19468 research outputs found
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Streamlining Care: Empowering Healthcare Providers through iOS Development
No full textMillions of intubations are performed in the United States each year. This life-saving procedure, in which a tube is used to secure a patient’s airway and provide oxygen flow is a cumbersome process that takes dozens of experiences for care-providers to master. In the prehospital setting, paramedics face uniquely difficult situations which lead to success rates as low as 40%. BriteScope’s goal is to provide an intubation solution with a streamlined video laryngoscope hardware component and an AI-enhanced software component. In this thesis, the software solution is discussed. Based on feedback from dozens of interviews with emergency medicine experts, an iOS application is being developed to target two key pain points: insufficient training and time-consuming documentation procedures. By interfacing with BriteScope’s hardware, the app will provide real-time, enhanced video streaming to guide clinicians through intubations. The software automatically saves video and audio feed, improving on the time-consuming manual transfer demanded by current, unconnected hardware and software solutions. The app provides a centralized location for providers to view videos and documentation. User-interface designs, front-end implementation, and memory-efficient back-end data-handling achieved with Figma, Swift, and Swift UI will be discussed. A cloud-based approach is also proposed for the storage and protection of the sensitive patient data captured by the device. Additionally, considerations for integrating BriteScope with current medical system workflows will be presented.PhysicsBachelors of Science (BS
Violent Shame and Utopia in Toni Morrison's Paradise
No full textThis project centers around Toni Morrison’s 1997 novel, Paradise and José Estaban Muñoz’s Cruising Utopia: The Then and There of Queer Futurity (2009). In seeking to understand the ways in which utopia can be pragmatic and tangible, this project explores what perverts attempts at utopia. Hence, this paper explores the dystopian implications of shame in Morrison’s Paradise. Works like these provide us the opportunity to “surpass the limitations of an alienating presentness and [allow] one to see a different time and place,” (Muñoz 5). In this thesis, I am writing toward an otherwise by actively working against the structures and systems of our material reality that inhibit safety, freedom, and imagination.EnglishBachelors of Arts (BA
Volunteerism Within the Blue Wall: A Community-Centric Analysis of Volunteer Police Officers
No full textFull-time police officers and law enforcement programs have come under analysis by the public and researchers alike, elucidating understandings that push for more equity and community involvement within law enforcement. In wider literature, however, there is a general lack of conversation and critical analyses surrounding volunteer police officers, their backgrounds, and perspectives on policing and community. As a program presupposed for community-oriented individuals to remedy current gaps between communities and legal institutions, it is important to see their understanding of their profession and their relationship to the communities they serve to see whether or not the initiative meets its transformative potential it posits for localities and departments. To better understand this, this research draws on eleven interviews from D.C. Metropolitan Police Department volunteer officers, ethnographic observation of the Volunteer Law Enforcement Officer Alliance Conference in the Cayman Islands, and collected online community documents produced by MPD in relation to the volunteer program. In the case of volunteer officers, I found that individual motivations, collectively homogeneous demographics, anti-community sentiments, and the inherent friction between departments and other legal institutions, all amidst the generally non-transformative structure and culture of the volunteer program, undermine VPOs’ ability to actualize the mission of helping communities. Thus, as a portion of the recent wave of community-minded approaches to policing, and as a case of political avoidance and the limitations of volunteering initiatives, this research hopes to deepen the understanding of volunteer police officers within the backdrop of mainstream conceptions of law enforcement and volunteerism in America.SociologyBachelors of Arts (BA
Mechanisms of opioid drug action in the respiratory rhythm-generating preBötzinger complex
No full textOpioid drugs bind receptors in the brainstem preBötzinger complex (preBötC) to slow the breathing rhythm, but the underlying mechanisms of opioid drug action in the site are poorly understood. Here, we investigate mechanisms in brainstem slices from mice that capture the preBötC and remain rhythmically active in vitro using imaging and electrophysiological approaches. We show that the number of rhythmically active preBötC neurons is not reduced by opioid drugs. We also show that opioid drugs inhibit synaptic release in excitatory terminals within the site. A clearer understanding of how opioid drugs act within the brainstem to depress breathing may guide the development of more effective treatments for opioid-induced respiratory depression.NeuroscienceBachelors of Science (BS
