Stander Symposium Projects

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  The Impact of an Interdisciplinary Program on Undeclared Students’ Academic Major Choice and Vocation Discernment

  Marissa L McCray

  While selection of an academic major is pivotal for undeclared students, many lack direction and struggle to understand the meaning of prescribed, seemingly unrelated general education courses traditionally required in the initial college curriculum. Moreover, many undeclared students grapple with a sense of calling or purpose among academic choices, future careers, and broader facets of emerging adulthood. An interdisciplinary curriculum counters the disconnect between compartmentalized disciplines and helps students recognize connections between disciplines and wider contexts. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to explore how the University of Dayton Core Program shapes undeclared students’ academic major selection and vocational outlook. This study examines Core students who began the program as Discover Arts (undeclared) and evaluates how Core shaped their academic major selection and vocation discernment. Qualitative data was collected from one-on-one interviews with junior Core students who recently completed the 2 ½ year interdisciplinary program. Findings revealed numerous themes and patterns surrounding the academic major selection process and the impact made by the Core Program during discernment. This study assesses future implications for continued best practices and seeks to address a gap in the literature about the influence of interdisciplinary curricula on undeclared students’ choices about academic major and vocational outlook.

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  The Impact of Home and College Tension on Grit in First-Generation College Students

  Kaley Lynn Meyer

  In the context of higher education, students who have parents with postsecondary degrees have an advantage over those who are first in their families to attend college. One of the most commonly discussed challenges for first-generation students is navigating the tension they experience from living lives in two different worlds: life at home and life at college. Interestingly, however, some literature illuminates how the unique challenges first-generation students face often make them more determined, persistent, resilient and prideful in their collegiate endeavors (O'Neal et al., 2016; Strayhorn, 2013). Scholars have discussed these particular characteristics as signs of grit and studies have shown grit to be positively associated with academic achievement (Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, & Kelly, 2007; Kannangara, et al., 2018; O’Neal et al., 2016; Strayhorn, 2013). If first-generation students tend to display grit in their educational pursuits, then why are they more likely to drop out of college than their non-first-generation peers (Chen & Carroll, 2005)? This quantitative study is an attempt to dissect this phenomenon to better understand why some first-generation students persist and others succumb to the various challenges they face in postsecondary education. Through utilization of the Grit Scale and the Home and College Tension Scale, this study determines the extent in which perceived tensions between connections to home and college experiences influence grit in first-generation students. With this information, educators and administrators can expand their understanding of the complexities of the first-generation experience and further enhance various supports for this particular population. The findings from this study provide specific implications for future practice and research on first-generation students, grit development and the overlap of the two domains.

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  The Importance of Novel Molecule Properties in the Formation and Advancement of Alternative Jet Fuel Blends

  Lily Carolyn Behnke

  The development and use of new alternative jet fuel blends and high energy molecules has the potential to greatly improve conventional jet fuels, both environmentally and economically. These fuels and blends are dependent upon their performance and operability standards as well as the chemical and physical properties of the novel molecules within them. High energy molecules have the potential to increase the total specific energy (MJ/kg) and energy density (MJ/L) values of a fuel with the intention of increasing overall aircraft efficiency. The properties of these high energy molecules are essential in determining their viability for blending and optimization, and therefore must be thoroughly analyzed to consider the eligibility of these molecules. The blending of novel high energy molecules with conventional jet fuels are bounded by ASTM specifications to produce alternative jet fuel blends that could be implemented in commercial airlines. With a global optimum in mind, the progression of alternative jet blends has the potential to improve aviation by lowering gas emissions and improving overall aircraft performance.

