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Does school participatory budgeting (SPB) increase students’ political efficacy? SPB, which is implemented in thousands of schools around the world, is a democratic process of deliberation and decision-making in which students determine how to spend a portion of the school’s budget. We examined the impact of SPB on political efficacy in one middle school in Arizona. Our participants’ (n = 28) responses on survey items designed to measure self-perceived growth in political efficacy indicated a large effect size (Cohen’s d = 1.46), suggesting that SPB is an effective approach to civic pedagogy, with promising prospects for developing students’ political efficacy.
ContributorsGibbs, Norman P. (Author) / Bartlett, Tara Lynn (Author) / Schugurensky, Daniel, 1958- (Author)
Created2021-05-01
Description
In this project I explored the relationship between Qigong and Tai Chi Easy meditative practices and cardiometabolic risk factors, specifically looking at obesity and stress. The meditative focus of Qigong and Tai Chi Easy was expected to improve cardiac vagal tone which should lead to decreases in the inflammatory effects of stress. Additionally, due to the decreases in the harmful effects of stress, we expect to see a decrease in obesity through decreases in BMI and in waist circumference.
ContributorsRameshkumar, Ramya (Author) / Larkey, Linda (Thesis director) / James, Dara (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
Woody plant encroachment is a worldwide phenomenon linked to water availability in semiarid systems. Nevertheless, the implications of woody plant encroachment on the hydrologic cycle are poorly understood, especially at the catchment scale. This study takes place in a pair of small semiarid rangeland undergoing the encroachment of Prosopis velutina Woot., or velvet mesquite tree. The similarly-sized basins are in close proximity, leading to equivalent meteorological and soil conditions. One basin was treated for mesquite in 1974, while the other represents the encroachment process. A sensor network was installed to measure ecohydrological states and fluxes, including precipitation, runoff, soil moisture and evapotranspiration. Observations from June 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012 are presented to describe the seasonality and spatial variability of ecohydrological conditions during the North American Monsoon (NAM). Runoff observations are linked to historical changes in runoff production in each watershed. Observations indicate that the mesquite-treated basin generates more runoff pulses and greater runoff volume for small rainfall events, while the mesquite-encroached basin generates more runoff volume for large rainfall events. A distributed hydrologic model is applied to both basins to investigate the runoff threshold processes experienced during the NAM. Vegetation in the two basins is classified into grass, mesquite, or bare soil using high-resolution imagery. Model predictions are used to investigate the vegetation controls on soil moisture, evapotranspiration, and runoff generation. The distributed model shows that grass and mesquite sites retain the highest levels of soil moisture. The model also captures the runoff generation differences between the two watersheds that have been observed over the past decade. Generally, grass sites in the mesquite-treated basin have less plant interception and evapotranspiration, leading to higher soil moisture that supports greater runoff for small rainfall events. For large rainfall events, the mesquite-encroached basin produces greater runoff due to its higher fraction of bare soil. The results of this study show that a distributed hydrologic model can be used to explain runoff threshold processes linked to woody plant encroachment at the catchment-scale and provides useful interpretations for rangeland management in semiarid areas.
ContributorsPierini, Nicole A (Author) / Vivoni, Enrique R (Thesis advisor) / Wang, Zhi-Hua (Committee member) / Mays, Larry W. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Health and healing in the United States is in a moment of deep and broad transformation. Underpinning this transformation is a shift in focus from practitioner- and system-centric perspectives to patient and family expectations and their accompanying localized narratives. Situated within this transformation are patients and families of all kinds. This shift's interpretation lies in the converging and diverging trails of biomedicine, a patient-centric perspective of consensus between practitioner and patient, and postmodern philosophy, a break from prevailing norms and systems. Lending context is the dynamic interplay between increasing ethnic/cultural diversity, acculturation/biculturalism, and medical pluralism. Diverse populations continue to navigate multiple health and healing paradigms, engage in the process of their integration, and use health and healing practices that run corollary to them. The way this experience is viewed, whether biomedically or philosophically, has implications for the future of healthcare. Over this fluid interpenetration, with its vivid nuance, loom widespread health disparities. The adverse effects of static, fragmented healthcare systems unable to identify and answer diverse populations' emergent needs are acutely felt by these individuals. Eradication of health disparities is born from insight into how these populations experience health and healing. The resulting strategy must be one that simultaneously addresses the complex intricacies of patient-centered care, permits emergence of more localized narratives, and eschews systems that are no longer effective. It is the movement of caregivers across multiple health and healing sources, managing care for loved ones, that provides this insight and in which this project is keenly interested. Uncovering the emergent patterns of caregivers' management of these sources reveals a rich and nuanced spectrum of realities. These realities are replete with opportunities to re-frame health and healing in ways that better reflect what these diverse populations of caregivers and care recipients need. Engaging female Mexican American caregivers, a population whose experience is well-suited to aid in this re-frame, this project begins to provide that insight. Informed by a parent framework of Complexity Science, and balanced between biomedical and postmodern perspectives, this constructivist grounded theory secondary analysis charts these caregivers' processes and offers provocative findings and recommendations for understanding their experiences.
