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.
Background: The US population faces a continual increase in obesity prevalence, raising health concerns due to associated comorbidities ranked as leading causes of preventable, premature death world-wide. Scientists have found a link between obesity-associated conditions and oxidative stress (OS). To date, renewed interest in the effectiveness of dietary regimens in decreasing body weight is a popular research topic. Intermittent fasting (IF) is a popular and promising weight management strategy. To date, there have been no systematic reviews examining whether IF can reduce oxidative stress in overweight/obese adults. <br/><br/>Objective: Conduct a systematic review to evaluate the effects of intermittent fasting (IF) regimens on circulating markers of oxidative stress in overweight/obese adults compared to continuous calorie restriction (CR). <br/><br/>Methods: Databases PubMed, SCOPUS, ProQuest, and Cochrane were searched on February 21, 2021 for eligible articles limiting selection to those in the English language. Predefined search terms and restrictions were applied by two of the authors conducting the search. References from articles generated were also considered. Selected articles were limited to randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and human trials evaluating the effects of intermittent fasting (IF) dietary regimens in comparison to continuous calorie restriction (CR). Study populations considered were limited to those within the range of 18-65 years having a body mass index (BMI) of ≥25 kg/m2 and in otherwise generally good health with the absence of pre-existing acute or chronic conditions. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Evidence Analysis Library Quality Rating Worksheet was used to assess the methodological quality of each of the studies and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Grade Definitions and Conclusion Grading Table were used to appraise the quality of evidence.<br/><br/>Results: Six articles met eligibility criteria and were included in this review. Cumulatively 355 overweight/obese participants were assessed. Quality ratings performed by two of the authors revealed a high-quality rating for all six of the articles. One of the articles reported a significant IF associated difference in circulating 8-isoprostane concentrations and another article reported a significant decrease in circulating oxidative lipoproteins concentrations. The remaining articles showed no significant difference on OS markers following IF. <br/><br/>Conclusions: Based on the six articles included in this systematic review, IF was concluded to have limited impact on reducing circulating markers of OS in overweight/obese adults. Overall, the evidence was heterogeneous in relation to IF interventions and outcomes precluding a meta-analysis. Consequently, evidence to make dietary recommendations for reducing oxidative stress with IF interventions is insufficient at this point.
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.
Heron Lodge is the hybrid product of sciences, (pre) medicine, and the humanities throughout four years of an undergraduate degree in Medical Studies.
2D fetal echocardiography (ECHO) can be used for monitoring heart development in utero. This study’s purpose is to empirically model normal fetal heart growth and function changes during development by ECHO and compare these to fetuses diagnosed with and without cardiomyopathy with diabetic mothers. There are existing mathematical models describing fetal heart development but they warrant revalidation and adjustment. 377 normal fetuses with healthy mothers, 98 normal fetuses with diabetic mothers, and 37 fetuses with cardiomyopathy and diabetic mothers had their cardiac structural dimensions, cardiothoracic ratio, valve flow velocities, and heart rates measured by fetal ECHO in a retrospective chart review. Cardiac features were fitted to linear functions, with respect to gestational age, femur length, head circumference, and biparietal diameter and z-scores were created to model normal fetal growth for all parameters. These z-scores were used to assess what metrics had no difference in means between the normal fetuses of both healthy and diabetic mothers but differed from those diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. It was found that functional metrics like mitral and tricuspid E wave and pulmonary velocity could be important predictors for cardiomyopathy when fitted by gestational age, femur length, head circumference, and biparietal diameter. Additionally, aortic and tricuspid annulus diameters when fitted to estimated gestational age showed potential to be predictors for fetal cardiomyopathy. While the metrics overlapped over their full range, combining them together may have the potential for predicting cardiomyopathy in utero. Future directions of this study will explore creating a classifier model that can predict cardiomyopathy using the metrics assessed in this study.
2D fetal echocardiography (ECHO) can be used for monitoring heart development in utero. This study’s purpose is to empirically model normal fetal heart growth and function changes during development by ECHO and compare these to fetuses diagnosed with and without cardiomyopathy with diabetic mothers. There are existing mathematical models describing fetal heart development but they warrant revalidation and adjustment. 377 normal fetuses with healthy mothers, 98 normal fetuses with diabetic mothers, and 37 fetuses with cardiomyopathy and diabetic mothers had their cardiac structural dimensions, cardiothoracic ratio, valve flow velocities, and heart rates measured by fetal ECHO in a retrospective chart review. Cardiac features were fitted to linear functions, with respect to gestational age, femur length, head circumference, and biparietal diameter and z-scores were created to model normal fetal growth for all parameters. These z-scores were used to assess what metrics had no difference in means between the normal fetuses of both healthy and diabetic mothers, but differed from those diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. It was found that functional metrics like mitral and tricuspid E wave and pulmonary velocity could be important predictors for cardiomyopathy when fitted by gestational age, femur length, head circumference, and biparietal diameter. Additionally, aortic and tricuspid annulus diameters when fitted to estimated gestational age showed potential to be predictors for fetal cardiomyopathy. While the metrics overlapped over their full range, combining them together may have the potential for predicting cardiomyopathy in utero. Future directions of this study will explore creating a classifier model that can predict cardiomyopathy using the metrics assessed in this study.
