A survey of 133 engineering students at Arizona State University (ASU) was conducted to determine if extracurricular activities correlated to the amount of internships a student receives. The problem that ASU engineering students are having is that finding an internship during college and consequently finding a job after graduation is getting more difficult due to the intense competition, not only at ASU, but at every other college and university across the globe. The literature review showed that employers are looking for more from a potential candidate besides a degree and a good GPA (Grade Point Average). Employers are looking for well-developed leadership and soft skills (Dalessio, 1989). These attributes are not always learned in the classroom and many students are under the false impression that an engineering degree alone is enough to land them a job. The survey that was conducted proved that the more engineering-related extracurricular activities a student engages in, the greater the chance of finding an internship. Similarly, a linear relationship was also found between the number of activities involved in and number of interviews received. From the literature review, relevant experience is of utmost importance to many employers. Because of this, not receiving an internship throughout college greatly lessens a students’ success finding a job after college. The survey showed male students do far less extracurricular activities according to the survey compared to females. The males from the survey had a 51% percent success rate of finding an internship compared to the 71% success rate of females. As a Peer Career Coach at ASU, students come to me far too often and far too late in their academic career with empty resumes and lack of involvement. Each and every one of these students struggle heavily to find internships and eventually jobs. This problem can easily be addressed, but students must be aware that a high GPA in an engineering degree alone will not make them competitive in the job market.

Optimizing cathodes for microbial fuel cells is important to maximize energy harvested from wastewater. Cathodes were made by modifying a recipe from previous literature and testing the current of the cathode using linear sweep voltammetry. The cathodes contained an Fe-N-C catalyst combined with a Polytetrafluoroethylene binder. Optimizing the power resulting from the microbial fuel cells will help MFCs be an alternative energy source to fossil fuels. The new cathodes did improve in current production from −16 𝐴/𝑚 to −37 𝐴/𝑚 at -0.4 V. When fitted using a Butler-Volmer model, the cathode linear-sweep voltammograms did not follow the expected exponential trend. These results show a need for more research on the cathodes and the Butler-Volmer model, and they also show that the cathode is ready for further and longer application in a microbial fuel cell.

This paper is a study on the portrayals of seven main Moomins characters across five revivals of Tove Jansson's Moomins. This study also examines popular fanon of the current Moomins fandom as well as a historical analysis of how each revival work was adapted to fit in the culture and time-period of their creation.

TAM19B-7 is the largest, unmelted fine-grained micrometeorite found to date. It has carbonaceous chondritic origins, but the oxygen isotopic composition does not match any known parent bodies. Additionally, carbon-bearing matter and isotopic composition has been extensively characterized in meteorites, but this work has not been done yet for micrometeorites. Using the NanoSIMS 50 L instrument, the bulk δ13C for TAM19B-7 was found to be 3 + 8‰, and four anomalous spots were identified with δ13C values of 12.9‰, 16.8‰, 32.7‰, and -27.1‰.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the history of artificial intelligence (AI) and its future implications in the healthcare industry. Utilizing information from research and medical journals, this paper will examine the foundations of AI and the people and events that influenced its development. Further, the various subsets of AI and its use in contemporary life will be discussed. While the technological evolution of AI will be discussed, this paper is not a technical treatise on the inner workings of AI software and technology, rather, it is a basic history of the development of AI and its respective subsets, and a look at current and potential future applications of AI. This information will be applied to the healthcare industry to discuss the history of AI in this field, detailing how AI was developed to find innovative solutions to complex medical problems. Finally, future prospects of AI in the medical industry will be discussed, explaining potential applications of this technology as well as various challenges and implications.

This paper discusses merger arbitrage as a trading strategy, the benefits of allocating it into a diversified portfolio, and a method of replicating its returns through an alternative investment strategy (writing uncovered index put options). It discusses the approach to implementation, along with the risk and reward profile of the strategy. The paper entitled Characteristics of Risk and Return in Merger arbitrage is used as a basis for the research approach. An up-to-date time series analysis is constructed utilizing the HFRMAI index (a hedge fund index that mirrors a sizable sample of merger risk arbitrage transactions) as a benchmark for testing the effectiveness of the replication strategy (PUT index). Lastly, a live merger arbitrage strategy is executed on a current M&A transaction (the LVMH and Tiffany & Co. acquisition) to assess the acquirer and target firms’ stock volatility and profits or losses.

This trans-disciplinary thesis questions how theories of generification are useful in clarifying misunderstood literature and the role of similar, f¬¬ormulaic narratives in literary business. It attempts to answer the question through four parts: defining generification and related business marketing topics; a literary case study centering on Frankenstein; a second case study on the poem “The Road Not Taken”; and, an application of the demonstrated ideas to Young Adult (YA) publishing trends of 2005-2015. The first section concludes that the presence of a formula, created through the theories of heroic journeys and archetypes, lends itself to generification in literary marketing as publishing houses attempt to find the next virally successful narrative. The first case study, focused on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, establishes the existence of generification throughout the work’s life, attributing the generification to her characterization of both Doctor and Creature as antiheroes, a purposeful overlap leading to centuries of misinterpretation. The second case study centers around Robert Frost’s poem “The Road Not Taken”, concluding that in this situation generification greatly impacted both the legacy of the work and the image of the author. The section examines the role of Americanization in the confabulation of both the poem and the author, proving that the butchered interpretation greatly damages the reading of the poem. Finally, this paper takes the established concept of generification, along with related ideas such as narrative economics and formula fiction, and applies these ideas to an analysis of the YA publishing industry. It concludes that the simple existence of fandom culture creates a paradox: the fandom demands a constant stream of quality narratives, both inciting and rejecting any purposeful generification attempted on the part of the publishers.

The popularity of feminism is growing. Every day more people claim to be feminist and work is done to end the control of patriarchy. Feminism though, because of its different waves and isolated recognition in the media, the actual goals seem unclear to males in particular; it is predicted that this increase in popularity in conjunction with the lack of clarity contributes to the development of toxic masculinity. “Feminism” is defined by bell hooks as a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression and “toxic masculinity” is a specific model of manhood, geared toward dominance and control and fear of the opposite. To understand the relationship between the two, the documentaries The Mask You Live In and Miss Representation were reviewed as well as books by bell hooks and C.J. Pascoe. Popular culture articles contributed to contemporary views at the public level. Using the knowledge gained from the literature, further research was done through one-on-one interviews with males age 18 to 32. Much of the literature does support toxic masculinity being encouraged and reinforced in varying ways including through the lack of acceptance of femininity and society’s strict gender roles. The interviews were inconclusive in defining a direct relationship between feminism promoting the development of toxic masculinity.

American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN) is a non-profit logistics aid firm that provides supply chain assistance to non-profit organizations in times of crisis. It acts somewhat as a non-profit 3PL, connecting nonprofits seeking humanitarian aid goods, materials handling equipment, warehousing, logistics transportation, and expertise to an outstanding network of partner companies and organizations who help to deliver on their requests. In June of 2020, our team began an internship to identify and implement key process improvements for ALAN’s internal and external processes. This thesis is a summary of our findings, our solutions proposal, and their applicability to other non-profit organizations.