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 48
Description
Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths of women in the united states. Traditionally, Breast cancer is predominantly treated by a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. However, due to the significant negative side effects associated with these traditional treatments, there has been substantial efforts to develop alternative therapies to treat cancer. One such alternative therapy is a peptide-based therapeutic cancer vaccine. Therapeutic cancer vaccines enhance an individual's immune response to a specific tumor. They are capable of doing this through artificial activation of tumor specific CTLs (Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes). However, in order to artificially activate tumor specific CTLs, a patient must be treated with immunogenic epitopes derived from their specific cancer type. We have identified that the tumor associated antigen, TPD52, is an ideal target for a therapeutic cancer vaccine. This designation was due to the overexpression of TPD52 in a variety of different cancer types. In order to start the development of a therapeutic cancer vaccine for TPD52-related cancers, we have devised a two-step strategy. First, we plan to create a list of potential TPD52 epitopes by using epitope binding and processing prediction tools. Second, we plan to attempt to experimentally identify MHC class I TPD52 epitopes in vitro. We identified 942 potential 9 and 10 amino acid epitopes for the HLAs A1, A2, A3, A11, A24, B07, B27, B35, B44. These epitopes were predicted by using a combination of 3 binding prediction tools and 2 processing prediction tools. From these 942 potential epitopes, we selected the top 50 epitopes ranked by a combination of binding and processing scores. Due to the promiscuity of some predicted epitopes for multiple HLAs, we ordered 38 synthetic epitopes from the list of the top 50 epitope. We also performed a frequency analysis of the TPD52 protein sequence and identified 3 high volume regions of high epitope production. After the epitope predictions were completed, we proceeded to attempt to experimentally detected presented TPD52 epitopes. First, we successful transduced parental K562 cells with TPD52. After transduction, we started the optimization process for the immunoprecipitation protocol. The optimization of the immunoprecipitation protocol proved to be more difficult than originally believed and was the main reason that we were unable to progress past the transduction of the parental cells. However, we believe that we have identified the issues and will be able to complete the experiment in the coming months.
ContributorsWilson, Eric Andrew (Author) / Anderson, Karen (Thesis director) / Borges, Chad (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Introduction: Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is seen in up to 90% of cases of cervical cancer, the third leading cancer cause of death in women. Current HPV screening focuses on only two HPV types and covers roughly 75% of HPV-associated cervical cancers. A protein based assay to test for antibody biomarkers against 98 HPV antigens from both high and low risk types could provide an inexpensive and reliable method to screen for patients at risk of developing invasive cervical cancer. Methods: 98 codon optimized, commercially produced HPV genes were cloned into the pANT7_cGST vector, amplified in a bacterial host, and purified for mammalian expression using in vitro transcription/translation (IVTT) in a luminescence-based RAPID ELISA (RELISA) assay. Monoclonal antibodies were used to determine immune cross-reactivity between phylogenetically similar antigens. Lastly, several protein characteristics were examined to determine if they correlated with protein expression. Results: All genes were successfully moved into the destination vector and 86 of the 98 genes (88%) expressed protein at an adequate level. A difference was noted in expression by gene across HPV types but no correlation was found between protein size, pI, or aliphatic index and expression. Discussion: Further testing is needed to express the remaining 12 HPV genes. Once all genes have been successfully expressed and purified at high concentrations, DNA will be printed on microscope slides to create a protein microarray. This microarray will be used to screen HPV-positive patient sera for antibody biomarkers that may be indicative of cervical cancer and precancerous cervical neoplasias.
