Matching Items (73)
Description
The purpose of this project was to develop a new questionnaire that was comprehensive and included symptoms of autism and related disorders. 28 parents of children with autism and two adults with autism were interviewed and asked to fill out the questionnaire and rate their child’s symptoms based on the available scale. From their responses, we were able to edit and improve the questionnaire to make it clearer and more concise. We added new symptoms and improved the descriptions of the symptoms listed. The new version of the questionnaire will be edited after interviewing the same 30 people again. After, it will need to be validated by a large study of around 300 people. The questionnaire will be used in an app format and help parents rate their child’s symptoms during clinical studies of medical treatments.
ContributorsFoote, Sophia (Author) / Adams, James (Thesis director) / Duane, Drake (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Watts College of Public Service & Community Solut (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
For my thesis I investigated an abnormal gut-derived metabolite of interest identified as 3-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-3-hydroxypropionic acid (HPHPA) that may serve as a potential biomarker for autism, and help us get a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms of this disorder. Currently a laboratory test for autism does not exist, posing severe consequences on individuals with autism. In order to gather research on my metabolite of interest and its connection to autism as well as disorders correlated with autism, I analyzed different pieces of scientific literature investigating HPHPA and compiled this data into a literature review.
ContributorsNawaz, Umar (Author) / Adams, James (Thesis director) / Krajmalnik-Brown, Rosa (Committee member) / Flynn, Christina (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is an intricate neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social functioning and communication, repetitive behavioral patterns, and specialized interests (Olesova et al., 2020; Osredkar et al., 2023). Despite the efforts of modern science, the biological origin of ASD is unknown, and no known biomarker for ASD currently exists (Olesova et al., 2020; Osredkar et al., 2023). Indoxyl sulfate has been identified as a toxin associated with ASD and its related symptomology in addition to a number of other conditions, including chronic kidney disease, acute kidney injury, heart failure, Parkinson’s disease, and various mood disorders (Cao et al., 2015; Cassani et al., 2015; Karbowska et al., 2020; Zhao et al., 2013). This article will review what is currently known about indoxyl sulfate in relation to ASD and its comorbidities in an attempt to determine the validity of indoxyl sulfate as a potential biomarker for ASD. Articles for the purposes of this review were collected via Google Scholar, PubMed, and the ASU Library using key words such as “indoxyl sulfate,” “Autism,” and “indican,” and chosen based on relevancy. Through this review, indoxyl sulfate was identified as a potential physiological biomarker for a subset of ASD, with additional research required to verify the findings presented. The identification of a biomarker for ASD could change the current methods of testing for ASD, greatly improving our understanding and treatment of the disorder.
ContributorsHill, Zoë (Author) / Adams, James (Thesis director) / Flynn, Christina (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor) / Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation (Contributor)
Created2024-05
DescriptionThis paper studies the potential correlation between succinate levels and ASD. A part of the electron transport chain and the Krebs cycle, succinate has been seen to be potentially relevant to the neurodevelopmental aspects of ASD.
ContributorsKale, Anushka (Author) / Adams, James (Thesis director) / Flynn, Christina (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
The purpose of this thesis is to analyze in-depth the current research on Autism Spectrum
Disorder (ASD), outlining the prominently researched methods of treatment that have led to
successful therapy for the ones being treated. Within this thesis, the definition of successful
treatment of autistic individuals will be defined by how well the individuals can adapt to their
employment opportunities and their own social lives. Success will be measured through the
effectiveness of specific treatments, such as speech therapy and therapeutic-based diets, to better
gauge the success rate of treatment for autistic individuals. The thesis itself will serve as a review
of the currently proposed treatment methods, analyzing where the most successful treatments
were derived from and then offering a summary conclusion on the overall scope of the research.
Recommendations on future research will be made to encapsulate all the research provided
through which a scholarly lens was applied. Overall, the best methods of treatment will involve
both a dietary and occupational approach, so as to tackle any environmental or genetic origins of
ASD. More specifically, through a combination of vitamin and mineral supplements to manage
behavioral symptoms combined with Applied Behavioral Analysis techniques, ASD can be more
effectively treated to improve an individual’s quality of life.
ContributorsEnriquez, Elias (Author) / Adams, James (Thesis director) / Martin, Thomas (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
Pitt-Hopkins Syndrome is not a well-known disorder, and there are not many treatments dedicated to alleviating the severe symptoms that children and adults with Pitt-Hopkins Syndrome suffer through. The purpose of this study is to create questionnaires tailored to Pitt-Hopkins syndrome. With the dearth of Pitt-Hopkins Syndrome research, more knowledge on the disorder and treatments to aid in daily functioning and quality of life can be attained through specialized symptom tracking questionnaires. During this study, the research team designed and finalized two Pitt-Hopkins Syndrome symptom specific questionnaires. Some of the most notable results included the discovery of the most severe symptoms: verbal expression, cognition, social activity, and attention. Additionally, through cross-correlational analysis interrelated symptom clusters that can be targeted for treatment have been discovered.
