Matching Items (188)
Description
Food system and health characteristics were evaluated across the last Waorani hunter-gatherer group in Amazonian Ecuador and a remote neighboring Kichwa indigenous subsistence agriculture community. Hunter-gatherer food systems like the Waorani foragers may not only be nutritionally, but also pharmaceutically beneficial because of high dietary intake of varied plant phytochemical compounds. A modern diet that reduces these dietary plant defense phytochemicals below levels typical in human evolutionary history may leave humans vulnerable to diseases that were controlled through a foraging diet. Few studies consider the health impact of the recent drastic reduction of plant phytochemical content in the modern global food system, which has eliminated essential components of food because they are not considered "nutrients". The antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory nature of the food system may not only regulate infectious pathogens and inflammatory disease, but also support beneficial microbes in human hosts, reducing vulnerability to chronic diseases. Waorani foragers seem immune to certain infections with very low rates of chronic disease. Does returning to certain characteristics of a foraging food system begin to restore the human body microbe balance and inflammatory response to evolutionary norms, and if so, what implication does this have for the treatment of disease? Several years of data on dietary and health differences across the foragers and the farmers was gathered. There were major differences in health outcomes across the board. In the Waorani forager group there were no signs of infection in serious wounds such as 3rd degree burns and spear wounds. The foragers had one-degree lower body temperature than the farmers. The Waorani had an absence of signs of chronic diseases including vision and blood pressure that did not change markedly with age while Kichwa farmers suffered from both chronic diseases and physiological indicators of aging. In the Waorani forager population, there was an absence of many common regional infectious diseases, from helminthes to staphylococcus. Study design helped control for confounders (exercise, environment, genetic factors, non-phytochemical dietary intake). This study provides evidence of the major role total phytochemical dietary intake plays in human health, often not considered by policymakers and nutritional and agricultural scientists.
ContributorsLondon, Douglas (Author) / Tsuda, Takeyuki (Thesis advisor) / Beezhold, Bonnie L (Committee member) / Hruschka, Daniel (Committee member) / Eder, James (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
The health situation of indigenous peoples is comparable to that of the world's poorest populations, but with the additional burdens of social and cultural marginalization, geographic and cultural barriers to accessing health services, and, in some areas, appropriation of land and natural resources. Cultural transmission (the transfer of beliefs, ideas, and behaviors from one culture to another) from outsider health institutions should presumably aid in closing this health gap by transferring knowledge, practices, and infrastructure to prevent and treat disease. This study examines the biosocial construction of the disease ecology of tuberculosis (TB) in indigenous communities of the Paraguayan Chaco with varying degrees of cultural transmission from outside institutions (government, religious, and NGOs), to determine the influence of cultural transmission on local disease ecologies. Using a biocultural epidemiological framework for the analysis of human infectious disease ecology, this study employed an interdisciplinary, mixed methods approach to examine the interactions of host, pathogen, and the environment in the Paraguayan Chaco. Three case studies examining aspects of TB disease ecology in indigenous communities are presented: (1) The effective cultural transmission of biomedical knowledge to isolated communities, (2) Public health infrastructure, hygiene, and the prevalence of intestinal parasites: co-morbidities that promote the progression to active TB disease, and (3) Community-level risk factors for TB and indigenous TB burden. Findings from the case studies suggest that greater influence from outside institutions was not associated with greater adoption of biomedical knowledge of TB. The prevalence of helminthiasis was unexpectedly low, but infection with giardia was common, even in a community with cleaner water sources. Communities with a health post were more likely to report active adult TB, while communities with more education were less likely to report active pediatric TB, suggesting that healthcare access is the major determinant of TB detection. More research is needed on the role of non-indigenous community residents and other measures of acculturation or integration in TB outcomes, especially at the household level. Indigenous TB burden in the Chaco is disproportionately high, and better understanding of the mechanisms that produce higher incidence and prevalence of the disease is needed.
