Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is an endocrine-metabolic disorder found in 5-10% of reproductive-aged women, and is characterized by symptoms such as increased blood-sugar levels and increased androgen production, which can cause a multitude of complications, including obesity, high blood-pressure, type-2 diabetes, infertility, acne, hirsutism, and much more. All of this is predicted to be the outcome of genetics, excess insulin production, low-grade inflammation, and/or hyperandrogenaemia. In attempt to reduce these experienced symptoms/causes, it is suggested that women with PCOS adopt healthy and balanced diets that incorporate foods low on the glycemic index, high in fiber, and low in anti-inflammatory properties, to help reduce insulin levels and low-grade inflammation. This dietary alteration should also be coupled with other lifestyle changes such as exercise, stress-reduction techniques, and, if needed, medications such as oral contraceptive pills and/or metformin to help regulate hormones and insulin levels. While further research needs to be conducted, these dietary considerations may help to alleviate the symptoms experienced by women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Mindfulness, the practice of being aware of your present-moment experiences with an attitude of compassionate curiosity, has recently gained popularity in the academic world - this creative thesis project is intended to help others understand the importance of using mindfulness to improve one’s relationship with oneself and with others through effective communication. This project provides a course template that may be used to help students to implement the ideas from mindfulness into their own patterns of communication on all levels (intrapersonal, interpersonal, group, public, and mass communication). The lectures and course materials provided may act as an instructor’s manual to teach students to practice the facets of mindfulness outside of the classroom setting, and to reflect on their experiences; the lessons in this proposed course were specifically designed to help others learn effective communication practices through the use of empathy, acceptance, and awareness. When used in combination with regular mindful meditation sessions and course readings related to mindfulness, the concepts taught in this project allow others to learn the ideology behind mindfulness and how to benefit from its practice.

For my honors thesis, I decided to do a creative project in the form of an extended comedy act. With this performance, I wanted to make jokes about my identity and experiences in my life while synthesizing the skills I had acquired over my college career. I decided I wanted to do this project because it felt like the best way to combine my passion (comedy) with my major (communication) in the form of a comedic performance study. And while I thought the performance would be the most informative aspect of my project, the workshop process ended up being far more enlightening. Through the workshop process, I was able to better understand the challenges that come with developing a comedic autoethnographic performance, and to discover the true purpose behind the art I was creating.

This study examines the impact of international youth exchange on past participants’ global engagement through the lens of their academic, professional, and personal development post-exchange. Through a quantitative survey, as well as interviews conducted with alumni, this research explores the ways in which international exchange alumni felt as though their exchange impacted - or did not impact - their future academic, career, and personal choices. Furthermore, this study investigates the dynamics and practices of the specific organization of study, Tempe Sister Cities, and provides information regarding strengths and areas for improvement based upon feedback from study participants. This research builds upon existing literature on international exchange outcomes through its long-term perspective and evaluation of a Sister Cities affiliate, which is an organization previously omitted from international exchange impact evaluations. The study finds that while international exchange experiences may not contribute to overt, direct influences on the fields and industries in which alumni choose to study and work, the exchange produces long-lasting impacts through the skills alumni acquire in intellectual curiosity, job readiness, and other areas of personal and professional development.

This study examines the interactions and intentions of D/deaf and hearing students who participate in the American Sign Language (ASL) Club and deaf Devils Club at Arizona State University (ASU). By exploring how and why students choose to participate in these organizations, one can better understand interactions between D/deaf and hearing communities. This study explores reasons hearing students become involved with d/Deaf communities, the types of interactions the hearing and d/Deaf students participate in, and how student involvement can benefit from these interactions. Qualitative interviews with students of different hearing abilities and observations inside both clubs inform this study. The implications of this research may be applicable to other D/deaf communities.

The label of “honors student,” and the status it carries, implies exceptional academic ability, maturity, and accomplishment. The notion that “honors” students are more capable than non-honors students dismisses the particular needs of intersecting identities including gender, race, and/or ability. Said differently, the “honors” designation erases identity and difference. For instance, “honors” students who live with mental illness(es) navigate social spaces and physical structures that assert notions of “success” that are informed by conditions that inhibit bodily function, communication, and educational accomplishment as set by capitalist and ableist standards. Moreover, ableist notions of “success” are always inherently racialized and gendered such that “honors” students women of color living with mental illness are forced to navigate racist and gendered overtones informing academic “success.” Focusing on how students think about and embody the labels of “honors” and “mentally ill” provides unique insight on how the systems of higher education are based in ableist ideology. In this Artist Statement, I discuss my performance Crazy/Smart, a performance that features and stages students’ narratives detailing the means by which students navigate ableism as “honors” students. Using embodied knowledge through performance allows students to decenter dominant, institutionalized narratives about ableism and higher education, speaking up to administrators as people of power and redefining personal success. In this Artist Statement, I detail the theory and method framing my performance Crazy/Smart, a performance using “honors” student stories and narratives to highlight and resist ableist ideology informing higher education more generally and “honors” education more specifically. This Statement includes four sections. First, I provide the theoretical framework that outlines ableism as an embodied ideology. Second, I extend my argument and turn to critical pedagogy to suggest a performance means to resist ableist ideology. Third, I describe the specificities informing my performance including the choices I made to stage ableism as an ideological structure organizing higher education. The fourth and final section is the attached Crazy/Smart script.