Fray Martín de Castañega’s 1529 Treatise on Magic and Superstition: Demonology, Reform, and Authority in Pre-Tridentine Iberia
No full textFray Martín de Castañega’s 1529 treatise on magic and superstition, commissioned by Bishop Alonso de Castilla of Calahorra-La Calzada, was the first demonological treatise published in Castilian. This paper places the treatise into a broader discourse of magic and superstition within Western Europe and Iberia. Evidence attests to a growing body of Iberian anti-superstitious literature in the decades leading up to its publication and a growing monarchical concern for heresy, including magic and superstition. This monarchical interest in magic and superstition in turn influenced secular, inquisitorial, and ecclesiastical responses to these practices. As such, Castañega’s treatise can be seen as one manifestation of monarchical pressure to address magic and superstition in the diocese of Calahorra-La Calzada. A close reading of the treatise indicates its desire to assert Bishop Castilla’s authority primarily over Calagurritan clerics under the guise of clerical education, the management of clerical behavior, and the use of Church authority to buttress Castilla’s own. Lastly, the juxtaposition of the treatise and a court case contemporary to its publication demonstrates how Castilla’s authority was being challenged by parishioners and clergy alike, and monarchical authorities’ desire to bolster Castilla’s authority under these threats.HistoryBachelors of Arts (BA
Designing a Battery Management System and Optimizing the Prototyping Process of a Video Laryngoscope
No full textBetter medical devices are critically needed for many healthcare applications. While our research group is developing a revolutionary video laryngoscope, many aspects are still in the prototyping stage. To bring the project closer to the market, I have focused on improvements on the hardware side based on the idea of user-centered design. I have designed and integrated a battery management system and optimized the prototyping process. This work has laid a solid foundation for further improvement of the device.PhysicsBachelors of Science (BS
James Thomson Callender, Culture, and Controversy in the Early American Republic
No full textThis thesis analyzes James Thomson Callender's role in early United States political culture. Most famous for his role in exposing the Hamilton-Reynolds and Jefferson-Hemings affairs, James Callender was a muckraking journalist in the United States between 1793 and 1800. "James Thomson Callender, Culture, and Controversy in the Early American Republic" first argues that Callender identified popular values about gender, race, and sex and effectively used them to orchestrate political smear campaigns. This study further argues that, regardless of regional differences and the party affiliations of his audience, the public could not avoid Callender or the issues he raised. Lastly, this study argues that Callender influenced politicians so strongly because he stood on the fringe of honor culture. While he existed in an honor culture, he willingly deviated from it and could attack politicians for vices that other journalists would not. He threatened private honor as much as public reputation as a result. Using newspapers, pamphlets, and correspondences, this thesis challenges the neglect and hostile portrayals of Callender in historiography.HistoryBachelors of Arts (BA
Bringing Synthetic Biology from the Flask to the Soil (Microcosm)
No full textSynthetic Biology has shown potential to address soil degradation and climate change through the design of microbes that can, for example, degrade pollutants, sequester greenhouse gasses, and increase crop yields. For Synthetic Biology to be a realistic solution, bioengineered bacteria must be able to survive, spread, and express genes of interest in soil environments. However, major gaps in knowledge exist about how inoculated bacteria behave in the soil. This project takes three foundational steps toward fieldable soil synthetic biology. First, a soil microcosm experiment was conducted with engineered Mycobacterium smegmatis over 49 days, the first of its kind to incorporate bacteriophage, have a spatial component, and compare population dynamics across bacterial engineering methods as well as soil sterility. This experiment demonstrated the ability of bacteria, regardless of engineering type and soil sterility, to persist in soil. It also revealed statistically significant differences in bacteria and phage population dynamics over time across bacterial engineering types and soil sterility. Second, a Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) pollutant degradation circuit was designed and constructed, and then integrated into M. smegmatis’s genome. And, third, an RNA extraction protocol was optimized for the simultaneous extraction of RNA from culture and from soil, which will enable RNA sequencing experiments comparing gene expression between these two environments.NeuroscienceBachelors of Science (BS
Uncivilized Lullaby: Poems
No full textUncivilized Lullaby is a collection of poems that explores the concept of home through the author's own experiences with parental abuse, war, sexual abuse, and immigration.EnglishBachelors of Arts (BA
Comedy Laughter Tragedy: The AIDS Epidemic Through The Camera Lens of The American Sitcom
No full textThis thesis analyzes how the AIDS epidemic was portrayed on American sitcoms.HistoryBachelors of Arts (BA