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Description
Of all the signals and cues that orchestrate the activities of a social insect colony, the reproductives' fertility pheromones are perhaps the most fundamental. These pheromones regulate reproductive division of labor, a defining characteristic of eusociality. Despite their critical role, reproductive fertility pheromones are not evenly expressed across the development of a social insect colony and may even be absent in the earliest colony stages. In the ant Camponotus floridanus, queens of incipient colonies do not produce the cuticular hydrocarbons that serve as fertility and egg-marking signals in this species. My dissertation investigates the consequences of the dramatic change in the quantity of these pheromones that occurs as the colony grows. C. floridanus workers from large, established colonies use egg surface hydrocarbons to discriminate among eggs. Eggs with surface hydrocarbons typical of eggs laid by established queens are nurtured, whereas eggs lacking these signals (i.e., eggs laid by workers and incipient queens) are destroyed. I characterized how workers from incipient colonies responded to eggs lacking queen fertility hydrocarbons. I found that established-queen-laid eggs, incipient-queen-laid eggs, and worker-laid eggs were not destroyed by workers at this colony stage. Destruction of worker-laid eggs is a form of policing, and theoretical models predict that policing should be strongest in incipient colonies. Since there was no evidence of policing by egg-eating in incipient C. floridanus colonies, I searched for evidence of another policing mechanism at this colony stage. Finding none, I discuss reasons why policing behavior may not be expressed in incipient colonies. I then considered the mechanism that accounts for the change in workers' response to eggs. By manipulating ants' egg experience and testing their egg-policing decisions, I found that ants use a combination of learned and innate criteria to discriminate between targets of care and destruction. Finally, I investigated how the increasing strength of queen-fertility hydrocarbons affects nestmate recognition, which also relies on cuticular hydrocarbons. I found that queens with strong fertility hydrocarbons can be transferred between established colonies without aggression, but they cannot be introduced into incipient colonies. Queens from incipient colonies cannot be transferred into incipient or established colonies.
ContributorsMoore, Dani (Author) / Liebig, Juergen (Thesis advisor) / Gadau, Juergen (Committee member) / Pratt, Stephen (Committee member) / Smith, Brian (Committee member) / Rutowski, Ronald (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Laboratory automation systems have seen a lot of technological advances in recent times. As a result, the software that is written for them are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Existing software architectures and standards are targeted to a wider domain of software development and need to be customized in order to use them for developing software for laboratory automation systems. This thesis proposes an architecture that is based on existing software architectural paradigms and is specifically tailored to developing software for a laboratory automation system. The architecture is based on fairly autonomous software components that can be distributed across multiple computers. The components in the architecture make use of asynchronous communication methodologies that are facilitated by passing messages between one another. The architecture can be used to develop software that is distributed, responsive and thread-safe. The thesis also proposes a framework that has been developed to implement the ideas proposed by the architecture. The framework is used to develop software that is scalable, distributed, responsive and thread-safe. The framework currently has components to control very commonly used laboratory automation devices such as mechanical stages, cameras, and also to do common laboratory automation functionalities such as imaging.
ContributorsKuppuswamy, Venkataramanan (Author) / Meldrum, Deirdre (Thesis advisor) / Collofello, James (Thesis advisor) / Sarjoughian, Hessam S. (Committee member) / Johnson, Roger (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Single cell analysis has become increasingly important in understanding disease onset, progression, treatment and prognosis, especially when applied to cancer where cellular responses are highly heterogeneous. Through the advent of single cell computerized tomography (Cell-CT), researchers and clinicians now have the ability to obtain high resolution three-dimensional (3D) reconstructions of single cells. Yet to date, no live-cell compatible version of the technology exists. In this thesis, a microfluidic chip with the ability to rotate live single cells in hydrodynamic microvortices about an axis parallel to the optical focal plane has been demonstrated. The chip utilizes a novel 3D microchamber design arranged beneath a main channel creating flow detachment into the chamber, producing recirculating flow conditions. Single cells are flowed through the main channel, held in the center of the microvortex by an optical trap, and rotated by the forces induced by the recirculating fluid flow. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was employed to optimize the geometry of the microchamber. Two methods for the fabrication of the 3D microchamber were devised: anisotropic etching of silicon and backside diffuser photolithography (BDPL). First, the optimization of the silicon etching conditions was demonstrated through design of experiment (DOE). In addition, a non-conventional method of soft-lithography was demonstrated which incorporates the use of two positive molds, one of the main channel and the other of the microchambers, compressed together during replication to produce a single ultra-thin (<200 µm) negative used for device assembly. Second, methods for using thick negative photoresists such as SU-8 with BDPL have been developed which include a new simple and effective method for promoting the adhesion of SU-8 to glass. An assembly method that bonds two individual ultra-thin (<100 µm) replications of the channel and the microfeatures has also been demonstrated. Finally, a pressure driven pumping system with nanoliter per minute flow rate regulation, sub-second response times, and < 3% flow variability has been designed and characterized. The fabrication and assembly of this device is inexpensive and utilizes simple variants of conventional microfluidic fabrication techniques, making it easily accessible to the single cell analysis community.
