ScholarWorks@UMassAmherst
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Recent Submissions
Publication Preventative medicine? Examining prophylactic effects of a sunflower pollen diet in Bombus impatiens ([Hymenoptera]: [Apidae])(University of Massachusetts, 2025)Widespread decline of pollinator populations is of concern for both natural and agricultural ecosystems. Pathogens have been identified as a major contributor to the decline of some bee species, making understanding host-pathogen dynamics a crucial area of research. Sunflower pollen (Helianthus annuus L.; Asterales: Asteraceae) dramatically and consistently reduces infection by a prevalent gut pathogen, Crithidia bombi Lipa & Triggiani 1988 (Kinetoplastida: Trypanosomatidae), in the common eastern bumble bee (Bombus impatiens Cresson 1863), when consumed by bees post-infection, but we do not know if sunflower can confer protection when consumed before exposure. We asked whether feeding bumble bees sunflower pollen diets prior to pathogen exposure decreases Crithidia infection compared to buckwheat pollen (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench; Polygonales: Polygonaceae). Buckwheat pollen was used as a comparison since it has a similar protein concentration as sunflower pollen, but results in higher Crithidia counts more comparable to typical wildflower pollen when consumed post-infection. Bumble bees were fed sunflower or buckwheat pollen for seven days, inoculated with Crithidia, and then fed a wildflower pollen control diet for seven more days before assessing infection. We found that consuming a sunflower pollen diet before inoculation did not reduce Crithidia cell counts compared to buckwheat pollen. Further, bumble bee survival and consumption of sucrose solution and pollen did not differ between these diets. The results show no evidence of sunflower pollen providing prophylactic resistance against Crithidia bombi infection, indicating that the timing at which sunflower pollen is consumed relative to exposure has important consequences for infection.Publication Identifying the Barriers and Facilitators of Physical Activity in Pre-Adolescent Boys of Color(2024-09)Physical activity (PA) is essential for promoting overall health and well-being in children. However, there is a significant gap in research regarding the PA levels of pre-adolescent African American and Hispanic pre-adolescent boys (aged 7 to 12 years). This developmental stage is critical for establishing lifelong health behaviors, as children are particularly impressionable and responsive to environmental influences. Despite the known benefits of PA, limited research has been conducted to identify the barriers and facilitators that affect African American and Hispanic boys' ability to engage in adequate levels of PA. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify the barriers and facilitators of PA among African American and Hispanic pre-adolescent boys, as well as to determine the components needed for an effective PA intervention. A total of three focus groups (one guardian focus group and two children focus groups) were conducted with eight guardian and son dyads. The first focus group took place during a parent night, where parents learned about the study, consented to have their sons participate in the study, and engaged in the focus group discussion. The subsequent two focus groups were scheduled specifically for the sons. After the focus groups were completed, the data were analyzed to identify barriers, facilitators, and components related to PA. Each focus group meeting was audio-taped and transcribed using Otter's automated transcription software (Otter Pro, Los Altos, CA). Two researchers simultaneously listened to the audio recordings while reviewing the transcripts to ensure accuracy and consistency. In cases of discrepancies, a third researcher reviewed the edits and the original transcripts to confirm data accuracy. Following the transcription process, the data were organized into categories: PA barriers, PA facilitators, and PA components. The study identified the main themes within each category. For barriers, guardians and sons noted environmental and personal determinants that hindered PA. As facilitators, guardians highlighted psychosocial factors and the importance of fun, while sons emphasized personal determinants, family support, and environmental influences. Regarding components for a PA intervention, guardians expressed the desire for organized sports and mentorship opportunities for their sons, while the sons requested afterschool programs that would allow for independence with adult supervision and the incorporation of homework tutoring as a reward for completing their assignments. Future studies should look into further exploring PA barriers and facilitators in a larger sample size with the ultimate aim of developing a PA intervention to help improve PA levels in African American and Hispanic pre-adolescent boys.Publication Investigating the Distal-to-Proximal Shift in Aging Gait(2024-09)Older adults exhibit hallmark declines in gait speed, step length, and ankle kinetics for reasons poorly understood. These age-related changes are thought to be precipitated by decreased mechanical output from the ankle plantar flexors. In order to compensate for these ankle deficits, it has been observed that older adults increase mechanical output at the hip, primarily through the hip extensors. This redistribution of lower limb joint work and power is termed the ‘Distal-to-Proximal Shift.’ However, not all older adults display this redistribution, and others have observed different compensatory actions such as increased hip flexor power. For those who have explored this phenomenon previously have done so through a limited lens by examining changes in gait mechanics and muscle morphology separately. Thus, the first aim of this thesis is to identify age-related differences in muscle volume and fat fraction of the plantar flexors in young and older adults. The second aim of this work is to determine differences in lower limb gait mechanics in both young and older adults. Therefore, this thesis strives to implement a more holistic approach by combining overground gait, dynamometry, and MRI to attempt to elucidate the factors contributing to the ‘Distal-to-Proximal Shift’ in older adult gait. For age-related differences in muscle morphology, muscle volume differences were found in the in the medial gastrocnemius, where older adults had a smaller muscle volume. Furthermore, older adults displayed smaller maximum cross-sectional areas in the gastrocnemii, and older males had a smaller soleus muscle volume and cross-sectional area, but not older females. There were no differences in plantar flexor MVIC, specific torque, peak plantar flexion moment, peak ankle power, and total positive ankle work between young and older adults, suggesting that the older adults included here had youthful retention of their ankle function. However, older adults still displayed greater total positive hip work and redistribution ratio compared to young adults, implicating that they had a greater reliance on the hip musculature for propulsion. This increased reliance on the hip musculature may have negative implications on the metabolic cost of walking in the aging population.Publication Self-narration, Prefrontal Cortex Functional Connectivity, and Psychopathology in Early Childhood Development(2024-09)Self-narration is the universal experience of talking to oneself mentally or verbally, in order to process and interpret the world. In response to emotional challenges, emotional self-narration is a crucial tool one uses to regulate and make sense of one’s emotions and the inability to successfully regulate and express one’s emotions is at the forefront of a myriad of disorders. While most of the literature examining self-narration has focused on adolescents and adults, little attention has been given to the development of this crucial skill, the neural networks that support it, and its relation to early symptoms of psychopathology, particularly in young children. The goal of the present study was to examine the relation between psychopathology symptoms and emotional self-narratives, as well as the interplay between simultaneous prefrontal cortex functional connectivity and emotional self-narration skill in preschool age children. Fifty-three children aged 3 to 5 completed two cartoon self-narration tasks while lateral prefrontal cortex (lPFC) data was recorded via functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). fNIRS data was used to calculate lPFC functional connectivity and children’s responses were coded using criteria that examined emotional content and complexity within self-narratives. Early symptoms of psychopathology were examined using parent questionnaires. Children who expressed more emotional narratives had lower levels of psychopathology, while children who expressed less complex and emotionless narratives had higher levels of psychopathology and decreased lPFC functional connectivity. Our findings suggest that the link between self-narratives and psychopathology in early childhood may be a possible etiological factor in early psychopathology. Our findings also suggest that underlying neural mechanisms may indicate potential abnormal neural patterns that contribute to children’s difficulty in expressing emotional self-narrations.Publication Commodifying Return: The Political Economy of Tourism and Heritage Tours for Chinese Transnational Adoptees(2024-09)The long-standing practice of U.S.-Chinese transnational adoption, especially during the late 20th century, cannot be disimbricated from critical discussions of the political economy, market logic, and the rhetorical decision to describe this process as benevolent. This project will investigate the commodification of U.S.-Chinese transnational adoption networks, the tourism industry surrounding return trips, and the exploitation of adoptees themselves. By analyzing shifting parental practices from U.S.-Korean transnational adoption to U.S.-Chinese adoption practices, it reveals how governments and other various organizations create more of an emotional investment into adoptees to engender a desire to return to China. Inflected by the works of scholars such as Kimberly McKee and Sara Dorow, I intend to engage in unconventional archival material (such as tour guide websites, adoptive parent forums) and documentaries in order to bring light to this specific interplay between the political economy, the transnational adoption industrial complex, and Chinese adoptees within the United States. This research will contribute to a dearth of knowledge regarding the commodification of return to China for adoptees and how these various organizations continue to invest in the market of transnational adoption.
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