acid, acetaminophen, and ascorbic acid resulted in a highly shifted OBF and drastically reduced signal.
ContributorsMatloff, Daniel (Co-author) / Khanwalker, Mukund (Co-author) / Johns, Jared (Co-author) / LaBelle, Jeffrey (Thesis director) / Pizziconi, Vincent (Committee member) / Lin, Chi (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12
Description
Speech nasality disorders are characterized by abnormal resonance in the nasal cavity. Hypernasal speech is of particular interest, characterized by an inability to prevent improper nasalization of vowels, and poor articulation of plosive and fricative consonants, and can lead to negative communicative and social consequences. It can be associated with a range of conditions, including cleft lip or palate, velopharyngeal dysfunction (a physical or neurological defective closure of the soft palate that regulates resonance between the oral and nasal cavity), dysarthria, or hearing impairment, and can also be an early indicator of developing neurological disorders such as ALS. Hypernasality is typically scored perceptually by a Speech Language Pathologist (SLP). Misdiagnosis could lead to inadequate treatment plans and poor treatment outcomes for a patient. Also, for some applications, particularly screening for early neurological disorders, the use of an SLP is not practical. Hence this work demonstrates a data-driven approach to objective assessment of hypernasality, through the use of Goodness of Pronunciation features. These features capture the overall precision of articulation of speaker on a phoneme-by-phoneme basis, allowing demonstrated models to achieve a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.88 on low-nasality speakers, the population of most interest for this sort of technique. These results are comparable to milestone methods in this domain.
ContributorsSaxon, Michael Stephen (Author) / Berisha, Visar (Thesis director) / McDaniel, Troy (Committee member) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
In this paper, I will show that news headlines of global events can predict changes in stock price by using Machine Learning and eight years of data from r/WorldNews, a popular forum on Reddit.com. My data is confined to the top 25 daily posts on the forum, and due to the implicit filtering mechanism in the online community, these 25 posts are representative of the most popular news headlines and influential global events of the day. Hence, these posts shine a light on how large-scale social and political events affect the stock market. Using a Logistic Regression and a Naive Bayes classifier, I am able to predict with approximately 85% accuracy a binary change in stock price using term-feature vectors gathered from the news headlines. The accuracy, precision and recall results closely rival the best models in this field of research. In addition to the results, I will also describe the mathematical underpinnings of the two models; preceded by a general investigation of the intersection between the multiple academic disciplines related to this project. These range from social to computer science and from statistics to philosophy. The goal of this additional discussion is to further illustrate the interdisciplinary nature of the research and hopefully inspire a non-monolithic mindset when further investigations are pursued.
ContributorsPriniski, John Hunter (Author) / Haiyan, Wang (Thesis director) / Hazel, Kwon (Committee member) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Abstract The BIO 189 Life Sciences Career Paths course is a seminar course that is intended to acclimate incoming freshmen into the School of Life Sciences (SOLS). While there are instructors who organize and present in the class, upper division undergraduate students are primarily responsible for facilitating lectures and discussions and mentoring the freshmen. Prior research has demonstrated that the mentor-mentee relationship is a very important predictor of success and retention within all university first-year programs. While past studies focused on the student mentor-mentee relationships, there is limited research that measures student satisfaction within freshmen seminar courses, especially in areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The purpose of this project is to survey students about their perception of the BIO 189 course. The effort of the project is on pre-health students, as they initiate their undergraduate careers and attempt to achieve acceptance into professional school four years later. Analysis of Likert scale surveys distributed to 561 freshmen revealed that students with an emphasis on "medicine" in their majors preferred a BIO 189 course geared to pre-health interests whereas students seeking an emphasis on research (ecology and cell biology/genetics) sought a BIO 189 course focused on internship and employment opportunities. Assessment of the mentor-mentee relationship revealed that students (n = 561) preferred one-on-one meetings with mentors outside of class (44%) compared to those who preferred interaction in class (30%). A sizable 61.68% of students (n = 548) were most concerned with attaining favorable GPAs, highlighting strong emphasis on academic performance. Overall, 61% of respondents (n = 561) expressed satisfaction with SOLS resources and involvement opportunities, which was hypothesized. These results give substantial insight into the efficacy of a first-year success seminar-mentoring program for college freshmen in STEM.
ContributorsMaalouf, Nicholas Elie (Author) / Haydel, Shelley (Thesis director) / Harrell, Carita (Committee member) / Capco, David (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
2D fetal echocardiography (ECHO) can be used for monitoring heart development in utero. This study’s purpose is to empirically model normal fetal heart growth and function changes during development by ECHO and compare these to fetuses diagnosed with and without cardiomyopathy with diabetic mothers. There are existing mathematical models describing fetal heart development but they warrant revalidation and adjustment. 377 normal fetuses with healthy mothers, 98 normal fetuses with diabetic mothers, and 37 fetuses with cardiomyopathy and diabetic mothers had their cardiac structural dimensions, cardiothoracic ratio, valve flow velocities, and heart rates measured by fetal ECHO in a retrospective chart review. Cardiac features were fitted to linear functions, with respect to gestational age, femur length, head circumference, and biparietal diameter and z-scores were created to model normal fetal growth for all parameters. These z-scores were used to assess what metrics had no difference in means between the normal fetuses of both healthy and diabetic mothers but differed from those diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. It was found that functional metrics like mitral and tricuspid E wave and pulmonary velocity could be important predictors for cardiomyopathy when fitted by gestational age, femur length, head circumference, and biparietal diameter. Additionally, aortic and tricuspid annulus diameters when fitted to estimated gestational age showed potential to be predictors for fetal cardiomyopathy. While the metrics overlapped over their full range, combining them together may have the potential for predicting cardiomyopathy in utero. Future directions of this study will explore creating a classifier model that can predict cardiomyopathy using the metrics assessed in this study.
ContributorsMishra, Shambhavi (Co-author) / Numani, Asfia (Co-author) / Sweazea, Karen (Thesis director) / Plasencia, Jonathan (Committee member) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05