ContributorsMeshay, Ian Matthew (Author) / Anderson, Karen (Thesis director) / Magee, Mitch (Committee member) / Katchman, Benjamin (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Background: Measles virus (MV) infections are the main cause of vaccine-preventable death in children younger than 5 years. The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated there are over 20 million cases of measles every year. Currently, diagnostic methods rely on enzyme immunoassays (EIA) to detect IgM or IgG Abs in serum. These commercial assays measure reactivity against the immunodominant N antigen and can have a false negative rates of 20-30%. Centralized testing by clinical labs can delay rapid screening in an outbreak setting. This study aims to develop a rapid molecular diagnostic assay to detect IgG reactive to five individual MV proteins representing 85% of the measles proteome. Methods: MV genes were subcloned into pANT_cGST vector to generate C-terminal GST fusion proteins. Single MV cistrons were expressed using in vitro transcription/translation (IVTT) with human cell lysate. Expression of GST-tagged proteins was measured using a sandwich ELISA for GST expression using relative light units (RLUs) as readouts. Single MV antigens were used as bait to determine the IgG-dependent reactivity in 12 serum samples obtained from immunized animals with previously determined neutralization titer (NT) and the correlation between NT and ELISA reactivity was determined. Results: Protein expression of five measles genes of interest, M, N, F, H, and L, was measured. L exhibited the strongest protein expression with an average RLU value of 4.34 x 10^9. All proteins were expressed at least 50% greater than control (2.33 x 10^7 RLU). As expected, reactivity against the N was the highest, followed by reactivity against M, F, H and L. The best correlation with NT titer was reactivity against F (R^2 = 0.62). Conclusion: These data indicate that the expression of single MV genes M, N, F, H, and L are suitable antigens for serologic capture analysis of measles immunity.
ContributorsMushtaq, Zuena (Author) / Anderson, Karen (Thesis director) / Reyes del Valle, Jorge (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the cause of 99.7% of cervical cancers. Research of cervical cancer has made this disease mostly curable in the developing world. Head and neck cancer, which is increasingly caused by HPV, still is associated with a mortality rate of 50,000 in the US annually. This study proposed to evaluate the biology of HPV-16 in head and neck tumors by using RT-qPCR to measure the RNA expression and its relation to physical status of the virus. Methods: This study was to develop an assay that uses RT-qPCR to determine the quantitative expression of HPV-16 RNA coding for proteins E1, E2, E4, E5, E6, and E7 in tumor samples. The assay development started with creation of primers. It went on to test the primers on template DNA through traditional PCR and then on DNA from HPV-16 positive cell lines, SiHa and CaSki, using RT-qPCR. This paper also describes the troubleshooting methods taken for the PCR reaction. Once the primers are verified, the RT-qPCR process can be carried out on RNA purified from tumor samples. Results: No primer sets have been confirmed to produce a product through PCR or RT-qPCR. The primer sequences match up correctly with known sequences for HPV-16 E1, E2, E4, E5, E6, and E7. RT-qPCR showed results consistent with the hypothesis. Conclusion: The RT-qPCR protocol must be optimized to confirm the primer sequences work as desired. Then primers will be used to study physical status and RNA expression in HPV-positive and HPV-negative head and neck tumor samples. This assay can help shed light on which proteins are expressed most in tumors of the head and neck and will aid in the development of future screening and treatment options.
ContributorsKhazanovich, Jakob (Author) / Anderson, Karen (Thesis director) / Mangone, Marco (Committee member) / Sundaresan, Sri Krishna (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Civilian publics at large internalize death and killing in wartime as a given; after all, what is war if not fighting and dying? There exist popularized notions of “rules of war,” as put by a 2014 BBC ethics piece that accepted the notion “that soldiers must be prepared to put their own lives at risk in order to limit civilian casualties.” Here there is no denial that combatants kill and die in war. Yet in another sense, the public sanitizes the permanent reality of death and killing—it constructs careful euphemisms and erects psychological barriers that allow the perpetuation of violence without emotionally confronting the brutal reality of the battlefield. In spite of such concentrated cultural efforts at reconceptualization of death and killing, however, the soldiers and combatants who actually engage in this behavior irrevocably come face-to-face with the reality of death and killing in wartime. It is the “[i]ntimate acts of killing in war,” such as those “committed by historical subjects imbued with language, emotion, and desire” that necessarily challenge and threaten culturally-constructed sterilized preconceptions of deadly violence; still, as Joanna Bourke argues, “[k]illing in wartime is inseparable from wider social and cultural concerns.”
To this end, a war that involves not only the physical intimacy of killing but also mortal struggles between cultures and ideologies arguably complicates the extent to and manner by which individual combatants engage in such behavior. No war fulfills these criteria so cleanly as World War II—it was a conflict that cost more people their lives than any war before, and as a global conflict, it brought vastly differing perspectives of death and killing to the battlefield. World War II represented not simply a struggle for national-ideological survival (though that it clearly was), but more importantly a struggle for the retention of the self through identity.
