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  Faces of Faith: Monastic Identity and Protestant Theology in the Swiss Reformation

  Kevin O'Gorman

  Religious Orders were ever-present in medieval life. Their influence was not limited just to the pulpit or the physical area around monasteries but extended into the daily life of entire kingdoms. Each religious community was unique in the interpretation and expression of its rule of life, both between and within Orders. Religious communities faced pressure from newly converted Protestant authorities alongside theological conversations within their own walls. The new Protestants carried with them an anti-monastic theology that challenged religious communities to reexamine their lives fundamentally. Nowhere were these choices as complicated as in Switzerland, where monks and nuns encountered Lutheran, Zwinglian, Anabaptist, and Reformed theology. I argue that these encounters occurred in conversation with the spiritual traditions of their respective orders, both in those who remained in or left their vows. I specifically look at the first-hand accounts and manuscripts of Swiss Franciscans and Benedictines and place their words in the context of their respective Rule and spiritual traditions. I found that religious that remained Catholic more explicitly expressed their particular spirituality when encountering Protestant theology, while religious that left the habit saw their new beliefs as a different expression, or even a fulfillment, of their original vows. Current historiographical approaches to religious orders in the early Reformation deemphasize individual communities, seeing their interactions with Protestant theology defined by their geography or political status. This paper seeks to approach the Reformation through the lived spiritual experience of religious and recognize the impact their monastic lives had on their decisions.

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  Foreign Detainee Operations Post 9/11: An Example of the United States’ Ethical Compromise

  Seth Longstreth

  After 9/11, the United States government issued a series of policies that allowed tortuous interrogations in order to extract actionable information, or least attempt to. After being a member of the Geneva Convention and the Convention Against Torture, the U.S. directly defied these international treaties purely because it suited their interests during the retaliation against al-Qaeda. This paper seeks to answer how government accountability plummets when directing officials overlook the law, how the subjectivity of torture laws was capitalize on, and what further implications this has on us as a nation. This research takes a multi-case study approach which allows for an in-depth analysis of interrogative techniques, living conditions, and how it was all made legal.Keywords: Detainee, Ethics, Torture, Interrogation

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  Identification and Comparison of Hydrolases Secreted from Naganishia albida to Papiliotrema laurentii and their activity toward natural and synthetic polyesters

  Clarissa Ove

  Esters and amides are the most versatile functional groups in nature and in plastics today. Understanding the key temporal events in the biodegradation and susceptibility of polymers and plastics (e.g. polyester and polyester polyurethanes) to hydrolytic enzymes is important to the sustainable development of our modern society. We will present the isolation, identification, and classification of an environmental strain of Naganishia albida found on polymer coatings inside of aircraft. To better understand the capability of hydrolytic enzymes to degrade plastics we isolated, identified, and classified an environmental strain of Naganishia albida found on polymer coatings inside an aircraft. We utilized cultivation conditions that induced the secretion of several hydrolytic proteins (between 30 kDa and 140 kDa) from N. albida that were identified via LC-MS. We also isolated the hydrolytic proteins from cellular supernatants using size exclusion chromatography, and performed soluble colorimetric esterase assays and polyester polyurethane coating degradation experiments. Finally we showed comparisons between the hydrolytic proteins produced by N. albida and another polymer degrading yeast, Papiliotrema laurentii.

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  Identifying the effects of anaerobicity and propionate on Listeria monocytogenes metabolism and central nervous system infection

