Stander Symposium Projects

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  Monitoring fecal coliform bacteria concentrations for the assessment of recreational safety of kayak chutes in Great Miami River near downtown, Dayton, OH.

  Audrey Allison Hayes, Suzanne L Lowes

  To determine the potential risks to human health of newly-developed recreational kayak chutes in the downtown Dayton, OH area, surface water samples were collected from sites in the Great Miami River, Mad River, Wolf Creek, and Rubicon Creek. Samples were collected directly from the main river channel adjacent to the kayak chutes and from local stormwater outfalls that empty into rivers and streams near the kayak chutes. Surface water samples were put on ice and taken to the lab where they were cultured in an incubator and counts were made of fecal coliform colonies. Colony concentrations for total fecal coliforms and E. coli regularly exceeded the Ohio EPA’s class A standards for recreational waters. It was found that concentrations increased as the water level increased due to heavy precipitation. Future directions include determining the source of the E. coli contamination in the Rubicon Creek outfall, which may reveal the University of Dayton’s impact on coliform bacteria concentrations since this is the campus’s main outfall into the Great Miami River. We also plan to collect samples from kayak chutes outside of the Great Miami River.

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  Motivation Factors that Affect the Usage of the Recreation Facility by College Students

  Megan Rose Ellis, Kelly Ann Evers, Samantha Kaye Isidro, Jac Nicole Reamsnyder

  Studies have shown that this current generation of young adults is one of the least active when compared to other age groups. Most of these young adults are college-aged students with busy, stressful lives who cannot find the time to use recreation facilities. A main issue in research is that physical activity has declined and that there are surrounding factors that influence this. This study will focus on the primary motivation factors for physical activity participation in hopes of highlighting what motivate college-aged students to prioritize their health and fitness. A survey will be conducted and sent out to students who use the recreation facilities at the University of Dayton. Specifically, we will focus on measuring a variety of motivation factors, which includes social reasons, health benefits, weight management, self-confidence, competition, etc. The research findings will not only help us better understand the motivations behind the physical activity participation among UD students, it will also be beneficial to the UD Campus Recreation by allowing them to better satisfy the needs of their student clients.

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  Moving towards tuning of ankle-foot orthoses: The influence of carbon and plastic AFOs for individuals with Multiple Sclerosis

  Sarah Elizabeth Hollis

  Mobility impairments are reported as the most debilitating symptoms for individuals with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Fatigue, a major symptom of MS, further affects mobility. Ankle-foot orthoses (AFOs) are one potential solution to alleviate some of these mobility impairments; however, the effectiveness of AFOs for individuals with MS are currently inconclusive and have known downfalls. We took a comprehensive look at both carbon fiber and polypropylene AFOs to gain an understanding of the immediate effects of AFOs for individuals with MS. In collaboration with the University of Dayton’s Doctorate of Physical Therapy Program, data was collected for 10 participants on various balance, gait, and strength/fatigue assessments. Overall, no significant differences existed between the baseline, carbon, or plastic AFO conditions for any assessment outcome (p>0.05); however trends did arise within the static and dynamic balance task results. Many outcome parameters varied among participants, suggesting the importance of individual responses to AFOs and patient preferences in prescribing AFOs. The majority of participants preferred the carbon AFO. All AFOs were off-the-shelf with only slight adjustments to account for fit and alleviate any pain, AFO tuning is believed to help optimize the efficiency of AFOs by adjusting the angle of the shank during midstance and the stiffness of the footplate. The next step in this work is to investigate the effects of AFO tuning in collaboration with area clinical partners. A case study is currently underway to give insight and better understanding to the effects of AFO tuning.

