Matching Items (276)
Description
Breastfeeding has been shown by a number of studies to have numerous benefits on both the mother and the infant. Major health organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), now agree that breastfeeding should be encouraged and supported in all countries. But like many things, the wheels of the law are slow to catch up with scientific evident. Although breastfeeding is supported, working women do not have the option of breastfeeding without consequences. For example, in 2003, Kirstie Marshall, a then member of parliament in Australia was ejected from the lower house chamber on February 23, for breastfeeding her baby [3]. According to standing order 30 at the time, "Unless by order of the House, no Member of this House shall presume to bring any stranger into any part of the House appropriated to the Members of this House while the House, or a Committee of the whole House, is sitting" [3]. The rules did not specify the age of strangers, so the then 11-day-old baby, Charlotte Louise and her mother were shown the exit door of parliament. She had to choose between being present at times of major discussions or leaving the house to breastfeed her child, she chose to leave. More recent statistics show that developed nations like the US and Australia which also have high rates of women employment had low rates of breastfeeding. This might mean that workplace policies do not favor breastfeeding or expressing milk at work. Fortunately, laws have since been introduced in both the United States and Australia that support breastfeeding at the workplace. The next step would be to access how these laws affect breastfeeding statistics and how variation between these two countries like the paid parental leave in Australia (which is not present in all US states) would affect these numbers.
ContributorsSakala, Lydia (Author) / Alison, Alison (Thesis director) / Reddy, Swapna (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Turbidity is a known problem for UV water treatment systems as suspended particles can shield contaminants from the UV radiation. UV systems that utilize a reflective radiation chamber may be able to decrease the impact of turbidity on the efficacy of the system. The purpose of this study was to determine how kaolin clay and gram flour turbidity affects inactivation of Escherichia coli (E. coli) when using a UV system with a reflective chamber. Both sources of turbidity were shown to reduce the inactivation of E. coli with increasing concentrations. Overall, it was shown that increasing kaolin clay turbidity had a consistent effect on reducing UV inactivation across UV doses. Log inactivation was reduced by 1.48 log for the low UV dose and it was reduced by at least 1.31 log for the low UV dose. Gram flour had a similar effect to the clay at the lower UV dose, reducing log inactivation by 1.58 log. At the high UV dose, there was no change in UV inactivation with an increase in turbidity. In conclusion, turbidity has a significant impact on the efficacy of UV disinfection. Therefore, removing turbidity from water is an essential process to enhance UV efficiency for the disinfection of microbial pathogens.
ContributorsMalladi, Rohith (Author) / Abbaszadegan, Morteza (Thesis director) / Alum, Absar (Committee member) / Fox, Peter (Committee member) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Accurately predicting local ranges of isotopic signatures in human populations is essential for answering questions about past migrations and mobility. While local ranges of δ18O can be estimated using modern baseline samples and precipitation models, there are many environmental and anthropogenic drivers that can cause these ranges to deviate from the ranges seen in human populations. This study performs a geostatistical meta-analysis on a large dataset (n = 1,370) of spatially contextualized archaeological δ18O samples from 30 publications in order to generate a predictive model of local human δ18O ranges in the Central Andes. Two models were generated, one using archaeological samples of both humans and fauna, and the other using only humans. The model using only human samples makes more accurate predictions, cautioning against the incorporation of faunal δ18O samples in studies of human provenance. The models are also compared against a model of δ18O values found in precipitation across the study area, and significant differences lead to the conclusion that precipitation models are insufficient for predicting local human δ18O ranges.
ContributorsHatley, Camden Miller (Author) / Knudson, Kelly (Thesis director) / Scaffidi, Beth (Committee member) / School of Earth and Space Exploration (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
This study evaluates medical pluralism among 1.5 generation Indian American immigrants. 1.5 generation Indian Americans (N=16) were surveyed regarding their engagement in complementary and alternative medical systems (CAM), how immigration affected that, and reasons for and for not continuing the use of CAM. Results indicated most 1.5 Indian immigrants currently engage in CAM, given that their parents also engage in CAM. The top reasons respondents indicated continued engagement in CAM was that it has no side effects and is preventative. Reasons for not practicing CAM included feeling out of place, not living with parents or not believing in CAM. After immigration, most participants decreased or stopped their engagement in CAM. More women than men continued to practice CAM after immigration. From the results, it was concluded that CAM is still important to 1.5 generation Indian immigrants.
ContributorsMurugesh, Subhiksha (Author) / Stotts, Rhian (Thesis director) / Mubayi, Anuj (Committee member) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The term "Children with Special Health Care Needs," often abbreviated as CSHCN, is an umbrella term, encompassing a wide variety of children with a range of health conditions. As of 2011, CSHCN constituted 15-20% of all children age 0-17 in the United States (Bethell et al., 2013). Despite this, CSHCN "account for 80% of all pediatric medical expenses." (Hardy, Vivier, Rivara, & Melzer, 2012). This project specifically compares children with physical disability and behavioral disability in hopes of gaining a greater insight into both groups, assessing/comparing differences, and evaluating whether or not having a co-morbidity has a mediating or contending effect on care coordination.