  Rebecca Rudd

  Listeria monocytogenes is a facultative foodborne pathogen that can enter the bloodstream and invade the central nervous system to cause meningitis. As an intracellular pathogen, L. monocytogenes replicates inside the host cell cytosol and avoids extracellular immune defenses as it disseminates throughout the body. L. monocytogenes can also reach and cross the blood brain barrier, resulting in severe or fatal symptoms in immunocompromised and elderly patients. The overarching goal of my research project is to better understand how different environmental factors, anaerobicity and propionate, in the intestinal lumen alter the ability of L. monocytogenes to cause infections. In the first aim of my thesis research, I investigated how anaerobicity and propionate affected L. monocytogenes central metabolism by measuring acetoin production, which is a proxy for pyruvate metabolism, and culture pH, which is a proxy for lactic acid production. I also compared these measurements between different strains to identify the potential genetic regulations underlying L. monocytogenes responses to anaerobicity and propionate. In the second aim, I examined the effect of anaerobicity and propionate on L. monocytogenes infection and intracellular growth in a model host cell line for neuronal cells, the Neuro-2A cells. Additionally, I investigated the intracellular growth differences between different strains to identify strain-dependent variations. Through this project, further findings were discovered about how anaerobicity and propionate exposure influence L. monocytogenes metabolism and infections, allowing for better understanding of how this pathogen might behave during and after intestinal transit.

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  Investigating the Role of Neural Stem Cells in Aggressive Gliomas

  Sadie Salamone

  In the United States alone, there are more than 1.8 million people diagnosed with cancer every year. This number increases exponentially as the scope is expanded to look at the number of people affected worldwide (National Cancer Institute, 2020). With the widespread nature of cancer, treatments have been extensively researched and explored, but there is ultimately no cure for this aggressive and unrelenting disease. One extremely invasive type of cancer is Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM), which is a specific type of brain cancer. The exact growth patterns of these tumors are unknown, but it is known that GBM is formed from excess glial stem cells, which are produced by neuroblasts. It is unsure whether these neuroblasts are preexisting in GBM tumors or if new neuroblasts are created to induce and promote GBM tumor metastasis. These aggressive tumors grow rapidly and aggressively, which makes their origins and pathways of growth extremely difficult to locate and track. The Drosophila melanogaster, or common fruit fly, is the model organism for this study. The power of Drosophila lies in the multiple genetic tools available for experimental design, and the conservation of genes and cell-biological processes between flies and humans (Portela et al., 2020), which means that findings from Drosophila studies can be easily verified in mammalian models and human patients. We have developed a GBM model in flies using the GAL4-UAS system, where two genotypically different flies will be crossed to induce these tumors in developing Drosophila larval brains. This study will explore the origins of GBM tumors and the nature of cell-biological and growth promoting pathways that promote uncontrolled growth of glial cells and neuroblasts within the brain.

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  Lovecraft, The Uncanny, And The Sublime: A Psychoanalytic Critique Of H.P. Lovecrafts’ Fiction

  Jules Carr-Chellman

  This project will seek to analyze H.P. Lovecraft’s fiction through a critical psychoanalytical lens with particular attention paid to the uncanny and the sublime. H.P Lovecraft’s writing emphasizes horror in the face of a world that cannot be known. The characters’ encounters are thematically consistent in their incomprehensible grandeur: the sprawling metropolis, the arctic plane, the range of mountains – all literary elements that approach a concept of sublimity. In a traditional sense, the sublime is a mental state that swiftly alternates between feelings of pleasure anddispleasure in the face of something incomprehensibly large. Displeasure occurs in the realization that human reason cannot adequately describe or understand the infinite, and pleasure occurs in the ability of human reason to conceive of the infinite as a complete idea despite its transcendence beyond any human faculty of reason. In cadence with presentations of the sublime, Lovecraft imposes literary elements that create a distinct subconscious feeling of familiarity in the face of the utterly unfamiliar. It is precisely this feeling that characterizes Freud’s definition of the uncanny. Freud understands the uncanny as an ambiguous sense of familiarity coming from a person's subconsciously repressed ideas that underlays their perception of uncertainty. The fabric of reality in Lovecraft's fiction is a perpetual phantasmagoria of familiarity and oblivion that contextualizes sublime feelings of awe and grandeur. The direction of my inquiry in this project will be toward the nature of the uncanny as a context for sublime experiences and how the uncanny lends itself to a different interpretation of contemporary conceptions of reality as a product of the human need to build a home in the inhospitable: the human need to survive.

