Matching Items (47,260)
DescriptionThis study was done to determine the factors predicting college students' motivation. The variables within this study included perceived stress, financial pressure, employment and loneliness.
ContributorsMattison, Ireland (Author) / Koop, Gregory (Thesis director) / Lawrence, Megan (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor)
Created2025-05
DescriptionSpaces: Exploring Phoenix communities is a magazine explore third places in the Phoenix area and how they serve and better communities and the lives individuals.
ContributorsEagerton, Audrey (Author) / Sepessey, Celeste (Thesis director) / Myers, Jordan (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Comm (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2025-05
Description
Nutritional supplement use by high school student athletes may pose risks of consuming prohibited or banned substances that can result in suspension of athletic participation. Currently, there is no peer-reviewed published data that exists on the use of supplements and use of third-party tested supplements for this population. When looking at supplement use, the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) can be utilized. This model was designed to determine if the intention of completing a behavior is based on three different constructs which include attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control. A pre- and post- test questionnaire was used to determine the effect of an educational intervention that was designed and developed. A total of 106 high school student athletes, ranging from 14-19 years of age from a private high school in the western US were included in the analysis of the study. The intention to use a good basic diet and intention to use nutritional supplements were both predicted by attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control and both resulted in a significant regression equation (p < .001). There was 95.3% (n=101) of athletes that reported use of at least one supplement in the last 12 months with reporting on average eight supplements ranging from 0-31 supplements. In conclusion, almost all high school student athletes reported using at least one nutritional supplement in the last 12 months, while roughly one-fourth consistently reported to use third-party tested nutritional supplements. The TPB based supplement education program resulted in the intention to change supplement behavior toward using safe third-party tested supplements more frequently at a group level.
ContributorsMorton, Lindsay (Author) / Wardenaar, Floris (Thesis advisor) / Wharton, Christopher (Committee member) / Levinson, Simin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024
Description
Background: Despite research aimed at understanding the mechanisms of metabolic syndrome (MetS), this prevalence continues to rise. Recent literature indicates that dietary fiber may offer prevention and management of MetS in various studies involving human and animal subjects. Objective: This six-week study aimed to test the efficacy of a novel fiber-rich complex in young male Sprague-Dawley rats by examining the effects on high-fat diet-induced weight gain, adiposity, high blood sugar, lipid imbalance, and oxidative stress.
Methods: 24 six-week-old male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly assigned into three diet groups (regular chow, high-fat, or high-fat + fiber) and fed for six weeks. Blood from the animals was collected at weeks 0, 3, and 6 for fasting blood glucose (FBG) analysis and at weeks 0 and 6 for lipid profile assessment. Body mass was weighed weekly. Organ mass, nasoanal, and tail length were measured at week 6. Findings were considered significant at p-value < 0.05. Data collected at week 6 were analyzed by one-way ANOVA, whereas data collected at multiple time points were analyzed by two-way ANOVA with diet and time as factors. Student-Newman-Keuls posthoc analyses were used to compare differences between and within groups.
Results: No significant differences were found in the size of rats fed each diet as measured by tail length (p = 0.599) or nasoanal length (p = 0.875). Abdominal circumference was not significantly different (p = 0.477). There were no significant differences between groups in fasting whole blood HDL cholesterol (p = 0.297), fasting whole blood HDL triglycerides (p = 0.624), plasma total triglycerides (p = 0.137), or beta-hydroxybutyrate (p=0.185) after six weeks of each dietary treatment. Similarly, plasma true triglycerides and free glycerol were not significantly different between groups (p = 0.148 and 0.529, respectively). Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) were also not significantly different between groups (p = 0.412).
Conclusion: The addition of the novel fiber-rich complex did not significantly affect high-fat diet-induced weight gain, adiposity, high blood sugar, lipid imbalance, or oxidative stress in this experimental design.
