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Description
Photosynthesis is the process by which plants, algae, and bacteria use light energy to synthesize organic compounds to use as energy. Among these organisms are a kind of purple photosynthetic bacteria called Rhodobacter sphaeroides, a non-sulfur purple bacteria that grows aerobically in the dark by respiration. There have been many contributions throughout the history of this group of bacteria. Rhodobacter sphaeroides is metabolically very diverse as it has many different ways to obtain energy--aerobic respiration and anoxygenic photosynthesis being just a couple of the ways to do so. This project is part of a larger ongoing project to study different mutant strains of Rhodobacter and the different ways in which carries out electron transfer/photosynthesis. This thesis focused on the improvements made to protocol (standard procedure of site directed mutagenesis) through a more efficient technique known as infusion.
ContributorsNucuta, Diana Ileana (Author) / Woodbury, Neal (Thesis director) / Lin, Su (Committee member) / Loskutov, Andrey (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Standardized testing plays a pivotal role in education. The results of standardized testing are used as performance metrics for students, teachers, and schools. The goal in education is to use performance metrics that are as accurate as possible. There are numerous measurement methods, but a popular choice is Student Growth Percentiles. This study will provide an analysis of Student Growth Percentiles in the Chandler Unified School District, located in Arizona. This study will use the Chandler Unified School District data to calculate standard error measurements and create Student Growth Percentile confidence intervals.
ContributorsSmith, Jacob (Author) / Boggess, May (Committee member) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Committee member) / Matthew, Strom (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
The purpose of this creative thesis project is to create the framework of an educational class package based off of a course offered at Arizona State University. The course chosen for this project is an honors course titled Deductive Logic: Leadership and Management Techniques and is taught by Dean Kashiwagi, PhD. The class package is designed to be published over an online platform so students and professors from various institutions can access the material. Currently the platform is in its final stages of development and is slated to go live on July of 2014. The future development of the package will be geared towards facilitating interdisciplinary collaboration between institutions based off of course concepts.
ContributorsGunnoe, Jake Alan (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Del E. Webb Construction (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
The Information Measurement Theory (IMT) is a revolutionary thinking paradigm. Its principles allow an individual to accurately perceive reality and simplify the complexities of life. To understand IMT, individuals start by first recognizing that everything must follow natural law and cause and effect, that there is no randomness, and that everyone changes at a certain rate. They then move on to understanding that individuals are described by certain characteristics that can be used to predict their future behavior. And finally, they discover that they must learn to understand, accept, and improve themselves while understanding and accepting others. The author, who has spent a considerable amount of time studying and utilizing IMT, believes that IMT can be used within the field of psychology. The extraordinary results that IMT has produced in the construction industry can potentially be produced in a similar fashion within the psychology field. One of the most important principles of IMT teaches that control or influence over others does not exist. This principle alone differentiates IMT from the traditional model of psychology, which is dedicated to changing an individual (through influence). Five case studies will be presented in which individuals have used the principles of IMT to overcome severe issues such as substance abuse and depression. Each case study is unique and exhibits a remarkable change within each individual.
ContributorsMalladi, Basavanth (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Committee member) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Abstract The purpose of this project is to utilize the models and concepts from Information Measurement Theory (IMT) to help minimize future decision making with respect to my career path. When I began this project, my future was clouded, my initial conditions were unknown, my stress over future career-path decisions was high, and I had eight possible career paths in mind. I have narrowed my career-path options from eight to four. In addition, I have determined a one-year plan that enables me to be prepared to pursue any of the four career paths that I have found align with me. In this project, I explored my dominant initial conditions with respect to my career path. I tracked the job history of my grandparents and parents. These efforts allowed me to identify the strengths and weaknesses that I was exhibiting by the age of three. Natural law dictates that the strengths and weaknesses of my younger self will be the same strengths and weakness that I excel at and struggle with today. I then used my understanding of natural law and the event model process to map the strengths and weaknesses of my parents and grandparents and to compare and contrast these to my strengths and weaknesses, including those that were apparent by the time that I was three years old. Focusing in on what I really want from a job, four main goals were established to grade the various future career-path options. Finally, I documented my transition from uncertainty to clarity. It began with my sobriety and ended with a milestone one-year plan that will give me information that I need to commit to my career path. This transition has had significant impact. The elusive "who am I" has been addressed, not completely but addressed sufficiently so that the question no longer plagues me. I know from where I have come. I have gained significant insight from those around me who know me. All of this has been documented for my own personal use, and for my children someday. This process permitted me to eliminate outliers from my eight original career paths, reducing them to four. In addition, application of IMT models and concepts has allowed me to see one year into the future. With my new-found knowledge, I will listen and watch the doors close on three of the remaining four career paths, as there is only one path I am meant to take.
