Matching Items (163)
Description
Sports gambling is an illegal multi-hundred-billion-dollar industry in the United States today. Due to the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), 46 states are denied the opportunity to offer state-sponsored sports gambling (Delaware, Montana, Nevada, and Oregon are exempt). The problem with this law is that sports gambling is still occurring over the internet and through bookies. The government's attempt to control the choices of the American people isn't stopping them from gambling on sports, rather it is pushing them to underground channels where regulation has no foothold. The American government is failing to take advantage of tax revenue that can be used to monitor the sports gambling world along with the sports themselves. This issue of control has had its place in American history and the government finds itself on the wrong side of it once again. This thesis explores the misconceptions in the government's perceived idea of "control" and proposes that PASPA be repealed because of the enormous tax revenue opportunity eliminated by outlawing sports gambling.
ContributorsNypen, Tyler Dempsey (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Department of Management (Contributor) / School of Community Resources and Development (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Industry is changing. Businesses are plagued with problems of inefficiency, ineffectiveness, and waste. Many of these issues arise from some common mistakes within established management structures; these issues include lack of expertise in leadership positions, lack of unity across the organization, and imbalance within the business. Using Information Measurement Theory, the Kashiwagi Solution Model, and leadership theories, this thesis presents a simple approach to creating a business structure through explaining the basic tenets of a successful modern business. It was determined that the first and most important task of a business is to set realistic long-term goals for the organization. This thesis proposes that the basic needs of a successful business also includes having the right individuals, team formation, positive leadership, and the proper alignment of resources. It was found that it is best to hire individuals that exhibit some Type A characteristics because those individuals are likely to effectively carry out the goals of the business. Forming these individuals into small teams increases their processing speeds and encourages a balance of accountability, innovative solutions, and a network of learning. Furthermore, consistent, positive leadership that lives the company culture is a key element to successfully maintaining the business vision and maximizing associate effectiveness. It was also determined that aligning the organization to work towards the business vision can be performed through implementing a flat structure, placing individuals in roles that maximize effectiveness, and establishing the right business goals so that there is a consistent business vision at all levels of the organization. This thesis also provides guidance on how to implement these tenets in a simple, dominant way. Ultimately, the four proposed tenets working in unison towards business goals can lead to a successful and adaptable modern business.
ContributorsMeade, Payton Drew (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
In the medical industry, there have been promising advances in the increase of new types of healthcare to the public. As of 2015, there was a 98% Premarket Approval rate, a 38% increase since 2010. In addition, there were 41 new novel drugs approved for clinical usage in 2014 where the average in the previous years from 2005-2013 was 25. However, the research process towards creating and delivering new healthcare to the public remains remarkably inefficient. It takes on average 15 years, over $900 million by one estimate, for a less than 12% success rate of discovering a novel drug for clinical usage. Medical devices do not fare much better. Between 2005-2009, there were over 700 recalls per year. In addition, it takes at minimum 3.25 years for a 510(k) exempt premarket approval. Plus, a time lag exists where it takes 17 years for only 14% of medical discoveries to be implemented clinically. Coupled with these inefficiencies, government funding for medical research has been decreasing since 2002 (2.5% of Gross Domestic Product) and is predicted to be 1.5% of Gross Domestic Product by 2019. Translational research, the conversion of bench-side discoveries to clinical usage for a simplistic definition, has been on the rise since the 1990s. This may be driving the increased premarket approvals and new novel drug approvals. At the very least, it is worth considering as translational research is directly related towards healthcare practices. In this paper, I propose to improve the outcomes of translational research in order to better deliver advancing healthcare to the public. I suggest Best Value Performance Information Procurement System (BV PIPS) should be adapted in the selection process of translational research projects to fund. BV PIPS has been shown to increase the efficiency and success rate of delivering projects and services. There has been over 17 years of research with $6.3 billion of projects and services delivered showing that BV PIPS has a 98% customer satisfaction, 90% minimized management effort, and utilizes 50% less manpower and effort. Using University of Michigan \u2014 Coulter Foundation Program's funding process as a baseline and standard in the current selection of translational research projects to fund, I offer changes to this process based on BV PIPS that may ameliorate it. As concepts implemented in this process are congruent with literature on successful translational research, it may suggest that this new model for selecting translational research projects to fund will reduce costs, increase efficiency, and increase success. This may then lead to more Premarket Approvals, more new novel drug approvals, quicker delivery time to the market, and lower recalls.