ContributorsDevineni, Asha (Author) / McCullough, Mac (Thesis director) / Reddy, Swapna (Committee member) / School for the Science of Health Care Delivery (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-12
Description
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was created in 2010 to ensure American Citizens to obtain healthcare in which one way is to apply for Medicaid as more persons became eligible under expansion of coverage. The policies concerning Medicaid expansion has not federally mandated that every state adopt Medicaid expansion by Supreme Court decision, therefore it has been questioned in its ability by the current presidential cabinet which has led the Republican House of Representatives to create reforms of the current health law. The reforms to Medicaid expansion included the use of block grants or per capita caps through the American Health Care Act (AHCA) in which either of the reform would give more power and funding rights to the states themselves. However, the Senate withdrew the bill before voting as majority did not agree with the provisions and wanted current health care law to remain as is. With this bill not having been passed, other options of reforms are going to be considered by the Republican House of Representatives and the President. In the meantime, it is evident that states that have not yet expanded Medicaid should apply for a waiver to adopt the Medicaid expansion policies. This is because under the ACA's Medicaid expansion there has been a decrease in uninsured persons nationally, including the state of Arizona.
ContributorsMcLeod, Valerie (Author) / Reddy, Swapna (Thesis director) / Riley, William (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Introduction: Human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is seen in up to 90% of cases of cervical cancer, the third leading cancer cause of death in women. Current HPV screening focuses on only two HPV types and covers roughly 75% of HPV-associated cervical cancers. A protein based assay to test for antibody biomarkers against 98 HPV antigens from both high and low risk types could provide an inexpensive and reliable method to screen for patients at risk of developing invasive cervical cancer. Methods: 98 codon optimized, commercially produced HPV genes were cloned into the pANT7_cGST vector, amplified in a bacterial host, and purified for mammalian expression using in vitro transcription/translation (IVTT) in a luminescence-based RAPID ELISA (RELISA) assay. Monoclonal antibodies were used to determine immune cross-reactivity between phylogenetically similar antigens. Lastly, several protein characteristics were examined to determine if they correlated with protein expression. Results: All genes were successfully moved into the destination vector and 86 of the 98 genes (88%) expressed protein at an adequate level. A difference was noted in expression by gene across HPV types but no correlation was found between protein size, pI, or aliphatic index and expression. Discussion: Further testing is needed to express the remaining 12 HPV genes. Once all genes have been successfully expressed and purified at high concentrations, DNA will be printed on microscope slides to create a protein microarray. This microarray will be used to screen HPV-positive patient sera for antibody biomarkers that may be indicative of cervical cancer and precancerous cervical neoplasias.
ContributorsMeshay, Ian Matthew (Author) / Anderson, Karen (Thesis director) / Magee, Mitch (Committee member) / Katchman, Benjamin (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Forced pregnancy has been and remains a tactic of implementing genocide and inflicting long-lasting damage on a population. Forced marriages during the Cambodian genocide (1975-1979) and rape camps established during the Bosnian genocide (1992-1995) are two of many ways in which forced pregnancies can be implemented. This comparative study has identified social constructs within Bosnian and Cambodian cultures that allowed forced pregnancy to impact these populations. In the context of the Cambodian genocide, the Khmer Rouge implemented forced marriages in order to reproduce an agricultural labor force that would sustain the state of Democratic Kampuchea without foreign aid. The cultural construct of marriage promoted childbearing and sustained these marriages even after the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime. The Bosnian genocide, on the other hand, was an ethnic cleansing against Bosnian Muslims. Serbian forces established rape camps to impregnate Bosnian Muslim women in order to stigmatize them to the extent that they would (culturally) no longer be able to bear children for their own ethnic community. The cultural constructs of virginity and patrilineal descent acted as key factors in the effectiveness of forced pregnancy as a method of ethnic cleansing. While Bosnian Muslim rape camp survivors faced stigma for having been raped and for keeping their children if they chose to, Cambodian survivors would not. Cambodian women faced social expectations to stay in their marriages and keep their children in order to fulfill their duties as wives and mothers. In Bosnia, however, no social construct existed to support children born outside of marriage. In addition to these cultural constructs, various other factors influenced survivors' attitudes towards their children, including the presence of third party rapists in the Cambodian genocide and the fact that many Bosnian Muslim survivors did not know the identity of the father of their children. Comparative analysis of these two genocides has contributed to a more holistic understanding of the impacts of genocide and has informed how forced pregnancy operates across multiple cultural ideologies and lifestyles.
