Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Regulation Of Atg9a-Mediated Aggrephagy By An Ulk1-Independent Atg13-Atg101 Complex, Joshua Youngs

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Aggrephagy, a type of autophagy, is an essential cellular process by which protein aggregates are collected and broken down in the lysosome. Protein aggregates are implicated in several diseases including Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and cancer. Here, we investigate the ATG13-ATG101 protein complex, a sub-complex of the canonical ULK1 complex whose regulatory role in aggrephagy is not completely understood. We also develop a protein fragment complementation (PFC) assay using the biotin ligase TurboID to study the functions of the ATG13-ATG101 complex with increased specificity. We demonstrate that ATG13 is required for optimal degradation of p62-ubiquitin condensates. We also show that a …

Finding Patterns In The Inertia Of The Distance Squared Matrix Of Unicyclic Graphs, Kellon Sandall, Mark Kempton, Christian Howell

Undergraduate Honors Theses

We analyze the spectrum of the distance squared matrix of a tree and give a relation between the inertia of the distance squared matrix and the structure of the tree. We take the result one step further and consider the addition of exactly one cycle in the tree. We obtain an expression for the inertia of the distance squared matrix of a cycle graph. We obtain a bound on the inertia of the distance squared matrix of an arbitrary unicyclic graph.

Implementing A High-Performance Quantum Computing Emulator, Reece Robertson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

We implement a quantum computing emulator after the manner described by Häner et al. with the goal of temporal and spatial savings. The emulator is compared to the Intel Quantum Simulator to verify speedup and spatial savings over the simulator method. We also implement Shor's algorithm in the emulator and use it to solve a nontrivial factoring problem. This demonstrates that the emulator makes quantum computing more accessible on at least two accounts: it allows users to solve nontrivial problems quickly and it provides those looking to enter quantum computing with an accessible place to start. Finally, we outline future …

Outvoice: Bringing Transparency To Healthcare, Autumn Clark

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Industries are not incentivized to price reasonably and spend responsibly if consumers do not have the ability to shop around within that industry, and shopping around is not possible without pricing transparency (knowing how much a good or service costs before purchasing it). But in the healthcare industry, we typically default to whichever clinic or hospital is closest, with no prior knowledge of what costs we can expect to incur at that particular institution. According to a poll published by Harvard University, nine out of ten Americans feel the healthcare industry is too opaque and greater transparency is needed.

We …