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Description
Communication amongst eusocial insect is key to their success. Ants rely on signaling to mediate many different functions within a colony such as policing and nest mate recognition. Camponotus floridanus uses chemosensory signaling in the form of cuticular hydrocarbons to regulate these functions. Each cuticular hydrocarbon profile contains numerous hydrocarbons, however it is yet to be seen if Camponotus floridanus can discriminate between linear hydrocarbons of similar length. Individual specimens were conditioned in three different ways: 5 conditioning with high concentration of sugar water (1;1 ratio), 1 conditioning with high concentration of sugar water, and 5 conditioning with low concentration of sugar water (1;4). Two linear hydrocarbons were use, C23 and C24, with C23 always being the conditioned stimulus. Specimens who were conditioned 5 times with high concentration of sugar water were the only group to show a significant response to the conditioned stimulus with a p-value of .008 and exhibited discrimination behavior 46% of the time. When compared 5 conditioning with high concentration to the other two testing conditioning groups, 1 conditioning with high concentration produced an insignificant p-value of .13 was obtained whereas when comparing it with 5 conditioning low concentration of sugar a significant p-value of .0132 was obtained. This indiciates that Camponotus floridanus are capable of discrimination however must be conditioned with high concentration of sugar water, while number of conditioning is insignificant.
ContributorsDamari, Ben Aviv (Author) / Liebig, Juergen (Thesis director) / Ghaninia, Majid (Committee member) / Pratt, Stephen (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
The transition from high school to college is, for many, a drastic change in lifestyle, social networks, and dietary choices. The prevalence of obesity in college students has been steadily increasing. Freshmen weight gains have been associated with a decrease in fruits and vegetables and an increase in unhealthy items such as desserts, alcohol, and late night snacking after dinner. A survey of college students was constructed to gauge students' perceptions of nutrition how these perceptions influenced dietary practices and behaviors. Survey results indicated that awareness of nutrition and health does not translate to dietary practices, aligning with results from previous studies. Several sex differences were noted in regards to dietary choices and perceptions, knowledge seeking behavior, and sources of information. While there were some similarities, it is clear from the results obtained that men and women have different approaches and thoughts with regard to nutrition. The results showed that college students who actively seek our nutritional information are more likely to do so in the form of social media or Internet sources. This study could be useful for those planning on conducting college-based nutritional programs in that the results indicate patterns and trends that should be taken into consideration in order for a successful nutrition intervention
ContributorsKeahon, Gabriela Estrada (Author) / Jehn, Megan (Thesis director) / Williams, Deborah (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School for the Science of Health Care Delivery (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The NCAA recently declared sickle cell trait (SCT) to be a risk factor for sudden illness and death among student athletes. Fetal hemoglobin (HbF) concentration in adults is negatively correlated with disease severity in sickle cell anemia, although its effect on SCT is not fully understood and the concentration is found to have high variability across populations. Two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) at the human beta globin gene cluster, rs7482144 and rs10128556, contribute to the heritable variation in HbF levels and are associated with increased HbF concentrations in adults. A sample population of NCAA football student athletes was genotyped for these two polymorphisms, and their allele frequencies were compared to those of other populations. The minor allele of both polymorphisms had allele frequencies of 0.091 in the sample population, which compared closely with other populations of recent African heritage but was significantly different from European populations. The results of this study will be included in a larger study to predict whether these among other polymorphisms can be used as markers to predict susceptibility to heat-related emergencies in NCAA student athletes with SCT, although the small sample size will delay this process until participation in the study increases. Since both rs7482144 and rs10128556 exhibit high levels of linkage disequilibrium, and as their contributions to the heritable variability of HbF concentrations tend to differ greatly between populations of different ancestry, further investigations should be aimed at distinguishing between the effects of each SNP in African American, European, and other populations represented in NCAA football before conclusions can be drawn as to their practical use as genetic markers of heat susceptibility in student athletes with SCT.
ContributorsGrieger, Ryan Wayne (Author) / Stone, Anne C. (Thesis director) / Rosenberg, Michael (Committee member) / Madrigal, Lorena (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Protein is an essential macronutrient in the human diet, but the source of this protein has both human health and environmental impacts. Health complications can result from protein deficiency, but the practices by which protein sources are raised, grown, or harvested have environmental consequences, potentially reducing biodiversity, essential habitat, and crucial stocks of natural resources. Terrestrial cultivation encroaches on natural habitats and consumes resources inefficiently, while overfishing has greatly depleted wild fishery stocks. These environmental factors, along with concerns about nutrients, contaminants and the ethics of animal protein has led to confusion about weighing the risks and benefits associated with alternative sources of protein. Providing consumers \u2014 and policy makers \u2014 with a comprehensive account of major protein sources and their impacts in an understandable form is crucial to reducing environmental degradation and improving human health. Here I provide a general framework to compare the health and environmental impacts of livestock, seafood, and plant protein, and illustrate the application of this framework with case studies for each of these categories.
ContributorsGeren, Sarah Lindsey (Author) / Gerber, Leah (Thesis director) / Smith, Andrew (Committee member) / Minteer, Ben (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Tai Chi Chuan is an internal Chinese martial arts that practitioners believe provide will provide health benefits. This thesis attempts to summarize and analyze scientific studies that test Tai Chi Chuan as a therapeutic exercise. Systemic reviews and meta-analysis were included were based on the following criteria: studied Tai Chi Chuan in context of a specific disease, must include random control trials, and statistical analysis. Overall, Tai Chi Chuan studies portray the martial art as a low intensity exercise with numerous health benefits in pain management, emotional health, fall prevention, cardiopulmonary and cognitive function.
