Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.

Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.

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Description
Diabetes is a growing epidemic in developing countries, specifically in rural Kenya. In addition to the high cost of glucose testing, many diabetics in Kenya do not understand the importance of testing their blood glucose, let alone the nature of the disease. This project addresses the insufficiency of educational materials

Diabetes is a growing epidemic in developing countries, specifically in rural Kenya. In addition to the high cost of glucose testing, many diabetics in Kenya do not understand the importance of testing their blood glucose, let alone the nature of the disease. This project addresses the insufficiency of educational materials regarding diabetes in rural Kenya. The resulting documents can easily be adjusted for use in other developing countries.
ContributorsBuchak, Jacqueline (Author) / Caplan, Michael (Thesis director) / Snyder, Jan (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor)
Created2014-05
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Description

The purpose of this study, which was done in conjunction with the Arizona Heart Foundation, was to evaluate whether pyridoxine accelerates ulcer wound healing in diabetic patients with ulcers in the lower extremities. In this study, 100 mg of pyridoxine per day was given to patients in the experimental grou

The purpose of this study, which was done in conjunction with the Arizona Heart Foundation, was to evaluate whether pyridoxine accelerates ulcer wound healing in diabetic patients with ulcers in the lower extremities. In this study, 100 mg of pyridoxine per day was given to patients in the experimental group (while they receive normal wound treatment) while patients in the control group received normal treatment of wounds without the pyridoxine. Over time, wound healing was evaluated by photographing and then measuring the size of patients' ulcer wounds on the photographs. Results from the experimental group were compared with those of the control group to evaluate the efficacy of the pyridoxine treatment. In addition, comparisons of the healing rates were made with respect to whether the patients smoked, had hypertension or hypotension, and the patients' body mass indexes. It has been found that there was no statistically significant difference in the mean healing rates between the control groups and experimental groups. In addition, it has been found that smoking, BMI and blood pressure did not have a statistically appreciable effect on the difference in mean healing rates between the control and experimental groups. This is evidence that pyridoxine did not have a statistically significant effect on wound healing rates.

ContributorsHaupt, Shawn Anthony (Author) / Caplan, Michael (Thesis director) / Pauken, Christine (Committee member) / Pagan, Pedro (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
Introduction: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a significant health problem in the United States, with over 20 million adults diagnosed with the condition. Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, characterized by insulin resistance, in particular has been associated with various adverse conditions such as chronic kidney disease and peripheral artery disease. The presence

Introduction: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a significant health problem in the United States, with over 20 million adults diagnosed with the condition. Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, characterized by insulin resistance, in particular has been associated with various adverse conditions such as chronic kidney disease and peripheral artery disease. The presence of Type 2 Diabetes in an individual is also associated with various risk factors such as genetic markers and ethnicity. Native Americans, in particular, are more susceptible to Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, with Native Americans having over two times the likelihood to present with Type 2 DM than non Hispanic whites. Of worry is the Pima Indian population in Arizona, which has the highest prevalence of Type 2 DM in the world. There have been many risk factors associated with the population such as genetic markers and lifestyle changes, but there has not been much research on the utilization of raw data to find the most pertinent factors for diabetes incidence.

Objective: There were three main objectives of the study. One objective was to elucidate potential new relationships via linear regression. Another objective was to determine which factors were indicative of Type 2 DM in the population. Finally, the last objective was to compare the incidence of Type 2 DM in the dataset to trends seen elsewhere.

Methods: The dataset was uploaded from an open source site with citation onto Python. The dataset, created in 1990, was composed of 768 female patients across 9 different attributes (Number of Pregnancies, Plasma Glucose Levels, Systolic Blood Pressure, Triceps Skin Thickness, Insulin Levels, BMI, Diabetes Pedigree Function, Age and Diabetes Presence (0 or 1)). The dataset was then cleaned using mean or median imputation. Post cleaning, linear regression was done to assess the relationships between certain factors in the population and assessed via the probability statistic for significance, with the exclusion of the Diabetes Pedigree Function and Diabetes Presence. Reverse stepwise logistic regression was used to determine the most pertinent factors for Type 2 DM via the Akaike Information Criterion and through the statistical significance in the model. Finally, data from the Center of Disease Control (CDC) Diabetes Surveillance was assessed for relationships with Female DM Percenatge in Pinal County through Obesity or through Physical Inactivity via simple logistic regression for statistical significance.

Results: The majority of the relationships found were statistically significant with each other. The most pertinent factors of Type 2 DM in the dataset were the number of pregnancies, the plasma glucose levels as well as the Blood Pressure. Via the USDS Data from the CDC, the relationships between Female DM Percentage and the obesity and inactivity percentages were statistically significant.

Conclusion: The trends found in the study matched the trends found in the literature. Per the results, recommendations for better diabetes control include more medical education as well as better blood sugar monitoring.With more analysis, there can be more done for checking other factors such as genetic factors and epidemiological analysis. In conclusion, the study accomplished its main objectives.
ContributorsKondury, Kasyap Krishna (Author) / Scotch, Matthew (Thesis director) / Aliste, Marcela (Committee member) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
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Description
Type II diabetes is a serious, chronic metabolic disease that has serious impacts on both the health and quality of life in patients diagnosed with the disease. Type II diabetes is also a very prevalent disease both in the United States and around the world. There is still a lot

Type II diabetes is a serious, chronic metabolic disease that has serious impacts on both the health and quality of life in patients diagnosed with the disease. Type II diabetes is also a very prevalent disease both in the United States and around the world. There is still a lot that is unknown about Type II diabetes, and this study will aim to answer some of these questions. The question posed in this study is whether insulin resistance changes as a function of time after the start of a high fat diet. We hypothesized that peripheral insulin resistance would be observed in animals placed on a high fat diet; and peripheral insulin resistance would have a positive correlation with time. In order to test the hypotheses, four Sprague-Dawley male rats were placed on a high fat diet for 8 weeks, during which time they were subjected to three intraperitonal insulin tolerance tests ((NovoLogTM 1 U/kg). These three tests were conducted at baseline (week 1), week 4, and week 8 of the high fat diet. The test consisted of serially determining plasma glucose levels via a pin prick methodology, and exposing a droplet of blood to the test strip of a glucometer (ACCUCHEKTM, Roche Diagnostics). Two plasma glucose baselines were taken, and then every 15 minutes following insulin injection for one hour. Glucose disposal rates were then calculated by simply dividing the glucose levels at each time point by the baseline value, and multiplying by 100. Area under the curve data was calculated via definite integral. The area under the curve data was then subjected to a single analysis of variance (ANOVA), with a statistical significance threshold of p<0.05. The results of the study did not indicate the development of peripheral insulin resistance in the animals placed on a high fat diet. Insulin-mediated glucose disposal was about 50% at 30 minutes in all four animals, during all three testing periods. Furthermore, the ANOVA resulted in p=0.92, meaning that the data was not statistically significant. In conclusion, peripheral insulin resistance was not observed in the animals, meaning no determination could be made on the relation between time and insulin resistance.
ContributorsBrown, Kellen Andrew (Author) / Caplan, Michael (Thesis director) / Herman, Richard (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05