Matching Items (568)
Filtering by
- Creators: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program
- Resource Type: Text
Collective action among non-governmental organizations working in maternal and child health in Haiti
Description
This mixed-methods research study examined the level of collective action that is occurring among non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in maternal and child health in Haiti. This study takes the view that health, and by extension, maternal and child health, is a global public good; global public goods are most efficiently provided by the means of collective action. Therefore, to the extent that maternal and child health services are provided efficiently in Haiti, collective action should be occurring.
This study utilized a semi-structured interview approach to gather both qualitative and quantitative data. A total of 17 participants who were managers or executives of NGOs working in maternal and child health in Haiti were interviewed. The interviews also gathered quantitative data that characterized types of cooperation that were occurring among NGOs. The qualitative data that were collected in these interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis, and quantitative data were analyzed using social network analysis. The findings concluded that while there is cooperation occurring among NGOs in Haiti, the cooperation levels are low, networks are not very dense and there is overall general consensus that more cooperation is needed
This study utilized a semi-structured interview approach to gather both qualitative and quantitative data. A total of 17 participants who were managers or executives of NGOs working in maternal and child health in Haiti were interviewed. The interviews also gathered quantitative data that characterized types of cooperation that were occurring among NGOs. The qualitative data that were collected in these interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis, and quantitative data were analyzed using social network analysis. The findings concluded that while there is cooperation occurring among NGOs in Haiti, the cooperation levels are low, networks are not very dense and there is overall general consensus that more cooperation is needed
ContributorsMcCool, Sarah (Author) / Gaughan, Monica (Thesis advisor) / Wutich, Amber (Committee member) / York, Abigail (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
Sexual assault at colleges and universities in the United States is a significant health and human rights issue that impacts somewhere between one-in-four and one-in-five students. Despite the alarmingly high burden, overall rates of disclosing to crisis, health, and victim services, and reporting to schools and law enforcement remain low. In order to buffer students from associated short- and long-term harm, and help them reestablish safety and pursue justice, empirically-supported, innovative, and trauma-informed secondary prevention strategies are needed. To address this pressing issue, the current study used a trauma-informed, feminist community research approach to develop and design a prototype of an internet-based decision aid specifically tailored to assist students at Arizona State University who experience sexual assault with making informed choices about reporting and seeking care, advocacy, and support on and off campus. Results from preliminary alpha testing of the tool showed that: 1. It is feasible to adapt decision aids for use with the target population, and 2. While aspects of the tool can be improved during the next phases of redrafting and redesign, members of the target population find it to be acceptable, comprehensible, and usable.
ContributorsVillegas-Gold, Michelle (Author) / Hurtado, Ana Magdalena (Thesis advisor) / Gaughan, Monica (Thesis advisor) / Durfee, Alesha (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
The purpose of this study was to observe the effectiveness of the phenylalanyl arginine β-naphthylamide dihydrochloride inhibitor and Tween 20 when combined with an antibiotic against Escherichia. coli. As antibiotic resistance becomes more and more prevalent it is necessary to think outside the box and do more than just increase the dosage of currently prescribed antibiotics. This study attempted to combat two forms of antibiotic resistance. The first is the AcrAB efflux pump which is able to pump antibiotics out of the cell. The second is the biofilms that E. coli can form. By using an inhibitor, the pump should be unable to rid itself of an antibiotic. On the other hand, using Tween allows for biofilm formation to either be disrupted or for the biofilm to be dissolved. By combining these two chemicals with an antibiotic that the efflux pump is known to expel, low concentrations of each chemical should result in an equivalent or greater effect on bacteria compared to any one chemical in higher concentrations. To test this hypothesis a 96 well plate BEC screen test was performed. A range of antibiotics were used at various concentrations and with varying concentrations of both Tween and the inhibitor to find a starting point. Following this, Erythromycin and Ciprofloxacin were picked as the best candidates and the optimum range of the antibiotic, Tween, and inhibitor were established. Finally, all three chemicals were combined to observe the effects they had together as opposed to individually or paired together. From the results of this experiment several conclusions were made. First, the inhibitor did in fact increase the effectiveness of the antibiotic as less antibiotic was needed if the inhibitor was present. Second, Tween showed an ability to prevent recovery in the MBEC reading, showing that it has the ability to disrupt or dissolve biofilms. However, Tween also showed a noticeable decrease in effectiveness in the overall treatment. This negative interaction was unable to be compensated for when using the inhibitor and so the hypothesis was proven false as combining the three chemicals led to a less effective treatment method.
