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Description
Amphibians around the world are suffering the effects of the chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Whenever amphibians are housed in captivity, they must go through a decontamination protocol to ensure they are not infected with diseases such as Bd. Itraconazole is the most commonly used fungicide used in these protocols.

Amphibians around the world are suffering the effects of the chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Whenever amphibians are housed in captivity, they must go through a decontamination protocol to ensure they are not infected with diseases such as Bd. Itraconazole is the most commonly used fungicide used in these protocols. This study set out to determine if Bd could develop resistance or tolerance to itraconazole. Two 24 well plates were prepared with different concentrations of itraconazole with Bd zoospores added. Plate 1 had concentrations similar to what animals are currently being treated with in decontamination protocols. Plate 2 had concentrations at and below the published minimum inhibitory concentration values (MIC). Plate 1 displayed the ability of itraconazole to kill Bd sporangia with higher concentrations and Plate 2 showed that even under published MIC values, Bd still struggled to complete its reproductive cycle. I find the evolution of a resistant/tolerant strain of Bd unlikely given the efficacy of this drug, the sensitivity of Bd to itraconazole, and the lack of evidence of the completion of Bd’s reproductive cycle under the conditions used in this study.
ContributorsSommer, Bradley Dean (Author) / Collins, James (Thesis director) / Roberson, Robert (Committee member) / Brus, Evan (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
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Description
OP50 Esherichia coli is a Gram-negative bacterium with a fast replication rate and can be easily manipulated, making it a model species for many science disciplines. To probe this bacterium’s search strategy, cultures were starved and the cell velocity was probed at various points later in time after perturbing the

OP50 Esherichia coli is a Gram-negative bacterium with a fast replication rate and can be easily manipulated, making it a model species for many science disciplines. To probe this bacterium’s search strategy, cultures were starved and the cell velocity was probed at various points later in time after perturbing the buffer in which the bacteria were located. To start, we added E.coli OP50 filtrate. In yet another experiment filtrate from a Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus (Gram-negative predator) culture was added to monitor the OP50’s differential response to cues from its environment. Using MATLAB code, thousands of E.coli tracks were measured.
ContributorsSanchez, Alec Jesus (Author) / Presse, Steve (Thesis director) / Gile, Gillian (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
“The Evil Box spilled, and someone has to clean it up. That someone rolls into a nothing town in search of an Evil driving possessed Mortals to violence. In saving the target of the attack, she finds a team of wannabe do-gooders intent on saving the world – or, at

“The Evil Box spilled, and someone has to clean it up. That someone rolls into a nothing town in search of an Evil driving possessed Mortals to violence. In saving the target of the attack, she finds a team of wannabe do-gooders intent on saving the world – or, at least, keeping it from becoming worse. Armed with apparent eons of experience, cynicism, and a not insignificant amount of Divine Intervention, they set out to contain the mythological Evils and their detriment to the world.”
In a world not unlike our own, Pandora opened the world to malicious Evils. With the world, as it is, the last thing it needs is additional evil. Enter: a group of people who are not responsible for the situation. Their only stake in the game is that it affects the world in which they live, and they’d really like to save it.
Following in the tradition of great female-led television dramas and rife with questions about the difference between culpability and responsibility, this modern continuation of the myth of Pandora –an attempt at a generational allegory - finds its form in a 60-minute single camera drama.
This Barrett, The Honors College Creative Thesis Project, consists of the first draft of a pilot screenplay, a corresponding “bible” (a compilation of information regarding the concept, story, and characters so as to facilitate its writing), and a reflection on the process undergone.
ContributorsGeelhood, Tessa Renee (Author) / Maday, Gregory (Thesis director) / Bernstein, Gregory (Committee member) / School of Film, Dance and Theatre (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
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Description
Childhood obesity is a societal cost that affects children across the world. Although childhood obesity affects children of various ethnic backgrounds, childhood obesity is disproportionately prevalent in lower income, minority households. Current interventions for childhood obesity center around a “one size fits all” model that is poor in efficacy

