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 49
Description
Cryptojacking is a process in which a program utilizes a user’s CPU to mine cryptocurrencies unknown to the user. Since cryptojacking is a relatively new problem and its impact is still limited, very little has been done to combat it. Multiple studies have been conducted where a cryptojacking detection system is implemented, but none of these systems have truly solved the problem. This thesis surveys existing studies and provides a classification and evaluation of each detection system with the aim of determining their pros and cons. The result of the evaluation indicates that it might be possible to bypass detection of existing systems by modifying the cryptojacking code. In addition to this classification, I developed an automatic code instrumentation program that replaces specific instructions with functionally similar sequences as a way to show how easy it is to implement simple obfuscation to bypass detection by existing systems.
ContributorsLarson, Kent Merle (Author) / Bazzi, Rida (Thesis director) / Shoshitaishvili, Yan (Committee member) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
The central goal of this thesis is to develop a practical approach to validating the correctness of SSA forms. Since achieving this goal is very involved for a general program, we restrict our attention to simple programs. In particular, the programs we consider are loop-free and are comprised of simple assignments to scalar variables, as well as input and output statements. Even for such a simple program, a full formal treatment would be very involved, extending beyond the scope of an undergraduate honors thesis.
ContributorsLusi, Dylan Patrick (Author) / Bazzi, Rida (Thesis director) / Fainekos, Georgios (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Dynamic languages like Java enjoy robust and powerful testing tools like JUnit and Cobertura. On the other hand, while there is no shortage of unit testing frameworks for C, the nature of C makes it difficult to make frameworks as powerful as those for other languages. In this paper, we describe ZTest, a testing framework that addresses some of these shortcomings in the C unit testing landscape. We also discuss results of its application to a medium-sized C project.
ContributorsIadicicco, Alexander (Author) / Bazzi, Rida (Thesis director) / Shrivastava, Aviral (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Maternal health and mental health have recently become globally recognized as critical areas of focus. The continued research into the relationship between maternal health and mental health—in particular, how they are affected by public policy and infrastructure—is vital to the improvement of general health outcomes. An investigation of literature, current health landscape and indicators, gray literature, and the current policy landscape in an exemplar country (Australia), Bangladesh and Nepal was done. Bangladesh and Nepal were chosen due to the recent amounts of change seen in each country’s maternal health status. Both Bangladesh and Nepal are severely lacking in official mental health services, facilities, and personnel. The analysis revealed flaws and disparities in each country’s current policy landscape. Despite these disparities it should be recognized that policies and programs are being implemented – just in a very piecemeal manner, and not entirely by each country’s respective government. Integration of maternal health services and mental health services is recommended to improve functionality of already existing services. The addition of minimal but necessary components to health systems is recommended.
ContributorsCiampaglio, Kaitlyn Rae (Author) / Gaughan, Monica (Thesis director) / Hagaman, Ashley (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This paper explains what factors influence mental health issues and what type of care is provided in various countries. The countries in this study will include the United States, Japan, Ethiopia and South Africa, all of which have varying degrees of ethnic diversity, economic status and understanding of mental health issues. It discusses the specific healthcare systems in each country, as well as the attitudes and problems associated with depression and schizophrenia, two prevalent mental health disorders. This paper examines the different ways that a diagnosis is reached for schizophrenia and major depression in these different countries, as well as what methods are used for treating individuals with these disorders. It will also examine the prominent notion that schizophrenia has better outcomes in developing countries than in places that have wider medical care available. It then discusses what treatments are available in each country, as well as social constructs that exist regarding those treatments in order to understand the ways that treatments can be expanded to improve outcomes. This paper will then examine the different outcomes of these mental health disorders that are common in each country, and conclude with ideas on how to make global mental health a reality.
ContributorsOlsen, Rachel Lindsay (Author) / Gaughan, Monica (Thesis director) / Wood, Reed (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Healthcare systems and health insurance are both concepts implemented in every country to provide access to the general population. Countries undergo healthcare reforms in order to increase the performance of the system. In 2010, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was introduced in the United States to increase coverage and create a more inclusive health insurance market. For comparison, the recent reforms in Chile and Singapore were observed as points to determine what concepts work well and what can be implemented in the U.S. system. Unlike the United States, Chile and Singapore completely altered the system that was previously in use. In Chile, the reforms began in the 1970s and made two more major changes in 1973 and early 2000s. Singapore began its reform in the 1960s and created the medical savings account system that is still in use today. To analyze the system further, the medical professions of neurology, physician assistants and optometry were compared in each country. In regards to neurology, the coverage of services in Chile and Singapore are similar in that select medical procedures are covered. In contrast, the United States offers coverage on a case-by-case basis. For physician assistants, such a profession does not exist in Chile or Singapore. In the United States, the profession is rapidly expanding, and coverage is offered for most services provided. Optometry is a stand-alone profession in both the U.S. and Singapore. The services provided by the optometrists are selectively covered by insurance, depending on whether it is considered a medical problem. Chile covers the services often provided by optometrists, however, the ophthalmologist is the provider, as optometry does not exist. This study concluded that the U.S. should continue to provide a more inclusive healthcare system that includes vision and dental care. The U.S., like Singapore, should also adopt a more integrative system. Under this system, patient care would be provided in a way that professionals specializing in the care are included in every step of the process.
