Matching Items (14)
Description
The presence of certain chromosomal disorders is not always immediately apparent at birth. Children with relatively high-incidence, but non-heritable disorders may receive delayed identification due to the sometimes subtle manifestation of their disorder. Delayed identification may result in various undesirable outcomes for affected children and their families. In addition to parents, teachers can be valuable participants in the identification process. Chromosomal disorders are associated with generally predictable physical and behavioral characteristics, known as phenotype. In the present study, the influence of phenotype on teachers' student-related concerns was examined. Teachers looked at a photo and read a vignette about a fictional elementary-age student who, although not identified, showed varying degrees of the Turner syndrome phenotype. A follow-up questionnaire indicated significantly greater concerns when a student showed many versus few characteristics of behavioral phenotype. However, the effect of morphological phenotype on teacher responses was not significant. The implications for identification of chromosomal disorders are discussed.
ContributorsMahoney, Joseph M (Author) / Caterino, Linda (Thesis advisor) / Mathur, Sarup (Committee member) / Stamm, Jill (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Single molecule identification is one essential application area of nanotechnology. The application areas including DNA sequencing, peptide sequencing, early disease detection and other industrial applications such as quantitative and quantitative analysis of impurities, etc. The recognition tunneling technique we have developed shows that after functionalization of the probe and substrate of a conventional Scanning Tunneling Microscope with recognition molecules ("tethered molecule-pair" configuration), analyte molecules trapped in the gap that is formed by probe and substrate will bond with the reagent molecules. The stochastic bond formation/breakage fluctuations give insight into the nature of the intermolecular bonding at a single molecule-pair level. The distinct time domain and frequency domain features of tunneling signals were extracted from raw signals of analytes such as amino acids and their enantiomers. The Support Vector Machine (a machine-learning method) was used to do classification and predication based on the signal features generated by analytes, giving over 90% accuracy of separation of up to seven analytes. This opens up a new interface between chemistry and electronics with immediate implications for rapid Peptide/DNA sequencing and molecule identification at single molecule level.
ContributorsZhao, Yanan, 1986- (Author) / Lindsay, Stuart (Thesis advisor) / Nemanich, Robert (Committee member) / Qing, Quan (Committee member) / Ros, Robert (Committee member) / Zhang, Peiming (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
While numerous studies have examined the nature of masculinity, scholars seldom seek to determine the meaning of manhood or to explore which types of individuals are culturally permitted to call themselves men. One scholarly approach suggests that the meaning of a cultural category can best be illuminated through examining marginalized examples within that category. Based on this assumption, this project illuminates cultural understandings of manhood in the United States by examining the experience of men within two marginalized categories--gay and transsexual--who have often found themselves fighting for the right to call themselves men at a time when hegemonic assumptions about manhood have required that one had been designated male at birth, claims a heterosexual orientation, and exhibits characteristics that are stereotypically masculine. For gay men who were born male, social marginalization could result from one's gay orientation as well as from a perceived lack of masculine traits. For some transsexual gay men, all three of the traditional markers of manhood may be absent or deemed insufficient. This scenario calls into question what it is that all men have in common if the concept of manhood is to be associated with any stable definition. Within rhetorical analysis, the concept of textual fragmentation suggests that a rhetorical critic performs an analysis of a text by examining dense textual fragments; the critic's audience members then produce what they perceive to be a finished discourse in their own minds. Along these lines, this project illuminates the concept of manhood by examining dense textual fragments found within mass media representations and personal narratives, and concludes that one's manhood is determined based on the degree to which one identifies with others who call themselves men. Therefore, manhood can best be framed, not as a specific identity with a stable definition, but as a body of intersecting identifications specific to a particular cultural location and time period. As such, it is linked to cultural systems of power and oppression, illustrating that the claim to manhood as an identity is a rhetorical act that is not free from controversy.