ContributorsVansteelandt, Amanda (Author) / Hurtado, Ana Magdalena (Thesis advisor) / Stone, Anne (Thesis advisor) / Hruschka, Daniel (Committee member) / Rojas de Arias, Antonieta (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
This dissertation is intended to tie together a body of work which utilizes a variety of methods to study applied mathematical models involving heterogeneity often omitted with classical modeling techniques. I posit three cogent classifications of heterogeneity: physiological, behavioral, and local (specifically connectivity in this work). I consider physiological heterogeneity using the method of transport equations to study heterogeneous susceptibility to diseases in open populations (those with births and deaths). I then present three separate models of behavioral heterogeneity. An SIS/SAS model of gonorrhea transmission in a population of highly active men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) is presented to study the impact of safe behavior (prevention and self-awareness) on the prevalence of this endemic disease. Behavior is modeled in this examples via static parameters describing consistent condom use and frequency of STD testing. In an example of behavioral heterogeneity, in the absence of underlying dynamics, I present a generalization to ``test theory without an answer key" (also known as cultural consensus modeling or CCM). CCM is commonly used to study the distribution of cultural knowledge within a population. The generalized framework presented allows for selecting the best model among various extensions of CCM: multiple subcultures, estimating the degree to which individuals guess yes, and making competence homogenous in the population. This permits model selection based on the principle of information criteria. The third behaviorally heterogeneous model studies adaptive behavioral response based on epidemiological-economic theory within an $SIR$ epidemic setting. Theorems used to analyze the stability of such models with a generalized, non-linear incidence structure are adapted and applied to the case of standard incidence and adaptive incidence. As an example of study in spatial heterogeneity I provide an explicit solution to a generalization of the continuous time approximation of the Albert-Barabasi scale-free network algorithm. The solution is found by recursively solving the differential equations via integrating factors, identifying a pattern for the coefficients and then proving this observed pattern is consistent using induction. An application to disease dynamics on such evolving structures is then studied.
ContributorsMorin, Benjamin (Author) / Castillo-Chavez, Carlos (Thesis advisor) / Hiebeler, David (Thesis advisor) / Hruschka, Daniel (Committee member) / Suslov, Sergei (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Background In the United States (US), first-year university students typically live on campus and purchase a meal plan. In general, meal plans allow the student a set number of meals per week or semester, or unlimited meals. Understanding how students’ use their meal plan, and barriers and facilitators to meal plan use, may help decrease nutrition-related issues.
Methods First-year students’ meal plan and residence information was provided by a large, public, southwestern university for the 2015-2016 academic year. A subset of students (n=619) self-reported their food security status. Logistic generalized estimating equations (GEEs) were used to determine if meal plan purchase and use were associated with food insecurity. Linear GEEs were used to examine several potential reasons for lower meal plan use. Logistic and Linear GEEs were used to determine similarities in meal plan purchase and use for a total of 599 roommate pairs (n=1186 students), and 557 floormates.
Results Students did not use all of the meals available to them; 7% of students did not use their meal plan for an entire month. After controlling for socioeconomic factors, compared to students on unlimited meal plans, students on the cheapest meal plan were more likely to report food insecurity (OR=2.2, 95% CI=1.2, 4.1). In Fall, 26% of students on unlimited meal plans reported food insecurity. Students on the 180 meals/semester meal plan who used fewer meals were more likely to report food insecurity (OR=0.9, 95% CI=0.8, 1.0); after gender stratification this was only evident for males. Students’ meal plan use was lower if the student worked a job (β=-1.3, 95% CI=-2.3, -0.3) and higher when their roommate used their meal plan frequently (β=0.09, 99% CI=0.04, 0.14). Roommates on the same meal plan (OR=1.56, 99% CI=1.28, 1.89) were more likely to use their meals together.
Discussion This study suggests that determining why students are not using their meal plan may be key to minimizing the prevalence of food insecurity on college campuses, and that strategic roommate assignments may result in students’ using their meal plan more frequently. Students’ meal plan information provides objective insights into students’ university transition.
