Matching Items (89)
Description
Public Private Partnerships (PPP) have been in use for years in the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia and for a shorter time here in the United States. Typical PPP infrastructure projects include a multi-year term of operation in addition to constructing the structural features to be used. Early studies are proving PPP delivery methods to be effective at construction cost containment. An examination of the key elements that constitute the early stage negotiation reveal that there is room for negotiation created by the governing documentation while maintaining a competitive environment that brings the best value available to the Public entity. This paper will examine why PPP's are effective during this critical construction period of the facilities life cycle. It is the intent of this study to examine why the features and outcomes of more or less negotiation and the degree of rigor associated with it.
ContributorsMaddex, William E (Author) / Chasey, Allan (Thesis advisor) / El Asmar, Mounir (Committee member) / Pendyala, Ram (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Public-Private Partnerships (P3) in North America have become a trend in the past two decades and are gaining attention in the transportation industry with some large scale projects being delivered by this approach. This is due to the need for alternative funding sources for public projects and for improved efficiency of these projects in order to save time and money. Several research studies have been done, including mature markets in Europe and Australia, on the cost and schedule performance of transportation projects but no similar study has been conducted in North America. This study focuses on cost and schedule performance of twelve P3 transportation projects during their construction phase, costing over $100 million each, consisting of roads and bridges only with no signature tunnels. The P3 approach applied in this study is the Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Maintain (DBFOM) model and the results obtained are compared with similar research studies on North American Design-Build (DB) and Design-Bid-Build (DBB) projects. The schedule performance for P3 projects in this study was found to be -0.23 percent versus estimated as compared to the 4.34 percent for the DBB projects and 11.04 percent for the DB projects in the Shrestha study, indicating P3 projects are completed in less time than other methods. The cost performance in this study was 0.81 percent for the P3 projects while in the Shrestha study the average cost increase for the four DB projects was found to be 1.49 percent while for the DBB projects it was 12.71 percent, again indicating P3 projects reduce cost compared to other delivery approaches. The limited number of projects available for this study does not allow us to draw an explicit conclusion on the performance of P3s in North America but paves the way for future studies to explore more data as it becomes available. However, the results in this study show that P3 projects have good cost and schedule adherence to the contract requirements. This study gives us an initial comparison of P3 performance with the more traditional approach and shows us the empirical benefits and limitations of the P3 approach in the highway construction industry.
ContributorsBansal, Ankita (Author) / Chasey, Allan (Thesis advisor) / Gibson, Edd (Committee member) / Pendyala, Ram (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Along with the number of technologies that have been introduced over a few years ago, gesture-based human-computer interactions are becoming the new phase in encompassing the creativity and abilities for users to communicate and interact with devices. Because of how the nature of defining free-space gestures influence user's preference and the length of usability of gesture-driven devices, defined low-stress and intuitive gestures for users to interact with gesture recognition systems are necessary to consider. To measure stress, a Galvanic Skin Response instrument was used as a primary indicator, which provided evidence of the relationship between stress and intuitive gestures, as well as user preferences towards certain tasks and gestures during performance. Fifteen participants engaged in creating and performing their own gestures for specified tasks that would be required during the use of free-space gesture-driven devices. The tasks include "activation of the display," scroll, page, selection, undo, and "return to main menu." They were also asked to repeat their gestures for around ten seconds each, which would give them time and further insight of how their gestures would be appropriate or not for them and any given task. Surveys were given at different time to the users: one after they had defined their gestures and another after they had repeated their gestures. In the surveys, they ranked their gestures based on comfort, intuition, and the ease of communication. Out of those user-ranked gestures, health-efficient gestures, given that the participants' rankings were based on comfort and intuition, were chosen in regards to the highest ranked gestures.
ContributorsLam, Christine (Author) / Walker, Erin (Thesis director) / Danielescu, Andreea (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering (Contributor) / School of Arts, Media and Engineering (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / Computing and Informatics Program (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Cancer remains one of the leading killers throughout the world. Death and disability due to lung cancer in particular accounts for one of the largest global economic burdens a disease presents. The burden on third-world countries is especially large due to the unusually large financial stress that comes from late tumor detection and expensive treatment options. Early detection using inexpensive techniques may relieve much of the burden throughout the world, not just in more developed countries. I examined the immune responses of lung cancer patients using immunosignatures – patterns of reactivity between host serum antibodies and random peptides. Immunosignatures reveal disease-specific patterns that are very reproducible. Immunosignaturing is a chip-based method that has the ability to display the antibody diversity from individual sera sample with low cost. Immunosignaturing is a medical diagnostic test that has many applications in current medical research and in diagnosis. From a previous clinical study, patients diagnosed for lung cancer were tested for their immunosignature vs. healthy non-cancer volunteers. The pattern of reactivity against the random peptides (the ‘immunosignature’) revealed common signals in cancer patients, absent from healthy controls. My study involved the search for common amino acid motifs in the cancer-specific peptides. My search through the hundreds of ‘hits’ revealed certain motifs that were repeated more times than expected by random chance. The amino acids that were the most conserved in each set include tryptophan, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, proline, alanine, serine, and lysine. The most overall conserved amino acid observed between each set was D - aspartic acid. The motifs were short (no more than 5-6 amino acids in a row), but the total number of motifs I identified was large enough to assure significance. I utilized Excel to organize the large peptide sequence libraries, then CLUSTALW to cluster similar-sequence peptides, then GLAM2 to find common themes in groups of peptides. In so doing, I found sequences that were also present in translated cancer expression libraries (RNA) that matched my motifs, suggesting that immunosignatures can find cancer-specific antigens that can be both diagnostic and potentially therapeutic.