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  The Influence of Study Abroad on School Psychologist Cultural Competence

  Alexa Marie Irwin

  Cultural competence and the ability to effectively serve children and families from diverse backgrounds has increased in importance in social services fields. Professional associations such as the National Association for School Psychologists place particular value on cultural competence for school psychologists due to the lack of diversity in the field and the changing demographics of U.S. schools. Research demonstrates that study abroad experiences during undergraduate or graduate school are an effective way of developing cultural competence in teachers, counselors, and school psychology graduate students. However, there is limited research on the long-term influence of study abroad experiences on the cultural competence of mid-career school psychologists. Ten mid-career school psychologists were interviewed for this qualitative study. The purpose of this study was to examine how a study abroad course, taken during an undergraduate program or graduate program, had any lasting professional or personal impact on mid-career school psychologists. This study further explored other factors that contribute to mid-career school psychologists’ perceived cultural competence. Five themes related to cultural competence emerged following analysis, including: (1) awareness, (2) exposure, (3) cultural immersion, (4) willingness to learn, and (5) professional development. Six themes related to long-term influence of study abroad on perceived cultural competence emerged from the analysis, including: (1) increased openness, (2) different perspectives, (3) learning about other cultures, (4) recognition of our similarities, (5) relating to students from different backgrounds, and (6) contributions to practice. The findings are presented along with implications for future research.

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  The Journey of Career Services at Minzu University of China

  Shu Yang

  Compared to the holistic history of China, career services in China are relatively new. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to explore the development of career services at Minzu University of China. Through interviews with current students, alumni, and faculty members at Minzu University of China, this study helps us to form the blueprint of career services at Chinese institutions. From a different lens, it also helps us to see the limitation of the career services at Chinese institutions. The findings enhance our understanding of how culture impact its people and how the development of the society impact its people’s career planning. The findings also support potential improvement plans for the career services at both Minzu University of China and other institutions in China.

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  The Melody of Spatial Memory

  Victoria Lynne Karpuszka

  Music has been studied extensively in psychology, including research on musically-induced emotion. However, the project reported here looked at new effects of musically-induced emotions on spatial memory. Palmiero and colleagues (2016) established that music and emotions are associated. Music of a major mode, or an Ionian mode, is usually associated with positive emotions. Music of minor modes, such the Locrian or Aoelian modes, are associated with negative emotions. These associations with the specific modes are seen by the lowering of the third and sixth scale tones. Participants for the present study completed a spatial memory task (called the “Tower of Hanoi”) while listening to music of different valences (found in previous research to create feelings of positive and negative emotions). Participants completed the task both with and without music playing. Following completion of the tasks, participants reported on emotional state using the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). I hypothesized that those who listened to the positive-valanced music while completing the spatial task would perform better (i.e., faster) than those who listened to the negative-valanced music. Preliminary results indicate this to be true. In addition, participants exposed to negative-valenced music were less likely than those participants exposed to positive-valenced music to complete the spatial memory task in the required amount of time. Participants generally reported a mood score on the PANAS that decreased, regardless of the induced mood (positive- or negative-valenced) after working on the spatial memory task. This result appears to be related to the inability to complete the task or the length of time needed to complete the task.

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  The Operator Splitting Method for the Black-Scholes Equation

  Wenfeng Wu

  In financial industry, the option pricing is an important problem. The Operator Splitting Method is commonly applied to solve initial and boundary value problems of partial differential equations. This project presents the numerical solutions to the Black Scholes Equation using various Operator Splitting Methods. Results are compared with the solutions obtained by closed form solution for European call option.

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  The potential role of mir-277 in Alzheimer’s disease

  Prajakta D Deshpande, Brent O Mcginty

  As the most common progressive neurodegenerative disorder, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has been predominantly found in people 65 years of age or older. AD is associated with a gradual decline in cognitive impairment and memory as well as effects on behavior and decision making. AD is also responsible for the most dementia cases in elderly people. As per the Alzheimer’s Association facts, over 5 million Americans were affected by AD in 2018 whereas the number is predicted to rise to approximately 14 million in 2050. One of the causes of AD is mis-cleavage of the transmembrane protein called amyloid precursor protein (APP) by the enzymes β-secretase and γ-secretase, resulting in accumulation of amyloid beta-42 polypeptide (Aβ42). These amyloid beta peptides aggregate into hydrophobic plaques in the extracellular region in the brain, altering the cellular pathways and resulting in neuronal death. In this study, we have used Drosophila as a model system and misexpressed the human Aβ42 in the photoreceptors of the Drosophila eye. The misexpression of the Aβ42 in the Drosophila eye triggers the neuronal cell death resulting in a glassy reduced eye phenotype. This study focusses on how microRNA mir-277 regulates the Aβ42 mediated neurodegeneration. MicroRNA regulate the gene expression post-transcriptionally and repress the protein formation by sequence-specific degradation of target mRNA. Earlier studies have shown the association of microRNA in AD and the role of mir-277 in AD is not clear. This study adds to our understanding of the role mir-277 may play in Aβ42 mediated neurodegeneration and its potential role as a biomarker for AD.