ContributorsKrahe, Jennifer Anne Eve (Author) / Lamb, Gerri (Thesis advisor) / Evans, Bronwynne (Committee member) / Larkey, Linda (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Consideration of both biological and human-use dynamics in coupled social-ecological systems is essential for the success of interventions such as marine reserves. As purely human institutions, marine reserves have no direct effects on ecological systems. Consequently, the success of a marine reserve depends on managers` ability to alter human behavior in the direction and magnitude that supports reserve objectives. Further, a marine reserve is just one component in a larger coupled social-ecological system. The social, economic, political, and biological landscape all determine the social acceptability of a reserve, conflicts that arise, how the reserve interacts with existing fisheries management, accuracy of reserve monitoring, and whether the reserve is ultimately able to meet conservation and fishery enhancement goals. Just as the social-ecological landscape is critical at all stages for marine reserve, from initial establishment to maintenance, the reserve in turn interacts with biological and human use dynamics beyond its borders. Those interactions can lead to the failure of a reserve to meet management goals, or compromise management goals outside the reserve. I use a bio-economic model of a fishery in a spatially patchy environment to demonstrate how the pre-reserve fisheries management strategy determines the pattern of fishing effort displacement once the reserve is established, and discuss the social, political, and biological consequences of different patterns for the reserve and the fishery. Using a stochastic bio-economic model, I demonstrate how biological and human use connectivity can confound the accurate detection of reserve effects by violating assumptions in the quasi-experimental framework. Finally, I examine data on recreational fishing site selection to investigate changes in response to the announcement of enforcement of a marine reserve in the Gulf of California, Mexico. I generate a scale of fines that would fully or partially protect the reserve, providing a data-driven way for managers to balance biological and socio-economic goals. I suggest that natural resource managers consider human use dynamics with the same frequency, rigor, and tools as they do biological stocks.
ContributorsFujitani, Marie (Author) / Abbott, Joshua (Thesis advisor) / Fenichel, Eli (Thesis advisor) / Gerber, Leah (Committee member) / Anderies, John (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
ABSTRACT Despite significant advancements in drug therapy, cardiovascular disease (CVD) is still the leading cause of death in the United States. Given this, research has begun to seek out alternative approaches to reduce CVD risk. One of these alternative approaches is Vitamin D supplementation. Current research has shown a link between Vitamin D status and CVD risk in both healthy and diseased populations. Among the possible mechanisms is a positive effect of Vitamin D on vascular endothelial function, which can be measured with noninvasive techniques such as flow-mediated dilation (FMD) of conduit vessels using high-resolution ultrasound. This dissertation is comprised of two studies. The first examines whether Vitamin D supplementation can improve FMD in older adults within a time period (two weeks) associated with peak increases in plasma Vitamin D concentrations after a single-dose supplementation. The second examines the effect of Vitamin D supplementation in people with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). The reason for looking at an RA population is that CVD is the leading cause of early mortality in people with RA. In the first study 29 Post-Menopausal Women received either 100,000 IU of Vitamin D3 or a Placebo. Their FMD was measured at baseline and 2 weeks after supplementation. After 2 weeks there was a significant increase in FMD in the Vitamin D group (6.19 + 4.87 % to 10.69 + 5.18 %) as compared to the Placebo group (p=.03). In the second study, 11 older adults with RA were given 100,000 IU of Vitamin D or a Placebo. At baseline and one month later their FMD was examined as well as plasma concentrations of Vitamin D and tumor necrosis factor-alpha; (TNF-alpha;). They also filled out a Quality of Life Questionnaire and underwent a submaximal exercise test on the treadmill for estimation of maximum oxygen uptake (VO2max). There was no significant change in FMD in Vitamin D group as compared to the Placebo group (p=.721). Additionally, there was no significant improvement in either plasma Vitamin D or TNF-alpha; in the Vitamin D group. There was however a significant improvement in predicted VO2max from the submaximal exercise test in the group receiving Vitamin D (p=.003). The results of these studies suggest that a single 100,000 IU dose of Vitamin D can enhance FMD within two week in older adults, but that a similar dose may not be sufficient to increase FMD or plasma Vitamin D levels in older adults with RA. A more aggressive supplementation regimen may be required in this patient population.
ContributorsRyan, Dana Meredith (Author) / Gaesser, Glenn A (Thesis advisor) / Rizzo, Warren (Committee member) / Martin, Keith (Committee member) / Larkey, Linda (Committee member) / Chisum, Jack (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
I conducted a qualitative, comparative study on the nursing education systems in the United Kingdom and the United States, focusing on two universities—Arizona State University in Phoenix, Arizona and Leeds Beckett University in Leeds, England. The goals of my thesis included comparing the educational, economic, and cultural aspects of the countries and how those aspects impact nursing students on both sides of the pond. The educational and economic aspects were compared by utilizing existing literature and open data sources such as the university websites and publications from comparative education journals, while the cultural differences were evaluated by conducting short, one-on-one interviews with students enrolled in the Adult Health courses at both universities. The findings from the interviews were transcribed and coded, and findings from the sites were compared. While there is an extensive amount of research published regarding comparative education, there has not been much published comparing these developed countries. While there is a significant difference in the structure and cost of the nursing programs, there are more similarities than differences in culture between nursing students interviewed in the US and those interviewed in the UK.