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  Measuring wetland restoration success through water quality and invertebrate community indices

  Abbey Raison

  Wetland restoration projects are essential to preserving these imperiled ecosystems. While restoring lost or degraded wetlands is the first step, determining the success of restoration efforts is often difficult or only focuses on one aspect of an ecosystem. To address these shortfalls, I determined the success of wetland restoration through traditional (i.e., water quality testing and plant composition) and non-traditional methods (i.e., terrestrial and aquatic insect sampling) in established and restored wetlands in Ohio. I determined water quality using a YSI probe and measured dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity, and temperature in each wetland. The values collected for these characteristics were compared to established wetlands and known standard water health metrics. I determined plant composition by estimating the percent cover of plant species found within 5-0.25 m circle plots. Lastly, I used sweep nets for terrestrial insect collection and dip nets for aquatic macroinvertebrate collection. These samples were sorted, counted, and identified to order in the lab to determine how terrestrial insect and aquatic macroinvertebrate community indices indicate the health of restored wetlands. Initial results indicate that insect abundance in restored wetlands was greater than in established wetlands, which was likely driven by restored wetlands having higher plant species richness. Our initial results indicate that a diverse plant community in restored areas may serve as a habitat for aboveground insects, which could have cascading beneficial effects on the rest of the ecosystem.

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  Metal Wick Manufacturing for Solar Panel Cooling and Salt-Water Desalination

  Emily Mann

  Thermal control systems are integral to maintaining efficient and reliable solar power panels. A proposed method of energy capture in disaster areas includes creating floating solar panel areas that are cooled by the ocean water beneath them and also will provide a small amount of desalinated water. Sintered porous wicks will be used to move salt water up to the back of the solar panel to provide cooling while also desalinating the water. Wicks created in a variety of methods, environments, and materials are being studied to analyze the effect they have on permeability and porosity to determine the type of wick most effective in this application. The resulting wick must make enough capillary pressure to move water through it while having small enough pores to remove the salt from the water.

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  Methods for Exploiting High Resolution Imagery for Deep Learning Based Diabetic Retinopathy Detection and Grading

  Adam Saunders

  Diabetic retinopathy is a disease that affects the eyes of people with diabetes, and it can cause blindness. To diagnose diabetic retinopathy, ophthalmologists image the back surface of the inside of the eye, a process referred to as fundus photography. Ophthalmologists must then diagnose and grade the severity of diabetic retinopathy by analyzing details in the image, which can be difficult and time-consuming. Alternatively, due to the availability of labeled datasets containing fundus images with diabetic retinopathy, AI methods like deep learning can provide automated detection and grading algorithms. These deep learning algorithms sometimes use images at a much lower resolution than is available from fundus photography. However, we show that the resolution of a image has a large effect on the accuracy of the algorithm. Here, we study several techniques to increase the accuracy of the algorithm by taking advantage of higher-resolution data, including increasing the network input size, introducing a region-of-interest channel, and using a non-uniform downsampling approach.

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  Mitigation of JavaScript-Based Fingerprinting Attacks Reliant on Client Data Generation

  Nathan Joslin

  Although fingerprinting methods are currently used by fraud detection companies as a secondary form of identification, they can just as easily be used maliciously. By nature, fingerprinting reveals software and hardware information that malicious attackers may use to their advantage. Attackers with access to this sensitive information may target users running a software version known to have vulnerabilities, silently track a user’s activity across the web, or even reveal a user’s identity. Additionally, fingerprinting is silent and often done without the user knowing their fingerprint is being collected. As a result, it is nearly impossible for average users to opt out of or block fingerprinting attacks.In this thesis, we leverage the MyWebGuard browser extension developed by Phung et al. to enforce dynamic policies on web pages that engage in device fingerprinting. MyWebGuard implements an Inline Reference Monitor (IRM) to supervise the JavaScript operations carried out on web pages. Three types of JavaScript operations are monitored: method calls, object creation and access, and property access. When these operations are executed the IRM intercepts them, allowing for policy enforcement. As this policy enforcement mechanism monitors JavaScript operations, it is an excellent method to mitigate JavaScript-based fingerprinting. In this work, we will focus on monitoring dynamic fingerprinting methods that rely on generating unique data rather than collecting static attributes. As for the mitigation approach, we chose a randomization method rather than normalization or domain-based blocking. This “moving target” approach is intended to constantly change a given device’s fingerprint over time, making it increasingly difficult for malicious actors to track a device across the web. Further motivation behind this mitigation method is to limit major site breakage, a phenomenon common with current anti-fingerprinting technologies, while protecting user privacy.

