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Description
Worldwide there are over 50 million people suffering from epilepsy, eighty percent (80%) of whom live in low to middle income countries. Of that eighty percent (80%) of people suffering from this disease, seventy-five percent (75%) do not receive treatment. The current design and treatment methods of epilepsy have many limitations in these specific countries. These limitations include: lack of education about the disease leading to stigmas surrounding it, inability to afford treatment options, and the absence of healthcare practitioners who specialize in the treatment of neurological illnesses. Additionally, the healthcare system worldwide is a large contributor to climate change calling for a need to implement sustainable practices in both the treatment of patients and creation of healthcare centers. This thesis has been developed in order to theorize the design of a clinic that can be beneficial to epileptics in developing countries and to the environment. Through the methodology of case studies and research on existing strategies implemented in specific hospitals, we were able to focus on three main aspects that should be taken into consideration for an epilepsy clinic: the ambient environment, sustainability, and target demographic - developing countries. The idea ambient environment, it was found, plays a large role in the healing process through reduction of stress on patients. From there the most important features specific to epilepsy were able to be considered and synthesized for the best possible theoretical design of a clinic focused on the treatment and diagnosis of epilepsy in a developing country.
ContributorsPenrose, Nicole Ellen Youzhi (Co-author) / Gonzalez, Bianca (Co-author) / Vallerand, Olivier (Thesis director) / Brunner, Lori (Committee member) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) are important limiting or co-limiting nutrients in many aquatic ecosystems. Consumers such as fishes can significantly impact the balance and redistribution of these nutrients through consumer-driven nutrient recycling. Intraspecific variation in nutrient excretion rates can therefore have significant ecosystem impacts. Among individuals of sexually dimorphic consumers, variation in population size structure and sex ratio could potentially have impacts of similar magnitude. We tested for the effects of body size and sex on consumer-driven nutrient recycling by measuring N and P excretion rates from eight species of poeciliid fishes. We found a strong positive effect of size on N excretion rates, as has been previously described among species. However, we found no effect of size on P excretion rates, nor did we find any difference in N or P excretion rates between sexes. Our work provides a preliminary analysis of how sexual dimorphism can lead to disparate nutrient excretion rates within consumer populations. These results indicate that variation in population sex ratios of sexually dimorphic consumers could have impacts at the ecosystem scale.
ContributorsAmbus, Nicholas George (Author) / Jon, Harrison (Thesis director) / Eric, Moody (Committee member) / Jordan, Okie (Committee member) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive adult brain tumor with a devastating median survival time of about fourteen months post-surgery and standard of care therapy with radiation and temozolomide. The low incidence of GBM, cost of developing novel therapeutics, and time cost of clinical trials are dis-incentives to develop novel therapies. To overcome that obstacle, we investigated the efficacy of repurposing four FDA approved drugs known to cross the blood brain barrier (BBB), minocycline, propranolol, chlorpromazine, and metformin, to inhibit signaling and metabolism in GBM cells.
Minocycline is a tetracycline class broad spectrum antibiotic commonly used to treat severe acne and other skin infections. Propranolol is a beta blocker type heart medication primarily used to treat high blood pressure and irregular heartbeat. Chlorpromazine is a phenothiazine antipsychotic usually used for schizophrenia. Metformin is the most widely used first-line oral treatment for type-2 diabetes. Based on a literature survey, minocycline is expected to prevent the phosphorylation of STAT3, a transcription factor downstream of EGFR; propranolol is expected to disrupt EGFR trafficking; chlorpromazine is expected to target the PI3K/mTOR/Akt signaling pathway; metformin is believed to exploit vulnerabilities in cancer cell metabolism, as well as upregulate AMPK against the PI3K/mTOR/Akt pathway.