To this end, a war that involves not only the physical intimacy of killing but also mortal struggles between cultures and ideologies arguably complicates the extent to and manner by which individual combatants engage in such behavior. No war fulfills these criteria so cleanly as World War II—it was a conflict that cost more people their lives than any war before, and as a global conflict, it brought vastly differing perspectives of death and killing to the battlefield. World War II represented not simply a struggle for national-ideological survival (though that it clearly was), but more importantly a struggle for the retention of the self through identity.
ContributorsLondono, Marlon William (Author) / Niebuhr, Robert (Thesis director) / Strand, Daniel (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12
Description
Cancer poses a significant burden on the global health system and represents a leading cause of death worldwide. For late-stage cancers, the traditional treatments of chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery are not always viable, and they can pose unnecessary health risks to the patients. New immunotherapies, such as adoptive cell transfer, are being developed and refined to treat such cancers. T cell immunotherapies in particular, where a patient’s T cell lymphocytes are isolated and amplified to be re-infused into the patient or where human cell lines are engineered to express T cell receptors for the recognition of common cancer antigens, are being expanded on because for some cancers, they could be the only option. Constructing an optimal pipeline for cloning and expression of antigen-specific TCRs has significant bearing on the efficacy of engineered cell lines for ACT. Adoptive T cell transfer, while making great strides, has to overcome a diverse T cell repertoire – cloning and expressing antigen-specific TCRs can mediate this understanding. Having identified the high frequency FluM1-specific TCR sequences in stimulated donor PBMCs, it was hypothesized that the antigen-specific TCR could be reconstructed via Gateway cloning methods and tested for expression and functionality. Establishing this pipeline would confirm an ability to properly pair and express the heterodimeric chains. In the context of downstream applications, neoantigens would be used to stimulate T cells, the α and β chains would be paired via single-cell or bulk methods, and instead of Gateway cloning, the CDR3 hypervariable regions α and β chains alone would be co-expressed using Golden Gate assembly methods.
ContributorsHirneise, Gabrielle Rachel (Author) / Anderson, Karen (Thesis director) / Mason, Hugh (Committee member) / Hariadi, Hugh (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor, Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
I argue that the relationship between the United States and Israel has harmed the United States, the Palestinians, and the rest of the Middle East. For the United States section, I support this argument by discussing the corruption of AIPAC, national debt, anti-American sentiment in the Middle East, NSA spying and surveillance and the effects of the Iraq War. For the Palestinian section, I support this argument by discussing how the war crimes committed against the Palestinians are done with weapons supplied to Israel by the United States. Lastly, I go over how the rest of the Middle East is harmed by this by discussing how the Iraq War has affected the Iraqis there and how the Libyan regime change affected the people in Libya.
ContributorsPappusetti, Vamsi Krishna (Author) / Niebuhr, Robert (Thesis director) / Ahmad, Omaya (Committee member) / Rothenberg, Daniel (Committee member) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor, Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Within the hotel industry, customers come first. Their satisfaction drives revenue and drives the industry forward. With the updates in technology, new Consumer Relationship Management (CRM) databases are being implemented to aggregate customer reviews into a single platform that is analyzed and creates policies to help increase overall satisfaction. Hotels are ranked within all customer review sites such as Trip Advisor and Yelp and the higher the scores and the rank, the more these review sites promote these establishments, and the more customers book at this hotel. Therefore, customer reviews directly affect the revenue of a hotel. A hotel with low scores and low customer satisfaction will not entice guests to book. This new era of technology and customer driven revenue is the motivator behind Hilton’s creation of the SALT database. This Satisfaction and Loyalty Tracking database helps improve loyalty within the Hilton brands.
This paper examines the overall use of CRM systems and then examines the property level satisfaction metrics that can be found on SALT. The two metrics that the individual property could have the most effect on with the lowest budget were determined to be Digital Key and Digital Check-In, which make up the Digital Platform. This Digital Platform is accessed through the Hilton Honors app, which is a loyalty program created by Hilton. There are four tiers of Honors Members within the loyalty program: Blue, Silver, Gold, and Diamond. Blue members make up most of the membership base in general, however, at the local property examined, 60% of all guests are Gold and Diamond. Therefore, the research done within this paper focuses on improving overall Digital Platform satisfaction of Gold and Diamond members who are key business travelers that bring in revenue to the specific property examine.