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  Moderating Role of Experiential Similarity on the Relationship Between Social Support and Posttraumatic Growth

  Avery Lytle

  Background and objectives: Trauma exposure is associated with negative outcomes like posttraumatic stress disorder. However, not everyone reports distress; resilience is common. Some even report improved psychological functioning following trauma, termed posttraumatic growth (PTG). Numerous factors are implicated in PTG development, many related to cognitive processing of the event. Outside of cognitive factors, one of the strongest promoters of PTG is social support, but less is known about what types of support are most facilitative. Of potential importance is experiential similarity, or the extent to which the support person has experienced shared elements of one’s trauma. The present study examined whether social support with higher experiential similarity was more strongly associated with PTG than support without experiential similarity. Methods: Bootstrapping procedures in the PROCESS macro for SPSS tested experiential similarity as a moderator of the relation between social support satisfaction and PTG. Six models were tested, each with total PTG or one of the five domains of growth (new possibilities, relating to others, personal strength, spiritual change, and appreciation for life) as outcomes. Results: Only when considering new possibilities as the outcome was experiential similarity a significant moderator, such that only individuals reporting very high levels of similarity and support reported more new possibilities. Similarity did not moderate in the other models. When direct effects were examined, social support was negatively associated with new possibilities and had no significant relations with total growth or the other four domains. Experiential similarity was positively associated with new possibilities and negatively associated with relating to others. Conclusions: In this sample of college undergraduates, experiential similarity does not appear to be a critical aspect of social support that is influential of growth. Future research should determine whether this is sample-specific, or whether other factors such as demographic similarity might be more facilitative of growth.

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  Multiple Breast Cancer Tumor Interactions in a Microfluidic Platform

  Elizabeth Avera

  Breast cancer has been the second leading cause of cancer-related death in women. It is estimated that 15-25% of breast cancer cases are classified as multifocal (MF) or multicentric (MC). MF and MC breast cancers, compared with unifocal breast cancers, tend to be more aggressive and are associated with lower survival rates, higher recurrence, and lymph node metastasis. This project studied the interactive behaviors between multiple breast cancer tumors using an in vitro model combined of three-dimensional breast cancer spheroids and microfluidics technology. We determined that the MF/MC breast cancer spheroids moved across their extracellular matrix, shortening the distance between each other by 871.1±602.7 um and 765.846±547.7 um, for 3 and 2 MF/MC breast cancer spheroids respectively, over 72 hours. There was no significant change in individual breast cancer spheroids area over 72 hours, but in the multiple setup spheroids tended to merge into a larger one. Initial observations depict nonuniform collagen extracellular matrix expression after 72 hours in the MF/MC model. We anticipate this is due to degradation of the collagen extracellular matrix over time caused by the MF/MC spheroids. This study helps broaden our understanding of the characteristics and invasive mechanisms of MF/MC breast cancer tumors, allowing us to better predict patient prognosis and suggest novel targets for breast cancer treatments in subsequent studies.