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  Multi-Feature Fusion Approach for Object Classification on Oil/Gas Pipeline Right-of-Ways

  Ming Gong

  Pipeline right of way (ROW) monitoring and safety pre-warning is a vital way to guarantee safe operation of the oil/gas transportation. Any construction equipment or heavy vehicle intrusion is a potential safety hazard to the pipeline infrastructure. Therefore, we propose a novel technique that can detect and classify any intrusion on oil/gas pipeline ROW. The detection part has been done based on our previous work, where we built a robust feature set to represent an object from two parts. Firstly, we divide an image into two circular regions with linearly increasing areas and pyramid levels. Then the histogram of the local feature is extracted for each sub-region and in multiple pyramid levels. After that a support vector machine with radial basis kernel is used to detect objects. For the classification part, the object can be represented by a robust fusion feature set, which is a combination of three different feature extraction techniques, histogram of oriented gradient (HOG), local binary pattern (LBP), and the color histogram of HSV (hue, saturation, value). Then a decision making model based support vector machine classifier is utilized for automatic object identification. It is observed that the proposed method provides promising results in identifying the objects that are present on the oil/gas pipeline ROW.

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  My Semester of Service at the Brunner Literacy Center

  Fiona Marie Madden

  The Brunner Literacy Center serves the considerable but largely unrecognized segment of the adult population with low literacy skills. By working with individuals to improve their reading skills, earn their GED, or learn English as a second language, we empower them to improve their lives and their communities. Adult education programs have proven positive impacts on families and communities, including reducing crime and recidivism rates, high school dropout rates, and life expectancies.

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  Niagara Falls in Ohio? – geomorphological and geological expression of the Niagara Escarpment in the vicinity of Dayton, Ohio.

  Thomas Daniel Bashore, Deja Juanita Branch, Frances Coletta Jelinek

  The Niagara Escarpment is a significant landform that runs for hundreds of miles in the northern United States and Canada; from eastern Wisconsin through Ontario to central New York State. The most famous part of this feature is no doubt the Niagara Falls and the Niagara Gorge on the Niagara River, between New York State and Ontario. The geology underlying the Niagara Escarpment comprises Paleozoic Era sediments: Silurian carbonate rocks that are more resistant to erosion overlying more easily eroded sediments from the Ordovician Period; conditions necessary for a waterfall to form. This pattern can be traced along the length of the Niagara Escarpment. What is perhaps less well-known is that in the Dayton area the same age rocks outcrop in a similar relationship along the rim of the Cincinnati Arch expressed at a number of local scenic sites (parks and reserves): for example, Glen Helen, Clifton Gorge, Charleston Falls, Patty Falls (Englewood Metro Park); many with waterfall features clearly not as high as at Niagara Falls but with the same basic geological framework as the latter. The local expression of the Niagara Escarpment is due to an isolated geological inlier, where older rocks (Ordovician age) are overlain by Silurian rocks. We have investigated the geology and geomorphology of some sites in the Dayton area along SW Ohio’s Niagara Escarpment. It is possible to document variation in the geology of the escarpment depending on location along the Cincinnati Arch and depth of erosion. Geomorphological features associated with karst landscapes (limestone solution) of the Silurian sediments have also been investigated. In addition the potential to develop educational materials on this local resource is being explored.

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  Novel Zinc containing Porphyrin exhibits dark toxicity against an opportunistic pathogenic bacterium grown under planktonic and biofilm conditions