ContributorsTahiliani, Shreja (Author) / Hagler, Debra (Thesis director) / Allen, Angela (Committee member) / Arizona State University. College of Nursing & Healthcare Innovation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
The goal of this creative project is to explain the different roles of advanced practice nursing as well as the role of a registered nurse. Advanced practice nursing roles include Certified Nurse Practitioner, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, Certified Clinical Nurse Specialist, and Certified Nurse Midwife. The role of the registered nurse is included in this website because this role is the foundation for becoming an advanced practice nurse and is an equally important role. The target audience for the website is potential nursing students, current nursing students, and licensed nurses who desire to advance their career and are looking for more information about each role. This comprehensive website includes the scope of practice, salary, educational programs, and an interview with a nurse in each role. The description of each advanced practice role includes audio and visual aids to appeal to different types of learners. In depth education regarding advanced practice nursing roles will make current and future nurses more aware of the endless possibilities of a career in nursing. Nurses provide education to patients every day, but there is rarely adequate education provided to nurses regarding their profession or professional advancement opportunities. Nursing is a patient-focused career and sometimes nurses forget to focus on their own personal growth while caring for others. This one-stop website promotes nurse to nurse education by thoroughly explaining each advanced practice role. All of the information in this website is publically available through the internet and this website is meant solely for educational purposes.
ContributorsThompson, Rachel (Co-author) / Banchik, Jennifer (Co-author) / Peterson, Katherine (Thesis director) / Kriz, Lindsey (Committee member) / Spahr, Nancy (Committee member) / School of Community Resources and Development (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Arizona State University. College of Nursing & Healthcare Innovation (Contributor) / T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-12
Description
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most prevalent form of cancer in both genders and second highest cause of cancer-related death in the United States. Despite the availability of preventative CRC screening, Latinos as a group are of particular concern for CRC as they tend to have a lower screening rate, contributing to the possibility of late-stage diagnosis or even death. However, little is known about the perceptions of CRC screening and factors which contribute to beliefs about CRC in Latinos. Most studies are quantitative and rarely include a qualitative approach focusing on cultural aspects and communication with physicians. The purpose of this study was to explore participants' perceived facilitators and barriers to CRC screening, as well as perspectives on physician recommendation and fatalism, using a qualitative approach. A convenience and snowball sampling were used to collect the data. Eight English-speaking Latino individuals (M age=56 years; 75% female) in the Phoenix, Arizona area were invited to 60-90 minute in-depth interviews on perceptions of the colorectal cancer screening process. Ten major themes emerged from the interviews: (1) lacking awareness and knowledge of CRC screening, (2) attitude toward CRC and screening, (3) availability of preventive care, (4) physician trust, (5) fear, (6) desire for increased information, (7) personal learning, (8) lifestyle factors, (9) cultural impact, and (10) willingness to change lifestyle. Results indicated varying levels of perceived knowledge of colorectal cancer, little perceived risk of diagnosis, desire for more information, and a high level of physician trust. Implications for nursing included increased need for CRC screening educational resources, as well as further investigation of the influence of fatalistic belief in CRC screening compliance for the Latino population.
ContributorsMagdaleno, Claire Rose (Author) / Kim, Sunny (Thesis director) / McNulty, Julie (Committee member) / Arizona State University. College of Nursing & Healthcare Innovation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-12
Description
This past summer, I met a young lady named Ashley (name has been changed) who has been diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease. Upon researching this condition in greater detail, I learned that many medical providers who base their practice on the best evidence do not support treating patients for a chronic Lyme infection, the existence of which has not been substantially supported with research. I inquired about the process that led her to seek treatment for chronic Lyme disease at Jemsek Specialty Clinic. I learned that after many inaccurate diagnoses and years of unhelpful treatments, Ashley finally rejected the help offered by traditional medical doctors because she felt they were uncaring and inattentive, and went somewhere she felt heard. What she deserved, however, was both care that was based in scientific research and care that felt compassionate, as has been promoted by the nursing field. Despite the lack of a confirmed medical diagnosis, Ashley's day to day symptoms and struggles could be addressed with nursing care. I then constructed a nursing care plan to be implemented by Ashley's family and friends to help her feel her best and live a fulfilling life despite chronic disease. Patients should not have to choose between a healthcare provider who utilizes the strongest scientific evidence and one they feel understands them, though many do. Nursing can unite these mindsets by alleviating the daily challenges patients face. Please see the website http://careplanforashley.blogspot.com
ContributorsKnochel, Amanda Marie (Author) / Panchmatia, Bella (Thesis director) / Mishark, Kenneth (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Arizona State University. College of Nursing & Healthcare Innovation (Contributor)
Created2014-05