Stander Symposium: Projects with UD Institutional Learning Goals

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  ULeaD Emerging Leaders Program: Cohort Final Projects

  Olivia Sue Anthony, Sha'maria M. V. Barton, Nathan Paul Bender, Connor Patrick Carr, John Patrick Currin, Lillian Elise Dartt, Shannon Lynn Dennemann, Abigail Violet Dent, Treazure Jazlynn Edwards, Avery Carson Everidge, Eleanor Rae Forrest, Emma Rose Gaglione, Michelle Gianna Hickey, Matthew Robert Himes, Jackson Arron Karban, Abigail Grace Lambert, Sophia Nicolette Lambros, Karlie J. Lucas, Camryn Ellie McKenzie, Ethan William Moeller, Claire Therese Monahan, Kathleen Therese Moore, Zachary William O'Connor, Rachel Catherine Panko, Erin Elizabeth Reed, Chancelon J. Rice, Morgan Elizabeth Schulze, Cara Donna Thiemann, Drayton Elizabeth Willey

  The ULeaD Emerging Leaders Program, sponsored by the Student Leadership Programs Office, is a cohort-based initiative for first-year students that brings participants together for monthly sessions to develop a range of leadership skills and abilities such as effectively leading change, inclusive leadership, building meaningful relationships, inspiring others to act, and building resilience. For the first time, this cohort of first-year students will be presenting their final projects for the program at the Stander Symposium. Students' final project posters will include their leadership philosophy, how they have grown as leaders, what they have learned from the ULeaD program, and how they hope to impact the UD community.

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  Understanding Calcium Signaling in Invasive GBM Cells in a Microfluidic Model

  Jenna Abdelhamed

  Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is one of the most common, aggressive, and deadly types of brain cancer. Its high malignancy is attributed to its surrounding environment, consisting of a great amount of blood vessels, neurons, and astrocyte processes, allowing tumors to reproduce and evade quickly. Upon diagnosis, GBM patients have a median survival time of 12-15 months, even with available treatment modalities such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. To explore new treatment modalities, it is important to understand the oncogenesis, invasion mechanisms, and cellular characteristics unique to GBM. The tumor’s microenvironment can promote migration as GBM interacts with components in the brain's extracellular matrix, triggering intracellular cascades such as the calcium signaling pathway, which has caught the attention of numerous researchers. Calcium signaling pathways are a key step in signal transduction, linking external stimuli into cellular response, and are implicated in GBM proliferation and metastatic-related processes. This work displays the invasion of GBM cells through our established 3D tumor models, which consist of GBM spheroids placed into a Polydimethylsiloxane) microfluidic device to mimic the tumor microenvironment of GBM. With these 3D tumor models, two phenotypes of the cancer can be established, an invasive and noninvasive phenotype, which allow for the comparison of intracellular calcium concentrations, and of migration patterns and lengths. This research provides data regarding the relationship between the two phenotypes and calcium signaling activity. This is important because it will allow further research on mediators of the Ca2+ pathway such as Ca2+channels and their roles in mediating invasion, potentially laying groundwork for new therapies that limit GBM migration.

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  Understanding Modern Environmental Controls of Biogenic Carbonate Formation for Paleoclimate Reconstruction

  Samantha L. Zullo

  Paleoclimate reconstructions play a pivotal role in understanding the drivers for environmental change and climate variability. In order to reconstruct the paleoclimate, it is necessary to understand the relationship between the isotopic values of the water, carbonates, and the temperature during the time of their formation. To do so, shell and water samples were collected from seven locations: five in the Great Miami River Watershed, one from the Little Miami River Watershed, and one from the Scioto River Watershed. Four of the locations were lacustrine, while the remaining three were fluvial environments. The growth increments in the shells preserve valuable seasonal to interannual environmental signals, enabling the reconstruction of paleoclimate variables such as temperature and isotopic values. The stable isotope values of δ¹⁸O from the water and shells and δ¹³C from the shells were analyzed using mass spectrometry. The temperature was calculated using the classic paleothermometry equation: T(℃) = 15.73 - 4.30 (δ¹⁸OC - (PDB) - δ¹⁸OW - SMOW) + 0.141 (δ¹⁸OC - (PDB) - δ¹⁸OW - SMOW)2. The equation, δ¹⁸OCarbonate = 1.75 (δ¹⁸OWater) + 5.65, was obtained through the calibration of the carbonate and water isotopes; the trend that was observed for each location showed the lacustrine environments as being more enriched in δ¹⁸O compared to the fluvial environments. One location, Doctor Bowers Lake, fell in between the two, attributed to 18O-depleted groundwater sources for the lake. This study is significant in serving as a baseline and interpretive framework for biogenic carbonate formation and interpretation of paleoclimate and paleohydrology for the Great Miami River Valley and Midwestern region.