  Nehaben Nik Patel

  One of the greatest threats to human health, and life, is the rise of antibiotic resistant bacterial infections. National summary data from the CDC estimates that at least 2,049,442 million illnesses and 23,000 deaths occur each year as the result of antibiotic resistant bacteria and fungi. Additionally, 250,000 illnesses and 14,000 deaths are caused by the bacterium Clostridium difficile, considered to be related to antibiotic resistance and use. We are the co-inventors of two patented novel technologies for the treatment of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Both treatments make use of a novel porphyrin ZnP (US Patent # 9,364,537) that does not require using traditional photo-activation i.e., it exhibits unique dark toxicity. In standard tests against planktonic cells ZnP exhibits broad spectrum activity, for example it is bactericidal towards: Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MIC90 at 25µM), MSSA and MRSA strains of Staphylococcus aureus, as well as Listeria monocytogenes and Mycobacterium smegmatis. In toxicity testing using lung alveolar cells no toxicity was detected at concentrations that were 2-fold higher than the MIC. We have demonstrated that P. aeruginosa (PAO1) cells take up ZnP rapidly and accumulate it inside the cell. In cells treated with 25 µM ZnP there was a substantial loss of chromosomal DNA after as little as 5h; with an almost total loss at 50 µM. Additionally, we have tested various uptake/transport systems in PAO1 that aid in uptake of ZnP. In biofilm experiments, ZnP was able to disrupt 16h preformed biofilms on Polyethylene (PE) and stainless steel surfaces by 2 logs and, more interestingly, prevent the formation of biofilms when PE surface was pretreated with 25µM ZnP compared to the control.

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  Olfaction and Disgust as predictors of Elevated Perfectionism

  Maia A McLin

  Olfaction aided in survival by providing a means to assess if foods were safe to consume. This assessment may have increased chance of survival by decreasing the likelihood of consuming contaminated foods leading to an evolutionary advantage (Rozin & Fallon, 1987). Disgust and olfaction are not key in survival today because of current regulations that prevent the distribution of spoiled and contaminated foods. It is possible that disgust sensitivity and the perception of normally perceived pleasant odors as unpleasant act as a disadvantage in those diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. This study will examine associations between rigid perfectionism, odor detection sensitivity, perceived pleasantness of odors and disgust sensitivity. Approximately 80 undergraduate students from the University of Dayton will be assessed for odor detection sensitivity, odor identification accuracy, and complete three self-report questionnaires assessing personality traits and disgust sensitivity. Odor sensitivity will be tested with Sniffin Sticks Odor Detection Threshold test (Burghart Instruments; Hummel, Sekinger, Wolf, Pauli, & Kobal, 1997), perceived odor pleasantness with Sticks odor identification test (Burghart Instruments; Hummel et al., 1997). The three self-report measures used are the NEO Personality Inventory-3 (NEO-PI-3; McCrae, Costa & Martin, 2005), the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5; Krueger, Derringer, Markon, Watson, & Skodol, 2012), and the Disgust Scale-Revised (Haidt, Mccauley & Rozin, 1994). It is predicted that elevated perfectionism will be associated with lower odor detection sensitivity, lower pleasantness, higher disgust scores, and higher neuroticism. This study may provide further understanding of relationships between perfectionism, disgust and olfaction, and may also help identify possible target areas for Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder treatment by changing odor perceptions.

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  Open Minds to Open Doors: How Dayton is Becoming More Inclusive

  Haley Marie Sandifer

  The city of Dayton, OH is a small-scale example of a problem facing our nation: the lack of understanding between different groups of people living in the same area, leading to a sense of separation and often exclusion. Frequently ostracized groups include immi¬grants or minorities and people living in impoverished conditions or in low-income areas. I will use class literature, historical doc¬uments, excerpts from the Facing Project Narratives in Dayton, and direct communication with community members to show the negative effects of these harsh divides between groups in Dayton. The goal of my poster is to increase awareness about this issue and to show that strides are being taken in our city to break down these barriers, foster unity, and enact social change. Programs such as The Longest Table, Welcome Dayton, and Peace Dayton will be discussed.

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  Open Minds to Open Doors: How Dayton is Becoming More Inclusive

  Haley Marie Sandifer

  The city of Dayton, OH is a small-scale example of a problem facing our nation: the lack of understanding between different groups of people living in the same area, leading to a sense of separation and often exclusion. Frequently ostracized groups include immigrants or minorities and people living in impoverished conditions or in low-income areas. I will use class literature, historical documents, excerpts from the Facing Project Narratives in Dayton, and direct communication with community members to show the negative effects of these harsh divides between groups in Dayton. The goal of my poster is to increase awareness about this issue and to show that strides are being taken in our city to break down these barriers, foster unity, and enact social change. Programs such as The Longest Table, Welcome Dayton, and Peace Dayton will be discussed.