ContributorsLa, Jenny (Co-author) / Feruj, Farihah (Co-author) / Morrison, Sarah (Co-author) / Gaughan, Monica (Thesis director) / Essary, Alison (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Africa is the area of the largest economic water scarcity on earth, with multiple countries, political systems, and geographies involved. Additionally, water scarcity affects more countries in sub-Saharan African than anywhere else on earth, with consequences like waterborne diseases, loss of agricultural development, educational setbacks, and security threats. This thesis synthesizes data on the diverse geographies and politics involved in building a sustainable African water system. It presents historical and present technologies, costs, and problems implementing sustainable potable water solutions, and suggests regional differences and individualized solutions, pointing out advantages and disadvantages of damming, boreholes, open wells, open-source water, and sewer systems. It goes on to discuss grant programs for water and wastewater solutions and technologies. Finally it addresses two divergent, yet equally important data models for African water planning, combining their contributions in order to gain insight into the problem that neither alone can. The research overlaps aquifer and demographic data to see where water should be a priority in Africa. The author finds that hydrology as well as demographic data, when combined, point to the greatest water need in the Sahel. However, many growing cities are situated in areas with high aquifer levels making borehole technology some of the most economical as well as sustainable water sourcing. Recommendations include cultural humility, attention to political and environmental consequences of solutions, and cost-effective ways of addressing the lack of access to clean drinking water in Africa.
ContributorsBarbur, Denisa Teodora (Author) / Gaughan, Monica (Thesis director) / Hruschka, Daniel (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
The Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, was signed into law with the goals of providing quality and affordable health care to every American, but there is concern that not enough young adults are gaining health insurance. Some believe it is because of the "young invincible" mentality of being healthy enough to not need health insurance, and others claim that the cost of health care is the main reason behind low enrollment rates in young adults. However, young adults may not be obtaining insurance because of a lack of understanding and awareness concerning the ACA. Do young adults understand how the ACA functions, and does this understanding (or lack thereof) determine their opinions towards it? In order to research this question, students at Arizona State University were given the opportunity to complete a survey and interview detailing their knowledge of Obamacare and how they felt about the health care law. Results indicated that though many respondents supported the law, respondents did not feel like they had enough information to understand the health care law, affecting their knowledge of it. These findings imply that in order for the ACA to be considered successful among young adults, awareness and education of the law must increase in order for young people to feel like they have an adequate understanding of it.
ContributorsBrewer, Katherine Alysse (Author) / Gaughan, Monica (Thesis director) / Hruschka, Daniel (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Secure Scuttlebutt is a digital social network in which the network data is distributed among the users.<br/>This is done to secure several benefits, like offline browsing, censorship resistance, and to imitate natural social networks, but it comes with downsides, like the lack of an obvious implementation of a recommendation algorithm.<br/>This paper proposes Whuffie, an algorithm that tracks each user's reputation for having information that is interesting to a user using conditional probabilities.<br/>Some errors in the main Secure Scuttlebutt network prevent current large-scale testing of the usefulness of the algorithm, but testing on my own personal account led me to believe it a success.
ContributorsVermillion, Alexander J (Author) / Bazzi, Rida (Thesis director) / Richa, Andrea (Committee member) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
Gamification is used to provide an entertaining alternative to educate an individual on a topic that has proven to be difficult, confusing, or undesirable. This thesis describes the design of a video game whose goal was to provide a way for coders and non-coders to educate themselves on programming scopes while also being entertained in the process. Reaching the goal required using the puzzle genre to create a concept where programming scopes would serve as the primary mechanic while also using various other programming concepts to complement it. These concepts include variables, values, functions, programming statements, and conditions.
In order to ensure that the game worked both as an educational tool as well as an entertaining one, informal testers were used with various degrees of experience in both coding and video games. After reaching the end of the game, each of the testers demonstrated that they understood the programming concepts in their video game form. However, this understanding came after additional verbal help was supplied and illustrated that the tutorial section of the game would need to be re-worked in order to efficiently demonstrate each concept.
In order to ensure that the game worked both as an educational tool as well as an entertaining one, informal testers were used with various degrees of experience in both coding and video games. After reaching the end of the game, each of the testers demonstrated that they understood the programming concepts in their video game form. However, this understanding came after additional verbal help was supplied and illustrated that the tutorial section of the game would need to be re-worked in order to efficiently demonstrate each concept.
ContributorsLucero, Elijah Ray (Author) / Bazzi, Rida (Thesis director) / Selgrad, Justin (Committee member) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05