Matching Items (183)
Description
Tempe Town Lake is the site of fifteen years’ worth of chemical data collection by ASU researchers. In 2018 the dataSONDE, an instrument capable of measuring different water quality parameters every thirty minutes for a month at a time was installed in the lake. The SONDE has the potential to completely reduce the need for sampling by hand. Before the SONDE becomes the sole means of gathering data, it is important to verify its accuracy. In this study, the measurements gathered by the SONDE (pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature, conductivity and colored dissolved organic matter) were compared to measurements gathered using the verified methods from the past fifteen years.
ContributorsSauer, Elinor Rayne (Author) / Hartnett, Hilairy (Thesis director) / Glaser, Donald (Committee member) / Shock, Everett (Committee member) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-12
Description
Mathematical epidemiology, one of the oldest and richest areas in mathematical biology, has significantly enhanced our understanding of how pathogens emerge, evolve, and spread. Classical epidemiological models, the standard for predicting and managing the spread of infectious disease, assume that contacts between susceptible and infectious individuals depend on their relative frequency in the population. The behavioral factors that underpin contact rates are not generally addressed. There is, however, an emerging a class of models that addresses the feedbacks between infectious disease dynamics and the behavioral decisions driving host contact. Referred to as “economic epidemiology” or “epidemiological economics,” the approach explores the determinants of decisions about the number and type of contacts made by individuals, using insights and methods from economics. We show how the approach has the potential both to improve predictions of the course of infectious disease, and to support development of novel approaches to infectious disease management.
ContributorsPerrings, Charles (Author) / Castillo-Chavez, Carlos (Author) / Chowell-Puente, Gerardo (Author) / Daszak, Peter (Author) / Fenichel, Eli P. (Author) / Finnoff, David (Author) / Horan, Richard D. (Author) / Kilpatrick, A. Marm (Author) / Kinzig, Ann (Author) / Kuminoff, Nicolai (Author) / Levin, Simon (Author) / Morin, Benjamin (Author) / Smith, Katherine F. (Author) / Springborn, Michael (Author) / Simon M. Levin Mathematical, Computational and Modeling Sciences Center (Contributor) / College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Economics (Contributor) / Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability (Contributor)
Created2015-12-01
Description
Background
Seroepidemiological studies before and after the epidemic wave of H1N1-2009 are useful for estimating population attack rates with a potential to validate early estimates of the reproduction number, R, in modeling studies.
Methodology/Principal Findings
Since the final epidemic size, the proportion of individuals in a population who become infected during an epidemic, is not the result of a binomial sampling process because infection events are not independent of each other, we propose the use of an asymptotic distribution of the final size to compute approximate 95% confidence intervals of the observed final size. This allows the comparison of the observed final sizes against predictions based on the modeling study (R = 1.15, 1.40 and 1.90), which also yields simple formulae for determining sample sizes for future seroepidemiological studies. We examine a total of eleven published seroepidemiological studies of H1N1-2009 that took place after observing the peak incidence in a number of countries. Observed seropositive proportions in six studies appear to be smaller than that predicted from R = 1.40; four of the six studies sampled serum less than one month after the reported peak incidence. The comparison of the observed final sizes against R = 1.15 and 1.90 reveals that all eleven studies appear not to be significantly deviating from the prediction with R = 1.15, but final sizes in nine studies indicate overestimation if the value R = 1.90 is used.
Conclusions
Sample sizes of published seroepidemiological studies were too small to assess the validity of model predictions except when R = 1.90 was used. We recommend the use of the proposed approach in determining the sample size of post-epidemic seroepidemiological studies, calculating the 95% confidence interval of observed final size, and conducting relevant hypothesis testing instead of the use of methods that rely on a binomial proportion.
Seroepidemiological studies before and after the epidemic wave of H1N1-2009 are useful for estimating population attack rates with a potential to validate early estimates of the reproduction number, R, in modeling studies.
Methodology/Principal Findings
Since the final epidemic size, the proportion of individuals in a population who become infected during an epidemic, is not the result of a binomial sampling process because infection events are not independent of each other, we propose the use of an asymptotic distribution of the final size to compute approximate 95% confidence intervals of the observed final size. This allows the comparison of the observed final sizes against predictions based on the modeling study (R = 1.15, 1.40 and 1.90), which also yields simple formulae for determining sample sizes for future seroepidemiological studies. We examine a total of eleven published seroepidemiological studies of H1N1-2009 that took place after observing the peak incidence in a number of countries. Observed seropositive proportions in six studies appear to be smaller than that predicted from R = 1.40; four of the six studies sampled serum less than one month after the reported peak incidence. The comparison of the observed final sizes against R = 1.15 and 1.90 reveals that all eleven studies appear not to be significantly deviating from the prediction with R = 1.15, but final sizes in nine studies indicate overestimation if the value R = 1.90 is used.
Conclusions
Sample sizes of published seroepidemiological studies were too small to assess the validity of model predictions except when R = 1.90 was used. We recommend the use of the proposed approach in determining the sample size of post-epidemic seroepidemiological studies, calculating the 95% confidence interval of observed final size, and conducting relevant hypothesis testing instead of the use of methods that rely on a binomial proportion.