ContributorsPetrovich Flynn, Chandler James (Author) / Misra, Rajeev (Thesis director) / Bean, Heather (Committee member) / Perkins, Kim (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
An in-depth analysis on the effects vortex generators cause to the boundary layer separation that occurs when an internal flow passes through a diffuser is presented. By understanding the effects vortex generators demonstrate on the boundary layer, they can be utilized to improve the performance and efficiencies of diffusers and other internal flow applications. An experiment was constructed to acquire physical data that could assess the change in performance of the diffusers once vortex generators were applied. The experiment consisted of pushing air through rectangular diffusers with half angles of 10, 20, and 30 degrees. A velocity distribution model was created for each diffuser without the application of vortex generators before modeling the velocity distribution with the application of vortex generators. This allowed the two results to be directly compared to one another and the improvements to be quantified. This was completed by using the velocity distribution model to find the partial mass flow rate through the outer portion of the diffuser's cross-sectional area. The analysis concluded that the vortex generators noticeably increased the performance of the diffusers. This was best seen in the performance of the 30-degree diffuser. Initially the diffuser experienced airflow velocities near zero towards the edges. This led to 0.18% of the mass flow rate occurring in the outer one-fourth portion of the cross-sectional area. With the application of vortex generators, this percentage increased to 5.7%. The 20-degree diffuser improved from 2.5% to 7.9% of the total mass flow rate in the outer portion and the 10-degree diffuser improved from 11.9% to 19.2%. These results demonstrate an increase in performance by the addition of vortex generators while allowing the possibility for further investigation on improvement through the design and configuration of these vortex generators.
ContributorsSanchez, Zachary Daniel (Author) / Takahashi, Timothy (Thesis director) / Herrmann, Marcus (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Few studies have examined the correlations between individual characteristics and other popular forms of social media other than Facebook. This study explored the ways emerging adults use Instagram and Snapchat and examined the relationships between social media and individual characteristics. A sample of 393 participants were recruited from a large university in the Southwestern United States. The participants completed an online questionnaire that included a newly developed social media measure along with established measures that examined the individual characteristics of social comparison orientation, self-esteem, loneliness, contingent self-worth, narcissism, and life satisfaction. In the present study, more participants reported having an active Instagram account than an active Facebook or Snapchat account. Additionally, a higher number of participants also reported preferring Instagram and Snapchat compared to Facebook. Significant correlations were found between various individual characteristics and three aspects of social media use: overall time spent on social media, whether the individual felt that their time spent on social media was meaningful, and how the individual felt emotionally after comparing themselves to others' photos and posts. Potential explanations and implications of the results are discussed.
ContributorsArndorfer, Sydney (Author) / Field, Ryan (Thesis director) / Sechler, Casey (Committee member) / School of Community Resources and Development (Contributor) / Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The objective of this project was to design an electrically driven centrifugal pump for the Daedalus Astronautics @ASU hybrid rocket engine (HRE). The pump design was purposefully simplified due to time, fabrication, calculation, and capability constraints, which resulted in a lower fidelity design, with the option to be improved later. The impeller, shroud, volute, shaft, motor, and ESC were the main focuses of the pump assembly, but the seals, bearings, lubrication methods, and flow path connections were considered as elements which would require future attention. The resulting pump design is intended to be used on the Daedalus Astronautics HRE test cart for design verification. In the future, trade studies and more detailed analyses should and will be performed before this pump is integrated into the Daedalus Astronautics flight-ready HRE.