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  The Presentation of Stigmatized Health Issues in Network Television Content

  Franchesca Robin Hackworth

  The present investigation attempts to provide a more comprehensive investigation of stigma in media by exploring representations of two important stigmatized health contexts (mental illness and HIV/AIDs) in a representative sample of television programming. The study has three objectives: 1) identify the program types more likely to contain information about these stigmatizing health conditions, 2) explore differences in stigmatizing information present in each program type, and 3) explore similarities and differences between contexts. Findings from the investigation have the potential to provide insights for media literacy initiatives (i.e., identifying particularly problematic exposure points) and stigma reduction messaging (i.e., identifying specific cues that need to be corrected or dispelled through campaign or treatment efficacy messages). A television sample of 672 total hours of content was coded for mentions of HIV/AIDs and mental illness. Discussions of mental illness were about 10x more prominent than those of HIV/AIDs and across a diverse range of programming types, while HIV/AIDs mentions were limited to news, commercials, and talk shows. Mental illness content was often associated with the advertisement of a drug. Mental health has the potential to be more stigmatized because of its frequent presence. Local news contained the most content for both health issues (39% HIV/AIDs and 35% mental illness), followed by commercials (29%) and drama (19%) programming for mental illness and talk shows (35%) and commercials (17%) for HIV/AIDs. It may be possible that different production techniques and demands for different programs facilitate portrayals of health issues in different ways. An investigation such as this one allows for comparison between program type within the same time frame, an analysis that is missing from the present landscape of scholarship. We hope to provide directions for stigma reduction messages and areas of attention for media scholars.

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  The Prevalence of Aversive Racism in the Reality TV Show Survivor

  Jessica Nicole Eischen, Michael Terrence Stark

  Aversive racism is a form of prejudice and discrimination in which individuals who profess egalitarian ideology and hold non-prejudiced self-views discriminate towards racial minorities in subtle, rationalizable ways (Gaertner & Dovidio, 2000). Unlike overt, intentional racism, aversive racism is characterized by feelings of uneasiness about racial minorities rather than hate and hostility; however, it still results in discrimination towards racial minorities. Research examining white people’s attitudes and behavior towards black people finds that one context in which aversive racism occurs is when discrimination towards black people can be blamed on non-racial factors. That is, people fail to identify race playing a role in why they behaved more positively towards other white people than they did black people. The present study seeks to examine the prevalence of aversive racism in the reality-television series, Survivor, where contestants vote someone out of the game each week in order to win a one-million dollar prize. With few exceptions, the majority of contestants each season are white, and attribute their decision of who to vote out of the game to various non-racial factors. We will examine the association between contestant race and the rate at which they are voted off the show by the other contestants. Aversive racism predicts that, although there are usually far fewer non-white contestants each season, non-white contestants would be voted-off at a disproportionately higher rate than the white contestants.

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  The Prickly Problem of Pears: Potential effects of native orthopteran herbivory on an invasive woody plant