ContributorsDel Rosario, Joseph Paul (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Harrington Bioengineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Dr. Dean Kashiwagi created a new thinking paradigm, Information Measurement Theory (IMT), which utilizes the understanding of natural laws to help individuals minimize decision-making and risk, which leads to reduced stress. In this new paradigm, any given situation can only have one unique outcome. The more information an individual has for the given situation, the better they can predict the outcome. Using IMT can help correctly "predict the future" of any situation if given enough of the correct information. A prime example of using IMT would be: to correctly predict what a young woman will be like when she's older, simply look at the young woman's mother. In essence, if you can't fall in love with the mother, don't marry the young woman. The researchers are utilizing the concept of IMT and extrapolating it to the financial investing world. They researched different financial investing strategies and were able to come to the conclusion that a strategy utilizing IMT would yield the highest results for investors while minimizing stress. Investors using deductive logic to invest received, on average, 1300% more returns than investors who did not over a 25-year period. Where other investors made many decisions and were constantly stressed with the tribulations of the market, the investors utilizing IMT made one decision and made much more than other investors. The research confirms the stock market will continue to increase over time by looking at the history of the stock market from a birds-eye view. Throughout the existence of the stock market, there have been highs and lows, but at the end of the day, the market continues to break through new ceilings. Investing in the stock market can be a dark and scary place for the blind investor. Using the concept of IMT can eliminate that blindfold to reduce stress on investors while earning the highest financial return potential. Using the basis of IMT, the researchers predict the market will continue to increase in the future; in conclusion, the best investment strategy is to invest in blue chip stocks that have a history of past success, in order to capture secure growth with minimal risk and stress.
ContributorsBerns, Ryan (Co-author) / Ybanez, Julian (Co-author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
As a medical scribe working in an Emergency Department (ED) at Banner Gateway Medical Center (BGMC), the researcher was able to identify how the work flow and satisfaction of those in the ED would decrease when there were no Physician Assistants (PA's) being utilized during specific shifts. As for other shifts where PA's were on shift and were being utilized, the work flow would drastically increase, more patients would be seen in less time and the satisfaction of the researchers co-workers would increase. This paradigm of how PA's are implemented brought the researcher to understand the overall success of having Physicians Assistants in partnership with Physicians, consulting physicians and management in the ED. The researcher conducted a five-month long analyses of how implementation of Physician Assistants in the ED could effect overall satisfaction. The researcher looked at the satisfaction of the PAs themselves, attending physicians, nurses, nursing assistants, ED manager, ED director, ED co-director and the patients themselves. The researcher collected questionnaires, conducted interviews and retrieved data from Banner Health Services for the year 2014 to compare her data. The researcher conducted the study both at Banner Gateway Medical Center (BGMC) Emergency Department and also at Banner Baywood Medical Center (BBMC) ED. In comparison of the data collected from BGMC ED to BBMC ED resulted in a significant difference in overall satisfaction based on implementation. Although both emergency departments are owned by the same Banner corporation and only a few miles apart in distance, they implement Pas differently. The difference in the implementation did prove to effect the overall satisfaction. BGMC ED employees as well as manager and patients were more satisfied than those of BBMC ED. Some of the noted differences were that BBMC PAs see more patients per hour, they see higher acuity patients, are less compensated, are placed further apart from their attending physicians and other staff in the ED, there is minimal communication, PAs feel there voice is not heard and they feel pushback on feedback with no plan for improvement. BGMC PAs reported overall increase in satisfaction as compared to BBMC because of the increased communication, placement of PAs within the ED is closer to attending physicians and other staff, they see lower acuity patients, are better compensated and monthly meetings on improvements that can be made and the PAs feel their voice is being heard. Productivity scores for BGMC ED PAs were 1.71 patients per hour as compare to BBMC ED which was 1.86 patients per hour. BBMC PA patient satisfaction on average was 60.6 as compared to BGMC where the PA average satisfaction was 67.8.
ContributorsApplegate, Lauren Mckenzie (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Coursen, Cristi (Committee member) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Nutrition and Health Promotion (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This thesis contains three chapters, all of which involve using culturally inclusive education to explore the experiences of religious undergraduate biology students. The first chapter is an essay entitled "Toward Culturally Inclusive Undergraduate Biology Education," which describes a literature review performed with the aim of characterizing the landscape of cultural competence and related terms for biology educators and biology education researchers. This chapter highlights the use of 16 different terms related to cultural competence and presents these terms, their definitions, and highlights their similarities and differences. This chapter also identifies gaps in the cultural competence literature, and presents a set of recommendations to support better culturally inclusive interventions in undergraduate science education. The second chapter, entitled "Different Evolution Acceptance Instruments Lead to Different Research Findings," describes a study in which the source of 30 years of conflicting research on the relationship between evolution acceptance and evolution understanding was determined. The results of this study showed that different instruments used to measure evolution acceptance sometimes lead to different research results and conclusions. The final chapter, entitled "Believing That Evolution is Atheistic is Associated with Poor Evolution Education Outcomes Among Religious College Students," describes a study characterizing definitions of evolution that religious undergraduate biology students may hold, and examines the impact that those definitions of evolution have on multiple outcome variables. In this study, we found that among the most religious students, those who thought evolution is atheistic were less accepting of evolution, less comfortable learning evolution, and perceived greater conflict between their personal religious beliefs and evolution than those who thought evolution is agnostic.