Methods First-year students’ meal plan and residence information was provided by a large, public, southwestern university for the 2015-2016 academic year. A subset of students (n=619) self-reported their food security status. Logistic generalized estimating equations (GEEs) were used to determine if meal plan purchase and use were associated with food insecurity. Linear GEEs were used to examine several potential reasons for lower meal plan use. Logistic and Linear GEEs were used to determine similarities in meal plan purchase and use for a total of 599 roommate pairs (n=1186 students), and 557 floormates.
Results Students did not use all of the meals available to them; 7% of students did not use their meal plan for an entire month. After controlling for socioeconomic factors, compared to students on unlimited meal plans, students on the cheapest meal plan were more likely to report food insecurity (OR=2.2, 95% CI=1.2, 4.1). In Fall, 26% of students on unlimited meal plans reported food insecurity. Students on the 180 meals/semester meal plan who used fewer meals were more likely to report food insecurity (OR=0.9, 95% CI=0.8, 1.0); after gender stratification this was only evident for males. Students’ meal plan use was lower if the student worked a job (β=-1.3, 95% CI=-2.3, -0.3) and higher when their roommate used their meal plan frequently (β=0.09, 99% CI=0.04, 0.14). Roommates on the same meal plan (OR=1.56, 99% CI=1.28, 1.89) were more likely to use their meals together.
Discussion This study suggests that determining why students are not using their meal plan may be key to minimizing the prevalence of food insecurity on college campuses, and that strategic roommate assignments may result in students’ using their meal plan more frequently. Students’ meal plan information provides objective insights into students’ university transition.
Contributorsvan Woerden, Irene (Author) / Bruening, Meg (Thesis advisor) / Hruschka, Daniel (Committee member) / Schaefer, David (Committee member) / Vega-Lopez, Sonia (Committee member) / Adams, Marc (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Horror as a genre is often dismissed on the basis of its reliance on jump scares and adrenaline highs, but history would suggest that society is just as well reflected in horror films as in any other genre. We only truly know our own experiences in real life, but film grants us the opportunity to see the world through another’s eyes, and what a more powerful way than through the experience of fear. In order to contextualize materials for the creation of a short horror film, the first part of this paper explores horror as a genre and the roles women tend to play in horror, both in the past and the present. It also considers how society perceives threats to women and how women perceive threats to themselves. It is important to define the foundation of women in horror and understand their current role in the genre to achieve the overarching goal of making a short horror film depicting a real issue that women face. A script, a storyboard, a timeline, and other materials for such a production are included as well.
ContributorsPeterschmidt, Bailey Willow (Author) / Mack, Robert L. (Thesis director) / Cheyne, Rebekah (Committee member) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor) / Hugh Downs School of Human Communication (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
This project uses Kenneth Burke’s theory of dramatism and the pentad to analyze popular narrative films about human sex trafficking. It seeks to understand the relationship between a film’s dominant philosophy (as highlighted by utilizing Burke’s pentad), its inherently suggested solutions to trafficking, and the effect that the film has on viewers’ perception of trafficking. 20 narrative feature films about sex trafficking such as the 2008 film Taken were analyzed for this study. Three out of five of Burke’s philosophies were uncovered after analysis: idealism, mysticism, and materialism. Films that aligned with idealism were found to implicitly blame women for their own trafficking. Films that aligned with mysticism were found to rally audiences around violence and racism as opposed to women’s freedom. Films that aligned with materialism were found to be the most empathetic towards trafficked women. The conclusion of this paper is that films about sex trafficking have a high potential to be harmful to women who have exited trafficking. This paper asserts that the most valuable films about trafficking are those that are not simply based on a true story but are created by trafficking survivors themselves, such as the 2016 film Apartment 407.