  Kaitlin Marie Gawkins, Tara Brianna Masthay

  Across the United States, land managers are struggling to cope with a relatively new invasive species, Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana). At the present, Callery pear is one of the most important invasive species threatening prairies and early successional habitats in Ohio and the Midwest, and yet, there is no viable means of control that is widely used for this species. This is due to the fact that this species is resistant to herbicides and resilient against prescribed cutting/burning. One potential management strategy of invasive species is biocontrol, or the intentional introduction of natural enemies to control the growth and propagation of a target organism. Previous experiments with Callery Pear have been limited herbivory by large animals, thus, an important knowledge gap exists in the interactions between native insect herbivores and the woody plant. In order to explore this knowledge gap, we conducted a month-long field enclosure experiment where we manipulated the species richness of native orthopterans in enclosures with either a Callery Pear sapling or a similar native tree sapling, American Basswood, and destructively measured the biomass of the tree and vegetation in each enclosure. We then calculated the percent change in biomass between the treatments and controls to determine if varying the orthopteran species richness had any effect on plant growth. We found that in treatments with a high species richness of orthopterans, there was a larger positive percent change in Callery Pear biomass. This was opposite to what we expected due to the fact that, traditionally, a higher diversity of herbivores would lead to an increase in herbivory and thus a decrease in biomass. This should be studied further in order to understand how intentional reinstatement of insect diversity to early successional areas by environmentalists may actually be helping invasive species to grow more rapidly.

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  The Relationship Between Growth Mindset and Students' Psychological Well-Being

  Kelly Marie Berlin

  Research suggests that adopting a growth mindset can have positive implications for students’ academic outcomes, adjustment, academic emotions, and motivation. Having a growth mindset is also positively associated with resilience, which is positively associated with psychological well-being. The present study examined the relationship between high school students’ self-reported levels of growth mindset and psychological well-being. Results of a survey given to (n = 85) high school students demonstrated no significant relationship between students’ overall levels of growth mindset and psychological well-being. Further, results indicated that no significant relationship existed between growth mindset and any individual domain of psychological well-being (i.e., autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, purpose in life, and self-acceptance). Implications for practice and future research in the area of growth mindset are provided.

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  The Role of Short Chain Fatty Acids in the Activation of Macrophage Production of Nitrogen Radicals by Listeria monocytogenes Infections

  Megan Rose Bias

  Macrophages are important immune cells that can help protect our health by engulfing and destroying pathogens. For macrophages to work, they must be activated when there is a threat. My study focused on testing the effect of propionate, acetate, and butyrate on the ability of macrophages to produce nitrogen radicals. Propionate, acetate, and butyrate are short chain fatty acids that are present in the human body. They help with regulatory functions that are important for our health. We do not yet know how these short chain fatty acids can affect the macrophages’ ability to destroy possible threats. Macrophages have many ways to destroy pathogens, such as the production of nitrogen radicals. The production of nitrogen radicals can be measured through a nitrite assay. The macrophages were infected with Listeria monocytogenes that had been treated with one of the short chain fatty acids and then we measured the amount of nitrite production in the cell media. High levels of nitrite indicate high nitrogen radical production. Results from my study helped me understand how short chain fatty acids impact susceptibility to infections in the human body.

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  The security robustness of Modbus/TCP protocol in industrial control systems

  Hassan Ali Alsaad

  Since most of Industrial Control Systems (ICS) systems have been isolated from public networks, there have not been a colossal needs to secure them. However, in most of today's applications such as Experimental Physics and Industrial Control Systems (EPICS), Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), Distributed Control System (DCS) and Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) system are getting connected to the internet without paying attention to the security robustness of these devices. Industrial Control Systems (ICS) such as SCADA, DCS, PLCs are communicating with industrial equipment such as actuators, sensors, motors, and pumps using a special communication protocol called Modbus. For remote applications, multiple PLCs can be connected to each other to form a controlling network that uses Modbus / TCP communication protocol utilizing private/public networks. This research focuses on examining the security vulnerability of the Modbus/TCP protocol. To achieve this goal the researcher utilizes Modbus PLC simulator to simulate different cyber attacks through the local network. The cyber attacks have been formed using the MBTGET Perl script and Metasploit module, in Kali Linux penetration testing operating system. Our research shows some of the major security vulnerability in the Modbus/TCP protocol, which is one of the main communication protocols ICS system.

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  Thulium-holmium mode-locked fiber soliton laser

  Jordan Mackenzie Adams

  Thulium-holmium doped fiber is used to fabricate a ring cavity with 1900 nanometer lasing wavelength. The cavity is mode-locked and multiple spectrums observed. A 379 femtosecond pulse width is calculated from a wide 10 nanometer bandwidth spectrum. Applications of femtosecond lasers and 1900 nm lasers are discussed.

