Matching Items (156)
Description
This paper explores the impacts of dam-induced displacement on the health of populations. By the start of the 21st century, an estimated 40-80 million people worldwide were forced to resettle due to the construction of large dams. The process of displacement and resettlement is connected to numerous social impacts on communities such as decreases in household income, natural resources, and social connectivity, but less seems to be known about specific health impacts. Analyzing literature in a formal review allowed for increased understanding about what information already exists in published research regarding the connections between dams, displacement, and health. Some negative health impacts as a result of forced displacement were identified, including increases in infectious disease transmission, depression, and mortality rates as well as losses of food and water sources. However, the small amount of cases found in the literature review when compared to the massive scale of dam development worldwide indicates a gap in knowledge in the dam industry and research field specifically about the health of the vast majority of populations forcibly displaced by dams. Health impacts must be considered and systematically studied in dam projects involving displacement to fully understand the needs of resettled populations and move towards equitable processes in development projects worldwide.
ContributorsWalker, Erika (Author) / Hruschka, Daniel (Thesis director) / Brian, Jennifer (Committee member) / Drake, Alexandria (Committee member) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
With renewable energy on the rise, researchers have turned their funding and their focus towards new solar cell technologies, and perovskites are a major source of interest. This class of materials is particularly interesting due to their quick, simple synthesis as well as their physical and electrical superiority when compared to current silicon-based solar cells. Through this thesis, we will explore the synthesis of various types of perovskites and their subsequent characterization, which includes optical microscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, Raman microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. Analyzing two different perovskites both before and after a two-week period of storage revealed that while synthesis is indeed experiment-friendly, these materials have a concerning lack of stability even in ideal conditions.
ContributorsBuzas, Benjamin Joseph (Author) / Tongay, Sefaattin (Thesis director) / Muhich, Christopher (Committee member) / Materials Science and Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
In Western medicine, the hard sciences have generally been understood as the sole guiding force in patient care and treatment. However, both history and the present day suggest another strong influence on Western medicine: folklore. The term folklore can easily be dismissed as a term representing beliefs and stories of the past, but its relevance transcends time and continues to impact people daily. It “involves values, traditions, ways of thinking and behaving. It’s about art. It’s about people and the way people learn. It helps us learn who we are and how to make meaning in the world around us” (Sims & Stephens, 2011, pp. 1-2). With its wide range of influence, folklore exists as the umbrella term encompassing several categories. Folk beliefs are one of these categories and can develop from “observation, memory, testimony or inference” (Hutton, 1942, p. 83). Given that each of these forms are subject to some sort of error, folk beliefs become “a jumble of the true and the erroneous” (p. 84). Similarly, contemporary legends are narratives that often combine the physical and supernatural world to explain nuances or uncertainty present in the relevant experiences of a people. Folk beliefs can result in the formation of contemporary legends and they can also stem from contemporary legends. These two categories are often associated with subjects that promote fear and uncertainty, and thus play an essential role in navigating folklore’s application to biomedicine. This paper explores the historical and modern effects that folklore has had on two separate maladies: Hansen’s Disease (leprosy) and Major Depressive Disorder (depression). While these conditions do not resemble each other in physical presentations, Hansen’s Disease and Major Depressive Disorder patients both have faced and continue to face discrimination. Andrea Wiley and John Allen’s three-part definition of a malady: society’s perception (sickness), the individual’s experience (illness), and medical professionals’ diagnosis and treatment (disease); was utilized as a tool for analyzing the application of folklore to modern medicine. The way that a society views a particular malady often dictates the sick role expected of a diagnosed individual. Additionally, the public’s view can directly affect medical professionals’ understanding of a malady. This then can drastically shape a patient’s diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis. This anthropological analysis acts as an interdisciplinary bridge between medicine and the humanities.
ContributorsPeake, Ashley E (Co-author) / Peake, Ashley (Co-author) / Ellis, Lawrence (Thesis director) / Hoyt, Heather (Committee member) / Hruschka, Daniel (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Menstruation - a stigmatized topic and a social taboo- has led to a lack of menstrual hygiene awareness and improper practices impacting women’s health adversely over generations in India. Akshara aims to increase menstrual hygiene education and reduce stigma in India. A creative children’s illustrated book, and interactive workshop curriculum about menstruation were designed and published in Hindi and English. Menstrual hygiene workshops, utilizing the designed tools, were conducted in Delhi and Ghaziabad, India to over 230 students through NGO partnerships in December 2018. The response to the menstrual hygiene and stigma workshops was overwhelmingly positive, and a significant increase in the knowledge and awareness survey scores was observed after the curriculum teachings and classroom discussions. This evaluation highlights and provides a potential solution path to eradicate the root cause of the menstruation stigma in underprivileged women through education and open conversations on the topic starting at a pivotal young age. The main aim of the workshop was to help eradicate the stigma associated with menstruation and menstrual health in India through education.