ContributorsLing, Jingyu (Author) / Sweazea, Karen (Thesis advisor) / Sears, Dorothy (Committee member) / Kim, Min-Hyun (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024
Description
Obesity has consistently presented a significant challenge, with excess body fat contributing to the development of numerous severe conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and various musculoskeletal disorders. In this study, different methods are proposed to study substrate utilization (carbohydrates, proteins, and fats) in the human body and validate the biomarkers enabling to investigation of weight management and monitor metabolic health. The first technique to study was Indirect calorimetry, which assessed Resting Energy Expenditure (REE) and measured parameters like oxygen consumption (VO2) and carbon dioxide production (VCO2). A validation study was conducted to study the effectiveness of the medical device Breezing Med determining REE, VO2, and VCO2. The results were compared with correlation slopes and regression coefficients close to 1. Indirect Calorimetry can be used to determine carbohydrate and fat utilization but it requires additional correction for protein utilization. Protein utilization can be studied by analyzing urinary nitrogen. Therefore, a secondary technique was studied for identifying urea and ammonia concentration in human urine samples. Along this line two methods for detecting urea were explored, a colorimetric technique and it was validated against the Ion-Selective method. The results were then compared by correlation analysis of urine samples measured with both methods simultaneously curves. The equations for fat, carb, and protein oxidation, involving VO2, VCO2 consumption, and urinary nitrogen were implemented and validated, using the above-described methods in a human subject study with 16 subjects. The measurements included diverse diets (normal vs. high fat/protein) in normal energy balance and pre-/post interventions of exercise, fasting, and a high-fat meal. It can be concluded that the indirect calorimetry portable method in conjunction with urine urea methods are important to help the understanding of substrate utilization in human subjects, and therefore, excellent tools to contribute to the treatments and interventions of obesity and overweighted populations.
ContributorsPradhan, Ayushi (Author) / Forzani, Erica (Thesis advisor) / Lind, Mary Laura (Committee member) / Wang, Shaopeng (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Mealworms (Tenebrio molitor), the larval stage of yellow mealworm beetles, are a popular feeder insect for birds, amphibians, reptiles, fish, and even human populations throughout the world. As such, the goal of this work was to understand how the diet of mealworms impacts their nutritional quality as variations in quality can impact the animals (and humans) that consume them. In this study, 500 mealworms were divided among each of the following substrates designed to model food sources available in urban versus rural, more natural areas: 100% wheat germ (control); 100% Styrofoam; mixture of soil, grasses, and leaves from urban lawns; a mixture of soil, grasses and leaves from rural lawns; 50% mixture of wheat germ + carrots; natural fertilizer; or fertilizer with weed killer. The mealworms were maintained at room temperature and the diets were replaced bi-weekly to prevent spoilage and to remove mealworm waste. Once a week for three weeks, mealworms were sampled from each substrate and frozen at -20°C. After 3 weeks, mealworms housed in wheat germ + carrots weighed significantly more than all other groups (p<0.05), whereas those housed in Styrofoam or urban lawn substrates weighed significantly less at week 3 as compared to week 1 (p<0.01). The urban lawn substrate resulted in greater molting and contained the highest number of pupae, but also the greatest mortality among the substrates. The Bradford method measured the total protein content of mealworms homogenized in phosphate-buffered saline. Mealworms maintained on wheat germ had significantly greater total protein content as compared to mealworms transitioned to any other diet (p<0.05). So, compared to wheat germ, urban foods generally reduced protein, total sugars, and crude fat, although they also decreased oxidized lipoproteins. Urban lawn had lower oxidized lipoprotein content than wheat germ, but levels were higher compared to wheat germ with carrots and natural fertilizer. In addition, urban foods generally increase the water content in mealworms. Urban foods were not much different from rural lawns as no there was difference between urban and rural lawns. Differences in body mass and total protein support the hypothesis that mealworms' nutritional quality is altered by ingesting urban substrates. These data suggest that mealworms (and potentially other insects) in cities may be exposed to food substrates that result in less nutritional value than those living in more natural areas as mimicked by the rural lawn substrates and wheat germ control, although they may be higher in water content.
