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- Creators: Barrett, The Honors College
- Creators: Caplan, Michael
- Creators: Harrington Bioengineering Program
Description
The effects of specific histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) on transgene expression in combination with a novel polymer as a delivery vehicle are investigated in this research. Polymer vectors, although safer than viruses, are notorious for low levels of gene expression. In this investigation, the use of an emerging chemotherapeutic anti-cancer drug molecule, HDACi, was used to enhance the polymer-mediated gene expression. HDACi are capable of inhibiting deacetylation activities of histones and other non-histone proteins in the cytoplasm and nucleus, as well as increase transcriptional activities necessary for gene expression. In a prior study, a parallel synthesis and screening of polymers yielded a lead cationic polymer with high DNA-binding properties, and even more attractive, high transgene expressions. Previous studies showed the use of this polymer in conjunction with cytoplasmic HDACi significantly enhanced gene expression in PC3-PSMA prostate cancer cells. This led to the basis for the investigation presented in this thesis, but to use nuclear HDACi to potentially achieve similar results. The HDACi, HDACi_A, was a previously discovered lead drug that had potential to significantly enhance luciferase expression in PC3-PSMA cells. The results of this study found that the 20:1 polymer:plasmid DNA weight ratio was effective with 1 uM and 2 uM HDACI_A concentrations, showing up to a 9-fold enhancement. This enhancement suggested that HDACi_A was effectively aiding transfection. While not an astounding enhancement, it is still interesting enough to investigate further. Cell viabilities need to be determined to supplement the results.
ContributorsLehrman, Jennifer (Author) / Rege, Kaushal (Thesis advisor) / Caplan, Michael (Committee member) / Pizziconi, Vincent (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Ather Arop is bilingual. He is also fluent in Spanish and speaks some French. “Lost Boys Found” is an ongoing, interdisciplinary project that is collecting, recording and archiving the oral histories of the Lost Boys/Girls of Sudan. The collection is a work-in-progress, seeking to record the oral history of as many Lost Boys/Girls as are willing, and will be used in a future book.
ContributorsArop, Ather (Interviewee) / Amparano, Julie (Director) / Garcia, James (Interviewer) / MacNeill, MacNeill (Editor)
Created2017-10-14
Description
Abstract Molecular Engineering of Novel Polymeric Agents for Targeted Cancer Gene Therapy Dana Matthews Cancer gene cell therapy is a strategy that involves the administration of genes for correcting the effect of mutated cancer cells in order to induce tumor cell death. In particular, genes that encode for pro-apoptotic proteins can result in death of tumor cells. Prostate cancer is a very common cancer among males in America, and as highly destructive chemotherapy and radiation are generally the only treatments available once the cancer has metastasized, there is a need for the development of treatments that can specifically target and kill prostate cancer cells, while demonstrating low toxicity to other tissue. This experiment will attempt to create such a treatment through gene therapy techniques. The parallel synthesis and DNA binding affinity assay utilized in these experiments have produced a polymer that surpasses pEI-25, a gene delivery polymer standard, in both transfection efficacy and low cytotoxicity and trafficking of polyplexes in the cell, and finding methods to increase the transfection efficacy and specificity of polyplexes for PC3-PSMA cells.
ContributorsMatthews, Dana (Author) / Rege, Kaushal (Thesis director) / Linton, Rebecca (Committee member) / Huang, Huang-Chial (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2008-12
Description
Sickle cell disease is a genetic disorder that can cause substantial helath problems. It is the result of a mutation in the DNA coding for hemoglobin. As a result of changes in two important amino acids, a person suffering from sickle cell disease will have erythrocytes that do not maintain the typical biconcave shape and instead for a crescent shape. Individuals with sickle cell disease may have many health problems tied to their irregular hemoglobin. The unusual shape of the erythrocytes leads to a much shorter cell life, which means that even though bone marrow remains active long past childhood to try to keep up with the loss of erythrocytes, the body is still unable to accommodate the rapid death of erythrocytes. The malformed erythrocytes can also cause vascular occlusion, blocking blood vessels and slowing blood flow. While sickle cell disease has the potential to spread worldwide, it is particularly common in Africa. This may be because people with the sickle cell trait have a high resistance to malaria, making them more likely to survive that ubiquitous disease and pass on their traits to their offspring. However, the mortality rate in young children with sickle cell disease is very high, in part because the spleen, already stressed by filtering out dead erythrocytes, has difficulties filtering out bacteria. One of the keys to stopping the spread of the disease is neonatal screening, but this requires specialized equipment that is fairly uncommon in rural areas, as can be seen in Kenya. Therefore, it would be highly beneficial to develop a more cost-effective and widely available method for testing for sickle cell disease.
ContributorsWold, John (Author) / Caplan, Michael (Thesis director) / LaBelle, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Snyder, Jan (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2012-05
Description
Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a prevalent genetic disease in Africa, and specifically in Kenya. The lack of available relevant disease education and screening mean that most don't understand the importance of getting testing and many children die before they can get prophylactic care. This project was designed to address the lack of knowledge with supplemental educational materials to be partnered with an engineering capstone project that provides a low cost diagnostic test.
