Matching Items (111)
Description
It is well established that physical activity (PA) directly correlates with many health benefits, especially when active habits are formed during childhood and adolescence. PA practiced in adolescence has been seen to carry into adulthood, helping to combat a host of chronic diseases, such as obesity and diabetes. However, in recent years there has been a steady decline in PA among adolescents, followed by a resulting rise in sedentary behavior. Walking Intervention Through Texting for Adolescents, or WalkIT-A, was an 11.5-week intervention that built upon behavioral theory to provide an incentive-based, adaptive, physical activity intervention to inactive adolescents. The goal of this study was to investigate an intervention which combined walking with pointed behavior change strategies to incite a larger increase in PA. Using single-case, reversal (ABA) design, the study was aimed at shaping physical activity behavior in adolescents aged 12-17 through a mobile health intervention that paired adaptive goal setting with financial incentives to increase step count. The intervention was delivered using a semi-automated texting, mobile-Health (mHealth) platform, which incorporated FitBit tracking technology, adaptive goals, motivational messages, performance feedback, and points/incentives. It was hypothesized that during the adaptive intervention phase participants would increase both steps per day and active minutes compared to baseline values. Upon conclusion of the study, the three adolescent participants exhibited increased steps and active minutes during the intervention period compared to baseline and withdrawal phases. However, the specific trends identified suggest the need for future research to incorporate even stronger intervention components to overcome PA "drop-off" midway through the intervention, along with other external, environmental influencers. Despite this need, the use of adaptive goal setting combined with incentives can be an effective means to incite PA behavior change in adolescents.
ContributorsVan Bussum, Courtney Jessica (Author) / Adams, Marc (Thesis director) / Forzani, Erica (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
This study confirms that there is stigma attached to how Somali-Americans perceive mental and emotional impairments compared to the perception of physical disabilities and impairments. More Somali-Americans are willing to seek help regarding their mental and physical health which is a positive step in improving the perceptions of Somali-Americans towards mental or emotional impairments and physical disabilities. Findings can contribute to the knowledge of health care professionals (i.e. nurses) in caring for patients identifying as Somali to promote culturally competent care.
ContributorsAden, Amina (Author) / Hosley, Brenda (Thesis director) / Lee, Rebecca (Committee member) / Lyles, Annmarie (Committee member) / Arizona State University. College of Nursing & Healthcare Innovation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Research supports that music therapy can be used in multiple aspects of care for patients living within different environments. There is a gap in the literature when it comes to the impact of music sessions for older adults who do not have a diagnosed disease, therefore this study analyzes this population specifically. This study examines music therapy and its effects on anxiety and depression in adults aged 65 or older living in independent living homes. The adults participated in a mixed-methods study over the span of one month examining music as an intervention to decrease anxiety and depression. Each subject consented into the study, completed a demographic survey, answered open-ended questions regarding their experience with anxiety/sadness and ways to cope, as well as Profile of Moods Scale (POMS) during the first session. On the last week of the study, the participants were asked to fill out the same POMS scale to evaluate whether music influenced anxiety and depression. There was limited evidence found in this study to support the use of music therapy as an intervention to decrease anxiety and depression in adults over the age of 65.
ContributorsWolfus, Sarah Ilyssa (Author) / Lee, Rebecca (Thesis director) / Larkey, Linda (Committee member) / Arizona State University. College of Nursing & Healthcare Innovation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States announced that there has been roughly a 50% increase in the prevalence of food allergies among people between the years of 1997 - 2011. A food allergy can be described as a medical condition where being exposed to a certain food triggers a harmful immune response in the body, known as an allergic reaction. These reactions can range from mild to fatal, and they are caused mainly by the top 8 major food allergens: dairy, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat, soy, fish, and shellfish. Food allergies mainly plague children under the age of 3, as some of them will grow out of their allergy sensitivity over time, and most people develop their allergies at a young age, and not when they are older. The rise in prevalence is becoming a frightening problem around the world, and there are emerging theories that are attempting to ascribe a cause. There are three well-known hypotheses that will be discussed: the Hygiene Hypothesis, the Dual-Allergen Exposure Hypothesis, and the Vitamin-D Deficiency Hypothesis. Beyond that, this report proposes that a new hypothesis be studied, the Food Systems Hypothesis. This hypothesis theorizes that the cause of the rise of food allergies is actually caused by changes in the food itself and particularly the pesticides that are used to cultivate it.
