16144 research outputs found
Sort by
Global Survey of Water Quality Using Point-of-Use Water Filters
No full textWaterborne illnesses continue to be a major global health concern. A leading strategy for providing clean drinking-water is the use of point-of-use water filters. Sawyer Products, Inc., a privately owned outdoor product company, launched Sawyer International to bring 0.1 micron hollow fiber membrane filters to people in need of safe, clean drinking-water. These filters remove harmful bacteria, protozoa, and cysts like Escherichia coli, Salmonella typhi, Vibrio cholerae, and Giardia. Additionally, Sawyer is providing polyurethane foam filters designed to remove metals known to be harmful in excess concentrations, including arsenic and cadmium. Hope College, in collaboration with Sawyer, is conducting a global water quality survey that will study drinking water sources from over 30 countries. We have partnered with NGO’s to deliver water filter kits to sites, collect and process water samples in the field, and return the filters to Hope College for analysis of microbial populations, classes of antibiotics, and chemicals found in the water. In addition, we will conduct an in-depth study of the introduction of filters to all households in 20 villages in Fiji. Samples will be obtained from 2 water sources per village in order to assess water quality and effective removal of potential pathogens from the water sources; surveys to assess the health status of members of the villages will be administered. Two more visits will be made to villages at 2-4 weeks and 8 weeks post filter introduction to obtain additional water samples and survey data. We anticipate that introduction of filters into villages without access to clean water will improve the health of residents. The data obtained will allow us to describe biological and chemical properties of global water sources that have adverse effects on the health and wellbeing of residents and give evidence for the efficacy of point of use water filters
Investigating the Potential of the HKUST-1 Metal-Organic Framework for Ammonia Adsorption
No full textThis research explores the ammonia adsorption capabilities specific to three variations of the HKUST-1 metal-organic framework (MOF) system: bulk powders, drop-cast films, and surface-anchored thin films. Samples were synthesized, characterized, and exposed to pure ammonia gas in an effort to gain a deeper understanding of how the framework responds when exposed to harmful gas molecules. Literature has shown that the as-synthesized HKUST-1 system contains water molecules coordinated to the axial positions of the copper-carboxylic acid paddlewheel structure. Further research described herein has uncovered the presence of not only water molecules, but also other solvent molecules. Paddlewheel adsorbates alter the interaction of the ammonia gas with the framework, resulting in significant morphological change. The activation of the framework, or the removal the guest molecules via heat, has been shown to prevent the drastic change in morphology. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, scanning probe microscopy, and powder x-ray diffraction were used to characterize samples before and after ammonia exposure, tracking uptake of ammonia, as well as monitoring changes in both morphology and crystal structure. Future work will investigate different potentially harmful gases and additional MOF systems
Developing Monovalent Ion Parameters for the Optimal Point Charge (OPC) Water Model
No full textMolecular dynamics (MD) simulations are used to model the structure and movement of macromolecules. The gold standard for MD is to explicitly include water molecules using one of several standard models. Recently, a new water model, Optimal Point Charge (OPC), has been developed with simulation performance that compares better to experiment than existing models in its class (Izadi, Anandakrishnan, Onufriev, J. Phys. Chem. Lett., 2014, 5, 3863-3871). For this new water model to be useful, Lennard-Jones (LJ) parameters must be developed for at least a few monovalent ions. In this study MD simulations were used to develop these parameters. Preliminary results are presented including: extensive convergence testing of Hydration Free Energy, Lattice Constants (LC), and first peak position of radial distribution functions (RDF’s); as well as surfaces showing the dependence of the RDF and LC on various LJ parameters within the OPC water model
Modified Polyol Synthesis of Tetrahedrite (Cu12Sb4S13)
No full textSynthesizing thermoelectric materials by low-cost, low-energy methods can potentially alleviate the current energy crisis because of the ability of these materials to convert waste heat into electrical current. While most thermoelectric materials contain rare earth metals, tetrahedrite is composed of earth-abundant elements and exhibits high performing thermoelectric properties due to a low thermal conductivity from its complex unit cell. A solution phase, solid-state synthesis technique known as the modified polyol process was used to synthesize pure tetrahedrite nanoparticles. These nanoparticles were characterized by powder x-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. Thermopower, electrical resistivity and thermal conductivity measurements were taken for this material to determine the maximum figure of merit (ZT) values, which describes the efficiency of the energy conversion. The values found for our materials were on par with or exceed those of tetrahedrite fabricated by conventional high energy and time consuming processes. Cu sites can be doped with Zn to improve efficiency and the reaction was scaled up to produce over 2 grams of material, which enabled the thermoelectric characterization of nanomaterials from a single batch reaction
Developing an iOS App for Educational Budgeting
No full textOur team spent ten weeks developing an iPhone app, called Bilancio, that helps teach and practice budgeting skills for the Ready for Life program, which prepares students with cognitive, social or learning disabilities for a life of independence. Focusing on usability, we strove to make a simple, intuitive app, tailored to the needs of teachers and students at Ready for Life. The development process included learning Apple\u27s programming language, Swift, and using industry standard version control, communication and project management tools. By the end of the summer, we had created a unique product that would benefit the lives of its users
Examining Various Age Groups and Ethnicities as Potential At-Risk Populations for Low Health Literacy