ContributorsVirdee, Tajinder (Author) / Holman, Christine (Thesis director) / Toth, Stephen (Committee member) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12
Description
The purpose of this research study was to examine the intersection of the relationship between homelessness and mental illness, including other factors such as substance abuse. A secondary purpose of this study was to gain an awareness of service delivery models and associated funding streams for providing services to homeless persons with mental illness. A thorough literature review was conducted by the author in order to aid in answering these questions. The author also conducted interviews with 27 homeless and formerly homeless clients living in Denver who were receiving services through the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. Finally, the author conducted 4 qualitative interviews with policy experts who worked extensively in homeless services and advocacy in the Metro-Denver area. All data was entered into an Excel workbook, and a series of graphs and tables were made to present the research results. The themes of mental illness and substance abuse were common amongst the sample population, but the most common theme was that of the lack of affordable housing available. The majority of respondents also cited involvement in the criminal justice system such as incarceration, as well as family issues as major factors in them becoming homeless. The policy experts all cited the Housing First as well as the Permanent Supportive Housing model as the most effective service delivery model for those who are both homeless and mentally-ill, and Denver is utilizing some very innovative funding streams for these service delivery models. In conclusion, the author found through both the literature review and quantitative research, that homelessness is not truly a mental illness or substance abuse issue alone, though this relationship does hold clinical importance. Homelessness is instead the result of an excessive shortage of permanent and affordable housing units across the United States.
ContributorsNelson, Hunter Lee (Author) / Shafer, Michael (Thesis director) / Ferguson-Colvin, Kristin (Committee member) / School of Community Resources and Development (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12
Description
Every minute and a half, an American is sexually assaulted (Department of Justice, 2017). After an instance of sexual assault, some victims are given the choice of having a sexual assault evidence kit (SAK) collected. These kits are designed to collect DNA evidence that will, in the best case scenario, result in the identification of the perpetrator. If the perpetrator cannot be located, the DNA profile can still be submitted to the FBI’s CODIS databank, which houses hundreds of thousands of DNA profiles from criminal cases, and may still lead to apprehension of the rapist. Unfortunately, some SAKs experience long delays, decades even, before being tested. To date, there are hundreds of thousands of untested SAKs that remain in police custody awaiting to be submitted for forensic profiling across the country. Here, we completed a holistic investigation of sexual assault response and SAK processing in Arizona. It is important to notice that the focus of our study not only includes SAK processing and the backlog but sexual assault prevention and improving victim reporting in an effort to understand the SAK “pipeline,” from assault to prosecution.
We identified problems in three major categories that negatively impact the SAK pipeline: historical inertia, legislative and institutional limitations, and community awareness. We found that a large number of SAKs in Arizona have remained untested due insufficient funding and staffing for public crime labs making it difficult for state labs to alleviate the SAK backlog while simultaneously responding to incoming cases (“Why the Backlog Exists,” n.d.). However, surveys of ASU undergraduate students revealed a significant interest in campus assault and the SAK backlog. Based on our findings, we suggest harnessing the interest of undergraduate students and recruiting them to specialized SAK-oriented forensic technician and sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) training at ASU with the goal of creating a workforce that will alleviate the absence of trained professionals within the country. We also explore the possibility of the creation of a private crime laboratory at ASU devoted the processing of SAKs in Arizona as a measure of alleviating the demand on local public laboratories and providing a more economic alternative to commercial laboratories. The creation of an SAK laboratory at ASU would provide undergraduates the opportunity to learn more about real forensic analysis on campus, provide a pipeline for students to become technicians themselves, and help reduce and prevent a future SAK backlog in Arizona.
We identified problems in three major categories that negatively impact the SAK pipeline: historical inertia, legislative and institutional limitations, and community awareness. We found that a large number of SAKs in Arizona have remained untested due insufficient funding and staffing for public crime labs making it difficult for state labs to alleviate the SAK backlog while simultaneously responding to incoming cases (“Why the Backlog Exists,” n.d.). However, surveys of ASU undergraduate students revealed a significant interest in campus assault and the SAK backlog. Based on our findings, we suggest harnessing the interest of undergraduate students and recruiting them to specialized SAK-oriented forensic technician and sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) training at ASU with the goal of creating a workforce that will alleviate the absence of trained professionals within the country. We also explore the possibility of the creation of a private crime laboratory at ASU devoted the processing of SAKs in Arizona as a measure of alleviating the demand on local public laboratories and providing a more economic alternative to commercial laboratories. The creation of an SAK laboratory at ASU would provide undergraduates the opportunity to learn more about real forensic analysis on campus, provide a pipeline for students to become technicians themselves, and help reduce and prevent a future SAK backlog in Arizona.
ContributorsStewart, Jamie (Co-author) / Brokaw, Danielle (Co-author) / Stone, Megan (Co-author) / Kanthaswamy, Sreetharan (Thesis director) / Oldt, Robert (Committee member) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05