ContributorsCromer, Kelly (Author) / Lee, Rebecca (Thesis director) / MacFadyen, Joshua (Committee member) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12
Description
Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a unique but intense procedure used to save the lives of patients with hematopoietic malignancies. However, patients and caregivers undergoing HSCT can experience prolonged psychological distress due to an intense and distinctive transplant process. Types of psychological distress include anxiety, depression, social isolation, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Although this a significant healthcare problem, limited research has been conducted within the HSCT patient and caregiver population to investigate ways to improve their mental health. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of an educational video intervention about post-transplant recovery in decreasing emotional distress and promoting emotional well-being in HSCT patients and caregivers. This pilot study utilized a quantitative single-group pretest-posttest design to examine the effect of educational videos on participant's emotional well-being. Four educational videos were developed using information gathered from several reliable bone marrow transplant and cancer websites. A convenience sampling method was used to recruit HSCT patient and caregiver participants. Eleven Caucasian, English-speaking individuals (6 patients, 5 caregivers; 54.5% female; M age= 43.7 years) across the United States were enrolled in the 60-90 minute online intervention. Participant responses were measured using pretest and posttest questionnaires. Results from the study found that the educational videos were effective in decreasing levels of depression and anxiety. Implications for nursing practice include the need to educate HSCT patients and caregivers about transplant recovery to decrease emotional distress. This study demonstrates the impact post-transplant education has on decreasing depression and anxiety in HSCT patients and caregivers.
ContributorsBosselman, Kate Elizabeth (Author) / Kim, Sunny (Thesis director) / Lee, Rebecca (Committee member) / Arizona State University. College of Nursing & Healthcare Innovation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Yellowstone National Park has a vibrant variety of flora, fauna, and hydrothermal systems all collected together in one large and complex system. Studies have been conducted for at least several decades in order to make sense of this system in ways that may be relevant to other similar geologies around the world. The latest update in this ever-ongoing study involves the collection and analysis of water samples from 2016. These samples have been analyzed for conductivity, pH, temperature, dissolved organic carbon, dissolved inorganic carbon, carbon isotopes, dissolved oxygen, ferrous iron, sulfide, silica, and more. While not many trends were found in this data in regards to dissolved organic carbon values, this is a substantial addition to a growing body of information that could yield more impressive information in times to come. In addition, factors that have yet to analyzed for this 2016 data, such as concentrations of metals and metalloids, may provide some insights when put through a chloride vs sulfate framework to separate out different reaction regions.
ContributorsDoan, Cuong Le (Author) / Shock, Everett (Thesis director) / Gould, Ian (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Objective: Increasing fruit/vegetable (FV) consumption and decreasing waste during the school lunch is a public health priority. Understanding how serving style of FV impacts FV consumption and waste may be an effective means to changing nutrition behaviors in schools. This study examined whether students were more likely to select, consume, and waste FV when FVs were cut vs. whole. Methods: Baseline data from the ASU School Lunch Study was used to explore associations between cut vs. whole FV serving style and objectively measured FV selection, consumption, and waste and grade level interactions among a random selection of students (n=6804; 47.8% female; 78.8% BIPOC) attending Arizona elementary, middle, and high schools (N=37). Negative binomial regression models evaluated serving style on FV weight (grams) selected, consumed, and wasted, adjusted for sociodemographics and school.
Results: Students were more likely to select cut FVs (IRR=1.11; 95% CI: 1.04, 1.18) and waste cut FVs (IRR=1.20; 95% CI: 1.04, 1.39); however, no differences were observed in the overall consumption of cut vs. whole FVs. Grade-level interactions impacted students’ selection of FVs. Middle school students had a significantly higher effect modification for the selection of cut FVs (IRR=1.18; p=0.006) compared to high school and elementary students. Further, high school students had a significantly lower effect modification for the selection of cut FVs (IRR=0.83; p=0.010) compared to middle and elementary students. No other grade-level interactions were observed.
Discussion: Serving style of FV may impact how much FV is selected and wasted, but further research is needed to determine causality between these variables.
ContributorsJames, Amber Chandarana (Author) / Bruening, Meredith (Thesis advisor) / Adams, Marc (Thesis advisor) / Koskan, Alexis (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
The ability to find evidence of life on early Earth and other planets is constrained by the current understanding of biosignatures and our ability to differentiate fossils from abiotic mimics. When organisms transition from the living realm to the fossil record, their morphological and chemical characteristics are modified, usually resulting in the loss of information. These modifications can happen during early and late diagenesis and differ depending on local geochemical properties. These post-depositional modifications need to be understood to better interpret the fossil record. Siliceous hot spring deposits (sinters) are of particular interest for biosignature research as they are early Earth analog environments and targets for investigating the presence of fossil life on Mars. As silica-supersaturated fluids flow from the vent to the distal apron, they precipitate non-crystalline opal-A that fossilizes microbial communities at a range in scales (μm-cm). Therefore, many studies have documented the ties between the active microbial communities and the morphological and chemical biosignatures in hot springs. However, far less attention has been placed on understanding preservation in systems with complex mineralogy or how post-depositional alteration affects the retention of biosignatures. Without this context, it can be challenging to recognize biosignatures in ancient rocks. This dissertation research aims to refine our current understanding of biosignature preservation and retention in sinters. Biosignatures of interest include organic matter, microfossils, and biofabrics. The complex nature of hot springs requires a comprehensive understanding of biosignature preservation that is representative of variable chemistries and post-depositional alterations. For this reason, this dissertation research chapters are field site-based. Chapter 2 investigates biosignature preservation in an unusual spring with mixed opal-A-calcite mineralogy at Lýsuhóll, Iceland. Chapter 3 tracks how silica diagenesis modifies microfossil morphology and associated organic matter at Puchuldiza, Chile. Chapter 4 studies the effects of acid fumarolic overprinting on biosignatures in Gunnuhver, Iceland. To accomplish this, traditional geologic methods (mapping, petrography, X-ray diffraction, bulk elemental analyses) were combined with high-spatial-resolution elemental mapping to better understand diagenetic effects in these systems. Preservation models were developed to predict the types and styles of biosignatures that can be present depending on the depositional and geochemical context. Recommendations are also made for the types of deposits that are most likely to preserve biosignatures.
