Matching Items (441)
Description
Ethnic groups experience different societal and economic circumstances that contribute to their well-being. Life satisfaction and happiness are commonly used as a measure of well-being; but they are not often used to evaluate well-being in lower income countries. This study focuses on the self-reported life satisfaction and happiness of members of ethnic groups from low- and middle-income countries and its correlation with ethnic privilege, gender opportunity, and income. Using two self-reported measures of well-being—life satisfaction and happiness—among 110,391 women in 27 countries (ages 15-49) surveyed in Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, this study examines how country-level indicators of gender opportunity, ethnic-level indicators of privilege and household-level measures of wealth are associated with well-being. Our findings indicate a significant relationship between ethnic privilege, gender opportunity and income on life satisfaction. The results from this study provide valuable data and implications for lower income countries to identify and reduce modifiable risk factors that affect a population’s well-being.
ContributorsChavez Lopez, Giselle (Co-author, Co-author) / Hruschka, Daniel (Thesis director) / Gonzales, Angela (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
In this experiment an Electrodynamic Ion Ring Trap was constructed and tested. Due to the nature of Electrostatic fields, the setup required an oscillating voltage source to stably trap the particles. It was built in a safe manner, The power supply was kept in a project box to avoid incidental contact, and was connected to a small copper wire in the shape of a ring. The maximum voltage that could be experienced via incidental contact was well within safe ranges a 0.3mA. Within minutes of its completion the trap was able to trap small Lycopodium powder spores mass of approximately 1.7*10^{-11}kg in clusters of 15-30 for long timescales. The oscillations of these spores were observed to be roughly 1.01mm at their maximum, and in an attempt to understand the dynamics of the Ion Trap, a concept called the pseudo-potential of the trap was used. This method proved fairly inaccurate, involving much estimation and using a static field estimation of 9.39*10^8 N\C and a charge estimate on the particles of ~1e, a maximum oscillation distance of 1.37m was calculated. Though the derived static field strength was not far off from the field strength required to achieve the correct oscillation distance (Percent error of 9.92%, the small discrepancy caused major calculation errors. The trap's intended purpose however was to eventually trap protein molecules for mapping via XFEL laser, and after its successful construction that goal is fairly achievable. The trap was also housed in a vacuum chamber so that it could be more effectively implemented with the XFEL.
ContributorsNicely, Ryan Joseph (Author) / Kirian, Richard (Thesis director) / Weiterstall, Uwe (Committee member) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Physics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Cancer is a disease in which abnormal cells divide uncontrollably and destroy body tissue, and currently plagues today’s world. Carcinomas are cancers derived from epithelial cells and include breast and prostate cancer. Breast cancer is a type of carcinoma that forms in breast tissue cells. The tumor cells can be further categorized after testing the cells for the presence of certain molecules. Hormone receptor positive breast cancer includes the tumor cells with receptors that respond to the steroid hormones, estrogen and progesterone, or the peptide hormone, HER2. These forms of cancer respond well to chemotherapy and endocrine therapy. On the other hand, triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is characterized by the lack of hormone receptor expression and tends to have a worse prognosis in women. Prostate cancer forms in the cells of the prostate gland and has been attributed to mutations in androgen receptor ligand specificity. In a subset of triple negative breast cancer, genetic expression profiling has found a luminal androgen receptor that is dependent on androgen signaling. TNBC has also been found to respond well to enzalutamide, a an androgen receptor inhibitor. As the gene of the androgen receptor, AR, is located on the X chromosome and expressed in a variety of tissues, the responsiveness of TNBC to androgen receptor inhibition could be due to the differential usage of isoforms - different gene mRNA transcripts that produce different proteins. Thus, this study analyzed differential gene expression and differential isoform usage between TNBC cancers – that do and do not express the androgen receptor – and prostate cancer in order to better understand the underlying mechanism behind the effectiveness of androgen receptor inhibition in TNBC. Through the analysis of differential gene expression between the TNBC AR+ and AR- conditions, it was found that seven genes are significantly differentially expressed between the two types of tissues. Genes of significance are AR and EN1, which was found to be a potential prognostic marker in a subtype of TNBC. While some genes are differentially expressed between the TNBC AR+ and AR- tissues, the differences in isoform expression between the two tissues do not reflect the difference in gene expression. We discovered 11 genes that exhibited significant isoform switching between AR+ and AR- TNBC and have been found to contribute to cancer characteristics. The genes CLIC1 and RGS5 have been found to help the rapid, uncontrolled growth of cancer cells. HSD11B2, IRAK1, and COL1Al have been found to contribute to general cancer characteristics and metastasis in breast cancer. PSMA7 has been found to play a role in androgen receptor activation. Finally, SIDT1 and GLYATL1 are both associated with breast and prostate cancers. Overall, through the analysis of differential isoform usage between AR+ and AR- samples, we uncovered differences that were not detected by a gene level differential expression analysis. Thus, future work will focus on analyzing differential gene and isoform expression across all types of breast cancer and prostate cancer to better understand the responsiveness of TNBC to androgen receptor inhibition.
