Though schizophrenia was categorized as a mental illness over 100 years ago, there is a plethora of knowledge that continues to perplex the scientific and medical community alike. This tragic mental disorder affects approximately 1% of the general population, and many of these individuals are homeless if left untreated. Each schizophrenia patient has a different set of symptoms, so all of these patients experience a variety of positive and negative symptoms. Negative symptoms are called so as they are in absence, and some examples include apathy, anhedonia, lack of motivation, reduced social drive, and reduced cognitive functioning. Positive behavior, on the other hand, is a change in behavior or thoughts such as visual or auditory hallucinations, delusions, confused thoughts, disorganized speech, and trouble concentrating. Because schizophrenia patients do not share the exact same set of symptoms, research in schizophrenia requires a tremendous amount of medical resources. Over the last few years, new studies have started in the field of schizophrenia involving proteomics, or the study of proteins and their function. This new frontier gives doctors and scientists alike a new opportunity to improve the quality of life of schizophrenia patients by providing a potential method through which patients would receive individualized treatment based on their specific symptoms.

The purpose of this project is to analyze the current state of cancer nanomedicine and its challenges. Cancer is the second most deadly illness in the United States after heart disease. Nanomedicine, the use of materials between 1 and 100 nm to for the purpose of addressing healthcare-related problems, is particularly suited for treating it since nanoparticles have properties such as high surface area-to-volume ratios and favorable drug release profiles that make them more suitable for tasks such as consistent drug delivery to tumor tissue. The questions posed are: What are the current nanomedical treatments for cancer? What are the technical, social, and legal challenges related to nanomedical treatments and how can they be overcome? To answer the questions mentioned above, information from several scientific papers on nanomedical treatments for cancer as well as from social science journals was synthesized. Based on the findings, nanomedicine has a wide range of applications for cancer drug delivery, detection, and immunotherapy. The main technical challenge related to nanomedical treatments is navigating through biological barriers such as the mononuclear phagocyte system, the kidney, the blood-brain barrier, and the tumor microenvironment. Current approaches to meeting this challenge include altering the size, shape, and charge of nanoparticles for easier passage. The main social and legal challenge related to nanomedical treatments is the difficulty of regulating them due to factors such as the near impossibility of detecting nanowaste. Current approaches to meeting this challenge include the use of techniques such as scanning tunneling microscopy and atomic force microscopy to help distinguish nanowaste from the surroundings. More research will have to be done in these and other areas to enhance a major cancer-fighting tool.

Environmental activism has played a major role in American politics since the late 1800s, with major victories including the National Park Service Organic Act of 1916 that established the National Park Service to help protect parks and monuments, the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts of the 1960s and 1970s, and the phase-out of ozone depleting chemicals in the 1990s. Yet mainstream activism has stagnated in recent years, facing a variety of problems such as continuing to perpetuate a corporate system in which frontline and minority communities are left behind and only focusing on traditional methods like lobbying and indirect activism that fail to generate mass public support. In contrast, the Sunrise Movement is a new youth-oriented environmental and social organization that has become prevalent in the last five years for their aim to combat both climate change and socioeconomic inequalities through the Green New Deal. With the growing need for climate action that is fair and equitable, this project intended to contextualize the Sunrise Movement within past and current environmental movements as well as the current environmental and political climate in order to then investigate how Sunrise operates and their level of effectiveness in promoting the Green New Deal. I performed a literature review of both past and present news articles as well as journal articles in addition to interviewing experts in the theory and practice of activism to characterize the three waves of environmentalism and lessons learned, the current political sphere and what mainstream activism is working toward, and Sunrise itself. While mainstream and localized radical activism had victories and a certain degree of effectiveness, their lack of inclusivity has failed to encourage the mass mobilization needed for long-term climate legislation. The Sunrise Movement distinguishes itself through disruptive activism and direct engagement: disruptive by challenging the status quo of profit over people, the two party system where both groups are moving toward the right, and the whiteness and liberal locations of the mainstream environmental movement; direct by working with partners across the environmental, social, and labor sphere and working with actionable, hands-on items that encourage participation. Though they have major limitations like ensuring that they are as inclusive as they recognize an environmental movement must be and the risk of being seen as a partisan organization, Sunrise shows that the attitude of the public is moving in favor of the climate and social equity.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study was to examine recent nursing textbooks’ portrayal of gender, weight, and diagnosis in eating disorder exemplars, and compare the textbook presentation to prevalence rates as published within the textbooks themselves.

CONTEXT: Eating disorders are often portrayed as afflicting underweight women with a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa. Demographics of people outside this stereotype face health disparities in illness recognition and treatment. Passive exposure to information on eating disorders can reduce stereotypical beliefs among nursing students, which has the potential to improve patient care.

METHOD: Case studies, practice questions, vignettes, and care plans from eight psychiatric nursing textbooks were analyzed for portrayal of the three research variables.

DATA and RESULTS: Men were not significantly underrepresented in the exemplars. Transgender clients, clients of normal or overweight status, and clients with diagnoses other than anorexia nervosa were significantly underrepresented from eating disorder exemplars.

CONCLUSION: Textbooks should be adjusted to include more exemplars from underrepresented demographics of clients with eating disorders.

