Ethics in health care is a topic that has been around since ancient times. It was the basis for the Hippocratic Oath. With the development of modern nursing and specialties in nursing, ethics in nursing becomes an important topic for consideration. This article gives an overview of the history of ethics, with particular considerations to nursing ethics. It provides an overview of moral distress within nursing and how ethical decisions affect care. It also provides examples of ethics within radiology nursing.

Carbon fiber is one of the most successful fibers in over 30 years as a result of its high specific strength and modulus, good coefficient of thermal expansion, and its excellent fatigue, and corrosion resistance. From its early use in the military and aerospace applications, carbon fiber composites have become a good light weight replacement material in place of heavier materials like metals (such as steel and aluminum) without compromise on the required mechanical properties. Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) -based carbon fiber accounts for over 90% of the global demand today as a result of its superior tensile strength and light weight properties. As a good structural reinforcement material, the demand for this fiber continues to grow in high-end applications but is largely limited in industrial and commercial applications by its high cost; accrued from the procurement of the PAN precursor and its manufacturing costs (which involves pyrolysis at temperatures up to 3000° C supplied by a furnace based heating system). This current manufacturing system is characterized by energy losses and slow processing rates which make it inefficient. Also, the large facility requirement and high production costs contribute to the high cost of the fiber. Hence, more cost effective processing systems are desired in meeting the growing demand of this fiber. This research demonstrates the use of the laser as an alternative heat treatment source based on its fast and high energy generation capabilities. In this study, the CO2 continuous pulsed wave laser was employed due to its higher energy generation capabilities. As the laser beam radiated on the surface of the fiber, the energy produced from the laser beam caused the fiber's atoms to vibrate and restructure themselves along the direction of the laser scan. By varying the laser scan settings, changes in the structure of the laser treated low-grade carbon fibers were investigated with the aim of increasing the fibrilla orientation during the graphitization process. The laser treated fibers tested exhibited internal structural changes indicative of plausible structural alignment in the fiber. Lasers provide highly concentrated and localized energy at a high speed of operation. In understanding the process conditions, preliminary understudy of the interrelationship between the lasing parameters and structure of the treated fibers formed in this research were reported. This novel study provided more insight in the microstructure enhancement of carbon fiber possible with use of the laser during the carbon fiber manufacturing process. / A Thesis submitted to the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering in partial fulfillment of the Master of Science. / Spring Semester 2017. / March 31, 2017. / Carbon fiber, Graphitization, Laser / Includes bibliographical references. / Mei Zhang, Professor Directing Thesis; Changchun Zeng, Committee Member; Tarik Dickens, Committee Member.

The field of bioethics originated from failures in medical research and provided a framework for medical decision-making and research ethics with the advent of its four core principles (justice, autonomy, non-maleficence, and beneficence). However, these core principles often overlook more complex issues related to health. In this thesis I take a critical look at traditional bioethics to demonstrate why more specific fields of bioethics, like public health ethics and urban bioethics, are necessary. I then look at the origins of urban bioethics to better understand the necessity for the field and the principles necessary for its implementation. Solidarity and agency are established principles of urban bioethics, and I will argue the need to add respect for community to the urban bioethics toolbox. Based on these principles; I argue the urban bioethicist has to understand the context of individuals and communities to properly apply agency, solidarity, and respect for community. The most appropriate way to build this context is through qualitative research. Qualitative research is uniquely suited for this task based on the nature of the field and the information it offers related to each of the principles of urban bioethics. / Urban Bioethics

Many women at academic medical centers experience gender-based microaggressions and sexual harassment during their careers. Women in surgical specialties experience a particularly high rate of these incidents, but these incidents occur across medical fields. As a result of microaggresions and sexual harassment in the workplace, women physicians experience a higher rate of burnout and moral injury, have fewer opportunities for promotion, and experience difficulty finding mentors when compared with their male colleagues. I argue that for these and myriad other reasons, microaggressions and sexual harassment of women physicians by their physician colleagues violates the bioethical principles of beneficence and non-maleficence. I also explore the importance of mentorship of women physicians by women physicians for navigating a career in academic medicine. / Urban Bioethics