ContributorsMyers, Jakrey R (Author) / Meldrum, Deirdre (Thesis advisor) / Johnson, Roger (Committee member) / Frakes, David (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
When examining the medical doctrines of previous empires, they reveal the influence of religion, societal attitudes, and the historical context that influenced the scholars that penned them. The advancements during the Islamic Golden age can be seen in the field of medicine, which had the Greco-Roman medical corpus as their foundation and the source of the theory of the four humors and anatomical beliefs. This paper will analyze the effect of cultural, societal, and historical influences on the medical doctrines of Muslim medieval physicians in the Golden Age and the works of the Roman physician Galen, and demonstrate how these effects result in similarities and differences in medical practice and the understanding of disease and anatomy. Due to translation efforts that were supported by religious views on the accumulation of knowledge and the efforts of the Abbasid empire, resultant acceptance of the theory of the four humors and anatomical doctrines is observed in the treatment and perception of disease, which would consist of this paper's focus on surgery, diet therapy and associations with nature. However, with further analysis of the extent of this acceptance and the findings in the Islamic medical doctrines, the differences in experimental methods, religious interpretations, and cultural attitudes shows a deviation from the Galenic tradition, with the second set of the paper's focus being human dissection, cause of disease, and experimentation. The purpose of this research is to demonstrate the impact of religion, societal attitudes, culture and the accepted paradigm on the practice of medicine and the study of anatomy, and what would cause a challenge against the legacy of Galen.
ContributorsAlzuhairi, Fatemah Saad (Author) / Vélez-Ibáñez, Carlos (Thesis director) / Smith, Brian (Committee member) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies (Contributor) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies, Sch (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
Honey bee (Apis mellifera) colonies have experienced substantial losses due to colony collapse disorder (CCD) since the first officially reported cases in 2006. Many factors have been implicated in CCD, including pests, pathogens, malnutrition, and pesticide use, but no correlation has been found between a single factor and the occurrence of CCD. Fungicides have received less research attention compared to insecticides, despite the fact that fungicide application coincides with bloom and the presence of bees. Pristine fungicide is widely used in agriculture and is commonly found as a residue in hives. Several studies have concluded that Pristine can be used without harming bees, but reports of brood loss following Pristine application continue to surface across the country. The primary objectives of this study were to determine whether Pristine causes an aversive gustatory response in bees and whether consumption of an acute dose affects responsiveness to sucrose. An awareness of how foragers interact with contaminated food is useful to understand the likelihood that Pristine is ingested and how that may affect bees' ability to evaluate floral resources. Our results indicated that Pristine has no significant effect on gustatory response or sucrose responsiveness. There was no significant difference between bee responses to Pristine contaminated sucrose and sucrose alone, and no significant effect of Pristine on sucrose responsiveness. These results indicate that honey bees do not have a gustatory aversion to Pristine. A lack of aversion means that honey bees will continue collecting contaminated resources and dispersing them throughout the colony where it can affect brood and clean food stores.
