Matching Items (5)
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- All Subjects: Influenza
- All Subjects: Science
- Creators: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry
- Resource Type: Text
Description
Joseph Rotblat (1908-2005) was the only physicist to leave the Manhattan Project for moral reasons before its completion. He would spend the rest of his life advocating for nuclear disarmament. His activities for disarmament resulted in the formation, in 1957, of the Pugwash conferences, which emerged as the leading global forum to advance limits on nuclear weapons during the Cold War. Rotblat's efforts, and the activities of Pugwash, resulted in both being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995. Rotblat is a central figure in the global history of resistance to the spread of nuclear weapons. He also was an important figure in the emergence, after World War II, of a counter-movement to introduce new social justifications for scientific research and new models for ethics and professionalism among scientists. Rotblat embodies the power of the individual scientist to say "no" and thus, at least individually, put limits of conscience on his or her scientific activity. This paper explores the political and ethical choices scientists make as part of their effort to behave responsibly and to influence the outcomes of their work. By analyzing three phases of Rotblat's life, I demonstrate how he pursued his ideal of beneficial science, or science that appears to benefit humanity. The three phases are: (1) his decision to leave the Manhattan Project in 1944, (2) his role in the creation of Pugwash in 1957 and his role in the rise of the organization into international prominence and (3) his winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995. These three phases of Rotblat's life provide a singular window of the history of nuclear weapons and the international movement for scientific responsibility in the 50 years since the bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. While this paper does not provide a complete picture of Rotblat's life and times, I argue that his experiences shed important light on the difficult question of the individual responsibility of scientists.
ContributorsEvans, Alison Dawn (Author) / Zachary, Gregg (Thesis director) / Hurlbut, Ben (Committee member) / Francis, Sybil (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor)
Created2015-05
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
Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a prevalent genetic disease in Africa, and specifically in Kenya. The lack of available relevant disease education and screening mean that most don't understand the importance of getting testing and many children die before they can get prophylactic care. This project was designed to address the lack of knowledge with supplemental educational materials to be partnered with an engineering capstone project that provides a low cost diagnostic test.
ContributorsShawver, Jamie Christine (Author) / Caplan, Michael (Thesis director) / Snyder, Jan (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
This study sought to identify traits that act as possible predictors of academic science proficiency of highly gifted adolescent students. A combination of cognitive, personality, and conative traits were selected for evaluation as predictors of scientific proficiency using student General Ability Index (GAI), Revised NEO Personality Index (NEO-PI R), and Kolbe Index scores to evaluate each, respectively. Statistical correlational analyses revealed that high expressions of the conative trait Fact Finder and the personality traits Ideas and Straight-forwardness predicted higher degrees of academic science proficiency. In contrast, lower expressions of the personality traits Excitement Seeking and Order predicted higher degrees of scientific proficiency. Further, stepwise regression confirmed that the NEO-PI R facets of Excitement Seeking and Ideas traits were significant predictors of science proficiency and suggested that the personality trait Vulnerability may also be a predictor. The repeated appearance of the Excitement Seeking and Ideas facets and the dependence of the other identified traits suggests that these traits were the most promising possible predictors of scientific proficiency in highly gifted students and should be the target of future research.
ContributorsRoss, Christian Hamilton (Author) / Lansdowne, Kimberly (Thesis director) / Oakes, Wendy (Committee member) / Young, Michael (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
The influenza virus, also known as "the flu", is an infectious disease that has constantly affected the health of humanity. There is currently no known cure for Influenza. The Center for Innovations in Medicine at the Biodesign Institute located on campus at Arizona State University has been developing synbodies as a possible Influenza therapeutic. Specifically, at CIM, we have attempted to design these initial synbodies to target the entire Influenza virus and preliminary data leads us to believe that these synbodies target Nucleoprotein (NP). Given that the synbody targets NP, the penetration of cells via synbody should also occur. Then by Western Blot analysis we evaluated for the diminution of NP level in treated cells versus untreated cells. The focus of my honors thesis is to explore how synthetic antibodies can potentially inhibit replication of the Influenza (H1N1) A/Puerto Rico/8/34 strain so that a therapeutic can be developed. A high affinity synbody for Influenza can be utilized to test for inhibition of Influenza as shown by preliminary data. The 5-5-3819 synthetic antibody's internalization in live cells was visualized with Madin-Darby Kidney Cells under a Confocal Microscope. Then by Western Blot analysis we evaluated for the diminution of NP level in treated cells versus untreated cells. Expression of NP over 8 hours time was analyzed via Western Blot Analysis, which showed NP accumulation was retarded in synbody treated cells. The data obtained from my honors thesis and preliminary data provided suggest that the synthetic antibody penetrates live cells and targets NP. The results of my thesis presents valuable information that can be utilized by other researchers so that future experiments can be performed, eventually leading to the creation of a more effective therapeutic for influenza.
ContributorsHayden, Joel James (Author) / Diehnelt, Chris (Thesis director) / Johnston, Stephen (Committee member) / Legutki, Bart (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor)
Created2014-05