Matching Items (146)
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
College is an exciting time in a young student's life filled with many new experiences and opportunities for self-discovery. It also comes with a variety of challenges and stressors that must be traversed in a way that is healthy and beneficial for the student. During this time a variety of pressures may arise that lead to the onset of eating disorders. The purpose of this study is to discover students' awareness of the eating disorder resources available at Arizona State University (ASU) and design a series of creative documents based on the less-known resources that are available. This study used data from the ASU Wellness department, a primary research study done at ASU, as well as data from the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA). Findings indicate that ASU is not effectively promoting its resources to students. However, by implementing the marketing strategies discussed here, it is possible to educate students and in turn introduce them to resources that could drastically improve their health.
ContributorsHilton, Caitlin M (Author) / Ostrom, Amy (Thesis director) / Fehler, Michelle (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
As the prevalence of childhood obesity in the United States rises, opportunities for children to be physically active become more vital. One opportunity for physical activity involves children walking to and from school. However, children that live in areas with a pedestrian-unfriendly built environment and a low degree of walkability are less likely to be physically active and more likely to be overweight. The purpose of this study was to study walking routes from schools in low-income neighborhoods in Southwestern United States to a local community center. Walking routes from the three study schools (South Mountain High School, Percy Julian Middle School, and Rose Linda Elementary School) were determined by distance, popularity, and the presence of a major thoroughfare. Segments and intersections, which formed the routes, were randomly selected from each school's buffer region. The walking routes as a whole, along with the segments and intersections, were audited and scored using built environment assessments tools: MAPS, PEQI and Walkability Checklist. These scores were utilized to develop interactive mapping tools to visualize the quality of the routes, segments and intersections and identify areas for improvement. Results showed that the routes from Percy Julian to the Kroc Center were, overall, rated higher than routes from the other two schools. The highest scoring route, from the seven routes studied, was route 2 from Percy Julian to the Kroc Center along Broadway Road. South Mountain High School was overall the worst starting point for walking to the Kroc Center as those three walking routes were graded as the least walkable. Possible areas for improvement include installing traffic calming features along major thoroughfares and reducing the perceived risk to pedestrian safety by beautifying the community by planting greenery. Future directions include studying the built environment in South Phoenix communities that surround the Kroc Center.
ContributorsZeien, Justin Lee (Author) / Buman, Matthew (Thesis director) / Hekler, Eric (Committee member) / Fellows, Brian (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (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
This thesis provides an analysis on the crowdfunding environment in comparison to traditional fundraising methods in an effort to understand the relationship between the two types of fundraising and why crowdfunding has gained traction. Additionally, this thesis provides a study on good vs. bad crowdfunding to formulate a strategy for crowdfunding success. Methods of analysis include the execution of a situational analysis for both fundraising environments, and the collection of primary and secondary data of case studies of both crowdfunding failures and successes. Results showed that although crowdfunding provides lower search cost, greater efficiency, and eliminates geographical limitations leading to successful fundraising, the industry itself is too new and unexplored to be solely relied upon. Fundraising campaigns are most effective when crowdfunding is used complimentary to traditional fundraising methods. This thesis finds that crowdfunding offers unparalleled connectivity between creators and funders, but the transparency of the crowdfunding process is not ready to be trusted entirely. Until more data is collected on the crowdfunding environment, crowdfunding is best utilized in conjunction with traditional fundraising methods.
ContributorsRoth, Ari Lawrence Max (Author) / Giles, Bret (Thesis director) / Schlacter, John (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Previous research has found improvements in motor and cognitive measures following Assisted Cycle Therapy (AC) in adolescence with Down syndrome (DS). Our study investigated whether we would find improvements in older adults with DS on measures of leisure physical activity (GLTEQ) and sleep, which are early indicators of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in persons with Down syndrome. This study consisted of eight participants with Down syndrome between 31 and 51 years old that cycled for 30 minutes 3 x/week for eight weeks either at their voluntary cycling rate (VC) or approximately 35% faster with the help of a mechanical motor (AC). We predicted that, based on pilot data (Gomez, 2015), GLTEQ would either maintain or improve after AC, but would decrease after VC and would stay the same after NC. We predicted that the sleep score may improve after both VC or AC or it may improve more after VC than AC based on pilot data related to leisure activity. Our results were consistent with our prediction that GLTEQ will either maintain or improve after AC but will decrease after VC. Our results were not consistent with our prediction that sleep may improve after both VC or AC or it may improve more after VC than AC, possibly because we did not pre-screen for sleep disorders. Future research should focus on recruiting more participants and using both objective and subjective measures of sleep and physical activity to improve the efficacy of the study.