ContributorsDeshpande, Anagha J (Author) / Wilson-Sayres, Melissa (Thesis director) / Buetow, Kenneth (Committee member) / Natri, Heini (Committee member) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Immediately following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the European Union (EU) activated the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) for Ukrainian refugees, contrasting with its inaction during the 2015 Syrian crisis. This inconsistency revealed double standards in EU refugee policy. This thesis explores the EU's Othering in its responses to the Syrian and Ukrainian refugee situations, showing how the EU portrays migrants to affirm its identity. While the response to Syrians in 2015 depicted refugees as a threat to European Christian identity, the response to Ukrainians in 2022 showed more solidarity due to shared "Europeanness." Using the TPD as a lens, this thesis exposes the EU's selective refugee protection based on racialized Othering, where more "European" groups receive favorable treatment. Media narratives further emphasize the differences between Syrian and Ukrainian refugees. The thesis calls for the EU to prioritize human rights over restrictive identity notions.
ContributorsHaas, Isabel (Author) / Wheatley, Abby (Thesis director) / Levin, Irina (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
This paper describes the Divine Decisions project, an experiment on the synthesis of physical and digital design techniques in the field of video game design and development. The project is inspired by unique types of video game input devices like the Nintendo R.O.B, the digital twin technologies utilized in Activision Blizzard’s Skylanders series, and the narrative themes present in titles such as Undertale and Fear and Hunger, with the ultimate goal of creating a uniquely immersive experience that enhances the user’s sense of agency and responsibility for their choices. Divine Decisions examines how the use of physical, interactive elements can affect how an audience experiences a digital narrative and how they choose to interact with it.
ContributorsCraven, Jonah (Author) / Kautz, Luke (Thesis director) / Kirtz, Jaime (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / Computing and Informatics Program (Contributor) / Arts, Media and Engineering Sch T (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
With the acknowledgement of Type 2 Diabetes as a disease that disproportionately affects the Latinx communities, this study is designed to look at the relationship between health literacy and diabetes awareness. This research was conducted using data from Dr. Felipe Castro's previous study on Latino Lifestyles for Diabetes Prevention. Multiple linear regressions were ran to find the correlation between certain measures and diabetes awareness. Major findings included seeing the positive relationship between education and diabetes awareness and the negative correlation between Behavior Intentions Self Monitoring and diabetes awareness. Further studies are required to see how different social factors impact an individual's ability to gain health literacy regarding Type 2 Diabetes.