The research collected for this project was done through observations of guests from the perspective of a Front Desk Agent, interviews with guests, analysis of SALT scores and guest reviews, and firsthand experiences of using Digital Key at local competitors of the local property. Through these analyses, the main problems that were compiled were internet connectivity, confusing property layout, Digital Key allotment and activation, technological issues with the Digital Key and hardware at the property, Digital Check-In and room selection, and negative reception of Hilton Honors Members. The solutions that were suggested focus on excellent customer service, increased training of Front Desk Agents regarding Digital Platform and Hilton Honors recognition, adding wi-fi routers throughout the hotel, adding Hilton Honors stickers to entrances, adding digital reader maps, and having the Director of Front Office Operations ensure that they are updating the Digital Platform frequently with rooms for members to choose.
This paper examines the overall use of CRM systems and then examines the property level satisfaction metrics that can be found on SALT. The two metrics that the individual property could have the most effect on with the lowest budget were determined to be Digital Key and Digital Check-In, which make up the Digital Platform. This Digital Platform is accessed through the Hilton Honors app, which is a loyalty program created by Hilton. There are four tiers of Honors Members within the loyalty program: Blue, Silver, Gold, and Diamond. Blue members make up most of the membership base in general, however, at the local property examined, 60% of all guests are Gold and Diamond. Therefore, the research done within this paper focuses on improving overall Digital Platform satisfaction of Gold and Diamond members who are key business travelers that bring in revenue to the specific property examine.
The research collected for this project was done through observations of guests from the perspective of a Front Desk Agent, interviews with guests, analysis of SALT scores and guest reviews, and firsthand experiences of using Digital Key at local competitors of the local property. Through these analyses, the main problems that were compiled were internet connectivity, confusing property layout, Digital Key allotment and activation, technological issues with the Digital Key and hardware at the property, Digital Check-In and room selection, and negative reception of Hilton Honors Members. The solutions that were suggested focus on excellent customer service, increased training of Front Desk Agents regarding Digital Platform and Hilton Honors recognition, adding wi-fi routers throughout the hotel, adding Hilton Honors stickers to entrances, adding digital reader maps, and having the Director of Front Office Operations ensure that they are updating the Digital Platform frequently with rooms for members to choose.
ContributorsRezac, Cassandra Rose (Author) / Niebuhr, Robert (Thesis director) / McWilliams, Claire (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Patients diagnosed with GBM, a highly migratory, heterogeneous, rapidly growing primary adult brain tumor are faced with a dismal prognosis. Recent research has shed light on cell-survival pathways that are induced after the DNA-damage response induced by TMZ. Autophagy, a major catabolic process meant to degrade damaged organelles and large misfolded proteins, has recently been shown to be activated by TMZ. However, a precise mechanism has not yet been determined. T98G cells treated with TMZ showed significant induction of unfolded protein response (UPR) markers such as GRP78, and LC3-II expression, indicating increased autophagosome formation. Additional experiments have used the autophagic inhibitor Bafilomycin A1 (Baf) to determine that autophagic flux is induced, supporting the conclusion that UPR induction by TMZ induces autophagy. Combination treatments with PI3K inhibitors PX-866 and BEZ235 with Baf as a means to shut down two critical mechanisms of GBM cell survival were explored in this research. PX-866 was found to inhibit autophagy, while BEZ235, was found to induce autophagy. The differential modulation of autophagy by these PI3K inhibitors offers new knowledge for utilizing more effective drug combinations to treat GBM and improve patient survival.
ContributorsSodoma, Andrej Michael (Author) / Anderson, Karen (Thesis director) / Hecht, Sidney (Committee member) / Nhan, Tran L. (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Background: Recent interests in continuous biomonitoring and the surge of wearable biotechnology demand a better understanding of sweat as a noninvasive biomarker resource. The ability to use sweat as a biofluid provides the opportunity for noninvasive early and continuous diagnostics. This thesis serves to help fill the existing knowledge gap in sweat biomarker discovery and applications.