Efficacy of minocycline in inhibiting EGFR-driven STAT3 activation was investigated using western blot analysis. Our results demonstrate that Minocycline effectively inhibits activation of EGFR-driven STAT3 in U373 glioma cells at 100μM. The ability of chlorpromazine to inhibit the PI3K/mTOR/Akt pathway was similarly tested via western blot, which showed inhibition of phosphorylated Akt and S6 at 10μM. Efficacy of propranolol in perturbing EGFR trafficking was evaluated using flow cytometry and immunofluorescence, which failed to depict altered membrane-associated EGFR abundance. Finally, concentration-dependent inhibition of colony formation was tested for all four drugs. Propranolol and minocycline showed potential biphasic stimulatory effects at 10μM, but all drugs inhibited cell growth at 50μM and higher. Efficacy of these drugs in the treatment of GBM is being further evaluated using in vitro neurosphere cultures from patients identified as having the cellular vulnerabilities potentially targeted by these drugs. Successful completion of this project will lead to in vivo efficacy testing of these four drugs in orthotopic GBM PDX models.
Minocycline is a tetracycline class broad spectrum antibiotic commonly used to treat severe acne and other skin infections. Propranolol is a beta blocker type heart medication primarily used to treat high blood pressure and irregular heartbeat. Chlorpromazine is a phenothiazine antipsychotic usually used for schizophrenia. Metformin is the most widely used first-line oral treatment for type-2 diabetes. Based on a literature survey, minocycline is expected to prevent the phosphorylation of STAT3, a transcription factor downstream of EGFR; propranolol is expected to disrupt EGFR trafficking; chlorpromazine is expected to target the PI3K/mTOR/Akt signaling pathway; metformin is believed to exploit vulnerabilities in cancer cell metabolism, as well as upregulate AMPK against the PI3K/mTOR/Akt pathway.
Efficacy of minocycline in inhibiting EGFR-driven STAT3 activation was investigated using western blot analysis. Our results demonstrate that Minocycline effectively inhibits activation of EGFR-driven STAT3 in U373 glioma cells at 100μM. The ability of chlorpromazine to inhibit the PI3K/mTOR/Akt pathway was similarly tested via western blot, which showed inhibition of phosphorylated Akt and S6 at 10μM. Efficacy of propranolol in perturbing EGFR trafficking was evaluated using flow cytometry and immunofluorescence, which failed to depict altered membrane-associated EGFR abundance. Finally, concentration-dependent inhibition of colony formation was tested for all four drugs. Propranolol and minocycline showed potential biphasic stimulatory effects at 10μM, but all drugs inhibited cell growth at 50μM and higher. Efficacy of these drugs in the treatment of GBM is being further evaluated using in vitro neurosphere cultures from patients identified as having the cellular vulnerabilities potentially targeted by these drugs. Successful completion of this project will lead to in vivo efficacy testing of these four drugs in orthotopic GBM PDX models.
ContributorsNeal, Tristan Thomas (Co-author) / Neal, Tristan (Co-author) / Byron, Sara (Co-author) / Dhruv, Harshil (Co-author, Committee member) / Berens, Michael (Co-author) / Wilson, Melissa (Thesis director) / Ferdosi, Shayesteh (Committee member) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections (STI), affecting over 267 million women worldwide. HSV-2 causes a chronic, latent infection that increases the risk for acquisition with other STI, including HIV. Currently, there is no vaccine against HSV-2 and novel anti-viral treatments are needed. IL-36γ is a newly characterized cytokine that has been shown to play a role in inflammation and be upregulated in response to microbial infection and tissue damage. We have shown that IL-36γ is expressed in the female reproductive tract (FRT) and is upregulated by HSV-2 infection in vitro and in vivo. IL-36γ in turn induces production of proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines in human vaginal epithelial cells (VEC) that can aid in immune cell recruitment. We hypothesize that IL-36γ is a key regulator of mucosal inflammation in the FRT and functions to limit HSV-2 infection. We have demonstrated that IL-36γ treatment prior to infection protects against HSV-2 replication, disease severity, and promotes survival in a lethal mouse model. Thus, the objective of this study is to understand the mechanisms whereby IL-36γ inhibits HSV-2 replication. To understand the impact of IL-36γ on the HSV-2 lifecycle, we pretreated VEC with IL-36γ and evaluated viral titer during virus attachment and entry, replication, and cell-to-cell spread by plaque assay. Pretreatment with IL-36γ 4h prior to infection did not significantly reduce viral titers in VEC monolayers relative to untreated groups. This suggesting that IL-36γ may play a more significant role in immune cell recruitment during HSV-2 infection. To test this, FRT tissue samples from HSV-2 infected IL-36γ -/- and WT mice were analyzed by histochemistry to characterize immune cell recruitment. No clear pattern was determined for tissue samples in which cell clusters were observed and cell type within recruited clusters was unable to be identified at the current magnification. As these projects continue, the data will aid in elucidating the mechanism and level to which IL-36γ impacts HSV-2 infection in human VEC and FRT models.