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  Understanding the Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition of Glioblastoma Multiforme on a Microfluidic Model

  Khadija Fatima

  Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is one of the most aggressive and fatal forms of brain cancer. Despite the multiple advances in treatment, median survival is only about 15 months upon diagnosis. Hence, multiple studies have been conducted to further our understanding of GBM tumor biology and the mechanisms underlying its malignancy. I am particularly interested in the Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) of GBM cells that have been shown to enhance its migratory and invasive capabilities. In this study, I aim to investigate the specific effect of TGFβ inhibitor, SB-431542, on the EMT as well as other aberrant outcomes. Using the non-adherent method and microfluidic technology, I can generate a model of three dimensional GBM spheroids surrounded by physical constrictions, which mimics the GBM tumor microenvironment. The TGFβ inhibitor will be introduced and the resulting sprouting and migrating behaviors of the invasive cells will be quantified. I hypothesize a detectable decrease in the level of invasion among the treated spheroids compared to the control. Furthermore, I plan to isolate the cells for transcriptomic analysis, particularly on the mRNA expression of EMT-related genes. The findings of this proposed study will broaden our knowledge of the complexity of EMT and its role in GBM cancer development and metastasis. Moreover, I hope my work will provide the means to improve therapies that can inhibit cancer cell dissemination in GBM patients.

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  Understanding the Focus on Multicultural, Spiritual, and Ethical Education in Religious Curricula

  Evanson Joseph Good

  In recent years, religious educators have developed a diverse spread of foci for religious education from multiculturalism to spirituality and ethics. These foci were formulated with the goal of a more widespread constituency for religious education and updating religious teaching to be inclusive of various religious and cultural practices.

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  University of Dayton Department of Music: Woodwind Area Performers

  Joseph Robert Barnett, Judy Calo, Alana Jeanne Connolly, Matthew M. Craft, Makayla E. Cripe, Dominic Michael Delligatti, Rachel Gleberman, Mark R. Gordon, Celia Suzanne Koch, Francis Albert Kosir, Ashleigh Rose Muir, Tristan David Quach, Alex James Reffner, Hannah Jean Scheuller, Anna Smith

  Woodwind students will be performing a variety of chamber pieces for you. These include pieces from the baroque period (Telemann), the Classical period (Mozart), and 20th century (Albeniz, Schickle, Gordon Jacob). You will hear student performers that cover all of the 5 members of the woodwind family: flute, oboe, clarinet, saxophone, and bassoon.

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  Unmatched: We're So Fire Portfolio Show

  Alazhar Ahmed Hamed Mohamed Al Hinai, Khalid Abdulaziz N. Alqahtani, Skylar S. Barlow, Morgan Nicole Bevins, Isabelle R. Blondin, Caroline Elizabeth Bowers, Lauren E. Carr, Makynna J. Crowl, Jenna Rose Eggleston, Maeve E. Fleming, Abigail Marie Grant, Grace A. Harrison, Eleanor J. Keelan, Aleczander W. Keith, Brooke N. Keller, Bailey P. Papesh, Lucy L. Reed, Chloe M. Reilly, Collette E. Roth, Shahd M. A. A. Salem, Kennedy M. Smith, Caleb T. Snoddy, Abigail L. Swensen, Aaron Michael Swerlein, Brayden R. Vaughan, Erin O. Wagner, John Stanley Wardzala

  This Capstone event includes all 27 seniors graduating with a degree in Graphic Design presenting the culmination of their coursework within and beyond the Department of Art and Design. Students will share their portfolios—research, creative process, and outcomes—in the context of a formal presentation of both classroom and real-world projects. Work will be shared simultaneously.

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  Unraveling the Impact: Mental Health and Independence in Traumatic Brain Injury Patients

  Ryan Cummings, Anne Marie Hart, Kathleen Renee Hunter

  People who experience traumatic brain injury (TBI) have significant negative impacts to their physical health, mental health and independence. TBIs also add significant cost to public health systems and can create financial, mental and emotional challenges for families caring for TBI patients (CDC, 2022). This study is carried out in collaboration with the UD Brain Health Collective Student Workgroup to examine mental outcomes and experiences of patients who have experienced a traumatic brain injury. We use the public-use Traumatic Brain Injury Model System data from the National Data and Statistical Center to examine the relationship of patient independence, represented by employability and mobility, to mental health outcomes including anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation.