ContributorsShillingburg, Ryan Carl (Author) / White, Daniel (Thesis director) / Brunacini, Lauren (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The town of Guadalupe, Arizona has a long history of divided residents and high poverty rates. The high levels of poverty in the town can be attributed to numerous factors, most notably high rates of drug abuse, low high school graduation rates, and teen pregnancy. The town has named one of its most pressing issues of today to be youth disengagement. There are currently a handful of residents and community members passionate about finding a solution to this issue. After working with Guadalupe's Ending Hunger Task Force and resident youth, I set out to create a program design for a Guadalupe Youth Council. This council will contribute to combating youth disengagement. The program design will assist the task force in creating a standing youth council and deciding on the structure and role the council has in the town. I will offer learning outcomes and suggestions to the Task Force, youth council staff, and the youth of the youth council. This study contains an analysis of relevant literature, youth focus group results and data, and how the information gathered has contributed to the design of the youth council. The results of this study contain recommendations about four themes within the program design of a youth council: size, recruitment, activities and engagement, and adult support. The results also explore how the youth council will impact the power, policy, and behavior of Guadalupe youth.
ContributorsBalderas, Erica Theresa (Author) / Wang, Lili (Thesis director) / Avalos, Francisco (Committee member) / School of Community Resources and Development (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Television is currently in a changing state. There is no longer a singular broadcast format for series to follow. Streaming websites such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime now release series in their entirety; this is known as a full-season release (FSR). Viewers are now able to act independently and determine the pace they wish to watch a new FSR series. This not only affects how fans engage in social television discussions on social media, but also changes the previously proposed viewer engagement model. Whereas previous research suggests that fans follow a static linear engagement model consisting of pre-communication, parallel communication, and post communication phases, fans are now able to move freely through viewer engagement phases. This creates a new type of engagement model: The Atomized Engagement Model. As fans move freely through the atomized engagement phases, they choose social media platforms to engage in fandom discussion. Research suggests that although there are distinct types of posts that occur in relation to social television discussions, the platforms used have a direct effect on the content and length of the post.
ContributorsPouls, Samantha Rae (Author) / Gilpin, Dawn (Thesis director) / Barrett, Marianne (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / School of Community Resources and Development (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Human habitation of other planets requires both cost-effective transportation and low time-of-flight for human passengers and critical supplies. The current methods for interplanetary orbital transfers, such as the Hohmann transfer, require either expensive, high fuel maneuvers or extended space travel. However, by utilizing the high velocities of a super-geosynchronous space elevator, spacecraft released from an apex anchor could achieve interplanetary transfers with minimal Delta V fuel and time of flight requirements. By using Lambert’s Problem and Free Release propagation to determine the minimal fuel transfer from a terrestrial space elevator to Mars under a variety of initial conditions and time-of-flight constraints, this paper demonstrates that the use of a space elevator release can address both needs by dramatically reducing the time-of-flight and the fuel budget.
ContributorsTorla, James (Author) / Peet, Matthew (Thesis director) / Swan, Peter (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
This thesis evaluates the viability of an original design for a cost-effective wheel-mounted dynamometer for road vehicles. The goal is to show whether or not a device that generates torque and horsepower curves by processing accelerometer data collected at the edge of a wheel can yield results that are comparable to results obtained using a conventional chassis dynamometer. Torque curves were generated via the experimental method under a variety of circumstances and also obtained professionally by a precision engine testing company. Metrics were created to measure the precision of the experimental device's ability to consistently generate torque curves and also to compare the similarity of these curves to the professionally obtained torque curves. The results revealed that although the test device does not quite provide the same level of precision as the professional chassis dynamometer, it does create torque curves that closely resemble the chassis dynamometer torque curves and exhibit a consistency between trials comparable to the professional results, even on rough road surfaces. The results suggest that the test device provides enough accuracy and precision to satisfy the needs of most consumers interested in measuring their vehicle's engine performance but probably lacks the level of accuracy and precision needed to appeal to professionals.
ContributorsKing, Michael (Author) / Ren, Yi (Thesis director) / Spanias, Andreas (Committee member) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05