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  Musical Expression and Symbolic Forms

  Jacob Biesecker-Mast

  Frequently the idea of expression comes up when people talk about music’s value in human culture. However, expression is often ill-defined and can be found to be used many ways. Some argue music is not expressive at all, but instead is beautiful by virtue of its well-formed nature. This particular perspective, musical formalism, often looks at what is called “absolute music”, or music without any other kind of media like lyrics, and argues that the form of the music, with its interesting play between various melodies, counter melodies, and chord structure, is that which gives it value rather than any kind of expressive capabilities. Susanne Langer is a scholar who has written much on the philosophy of art and makes compelling arguments for the expressive nature of art, and thus departs from formalism distinctly. Many of her theories treat art as a sort of language that expresses through meaning-making symbols. However, there seem to be some weaknesses in her theory that can be fixed with some ideas from another philosopher of art, Nelson Goodman. Langer postulates that symbols in music, as distinct from discursive language, do not necessarily refer to an object to make meaning, but instead present concepts as they are through constructing analogous logical relationships. However, it seems that if the symbol does not refer to an object, then the symbol is all that is needed to comprehend the concept, thus it is not clear how the two are distinct. Goodman offers up the concept of exemplification, in which the symbol exemplifies the concept in question, in addition to presenting it. In this way, the value of music lies, at least in great part, in its capability to both express the emotional inner-life of human beings, and do important work in conceptualizing the world we live in.

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  Music Therapy Treatment Considerations for Adolescents with Attachment Challenges

  Jaylee Sowders

  Attachment theory, developed by John Bowlby and Mary Ainsworth, describes how our first relationships guide much of our social and emotional development throughout life (Bretherton, 1992). When attachment challenges occur, particularly during infancy, the maturation of adolescents as they transition into adulthood is severely impacted. However, the foundation of attachment assessment and treatment are rooted in classist, patriarchal, and white supremacist systems that do not equitably serve a diverse society. With a focus on equity and accessibility in mental healthcare, this study is focused on music therapy assessment and treatment with teenage clients facing attachment challenges and the role of music as a communicative tool and symbolic object for attachment. Through an interpretivist review of attachment theory and music therapy literature, combined with an analysis of relevant music therapy case studies, I will analyze the affordances, risks, and challenges of music therapy experiences in reforming and revising internal working models of attachment (Bowlby, 1969), using a dimensional perspective described by Raby et al. (2021). Music has the potential to address, validate, and promote further inquiry of the social and emotional complexities that often result from traumatic interpersonal relationships. The added musical relationships and music inherent to music therapy may provide new avenues for growth and healing by providing additional objects or secure bases for reconstructive attachment and relationship formation. This research will provide information for current and future music therapists facilitating music therapy with adolescents to address attachment challenges.

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  Othering the Brother: Toward a Sibling-Oriented Ethics of Care

  William Bryant

  This project will be an examination of issues of childcare, gendered responsibilities, and family identity informed by feminist and queer theory. As the second oldest in a family of eight, I have always understood myself primarily as a big brother. Rooted in this experience, this project will be an exploration of feminist care ethics as they pertain to existing family structures. I aim to review and build upon feminist conversations surrounding the family, especially concerning motherhood. Then, working with more recent queer and trans discourse, I want to explore how different familial care practices have been limited, reconfigured, or erased under dominant cis-heteronormative notions of care. This will complicate many of the mother-oriented feminist theories of care, while still accounting for the work that occurs within the family—however 'family' may be defined. Finally, I will look at Virginia Woolf’s "To the Lighthouse" to recover and rethink representations of sibling care, especially as an alternative to the reproduction of gendered roles which often occurs between parent and child. This project will sketch a theory of sibling care practices, articulating what they have meant to me and what they can mean for our current social demands. Ultimately, I seek to understand how sibling relationships can forge networks of care beyond the typical family hierarchies and how the public sibling subject stands as a new ethical position which may attend to specifically queer needs.

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  Piperazine-Based Metallopolymers for Bioengineering Applications

  Jessica Schneider

  Engineering realistic and functional tissue models presents promising possibilities in drug discovery and other biomedical research. A novel polymer with potential applications in biomedical studies was developed. I report the first synthesis and characterization (with NMR, IR, GPC, UV–vis spectroscopy, and thermal analysis) of two thermoplastic poly(alkyl piperazine succinate) diols with either propyl or hexyl alkane chains bridging the piperazines. These polyester diols were chain extended with hexamethylene diisocyanate to create highly amorphous polyester urethane thermoplastic polymers. Ru(III) and Fe(III) was then successfully coordinated with these polymers, producing a total of four different metallopolymers. The crosslinking of these complexes introduces degradative properties to the polymer, which could be valuable in biomedical studies.