ContributorsWatkins, Cierra (Author) / Garcia, Kristin (Co-author) / Adams, James (Thesis director) / Kirby, Jasmine (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
A description of numerical and analytical work pertaining to models that describe the growth and progression of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), an aggressive form of primary brain cancer. Two reaction-diffusion models are used: the Fisher-Kolmogorov-Petrovsky-Piskunov equation and a 2-population model that divides the tumor into actively proliferating and quiescent (or necrotic) cells. The numerical portion of this work (chapter 2) focuses on simulating GBM expansion in patients undergoing treatment for recurrence of tumor following initial surgery. The models are simulated on 3-dimensional brain geometries derived from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans provided by the Barrow Neurological Institute. The study consists of 17 clinical time intervals across 10 patients that have been followed in detail, each of whom shows significant progression of tumor over a period of 1 to 3 months on sequential follow up scans. A Taguchi sampling design is implemented to estimate the variability of the predicted tumors to using 144 different choices of model parameters. In 9 cases, model parameters can be identified such that the simulated tumor contains at least 40 percent of the volume of the observed tumor. In the analytical portion of the paper (chapters 3 and 4), a positively invariant region for our 2-population model is identified. Then, a rigorous derivation of the critical patch size associated with the model is performed. The critical patch (KISS) size is the minimum habitat size needed for a population to survive in a region. Habitats larger than the critical patch size allow a population to persist, while smaller habitats lead to extinction. The critical patch size of the 2-population model is consistent with that of the Fisher-Kolmogorov-Petrovsky-Piskunov equation, one of the first reaction-diffusion models proposed for GBM. The critical patch size may indicate that GBM tumors have a minimum size depending on the location in the brain. A theoretical relationship between the size of a GBM tumor at steady-state and its maximum cell density is also derived, which has potential applications for patient-specific parameter estimation based on magnetic resonance imaging data.
ContributorsHarris, Duane C. (Author) / Kuang, Yang (Thesis advisor) / Kostelich, Eric J. (Thesis advisor) / Preul, Mark C. (Committee member) / Crook, Sharon (Committee member) / Gardner, Carl (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Organic electronics have remained a research topic of great interest over the past few decades, with organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) emerging as a disruptive technology for lighting and display applications. While OLED performance has improved significantly over the past decade, key issues remain unsolved such as the development of stable and efficient blue devices. In order to further the development of OLEDs and increase their commercial potential, innovative device architectures, novel emissive materials and high-energy hosts are designed and reported.
OLEDs employing step-wide graded-doped emissive layers were designed to improve charge balance and center the exciton formation zone leading to improved device performance. A red OLED with a peak efficiency of 16.9% and an estimated LT97 over 2,000 hours at 1,000 cd/m2 was achieved. Employing a similar structure, a sky-blue OLED was demonstrated with a peak efficiency of 17.4% and estimated LT70 over 1,300 hours at 1,000 cd/m2. Furthermore, the sky-blue OLEDs color was improved to CIE coordinates of (0.15, 0.25) while maintaining an efficiency of 16.9% and estimated LT70 over 600 hours by incorporating a fluorescent sensitizer. These devices represent literature records at the time of publication for efficient and stable platinum phosphorescent OLEDs.
A newly developed class of emitters, metal-assisted delayed-fluorescence (MADF), are demonstrated to achieve higher-energy emission from a relatively low triplet energy. A green MADF device reaches a peak efficiency of 22% with an estimated LT95 over 350 hours at 1,000 cd/m2. Additionally, a blue charge confined OLED of PtON1a-tBu demonstrated a peak efficiency above 20%, CIE coordinated of (0.16, 0.27), and emission onset at 425 nm.
High triplet energy hosts are required for the realization of stable and efficient deep blue emission. A rigid “M”-type carbazole/fluorene hybrid called mDCzPF and a carbazole/9-silafluorene hybrid called mDCzPSiF are demonstrated to have high triplet energies ET=2.88 eV and 3.03 eV respectively. Both hosts are demonstrated to have reasonable stability and can serve as a template for future material design. The techniques presented here demonstrate alternative approaches for improving the performance of OLED devices and help to bring this technology closer to widespread commercialization.
OLEDs employing step-wide graded-doped emissive layers were designed to improve charge balance and center the exciton formation zone leading to improved device performance. A red OLED with a peak efficiency of 16.9% and an estimated LT97 over 2,000 hours at 1,000 cd/m2 was achieved. Employing a similar structure, a sky-blue OLED was demonstrated with a peak efficiency of 17.4% and estimated LT70 over 1,300 hours at 1,000 cd/m2. Furthermore, the sky-blue OLEDs color was improved to CIE coordinates of (0.15, 0.25) while maintaining an efficiency of 16.9% and estimated LT70 over 600 hours by incorporating a fluorescent sensitizer. These devices represent literature records at the time of publication for efficient and stable platinum phosphorescent OLEDs.
