Theses and dissertations

This collection includes both ASU Theses and Dissertations, submitted by graduate students, and the Barrett, Honors College theses submitted by undergraduate students. 

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Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever: The Game

Description
The goal of this project was to create a card game that would quickly and easily allow medical professionals to learn important information. This project seeks to advance ways in which medical staff gain information about disease outbreaks through the creation of a card game which teaches players the proper…

The goal of this project was to create a card game that would quickly and easily allow medical professionals to learn important information. This project seeks to advance ways in which medical staff gain information about disease outbreaks through the creation of a card game which teaches players the proper steps and procedure to triage and treat patients who are suspected to have Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever, which was not done properly during the recent outbreak. To create this game, research was conducted on the information given by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on the various steps to triaging those who were suspected of having Ebola. Various prototypes of the game were made and tested to optimize the win-lose ratio while still being an enjoyable game to play. This card game is fast-paced, small, and can be played either individually or with more than one person. It is loosely based off of Solitaire. This game has gone through three prototypes of the cards as well as a few brief testing periods. Through the methods and procedure used in this game's creation, it has been concluded that this method is a great way to easily teach players a proper procedure, and that this method of game can be applied to other disease breakouts and even to other fields where information must be learned quickly. Future steps for this game include improving the graphic art used in the cards, and continuing on to create a smartphone application.
ContributorsHenriksen, Carissa (Co-author) / Pratt, Breanna (Co-author) / LaBelle, Jeffrey (Thesis director) / Coursen, Jerry (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-12
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Transitions of Privatized Healthcare in the United States

Description
This thesis project discusses the transitions of the physician profession and their struggle to maintain autonomy throughout American History until approximately the 1980's. Included in the historical account of the physician profession, is the development of the American Hospital System and its origins working under the physician profession. As history…

This thesis project discusses the transitions of the physician profession and their struggle to maintain autonomy throughout American History until approximately the 1980's. Included in the historical account of the physician profession, is the development of the American Hospital System and its origins working under the physician profession. As history progresses from 1760 on, what comes to light is a cyclical struggle for physicians to remain independent from the corporations, while using them to gain social and economic prestige. This work focuses on how the establishment of private practice in the United States has lead to the current system in place today, illustrating a long fight for control of the medical field that still rages on today. As physicians gained power and autonomy in the medical field during the 20th century, constant attempts of government intervention can be seen within the convoluted history of this professional field. The rise of corporate healthcare, that works in tandem with private physicians, was a critical period in forgotten American History that subsequently allowed physicians to increase their stranglehold on the medical service industry. The goal of this research was to establish a better understanding of American Medicine's history to better tackle the new problems we face today. As America transitions to a period of public health outcry, it is important to establish a somewhat linear rendition of a mostly untold history that directly impacts the lives of every citizen in this country. This work attempts to mend the broken pieces of that history to give light to how healthcare evolved into what it is today.
ContributorsParkhurst, Erik Lewis (Author) / Tyler, William (Thesis director) / Coursen, Jerry (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12
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Investigating the Relationship Between Traumatic Brain Injury Cortical Lesion Area and TDP-43 Pathologies

Description

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is defined as an injury to the head that disrupts normal brain function. TBI has been described as a disease process that can lead to an increased risk for developing chronic neurodegenerative diseases, like frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). A pathological hallmark…

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is defined as an injury to the head that disrupts normal brain function. TBI has been described as a disease process that can lead to an increased risk for developing chronic neurodegenerative diseases, like frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). A pathological hallmark of FTLD and a hallmark of ALS is the nuclear mislocalization of TAR DNA Binding Protein 43 (TDP-43). This project aims to explore neurodegenerative effects of TBI on cortical lesion area using immunohistochemical markers of TDP-43 proteinopathies. We analyzed the total percent of NEUN positive cells displaying TDP-43 nuclear mislocalization. We found that the percent of NEUN positive cells displaying TDP-43 nuclear mislocalization was significantly higher in cortical tissue following TBI when compared to the age-matched control brains. The cortical lesion area was analyzed for each injured brain sample, with respect to days post-injury (DPI), and it was found that there were no statistically significant differences between cortical lesion areas across time points. The percent of NEUN positive cells displaying TDP-43 nuclear mislocalization was analyzed for each cortical tissue sample, with respect to cortical lesion area, and it was found that there were no statistically significant differences between the percent of NEUN positive cells displaying TDP-43 nuclear mislocalization, with respect to cortical lesion area. In conclusion, we found no correlation between the percent of cortical NEUN positive cells displaying TDP-43 nuclear mislocalization with respect to the size of the cortical lesion area.
ContributorsWong, Jennifer (Author) / Stabenfeldt, Sarah (Thesis director) / Bjorklund, Reed (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor)
Created2022-05