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  Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences, Attachment Style, and Relationship Satisfaction in Young Adults

  Rachel Banks

  Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are defined as childhood events considered as traumatic. These events can lead to a plethora of physical and psychological health issues as the individual ages (Mosley-Johnson, 2019). Furthermore, ACEs can lead to the development of more insecure attachment styles (Thomson, 2017). It is predicted that those with an insecure attachment style will experience lower relationship satisfaction if they have a higher ACEs score. Participants will be recruited from the University of Dayton’s Psychology Research Sign-Up titled Sona Systems, which is utilized by Introduction to Psychology courses at the university. Participants will complete several questionnaires to measure their ACEs score, level of satisfaction in relationships, and the security in their attachment style. There are not many studies that investigate the relationship between ACEs and relationship satisfaction, especially when using attachment styles as a means to connect those variables. This study intends to determine whether there is a relationship among these variables so that further methods of treatment and therapy can mitigate the negative health issues of ACEs. It is important to investigate the aspects that can increase the likelihood of physical and psychological health issues so that they can potentially be discovered and treated before becoming too detrimental. If ACEs, attachment style, and relationship satisfaction are found to have a relationship, then treatments can be developed in an attempt to decrease the severity of health issues caused by high ACE scores.

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  Scalable purification of High Purity Recombinant Lanthanide Ion Selective Protein from Methylorubrum extorquens and metal binding affinities

  Courtney Henthorn

  I will be discussing a novel purification method for isolating the lanthanide-sequestering protein, Lanmodulin, from an E.coli expression process, in addition to discussing comparative metal binding affinities of Lanmodulin to Europium(III) and Iron(III). This research topic is of major interest due to the unfulfilled demand for a national, sustainable supply of rare earth elements (REEs), for applications such as permanent magnets, energy storage devices, biomining, and metal waste valorization. My findings include a reproducible and scalable purification method for the isolation of His6-tagged LanM, its resulting activity compared to a LanM purified using a published method, and confirmation that heat treatment does not hinder the metal binding properties of LanM nor reduce the yield of the LanM.

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  Skeletal Muscle Reactive Hyperemia Is Dependent on the Deoxygenation Stimulus in Young Healthy Humans

  William Durbin

  Reactive hyperemia tests create mismatches in oxygen (O2 ) delivery and demand by occluding blood flow to skeletal muscle. We tested the hypothesis that skeletal muscle reactive hyperemia is dependent on the specific deoxygenation stimulus. We hypothesized that the magnitude of deoxygenation (Δ=nadir-baseline) would correlate with the magnitude of the reactive hyperemic response (Δ=peak-baseline), whereas the total deoxygenation would correlate with the total reactive hyperemic response. In six (3M:3F) young adults, we continuously measured forearm blood flow using doppler ultrasound on the brachial artery and muscle O2 saturation during three reactive hyperemia tests (1, 5, or 10 minutes in duration). The magnitude of deoxygenation was significantly (P < 0.05 via paired t-test) less during 1 min occlusion (-13±1.6%) compared to 5 min occlusion (-67±14%; P=0.0015) or 10 min occlusion (-74±10%; P=0.0004), but 5 min vs 10 min occlusion were not different (P=0.40). Similarly, the magnitude of the RH was greater in both the 10 min occlusion (329±102 ml/min; P=0.0004) and 5 min occlusion (295±123 ml/min; P=0.005) vs 1 min occlusion (131±69 ml/min; P < 0.0001), but not different from one another (P=0.11). However, total deoxygenation increased progressively from 1 min (-335±51 units), to 5 min (-10732±2209 units), to 10 min (-32357±5053 units; all P < 0.01) as did total reactive hyperemic response (1 min:1326±927 ml; 5 min:7865±4055 ml; 10 min:17447±9698 ml; P < 0.01). These results suggest the reactive hyperemia response is determined by the absolute magnitude of deoxygenation and total difference between O2 supply and demand. Prolonged deoxygenation in the 10 min occlusion led to a greater reactive hyperemia response, potentially mediated by increased muscle metabolite production and greater bioavailability of vasoactive products mediated by fully deoxygenated erythrocytes.