ContributorsHamby, Hannah Mary (Co-author) / Raum, Brionna (Co-author) / Edson, Belle (Thesis director) / Zanin, Alaina (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Hugh Downs School of Human Communication (Contributor) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
This project uses Kenneth Burke’s theory of dramatism and the pentad to analyze popular narrative films about human sex trafficking. It seeks to understand the relationship between a film’s dominant philosophy (as highlighted by utilizing Burke’s pentad), its inherently suggested solutions to trafficking, and the effect that the film has on viewers’ perception of trafficking. 20 narrative feature films about sex trafficking such as the 2008 film Taken were analyzed for this study. Three out of five of Burke’s philosophies were uncovered after analysis: idealism, mysticism, and materialism. Films that aligned with idealism were found to implicitly blame women for their own trafficking. Films that aligned with mysticism were found to rally audiences around violence and racism as opposed to women’s freedom. Films that aligned with materialism were found to be the most empathetic towards trafficked women. The conclusion of this paper is that films about sex trafficking have a high potential to be harmful to women who have exited trafficking. This paper asserts that the most valuable films about trafficking are those that are not simply based on a true story but are created by trafficking survivors themselves, such as the 2016 film Apartment 407.
ContributorsRaum, Brionna L (Co-author) / Hamby, Hannah (Co-author) / Edson, Belle (Thesis director) / Zanin, Alaina (Committee member) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor) / Hugh Downs School of Human Communication (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Millennials are the group of people that make up the newer generation of the world's population and they are constantly surrounded by technology, as well as known for having different values than the previous generations. Marketers have to adapt to newer ways to appeal to millennials and secure their loyalty since millennials are always on the lookout for the next best thing and will "trade up for brands that matter, but trade down when brand value is weak", it poses a challenge for the marketing departments of companies (Fromm, J. & Parks, J.). The airline industry is one of the fastest growing sectors as "the total number of people flying on U.S. airlines will increase from 745.5 million in 2014 and grow to 1.15 billion in 2034," which shows that airlines have a wider population to market to, and will need to improve their marketing strategies to differentiate from competitors (Power). The financial sector also has a difficult time reaching out to millennials because "millennials are hesitant to take financial risks," as well as downing in college debt, while not making as much money as previous generations (Fromm, J. & Parks, J.). By looking into the marketing strategies, specifically using social media platforms, of the two industries, an understanding can be gathered of what millennials are attracted to. Along with looking at the marketing strategies of financial and airline industries, I looked at the perspectives of these industries in different countries, which is important to look at because then we can see if the values of millennials vary across different cultures. Countries chosen for research to further examine their cultural differences in terms of marketing practices are the United States and England. The main form of marketing that was used for this research were social media accounts of the companies, and seeing how they used the social networking platforms to reach and engage with their consumers, especially with those of the millennial generation. The companies chosen for further research for the airline industry from England were British Airways, EasyJet, and Virgin Atlantic, while for the U.S. Delta Airlines, Inc., Southwest Airlines, and United were chosen. The companies chosen to further examine within the finance industry from England include Barclay's, HSBC, and Lloyd's Bank, while for the U.S. the banks selected were Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo. The companies for this study were chosen because they are among the top five in their industry, as well as all companies that I have had previous interactions with. It was meant to see what the companies at the top of the industry were doing that set them apart from their competitors in terms of social media marketing content and see if there were features they lacked that could be changed or improvements they could make. A survey was also conducted to get a better idea of the attitudes and behaviors of millennials when it comes to the airline and finance industries, as well as towards social media marketing practices.
ContributorsPathak, Krisha Hemanshu (Author) / Kumar, Ajith (Thesis director) / Arora, Hina (Committee member) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Hugh Downs School of Human Communication (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
For our collaborative thesis we explored the US electric utility market and how the Internet of Things technology movement could capture a possible advancement of the current existing grid. Our objective of this project was to successfully understand the market trends in the utility space and identify where a semiconductor manufacturing company, with a focus on IoT technology, could penetrate the market using their products. The methodology used for our research was to conduct industry interviews to formulate common trends in the utility and industrial hardware manufacturer industries. From there, we composed various strategies that The Company should explore. These strategies were backed up using qualitative reasoning and forecasted discounted cash flow and net present value analysis. We confirmed that The Company should use specific silicon microprocessors and microcontrollers that pertained to each of the four devices analytics demand. Along with a silicon strategy, our group believes that there is a strong argument for a data analytics software package by forming strategic partnerships in this space.