Childhood obesity is a societal cost that affects children across the world. Although childhood obesity affects children of various ethnic backgrounds, childhood obesity is disproportionately prevalent in lower income, minority households. Current interventions for childhood obesity center around a “one size fits all” model that is poor in efficacy amongst minority populations. However, through the examination of parent feeding strategies, the efficacy of interventions may increase. This literature review wishes to examine the role of parent feeding strategies as an indicator of childhood obesity and to examine whether there is an association between parent feeding strategies, child unhealthy eating, weight status, and ethnicity. An examination of the literature on childhood obesity, suggests that childhood obesity can be attributed to genetic, social, and environmental influences. Research has indicated that having parents who exhibit the indulgent feeding style are more strongly associated with child unhealthy eating when compared to other feeding styles. Given this literature review, I predict that the association between indulgent feeding style and child unhealthy eating is stronger among overweight/obese children than normal weight children. Lastly, I conclude that the association of indulgent feeding styles, child unhealthy eating, and child weight status will be more strongly associated amongst Latinx households when compared to African American and White households.
ContributorsBuckner, Nia Lavette (Author) / Glenberg, Arthur (Thesis director) / Nelson, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
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Description
In this thesis, I intend to articulate four main arguments: (1) that the current state of public K-12
education in America is dire and in critical need of reform, (2) this dire state is evidenced by
statistics reporting that both student test scores and mental health are declining, (3) these

In this thesis, I intend to articulate four main arguments: (1) that the current state of public K-12
education in America is dire and in critical need of reform, (2) this dire state is evidenced by
statistics reporting that both student test scores and mental health are declining, (3) these issues
are perpetuated by recent efforts to implement extreme amounts of digital technology into
classrooms, rigid standardization and assessment-based learning, and the lack of attention paid to
philosophy and religion in public K-12 curricula, and (4) that many of these issues could be
resolved through the implementation of a curriculum teaching “mindfulness”. “Mindfulness” has
many different interpretations, but for this thesis will refer to an umbrella of skills that can be
taught and honed through critically reading and discussing philosophical and religious texts, as
well as engaging in different types of meditative practices. Skills such as logical and deductive
reasoning, ethics, emotional regulation, debate, public speaking, goal-setting, organization, and
planning. Practices and exercises found in philosophy, but many students may not necessarily be
accustomed to (meditation, yoga, silent prayer, stoic contemplation), would be read about,
practiced, and/or discussed, likely before class discussions on the day’s text. Implementing such
a curriculum can occur at varying degrees of intensity, with increasing levels of effectiveness
with each increase in the intensity of implementation.
ContributorsLange, Nicholas Christian (Author) / Ostling, Michael (Thesis director) / Schmidt, Peter (Committee member) / Anthony, Charles (Committee member) / Historical, Philosophical & Religious Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Anthropogenic land-use change, and its resulting habitat fragmentation, have restricted and isolated jaguar (Panthera onca) populations across their historic range of South, Central, and North America. As a result, jaguar are now globally listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN Red List of threatened species (Quigley et al., 2017). Southwestern

Anthropogenic land-use change, and its resulting habitat fragmentation, have restricted and isolated jaguar (Panthera onca) populations across their historic range of South, Central, and North America. As a result, jaguar are now globally listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN Red List of threatened species (Quigley et al., 2017). Southwestern Costa Rica maintains two distinct jaguar populations: a small relictual “sink” population in Corcovado National Park on the Osa Peninsula and a larger but marginalized “source” population in the La Amistad International Park in the Talamanca mountains to the Northeast. The small and highly restricted population located between Corcovado (425 km²) and Piedras Blancas (140 km²) National Parks has been isolated for more than 50 years, while La Amistad International Park (2306 km²) in the north contains a significantly larger population, but in suboptimal montane habitat. A mosaic of pastures, coffee plantations, African oil palm groves, pineapple plantations, and human communities separate these two populations. My paper offers an analysis of the habitat suitability between the montane forest of the Talamanca Mountains and the coastal forest of the Osa Peninsula for jaguars within a proposed conservation corridor. While forest was determined to be the most optimal habitat type for jaguar, mangroves and small scale coffee were also found to be suitable in the context of a corridor. Palm was identified as having marginal suitability, while pasture and pineapple appeared poorly suited for jaguar, particularly due to the lack of prey species and vegetation cover. Urban areas were found to be entirely unsuitable. While human activities have highly fragmented the study area, my analysis suggests that human-dominated landscapes, such as agriculture, can still maintain connectivity, especially when paired with actions to improve conservation, education, and sustainable practices. My research will further support the establishment of a proposed wildlife corridor, which could greatly improve connectivity for wildlife across the region and facilitate movement of jaguar and prey species between the isolated Talamancan and Osa populations.
ContributorsJohnson, Annie Laura (Author) / Lewis, Jesse (Thesis director) / Schipper, Gerrit (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
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Description
Fashion is an inherently political and reflective medium for the daily ramblings and revolutions of a society. Much of the time the influence is subtle. Silhouettes and fabrics reflect different stances on conservatism, on sex, on the degrees to which we fetishize luxury, and on infinite other attitudes of an