Melanoma is a type of skin cancer that can metastasize in advanced stages to other organs such as the brain, lymph nodes, lungs and liver. Current standard treatment options include surgery, radiation therapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy. More recently, oncolytic virotherapy is being studied as a new strategy to fight cancer. Specifically, for melanoma, a herpes virus (T-VEC) was approved by the U.S Food and Drug Administration in 2015 to treat advanced disease. Oncolytic viruses have the capacity to replicate mostly in cancer cells while leaving healthy somatic cells free from infection. Additionally, most of these viruses have the ability to induce an immune response against the cancer as well. Myxoma virus (MYXV) causes myxomatosis in European rabbits but not in any other mammal. In humans, MYXV can infect and kill cancer cells acting as an oncolytic virus. However, the mechanisms behind how myxoma kills cancerous cells are not completely known. To investigate this, we treated melanoma murine cancer cells (B16F10) in vitro with different genetically modified myxoma virus mutants, as well as with a novel second mitochondria-derived activator of caspase mimicking drug SMAC-LCL161, to understand the mechanisms by which MYXV induces cell death. In parallel, B16F10 lacZ cells were subcutaneously injected into mice to engraft melanoma tumors. These tumors were treated with intratumoral injections of different viral mutants or armed viruses derived from MYXV along with SMAC-L61. After a period of treatment, the tumors were isolated. Cell death pathways in both cell culture and in tumors obtained from subcutaneous pathways were identified using different techniques. The study showed an increase in activated caspase 3 and cleaved PARP-1 activity in B16F10 lacZ cells from cell culture when compared to cells in vivo however the two apoptosis markers did not track with each other consistently.

Since commercial airlines are undergoing shortages and diversity in organizations is beneficial, it is critical to examine representation within industries, specifically aviation, and their quality of work-life balance. This study aims to understand how male and female commercial airline pilots describe and negotiate work stressors through an applied method. Before evaluating the participants of this study, a masculine culture in airline was developed from the image airline organization originally promoted to passengers and the pipeline derived from the military. To collect rigorous data in a traditionally masculine setting, qualitative data in the form of semi-structured interviews and demographic surveys were gathered through a convenient snowball sampling method. Findings indicate that male and female pilots experience and perceive gendered work stressors differently based on these emphasized structures such as competency, flexibility versus rigidity, task stressors, and health stressors. Male pilots perceived they experienced unfair treatment in terms of affirmative action policy, depended on their spouses to manage their home life, exercised self-preservation in stressful situations, and were emotional detached when discussing health concerns. Female pilots appreciated affirmative action but recognized they help fill organizational quotas, resisted and behaved over-competently to prove their capabilities, experienced work-life integration, considered others in the form perspective-taking, and utilized proactive maintenance behaviors to better their health. Even though male and female pilots mainly differed in their descriptions and negotiations, they experienced similarities in memory recall amidst stress and youth perspective-taking from their children. A discussion elaborates how these descriptions and negotiations lend themselves to less stress or more stress in each structure. The discussion will emphasize how the findings build upon previous literature on work-life balance and the unique population of airline pilots.

Fantasy football exists as a thought-to-be male dominated space, particularly with respect to the linguistic practices of players. Heteronormativity runs rampant, and fantasy players are not held accountable for the implications of their language. This essay analyzes what the dynamics of fantasy football leagues are, how current linguistic practices shape them, and suggests that women’s participating in fantasy football leagues functions as a type of trash talk that encourages men to address their internalized heteronormativity and create a more welcoming and progressive experience for people of all genders.

Objective: This study examined how the belief (internalization) in the model minority myth of achievement orientation and of unrestricted mobility relates to one’s social awareness of racial inequity and inequality in society (critical consciousness) amongst Asian American college students. Methods: Participants (N = 275, 67.7% female, M_age = 22.35) were recruited from Asian American ethnic studies classes, clubs and organizations and completed an online cross-sectional survey. Results: Results indicated that internalization of achievement orientation significantly correlated with levels of racial critical consciousness while unrestricted mobility did not. Conclusion: These findings extend research exploring the correlates of critical consciousness on internalization of racial stereotypes for Asian Americans.