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  Opportunities for Improvement of University of Dayton Resources Regarding Anxiety and Depression

  Emily Cecilia Goecke, Kayla Christine McCarthy, Molly Alison Murray, Rachel Ann Pavlinec

  The problem of anxiety for college students is steadily increasing. And, in recent years, anxiety has passed depression as the number one health issue specifically targeting women. Due to the stress of a changing lifestyle, college students and young adults are most affected by anxiety. If not treated, anxiety can be detrimental to sleep patterns, academic performance, and overall health. The University of Dayton provides a counseling center and some other resources for students to help cope with anxiety. However, after evaluating these resources, we found them in need of improvement. After comparing UD’s resources to those available at other college campuses and speaking with fellow UD students, we determined that access to online resources may be more beneficial than traditional mediums to help treat anxiety. Because anxiety affects such a large population of college students, there are several ways to give students access to the help they need. By providing greater awareness, using technology in the form of mobile applications, and giving students 24/7 access to support, the overall mental health of college students at UD could improve. We have also created a document to inform students about the facts and opportunities for persons suffering from anxiety and depression at UD.

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  Optimization of Density and Surface Finish in Metal Additive Manufacturing

  Allyson Meagan Cox

  Laser Powder Bed Fusion is a type of additive manufacturing of metal parts that uses fine metal powder that is melted together by a high powered laser, layer by layer, based off a CAD model of the desired design. The metal additive field has gained recent and widespread attention for its innovation, customization, and prototyping. However, due to the nature of industries such as aerospace and defense, the demand for quality products is high. Two ways to measure quality of a finished additive part are density and surface roughness. These properties were measured and compared against changing print parameters to determine process settings that yield optimum part quality. Inconel 718 powder was used in the Advances Technology Laser Additive System (ATLAS) to create test pieces with critical geometries in the design. The individual layers of the part were scanned for profilometry data to analyze internal and edge surface roughness. In addition, the final part characteristics were determined using density testing and metallurgy. During the print, volumetric energy density (VED), mark speed, power, hatch design and part design all remained constant. The number of contours around the edge of the design layer and the offset to hatch were altered for each part. These parameters were compared against each other in the results of the experiment to determine the critical settings of an additive manufactured part that would lead to quality finished parts without post processing.

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  Optimization of Wireless Electroceutical Dressings in Wound Healing for Burn Victims

  Nilan Mani

  The purpose of the proposed interdisciplinary research is to investigate how the electrochemistry of Wireless Electroceutical Dressings (WEDs) can be optimized to fight infection and promote healing in the wounds of burn victims. One of the most common secondary complications is infection, since bacteria and microbes are able to enter the human body freely in the absence of a protective layer of skin. Infection has been determined to be the leading cause of death in approximately 61% of all reported burn victim cases. Once inside the body, bacteria readily form biofilms to shield themselves from antibiotics and increase resistance to treatment by humans. As a result, an anti-biofilm treatment method is necessary to eliminate the biofilm barrier that currently exists when treating disease. A proof of concept for the nanofabrication of an alternative, Biomimetic Wireless Electroceutical Dressing (BWED) that increases bacteria-disruptive microcurrents through optimization of electrode design (material, geometry, volume, and/or circuitry) will be discussed. This feasibility study entails monitoring the growth of various bacterial colonies cultured from common locations in the environment (e.g. cell phone, door knob, elevator buttons) in the presence of various BWED configurations. The research will attempt to show whether BWEDs work better at decreasing the growth of bacteria colonies when compared to a control group with no BWED present. This information will be used to determine the most promising electrode designs to optimize and fabricate in the future.

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  Parental Involvement and External Factors that Influence Academic Success

  Erin Marie Colbert, Claire N Evans, Megan Jane Stefan

  This presentation explores how student success is affected by parental involvement, and addresses external factors such as single-parent households and cultural backgrounds.