ContributorsBooth, Ewan Tristan (Author) / Brouwer, Daniel C. (Thesis advisor) / Martinez, Jacqueline M. (Committee member) / Fisher, Jill A. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Bioparticles comprise a diverse amount of materials ubiquitously present in nature. From proteins to aerosolized biological debris, bioparticles have important roles spanning from regulating cellular functions to possibly influencing global climate. Understanding their structures, functions, and properties provides the necessary tools to expand our fundamental knowledge of biological systems and exploit them for useful applications. In order to contribute to this efforts, the work presented in this dissertation focuses on the study of electrokinetic properties of liposomes and novel applications of bioaerosol analysis. Using immobilized lipid vesicles under the influence of modest (less than 100 V/cm) electric fields, a novel strategy for bionanotubule fabrication with superior throughput and simplicity was developed. Fluorescence and bright field microscopy was used to describe the formation of these bilayer-bound cylindrical structures, which have been previously identified in nature (playing crucial roles in intercellular communication) and made synthetically by direct mechanical manipulation of membranes. In the biological context, the results of this work suggest that mechanical electrostatic interaction may play a role in the shape and function of individual biological membranes and networks of membrane-bound structures. A second project involving liposomes focused on membrane potential measurements in vesicles containing trans-membrane pH gradients. These types of gradients consist of differential charge states in the lipid bilayer leaflets, which have been shown to greatly influence the efficacy of drug targeting and the treatment of diseases such as cancer. Here, these systems are qualitatively and quantitatively assessed by using voltage-sensitive membrane dyes and fluorescence spectroscopy. Bioaerosol studies involved exploring the feasibility of a fingerprinting technology based on current understanding of cellular debris in aerosols and arguments regarding sampling, sensitivity, separations and detection schemes of these debris. Aerosolized particles of cellular material and proteins emitted by humans, animals and plants can be considered information-rich packets that carry biochemical information specific to the living organisms present in the collection settings. These materials could potentially be exploited for identification purposes. Preliminary studies evaluated protein concentration trends in both indoor and outdoor locations. Results indicated that concentrations correlate to certain conditions of the collection environment (e.g. extent of human presence), supporting the idea that bioaerosol fingerprinting is possible.
ContributorsCastillo Gutiérrez, Josemar Andreina (Author) / Hayes, Mark A. (Thesis advisor) / Herckes, Pierre (Committee member) / Ghrilanda, Giovanna (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
The study of literature, which has traditionally been the work of the humanities, has seemingly opened up to biology in recent years through an infusion of cognitive science and evolutionary psychology. This essay examines two perspectives on the potential for reader/character identification, one perspective from cognitive/evolutionary studies, and the other from the humanities. Building on both perspectives, I propose my own notion of reader/character identification called immersive identification. I argue that fiction is especially suited to prompt readers to identify with fictional characters in an immersive way. Then, I demonstrate how different cognitive/evolutionary perspectives of fiction can accommodate my notion of immersive identification. Finally, I defend my account of immersive identification against a counterexample.
ContributorsDhein, Kelle James (Author) / Eder, James (Thesis director) / Kobes, Bernard (Committee member) / Cassell, Paul (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Scholarly interest in racial socialization is growing, but researchers' understanding of how and when racial socialization relates to subjective well-being is underdeveloped, particularly for multiracial populations. The present study investigated the possibility that the relationship of racial socialization to subjective well-being is mediated by racial identification and that this mediation depends on physical racial ambiguity. Specifically, the proposed study used a moderated mediation model to examine whether the indirect relation of egalitarian socialization to subjective well-being through racial identification is conditional on physical racial ambiguity among 313 multiracial individuals. Results suggested egalitarian socialization was positively correlated with subjective well-being. The results provided no support for the moderated mediation hypothesis. The present study examined the complex interaction between racial socialization, racial identification, physical racial ambiguity, and subjective well-being among multiracial individuals. Despite receiving no support for the moderated mediation hypothesis, this research helped to further explicate a distinct pathway through which egalitarian socialization impacts well-being through racial identification for multiracial individuals independent of physical racial ambiguity.