ContributorsNishiura, Hiroshi (Author) / Chowell-Puente, Gerardo (Author) / Castillo-Chavez, Carlos (Author) / Simon M. Levin Mathematical, Computational and Modeling Sciences Center (Contributor) / College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor)
Created2011-03-24
Description
The purpose of this thesis is to compare ecolabeling to conservation easements for facilitating multi-use land between food production and conservation. Biodiversity has been on the decline as human agriculture uses more land. According to Encyclopedia Britannica “Half of the world’s habitable land (some 51 million square km [19.7 million square miles]) has been converted to agriculture, and some 77 percent of agricultural land (some 40 million square km [15.4 million square miles]) is used for grazing by cattle, sheep, goats, and other livestock. This massive conversion of forests, wetlands, grasslands, and other terrestrial ecosystems has produced a 60 percent decline (on average) in the number of vertebrates worldwide since 1970”(Rafferty 2010). The purpose of this paper is to explore ways individual landowners and private businesses can continue to operate profitably on their land while reversing the harmful loss to biodiversity observed in the past 50 years. Two of the most popular methods of achieving conservation on workable land are ecolabeling and conservation easements.
ContributorsWilcox, Christopher James (Author) / Leonard, Brian (Thesis director) / Schoon, Michael (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-12
Description
The main purpose of this investigation is to determine the intensity, economic costs, and potential solutions to HIV/AIDS stigma in the United States and Tanzania. In order to accomplish this goal, a literature review was conducted, and an economic model was created to determine how HIV/AIDS treatment deterrence manifests and affects these countries. The results of the economic model suggested that Tanzania suffers greater economic loss due to HIV treatment deterrence than the United States, however, both countries lose a significant portion of GDP due to HIV treatment deterrence. Stigma materializes differently in each country based on a variety of sociocultural factors. These include the demographic groups most affected, the perception of those living with HIV, and how sexually transmitted infections are perceived within communities. The solutions to HIV stigma must be tailored to the country, culture, and context that it arises for interventions to be effective. To further prevent HIV/AIDS stigma and its economic consequences, the etiology of stigma and how it presents in different communities must be understood.
ContributorsSangha, Pooja (Co-author) / Hopewell, Sophia (Co-author) / Baldwin, Marjorie (Thesis director) / Hruschka, Daniel (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Dissolved organic matter (DOM) can have numerous effects on the water chemistry and the biological life within an aquatic system with its wide variety of chemical structures and properties. The composition of the dissolved carbon can be estimated by utilizing the fluorescent properties of some DOM such as aromatic amino acids and humic material. This experiment was used to observe how organic matter could influence hydrothermal systems, such as Sylvan Springs in Yellowstone National Park, USA. Using optical density at 600 nm (OD 600), excitation-emission matrix spectra (EEMS), and Illumina sequencing methods (16S rRNA gene sequencing), changes in dissolved organic matter (DOM) were observed based on long term incubation at 84ºC and microbial influence. Four media conditions were tested over a two-month duration to assess these changes: inoculated pine needle media, uninoculated pine needle media, inoculated yeast extract media, and uninoculated yeast extract media. The inoculated samples contained microbes from a fluid and sediment sample of Sylvan Spring collected July 23, 2018. Absorbance indicated that media containing pine needle broth poorly support life, whereas media containing yeast extract revealed a positive increase in growth. Excitation-Emission Matrix Spectra of the all media conditions indicated changes in DOM composition throughout the trial. There were limited differences between the inoculated and uninoculated samples suggesting that the DOM composition change in this study was dominated by the two-month incubation at 84ºC more than biotic processes. Sequencing performed on a sediment sample collected from Sylvan Spring indicated five main order of prokaryotic phyla: Aquificales, Desulfurococcales, Thermoproteales, Thermodesulfobacteriales, and Crenarchaeota. These organisms are not regarded as heterotrophic microbes, so the lack of significant biotic changes in DOM could be a result of these microorganisms not being able to utilize these enrichments as their main metabolic energy supply.
ContributorsKnott, Nicholas Joseph (Author) / Shock, Everett (Thesis director) / Hartnett, Hilairy (Committee member) / Till, Christy (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
This paper explores the impacts of dam-induced displacement on the health of populations. By the start of the 21st century, an estimated 40-80 million people worldwide were forced to resettle due to the construction of large dams. The process of displacement and resettlement is connected to numerous social impacts on communities such as decreases in household income, natural resources, and social connectivity, but less seems to be known about specific health impacts. Analyzing literature in a formal review allowed for increased understanding about what information already exists in published research regarding the connections between dams, displacement, and health. Some negative health impacts as a result of forced displacement were identified, including increases in infectious disease transmission, depression, and mortality rates as well as losses of food and water sources. However, the small amount of cases found in the literature review when compared to the massive scale of dam development worldwide indicates a gap in knowledge in the dam industry and research field specifically about the health of the vast majority of populations forcibly displaced by dams. Health impacts must be considered and systematically studied in dam projects involving displacement to fully understand the needs of resettled populations and move towards equitable processes in development projects worldwide.