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  Partnering with IEP Students to Improve Nutrition Label Education and Literacy

  Olivia Louise Bittner, Brian Douglas Davidson, Natalia Marie Iannarino, Caroline Marie Symons

  Many health care documents are written at too high a reading level for a majority of the U.S. population to comprehend. In an effort to address this problem, we revised a previous existing document on how to read a nutrition label. The original document was intended for children, but through testing it was determined to be written at approximately a ninth grade reading level. We visited a classroom of ten, level two Intensive English Program (IEP) students who wanted to learn more about understanding American nutrition labels to determine what information they are interested in. Within this visit we learned that the students understood the components associated with an American nutrition label, but wished to learn more about what foods are important to include in a healthy diet compatable with their cultural and dietary preferences. In order to cater to the IEP students, we revised the original document to approximately a fourth grade level and paid specific attention to formatting to prevent distraction from key information. We utilized culturally appropriate images and words so that these students could better understand the presented information. After revision, we presented our improved document to the IEP students to receive feedback on the readability and comprehension. With their feedback, we further revised our document so that it would more effectively communicate this information.

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  Perceived Barriers to Reporting Incidences of Stalking by Undergraduate Students at a Private, Midwestern University.

  Antony David Parnigoni

  One in six women and one in 19 men will be victims of stalking in their lifetime (Baum, Catalano, & Rand, 2009). This qualitative, phenomenological research study explores the perceived barriers to reporting stalking-related behavior that undergraduates self-report at a private, religiously-affiliated, mid-sized, Midwestern research university. Undergraduate students (n=22) were interviewed in a one-on-one setting. Barriers that have been recorded in past research have included fear of retaliation, uncertainty that a crime has been committed, or not wanting friends to find out (Fisher, Diagle, Cullen, & Turner 2003; Sable, Danis, Mauzy, & Gallagher, 2010). These previous findings are consistent with the findings of this study. In addition, the majority of students reported that the school could do more to educate on what constitutes as stalking behavior, what the reporting options are, as well as what happens after a report has been filed. These findings are relevant for any university because the research site in this study has already invested a great deal of resources into combatting partner violence and this evidence suggests that there will always be more opportunities for education and student engagement; in other words, this is an ever-evolving battle that needs to be fought.

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  Perceptions of Short-Term Study Abroad Experiences on Intercultural Competence in School Psychology Graduate Students

  Nicole Anne Guzman

  Intercultural competence is an emerging topic of interest in service-based professions, including school psychology. The National Association of School Psychologists has long asserted the importance of interculturally competent practices in schools in the form of ethical and unbiased assessments and interventions, collaboration with families, and overall justice and advocacy for all students. Research indicates that participating in a study abroad experience is an accessible option for future professionals in schools to gain intercultural competence. Previous research examined the impact of study abroad experiences on future teachers and school counselors, but little has been researched on the impact of study abroad on school psychologists, who serve diverse student groups. This qualitative project examined the unique experiences and perceived intercultural competence growth of school psychology graduate students who participated in study abroad experiences, as well as their perceived preparedness to serve diverse populations in schools. Implications regarding future research are provided.

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  Perceptions of Violence

  Abigail Pauline McIntyre

  System justification theory suggests that people tend to view authority figures as credible and dependable (Jost, Tyler, & Van der Toorn 2011). Individuals also tend to hold those who commit unsanctioned violence or exhibit criminal behavior in disdain. This study was designed to examine how these tendencies relate to people's perceptions of situations involving authority figures, vigilantism and violence. Two hypotheses were tested: that the victim of such an interrogation will be viewed less favorably and the attacker more favorably in cases where a low status victim is interrogated by an off-duty police officer, and that the victim will be viewed more favorably and the attacker less favorably in cases where a high status victim is interrogated by a vigilante. Participants' evaluations of characteristics of aggression, credibility, criminality and guilt were measured as they applied to police officers, vigilantes and suspected criminals.