ContributorsMcHugh, Cora Elizabeth (Co-author) / Jernigan, Christopher (Co-author, Committee member) / Burden, Christina (Co-author) / DeGrandi-Hoffman, Gloria (Co-author) / Smith, Brian (Thesis director) / Fewell, Jennifer (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Art (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This study illustrates the abilities of the honeybee, Apis mellifera, to learn and differentiate between patterns solely off their spatial frequencies. Patterns were chosen based off of calculations derived from the measurements of the physical construction of the apposition compound eye, which led to predictions of what the bees could theoretically see. The hypothesis was then that bees would have a visual threshold where patterns with spatial frequencies that fall below this line should be easily distinguishable, and patterns above the threshold would have scores that mimic if the bees made choices randomly. There were 9 patterns tested, all with different spatial frequencies and in the colors of black, white, and gray. The bees were tested on their learning and pattern differentiation abilities with 10 pattern comparisons, with the lower frequency of the two being associated with an unscented sucrose solution reward. The results were surprising in that the previous studies pointing towards this visual threshold were inaccurate because of some of the patterns being learning in an intermediate ability. These intermediate scores suggest that the calculations predicting what the bees could see clearly were slightly wrong because it was more likely that the bees saw those images in more of a blur, which resulted in their intermediate score. Honeybees have served as a useful model organisms over the decades with studying learning involving visual information. This study lacked in its total numbers of trials and bees tested, which could have led to incomplete results, and this showing of an intermediate score and ability. Future studies should continue in order to advance this understanding of a perceptually and cognitively advance processing animal.
ContributorsBalsino, Brandon Bartholomew (Author) / Harrison, Jon (Thesis director) / Smith, Brian (Committee member) / Duell, Meghan (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-12
Description
Selenium, a group 16 metalloid on the periodic table, is a necessary mineral for many organisms. Trace amounts of selenium are essential for normal development, antioxidant protein function, enzyme function, and hormone regulation (Burden et al., 2016). However, when selenium is found in toxic amounts in organisms, it has been found to substitute for sulfur in proteins, which can be toxic to these animals, and cause oxidative stress (Quinn et al., 2007). Using the previous research done with acute exposure to organic and inorganic selenium compounds, we hypothesized that the inorganic sodium selenate would significantly decrease learning and memory recall for both chronic and acute exposure. We also hypothesized that the consumption of organic methylseleno-L-cysteine by honey bees would decrease learning and memory recall for both the chronic and acute exposure. We further hypothesized that protein carbonyl content would be increased due to oxidative damage caused by selenium in both the sodium selenate and the methylseleno-L-cysteine treatment groups, but that the inorganic selenium compound would increase the carbonyl content more than the methylseleno-L-cysteine. To run the experiments, three tents outside had two colonies in each tent. One tent contained the sodium selenate group, another had the sucrose control, and one contained the methylseleno-L-cysteine group. The treatment groups were fed selenium in their sucrose feeders. The first part of the experiment was training the bees by using proboscis extension response (PER) to teach them to extend their proboscis to the rewarded odor and not to the unrewarded odor. This was done by pairing the rewarded odor with a sucrose reward and not pairing it with the unrewarded odor. Then their short-term and long-term memory recall was tested. The second part of the experiment was checking for oxidative damage by measuring the protein carbonyl content in the bees. Three boxes were set up with the same three treatment groups as used in the tents. The treatment group bees were exposed to selenium in the sucrose feeders and in the pollen patties. After one week, the living bees were removed and frozen. They were then homogenized to extract protein. The first assay run was the protein content assay to establish a standard protein concentration for samples. Then a protein carbonyl assay was run, to determine the protein carbonyl content. Overall, the experiment found that exposure to selenium negatively impacted honey bees learning and memory recall significantly. Chronic exposure to the inorganic selenate reduced the bees' long-term memory abilities to differentiate between odors. With methylseleno-L-cysteine, it had no significant effect for the chronic exposure, but for the acute exposure, it had a significant impairment on their abilities to distinguish between the rewarded and unrewarded odors during conditioning. Our results showed that from our experiment there appeared to be no significant effect of selenium exposure on the increase of carbonylation content in the different treatment groups. This is most likely due to the fact the carbonyl content was not detectable because the protein concentration was low in the samples (approximately 3.5 mg/mL).
ContributorsWinski, Alexandra (Co-author) / Winski, Brandon (Co-author) / Smith, Brian (Thesis director) / Harrison, Jon (Committee member) / Burden, Christina (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Through this creative project, I executed a Distracted Driving Awareness Campaign at Arizona State University to raise awareness about the dangers of distracted driving, specifically texting while driving. As an Undergraduate Student Government Senator, my priority is the safety and success of students, both in and out of the classroom. By partnering with State Farm and AT&T, we were able to raise awareness about the dangers of distracted driving and collected over 200 pledges from students to never text and drive.