ContributorsAlexander, Thessaly E (Author) / Herbst-Kralovetz, Melissa (Thesis director) / Capco, David (Committee member) / Hogue, Ian (Committee member) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
As the Internet of Things continues to expand, not only must our computing power grow
alongside it, our very approach must evolve. While the recent trend has been to centralize our
computing resources in the cloud, it now looks beneficial to push more computing power
towards the “edge” with so called edge computing, reducing the immense strain on cloud
servers and the latency experienced by IoT devices. A new computing paradigm also brings
new opportunities for innovation, and one such innovation could be the use of FPGAs as edge
servers. In this research project, I learn the design flow for developing OpenCL kernels and
custom FPGA BSPs. Using these tools, I investigate the viability of using FPGAs as standalone
edge computing devices. Concluding that—although the technology is a great fit—the current
necessity of dynamically reprogrammable FPGAs to be closely coupled with a host CPU is
holding them back from this purpose. I propose a modification to the architecture of the Intel
Arria 10 GX that would allow it to be decoupled from its host CPU, allowing it to truly serve as a
viable edge computing solution.
alongside it, our very approach must evolve. While the recent trend has been to centralize our
computing resources in the cloud, it now looks beneficial to push more computing power
towards the “edge” with so called edge computing, reducing the immense strain on cloud
servers and the latency experienced by IoT devices. A new computing paradigm also brings
new opportunities for innovation, and one such innovation could be the use of FPGAs as edge
servers. In this research project, I learn the design flow for developing OpenCL kernels and
custom FPGA BSPs. Using these tools, I investigate the viability of using FPGAs as standalone
edge computing devices. Concluding that—although the technology is a great fit—the current
necessity of dynamically reprogrammable FPGAs to be closely coupled with a host CPU is
holding them back from this purpose. I propose a modification to the architecture of the Intel
Arria 10 GX that would allow it to be decoupled from its host CPU, allowing it to truly serve as a
viable edge computing solution.
ContributorsBarth, Brandon Albert (Author) / Ren, Fengbo (Thesis director) / Vrudhula, Sarma (Committee member) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
This thesis contains three chapters, all of which involve using culturally inclusive education to explore the experiences of religious undergraduate biology students. The first chapter is an essay entitled "Toward Culturally Inclusive Undergraduate Biology Education," which describes a literature review performed with the aim of characterizing the landscape of cultural competence and related terms for biology educators and biology education researchers. This chapter highlights the use of 16 different terms related to cultural competence and presents these terms, their definitions, and highlights their similarities and differences. This chapter also identifies gaps in the cultural competence literature, and presents a set of recommendations to support better culturally inclusive interventions in undergraduate science education. The second chapter, entitled "Different Evolution Acceptance Instruments Lead to Different Research Findings," describes a study in which the source of 30 years of conflicting research on the relationship between evolution acceptance and evolution understanding was determined. The results of this study showed that different instruments used to measure evolution acceptance sometimes lead to different research results and conclusions. The final chapter, entitled "Believing That Evolution is Atheistic is Associated with Poor Evolution Education Outcomes Among Religious College Students," describes a study characterizing definitions of evolution that religious undergraduate biology students may hold, and examines the impact that those definitions of evolution have on multiple outcome variables. In this study, we found that among the most religious students, those who thought evolution is atheistic were less accepting of evolution, less comfortable learning evolution, and perceived greater conflict between their personal religious beliefs and evolution than those who thought evolution is agnostic.
