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There are three known materials that readily undergo fission, allowing their use as a base for nuclear fuel: uranium-235, a naturally-occurring but uncommon isotope; plutonium, created from irradiated natural uranium; and uranium-233, produced from thorium. Of the three, uranium-235 and plutonium feature heavily in the modern nuclear industry, while uranium-233

There are three known materials that readily undergo fission, allowing their use as a base for nuclear fuel: uranium-235, a naturally-occurring but uncommon isotope; plutonium, created from irradiated natural uranium; and uranium-233, produced from thorium. Of the three, uranium-235 and plutonium feature heavily in the modern nuclear industry, while uranium-233 and the thorium fuel cycle have failed to have significant presence in the field. Historically, nuclear energy development in the United States, and thorium development in particular, has been tied to the predominant societal outlook on the field, and thorium was only pursued seriously as an option during a period when nuclear energy was heavily favored, and resources seemed scarce. Recently, thorium-based energy has been experiencing a revival in interest in response to pollution concerns regarding fossil fuels. While public opinion is still wary of uranium, thorium-based designs could reduce reliance on fossil fuels while avoiding traditional drawbacks of nuclear energy. The thorium fuel cycle is more protected against proliferation, but is also much more expensive than the uranium-plutonium cycle in a typical reactor setup. Liquid-fueled molten salt reactor designs, however, bypass the prohibitive expense of U-233 refabrication by avoiding the stage entirely, keeping the chain reaction running with nothing but thorium input required. MSRs can use any fissile material as fuel, and are relatively safe to operate, due to passive features inherent to the design.
ContributorsGalbiati, Joseph Nicco (Author) / Martin, Thomas (Thesis director) / Foy, Joseph (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor)
Created2014-05
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The mental health of ASU students has been negatively affected by the pandemic. Our research looks to prove that COVID-19 has caused an increase in stress levels while uncovering other relationships to stress. We obtained our data by conducting a survey through Google Forms that was exclusively accessible to ASU

The mental health of ASU students has been negatively affected by the pandemic. Our research looks to prove that COVID-19 has caused an increase in stress levels while uncovering other relationships to stress. We obtained our data by conducting a survey through Google Forms that was exclusively accessible to ASU students. Stress levels were measured with the use of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). We find that the stress of ASU students from before the pandemic to during rises from 15 to 22 points, a 50% increase (n = 228). We discovered that women are more stressed than men before and during the pandemic. We also discovered that there is no difference between stresses among different races. We notice that there is a parabolic relationship between enrollment time and stress levels with the peak occurring during semesters 2-6. We also conclude that students who attended more than 5 events during the pandemic had lower stress scores, and those who had their videos on for at least 3 events had lower stress scores. Furthermore, students who utilized campus resources to manage their stress had higher stress levels than those who did not.

ContributorsRana, Mannat (Co-author) / Levine, Benjamin (Co-author) / Martin, Thomas (Thesis director) / Rendell, Dawn (Committee member) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / Engineering Programs (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
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Description

The mental health of ASU students has been negatively affected by the pandemic. Our research looks to prove that COVID-19 has caused an increase in stress levels while uncovering other relationships to stress. We obtained our data by conducting a survey through Google Forms that was exclusively accessible to ASU

The mental health of ASU students has been negatively affected by the pandemic. Our research looks to prove that COVID-19 has caused an increase in stress levels while uncovering other relationships to stress. We obtained our data by conducting a survey through Google Forms that was exclusively accessible to ASU students. Stress levels were measured with the use of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). We find that the stress of ASU students from before the pandemic to during rises from 15 to 22 points, a 50% increase (n = 228). We discovered that women are more stressed than men before and during the pandemic. We also discovered that there is no difference between stresses among different races. We notice that there is a parabolic relationship between enrollment time and stress levels with the peak occurring during semesters 2-6. We also conclude that students who attended more than 5 events during the pandemic had lower stress scores, and those who had their videos on for at least 3 events had lower stress scores. Furthermore, students who utilized campus resources to manage their stress had higher stress levels than those who did not.

ContributorsRana, Mannat (Co-author) / Levine, Benjamin (Co-author) / Martin, Thomas (Thesis director) / Rendell, Dawn (Committee member) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / Engineering Programs (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
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Description

The mental health of ASU students has been negatively affected by the pandemic. Our research looks to prove that COVID-19 has caused an increase in stress levels while uncovering other relationships to stress. We obtained our data by conducting a survey through Google Forms that was exclusively accessible to ASU

The mental health of ASU students has been negatively affected by the pandemic. Our research looks to prove that COVID-19 has caused an increase in stress levels while uncovering other relationships to stress. We obtained our data by conducting a survey through Google Forms that was exclusively accessible to ASU students. Stress levels were measured with the use of the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS). We find that the stress of ASU students from before the pandemic to during rises from 15 to 22 points, a 50% increase (n = 228). We discovered that women are more stressed than men before and during the pandemic. We also discovered that there is no difference between stresses among different races. We notice that there is a parabolic relationship between enrollment time and stress levels with the peak occurring during semesters 2-6. We also conclude that students who attended more than 5 events during the pandemic had lower stress scores, and those who had their videos on for at least 3 events had lower stress scores. Furthermore, students who utilized campus resources to manage their stress had higher stress levels than those who did not.

ContributorsLevine, Benjamin (Co-author) / Rana, Mannat (Co-author) / Martin, Thomas (Thesis director) / Rendell, Dawn (Committee member) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / Engineering Programs (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
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Description
The purpose of this study is to understand if there is a demographic variable that predicts science literacy, and if science literacy makes one less likely to believe in pseudoscience. The demographic variables that were tested were age, gender, religion, political affiliation, highest degree completed, field aforementioned degree is in,

The purpose of this study is to understand if there is a demographic variable that predicts science literacy, and if science literacy makes one less likely to believe in pseudoscience. The demographic variables that were tested were age, gender, religion, political affiliation, highest degree completed, field aforementioned degree is in, and industry in which one is employed. Participants were given 40 statements in total and asked to select whether they strongly agree, somewhat agree, neither agree nor disagree, somewhat disagree, and strongly disagree with that given statement. Statements ranged from scientific facts to historical conspiracies, superstitions and myths. All the data was examined as a whole, followed by comparisons between demographic data and statements. Overall, men were more likely to answer science related questions correctly, while women believed more in conspiracies and myths. Although some trends were identified in the other demographic data sets, the beliefs were either too inconsistent or lacked enough data points to be considered significant. Thus, gender was the only demographic that could be used to predict one’s beliefs.
ContributorsMiller, Dana (Co-author) / Shrum, Madelyn (Co-author) / Sukharev, Maxim (Thesis director) / Martin, Thomas (Committee member) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05