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  Tiny Green Grasshopper Pharmacy: Does Antibiotic Treatment of Buckwheat Grasses Impact Orthopteran Eating Habits?

  Emily Elizabeth Jones, Troy Harry Lampenfeld, Olivia Margaret Pettigrew

  Antibiotics are extremely prevalent in modern medicine and are used in treatment of a multitude of bacterial infections and diseases. As such, humans are increasing the abundance of antibiotics in many natural systems, especially those close to range-land systems where cattle are often prophylactically treated with antibiotics. Increases in antibiotics could be detrimental to organisms, such as herbivorous insects that need to maintain their microbiota to help break down their food. A small choice experiment was conducted to determine the effect of the antibiotic tetracycline on the dietary habits of Chortophaga viridifacsiata (Orthoptera: Acrididae), a species of grasshopper native to Ohio. The results of this experiment did not yield significant evidence that C. viridifacsiata show dietary discrimination between grasses treated with tetracycline and grasses grown under normal conditions. However, there was a trend towards reduced feeding on plants grown with antibiotics, which could be important given the small sample sizes of this study. Future experiments will include a wider array of antibiotic treatments as well as multiple species of grasshoppers. If the antibiotic enrichment of these ecosystems is causing changes in herbivory patterns among arthropod communities, it could be impacting arthropod and plant community structures depending on which species of plants are taking up these antibiotics.

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  Towards a Pre-Processing Algorithm for Automated Arrhythmia Detection

  Sarah Miller

  There are a variety of different wearable fitness/cardiac monitoring devices that are currently used in many people’s day to day life. The primary cardiac function of these devices is to monitor heart rate, however we believe that they could be utilized to detect different forms of arrhythmia. In order to categorize and identify different forms of arrhythmia, we are utilizing published EKG data sets from existing databases as a basis for machine learning. The challenge that comes from the existing data sets is that the format they present the data in does not lend itself to machine learning, which requires data to be in a vector. This makes the process of converting the existing data sets into workable vectors long and tedious. Therefore, we are working to develop an algorithm that will be able to vectorize the data from multiple different data sets so we, and anyone who wishes to use machine learning on these signals, are able to quickly and accurately use now workable, prior data sets.

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  Tracking the Center of Mass of a Human Using a Statically Equivalent Serial Chain

  Ian R Melnyk, Alex James Seither

  This project seeks to validate the use of a statically equivalent serial chain (SESC) in locating and tracking a human’s center of mass (CoM). The statically equivalent serial chain used in this project is comprised of 13 parameters, each roughly corresponding to a portion of the human body. Given these 13 parameters, the SESC points directly at a person’s CoM. Every individual has a unique set parameters to calculate their SESC. These parameters are determined by capturing poses and using the body segment length and position information, as well as the center of pressure reading, acquired from the different poses. A Wii Balance Board and Xbox Kinect were used in this study as inexpensive force plate and motion capture systems. There are other methods for calculating a person’s center of mass, but these require expensive equipment and more complex computational processes. The method proposed here is a low cost, fast, and easy way to accurately predict a person’s CoM. In order to determine the feasibility of the SESC model, we constructed a PVC and steel human model. This way, the weights for each part of the body could be known to validate the accuracy and repeatability of the program. A minimum number of poses required to achieve an accurate CoM prediction was determined by figuring out where human model’s parameters converged, which increases time efficiency of the process. Thus, validating the SESC method as a fast, easy, and fairly accurate solution for predicting a human’s CoM.