ContributorsDunlop, Hayley Marie (Author) / Brownell, Sara (Thesis director) / Collins, James (Committee member) / Barnes, M. Elizabeth (Committee member) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The Islamic Golden Era of the 9th through 11th century is considered the apex of Muslim philosophical and scientific development. Having translated, improved upon, and preserved the texts of ancient civilizations, the Abbasid Caliphate was said to be the intellectual powerhouse of its time. In stark contrast, contemporary Muslim societies are perceived by many science historians as being shadows of their former selves. This deterioration of intellectualism is thought to have started with Al-Ghazali and his Tahafut al-Falasifa, or The Incoherence of the Philosophers in the mid-11th century. Many of these scholars believe that Al-Ghazali and his influential text shifted sociopolitical power into the hands of those most against the Greeks, and consequently, against the development of philosophy and science. However, this presumption overplays the power of a single text as well as its intentions to cease intellectual pursuits.
This thesis will explore the Incoherence of the Philosophers from several layers. Attention will be given to analyzing the cultural and historical contexts by which the text was created to understand the purpose of the text and its interpretation by contemporary historians. Several theories by the historians will be explored. Additional analysis will also be conducted within the text to illustrate Al-Ghazali’s aversion to Greek metaphysics and ambivalent attitude towards philosophy. As such, this thesis will dive into the most controversial aspects of Al-Ghazali’s text, namely his criticism of the eternity of the world theory as well as his attitude on causality. The former will elucidate his willingness and mastery of philosophy, whereas the latter will be utilized to address and quell the concerns of those who believe that Al-Ghazali and his text wished to devastate the development of science in the Muslim world.
This thesis will explore the Incoherence of the Philosophers from several layers. Attention will be given to analyzing the cultural and historical contexts by which the text was created to understand the purpose of the text and its interpretation by contemporary historians. Several theories by the historians will be explored. Additional analysis will also be conducted within the text to illustrate Al-Ghazali’s aversion to Greek metaphysics and ambivalent attitude towards philosophy. As such, this thesis will dive into the most controversial aspects of Al-Ghazali’s text, namely his criticism of the eternity of the world theory as well as his attitude on causality. The former will elucidate his willingness and mastery of philosophy, whereas the latter will be utilized to address and quell the concerns of those who believe that Al-Ghazali and his text wished to devastate the development of science in the Muslim world.
ContributorsAhmed, Tahmid (Author) / Gallab, Abdullahi (Thesis director) / El Hamel, Chouki (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The amphibian pathogen Ambystoma Tigrinum Virus (ATV) has been an important topic of study within the amphibian community since its discovery. ATV threatens many salamander populations across the US, including those in east-central and southeast Arizona. These populations remain at risk since there are no treatments available. In this thesis, a novel method of inactivation is tested to produce a vaccine with the aim of safely eliciting an immune response within the salamander host. This novel form of inactivation has been tested on several human pathogens but has yet to be used on amphibian pathogens. It has the potential to revolutionize our traditional approach to inactivating viruses. After laser treatment, viral plaque assays suggested that inactivated ATV ceased to grow completely, pointing to the possibility of creating a vaccine. Animal challenge trials were conducted with 60 juvenile Ambystoma tigrinum, but surprisingly there was no protective effect from viral inactivation. Further study is needed to clarify why in vitro and in vivo tests of viral inactivation produced contradictory results.