ContributorsDunlop, Hayley Marie (Author) / Brownell, Sara (Thesis director) / Collins, James (Committee member) / Barnes, M. Elizabeth (Committee member) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
In this study, we demonstrate the effectiveness of a cancer type specific FrAmeShifT (FAST) vaccine. A murine breast cancer (mBC) FAST vaccine and a murine pancreatic cancer (mPC) FAST vaccine were tested in the 4T1 breast cancer syngeneic mouse model. The mBC FAST vaccine, both with and without check point inhibitors (CPI), significantly slowed tumor growth, reduced pulmonary metastasis and increased the cell-mediated immune response. In terms of tumor volumes, the mPC FAST vaccine was comparable to the untreated controls. However, a significant difference in tumor volume did emerge when the mPC vaccine was used with CPI. The collective data indicated that the immune checkpoint blockade therapy was only beneficial with suboptimal neoantigens. More importantly, the FAST vaccine, though requiring notably less resources, performed similarly to the personalized version of the frameshift breast cancer vaccine in the same mouse model. Furthermore, because the frameshift peptide (FSP) array provided a strong rationale for a focused vaccine, the FAST vaccine can theoretically be expanded and translated to any human cancer type. Overall, the FAST vaccine is a promising treatment that would provide the most benefit to patients while eliminating most of the challenges associated with current personal cancer vaccines.
ContributorsMurphy, Sierra Nicole (Author) / Johnston, Stephen (Thesis director) / Peterson, Milene (Committee member) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The goal of this paper is to discuss the most efficient method to achieve early detection in lung cancers by reducing the occurrences of false-positive readings. Imaging techniques (computed tomography screenings) have greater impact than non-imaging techniques in early detection for lung cancer. On the other hand, positron emission tomography and non-imaging techniques, such as liquid biopsy, are better at distinguishing cancer stages. Therefore, these techniques are not suitable early detection methods for lung cancer. Based on literature reviews, the combination that is most capable of early lung cancer detection incorporate low-dose computed tomography screenings, thin-section computed tomography screenings, and computer-aided diagnosis. Low-dose computed tomography screenings has lower radiation-associated risks compared to the standard-dose computed tomography. This technique can be used as both at the first examination and the follow-up examinations. Thin-section computed tomography screenings can be used as a supplement to check if there is any nodules that have not yet been discovered. Computer-aided diagnosis is an add-on method to make sure the computed tomography screenings images are being correctly labeled. Identifying other contributing factors to the effectiveness of the early lung cancer detection, such as the amount of forced expiratory volume, forced vital capacity, and the presence of emphysema, could also decrease the percentage of false positive outcomes.
ContributorsChuang, Hao-Yun (Author) / Johnston, Stephen (Thesis director) / Peterson, Milene (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The objective of this thesis was to determine whether Zika Virus (ZIKV) can be effectively inactivated by Selective Photonic Disinfection (SEPHODIS) and determine whether key proteins involved in the infection process are preserved, making SEPHODIS a possible source for vaccine development. As of January 2018, there have been 3,720 confirmed cases of Congenital Zika Syndrome in infants, making a Zika Vaccine a high priority (Mitchell, 2018). SEPHODIS is a process that involves prolonged exposure of an object to a pulsing laser which can render it ineffective. Initially, ZIKV was subjected to laser inactivation for 6 hours, then a plaque assay was performed on both laser-treated and control samples. ZIKV was inactivated two-fold? after laser treatment, when compared with control, as indicated by the plaque assay results. Additionally, both samples were submitted to ELISA to evaluate antigenicity with a panel of monoclonal and human sera. As a second control, virus inactivated by formaldehyde (2%) was used. ELISA results showed that antigenicity of some proteins were preserved while others were probably disturbed. However, ELISA results show that ZIKV envelope protein (E-protein), the protein responsible for viral entry into cells, was effectively preserved after laser-treatment, implying that if laser parameters were tweaked to obtain more complete inactivation, then SEPHODIS may be an appropriate source for the development of a vaccine.
ContributorsViafora, Ataiyo Blue (Author) / Johnston, Stephen (Thesis director) / Tsen, Kong-Thon (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
In response to a national call within STEM to increase diversity within the sciences, there has been a growth in science education research aimed at increasing participation of underrepresented groups in science, such as women and ethnic/racial minorities. However, an underexplored underrepresented group in science are religious students. Though 82% of the United States population is religiously affiliated, only 52% of scientists are religious (Pew, 2009). Even further, only 32% of biologists are religious, with 25% identifying as Christian (Pew, 2009; Ecklund, 2007). One reason as to why Christian individuals are underrepresented in biology is because faculty may express biases that affect students' ability to persist in the field of biology. In this study, we explored how revealing a Christian student's religious identity on science graduate application would impact faculty's perception of the student during the biology graduate application process. We found that faculty were significantly more likely to perceive the student who revealed their religious identity to be less competent, hirable, likeable, and faculty would be less likely to mentor the student. Our study informs upon possible reasons as to why there is an underrepresentation of Christians in science. This further suggests that bias against Christians must be addressed in order to avoid real-world, negative treatment of Christians in science.
ContributorsTruong, Jasmine Maylee (Author) / Brownell, Sara (Thesis director) / Gaughan, Monica (Committee member) / Barnes, Liz (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05