ContributorsShiehzadegan, Shima (Author) / Johnston, Stephen (Thesis director) / Stafford, Phillip (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-12
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
Description
G3Box's 2013 Marketing Plan outlines a strategic plan and short term operational strategies for the company. The document includes a discussion of the company's decision to enter the market for healthcare facilities in developing counties, and a situation assessment of the market conditions. G3Box is targeting small and large NGOs that currently provide healthcare facilities in developing countries. The market size for healthcare aid in developing countries is estimated to be $1.7 billion. The plan also analyses the customer's value chain and buying cycle by using voice of the customer data. The strategic position analysis profiles G3Box's competition and discusses the company's differential advantage versus other options for healthcare facilities in developing countries. Next the document discusses G3Box's market strategy and implementation, along with outlining a value proposition for the company. G3Box has two objectives for 2013: 1) Increase sales revenue to $1.3 million and 2) increase market presence to 25%. In order to reach these objectives, G3Box has developed a primary and secondary strategic focus for each objective. The primary strategies are relationship selling and online marketing. The secondary strategies are developing additional value-added activities and public relations.
ContributorsWalters, John (Author) / Denning, Michael (Thesis director) / Ostrom, Lonnie (Committee member) / Carroll, James (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering (Contributor)
Created2012-12
Description
The majority of the 52 photovoltaic installations at ASU are governed by power purchase agreements (PPA) that set a fixed per kilowatt-hour rate at which ASU buys power from the system owner over the period of 15-20 years. PPAs require accurate predictions of the system output to determine the financial viability of the system installations as well as the purchase price. The research was conducted using PPAs and historical solar power production data from the ASU's Energy Information System (EIS). The results indicate that most PPAs slightly underestimate the annual energy yield. However, the modeled power output from PVsyst indicates that higher energy outputs are possible with better system monitoring.
ContributorsVulic, Natasa (Author) / Bowden, Stuart (Thesis director) / Bryan, Harvey (Committee member) / Sharma, Vivek (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering (Contributor)
Created2012-12
Description
The 21st century engineer will face a diverse set of challenges spread out along a broad spectrum of disciplines. Among others, the fields of energy, healthcare, cyberspace, virtual reality, and neuroscience require monumental efforts by the new generation of engineers to meet the demands of a growing society. However the most important, and likely the most under recognized, challenge lies in developing advanced personalized learning. It is the core foundation from which the rest of the challenges can be accomplished. Without an effective method of teaching engineering students how to realize these grand challenges, the knowledge pool from which to draw new innovations and discoveries will be greatly diminished. This paper introduces the Inventors Workshop (IW), a hands-on, passion-based approach to personalized learning. It is intended to serve as a manual that will inform the next generation of student leaders and inventioneers about the core concepts the Inventors Workshop was built upon, and how to continue improvement into the future. Due to the inherent complexities in the grand challenge of personalized learning, the IW has developed a multifaceted solution that is difficult to explain in a single phrase. To enable comprehension of the IW's full vision, the process undergone to date of establishing and expanding the IW is described. In addition, research has been conducted to determine a variety of paths the Inventors Workshop may utilize in future expansion. Each of these options is explored and related to the core foundations of the IW to assist future leaders and partners in effectively improving personalized learning at ASU and beyond.
ContributorsEngelhoven, V. Logan (Author) / Burleson, Winslow (Thesis director) / Peck, Sidnee (Committee member) / Fortun, A. L. Cecil (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering (Contributor)
Created2012-12
ContributorsShah, Beejal (Author) / Nakamura, Mutsumi (Thesis director) / Balasooriya, Janaka (Committee member) / Wilkerson, Kelly (Committee member) / Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2012-12
Description
The Phoenix-Metro area currently has problems with its transportation systems. Over-crowded and congested freeways have slowed travel times within the area. Express bus transportation and the existence of "High Occupancy" lanes have failed to solve the congestion problem. The light rail system is limited to those within a certain distance from the line, and even the light rail is either too slow or too infrequent for a commuter to utilize it effectively. To add to the issue, Phoenix is continuing to expand outward instead of increasing population density within the city, therefore increasing the time it takes to travel to downtown Phoenix, which is the center of economic activity. The people of Phoenix and its surrounding areas are finding that driving themselves to work is just as cost-effective and less time consuming than taking public transportation. Phoenix needs a cost-effective solution to work in co- existence with improvements in local public transportation that will allow citizens to travel to their destination in just as much time, or less time, than travelling by personal vehicle.
ContributorsSerfilippi, Jon (Author) / Ariaratnam, Samuel (Thesis director) / Pendyala, Ram (Committee member) / Pembroke, Jim (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering (Contributor)
Created2012-12