Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
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.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 33
Description
This study focused on the connection between the EnvZ/OmpR two-component regulatory system and the iron homeostasis system in Escherichia coli, specifically how a mutant form of EnvZ11/OmpR is able to reduce the expression of fepA::lacZ, a reporter gene fusion in E. coli. FepA is one of several outer membrane siderophore receptors that allow extracellular siderophores bound to iron to enter the cells to power various biological processes. Previous studies have shown that in E. coli cells that expressed a mutant allele of envZ, called envZ11, which led to altered expression of various iron genes including down regulation of fepA::lacZ. The wild type EnvZ/OmpR system is not considered to regulate iron genes, but because these envz11 strains had downregulated fepA::lacZ, this study was undertaken to understand the connection and mechanisms of this downregulation. A large number of Lac+ revertants were obtained from the B32-2483 strain (envz11 and fepA::lacZ) and 7 Lac+ revertants that had reversion mutations not directly correcting the envZ11 allele were further characterized. With P1 phage transduction genetic mapping that involved moving a kanamycin resistance marker linked to fepA::lacZ, two Lac+ revertants were found to have their reversion mutations in the fepA promoter region, while the other five revertants had their mutations mapping outside the fepA region. These two revertants underwent DNA sequencing and found to carry two different single base pair mutations in two different locations of the fepA promoter region. Each one is in the Fur repressor binding region, but one also may have affected the Shine-Dalgarno region involved in translation initiation. All 7 reveratants underwent beta-galactosidase assays to measure fepA::lacZ expression. The two revertants that had mutations in the fepA promoter region had significantly increased fepA activity, with the revertant with the Shine-Dalgarno mutation having the most elevated fepA expression. The other 5 revertants that did not map in the fepA region had fepA expression elevated to the same level as that found in the wild type EnvZ/OmpR background. The data suggest that the negative effect of envZ11 can be overcome by multiple mechanisms, including directly correcting the envZ11 allele or changing the fepA promoter region.
ContributorsKalinkin, Victor Arkady (Co-author) / Misra, Rajeev (Co-author, Thesis director) / Mason, Hugh (Committee member) / Foy, Joseph (Committee member) / Biomedical Informatics Program (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Usually a medical website has a description, or overview, of the condition. Then there are different sections informing the viewer about the signs and symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment options. There are some resource links for families to explore, but there it provides more information rather than narration. What is lacking is a patient account or perspective on the given topic. This project suggests an added resource for parents and patients with its storytelling element that is irreplaceable. An example is also available using my own story growing up with hemifacial microsomia.
ContributorsCanales, Alicia Marie (Author) / Dixon, Kathleen (Thesis director) / Dodge, Nancie (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
Late life domestic violence is essentially synonymous with domestic violence except that it specifically refers to older adults. Although there are many similarities between younger victims and older victims, there are also distinct differences. Older victims have unique risk factors and barriers, including generational factors that stem from socialization. Unfortunately, society lacks awareness of late life domestic violence. This is reflected in current state statutes as well as the limited services provided to victims of domestic violence. For example, there are currently elder abuse or dependent abuse adult statutes in every state, yet there is no statute that specifically addresses late life domestic violence. When it comes to services, many programs are geared toward younger victims and staff is typically not trained to work with older victims, so older victims often do not get the resources they need. Yet about 1 in 10 women over the age of 50 experience abuse by an intimate partner. This is a prevalent issue needing more attention. To bring awareness and educate people on this topic, a user friendly website was created that will provide information on late life domestic violence, resources for victims, and ways to share the information with others. The website provides information that will educate people on this issue, and also promotes advocacy for older victims.
ContributorsGarcia, Brittany Nicole (Author) / Bonifas, Robin (Thesis director) / Dodge, Nancie (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Social Work (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
PHXmuraltour is an app for iPhone and Android that guides users through the plethora of mural art in downtown Phoenix. It can be found and downloaded from iTunes and the Android app store. Before the artists began drawing people downtown for events like First Fridays and ArtDetour during the 1980s, Phoenix was notorious for having a deserted city core. The art community brought life, color and vibrancy to the downtown landscape. The website giving more information about the project can be found at http://kristenhwang.com/PHX-mural-tour.html. This project aims to widen the reach of the mural art in downtown Phoenix. Public art has the unique ability to foster a conversation between people who may not think of themselves as art connoisseurs, but like all kinds of art the message can sometimes be mysterious to passersby. Many of the murals downtown portray Hispanic or Native American themes, make political statements, document historic events and people, or serve as visual spice. They are emblems of the values the downtown community identifies with--values like creativity, enterprise, civic responsibility and diversity. This project hopes to make these messages more prominent to people in downtown Phoenix. It is important for the students, workers, shop owners and residents downtown to have the opportunity to learn more about the mural art because the art community surrounding Roosevelt Row played an integral role in shaping the culture and texture of their daily lives.