ContributorsTsai, Andrew Roy (Author) / Capco, David (Thesis director) / Tillman, Hoyt (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
ABSTRACT Communication is vital in the context of everyday life for all organisms, but particularly so in social insects, such as Z. nevadensis. The overall lifestyle and need for altruistic acts of individuals within a colony depends primarily on intracolony chemical communication, with a focus on odorants. The perception of these odorants is made possible by the chemoreceptive functions of sensilla basiconica and sensilla trichoid which exist on the antennal structure. The present study consists of both a morphological analysis and electrophysiological experiment concerning sensilla basiconica. It attempts to characterize the function of neurons present in sensilla basiconica through single sensillum recordings and contributes to existing literature by determining if a social insect, such as the dampwood termite, is able to perceive a wide spectrum of odorants despite having significantly fewer olfactory receptors than most other social insect species. Results indicated that sensilla basiconica presence significantly out-paced that of sensilla trichoid and sensilla chaetica combined, on all flagellomeres. Analysis demonstrated significant responses to all general odorants and several cuticular hydrocarbons. Combined with the knowledge of fewer olfactory receptors present in this species and their lifestyle, results may indicate a positive association between the the social complexity of an insect's lifestyle and the number of ORs the individuals within that colony possess.
ContributorsMcGlone, Taylor (Author) / Liebig, Juergen (Thesis director) / Ghaninia, Majid (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases affecting children, and investigators have identified a number of risk factors that worsen asthma symptoms. Most prior studies have concluded that there is an association between one risk factor, poor sleep quality, and asthma; however, whether sleep quality predicts future asthma symptoms, asthma symptoms predict future sleep quality, or the relation is reciprocal is still unclear. The methodology of studies examining the asthma-sleep association has consisted of actigraphy and parent report to determine children's sleep duration and sleep efficiency, and lung function assessments with a spirometer on the participants to determine children's overall lung function. The purpose of the proposed study is to determine the strength of the cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between indicators of sleep quality and asthma. The proposed study plans to use a combination of actigraphy, sleep diaries, and lung function assessments using a spirometer to determine sleep quality and lung function, respectively. Future directions include determining the directionality of the association between sleep quality and asthma as well as strength of association.
ContributorsLacy, Kordell Reggie (Author) / Davis, Mary (Thesis director) / Miadich, Samantha (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12
Description
Attending college provides young adults with a major shift in environment from high school where many students are used to living at home with their parents or guardians. Students experience a newfound freedom once beginning their freshman year, especially if living in on-campus housing. Freshmen are known to gain weight during this transitory period, and this has been partially attributed to changes in eating behaviors, which makes this a population of concern. College freshmen have significant autonomy over their food choices if not living at home, due to not having parents or guardians present. In the transition to college, freshmen are able to adopt new habits, healthy or unhealthy, which could make a large impact on their health habits for the rest of their lives; this is why the freshman population is an area of concern. RESULTS: None of the relationships between social connectedness and FF consumption were found to be statistically significant. Social connectedness was not significantly related to cross-sectional FF intake at the two different phases, or longitudinally between the two phases, even after adjustments were made. Additionally, there were no gender differences present in FF consumption or social connectedness at either phase. CONCLUSION: The lack of significant findings suggest that social connectedness might not be a reason college freshmen consume FF. Students might eat with others due to the convenience of living closely to them rather than as a means to socialize. Also, factors such as time constraints and cost might have played a larger role in why students consumed FF. Future research could involve similar studies using shorter questionnaires more tailored to eating behaviors, with more detailed measures of FF consumption (e.g. What specific FF meals did you consume?) and for a longer duration of time, to allow students to become more situated in their environment and have a better knowledge of all their food options. This study was an important contribution to the sparsely researched topic of social connectedness with a large and diverse sample studied longitudinally. It was also the only study of its kind to be performed on the college population, and had potential for future health implications in obesity and chronic conditions such as hypertension and type II diabetes. Further research is warranted to evaluate the relationship between social connectedness and other eating behaviors.
ContributorsBaca, Rachel (Author) / Bruening, Meg (Thesis director) / Brennhofer, Stephanie (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Community Action Research Experiences (CARE) partnered with Mission of Mercy, a faith-based nonprofit organization that provides free medical care services to uninsured and underinsured individuals throughout the Phoenix valley. A needs assessment was conducted on Mission of Mercy's patient population and data collected over a two month long period, in which 91 completed surveys were collected. Participants were between the ages of 18 to over 65 and were largely Hispanic/Latino, followed by White/Anglo and Black/African American. The results indicate that there is need for increased patient education which could be satisfied by implement an incentive program. A need for a program specific to high blood pressure was also found. Participants were interested in dental services being offered, a service that is currently not offered through the Arizona chapter of Mission of Mercy. The study also showed that respondents were satisfied with the level of care received at Mission of Mercy.
ContributorsMack, Ashley Marie (Author) / Bradley, Robert (Thesis director) / Dumka, Larry (Committee member) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor)
Created2016-05
ContributorsSavarese, Erica (Author) / Robert, Jason (Thesis director) / Hurlbut, Ben (Committee member) / Verrelli, Brian (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2013-05