ContributorsLockett, Rory Earle (Author) / Sweazea, Karen (Thesis advisor) / Deviche, Pierre (Committee member) / Senko, Jesse (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024
Description
This dissertation examines the development of a singular ritual tradition—the “rites of summoning for interrogation” (kaozhao fa考召法)—from its earliest traces during the Han (2nd century CE) to its full-flowering as a ritual specialty by the end of the Tang (618–907) by drawing upon both esoteric Daoist texts as well as anecdotal materials from the period. Practitioners of this tradition, termed “Ritual Masters of Summoning for Interrogation” (kaozhao fashi), identified as constituents of a larger celestial surveillatory bureaucracy and drew upon its authority to cure disease, exorcize spirits, mend rifts in the community, and even determine marriage compatibility. They did so by utilizing a range of ritualistic practices drawn from the earlier Celestial Master (Zhengyi 正一) and Upper Purity (Shangqing 上清) traditions, such as visualizations, incantations, ritualized pacing, and the talismanic arts. Such practices became widespread in the Song dynasty (960–1279) and were broadly adapted by Daoist movements of the period such as the Orthodox Methods of the Celestial Heart (Tianxin zhengfa 天心正法. In Chapter 1, I trace the origins of kaozhao back to the Han, where they—along with similar exorcistic traditions—drew inspiration from the bureaucratic argot and juridical stylings of officialdom. In Chapter 2, I posit a timeline for the development of kaozhao through the examination of ritual registers and situate the practice in context of the ritual landscape of 8th century China. Chapter 3 details the construction of the kaozhao practitioner’s identity, lineage, and history in the pages of a Tang-era ritual manual, the Jinsuo liuzhu yin 金鎖流珠引. This text provides the earliest categorization of kaozhao—dividing it into a binary of “civil” (wen 文) and “martial” (wu 武) practices—the combination of which were required to attain a new form of communal transcendence called “raising the residence” (bazhai 拔宅). Finally, I demonstrate how the kaozhao rite of “patrolling” (xunyou 巡遊), located therein, recast practitioners as celestial equivalents of the itinerant surveillance commissioners of the Tang, broadening their mandate as ritual polymaths.
ContributorsWolf, Lucas A (Author) / Bokenkamp, Stephen R (Thesis advisor) / Ling, Xiaoqiao (Committee member) / Chen, Huaiyu (Committee member) / West, Stephen H (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024
Description
Lebanon’s 2019 protest movement presented an unprecedented challenge to the country's entrenched sectarian political system, yet the regime endured despite a catastrophic economic collapse, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the devastating Beirut port explosion. This thesis examines how Lebanon’s sectarian elites strategically adapted to these crises, leveraging them to maintain status quo and defying expectations that severe economic disruptions would catalyze regime change. Drawing from qualitative interviews with protest participants and a novel analysis of over 8,000 protest events from the ACLED database, classified using Large Language Models (LLMs), this research uncovers the mechanisms by which elites exploited exogenous shocks to fracture anti-sectarian solidarity, redirect protest narratives toward immediate economic grievances, and deepen clientelist dependencies. The findings reveal that Lebanon’s economic collapse paradoxically reinforced the authority of sectarian elites. Initially unified by a transformative call to dismantle sectarian governance, the protest movement fragmented in response to elites' calculated use of co-optation, symbolic concessions, and targeted repression. Subsequent shocks—particularly COVID-19 lockdowns and hyperinflation— allowed elites to recast public dissent into demands focused on day-to-day survival rather than systemic political change. Quantitative data indicate a substantial shift, with a 69.6% decline in anti-sectarian protest events and a concurrent 3000% surge in economically oriented grievances post-March 2020. Although the Beirut port explosion briefly reenergized anti-regime mobilization, sectarian leaders swiftly neutralized collective outrage through superficial accountability measures and the distribution of aid, reinforcing patron-client networks amid widespread desperation. Contrary to some political economy theories positing economic collapse as inherently destabilizing, the Lebanese experience demonstrates how elites can harness crisis conditions to entrench clientelism and maintain political stability through narrative manipulation and resource scarcity management. Methodologically, this thesis introduces and validates an innovative application of Large Language Models for large dataset qualitative classification, providing new methods to map protest narratives within contentious politics. This research contributes to understanding the adaptability of consociationalist regimes, illustrating how elite strategies can transform existential threats into opportunities for regimes.
ContributorsHarb, Jordan (Author) / Hanson, Margaret (Thesis director) / Ripley, Charles (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2025-05
Description
Music has remained a consistent aspect of human culture for hundreds of years. Although it has gained complexity over time, we continue to use it as a way to express emotions, tell stories, or convey a visual experience. The song “Misirlou” demonstrates all of these things and how music can transform across genres and decades. One part of this thesis discusses the historical background and cultural impact of “Misirlou”, while also breaking down the music theory behind each of its different arrangements. However, in order to understand something, it must be practiced. The second half explores an arrangement of this piece written for a university marching band. The music is not written by a student studying music theory, rather, their experience developed through extensive experience in marching band and independent arranging work. This thesis required the application of music theory concepts with both Western and non-Western cultures, ultimately highlighting music’s accessibility and its potential as a cross-cultural language, regardless of professional experience.
ContributorsMaris, Ana (Author) / Hudson, James (Thesis director) / Knox, Grant (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2025-05