ContributorsHwang, Kristen Lee Anne (Author) / Thornton, Leslie (Thesis director) / Dodge, Nancie (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Earth and Space Exploration (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
For my thesis project, I created a website, titled Noise + Heat, to serve as a guide to local music in the Phoenix area. The idea is that someone who is unfamiliar with Phoenix music can visit my site and easily be able to find the latest news, new music releases, live music venues, and be able to familiarize themselves with local artists. I designed and built the site in Adobe Edge Animate, and created all content. The website can be found at this link: www.noiseplusheat.com
ContributorsDinell, Sarah Constance (Author) / Jacoby, Jim (Thesis director) / Dodge, Nancie (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
Overexpression of AVP1 (Arabidopsis vacuolar pyrophosphatase), a type I H+ pyrophosphatase, results in greater biomass, possibly due to a function in sucrose transport within the phloem. Overexpression of the phloem lipid-associated family protein (PLAFP) was shown to increase the number of vascular bundles in Arabidopsis. Could these two phenotypes complement one another additively? In this work, double mutants overexpressing both AVP1 and PLAFP were characterized. These double mutants have enhanced biomass, greater leaf area, and a larger number of vascular bundles than the single mutant lines. Overexpression of PLAFP does not result in any increase in rhizosphere acidification capacity.
ContributorsWilson, Sean (Co-author) / Furstenau, Tara (Co-author) / Gaxiola, Roberto (Thesis director) / Mason, Hugh (Committee member) / Wojciechowski, Martin (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
In the 1950s-60s, the United States performed nuclear testing 60 miles north of Las Vegas. The prevailing winds carried radiation from those tests across the United States. It didn't take long for groups of people to begin developing cancer, possibly as a side effect of the testing. In 1990, Congress established a program to compensate downwind victims of the test site. But one portion of one county in Arizona was never compensated, despite the impact cancer had in the area. This documentary is their story. (Documentary and website accessible at downwinddocumentary.com)
ContributorsBoehm, Jessica Ann (Author) / Elliott, Steve (Thesis director) / Dodge, Nancie (Committee member) / Snyder, Brian (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
The purpose of this creative project is to make an E-Book that promotes time management for college students in a way that interests them. The author of this recognizes that there are many distractions to keep college students from sitting down and reading a textbook; that is why an E-Book featuring videos and interactive videos was chosen. The research questions presented below began my research and understanding of the topic. These questions are as follows: 1. What is a way to promote time management for college students? a) What are some mediums that will appeal to young people who want to do more than just read a book. 2. When figuring out how to manage their time, what are the areas of life students consider to be most important? 3. What perspectives to various facets of the world like, business, academia and the foreign community think about time management? 4. What perspective to millennials have on time management? By answering these questions above, the author hopes to understand what is good time management, and how to explore it in a way that will interest young people. The author is doing so by creating a series of narrative videos that he himself acted in portraying a fictitious student both engaging in and not practicing good time management techniques. The created nine videos, with three dedicated to a section each. The three sections were what students do wrong, how they can improve and how they can maintain their success. Within each section were three sub- sections that students must use time management skills for: mental techniques, physical well-being, and juggling work and personal commitments. See the attached documents (Appendix A) for a full collection of the scripts that were created for these videos. The author also created quizzes through the website Bookry, allowing him to make review questions for those reading the book. The quizzes were then made into widgets and inserted into the book. Each quiz was about 5 questions each and was at the end of each of the sub-sections, meaning there were 45 questions total. See the attached documents (Appendix B) for screenshots of each quiz question and the correct answer.
ContributorsCzajka, Jagger James (Author) / Silcock, Bill (Thesis director) / Rodriguez, Rick (Committee member) / Dodge, Nancie (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
DescriptionThe city of Siena is picturesque as an almost perfectly preserved medieval fortress in the heart of Tuscany. But the true beauty stems from its unique, family-oriented culture.
ContributorsPrice, Tea Francesca (Author) / Silcock, Bill (Thesis director) / Dell'Anna, Antonella (Committee member) / Dodge, Nancie (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
An English ballad several centuries old first introduced the world to a heroic outlaw named Robin Hood, who stole from the rich and gave to the poor. The theme is a familiar one and one that is currently playing out in the tale of Aereo and its founder; a modern day Robin Hood accused of stealing form the rich (television broadcast companies) and giving to the poor (consumers). This paper will explore Aereo, its founder Chet Kanojia and the legal battle between the broadcast networks and Aereo; look at the history of television and broadcasting, explore why Aereo was a threat to broadcast companies, examine the claims of legitimacy on both sides, review the Courts' rulings and finally make some predictions about Aereo's future and the future of technology, media and the law.
ContributorsFitzgerald, Darby Nicole (Author) / McGuire, Tim (Thesis director) / Dodge, Nancie (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor)
Created2015-05