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  Performance Characterization of the GS-4 Gas Induction Impeller

  Shannon Marie Hoffman

  High interphase contact is essential to processes involving gas-liquid reactions, and can be accomplished using gas dispersion or gas induction. In gas dispersion, gas is sparged into the vessel below the impeller, and then dispersed throughout the liquid by agitation. Gas induction is an alternative approach, which uses a hollow impeller and shaft to draw gas into the liquid phase and distribute it throughout the vessel. The GS-4 impeller is a novel gas induction impeller that is unique due to its large openings in the impeller blades and generation of an axial flow pattern. This impeller is characterized based on the power number, pressure coefficient, and modeling of the induced gas flow rate. The power number at ungassed conditions is independent of impeller size and submergence, but is higher when up-pumping than down-pumping. This parameter decreases as gas is induced, and is modeled using the relative power number as a function of the relative speed. The pressure coefficient is examined using two approaches, one using speeds below the onset of induction and the other using the critical speed. Comparison of these methods shows that the pressure coefficient is more accurately determined independently of the minimum induction speed. This information is used to relate the available pressure difference to the gas flow rate. This relationship is affected by impeller diameter, with larger impellers inducing a higher flow rate than smaller impellers for a given pressure difference. The accuracy of this model is improved by assuming that the gas flow rate is also a function of the gas-liquid contact area within the impeller.

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  Performance Evolution of GPU versus CPU in Iterative algorithms

  Hassan Ali Alsaad

  High-performance computing is one of the most demanding technologies in today's computational world with a variety of applications such as big data analysis, and solving complex computing algorithm. Engineers have invented multiple technologies such as CPUs, GPUs, GGPUS, FPGAs, clusters and distributed high-performance computational systems for high-performance computing. This research has focused on evaluating GPU and CPU two of the main technologies that could be used in high-performance computing. The researchers have developed a methodology to evaluate the performance of GPU and compare it with CPU under different test subjects. Finally, this research illustrated the power and weaknesses of GPU over the CPU under certain circumstances.

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  Performance Evolution of GPU versus CPU in Iterative algorithms

  Hassan Ali Alsaad

  High-performance computing is one of the most demanding technologies in today's computational world with a variety of applications such as big data analysis, and solving complex computing algorithm. Engineers have invented multiple technologies such as CPUs, GPUs, GGPUS, FPGAs, clusters and distributed high-performance computational systems for high-performance computing. This research has focused on evaluating GPU and CPU two of the main technologies that could be used in high-performance computing. The researchers have developed a methodology to evaluate the performance of GPU and compare it with CPU under different test subjects. Finally, this research illustrated the power and weaknesses of GPU over the CPU under certain circumstances.

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  Personality and Health Risk Information Avoidance

  Kelsey Michelle Julian

  When it comes to personal health risks, some people will choose to avoid information that may be threatening to their beliefs, behaviors, or overall self-image. While many studies have been performed to discover methods that may help to reduce information avoidance, there has been little research regarding the personality characteristics of people who are more likely to engage in information avoidance. The present study will utilize a conceptually similar paradigm from previous research in which participants are led to believe that they will be able to find out whether they are at risk for an illness during their lab experience. Participants will complete personality questionnaires and then will be asked to provide a saliva sample in order to be tested for ostensibly real predisposition to alcoholism detectable in saliva. Participants will then decide if they would like to get their test results back or not. In addition to examining whether certain personality characteristics are associated with information avoidance, the saliva will be assayed for the stress hormone, cortisol, to examine whether physiological stress is associated with personality and information avoidance.