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  Students Developing a More Specific Emotional Vocabulary through Picture Books - A Work in Progress

  Mary Horvath

  This study will be happening over the course of the next year, but this is a preview of what is to come! Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) is a relatively new set of standards in Ohio’s curriculum. SEL standards are essential for achievement not only in the classroom but in life. Because of its novelty, it is crucial to find the best practices for teaching SEL to meet the needs of all students. Research has shown that the standard videos, activities, and take-home worksheets referenced in the curriculum are not engaging the students (Pysarenko, 2021, p. 639). Instead, picture books have been found to help students through emotional turmoil (Roberts & Crawford, 2008, p. 13). Therefore, this study proposes to further the connection between children’s literature and emotional vocabulary, which is part of the Ohio Department of Education SEL standard, “Demonstrate an awareness of personal emotions” (ODE, p. 8, 2019). Helping students grow their emotional vocabulary will help them connect better to themselves, the people in their lives, and their experiences so they can live an overall better life.

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  Studying Glioblastoma on a Microfluidic Model

  Laura Bender

  Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is among one of the most deadly, aggressive, and invasive types of cancer. Currently, there is no cure for patients diagnosed with GBM. Due to the cancer’s high rates of motility and invasion, even with treatment, patients are often given a survival time of 12-15 months after diagnosis. This makes GBM of particular interest to scientists who intend to improve the outcomes of GBM patients. In my study, I utilized the nonadherent method and microfluidic channels to generate a three-dimensional tumor model of GBM cell lines and the brain’s tumor microenvironment. In this model, we fabricated GBM spheroids to mimic the primary tumor. The spheroids were introduced to a PDMS device that has microfluidic channels and matrigel to simulate physical confinements and the extracellular matrix in the brain tissue, respectively. Using this model, I was able to successfully observe the migration and sprouting behavior of four different GBM cell lines, U-118 MG, U-87 MG, LN-229, and A-172. The success of this project will allow us to learn more about the invasion of GBM cancer so that better treatments can be developed to prevent the progression of GBM infiltration and recurrence.

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  Synthesis Of a Single Stranded DNA Aptamer to Inhibit Multidrug Resistance Caused by Bacterial Efflux Pump Overexpression

  Lara Mitzka

  The increasing prevalence of multidrug-resistant bacteria has become a major concern for public health, due in part to the high cost of treatment. One factor contributing to this resistance is the overexpression of bacterial efflux pumps which are proteins located in the cell membrane that can pump out antibiotics as they enter the cell. To address this issue, this research aims to develop a DNA-based inhibitor, called an aptamer, to target the TolC component of the bacterial efflux pump and inhibit its function. By blocking the TolC, it is expected that this will reverse the multidrug resistance phenotype and make bacteria sensitive to antibiotics that were previously ineffective. The aptamers will be selected from a single stranded DNA library using a systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) process, which involves selecting and amplifying DNA molecules that bind to TolC. The optimization of asymmetric and symmetric PCR techniques to ensure that single stranded DNA is amplified efficiently as well as several SELEX rounds was successfully completed. Currently, SELEX rounds are being analyzed to determine if any active aptamers were recovered. Once the TolC-binding aptamers have been identified, they will be synthesized and evaluated for their efficacy as agents to sensitize bacteria to antibiotics. The successful development of aptamers as inhibitors of the TolC component of the bacterial efflux pump has the potential to have a major impact on public health.