ContributorsParker, Lucas Maury (Author) / Ringenbach, Shannon (Thesis director) / Buman, Matthew (Committee member) / Holzapfel, Simon (Committee member) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor) / College of Public Service and Community Solutions (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
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
This paper features analysis of interdisciplinary collaboration, based on the results from the Kolbe A™ Index of students in the Nano Ethics at Play (NEAP) class, a four week course in Spring 2015. The Kolbe A™ is a system which describes the Conative Strengths of each student, or their natural drive and instinct. NEAP utilized the LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY® (LSP) method, which uses abstract LEGO models to describe answers to a proposed question in school or work environments. The models could be described piece by piece to provide clear explanations without allowing disciplinary jargon, which is why the class contained students from eleven different majors (Engineering (Civil, Biomedical, & Electrical), Business (Marketing & Supply Chain Management), Architectural Studies, Sustainability, Anthropology, Communications, Philosophy, & Psychology).
The proposed hypotheses was based on the four different Kolbe A™ strengths, or Action Modes: Fact Finder, Follow Through, Quick Start, and Implementor. Hypotheses were made about class participation and official class twitter use, using #ASUsp, for each Kolbe type. The results proved these hypotheses incorrect, indicating a lack of correlation between Kolbe A™ types and playing. The report also includes qualitative results such as Twitter Keywords and a Sentiment calculation for each week of the course. The class had many positive outcomes, including growth in the ability to collaborate by students, further understanding of how to integrate Twitter use into the classroom, and more knowledge about the effectiveness of LSP.
The proposed hypotheses was based on the four different Kolbe A™ strengths, or Action Modes: Fact Finder, Follow Through, Quick Start, and Implementor. Hypotheses were made about class participation and official class twitter use, using #ASUsp, for each Kolbe type. The results proved these hypotheses incorrect, indicating a lack of correlation between Kolbe A™ types and playing. The report also includes qualitative results such as Twitter Keywords and a Sentiment calculation for each week of the course. The class had many positive outcomes, including growth in the ability to collaborate by students, further understanding of how to integrate Twitter use into the classroom, and more knowledge about the effectiveness of LSP.
ContributorsStevens, Jenna Marie (Author) / Seager, Thomas (Thesis director) / Jenses, Camilla (Committee member) / Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Programs (Contributor) / Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-12
Description
This paper explores women and bicycling, with the focus of looking at how to get more women onto the bicycle in Tempe, Arizona. The main areas of interest for this study are improvements to bicycling infrastructure and an increase in the safety and the perception of safety of women cyclists in the Tempe area. In order to explore this topic, an online survey of 75 Arizona State students was conducted. From the results women were primarily concerned with their safety due to the condition of the overall infrastructure and the lack of bicycle related improvements. Research such as this that examines women and cycling is significant due to the current underrepresentation of women in the cycling community and has the potential to improve safety and increase bicycle ridership.
ContributorsStarr, Nicole (Author) / Kelley, Jason (Thesis director) / Golub, Aaron (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
Biofeedback music is the integration of physiological signals with audible sound for aesthetic considerations, which an individual’s mental status corresponds to musical output. This project looks into how sounds can be drawn from the meditative and attentive states of the brain using the MindWave Mobile EEG biosensor from NeuroSky. With the MindWave and an Arduino microcontroller processor, sonic output is attained by inputting the data collected by the MindWave, and in real time, outputting code that deciphers it into user constructed sound output. The input is scaled from values 0 to 100, measuring the ‘attentive’ state of the mind by observing alpha waves, and distributing this information to the microcontroller. The output of sound comes from sourcing this into the Musical Instrument Shield and varying the musical tonality with different chords and delay of the notes. The manipulation of alpha states highlights the control or lack thereof for the performer and touches on the question of how much control over the output there really is, much like the experimentalist Alvin Lucier displayed with his concepts in brainwave music.
ContributorsQuach, Andrew Duc (Author) / Helms Tillery, Stephen (Thesis director) / Feisst, Sabine (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor)
Created2014-05