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  Personality Risk and Protective Factors Moderate Associations of Relationship-Contingent Self-Esteem with Mental Health and Relationship Outcomes

  Frane Francis Santic

  Contingent self-esteem occurs when an individual’s self-esteem is affected by a specific outcome or situation. This form of self-esteem can occur within different domains, with one specific domain being relationships. Relationship-Contingent Self-Esteem (RCSE) “involves having one’s self-regard hooked on the nature, process, and outcome of one’s relationship” (Knee, Canevello, Bush, & Cook, 2008). RCSE is said to occur from a thwarting of basic psychological needs, including competence, relatedness, and autonomy. When these needs are not fulfilled, issues such as feelings of incompetence, a lack of feeling of control, and issues with connecting with other individuals can occur. Further, those high in RCSE can have lower relationship satisfaction and experience higher levels of negative emotion felt. The objective of the study is to examine how certain personality risk and protective factors that are correlates of the basic psychological needs influence the relationship between RCSE and relationship and the experience of negative emotion (i.e., depression). The study draws from a large sample of married alumni from a private Midwestern US university. Participants were asked to complete a survey containing a range of measures for basic psychological needs, relationship satisfaction, depression, RCSE, authenticity, anxious attachment, and self-compassion. The study examines how individuals with RCSE are impacted by attachment style, feelings of self-compassion, and other personality factors, as well as what level of depression and satisfaction they currently feel in their lives. If one’s basic psychological needs are being met then it’s possible that the negative impact of RCSE on relationship satisfaction and depression could be reduced, or possibly eliminated. Understanding what constructs act as risk or protective factors can inform either the creation of or mending of current interventions that are meant to specifically target these constructs. These interventions could in turn, diminish the negative impact of RCSE.

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  Personality Types and Self-Reported Eating Habits

  Tom Richard Lawler

  People with different personality types lead very different lifestyles; these personality types also affect the eating habits of an individual. Poor eating habits can lead to a myriad of health problems, including obesity and diabetes, while healthy eating habits can promote longevity. An associated problem is inaccurate reporting of eating habits by research participants and medical patients. While many studies have been conducted to examine the relationship between eating disorders and personality types, very few, if any, have examined the effects of personality types on actual eating habits as well as perceived eating habits. The proposed study will test for associations between personality traits and eating habits and inaccuracy in self-reported eating habits. Using the five factor personality model, participants will be given a questionnaire to assess the personality traits of openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Participants will then be given two more questionnaires to determine their actual eating habits and their perceived eating habits. The actual eating habits will be determined using the Self Reported Habit Index, a rigorous eating habit assessment that that can accurately determine the habits of an individual. Participants’ perceived eating habits will be assessed using a questionnaire designed specifically for this study that will assess their general view of the healthiness of their own eating habits. Participants will be gathered via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. Through analysis of this data, conclusions will be drawn about the susceptibility of various personality traits to detrimental eating habits. Additionally, the discord between perceived and actual eating habits will be determined to provide insight into the attitudes of individuals regarding their own eating habits. This information will equip medical professionals and dieticians with knowledge about how to best accommodate patients with poor eating habits and provide them with top-notch treatment.

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  Physiological and Psychological Effects of Being Weighed in Female Participants

  Julia Christine Carroccio

  Stressful experiences such as constantly thinking about one's weight lead to harmful long-term physiological and psychological effects on the body. Many studies have examined the presence of weight stigma in society at large, but fewer studies have sought to determine the physical and psychological outcomes of that stigma. In the short-term, even momentary stressors could have an impact on factors such as blood pressure, for example when patients are stressed due to weighing before blood pressure is measured. This study tested whether female participants’ (N = 55) attitudes about their bodies, anxiety levels, and blood pressures were affected by being weighed. The participants were 55 female undergraduate students from the University of Dayton who were enrolled in introductory psychology courses, or some other course that required research participation. It was hypothesized that being weighed would produce negative outcomes on measures of blood pressure, body satisfaction, self-esteem, and anxiety. Results of a one-way ANOVA indicated that these factors did not differ for participants who were weighed just prior to measurement compared to those who were weighed after. Thus there may be some limits to "white coat syndrome," which is the phenomenon of a patient having higher blood pressure readings when in the presence of a physician or other medical staff. Factors such as the setting and demographic of the person obtaining the measures could be relevant.