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- Creators: Ravel, Maurice, 1875-1937
Description
A lab protocol was created in order to introduce arson evidence analysis to students. The procedures dictate a thorough introduction from evidence handling procedures to analysis of common accelerant mass spectrum. The objectives of the lab protocol included classifying and describing various pieces of arson evidence and common accelerants as well as synthesizing information about accelerant composition to interpret GC-MS data output. This would allow the student to experience first-hand what the subsection of arson analysis has to offer in the field of forensic science which could help the student decide on more specialties to study later on. I was unable to run the lab protocol in a laboratory setting, therefore in the future I want to use the lab protocol and receive feedback in order to improve the protocol so the student is receiving the best possible learning outcomes. The experience of creating a lab protocol in forensic science gave myself a greater understanding of what goes on behind an academic learning procedure and more insight on arson evidence analysis.
ContributorsWhitten, Jamison Mckall (Author) / Kobojek, Kimberly (Thesis director) / Armendariz Guajardo, Jose (Committee member) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Capsaicin and dihydrocapsaicin account for 90% of capsaicinoids when it comes to the pungency of peppers. Capsaicin stability was investigated through a cooking and storage parameter where three different tests were done; cooking duration, cooking temperature, and storage stability. The concentration of capsaicinoids was quantified through gas chromatography-mass spectrometry where those values were then used to determine the total Scoville heat units (SHU). Furthermore, half-life was determined by finding the decay rate during cooking and storage. Results showed that there was an increase in degradation of capsaicinoids concentration when peppers were cooked for a long period of time. Degradation rate increases with increasing temperatures as would be expected by the Arrhenius equation. Hence, if a maximum pungency is wanted, it is best to cook the least time as possible or add the peppers towards the end of the culinary technique. This would help by cooking the peppers for a short period of time while not being exposed to the high temperature long enough before significant degradation occurs. Lastly, the storage stability results interpreted that a maximum potency of the peppers can be retained in a freezer or refrigerator opposed to an open room temperature environment or exposure from the sun. Furthermore, the stability of peppers has a long shelf life with even that the worse storage condition's half-life value was 113.5 months (9.5 years). Thus, peppers do not need to be bought frequently because its potency will last for several years.
ContributorsBustamante, Krista Gisselle (Author) / Cahill, Thomas (Thesis director) / Sweat, Ken (Committee member) / Armendariz Guajardo, Jose (Committee member) / School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
Description
The spread of urbanization leads to habitat fragmentation and deterioration and changes the composition of ecosystems for species all over the world. Different groups of organisms are impacted differently, and insects have experienced loss in diversity and abundance due to changing environmental factors. Here, I collected seed beetles across 12 urban and rural sites in Phoenix, Arizona, to analyze the effects of urbanization and habitat variation on beetle diversity and abundance. I found that urbanization, host tree origin, and environmental factors such as tree diversity and density had no impact on overall beetle diversity and abundance. Beetles were found to have higher density on hosts with a higher density of pods. In assessing individual beetle species, some beetles exhibited higher density in rural sites with native trees, and some were found more commonly on nonnative tree species. The observed differences in beetle density demonstrate the range of effects urbanization and environmental features can have on insect species. By studying ecosystem interactions alongside changing environments, we can better predict the role urbanization and human development can have on different organisms.
ContributorsPaduano, Gabrielle (Author) / Savalli, Udo (Thesis director) / Sweat, Ken (Committee member) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Through the months September-November of 2017 a study was conducted to determine if bees prefer the sunflower, Helianthus annuus, native to Arizona, or a cultivar Helianthus sunflower in an urban environment. The study was executed in a small, controlled urban environment on Arizona State University West campus. Seven identified bee species and forty-nine specimens were collected, of the forty-nine specimens, two bees were reported on the Helianthus cultivar supporting native floral host preferences of native species. Variables such as nectar, pollen, floral color, and floral height were not measured, however, when the floral host genus was maintained wild bees visited the native Helianthus host significantly more yielding a supportive two-tailed p-value of 2.97x10-5. Three trends were identified in correlation with the experiment: 1) Bees foraged on native Helianthus annuus over the Helianthus cultivar, 2) Generalist species were more abundant than specialists on the Helianthus annuus, 3) Honey bees (Apis mellifera) were the most abundant species present. While not considered a trend, low floral diversity and abundance may explain the low diversity of bee species observed on the Helianthus. Floral host and pollinator desynchronization may also have affected bee diversity and abundance. Analysis of bee abundance and diversity support that wild bees may prefer native floral hosts over cultivar floral hosts when the floral genus, temperature, and time was controlled for in an urban environment.
ContributorsDunham, Jocelen Michaela (Author) / Foltz-Sweat, Jennifer (Thesis director) / Sweat, Ken (Committee member) / School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12
Description
There are unrealistic expectations of the forensic science discipline by the public today. More specifically about the types of evidence that can be recovered from a fired cartridge casing. The common misconception with the evidence that can be recovered from a cartridge casing is that all three types of evidence: DNA, latent prints, and firearms can be recovered from the same cartridge casing. However, just because some analyses are possible does not mean that they are practical. The definition of possibility is that an event can happen. However, the definition of practicality is not only that it can happen, but that the event should occur to optimize the efficiency of a given task. Through literature review of previous studies as well as experimental data, each discipline (DNA, latent prints, and firearms and toolmark analysis) were evaluated. For the experimental trials, three total experiments were carried out. Experiment one focused on the possibility aspect, so in experiment one the best conditions were simulated to receive a positive result. Experiment two focused on creating conditions that would occur at a crime scene, and experiment three refined those variables to serve as middle ground. After evaluation, each discipline was classified as possible and/or practical. These results were then used to determine practical sequential processing for a fired cartridge casing. After both experimentation and review, it was determined that the best possible sequential processing path for a cartridge casing collected at the crime scene to get the quickest information back is as follows: Firearms, DNA, Latent Prints.