ContributorsShawver, Jamie Christine (Author) / Caplan, Michael (Thesis director) / Snyder, Jan (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor)
Created2014-05
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
This study investigated the potential efficacy of HEAL International's prevention education program in inducing health behavior change in HIV/AIDS, malaria, and communicable disease to children in grade levels ranging from primary school to secondary school. The health education program was aimed at changing health behavior by increasing knowledge. This increase in knowledge was analyzed as a modifying factor in the Health Belief Model suggesting that knowledge, along with five other modifying factors, are directly responsible for an individual's health perceptions. These health perceptions ultimately result in an individual's health behavior. As a result, it is argued that an increase in knowledge can lead to health behavior change so long as it is coupled with a strong theoretical framework. Administering pre-evaluations at the beginning of the program, post evaluations at the end of the program, and a second post evaluation again two months later completed the evaluation. It was hypothesized that if there was a significant difference between the percent of correct answers at the pre-evaluation compared the second post-evaluation then there is evidence that HEAL's health education program is, or at least has the potential to, create sustainable health behavior change. A paired samples t-test was completed on the data and showed a statistically significant difference between the percent of correct answers at pre-evaluation and the percent of correct answers at second post-evaluation. These results indicated that the number of students with a comprehensive knowledge of the subjects that HEAL taught during the program had increased. It was concluded that the results of the study indicate evidence that HEAL's program has the potential to deliver sustainable health behavior change but that it will be more quantifiable once HEAL is able to adopt a theoretical framework on which to base future programs.
ContributorsWright, Mia Christina (Author) / Jacobs, Bertram (Thesis director) / Salamone, Damien (Committee member) / Ayers, Stephanie (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
South Sudan claims the position of being the newest state in the world, formed by a referendum on separation from Sudan held in 2011. The referendum comes after a half a century of fighting, which led to the displacement of an estimated four million South Sudanese and the death of two million. The massive numbers of displaced people fled to Northern Sudan or surrounding countries, crossing borders and becoming refugees. A comparatively small number were repatriated into countries of second asylum, such as the United States. Arizona, a state with relatively cheap cost of living and a large amount of low-skilled jobs became a favored state for resettling refugees. In 2013, the South Sudanese population in the greater Phoenix area was estimated to be around 4,000. This paper is an exploration of the how South Sudanese refugee youth identify themselves, and find their place in a new country, and in Phoenix, without losing their roots. This paper concludes that South Sudanese refugee youth have a hyphenated identity. They identify as both proud South Sudanese and as American citizens. This identity is formed by strong ties to the South Sudanese community and education by parents on the one hand, and integration in American schools and norms on the other hand. Having a hyphenated identity also affects the work that these South Sudanese do and their relationships with South Sudan. This research also highlights the difficulties with theorizing immigration and identity, by placing discussions of integration and transnationalism in concert with the voices of actual immigrants. The findings in this paper are developed from 12 oral history interviews of South Sudanese in conjunction with existing scholarly literature on refugees, South Sudan, and identity.
ContributorsDooling, Carmel Inez (Author) / Holian, Anna (Thesis director) / Gallab, Abdullahi (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
This paper is based on a research undertaking to understand China's presence in Africa and how this relates to Western relations with the continent. The research attempts to determine which option, Europe/US or the Chinese, may be the most suitable partner in development for Africa, as well as discuss what can be done to maximize the benefits, and mitigate the negative aspects of that relationship. A comparative analysis approach is used to judge the viability of each partner, and each is assessed according to a set of criteria, including the following: 1. Equitable and Respectful Relations 2. Maintenance of Sovereignty 3. Ability and Willingness to Finance Sustainable Development in Africa 4. Shared Experience and Understanding 5. Historical Element Drawing on the collected research presented in this document, the major finding is that the Chinese have a fundamentally different approach to aid and investment, and harbor conceptually distinctive ideas regarding development than the West. Based on the outcome of the comparative study against the above criteria, it is suggested that Africa may benefit from selecting China as a partner in achieving its own sustainable development, and suggestions are offered to effectively leverage this partnership.
ContributorsBoucher, Sara Alexandra (Author) / Aubrey, Lisa (Thesis director) / Li, Wei (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
South Sudan is the world’s newest nation, having gained its independence in 2011. Despite significant promise, South Sudan faces many serious internal issues. Among the most pressing is the treatment and status of women and, in particular, their lack of involvement in the economy and in academia.
Women’s Education (WE) is our proposed nonprofit designed to address these problems by providing business education, financial assistance, and academic services to women business owners operating in South Sudan. We believe our targeted intervention in these areas will result in improved social and economic standing for women, the natural byproduct of which is an improved country with increased stability.
In the first half of this paper, we explore the social and historical context of South Sudan to illustrate both the need for (and viability of) of our organization. We outline what we will do to achieve our goal of equality within the business and academic sectors for women, and the effects such equality will have upon society.
In the second half of the paper, we address the logistics behind our operations, including our mission and vision, client needs, budget, management strategies, and other internal and external factors that need to be considered.
KEY WORDS: South Sudan, Gender, Business Education, Academic Intervention, Economy, Societal Infrastructure
Women’s Education (WE) is our proposed nonprofit designed to address these problems by providing business education, financial assistance, and academic services to women business owners operating in South Sudan. We believe our targeted intervention in these areas will result in improved social and economic standing for women, the natural byproduct of which is an improved country with increased stability.
In the first half of this paper, we explore the social and historical context of South Sudan to illustrate both the need for (and viability of) of our organization. We outline what we will do to achieve our goal of equality within the business and academic sectors for women, and the effects such equality will have upon society.
In the second half of the paper, we address the logistics behind our operations, including our mission and vision, client needs, budget, management strategies, and other internal and external factors that need to be considered.
KEY WORDS: South Sudan, Gender, Business Education, Academic Intervention, Economy, Societal Infrastructure
ContributorsPeter, Achirin (Co-author) / Castillo, Gemma (Co-author) / Goldman, Alan (Thesis director) / Samuelson, Melissa (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies (Contributor) / Thunderbird School of Global Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05