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Young_Spring_2023.pdf

ContributorsYoung, Macy (Author) / Biviji, Rizwana (Thesis director) / Ohri-Vachaspati, Punam (Committee member) / Acciai, Francesco (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences (Contributor) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor)
Created2023-05

Macy Young Honors Thesis Defense.pdf

ContributorsYoung, Macy (Author) / Biviji, Rizwana (Thesis director) / Ohri-Vachaspati, Punam (Committee member) / Acciai, Francesco (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences (Contributor) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor)
Created2023-05

The Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Fertility of Women in Reproductive Ages: Cross-sectional Study

Description

Background: Recent studies have shown a decline in birth rates in large metropolitan areas (after accounting for population), which can be possibly explained by barriers to reproduction associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdowns. Objective: This study’s objective was to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and related…

Background: Recent studies have shown a decline in birth rates in large metropolitan areas (after accounting for population), which can be possibly explained by barriers to reproduction associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdowns. Objective: This study’s objective was to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdowns on the fertility rates of women in reproductive ages living in Greater Phoenix. Methods: The total number of inpatient births and people in both Maricopa and Pinal Counties during pre-COVID-19 years (2017-2019) were compared with those during the COVID-19 years (2021) among women in reproductive ages (15-49 years). To make age-specific comparisons, women in reproductive years were divided into eight distinct age group categories (15-17, 18-20, and then five year age group categories to age 49) from which age-specific, general, and total fertility rates were calculated. Results: Using a two-sample z-test for difference in proportions, findings revealed that the general fertility rate in Greater Phoenix had significantly declined from 48 to 46 per 1,000 population from the pre-COVID-19 period to COVID-19 period (P<0.001). Two sample z-tests were also used to compare age-specific fertility rates, which revealed a significant decline in the fertility rate in women ages 15-17 (from 8.0/1000 to 5.0/1000) (P<0.001), 18-20 (from 43.0/1000 to 35.0/1000) (P<0.001), and 21-24 (from 79.0/1000 to 68.0/1000) (P<0.001) from the pre-COVID-19 period to COVID-19 period, while no significant change was observed in the fertility rate in women ages 25-49. Conclusions: The observed general fertility decline in Greater Phoenix as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic poses significant implications for further research on barriers to reproduction brought upon by the COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdown measures. Another direction for further research involves possibly continuing this study to include years 2022 and 2023 in the COVID-19 period, as well as calculating age-specific fertility rates by race.
ContributorsYoung, Macy (Author) / Biviji, Rizwana (Thesis director) / Ohri-Vachaspati, Punam (Committee member) / Acciai, Francesco (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences (Contributor) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor)
Created2023-05
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Soil Microbial DNA Analysis of Two Relocated Sus Burials

Description
The use of DNA testing has been focused primarily on biological samples such as blood or saliva found at crime scenes. These types of evidence in the forensic field are sometimes difficult to come by, especially when there is no body to find to verify things such as identity or…

The use of DNA testing has been focused primarily on biological samples such as blood or saliva found at crime scenes. These types of evidence in the forensic field are sometimes difficult to come by, especially when there is no body to find to verify things such as identity or status of a person. In the case of the burial of a body, they can be remote and relocated multiple times depending on each situation. Clandestine burials are not uncommon especially in the Arizona desert by the United States and Mexico border. Since there is no physical body to find the next best avenue to finding a clandestine burial is through search teams which can take weeks to months or other expensive technology such as ground penetrating radar (GPR). A new more interesting avenue to search for bodies is using the most found material–soil. Technology has allowed the possibility of using soil DNA microbiome testing initially to study the varieties of microbes that compose in soil. Microbiomes are unique and plentiful and essentially inescapable as humans are hosts of millions of them. The idea of a microbiome footprint at a crime scene seems out of reach considering the millions of species that can be found in various areas. Yet it is not impossible to get a list of varieties of species that could indicate there was a body in the soil as microbiomes seep through from decomposition. This study determines the viability of using soil microbial DNA as a method of locating clandestine graves by testing 6 different locations of a previous pig decomposition simulation. These two locations give two different scenarios that a body may be found either exposed to the sun in an open field or hidden under foliage such as a tree in the Sonoran Desert. The experiment will also determine more factors that could contribute to a correlation of microbiome specific groups associated with decomposition in soil such as firmicutes. The use of soil microbial DNA testing could open the doors to more interpretation of information to eventually be on par with the forensic use of biological DNA testing which could potentially supplement testimonies on assumed burial locations that occurs frequently in criminal cases of body relocation and reburial.
ContributorsMata Salinas, Jennifer (Author) / Marshall, Pamela (Thesis director) / Bolhofner , Katelyn (Committee member) / Wang, Yue (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences (Contributor) / School of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies (Contributor)
Created2022-05