ContributorsWalker, Erika (Author) / Hruschka, Daniel (Thesis director) / Brian, Jennifer (Committee member) / Drake, Alexandria (Committee member) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
In Western medicine, the hard sciences have generally been understood as the sole guiding force in patient care and treatment. However, both history and the present day suggest another strong influence on Western medicine: folklore. The term folklore can easily be dismissed as a term representing beliefs and stories of the past, but its relevance transcends time and continues to impact people daily. It “involves values, traditions, ways of thinking and behaving. It’s about art. It’s about people and the way people learn. It helps us learn who we are and how to make meaning in the world around us” (Sims & Stephens, 2011, pp. 1-2). With its wide range of influence, folklore exists as the umbrella term encompassing several categories. Folk beliefs are one of these categories and can develop from “observation, memory, testimony or inference” (Hutton, 1942, p. 83). Given that each of these forms are subject to some sort of error, folk beliefs become “a jumble of the true and the erroneous” (p. 84). Similarly, contemporary legends are narratives that often combine the physical and supernatural world to explain nuances or uncertainty present in the relevant experiences of a people. Folk beliefs can result in the formation of contemporary legends and they can also stem from contemporary legends. These two categories are often associated with subjects that promote fear and uncertainty, and thus play an essential role in navigating folklore’s application to biomedicine. This paper explores the historical and modern effects that folklore has had on two separate maladies: Hansen’s Disease (leprosy) and Major Depressive Disorder (depression). While these conditions do not resemble each other in physical presentations, Hansen’s Disease and Major Depressive Disorder patients both have faced and continue to face discrimination. Andrea Wiley and John Allen’s three-part definition of a malady: society’s perception (sickness), the individual’s experience (illness), and medical professionals’ diagnosis and treatment (disease); was utilized as a tool for analyzing the application of folklore to modern medicine. The way that a society views a particular malady often dictates the sick role expected of a diagnosed individual. Additionally, the public’s view can directly affect medical professionals’ understanding of a malady. This then can drastically shape a patient’s diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. This anthropological analysis acts as an interdisciplinary bridge between medicine and the humanities.
ContributorsPeake, Ashley E (Co-author) / Peake, Ashley (Co-author) / Ellis, Lawrence (Thesis director) / Hoyt, Heather (Committee member) / Hruschka, Daniel (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Menstruation - a stigmatized topic and a social taboo- has led to a lack of menstrual hygiene awareness and improper practices impacting women’s health adversely over generations in India. Akshara aims to increase menstrual hygiene education and reduce stigma in India. A creative children’s illustrated book, and interactive workshop curriculum about menstruation were designed and published in Hindi and English. Menstrual hygiene workshops, utilizing the designed tools, were conducted in Delhi and Ghaziabad, India to over 230 students through NGO partnerships in December 2018. The response to the menstrual hygiene and stigma workshops was overwhelmingly positive, and a significant increase in the knowledge and awareness survey scores was observed after the curriculum teachings and classroom discussions. This evaluation highlights and provides a potential solution path to eradicate the root cause of the menstruation stigma in underprivileged women through education and open conversations on the topic starting at a pivotal young age. The main aim of the workshop was to help eradicate the stigma associated with menstruation and menstrual health in India through education.
ContributorsBhalla, Jahnavi (Co-author) / Dani, Advika (Co-author) / Schuster, Roseanne (Thesis director) / Hruschka, Daniel (Thesis director) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
More than 40% of all U.S. opioid overdose deaths in 2016 involved a prescription opioid, with more than 46 people dying every day from overdoses involving prescription opioids, (CDC, 2017). Over the years, lawmakers have implemented policies and laws to address the opioid epidemic, and many of these vary from state to state. This study will lay out the basic guidelines of common pieces of legislation. It also examines relationships between 6 state-specific prescribing or preventative laws and associated changes in opioid-related deaths using a longitudinal cross-state study design (2007-2015). Specifically, it uses a linear regression to examine changes in state-specific rates of opioid-related deaths after implementation of specific policies, and whether states implementing these policies saw smaller increases than states without these policies. Initial key findings of this study show that three policies have a statistically significant association with opioid related overdose deaths are—Good Samaritan Laws, Standing Order Laws, and Naloxone Liability Laws. Paradoxically, all three policies correlated with an increase in opioid overdose deaths between 2007 and 2016. However, after correcting for the potential spurious relationship between state-specific timing of policy implementation and death rates, two policies have a statistically significant association (alpha <0.05) with opioid overdose death rates. First, the Naloxone Liability Laws were significantly associated with changes in opioid-related deaths and was correlated with a 0.33 log increase in opioid overdose death rates, or a 29% increase. This equates to about 1.39 more deaths per year per 100,000 people. Second, the legislation that allows for 3rd Party Naloxone prescriptions correlated with a 0.33 log decrease in opioid overdose death rates, or a 29% decrease. This equates to 1.39 fewer deaths per year per 100,000 people.
ContributorsDavis, Joshua Alan (Author) / Hruschka, Daniel (Thesis director) / Gaughan, Monica (Committee member) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05