Medicine and bioethics today are though as fields of pure logic, reasoning, and science, with physicians and ethicists trained to approach patients with an attitude of detatched rationality. In reality, neither medical care nor ethics can be practiced well without an acknowledgement for their deeply emotional, relational, and narrative qualities. Medical care and bioethics must both be practiced through a narrative lense in order to truly meet the humanity of both patients and practitioners. There are practical methods to integrate narrative skills into clinical practice, as well as tangible benefits to doing so. Practially, this is performed through narrative medicine: an approach to medical care that recognizes the stories as a critical component to healthcare; as well as narrative ethics: an awareness of the essential role of narrative in moral understanding. Using narrative as a tool to understanding illness and moral grounds the more abstract and universal aspects of both in practical, individual reality. There are many practical aspects of narratives when applied to bioethics, such as aquiring narrative skills, what happens when stories are shared, recognizing how narratives are built, how they convey knowledge, organize life, and provide meaning. Illness creates an isolation – for both patient and practitioner – and stories allow each to express their experience and be supported though the stories of others. Stories help brigdge the gap in experiences of illness between practioner and patient while helping pracitioners to maintin their empathy in the face of continual suffering. Narrative skills are also useful for practioners to bring awareness to the power dynamics that influence patient stories, such as the power of practitioner as co-creator, whose voice is given credibility, external and internal influences on a story, who determines the meaning of a story, and how the patient is characterized within the story. Narrative permeates every aspect of human life, including medical and ethical situations, and approaching both through a narrative lens is imperative for the development of true understanding, empathy, and compassion. Cultivating a narrative framework towards illness allows both practioners and patients to be cared for while also caring for the other, thus creating deep, meaningful connections. / Urban Bioethics

Posthumous assisted reproduction (PAR), or conception after death, is of significant ethical debate. This thesis seeks to explore and evaluate the major ethical considerations concerning PAR. Autonomy, considered the most important ethical principle, holds a majority of the weight in this evaluation; it is not the sole topic on deciding whether to permit a request for PAR. In addition to the autonomy of the deceased, the discussion focuses on stakeholders, justice, and welfare of the child in regard to PAR. Application of these ethical principles allows for a holistic review of a PAR request, and ensures the best possible outcome for each request. / Urban Bioethics

Medicine and bioethics today are though as fields of pure logic, reasoning, and science, with physicians and ethicists trained to approach patients with an attitude of detatched rationality. In reality, neither medical care nor ethics can be practiced well without an acknowledgement for their deeply emotional, relational, and narrative qualities. Medical care and bioethics must both be practiced through a narrative lense in order to truly meet the humanity of both patients and practitioners. There are practical methods to integrate narrative skills into clinical practice, as well as tangible benefits to doing so. Practially, this is performed through narrative medicine: an approach to medical care that recognizes the stories as a critical component to healthcare; as well as narrative ethics: an awareness of the essential role of narrative in moral understanding. Using narrative as a tool to understanding illness and moral grounds the more abstract and universal aspects of both in practical, individual reality. There are many practical aspects of narratives when applied to bioethics, such as aquiring narrative skills, what happens when stories are shared, recognizing how narratives are built, how they convey knowledge, organize life, and provide meaning. Illness creates an isolation – for both patient and practitioner – and stories allow each to express their experience and be supported though the stories of others. Stories help brigdge the gap in experiences of illness between practioner and patient while helping pracitioners to maintin their empathy in the face of continual suffering. Narrative skills are also useful for practioners to bring awareness to the power dynamics that influence patient stories, such as the power of practitioner as co-creator, whose voice is given credibility, external and internal influences on a story, who determines the meaning of a story, and how the patient is characterized within the story. Narrative permeates every aspect of human life, including medical and ethical situations, and approaching both through a narrative lens is imperative for the development of true understanding, empathy, and compassion. Cultivating a narrative framework towards illness allows both practioners and patients to be cared for while also caring for the other, thus creating deep, meaningful connections. / Urban Bioethics

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In recent decades, neurologists have been directing more of their research efforts to exploring the sources of health disparities in medical and surgical treatment of epilepsy. Many studies reveal that racial and ethnic minority patients continue to receive suboptimal care, which has some dire repercussions on their physical and mental health, as well as their social well-being because epilepsy is a chronic disease that tends to affect multiple aspects of the patient’s life. Although the earliest landmark studies emphasized the importance of mixed methodology research, the studies that followed tended to rely heavily on quantitative methods to unravel patterns of disparities with sparse use of qualitative methods to give voice to the patients concerned. In this work, I present a mixed methodology framework that is particularly suitable to investigating health disparities in epilepsy care, which affirms the complementary nature of quantitative and qualitative methods. I explore some of the challenges that clinicians face to utilizing qualitative methods, and introduce some of the validity criteria and techniques of qualitative research that make it a valuable methodology to understand disparities. I highlight some of the ethical concerns with recent studies in health disparities in epilepsy care which adopt only quantitative or qualitative methodology, and contribute very little to eliminating disparities compared to the potential contribution of mixed methodology research. This will be supported by various examples from research led by clinicians, public health professionals, and social scientists. / Urban Bioethics