ContributorsBhalla, Jahnavi (Co-author) / Dani, Advika (Co-author) / Schuster, Roseanne (Thesis director) / Hruschka, Daniel (Thesis director) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
More than 40% of all U.S. opioid overdose deaths in 2016 involved a prescription opioid, with more than 46 people dying every day from overdoses involving prescription opioids, (CDC, 2017). Over the years, lawmakers have implemented policies and laws to address the opioid epidemic, and many of these vary from state to state. This study will lay out the basic guidelines of common pieces of legislation. It also examines relationships between 6 state-specific prescribing or preventative laws and associated changes in opioid-related deaths using a longitudinal cross-state study design (2007-2015). Specifically, it uses a linear regression to examine changes in state-specific rates of opioid-related deaths after implementation of specific policies, and whether states implementing these policies saw smaller increases than states without these policies. Initial key findings of this study show that three policies have a statistically significant association with opioid related overdose deaths are—Good Samaritan Laws, Standing Order Laws, and Naloxone Liability Laws. Paradoxically, all three policies correlated with an increase in opioid overdose deaths between 2007 and 2016. However, after correcting for the potential spurious relationship between state-specific timing of policy implementation and death rates, two policies have a statistically significant association (alpha <0.05) with opioid overdose death rates. First, the Naloxone Liability Laws were significantly associated with changes in opioid-related deaths and was correlated with a 0.33 log increase in opioid overdose death rates, or a 29% increase. This equates to about 1.39 more deaths per year per 100,000 people. Second, the legislation that allows for 3rd Party Naloxone prescriptions correlated with a 0.33 log decrease in opioid overdose death rates, or a 29% decrease. This equates to 1.39 fewer deaths per year per 100,000 people.
ContributorsDavis, Joshua Alan (Author) / Hruschka, Daniel (Thesis director) / Gaughan, Monica (Committee member) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
In an increasingly interconnected world, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals are the United Nations’ framework for ensuring we continue to transform our world for the better, leaving no population behind. This study examines how the terminology of Sustainable Development Goal 17 for global partnership affects its implementation, focusing on “building capacity”—a widely referenced target in the development arena—and the involvement of the private sector. Key informant interviews with experts in the fields of conflict of interest, ethics, and development revealed a wide variety of (often conflicting) notions about partnership, frameworks for capacity development, and the interactions between public and private actors. A literature review of key policy documents examined the terminology and implementation of multistakeholder partnerships, and analysis offered considerations for risks and suggestions in policy terminology. Results indicate a need for increased attention to the use of partnership terminology as a catch-all term to encompass development work, and makes several recommendations for changes to combat misuse of the partnership label. Finally, this study acknowledges that there is a continued need for research-based evidence for effectiveness of the partnership-based development approach.
ContributorsThomson, Azalea Mae (Author) / Gaughan, Monica (Thesis director) / Hruschka, Daniel (Committee member) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The development of safe and effective vaccines has been one of the greatest public achievements of the 20th century. However, there is still considerable public debate about the relative health costs and benefits of vaccines, and the information and misinformation spread through these debates can have a direct impact on vaccination and whether or not herd immunity will continue in the United States for different diseases. To understand perceptions of vaccine risks and effectiveness among young adults in the U.S., this study describes Arizona State University students' perceptions of the harms and benefits of vaccines. A preliminary free list (n=30) identified what vaccines ASU college students were most likely to recall spontaneously. The six vaccines most commonly mentioned by ASU students were: influenza (flu), chickenpox, HPV, polio, MMR, and smallpox. Using these top six vaccines, we then developed a second survey about the knowledge and perceptions of each of these vaccines and vaccines as a whole. We found that students generally perceived vaccines as safe and important to their health, but they maintained an overall lack of understanding of how vaccines work and what they protect against. While this study is only a preliminary investigation into the perceptions of ASU college students on six commonly mentioned vaccines, this could lead to investigations on how to educate and promote the usage of vaccines to college students.