ContributorsKephart, Amanda K. (Author) / Armendariz Guajardo, Jose (Thesis director) / Kobojek, Kimberly (Committee member) / Rex, Scott (Committee member) / School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
One can argue that bees are the most unique insects in the animal kingdom due to their invaluable services they provide on a global level. Their importance goes beyond their capability of pollination; it is shown in their environmental impact and maintenance of the world's food supply. It is evident that the bee population is experiencing a serious and rapid decline that has resulted in changes to ecosystems in the past couple of decades. In order to resolve these issues, further research must be conducted to understand what humans can do to benefit their species' longevity. It is necessary for knowledge regarding bees, specifically their foraging behavior, to improve so humans can understand their essentiality to not only them, but the world. The focus of this study is to address any differences in foraging behavior between Apis mellifera, the honey bee, and native bee species. Other questions were answered including: do native and non-native bees have floral host preferences? Do native and non-native bees visit a variety of floral hosts? Experimental procedures were conducted to address these questions, which involved netting bees at differing times in four varying garden locations at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona. Then, the preparation of bee pollen and plant pollen slides along with bee mounting was performed. After the completion of data analysis, it was discovered that the preliminary data showed different foraging behavior between native and non-native bee species. Further studies are pertinent in obtaining statistically significant data due to an insufficient sample proportion. This is crucial in understanding the true differences in behaviors between both bee species.
ContributorsPerez, Czarinabelle Eunice (Author) / Foltz-Sweat, Jennifer (Thesis director) / Sweat, Ken (Committee member) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12
Description
Bee communities form the keystone of many ecosystems through their pollination services. They are dynamic and often subject to significant changes due to several different factors such as climate, urban development, and other anthropogenic disturbances. As a result, the world has been experiencing a decline in bee diversity and abundance, which can have detrimental effects in the ecosystems they inhabit. One of the largest factors that impacts bees in today's world is the rapid urbanization of our planet, and it impacts the bee community in mixed ways. Not very much is understood about the bee communities that exist in urban habitats, but as urbanization is inevitably going to continue, knowledge on bee communities will need to strengthen. This study aims to determine the levels of variance in bee communities, considering multiple variables that bee communities can differ in. The following three questions are posed: do bee communities that are spatially separated differ significantly? Do bee communities that are separated by seasons differ significantly? Do bee communities that are separated temporally (by year, interannually) differ significantly? The procedure to conduct this experiment consists of netting and trapping bees at two sites at various times using the same methods. The data is then statistically analyzed for differences in abundance, richness, diversity, and species composition. After performing the various statistical analyses, it has been discovered that bee communities that are spatially separated, seasonally separated, or interannually separated do not differ significantly when it comes to abundance and richness. Spatially separated bee communities and interannually separated bee communities show a moderate level of dissimilarity in their species composition, while seasonally separated bee communities show a greater level of dissimilarity in species composition. Finally, seasonally separated bee communities demonstrate the greatest disparity of bee diversity, while interannually separated bee communities show the least disparity of bee diversity. This study was conducted over the time span of two years, and while the levels of variance of an urban area between these variables were determined, further variance studies of greater length or larger areas should be conducted to increase the currently limited knowledge of bee communities in urban areas. Additional studies on precipitation amounts and their effects on bee communities should be conducted, and studies from other regions should be taken into consideration while attempting to understand what is likely the most environmentally significant group of insects.
ContributorsPhan, James Thien (Author) / Sweat, Ken (Thesis director) / Foltz-Sweat, Jennifer (Committee member) / School of Music (Contributor) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
The importance of mobility and psychological attitude during hospitalization and how they correlate with recovery is highlighted in this paper through a review of the research literature on both topics. The literature review revealed that increased mobility and positive psychological cognitive state are correlated positively with increased recovery among hospitalized individuals. The research findings have led to the development of child mobility apparatuses called "Lily Pads" being constructed and donated to pediatric hospitals with the intention of helping increase patient mobility and positivity in pediatric wards of hospitals. A history of the lily pads and their potentially positive impact is presented as well as a brief description of the construction process, should readers like to build and donate these apparatuses to their local hospital. It is concluded that further empirical research on the use and effects of lily pads in pediatric wards and the possible correlation with pediatric recovery is needed in order to qualitatively and quantitatively assess the apparatuses' effectiveness.
ContributorsPologa, Chase Thomas (Author) / Sweat, Ken (Thesis director) / Nanez, Jose (Committee member) / School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
ContributorsRavel, Maurice, 1875-1937 (Composer) / Goulart, Renato (Arranger)
ContributorsRavel, Maurice, 1875-1937 (Composer)