Fashion is an inherently political and reflective medium for the daily ramblings and revolutions of a society. Much of the time the influence is subtle. Silhouettes and fabrics reflect different stances on conservatism, on sex, on the degrees to which we fetishize luxury, and on infinite other attitudes of an era. Other times the influence is extremely direct, with text printed on the clothing that explicitly articulates a current societal dynamic. I began exploring fashion in 2016, as the country had reached an unprecedented and linguistically weaponized divide.

While taking a fashion technology course under the instruction of Galina Mihaleva, I developed a tracksuit incorporating concealed LED displays that are capable of scrolling customizable text on the sides of the garment. I expanded on this futuristic execution of politically charged clothes by utilizing a more realistic application of the LED technology in the Bouis Vuitton project. This project is a collection of six white vinyl bags with semi-flexible LED displays projecting revolutionary slogans through the vinyl textile.

The bags act as an appropriate housing for technology that is intended for significantly longer use, as bags have a longer lifespan in wardrobes than clothes and return to trend more frequently. The production investment in the technology is more equitable to the investment in the production of a bag and facilitates the wearer’s broadcasting of concise messages. The result is a collection of functional, utilitarian pieces with a clean, futuristic look and a mixed modern and vintage silhouette scrolling pro-revolutionary messages.

Broadcasting the knock-off name ‘BOUIS VUITTON’, I’ve inserted only my first initial into the reputable luxury company and paired it with slogans: ‘EAT THE RICH’ and ‘HEADS WILL ROLL’. The collection articulates a sense of nihilism felt by the youngest generations growing up on the outside of a very exclusive economic and political sphere. Three upcycled vintage luggage pieces evoke associations with the white American upper-class society of the 1960s. The luggage pieces were retrofitted in white vinyl and white-enameled metal fixtures. Three additional soft bags made of the same material reflect a utilitarian style of functional bags on trend with Spring/Summer 2019 streetwear. For the runway presentation of the bags, the models are dressed in navy-colored Dickies boiler suits, white retro-style Fila sneakers, and white ascots reminiscent of the historical male ruffled cravat. The contradictions of iconic silhouettes from both upper and lower-class American fashion history further the juxtaposition of anti-capitalist slogans posted on luxury goods.

Bouis Vuitton: Bags for the Revolution is intended to embody an unapologetic disregard for established wealth and political power in the most public of venues: the sidewalk, the mall, the high and the low-income neighborhoods – wherever people are wearing clothes. Fashion is the modern protest that requires no permit, and the new poster is a luxury bag.
ContributorsViton, Benjamin Douglas (Author) / Sewell, Dennita (Thesis director) / Mihaleva, Galina (Committee member) / School of Art (Contributor) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
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Description
This project focuses on providing a series of Sensory Design Guidelines (SDG) for the creation of restorative environments for people and nature promoting cognitive health, motor skill development, and outdoor therapy for urban society’s most vulnerable. Although the project framework is structured around guidelines for the creation of spaces specifically

This project focuses on providing a series of Sensory Design Guidelines (SDG) for the creation of restorative environments for people and nature promoting cognitive health, motor skill development, and outdoor therapy for urban society’s most vulnerable. Although the project framework is structured around guidelines for the creation of spaces specifically designed for children with Sensory Processing Disorder, it is not restricted to that specific application. Guidelines are further developed structured around inclusive and universal design approaches.

The project is divided into four sections. The first section explores what Sensory Processing Disorder is, how Occupational Therapy with Sensory Integration positively impacts healing processes, and how designers can expand this processing into the natural healing environment of the great outdoors in a toxic and urbanized world. The second section discusses the vision, goals and objectives for implementation of Sensory Design Guidelines as discussed in the third section. And finally, the fourth section provides a conceptual example of what SDG would look like when applied to a physical site along a natural corridor in a densely urbanized landscape.