ContributorsVazquez, Luis Ernesto (Author) / Collins, James (Thesis director) / Tsen, Kong-Thon (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Electronic Health Records: Suggestions for Future Use explores how EHRs are currently being used in the clinical setting and in the research setting. This paper provides suggestions for how EHRs should be used in the future, so that patient centered health care is optimized while maintaining efficiency. Additionally, the thesis discusses why privacy is viewed as an innate human right in society as well as why it is specifically valued in the healthcare setting. The value of privacy significantly impacts how EHRs are currently used, and the more automated EHR systems become, the more likely it is that the privacy of patients is threatened. It was concluded that the healthcare industry can improve EHR use in future clinical and research settings, while upholding privacy laws.
ContributorsPhillips, Emily (Co-author) / Waldman, Lauren (Co-author) / Brian, Jennifer (Thesis director) / Mason, Hugh (Committee member) / Department of English (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
There are two main motivations for conducting this analysis. The first motivation is to understand the Social Credit System (SCS) itself: what it is, why it’s being developed, and what implications it may have for China and the rest of the world. The Social Credit System is a novel idea—it’s the first ever use of AI and machine learning technology by a government for the purposes of social engineering. The long-term consequences of this technology will have a monumental impact on the Chinese peoples’ well-being. Potential implications of the system range from impacts on privacy and activism to whether other countries are inspired to develop a similar technology. There are also many different implementations for this system, each with its own outcome. This system is a consequence of the increasing capabilities of technology and an experimental approach influenced heavily by China’s culture and history, which leads to the second motivation.
Confucianism’s historical influence on China’s culture has made the Social Credit System seem like a good solution to many of China’s major societal problems. As such, the second motivation is to evaluate the impact Confucianism has on the development of the system; this involves understanding what Confucianism is, identifying parallels between it and the SCS, and analyzing how it may affect the Chinese people reaction to a full-fledged SCS. Understanding Confucianism may also illuminate why the government believes this is a good idea, what direction it may want to take this, and what boundaries, if any, the Chinese citizens have. We chose to analyze the SCS from a Confucian perspective because it has played a large role in influencing Chinese culture and history for over 2000 years. The Chinese people have been especially drawn to it in recent years due to increasing corruption, increasing inequality, decreasing trust, and increased social instability.
Although Confucianism may have a significant influence on the development of the SCS, there are also other influences in the mix. One of these influences is China’s AI competition with the US; relaxing privacy protections has given China an enormous amount of data to feed its AI. This system is also another avenue for China to develop their algorithms. There are also the motivations of the Communist party of China. These motivations include market reform, governmental reform, authoritarian interests and bureaucratic interests.
Confucianism’s historical influence on China’s culture has made the Social Credit System seem like a good solution to many of China’s major societal problems. As such, the second motivation is to evaluate the impact Confucianism has on the development of the system; this involves understanding what Confucianism is, identifying parallels between it and the SCS, and analyzing how it may affect the Chinese people reaction to a full-fledged SCS. Understanding Confucianism may also illuminate why the government believes this is a good idea, what direction it may want to take this, and what boundaries, if any, the Chinese citizens have. We chose to analyze the SCS from a Confucian perspective because it has played a large role in influencing Chinese culture and history for over 2000 years. The Chinese people have been especially drawn to it in recent years due to increasing corruption, increasing inequality, decreasing trust, and increased social instability.
Although Confucianism may have a significant influence on the development of the SCS, there are also other influences in the mix. One of these influences is China’s AI competition with the US; relaxing privacy protections has given China an enormous amount of data to feed its AI. This system is also another avenue for China to develop their algorithms. There are also the motivations of the Communist party of China. These motivations include market reform, governmental reform, authoritarian interests and bureaucratic interests.
ContributorsRavi, Markanday (Author) / Allenby, Braden (Thesis director) / Kubiak, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Watts College of Public Service & Community Solut (Contributor) / Computer Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05