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  Using Different Wavelengths of Light to Develop a Simple, Low-Cost Tool for Equitable Melanoma Diagnosis in Low-Resource Settings

  Nathaniel Joseph Bacon, Michael Brendon Basenback, Rachel Catherine Panko, Thiago Giovanni Perez, Ethan Andrew Selkirk, Andrew Michael Shoemaker, Griffin Chase Sullivan

  In a world full of blossoming technological advances, medical care remains one of the costliest services. Thus, all who seek diagnosis and treatment of an illness typically must have effective health insurance or carry a large debt. With these systems so deeply entrenched, our team seeks to push technological boundaries to find an economical solution to help diagnose common medical conditions. One condition we decided to focus on is melanoma, a type of skin cancer that can be deadly if not detected early. Since a biopsy of the skin is the only way to be sure a patient has cancer, medical procedures for suspected skin cancer are often prolonged, costly, and painful. To make matters worse, these expensive treatments are often not available for patients in low-income communities, many of whom may be uninsured. This socioeconomic disparity can often lead to certain groups of people not receiving the care they deserve. Our research team of engineering and physics students is committed to designing and building a low-cost, portable device that shines light onto the skin and analyzes combinations of different colors (wavelengths) of that light to determine if a patient has melanoma. After the creation of this device, our team wants to prioritize its distribution and use in free clinics and impoverished areas. It is there where many are unable to afford the early diagnosis and thorough treatment of skin cancer that they deserve. Furthermore, we hope that the device's mobility will allow melanoma detection to more effectively reach places like military bases and rural areas with minimal healthcare technology. Our device may be small but we believe that its capabilities to serve those in need can be extensive.

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  Vaccine Attitude Spillover: COVID-19 Vaccination, Flu Vaccination, and Political Polarization

  Ryan J. Walsh

  Vaccinations protect people against diseases and prevent the spread of harmful infections. However, when comparing the total flu vaccination uptake prior to the pandemic and the total amount of uptake in 2024, there is a 9.97% decrease in the number of doses distributed. During the 2019-2020 flu season, 174.77 million doses of flu vaccines were distributed through the week ending on February 15, 2020. In comparison, during the 2023-2024 flu season, 157.35 million doses of flu vaccines were distributed for the week ending on February 17, 2024 (CDC, 2024). The present research will examine whether this decrease is related to political polarization surrounding COVID-19 vaccination uptake. During the pandemic, political polarization influenced people’s health decisions. For example, one study looking at the political polarization on COVID-19 pandemic response in the United States found that U.S. conservatives and Republicans were less likely to report intentions to receive a vaccine (Kerr et al., 2021). The current study will examine whether COVID-19 vaccination decisions spillover into flu vaccination decisions. The study will launch in mid-March 2024. We aim to recruit 100 undergraduate participants enrolled in Psychology courses at the University of Dayton to complete an online survey. The first part of the survey will ask participants to answer questions regarding their COVID-19 and flu vaccination history prior to the pandemic and after the pandemic. The second part will ask participants to answer questions regarding the reasons for receiving or not receiving both the COVID-19 and flu vaccination, and their political ideology. We will conduct regression analyses to determine whether political ideology relates to the COVID-19 to flu vaccination spillover phenomenon. We expect to find that conservatives are more likely to avoid receiving flu vaccinations after the pandemic as a result of the politicization of public health.

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  Varying Physical Activity Levels During COVID-19 and its Impact on Mental Health

  Liam C. Miller

  During the COVID-19 pandemic, physical activity facilities closed down and prevented many people from exercising in public. Physical activity has been shown to have benefits for both physical and mental health. During the lockdown, people engaged in varying levels of exercise, with different outcomes for their mental health. The purpose of this research study is to explore the impact of exercise on mental health in college aged students.

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  Virtualize Cybersecurity Training and Learning in Unity

  Nikesh Chithambaram, Megan E. Flynn, Logan Michael Manes

  The term “Cybersecurity” is seen everywhere in our world today, and everyone should have the opportunity to understand cybersecurity and better protect themselves on the internet. Personal cybersecurity is following specific instructions and steps to protect yourself through your tech devices and accounts from hackers and threats on the internet. To help educate young people about cybersecurity, we decided to create a game for grades Kindergarten through 12th grade to help them protect themselves through technology. Our Sci-Fi themed game allows a user to move throughout the building to accomplish different modules that cover several different topics within cybersecurity. These modules include a video presentation to help them understand the basics of the topic, then a game to allow them to put what they learned into practice, and a final quiz to show what they learned. We created this game for K-12 students since they are now using technology more than ever, so they should learn to also protect themselves on their devices as well. We have created this virtual environment with cybersecurity training modules collaborating as a team of different majors and using Unity to put our ideas into game form. These results will allow K-12 students to expand their knowledge within a topic that is very relevant to their lives. By simulating real-world scenarios within a controlled virtual space, our project aims to help educate a digitally responsible and aware generation.-- This project is supported by University of Dayton Center for Cybersecurity & Data Intelligence.