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  Truth or Lie: Applying Indirect Methods to Detect Deception

  Jacob Severino Avendano, Kelly Catherine Boris, Colin L Lamb, Cara Jane Miller, Shelbie Nicole Weightman

  The ability to detect deception accurately has been found to be 54%, which is only a slightly better judgment than predicting the outcome of a coin flip (Bond & DePaulo, 2006). Fortunately, more recent research conducted by ten Brinke et al. (2016) indicates that indirect methods may better produce detection of deception than do direct methods. These research results have inspired our team to study indirect and direct questions further to better understand the underlying causes for the success of indirect questioning. Consequently, the present research utilized different types of indirect questions to better determine if someone is being deceptive. These questions were based on the role of biases, individual personality characteristics, and expected behaviors,-verbal and nonverbal-, all believed to be associated with deception. Answers from a control group of observers asked direct questions about whether an interviewee in a video was lying about previous behavior were compared with answers from an experimental group of observers asked indirect questions. Two research hypotheses about the outcome of this manipulation are: (a) indirect questioning of an interviewee’s dishonest responses would produce more accurate determinations of dishonesty than direct questioning, and (b) questions designed to detect bias about or expectations of dishonest behavior would be more accurately related to the dishonesty of the interviewee in the video than those questions related to interviewee verbal and nonverbal characteristics. Data collected thus far indicate that indirect questions, as a group, are consistently better at detecting deception. The next steps in our analyses are, first, to analyze the different types of indirect questions (biases, characteristics, and expected behavior) to better understand which indirect questions are more reliable in detecting deception, and second, to assess any interactive effect of participants’ gender with the gender of the interviewee in the videos on detection results.

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  Twin Towers Community Nutrition Assessment (micro-level)

  Emily Rose Fritz, Lauren Elizabeth Lynch, Michelle Ann Schick, Leah Elizabeth Wagner

  The Twin Towers neighborhood is a low-income community in East Dayton, located about 1.5 miles away from the University of Dayton campus. The purpose of this assessment was to identify various dietary contributing factors so an appropriate intervention can be implemented to improve the dietary habits of those families and children living in the Twin Tower neighborhood. The objectives were to determine dietary intake, anthropometric, and physical activity habits of the population using secondary and primary data sources. Through a self-reported survey, we found that 81% of the sample population was overweight or obese and exercised an average of 45 minutes each week, which is below the recommendation for physical activity. Generally, families in low income communities have a high intake of saturated fat and a lower intake of fruits and vegetables. Due to this information gained, we recommend implementing a multi-component nutrition and physical activity intervention addressing the overweight/obesity epidemic, as well as the lack in physical activity seen among those in the Twin Towers neighborhood.

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  UD Campus Solar Energy

  John Francis Decaprio, Cooper B Graves, Isaac J Lytle

  After looking at a few articles about UD’s solar efforts, it was found that the solar panels in front of Daniel J. Curran Place and the panels on top of Fitz Hall do not provide nearly as much power as we expected. This was researched to see if there were any alternatives to help increase the impact that the existing solar panels have as well as look at other places solar panels can be installed around campus. We will consider the use of other alternative energies, efficiency improvements, and the different types of solar systems used on campus.

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  UD Public Memory: The Unsung Flyer Project

  Kaitlyn M Alleman, Kelly Elisabeth Barry, Jayson Joseph Breier, Jordan James Buccelli, Julie A Buynacek, Sophia Grace Chirumbole, Scarlett R Crabson, Ethan James Dawson, Marianna Rose DeMatteo, Michael E Francis, Emily Marie Gill, Maxwell William Higgins, Chris Alan Johnson, Kiersten Shelby Joslin, Justin Andrew Kahwaji, Nicole Marie Kozak, Joseph F Lamosek, Johnny Paul Lenehan, Kevin W Meyer, Kenton Nash, Abigail M Potter, Jorge Ramirez, Alexandria Rose Rozich, Gavin John Swink, Elizabeth Hope Thiedke, Ragan M Tuffey, Danny Christopher Vail, Jacob W Wagner, Jessica Ruby Washington, Kevin C Wilson

  The Public Memory themed section of SSC200 was tasked with proposing a monument/memorial for a lesser known person connected to the UD community, a Unsung Flyer. Five groups of four to five students each conducted survey, observational, and archival research to support their proposal. Through careful consideration of concerns related to public memory, identity, culture, and materiality, each group created and designed either a monument or memorial fitting the memory of their Unsung Flyer. Groups will be able to explain their designs, rationale, and processess culminating in their final course project for SSC200.