ContributorsHibbs, Jordan Ashley (Author) / Miller, Clark (Thesis director) / Parmentier, Mary Jane (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Graduate College (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Background: Latinos represent 40.8% of the population in Phoenix (U.S. Census Bureau Population Division, 2010). South Phoenix, also known as the South Mountain Village, defined in geographical terms as area zip codes 85040 and 85042; is a predominantly Latino community comprised of mixed citizenship status households. During the 2010 United States Census 60.3% of the population in South Phoenix identified as Latino, 25.75% of the total population was foreign born. Of the foreign born population, 88.95% were of Latin American origin (United States Census Bureau, 2007-2011 American Community Survey). Understanding how Latino immigrants perceive differences in health between their communities in country of origin and communities in the United States is largely unknown. Irrespective of political positions, understanding how Latino immigrants perceive personal health and the health of their communities is of interest to inform public policy and implement needed interventions in the
public health sphere.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews were collected from 55 adults from the South Phoenix community between November 2009 and September 2010. Interviews were digitally recorded with participant permission and transcribed. Of those collected, 48 transcribed interviews were analyzed using a codebook designed by the researcher. Percent agreement evaluated inter-rater reliability.Results: Latino immigrants in South Phoenix largely agree that health quality is heavily dependent on personal responsibility and not an intrinsic attribute of a given place. Emotional contentedness and distress, both factors of mental health, are impacted by cross-cultural differences between Latino and U.S. culture systems.
Conclusions: As people’s personal perceptions of differences in health are complex concepts influenced by personal backgrounds, culture, and beliefs, attempting to demark a side of the border as ‘healthier’ than the other using personal perceptions is overly simplified and misses central concepts. Instead, exploration of individual variables impacting health allowed this study to gain a more nuanced understanding in how people determine quality of both personal and environmental health. While Latino migrants in South Phoenix largely agree that health is based on personal responsibility and choices, many nonetheless experience higher levels of contentedness and emotional health in their country of origin.
public health sphere.
Methods: Semi-structured interviews were collected from 55 adults from the South Phoenix community between November 2009 and September 2010. Interviews were digitally recorded with participant permission and transcribed. Of those collected, 48 transcribed interviews were analyzed using a codebook designed by the researcher. Percent agreement evaluated inter-rater reliability.Results: Latino immigrants in South Phoenix largely agree that health quality is heavily dependent on personal responsibility and not an intrinsic attribute of a given place. Emotional contentedness and distress, both factors of mental health, are impacted by cross-cultural differences between Latino and U.S. culture systems.
Conclusions: As people’s personal perceptions of differences in health are complex concepts influenced by personal backgrounds, culture, and beliefs, attempting to demark a side of the border as ‘healthier’ than the other using personal perceptions is overly simplified and misses central concepts. Instead, exploration of individual variables impacting health allowed this study to gain a more nuanced understanding in how people determine quality of both personal and environmental health. While Latino migrants in South Phoenix largely agree that health is based on personal responsibility and choices, many nonetheless experience higher levels of contentedness and emotional health in their country of origin.
ContributorsGray, Laurel (Author) / Wutich, Amber (Thesis director) / Quiroga, S. Seline (Committee member) / Nelson, Margaret (Committee member) / Slade, B. Alexandra (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
Identifying disease biomarkers may aid in the early detection of breast cancer and improve patient outcomes. Recent evidence suggests that tumors are immunogenic and therefore patients may launch an autoantibody response to tumor associated antigens. Single-chain variable fragments of autoantibodies derived from regional lymph node B cells of breast cancer patients were used to discover these tumor associated biomarkers on protein microarrays. Six candidate biomarkers were discovered from 22 heavy chain-only variable region antibody fragments screened. Validation tests are necessary to confirm the tumorgenicity of these antigens. However, the use of single-chain variable autoantibody fragments presents a novel platform for diagnostics and cancer therapeutics.
ContributorsSharman, M. Camila (Author) / Magee, Dewey (Mitch) (Thesis director) / Wallstrom, Garrick (Committee member) / Petritis, Brianne (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Contributor) / Virginia G. Piper Center for Personalized Diagnostics (Contributor) / Biodesign Institute (Contributor)
Created2012-12