ContributorsHuerta, Isabel (Author) / Castro, Felipe (Thesis director) / Lopez, Gilberto (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
Misincorporation of uracil bases into DNA can lead to mutations after transcription. Uracil-DNA glycosylase (UDG) is an enzyme that removes uracil bases from DNA, leaving an apurinic/apyrimidinic site. Different efficiencies of uracil base removal by UDG have been observed at different sites in DNA. A previous study found that UDG has a higher specificity constant for DNA sequences that are more flexible, specifically that those with uracil in a context of thymine adjacent on the 5’ side and adenine adjacent on the 3’ side (TUA sequence) bound UDG better than those with an adenine adjacent on the 5’ side and thymine adjacent on the 3’ side (AUT sequence) context. The purpose of this study is to expand the previous one by determining whether the ratios observed between TUA and AUT specificity constants within DNA sequences that are otherwise the same are also observed across a third sequence context that was not included in the first study. The hypothesis that same ratio would be observed is somewhat supported as the new sequence has a specificity constant of 1.24±0.043 ✕ 107 M-1s-1. However, conclusions to be drawn from this are limited by the wide margin of error seen among trials of the same concentrations.
ContributorsEngelken, Rylee (Author) / Levitus, Marcia (Thesis director) / Klein-Seetharaman, Judith (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
Aging presents a complex array of challenges, including increased susceptibility to various diseases due to decrease in the effective function of the immune system. White blood cells, or WBCs, play a crucial role in providing insight into the state of the body and it’s immune system, and is thus, a vital biomarker. Traditionally, obtaining WBC counts involves many man hours and involves labor intensive hand counting of WBCs seen in a blood smear. To streamline this process, machine learning and artificial intelligence may be used. Using a cell counting program, or CCP, this thesis aims to validate the accuracy of the CCP’s capabilities in the cell counting process. We compared CCP generated WBC proportional counts with a ground truth data set, called Zooniverse. From this, a minimal to moderate correlation was found between the CCP generated data and the Zooniverse data. In conjunction with this, significant discrepancies were observed between certain WBC subtypes, suggesting limitations in the CCP performance. Further analysis of the CCP outputted data revealed an uneven distribution of age in the samples considered, which could have produced a biasing result. Linear model regression analyses using CCP data indicated few significant associations between age, sex and the resulting WBC proportions, casting further doubt on the program validity. Our findings highlight both the promise and limitations of automated WBC counting programs. While the CCP model in question depicted that it does indeed offer time saving benefits, the current model’s accuracy in capturing the subtle age related changes in WBC composition are not entirely confirmed. Future improvements in algorithm design and validation methods are necessary to enhance the use of this particular CCP.
ContributorsAnand, Ritika (Author) / Ford, Isabella (Co-author) / Snyder-Mackler, Noah (Thesis director) / Sanchez Rosado, Mitchell (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / WPC Graduate Programs (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
The automated transcription of Greek manuscripts is a current research goal in the digital humanities. Pre-processing manuscript images is an important part of any computer based transcription pipeline. However, pre-processing for ancient manuscripts specifically has not been highly developed. The result of this project is a noiseless pre-processing method that keeps diacritics. Further, text line segmentation is automated for manuscripts without annotation.
ContributorsCostello, David (Author) / Bronowitz, Jason (Thesis director) / Mirguet, Francoise (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Physics (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
Cryptotephra (microscopic volcanic ash) has had significant contributions towards constructing and refining age models and correlating archaeological sites for decades. This thesis will report on cryptotephra from the archaeological site of Kathu Pan, specifically from sinkhole 6, located on the southern edge of the Kalahari basin in the Northern Cape of South Africa. I will investigate the potential of cryptotephra from the Holocene layers of Kathu Pan (KP6) to test the current age model and source it to a specific region and a specific eruption. Both of the samples in this study, kp6-55-70 and kp6-75-90, are high silica rhyolites that date to the Holocene. Based on the geochemical findings, both samples have potential to be sourced from the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER), Guatemala, Indonesia, and New Zealand. The primary sourcing was focused on the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER) and the Turkana Basin in Kenya. Evidence suggests that kp6-75-90 is likely to have originated from the Turkana basin, meanwhile kp6-55-70 requires further sourcing in order to confidently correlate it to a region and an eruption. Further research needs to be completed in order to refine the age model at Kathu Pan 6.
ContributorsCurtiss, Julia (Author) / Campisano, Christopher (Thesis director) / Hirniak, Jayde (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor)
Created2024-05