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  The 'Cultish' Rhetoric of Mark Driscoll

  Phillip Cicero

  This project focuses on the rhetoric utilized by Mark Driscoll in a series of blog posts that appeared on the Mars Hill Church website in late 2001 to early 2002. Using Amanda Montell’s theorization of the rhetorical characteristics of a discourse she calls “Cultish” in her book, Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism, this project identifies the various ways Driscoll’s rhetoric fits within her theorization of “Cultish.” The core of this project is a rhetorical analysis of Driscoll’s blog posts that seeks to demonstrate that his rhetoric mobilizes key characteristics of “Cultish.” Then, using Stuart Hall’s theorization of desire, identification, and investment in popular culture texts along with Judith Butler’s notion of subjectivation (the process by which we are always being constructed as subjects by the rhetoric within which we are immersed), this project will aim to explain how Driscoll’s “Cultish” rhetoric attracts and retains audiences one might expect would reject Driscoll. More specifically, this project will argue that Driscoll’s “Cultish” rhetoric has attracted white men who have felt emasculated and disempowered by neoliberal (and other dominant discourses) during late 20th and early 21st-century American culture by constructing a “Cultish” form of “Christian” identity that aims to give these men a sense of masculine identity, power, and belonging. Driscoll’s rhetoric does this by constructing a homophobic and misogynistic form of “Christian” masculinity that he aggressively advances as the only form of “Christian” masculinity that is “good.” Thus, his rhetoric gives his reader two options: be actively and explicitly homophobic and misogynistic or admit that you have been “pussified” – that is, completely emasculated.

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  The Impacts of COVID-19 on School Readiness Skills

  Jacquelyn Lavigne

  Preschool in the US is an important, but costly affair for many children. Roberts and Bryant (2011) found that preschoolers who live in homes with a low socioeconomic status (SES) are less likely to perform highly on measures of kindergarten readiness than their peers who come from homes with a higher SES. Moreover, previous research has demonstrated that there is a significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and related school closures on children’s academic performance in school. However, there is little that is known about the impact of the pandemic on school readiness skills among children who live in homes with low SES. This study analyzed the academic impact of school closures due to the pandemic on children who live in low-SES homes who were in preschool before or after the pandemic forced school shutdowns. We analyzed cohorts of preschool students who participated in a large-scale longitudinal study of school readiness in 2018 - 2019 and 2021 - 2022. We used the Minnesota Executive Function Scale (MEFS) and Woodcock Johnson Scale to test the children's executive functioning, vocabulary, literacy, and math skills. College students assessed preschool children ages 3-5 in the midwest. The majority of the parents of students we studied had not received a college degree and had an annual income of less than $42,000 a year. Children in the post-pandemic cohort made significantly less gains in their language skills compared to the pre-pandemic cohort. In contrast, children in the post-pandemic cohort made significantly more gains in their pre-literacy skills compared to the pre-pandemic cohort. This information indicates that students may need more classroom support in the area of language development as they develop and age through the school system.

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  The Miscasting of Annabel Christopher: Agency, Archetype, and Reproduction in The Public Image

  Tess Poe-Slade

  Muriel Spark’s 1968 novella, The Public Image, follows celebrity Annabel Christopher as she tries to save her reputation from post-humous sabotage designed by her husband Frederick. The novella has been regarded by feminists, literary scholars, and critics as an exploration of a shallow actress motivated by vapidity. However, I argue that such a reading of Annabel and The Public Image ignores the ways in which Spark plays with the idea of archetype in order to emphasize the social imperative of breaking sexist scripts. Further, I will explore the ways in which The Public Image is one of many examples of Spark both following and breaking generic conventions as a means of social commentary. Spark is regarded for her sharp style and dark humor, often taking common tropes to their darkest extremes. In following these deeply ordinary conventions in such a manner, Spark is able to demonstrate the disturbing implications of these conventions. My research examines Spark’s The Public Image, The Driver’s Seat and its film adaptation in conversation with Spark’s speech “The Desegregation of Art,” focusing specifically on Spark’s use of generic conventions to provoke social change through a reclamation of agency.