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  Virtual Yoga Instructor

  Nikesh Chithambaram

  Engaging in high-impact physical activities may not be suitable for senior adults due to their age and traditional exerciseprograms may not always be accessible or motivating. Adaptive yoga provides a range of low-effort exercises tailored to different age groups as well as individuals with disabilities that can improve both physical and mental fitness. However, post-pandemic travel can make attending yoga sessions challenging. To address this, we propose an augmented-reality application that encourages seniors to learn and practice yoga in an immersive mixed-reality environment in a surrounding of their comfort while promoting an active lifestyle and healthy aging.The proposed yoga application uses a database of yoga poses to provide guidance and feedback to users. It has a virtual instructor to guide the user and allows them to interact with both virtual and real-world elements with the help of a mixed-reality headset. During each workout session, the application will provide live feedback with the help of a camera to correct and validate yoga poses. The application allows the user to workout with friends represented by virtual avatars in a joint yoga session.Yoga provides numerous health benefits including strengthened bones, enhanced balance and flexibility which decreases the risk of falls and improve overall physical fitness. Practicing yoga regularly can lead to improved quality of sleep, promote mental fitness and clarity for the elderly. By providing live feedback, the application ensures the exercises are practiced safe. The user can use a mixed reality headset in the comfort of their home or preferred location, without the need to travel to a yoga studio. This provides a safer solution and also promotes independence for senior adults. Working out together with friends or family represented by virtual avatars can also help promote a sense of community and belonging, enhancing overall mental health and well-being.

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  Whose Voices Matter?

  Caroline Anne Cochran

  This THR/VAR 250 Diversity in the Creative and Performing Arts poster presentation project requires each student to research and present on a topic relevant to the interdisciplinary fields of visual and performing arts through a critical multicultural and social justice lens that foregrounds the appreciation of diversity and enables the expansion of personal cultural competencies.

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  “Why Me?”: An Exploration of First-Generation Students Experiencing Imposter Syndrome

  Heather E. Ashley

  First-generation students experience a number of barriers in higher education, including imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is the feeling of doubt in one’s perceived achievements and abilities as it relates to their career and/or education (Clance & Imes, 1978; Peteet et al., 2015). This phenomenon impacts many facets of student wellbeing. An aspect of imposter syndrome that has not yet been explored, save for a few studies (Holden et al., 2021; Mikell & Davis, 2022), is the perspectives of first-generation students as they experience this phenomenon. This qualitative study focuses on first-generation students' experience with imposter syndrome and how such experience intersects with social location and social identities. This research uses a qualitative constructivist approach (Creswell & Creswell, 2023) and semi-structured interviews to answer: How are first-generation students impacted by imposter syndrome? How do first-generation college students perceive imposter syndrome? How do issues of inequity and systemic oppression contribute to the challenges facing first-generation college students? The findings of this study demonstrate a complex relationship between success and pressure on first-generation students that seemingly fosters a mindset of imposter syndrome.

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  Wildlife activity patterns vs human recreation in Five River Metroparks

  Elizabeth Ann Divish

  Fiver River Metroparks, along the Miami River watershed in Ohio is home to many species of animals and public hiking trails. The public parks in Germantown, Upper Twin Creek and Twin Creek have many chances to interact with the biodiversity while participating in outdoor recreation. The park data has been documented, organized and analyzed to determine the possible impacts that hiking trails and recreation have on wildlife activity throughout the day. This data was collected through the months of September, October and November, 2023, using camera traps to identify the time the individuals were active and the behavior they were exhibiting. Some of the species identified include: Raccoon (Procyon lotor), White-Tailed Deer(Odocoileus virginianus), Coyote (Canis latrans), and Squirrels (Sciurus sp). Through the research the relationship between human temporal recreational activity and the activity of animals at these locations has been compared. This will determine if the construction and implementation of new trails at any of these locations would be beneficial or detrimental to the current biodiversity inhabiting the parks.