No full textLevels of health literacy have been shown to be indicators of patients’ future health outcomes. Low health literacy levels have been linked to poor self-care following hospitalization, difficulties in following medical instructions, and increased hospitalizations. The purpose of this study was to identify potential at-risk populations in order to improve patient education and health literacy. The Health Literacy Framework was used as a foundation to this study to show the link between literacy and patients’ abilities in health contexts. This study was a prospective, descriptive study which used a demographic survey asking questions such as ethnicity and year of birth and the Short-Form Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (S-TOFHLA). Using random stratified sampling, 290 participants were selected from a teaching hospital in the Midwest. Of those participants, 237 were white and 32 were non-white. There were 99 participants who were born before 1945, 109 between 1946-1964, 43 between 1965-1983, and 18 after 1984. The data were analyzed using SPSS software version 23. A Mann-Whitney test found that there was not a significant relationship between health literacy and ethnicity (U = 3678, p = 0.743). A Kruskal-Wallis H test found that there was a significant relationship between health literacy and age (χ2 = 33.271, p = .000). These results show that health literacy can be related to age, but not to ethnicity. Limitations for this study include exclusion of non-English speakers, a homogenous population, conducted at a single site, and possible skewed data due to patients with low health literacy declining to participate. Implications of the findings include identification of at-risk populations with low health literacy, in an effort to improve patient education and health outcomes
Does Oil Really Influence the Probability of Foreign Intervention?
No full textIt has been suggested that a disproportionate amount of the interventions by the United Nations organization occurs in countries that have valuable resources. This research attempts to examine relationship between countries which possess a valuable resource – in this case oil – and military intervention or actions by the UN. In particular, I explore the economic theory behind this research, namely that the UN gives preferential treatment to troubled areas of the world where a key global resource is located. While correlation does not imply causation, a positive result here would lend further evidence towards a more comprehensive analysis of this relationship. This research relies on the International Intervention Dataset, which is a collection of 1,083 observations on what determines military intervention and other actions by the United Nations
The Correlation Between Democracy and War
No full textThere has been an undisputed rise of democracy in various countries throughout the world in recent history. This paper will explore the correlation between the increase in a country’s level of democracy and its likelihood to get involved in a war, especially inter-state or civil wars
Reading before Voting in the House: Why “Read the Bill” Acts Fail
No full textRepresentation is a cornerstone of American democracy, and the House of Representatives embodies this best by voting bills into law on behalf of their constituents. Members of Congress have previously introduced legislation that would require Members to read the full text of a bill prior to voting in order to increase accountability and representation of the voters, but these bills have never progressed in either chamber nor drawn much public attention. This paper asks whether Members of the House need to read bills in their entirety by examining public opinion, voting behavior, and incumbency rates. A comparative case study between Representative Bill Huizenga (MI-02) and Representative Justin Amash (MI-03) will serve to supplement the study as the latter fully read all bills before voting in his first term. The purpose of this paper is to determine if it is necessary for Members to read bills before voting on them in the House of Representatives in order to best represent the residents of their districts. This study concludes by raising questions on the ethics of governmental representation of voters
The Role of Priming Disaster Images on Meaning, Religion, and God Associations
No full textHow do people psychologically recover from disasters and restore a sense of meaning in their life? Disasters can potentially threaten physical and psychological well-being. Previous research suggests that when faced with a disaster, people are driven to restore a sense of meaning in their lives (Haynes et al., in press). In this study, we aim to discover how priming disasters affects participants’ reported meaning in life and their concept of God (assessed both explicitly and implicitly). We hypothesize that (religious) participants faced with a disaster prime will reaffirm their meaning and religious values compared to those in the control group. Participants were undergraduate introductory psychology students at a private Midwestern liberal arts college. First, all participants filled out individual difference measures about their personality and religious beliefs. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: (1) watching a video of a person driving through a major forest fire (natural disaster prime), (2) watching a video of the commercial airliners crashing into the Twin Towers on 9/11 (terrorist disaster prime), (3) watching a video of the BP oil spill and oil rig fire (technical disaster prime), or (4) watching a video of a nature scene with waterfalls (neutral prime). All participants were asked to imagine themselves in the situations depicted in the videos. After the videos were shown, all sets of participants completed assessments on their implicit and explicit God associations and filled out a questionnaire about their reported meaning in life. Participants were then debriefed. We are in the process of collecting data (N~80; Target N=100), but we expect to find the data will support our hypothesis that meaning in life will be reaffirmed when a person is faced with a disaster scenario and that God associations will also be reaffirmed for religious participants. To analyze the data, we will run an ANOVA test comparing participant’s responses in all four conditions. This research will provide experimental evidence for the link between disasters, religion, and reported meaning in life. In general, this research may provide insight into psychological disaster relief and coping mechanisms that people use to recover from trauma. As the title of the research suggests, we are interested in how people flourish within their given circumstances