Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection

For those families that rely on food banks as their main source of groceries for the week, it is not uncommon for the parents or children to not know how to prepare the ingredients in a way that can provide as much nutritional value as possible. A cookbook with a collection of recipes that specialize in using ingredients commonly found in food banks would be one way to help improve the physical and mental health of families while also teaching children how to cook and prepare nutritious meals at home. I was inspired to create these recipes because I wanted to work with food banks and pantries to help educate their clients about healthy eating and cooking techniques. I wanted to show families that they can cook various meals using many of the same ingredients in different ways. I also wanted to develop recipes that encourage children to cook, become more familiar with different food items, and improve their relationship with food since a significant portion of clients are children, meaning they grow up relying on the ingredients food banks offer. After finding out which recipes and other nutritional aid programs currently exist, I spoke with a few different food banks to learn what types of food are typically distributed from food banks. From there, I drafted a list of recipes, worked with AZ Health Zone to analyze the nutrients for each recipe, and revised the recipes to better meet the nutrition standards of AZ Health Zone. As of now, a handful of food pantries, including the AZ Health Zone, agreed to share my total of 9 recipes (in English and Spanish) with their clients.

Dyslexia is a learning disability that negatively affects reading, writing, and spelling development at the word level in 5%-9% of children. The phenotype is variable and complex, involving several potential cognitive and physical concomitants such as sensory dysregulation and immunodeficiencies. The biological pathogenesis is not well-understood. Toward a better understanding of the biological drivers of dyslexia, we conducted the first joint exome and metabolome investigation in a pilot sample of 30 participants with dyslexia and 13 controls. In the metabolite analysis, eight metabolites of interest emerged (pyridoxine, kynurenic acid, citraconic acid, phosphocreatine, hippuric acid, xylitol, 2-deoxyuridine, and acetylcysteine). A metabolite-metabolite interaction analysis identified Krebs cycle intermediates that may be implicated in the development of dyslexia. Gene ontology analysis based on exome variants resulted in several pathways of interest, including the sensory perception of smell (olfactory) and immune system-related responses. In the joint exome and metabolite analysis, the olfactory transduction pathway emerged as the primary pathway of interest. Although the olfactory transduction and Krebs cycle pathways have not previously been described in the dyslexia literature, these pathways have been implicated in other neurodevelopmental disorders including autism spectrum disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder, suggesting the possibility of these pathways playing a role in dyslexia as well. Immune system response pathways, on the other hand, have been implicated in both dyslexia and other neurodevelopmental disorders.

Disparities in fruit and vegetable consumption in the United States is widely recognized. There are various factors that play a role in these disparities. The basis of this research project was to identify disparities in the total number of fruits and vegetables promoted at various grocery store chains, representative of varying income levels and racial/ethnic groups in the Phoenix Metro Area.

Conversations between immigrant parents and their Americanized children are often difficult conversations to approach. Children are expected to know what they want to do with the rest of their lives from a young age. Sometimes, what the child wants to do does not align with what their parents want them to do. It is hard to approach those conversations about pursuing higher education, especially when the response is an unknown variable. This research study aims to determine how those conversations about higher education were viewed from the standpoint of the young adult child. It investigates young adults whose ages span from 18 to 24 and how those conversations they had when they were younger impacted who they became. Using data collected from twelve interviewees whose gender, age, and ethnicity varied, this study examines specific instances in those conversations about higher education between the young adult and their immigrant parents and the main factors behind some shared experiences. I discuss those factors, as well as limitations within the study, and provide future direction recommendations.

This thesis/creative project is a guide for other universities to follow in making their campuses more inclusive and accessible via maps. This guide will be offered in different formats (ex – PDF, a website, audio, etc.) to accommodate the disabled community. Hopefully, this guide will serve as inspiration and starting point for universities around the country to better the college experience for all.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether an innovative injury prevention program based on the FIFA 11+ for soft tissue injuries increased the participation and engagement levels of children aged between 10-14 years old. The innovative injury prevention program consisted of FIFA 11+ activations turned into fun, recess-like, games. This was also considered a gamification of the FIFA 11+. Current research about the FIFA 11+ lacks studies that seek to understand the low engagement levels in injury prevention programs although they have been proven to be effective. This study conducted a five-week injury prevention program that was built in association with Dr. Cory. After every session, the participants were asked to fill out a five-minute survey where they were asked about their engagement levels during the session and if they would want to participate in the future. The data was collected via the Survey Monkey platform. The major findings of the study were that the participants enjoyed the program and the majority wanted to participate again in future sessions. It can be concluded that turning the FIFA 11+ exercises into fun, recess-like games results in increased engagement levels in the injury prevention program.