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  Young Drivers Texting and Driving Behaviors

  Kyle Douglas Hazell, Emily Noelle Parker

  This research project explores the relationship between texting tendencies and mobility in everyday life among two age groups: young drivers (aged 17-22) and middle-aged drivers (aged 23-35). It is relevant because it directly involves drivers of all ages, as distracted drivers can pose a danger to drivers and non-drivers. It is also important because it allows us to study distracted driving indicators, and explore strategies to mitigate them. Through our secondary data analysis, we found there is a very strong correlation between phone use and distracted driving. The results indicated no significant difference between the two age groups when the involvement in distracted driving incidents was compared. Furthermore, this research analyzes the correlation between the occurrence of distracted driving incidents and the drivers’ age among both cohorts. Finally, the research hopes to explore the dynamic between “texting communication while driving” and engagement in other distracted driving behaviors.

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  ZFP36L1 suppresses Rotavirus and Norovirus replication, moderates the virus-induced hyperinflammation and suppresses host cell damage.

  Malabika Bhowmik, Tooba Shafeeque Ahmed Momin

  Title: ZFP36L1 suppresses Rotavirus and Norovirus replication, moderates the virus-induced hyperinflammation and suppresses host cell damage.Malabika Bhowmik, Tooba MominPrimary Advisor: Mrigendra RajputDepartment of Biology, University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio, USA 45469 Most acute viral infections cause damage in the host body either directly when the virus hijacks the host cell machinery, changes cell physiology, causes cell death by viral proteins, or indirectly by hyperinflammation. Zinc finger proteins (ZFP) are one of the highly abundant proteins in eukaryotes. Due to their distinctive structure, ZFPs bind with different cellular components such as DNA, RNA, lipids, or other proteins. A specific type of ZFP, ZFP36L1, belongs to the CCCH-type ZFP, which has been identified as a regulator of RNA metabolism. It is known to control the overall turnover of cellular mRNA including mRNA of cytokine mediators and cytokines by breaking it down through poly A tail using the deadenylation mechanism. The current study was designed to investigate the role of ZFP36L1 on virus replication and moderating virus-induced inflammation. Our results showed that stable overexpression of ZFP36L1 through lentivirus transduction significantly reduces Rotavirus and Norovirus titre as well as it moderated virus-induced proinflammatory cytokines like IFN-α and TNF-α with reduced virus-induced cytopathic effect in cells. While knockdown of ZFP36L1 significantly enhanced viral titre, virus-induced cytokines with more cytopathic effect. Our results also showed that ZFP36L1 overexpression does not affect macrophage (RAW 264.7) migration as compared to control while knockdown of ZFP36L1 significantly enhanced the macrophage migration in trans-wells. Overall, our study showed that overexpression of ZFP36L1 suppresses the virus (Rotavirus and Norovirus) replication and moderates the virus-induced hyperinflammation and thus mitigates virus-induced damage in the host.

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  ZFP36L1 Suppresses Virus Replication Independent of Poly(A) Tail Deadenylation

  Malabika Bhowmik, Tooba Shafeeque Ahmed Momin, Abiageal Rai Newell

  ZFP36L1, a CCCH-type zinc figure protein (ZFP) is recognized for its involvement in RNA stability and its decay via poly A tail deadenylation [removal of the poly(A) tail from mRNA]. This ability allows ZFP36L1 to exhibit antiviral activity against a variety of viruses, including flaviviruses, retroviruses, and alphaviruses. Our preliminary investigation demonstrated the antiviral role of ZFP36L1 against the human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43) and murine norovirus 1 (MNV1). The overexpression of ZFP36L1 reduced the HCoV-OC43 production, whereas its knockdown significantly enhanced the virus production. We aimed to understand how ZFP36L1 influences viral replication. To gain further insight into the role of poly-A tail deadenylation in the suppression of HCoV-OC43 by ZFP36L1, we knocked down CNOT1, a key regulator of mRNA decay, in ZFP36L1 overexpressed cells. Results showed that the virus titer reduction was not rescued in CNOT1 knockdown cells compared to the overexpressed ZFP36L1 cells. These results indicated that the reduction in HCoV-OC43 replication was independent of poly-A tail deadenylation.We further employed computational analysis, utilizing RNA-protein interaction prediction software and docking simulations, which indicated a significant interaction between ZFP36L1 and the viral nucleocapsid. Further investigations into ZFP36L1's effect on nucleocapsid expression revealed that ZFP36L1 overexpression led to a decrease in nucleocapsid expression suggesting a direct interaction between ZFP36L1 and viral components that may underlie its antiviral activity. We have also performed RNA immunoprecipitation experiments which have shown the interaction between ZFP36L1 and the nucleocapsid. This interaction will further be validated using luciferase assays. Overall, our study showed an additional pathway by which ZFP36L1 suppresses the virus replication.