ContributorsJuarez Rivera, Marisol (Author) / Farmer, Jack D (Thesis advisor) / Hartnett, Hilairy E (Committee member) / Shock, Everett (Committee member) / Garcia-Pichel, Ferran (Committee member) / Trembath-Reichert, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021
Description
I present results of field and laboratory experiments investigating the habitability of one of Earth’s driest environments: the Atacama Desert. This Desert, along the west coast of South America spanning Perú and Chile, is one of the driest places on Earth and has been exceedingly arid for millions of years. These conditions create the perfect natural laboratory for assessing life at the extremes of habitability. All known life needs water; however, the extraordinarily dry Atacama Desert is inhabited by well-adapted microorganisms capable of colonizing this hostile environment. I show field and laboratory evidence of an environmental process, water vapor adsorption, that provides a daily, sustainable input of water into the near (3 - 5 cm) subsurface through water vapor-soil particle interactions. I estimate that this water input may rival the yearly average input of rain in these soils (~2 mm).
I also demonstrate, for the first time, that water vapor adsorption is dependent on mineral composition via a series of laboratory water vapor adsorption experiments. The results of these experiments provide evidence that mineral composition, and ultimately soil composition, measurably and significantly affect the equilibrium soil water content. This suggests that soil microbial communities may be extremely heterogeneous in distribution depending on the distribution of adsorbent minerals.
Finally, I present changes in biologically relevant gasses (i.e., H2, CH4, CO, and CO2) over long-duration incubation experiments designed to assess the potential for biological activity in soils collected from a hyperarid region in the Atacama Desert. These long-duration experiments mimicked typical water availability conditions in the Atacama Desert; in other words, the incubations were performed without condensed water addition. The results suggest a potential for methane-production in the live experiments relative to the sterile controls, and thus, for biological activity in hyperarid soils. However, due to the extremely low biomass and extremely low rates of activity in these soils, the methods employed here were unable to provide robust evidence for activity. Overall, the hyperarid regions of the Atacama Desert are an important resource for researchers by providing a window into the environmental dynamics and subsequent microbial responses near the limit of habitability.
ContributorsGlaser, Donald M (Author) / Hartnett, Hilairy E (Thesis advisor) / Anbar, Ariel (Committee member) / Shock, Everett (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) are crucial nutrients for autotrophic and heterotrophic microbial life, respectively, in hydrothermal systems. Biogeochemical processes that control amounts of DIC and DOC in Yellowstone hot springs can be investigated by measuring carbon abundances and respective isotopic values. A decade and a half of field work in 10 regions within Yellowstone National Park and subsequent geochemical lab analyses reveal that sulfate-dominant acidic regions have high DOC (Up to 57 ppm C) and lower DIC (up to 50 ppm C) compared to neutral-chloride regions with low DOC (< 2 ppm C) and higher DIC (up to 100 ppm C). Abundances and isotopic data suggest that sedimentary rock erosion by acidic hydrothermal fluids, fresh snow-derived meteoric water, and exogenous carbon input allowed by local topography may affect DOC levels. Evaluating the isotopic compositions of DIC and DOC in hydrothermal fluids gives insight on the geology and microbial life in the subsurface between different regions. DIC δ13C values range from -4‰ to +5‰ at pH 5-9 and from -10‰ to +3‰ at pH 2-5 with several springs lower than -10‰. DOC δ13C values parkwide range from -10‰ to -30‰. Within this range, neutral-chloride regions in the Lower Geyser Basin have lighter isotopes than sulfate-dominant acidic regions. In hot springs with elevated levels of DOC, the range only varies between -20‰ and -26‰ which may be caused by local exogenous organic matter runoff. Combining other geochemical measurements, such as differences in chloride and sulfate concentrations, demonstrates that some regions contain mixtures of multiple fluids moving through the complex hydrological system in the subsurface. The mixing of these fluids may account for increased levels of DOC in meteoric sulfate-dominant acidic regions. Ultimately, the foundational values of dissolved carbon and their isotopic composition is provided in a parkwide study, so results can be combined with future studies that apply different sequencing analyses to understand specific biogeochemical cycling and microbial communities that occur in individual hot springs.
ContributorsBarnes, Tanner (Author) / Shock, Everett (Thesis advisor) / Meyer-Dombard, D'Arcy (Committee member) / Hartnett, Hilairy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023