When an individual is conceived there is a metaphorical roll of the dice. A game of chance is played with their genetics to which they cannot consent. Unlucky players could have inherited mild conditions such as chronic allergies to terrible diseases such as Cystic Fibrosis or Tay-Sachs. Controlling the genetics of an individual through the use of gene editing technology could be the key to ending this cycle of genetic diseases. Once detrimental diseases are now being cured through direct applications of genetic engineering. Even as we see the uses of genetic engineering technologies change the world, the more “sci-fi” applications have yet to be fully realized or explored. Editing hereditary genes before birth may have the ability to eliminate diseases from entire genetic lines, reduce the possibility for certain cancers and diseases, and perhaps even modify phenotypes in humans to create enhanced humans. Although this scientific field shows promise, it does have its reservations. Like any other scientific field, its ability to benefit humanity depends on its use.

The goal of this research paper is to analyze how we define economic success and how that affects large corporations and consumers. This paper asks the questions: What do we define as a good economy? What metrics are currently utilized? And how do perceptions of a good economy influence politics? Overall, the research seeks to identify common economic and financial fallacies held by the average citizen and offer alternative methods of how socio-economic information is presented to the consumers. Consumers play a major role in the market, and the information they receive has a considerable impact on their behaviors. Determining why the present economic analysis is used is the first step in finding ways to improve the system. Observing past political and economic trends and relating them to current issues is necessary for finding future solutions.

This project was designed to assess whether Arizona State University’s current Health and Counseling services perpetuate healthcare discrimination against its LGBTQIA+ student population: a pervasive problem that both researchers and patients have observed in the general healthcare landscape--on university campuses and beyond. A two-part online survey, including multiple-choice and free-response questions, was administered to ASU students attending any of the four campuses in order to receive a wide range of student feedback from diverse populations and assess the queer and transgender healthcare experience on campus. This survey data was used to pinpoint gaps and/or problems in student care and to assess how these concerns might be addressed. Results showed that a number of participants experienced discrimination, including incorrect references to gender pronouns, name preferences, and sexual identity. In response to survey participants’ desire for clearer information about health care services, a prototype for a resource pamphlet and corresponding mock-up of an online platform were created. These prototype resources clearly outline information about the sexual, mental, and physical health resources provided by ASU and include supplementary off-campus programs to fill the gaps in university services. Additionally, these findings were used to create a prototype that could be used to help ensure healthcare workers are familiar with LGBTQIA+ specific healthcare needs.

This project looks at the impact that the internet has had on society, and how it has shaped the way that digitally native generations live their lives. More specifically, this thesis showcases what it means for younger generations to be digitally native and how engaging with technology while growing up affects the way that these individuals experience contemporary adolescence. Generation X is said to be the last group of people to experience life before the spread of the personal computer and internet access. Newer generations, such as Generation Z, have grown up having constant and easy access to the internet, all of the information it encompasses, and its additional functions. This access has shaped much of the generation as individuals as well as society as a whole. It can be argued that the human experience has been fundamentally different for those born after the creation of the internet and the rapid increase in accessible technology that followed. Through an interview with a participant from Generation X, I will showcase the transformative role that the internet and technology has played in major life events for a digitally native individual compared to that of individuals from older generations. As a member of Generation Z, I will compare my personal narrative regarding ten different life events occurring between the ages of five to 25 that I feel are common and impactful to the narrative a of non-digitally native individual. I expect to see that the internet and the creation of cyber culture that we see through social media has enhanced many of the defining events for younger generations growing up in some positive ways as well as some negative ways. Thus, growing up only knowing the internet and its purposes has altered the way that our experiences play out as we age, for good and for bad.

Genetic engineering and gene alterations are a very rich and complex issue that have been the talk of many ethical debates. Somatic and germline genetic engineering technologies are becoming more prevalent in the scientific community and could be provided for public use in a matter of time. These technologies raise bioethical concerns as society recognizes the challenges behind where to draw the line in use of this relatively new science. The basis of this paper is focused around a meta-analysis and systematic assessment of previous publications of major ethical debates to show the complex interests and ideas that need to be reflected and contemplated upon when deciding to genetically alter our species. A short description of background literature takes place first to show the ideas of major philosophers and bioethic figures to introduce these topics. This analysis will then continue with discussion from a religious point of view and the concerns that they have on these technologies. Next, there is a discussion regarding violation of consent, rights, and autonomy. A discussion of the potential consequential grounds of these enhancements on our species and what they could mean for our future takes ensues after this. At the end of this paper, there is a last discussion about the injustice and inequity that could form from these technologies becoming available to the public. These technologies could affect the future of our entire species and drastically shape our society, medicine, and science in ways we could never imagine.

Despite the benefits of prehabilitation before surgery, many patients do not participate in these programs. Research has shown that prehab reduces the duration of hospital stays, thus the cost of hospitalization, and improves the recovery process from surgery. This paper aims to determine why prehab is not as common as rehab by evaluating its accessibility issues related to the amount of information accessible to patients, and the cost and insurance policies related to prehab. Telemedicine is also presented as a possible solution to the accessibility issues, and viewed as an alternative that can increase the number of prehab participants. Literature review and analysis of clinic websites indicates that information availability and cost presents accessibility issues to prehab. Although cost and information availability of prehab presents an accessibility problem, and telemedicine has the potential to increase the number of participants in prehab, it is found that many people still might not consider prehab as an option.
Studying prehab is interesting and it presents a unique case study of the benefits of preventative medicine. Preventative medicine is often not promoted because of the difficulty of measuring the benefits. But in the case of prehab, both the physical benefits and cost-savings are easily measurable. This paper presents an interesting and clear case study about the effectiveness of preventative medicine, and contributes important data in favor of shifting greater resources and attention to preventative medicine.