A newly developed class of emitters, metal-assisted delayed-fluorescence (MADF), are demonstrated to achieve higher-energy emission from a relatively low triplet energy. A green MADF device reaches a peak efficiency of 22% with an estimated LT95 over 350 hours at 1,000 cd/m2. Additionally, a blue charge confined OLED of PtON1a-tBu demonstrated a peak efficiency above 20%, CIE coordinated of (0.16, 0.27), and emission onset at 425 nm.
High triplet energy hosts are required for the realization of stable and efficient deep blue emission. A rigid “M”-type carbazole/fluorene hybrid called mDCzPF and a carbazole/9-silafluorene hybrid called mDCzPSiF are demonstrated to have high triplet energies ET=2.88 eV and 3.03 eV respectively. Both hosts are demonstrated to have reasonable stability and can serve as a template for future material design. The techniques presented here demonstrate alternative approaches for improving the performance of OLED devices and help to bring this technology closer to widespread commercialization.
ContributorsKlimes, Kody George (Author) / Li, Jian (Thesis advisor) / Adams, James (Committee member) / Wang, Liping (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
White organic light emitting diodes (WOLEDs) are currently being developed as the next generation of solid state lighting sources. Although, there has been considerable improvements in device efficiency from the early days up until now, there are still major drawbacks for the implementation of WOLEDs to commercial markets. These drawbacks include short lifetimes associated with highly efficient and easier to fabricate device structures. Platinum (II) complexes are been explored as emitters for single emissive layer WOLEDs, due to their higher efficiencies and stability in device configurations. These properties have been attributed to their square planar nature. Tetradentate platinum (II) complexes in particular have been shown to be more rigid and thus more stable than their other multidentate counterparts. This thesis aims to explore the different pathways via molecular design of tetradentate platinum II complexes and in particular the percipient engineering of a highly efficient and stable device structure. Previous works have been able to obtain either highly efficient devices or stable devices in different device configurations. In this work, we demonstrate a device structure employing Pt2O2 as the emitter using mCBP as a host with EQE of above 20% and lifetime values (LT80) exceeding 6000hours at practical luminance of 100cd/m2. These results open up the pathway towards the commercialization of white organic light emitting diodes as a solid state lighting source.
ContributorsOloye, Temidayo Abiola (Author) / Li, Jian (Thesis advisor) / Alford, Terry (Committee member) / Adams, James (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Organic optoelectronic devices have remained a research topic of great interest over the past two decades, particularly in the development of efficient organic photovoltaics (OPV) and organic light emitting diodes (OLED). In order to improve the efficiency, stability, and materials variety for organic optoelectronic devices a number of emitting materials, absorbing materials, and charge transport materials were developed and employed in a device setting. Optical, electrical, and photophysical studies of the organic materials and their corresponding devices were thoroughly carried out. Two major approaches were taken to enhance the efficiency of small molecule based OPVs: developing material with higher open circuit voltages or improved device structures which increased short circuit current. To explore the factors affecting the open circuit voltage (VOC) in OPVs, molecular structures were modified to bring VOC closer to the effective bandgap, ∆EDA, which allowed the achievement of 1V VOC for a heterojunction of a select Ir complex with estimated exciton energy of only 1.55eV. Furthermore, the development of anode interfacial layer for exciton blocking and molecular templating provide a general approach for enhancing the short circuit current. Ultimately, a 5.8% PCE was achieved in a single heterojunction of C60 and a ZnPc material prepared in a simple, one step, solvent free, synthesis. OLEDs employing newly developed deep blue emitters based on cyclometalated complexes were demonstrated. Ultimately, a peak EQE of 24.8% and nearly perfect blue emission of (0.148,0.079) was achieved from PtON7dtb, which approaches the maximum attainable performance from a blue OLED. Furthermore, utilizing the excimer formation properties of square-planar Pt complexes, highly efficient and stable white devices employing a single emissive material were demonstrated. A peak EQE of over 20% for pure white color (0.33,0.33) and 80 CRI was achieved with the tridentate Pt complex, Pt-16. Furthermore, the development of a series of tetradentate Pt complexes yielded highly efficient and stable single doped white devices due to their halogen free tetradentate design. In addition to these benchmark achievements, the systematic molecular modification of both emissive and absorbing materials provides valuable structure-property relationship information that should help guide further developments in the field.
ContributorsFleetham, Tyler Blain (Author) / Li, Jian (Thesis advisor) / Alford, Terry (Committee member) / Adams, James (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014