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.
Within the pediatric hospitalization experience, fear and anxiety are two emotions commonly felt by children of all ages. Hospitalized children can greatly benefit from interventions designed to help them cope with these emotions throughout their medical experiences. This study draws on each of our clinical experiences as volunteers at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, and uses a qualitative analysis of three semi-structured interviews with currently employed Child Life Specialists to understand and analyze the use of medical play, a form of play intervention with a medical theme or medical equipment. We explore the goals and benefits of medical play for hospitalized pediatric patients, the process of using medical play as an intervention, including the activity design process, the assessments and adjustments made throughout the child’s hospitalization, and the considerations and limitations to implementing medical play activities. Ultimately, we found that the element of fun that defines play can be channeled into medical play activities implemented by skilled Child Life Specialists, who are experts in their field, in clinical settings to promote several different and beneficial goals, including pediatric patient coping.
Within the pediatric hospitalization experience, fear and anxiety are two emotions commonly felt by children of all ages. Hospitalized children can greatly benefit from interventions designed to help them cope with these emotions throughout their medical experiences. This study draws on each of our clinical experiences as volunteers at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, and uses a qualitative analysis of three semi-structured interviews with currently employed Child Life Specialists to understand and analyze the use of medical play, a form of play intervention with a medical theme or medical equipment. We explore the goals and benefits of medical play for hospitalized pediatric patients, the process of using medical play as an intervention, including the activity design process, the assessments and adjustments made throughout the child’s hospitalization, and the considerations and limitations to implementing medical play activities. Ultimately, we found that the element of fun that defines play can be channeled into medical play activities implemented by skilled Child Life Specialists, who are experts in their field, in clinical settings to promote several different and beneficial goals, including pediatric patient coping.
Methods: We have designed a multiplexed magnetics programmable bead ELISA (MagProBE) to profile the immune responses of the proteins from 11 high-risk HPV types and 2 low-risk types—106 genes in total. HPV genes were optimized for human expression and either built with PCR or commercially purchased, and cloned into the Gateway-compatible pANT7_cGST vector for in vitro transcription/translation (IVTT) in a MagProBE array. Anti-GST antibody (Ab) labeling was then used to measure gene expression.
Results: 53/106 (50%) HPV genes have been cloned and tested for expression of protein. 91% of HPV proteins expressed at levels above the background control (MFI = 2288), and the mean expression was MFI = 4318. Codon-optimized genes have also shown a 20% higher expression over non-codon optimized genes.
Conclusion: Although this research is ongoing, it suggests that gene optimization may improve IVTT expression of HPV proteins in human HeLa lysate. Once the remaining HPV proteins have been expression confirmed, the cDNA for each gene will be printed onto slides and tested in serologic assays to identify potential Ab biomarkers to CIN3.
We confirmed that the soluble protein MHC-A2.1 could be successfully attached to the Luminex magnetic beads and detected using the primary antibody anti-GST and the detection antibody goat mAb mouse PE. The average net MFI of the attached pA2.1-bead complex was 8182. Biotinylated A2.1 MHC complexes pre-folded with β2m and FLU M1 peptide (A2.1 monomers) were also successfully attached to Luminex magnetic beads and detected with BB7.2. The average net MFI of the detected A2.1 monmer-bead complexes was 318. The protein MHC complexes were multimerized on magnetic beads to create MHC tetramers and detected with BB7.2, PE labeled monoclonal antibody, via median fluorescent intensity with the Luminex platform. Varying protein, β2 microglobulin (β2m), and peptide concentrations were tested in a number of MHC-A2.1 protein refolding trials. Different antigenic peptides and attachment methods were also tested. However, none of the MHC-A2.1 protein folding and capture trials were successful. Although MHC-A2.1 complexes and recombinant MHC molecules could be attached to Luminex magnetic beads and be detected by Luminex arrays, soluble protein A2.1 could not be successfully expressed, refolded, captured onto Luminex beads, and detected. All refolding trials resulted in a net MFI of <25. The failed refolding and capture trials of A2.1 lead to the conclusion that human cell line HeLa lysate cannot be used to properly fold MHC molecules. However, efforts to refold the complexes onto Luminex magnetic beads are ongoing. We are also using the baculovirus expression system to refold soluble A2.1 lysate onto peptide-bead complexes.