The final example of SDG implementation is applied to a site along the Salt River (Rio Salado) Corridor in Phoenix, Arizona. The Corridor is the subject of a coordinated inter-agency public/private restoration initiative spanning more than fifty-five miles along the Salt River that has been strongly supported by former U.S. Senator John McCain and greatly influenced by active involvement from Arizona State University students. The designated example site is designed as one site to be utilized in a larger network of easily accessible Sensory sites, each to be designed with a different approach to sensory development, as well as variation in challenges based on age and sensory abilities. Guidelines are intended to work in conjunction with future local projects promoting social and ecological growth and wellbeing, such as the Phoenix site is intended to work in conjunction with future Rio Re-imagined projects.

The findings, guidelines, and examples provided throughout the paper are focused on re-inventing the relationship between the built and natural environments in the urbanized landscape into one of daily nature-engagement and can be applied to any group living within an urban setting. By designing for society’s most vulnerable populations, design application benefits not only the individual, but creates a resilient, healthy environment for the entire urban population today, and for future generations.
ContributorsSquyres, Katryn O (Author) / Coseo, Paul (Thesis director) / Hargrove, Allyce (Committee member) / The Design School (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
As modern advancements in medical technology continue to increase overall life expectancy, hospitals and healthcare systems are finding new and more efficient ways of storing extensive amounts of patient healthcare information. This progression finds people increasingly dependent on hospitals as the primary providers of medical data, ranging from immunization records

As modern advancements in medical technology continue to increase overall life expectancy, hospitals and healthcare systems are finding new and more efficient ways of storing extensive amounts of patient healthcare information. This progression finds people increasingly dependent on hospitals as the primary providers of medical data, ranging from immunization records to surgical history. However, the benefits of carrying a copy of personal health information are becoming increasingly evident. This project aims to create a simple, secure, and cohesive application that stores and retrieves user health information backed by Google’s Firebase cloud infrastructure. Data was collected to both explore the current need for such an application, and to test the usability of the product. The former was done using a multiple-choice survey distributed through social media to understand the necessity for a patient-held health file (PHF). Subsequently, user testing was performed with the intent to track the success of our application in meeting those needs. According to the data, there was a trend that suggested a significant need for a healthcare information storage device. This application, allowing for efficient and simple medical information storage and retrieval, was created for a target audience of those seeking to improve their medical information awareness, with a primary focus on the elderly population. Specific correlations between the frequency of physician visits and app usage were identified to target the potential use cases of our app. The outcome of this project succeeded in meeting the significant need for increased patient medical awareness in the healthcare community.
ContributorsUpponi, Rohan Sachin (Co-author) / Somayaji, Vasishta (Co-author) / McDaniel, Troy (Thesis director) / Meuth, Ryan (Committee member) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
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Description
Electrical stimulation can be used to activate peripheral nerve fibers to restore sensation to individuals with amputation and the technique is also being investigated as a means of treating a wide range of diseases. Longitudinal intrafascicular electrodes (LIFEs) are one of several types of electrodes that have been used

Electrical stimulation can be used to activate peripheral nerve fibers to restore sensation to individuals with amputation and the technique is also being investigated as a means of treating a wide range of diseases. Longitudinal intrafascicular electrodes (LIFEs) are one of several types of electrodes that have been used to activate peripheral nerves. LIFEs can be used to activate small groups of fibers within a peripheral nerve fascicle, but the degree of their selectivity is uncertain. To investigate the effects of intrafascicular stimulation on nerve fiber activation, a mathematical, conductance-based model of an axon drawn from the literature was implemented and used to simulate the firing response of sensory nerve fibers in the presence of an applied monopolar electric field. Several axons were simulated to represent axons of different size, conductivity, spatial composition and location with respect to the electrode. Electric field profiles produced by pulses of different pulse widths and pulse amplitudes were created. Each fiber was placed within each resulting electric field and the firing threshold was determined. The effects of changes in pulse width, pulse amplitude, and distance on firing patterns were shown; all of these results were consistent with published experimental findings. The models showed lower firing threshold for smaller fibers than larger fibers and for fibers that were farther from the stimulating electrode than those that were closer. Firing threshold was also lower for stimuli of greater pulse width. Analysis of axon recruitment upon increases in pulse amplitude showed that the effects of fiber distance may be more pronounced than the effects of fiber size. This model can serve as a basis for further development to more accurately represent the effects of LIFEs and eventually may assist in the design of stimulation paradigms and waveforms to improve selectivity of axon activation when using LIFEs.
ContributorsSira, Alarmel (Author) / Abbas, James (Thesis director) / Crook, Sharon (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05