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  UD Public Memory: The Unsung Flyers Project

  Christopher Anthony Aman, Gregory Joseph Biggio, John Richard Coffey, Christian J Conway, Drake J Dahlinghaus, Engels Imanol Diaz Gomez, Carter Joseph Gans, Kelly Amelia Elizabeth Hines, Katherine Leigh Knapp, Timothy Edward Mahay, William Matthew Manzella, Alyssa Theann Mims, Kirah Noble, Rhyan E Pearson, Alure M Powell-Russell, Shannon Elizabeth Powers, Jane Marie Reiter, Diego Rafael R Rive Lockwood, Catherine V Schindler, Piper J Sereno, Jason A Serrer, Nicholas Robert Shearer, Hugo Adrian Sigona Gonzalez, Nicholas J Skorupski, Taylor Elizabeth Stewart, Allison A Svachula, Joshua Abet Vivas-Rodriguez

  The Public Memory themed section of SSC200 was tasked with proposing a monument/memorial for a lesser known person connected to the UD community, a Unsung Flyer. Six groups of three to five students each conducted survey, observational, and archival research to support their proposal. Through careful consideration of concerns related to public memory, identity, culture, and materiality, each group created and designed either a monument or memorial fitting the memory of their Unsung Flyer. Groups will be able to explain their designs, rationale, and processess culminating in their final course project for SSC200.

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  Understanding Chemolithotrophic Reduction Mechanisms from the Dark Marine Biosphere

  Anna Gwendolyn Blair

  As greenhouse gas emissions contribute to global warming and an increase in CO2 concentration in the earth’s atmosphere, the scientific community is under pressure not just to examine new technologies to reduce emissions, but also to consider the effect that increased CO2 concentration has on our terrestrial and marine ecosystems. In marine ecosystems, atmospheric CO2 dissolves and reacts with water to form carbonic acid. This diprotic acid then dissociates, contributing to a lowered pH of ocean water and affecting all levels of marine life. Fortunately, nature already has carbonate reduction mechanisms in place that can reduce the harmful effects of ocean acidification. Being able to identify individual bacteria in biological carbonate-fixing consortia can lead to adaptive systems engineered around biofilms. In this study, environmental samples taken from defined sites the dark marine biosphere (ocean depth of 2100-2300 meters) in the Gulf of Mexico were grown in a number of selective medias with defined carbonate contents. Bacterial samples were then analyzed using ion chromatography to measure carbonate consumption as a function of time. The data suggests that by selectively pressuring environmental consortia from the dark marine biosphere toward the purpose of fixing carbon, mechanisms and pathways can be generated to control the level of CO2 in the marine environment.

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  Understanding Headaches: An Analysis and Revision of an Existing Health Document for Intensive English Program Students

  Madie O'Brien Clements, Wyatt Andrew Kaiser, Shannon Rae Saelinger, Marrisa Ann Therriault

  Low health literacy serves as a distinct barrier for proper healthcare and affects a large portion of the U.S. population. Our team’s goal was to revise a brochure about headaches to fit the reading level and educational goals of the students in UD’s Intensive English Program (IEP). Our team performed a Health Literacy Load Analysis, SMOG test, and Word readability test to analyze the literacy of a headache brochure from Dr. Schneider’s Clinic, a headache and back clinic in Indiana. The results of these tests found that the reading level of the original document was much higher than the IEP students’ third to fourth grade reading level. We made two visits to the IEP class. The goal of the first visit was to find out what the IEP students already knew about headaches and what information they still wanted to know. Then we revised our existing brochure so that it matched the IEP students’ health literacy levels and incorporated the information that matched their interests. In the second visit, we field tested the revised brochure and received additional feedback from the IEP students to create a more effective final brochure. We were successful in lowering the readability of our brochure from an 11th grade reading level to a 5th grade reading level by replacing complex words and ideas with simpler terms. This project directly shows the need for health materials that are cognizant of individuals with lower health literacy.