ContributorsGilson, Jacob (Co-author) / Sutton, Carly (Co-author) / Hruschka, Daniel (Thesis director) / Ruth, Alissa (Committee member) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
Description
A major recurring issue with aid-providing nonprofit organizations is the lack of accountability to recipients. In many cases, there are not clear-cut ways of measuring the efficiency or effectiveness of aid or to determine when and how the aid is failing to meet the needs of recipients. This study focused on one particular non-governmental organization, Project C.U.R.E., that provides medical aid to developing countries in the form of devices and equipment. It investigated the causes of misalignments observed in Project C.U.R.E.'s medical aid process, specifically with three loads that were shipped to the Ahwiaa, Akoti, Bassengele, Chirano, Humjibre, Ntrentrenso, Paboase, and Wenchi clinics as well as the Bibiani hospital in Ghana between June 2015 and May 2016. The medical aid donation process was observed at the each of its steps. Data was collected through interviews with Project C.U.R.E. employees and associates, and was organized and analyzed using Lean Six Sigma tools in order to find areas where the process broke down or failed. These tools included process mapping, root cause analysis through the use of Pareto charts and process failure mode and effects analysis (PFMEA). Once all of the issues from the shipment were categorized, it was found that the three most common types of issues were the preparation of the device being unclear or being unloaded incorrectly, power issues, and misalignment in terms training, needs, and infrastructure. The PFMEAs identified high-priority issues with missing fields in the Needs Assessment Booklet in the needs assessment step, misaligned products in terms of power availability in the planning step, and a lack of standardization in the warehouse operations step. 50 unique solutions were brainstormed in order to address these issues, as well as others. This means that Lean Six Sigma tools such as Pareto charts and PFMEA can be used to identify problems, identify causes and effects of problems, and help to produce solutions to the identified problems. In the future, more in-depth research into Project C.U.R.E.'s impact evaluation process could be pursued.
ContributorsFisk, Nicole Diane (Author) / Hruschka, Daniel (Thesis director) / Walters, Danielle (Committee member) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Graphene is a very strong two-dimensional material with a lot of potential applications in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). In this research, graphene is being optimized for use in a 5 m x 5 m graphene resonator. To work properly, this graphene resonator must have a uniform strain across all manufactured devices. To reduce strain induced in graphene sheets grown for use in these resonators, evaporated platinum has been used in this investigation due to its relatively lower surface roughness compared to copper films. The final goal is to have the layer of ultrathin platinum (<=200 nm) deposited on the MEMS graphene resonator and used to grow graphene directly onto the devices to remove the manual transfer step due to its inscalability. After growth, graphene is coated with polymer and the platinum is then etched. This investigation concentrated on the transfer process of graphene onto Si/SiO2 substrate from the platinum films. It was determined that the ideal platinum etchant was aqua regia at a volumetric ratio of 6:3:1 (H2O:HCl:HNO3). This concentration was dilute enough to preserve the polymer and graphene layer, but strong enough to etch within a day. Type and thickness of polymer support layers were also investigated. PMMA at a thickness of 200 nm was ideal because it was easy to remove with acetone and strong enough to support the graphene during the etch process. A reference growth recipe was used in this investigation, but now that the transfer has been demonstrated, growth can be optimized for even thinner films.
ContributorsCayll, David Richard (Author) / Tongay, Sefaattin (Thesis director) / Lee, Hyunglae (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Solid-state lithium-ion batteries are a major area of research due to their increased safety characteristics over conventional liquid electrolyte batteries. Lithium lanthanum zirconate (LLZO) is a promising garnet-type ceramic for use as a solid-state electrolyte due to its high ionic conductivity. The material exists in two dierent phases, one that is cubic in structure and one that is tetragonal. One potential synthesis method that results in LLZO in the more useful, cubic phase, is electrospinning, where a mat of nanowires is spun and then calcined into LLZO. A phase containing lanthanum zirconate (LZO) and amorphous lithium occursas an intermediate during the calcination process. LZO has been shown to be a sintering aid for LLZO, allowing for lower sintering temperatures. Here it is shown the eects of internal LZO on the sintered pellets. This is done by varying the 700C calcination time to transform diering amounts of LZO and LLZO in electrospun nanowires, and then using the same sintering parameters for each sample. X-ray diraction was used to get structural and compositional analysis of both the calcined powders and sintered pellets. Pellets formed from wires calcined at 1 hour or longer contained only LLZO even if the calcined powder had only undergone the rst phase transformation. The relative density of the pellet with no initial LLZO of 61.0% was higher than that of the pellet with no LZO, which had a relative density of 57.7%. This allows for the same, or slightly higher, quality material to be synthesized with a shorter amount of processing time.
ContributorsLondon, Nathan Harry (Author) / Chan, Candace (Thesis director) / Tongay, Sefaattin (Committee member) / Department of Physics (Contributor) / Materials Science and Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05