ContributorsRichardson, Trevor Woods (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Industrial, Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Del E. Webb Construction (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
The influenza virus is the main cause of thousands of deaths each year in the United States, and far more hospitalizations. Immunization has helped in protecting people from this virus and there are a number of therapeutics which have proven effective in aiding people infected with the virus. However, these therapeutics are subject to various limitations including increased resistance, limited supply, and significant side effects. A new therapeutic is needed which addresses these problems and protects people from the influenza virus. Synbodies, synthetic antibodies, may provide a means to achieve this goal. Our group has produced a synbody, the 5-5 synbody, which has been shown to bind to and inhibit the influenza virus. The direct pull down and western blot techniques were utilized to investigate how the synbody bound to the influenza virus. Our research showed that the 5-5 synbody bound to the influenza nucleoprotein (NP) with a KD of 102.9 ± 74.48 nM. It also showed that the synbody bound strongly to influenza viral extract from two different strains of the virus, the Puerto Rico (H1N1) and Sydney (H3N2) strains. This research demonstrated that the 5-5 synbody binds with high affinity to NP, which is important because influenza NP is highly conserved between various strains of the virus and plays an important role in the replication of the viral genome. It also demonstrated that this binding is conserved between various strains of the virus, indicating that the 5-5 synbody potentially could bind many different influenza strains. This synbody may have potential as a therapeutic in the future if it is able to demonstrate similar binding in vivo.
ContributorsKombe, Albert E. (Author) / Diehnelt, Chris (Thesis director) / Woodbury, Neal (Committee member) / Legutki, Bart (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
This study analyzes the impact of incentive programs on performance. Agency theory and Information Measurement theory are used to hypothesize about the impact of incentives upon performance. Empirical evidence from the case study shows that incentives are ineffective at increasing performance, but the statistical significance of the data is too low to generalize the findings beyond that of short term cold call sales. Several avenues for continued research are suggested.
ContributorsCarlson, Andrew Wayne (Author) / Lee, Peggy (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Committee member) / Totscheck, Chaz (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
In an increasingly global economy, companies face challenges with implementing successful business and marketing strategies in cultures different from their own. This paper calls upon previous research to compile a per-country outline of general behaviors and expectations when doing business overseas. Using categorical definitions from Hofstede's 1984 study and those found in the Handbook of Global and Multicultural Negotiation, a table has been prepared to group similar countries based on their cultural biases.
ContributorsPetruccelli, Lauren Taylor (Author) / Shunk, Dan (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Committee member) / McCarville, Daniel R. (Committee member) / Industrial, Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
One of the major challenges that were yet to be solved for solid phase peptide synthesis was the lack of an efficient peptide sequencing technique that was less hazardous, easier to perform , and was more cost-effective. Sequencing peptides were held important in the field of Chemistry and Biochemistry because it aided in drug discovery, finding ligands that bind to a specific target protein and finding alternative agents in transporting molecules to its desired location. Therefore, the overall purpose of this experiment was to develop a method of solid phase sequencing technique that was more environmental friendly, sequences at a faster rate, and was more cost-effective.
ContributorsCordovez, Lalaine Anne Ordiz (Author) / Woodbury, Neal (Thesis director) / Zhao, Zhan-Gong (Committee member) / Legutki, Joseph Barten (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
A new honors class created at Arizona State University utilizes a new "thinking" paradigm. The new paradigm is a problem solution using deductive logic and natural laws to replace the traditional acquisition and usage of detailed knowledge. When utilizing deductive logic, less time is required for students to learn, and students are able to resolve unique issues with minimal amounts of information. Students use their logic and processing skills to replace the traditional need of collecting large amounts of detailed information. The concepts taught in the class have come from the industry success of the Best Value (BV) approach developed by a leading research group at Arizona State University over the last 17 years. The research group identified the source of the industry's problem is due to the traditional business approach of management, direction and control (MDC). With over 1500 tests conducted, delivering $5.7B of services, with results showing: 30% decrease in cost, 30% increase in value, and customer satisfaction improvement by up to 140%, the Best Value (BV) approach has been identified as more efficient and can deliver better quality services than the traditional MDC approach. Through the research group's implementation of the new paradigm in higher education, the author identified a windfall effect that was able to give students understanding and an increased ability to cope with stressful situations, disease and extraordinary complications. It also exposed students to potentially harmful practices in their lives and has helped them to change. The study tested in K-12 proved potential value in exposing the paradigm to K-12 students, and what impact it may have on future professionals. The author's results include satisfaction rating of 9.5 (out of 10), increased career alignment by up to 113%, increased understanding of self by up to 70%, and a reduction of stress by up to 71%. The author's K-12 case studies aligned with the successful results shown in the industry and college classes run by the leading research group. The pattern of the new paradigm shows as resistance to it decreases, productivity, efficiency, processing speed, understanding, and effectiveness all increase.
ContributorsRivera, Alfredo (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Collofello, James (Committee member) / Nelson, Margaret (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor) / Del E. Webb Construction (Contributor)
Created2013-12