Experimental Design: In part one of this study, exercise-induced eccrine sweat was collected from 50 healthy individuals and analyzed using mass spectrometry, protein microarrays, and quantitative ELISAs to identify a broad range of proteins, antibody isotypes, and cytokines in sweat. In part two of this study, cortisol and melatonin levels were analyzed in exercise-induced sweat and plasma samples collected from 22 individuals.
Results: 220 unique proteins were identified by shotgun analysis in pooled sweat samples. Detectable antibody isotypes include IgA (100% positive; median 1230 ± 28 700 pg/mL), IgD (18%; 22.0 ± 119 pg/mL), IgG1 (96%;1640 ± 6750 pg/mL), IgG2 (37%; 292 ± 6810 pg/mL), IgG3 (71%;74.0 ± 119 pg/mL), IgG4 (69%; 43.0 ± 42.0 pg/mL), and IgM (41%;69.0 ± 1630 pg/mL). Of 42 cytokines, three were readily detected in all sweat samples (p<0.01). The median concentration for interleukin-1α was 352 ± 521 pg/mL, epidermal growth factor was 86.5 ± 147 pg/mL, and angiogenin was 38.3 ± 96.3 pg/mL. Multiple other cytokines were detected at lower levels. The median and standard deviation of cortisol was determined to be 4.17 ± 11.1 ng/mL in sweat and 76.4 ± 28.8 ng/mL in plasma. The correlation between sweat and plasma cortisol levels had an R-squared value of 0.0802 (excluding the 2 highest sweat cortisol levels). The median and standard deviation of melatonin was determined to be 73.1 ± 198 pg/mL in sweat and 194 ± 93.4 pg/mL in plasma. Similar to cortisol, the correlation between sweat and plasma melatonin had an R-squared value of 0.117.
Conclusion: These studies suggest that sweat holds more proteomic and hormonal biomarkers than previously thought and may eventually serve as a noninvasive biomarker resource. These studies also highlight many of the challenges associated with monitoring sweat content including differences between collection devices and hydration, evaporation losses, and sweat rate.
Experimental Design: In part one of this study, exercise-induced eccrine sweat was collected from 50 healthy individuals and analyzed using mass spectrometry, protein microarrays, and quantitative ELISAs to identify a broad range of proteins, antibody isotypes, and cytokines in sweat. In part two of this study, cortisol and melatonin levels were analyzed in exercise-induced sweat and plasma samples collected from 22 individuals.
Results: 220 unique proteins were identified by shotgun analysis in pooled sweat samples. Detectable antibody isotypes include IgA (100% positive; median 1230 ± 28 700 pg/mL), IgD (18%; 22.0 ± 119 pg/mL), IgG1 (96%;1640 ± 6750 pg/mL), IgG2 (37%; 292 ± 6810 pg/mL), IgG3 (71%;74.0 ± 119 pg/mL), IgG4 (69%; 43.0 ± 42.0 pg/mL), and IgM (41%;69.0 ± 1630 pg/mL). Of 42 cytokines, three were readily detected in all sweat samples (p<0.01). The median concentration for interleukin-1α was 352 ± 521 pg/mL, epidermal growth factor was 86.5 ± 147 pg/mL, and angiogenin was 38.3 ± 96.3 pg/mL. Multiple other cytokines were detected at lower levels. The median and standard deviation of cortisol was determined to be 4.17 ± 11.1 ng/mL in sweat and 76.4 ± 28.8 ng/mL in plasma. The correlation between sweat and plasma cortisol levels had an R-squared value of 0.0802 (excluding the 2 highest sweat cortisol levels). The median and standard deviation of melatonin was determined to be 73.1 ± 198 pg/mL in sweat and 194 ± 93.4 pg/mL in plasma. Similar to cortisol, the correlation between sweat and plasma melatonin had an R-squared value of 0.117.
Conclusion: These studies suggest that sweat holds more proteomic and hormonal biomarkers than previously thought and may eventually serve as a noninvasive biomarker resource. These studies also highlight many of the challenges associated with monitoring sweat content including differences between collection devices and hydration, evaporation losses, and sweat rate.
ContributorsZhu, Meilin (Author) / Anderson, Karen (Thesis director) / Blain Christen, Jennifer (Committee member) / Gronowski, Ann (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05