ContributorsVillegas-Gold, Roberto Y (Author) / Tran, Giac-Thao (Thesis advisor) / Kinnier, Richard (Committee member) / Yoo, Hyung Chol (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
The workforce demographics in the United States are rapidly changing. According to census information, 35% of working adults are project to retire within the next 20 years. The construction is being particularly affected by this demographic shift as fewer employees are entering into the industry. This shift is especially bad among project professionals within the industry. The response to these changing demographics depends on how companies manage their talent and plan for successions. In order to investigate this workforce problem in the construction industry, the author has partnered with an expert panel of human resource executives from various companies in the construction industry. This research seeks to investigate methods in which construction companies can identify high potential project leaders early on in their careers through quantitative methodologies. The author first validated the research problem by gathering demographic data from six U.S. construction companies varying in size and industry expertise. As a result of analyzing information from 2,294 construction employees in the project management career path, the authors have found that 58% of these individuals are projected to retire within the next 12 years. The author also conducted a detailed literature review and six company interviews to investigate current succession planning practices in the industry. The results show that very few companies have contingency plans for early to mid-level employees. Lastly, the author conducted 76 employee psychological evaluations to measure personality and behavior traits. These traits were then compared to supervisory performance reviews of these employees. The results of this comparison suggest that high potential employees tend to showcase previous leadership experience and also tend to be more outspoken and are also able to separate their emotional bias from business decisions. Using these findings, the author provides an interview tool that employers can use to expand their talent pool in order to identify high potential candidates that may have been previously overlooked. The author recommends additional research in further developing the use of quantitative tools to evaluate early-career employees in order to more efficiently align resources within the shrinking talent pool.
ContributorsGunnoe, Jake Alan (Author) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Thesis advisor) / Wiezel, Avi (Thesis advisor) / Kashiwagi, Dean T. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
A primary need of Forensic science is to individualize missing persons that cannot be identified after death. With the use of advanced technology, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) implant chips can drastically improve digital tracking and enable robust biological and legal identification. In this paper, I will discuss applications between different microchip technologies and indicate reasons why the RFID chip is more useful for forensic science. My results state that an RFID chip is significantly more capable of integrating a mass volume of background information, and can utilize implanted individuals’ DNA profiles to decrease the missing persons database backlogs. Since today’s society uses a lot of digital devices that can ultimately identify people by simple posts or geolocation, Forensic Science can harness that data as an advantage to help serve justice for the public in giving loved ones closure.
ContributorsChastain, Hope Natasha (Author) / Kanthswamy, Sree (Thesis director) / Oldt, Robert (Committee member) / School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
The majority of trust research has focused on the benefits trust can have for individual actors, institutions, and organizations. This “optimistic bias” is particularly evident in work focused on institutional trust, where concepts such as procedural justice, shared values, and moral responsibility have gained prominence. But trust in institutions may not be exclusively good. We reveal implications for the “dark side” of institutional trust by reviewing relevant theories and empirical research that can contribute to a more holistic understanding. We frame our discussion by suggesting there may be a “Goldilocks principle” of institutional trust, where trust that is too low (typically the focus) or too high (not usually considered by trust researchers) may be problematic. The chapter focuses on the issue of too-high trust and processes through which such too-high trust might emerge. Specifically, excessive trust might result from external, internal, and intersecting external-internal processes. External processes refer to the actions institutions take that affect public trust, while internal processes refer to intrapersonal factors affecting a trustor’s level of trust. We describe how the beneficial psychological and behavioral outcomes of trust can be mitigated or circumvented through these processes and highlight the implications of a “darkest” side of trust when they intersect. We draw upon research on organizations and legal, governmental, and political systems to demonstrate the dark side of trust in different contexts. The conclusion outlines directions for future research and encourages researchers to consider the ethical nuances of studying how to increase institutional trust.
ContributorsNeal, Tess M.S. (Author) / Shockley, Ellie (Author) / Schilke, Oliver (Author)
Created2016
Description
Alec John Jeffreys created a process called DNA fingerprinting in the UK during the twentieth century. For DNA fingerprinting, technicians identify a person as the source of a biological sample by comparing the genetic information contained in the person's DNA to the DNA contained in the sample. Jeffreys developed the technique in the 1980s while at the University of Leicester in Leicester, UK. Jeffreys's technique had immediate applications. In forensic science, DNA fingerprinting enabled police to identify suspects of crimes based on their genetic identities. Previous biologic techniques enabled only the exclusion of possible suspects, not the identification of individuals. Jeffreys's technique also enabled technicians to identify the father of a child in paternity testing.
ContributorsHarbison, Corey (Author) / Arizona State University. School of Life Sciences. Center for Biology and Society. Embryo Project Encyclopedia. (Publisher) / Arizona Board of Regents (Publisher)
Created2017-06-15