ContributorsLlazani, Loris (Co-author) / Ruland, Matthew (Co-author) / Medl, Jordan (Co-author) / Crowe, David (Co-author) / Simonson, Mark (Thesis director) / Hertzel, Mike (Committee member) / Department of Economics (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Hugh Downs School of Human Communication (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
This paper examines creative process and performance as a method of research for understanding self-in-context through the lens of my own artistic research for “Dress in Something Plain and Dark,” a project exploring my relationship as a woman to Mennonite religious and cultural identity, spirituality, and dance. Situating my artistic work in relationship to the fields of creative autoethnography, queer and transborder performance art, and somatic dance practice, I discuss the distinctions and commonalities of approach, methods, and practice of artists working in these fields, and the shared challenges of marginalization, translation, and contextualization. In response to these challenges, and the inadequacy of linear, Western, individualistic and mechanistic frameworks to address them, I draw from the ethnographic work of de la Garza, (formerly González, 2000) to seek a “creation-centered” ontological framework that the artist-researcher-performer may use to understand and contextualize their work. I offer the tree as an ontology to understand the organic, emergent nature of creative process, the stages of growth and seasonal cycles, and the structural parts that make up the creative and performative processes, and illustrate this model through a discussion of the growth of “Dress in Something Plain and Dark,” as it has emerged over two cyclical “seasons” of maturation.
Note: This work of creative scholarship is rooted in collaboration between three female artist-scholars: Carly Bates, Raji Ganesan, and Allyson Yoder. Working from a common intersectional, feminist framework, we served as artistic co-directors of each other’s solo pieces and co-producers of Negotiations, in which we share these pieces alongside each other. Negotiations is not a showcase of three individual works, but a conversation among three voices. As collaborators, we have been uncompromising in the pursuit of our own unique inquiries and voices and each of our works of creative scholarship stand alone. However, we believe that all of the parts are best understood in relationship to each other and to the whole. For this reason, we have chosen to cross-reference our thesis documents here, and we encourage readers to view the performance of Negotiations in its entirety.
Thesis documents cross-referenced:
French Vanilla: An Exploration of Biracial Identity Through Narrative Performance, by Carly Bates
Bhairavi: A Performance-Investigation of Belonging and Dis-Belonging in Diaspora Communities, by Raji Ganesan
Deep roots, shared fruits: Emergent creative process and the ecology of solo performance through “Dress in Something Plain and Dark,” by Allyson Yoder
Note: This work of creative scholarship is rooted in collaboration between three female artist-scholars: Carly Bates, Raji Ganesan, and Allyson Yoder. Working from a common intersectional, feminist framework, we served as artistic co-directors of each other’s solo pieces and co-producers of Negotiations, in which we share these pieces alongside each other. Negotiations is not a showcase of three individual works, but a conversation among three voices. As collaborators, we have been uncompromising in the pursuit of our own unique inquiries and voices and each of our works of creative scholarship stand alone. However, we believe that all of the parts are best understood in relationship to each other and to the whole. For this reason, we have chosen to cross-reference our thesis documents here, and we encourage readers to view the performance of Negotiations in its entirety.
Thesis documents cross-referenced:
French Vanilla: An Exploration of Biracial Identity Through Narrative Performance, by Carly Bates
Bhairavi: A Performance-Investigation of Belonging and Dis-Belonging in Diaspora Communities, by Raji Ganesan
Deep roots, shared fruits: Emergent creative process and the ecology of solo performance through “Dress in Something Plain and Dark,” by Allyson Yoder
ContributorsYoder, Allyson Joy (Author) / de la Garza, Sarah Amira (Thesis director) / Ellsworth, Angela (Committee member) / DeWitt, Inertia Q. E. D. (Committee member) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor) / Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Hugh Downs School of Human Communication (Contributor)
Created2016-05