Stander Symposium Projects

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  MEMRISTOR-BASED NEURAL LEARNING FOR ADAPTIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS

  Baminahennadige Rasitha Fernando

  Control algorithms are used in almost all mechanical and electrical systems for controlling movements and activities. This includes robots, automobiles, aircrafts, industrial machines, and power systems. For mobile systems, the use of complex control algorithms – in particular adaptive control algorithms – would allow for much more refined performance. Unfortunately, these complex control algorithms are highly computationally intensive, requiring the use of high powered computers. This makes their use in mobile platforms (especially robots) almost impossible. This is achieved by using a completely new class of computing circuits developed at the University of Dayton over the last several years. This paper presents the developed novel compute circuits and systems that allow adaptive control algorithms to be implemented at high speeds and several orders of magnitude lower power than traditional computers using nanoscale devices known as the memristor. Keywords– Adaptive Controls, Low power architecture; Memristor crossbars; Deep neural network

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  Migratory waterfowl use of the Great Miami River channel in a heavily urbanized zone

  GROUP Amanda Elizabeth Angelucci, Jessica T Carbonaro, Elise M Erhart, Hannah M Scharf, Emmett J Sheehan

  Even though the Great Miami River is highly urbanized where it runs through the heart of the city of Dayton, it is still used by many migratory and resident waterfowl. This study examines four miles of one of the most urbanized sections of the Great Miami River, spanning from the confluence of the Great Miami River with the Mad River, downstream to the Tait Station low dam. We expect to determine areas which attract the greatest numbers and species diversity of waterfowl. For our preliminary phase of the project, we hiked the entire channel on different days during the migratory season and waterfowl were counted, identified, and occasionally photographed at each tenth of a river mile interval. We recorded key environmental features that may play a role in waterfowl distribution and abundance. For the next phase of the project, we plan to quantify our assessments of the physical habitat with precise measurements of environmental features including water depth, water velocity, predominant substrate types, and presence and size of riffles, runs, and pools. In addition, we will measure characteristics of the levees including characteristics of the riparian zone and land use on the floodplain outside of the levee walls. By identifying and characterizing areas which are the most and least attractive to waterfowl, portions of the Miami River can be managed to encourage greater numbers and diversity of both the migrating and resident waterfowl.

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  MIMO Adaptive Control with ϵ-modification and On-line Singularity Avoidance Method for Hyper-Redundant Robotic Arm

  Xingsheng Xu

  In this paper, multi-input multi-output (MIMO) direct adaptive torque controller is presented that uses a conventional fuzzy system with ϵ-modification to provide the end-effector tracking of a reference path for a 9-DOF hyper-redundant manipulator. Also, an on-line task modification method (OTMM) is applied to achieve singularity avoidance for the hyper-redundant arm at the velocity level. It is illustrated via simulations that ϵ-modification provides an on-line estimation of the unknown system dynamics boundaries for adaptive control and the OTMM avoids the singularity on-line and waives offline singularity avoidance path planning and the effort to check whether the singularity is escapable for the hyper-redundant manipulator.

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  Mindfulness for More: Piloting a Mindfulness Program for Underserved Populations

  Chelsey N Parker

  Interventions engaging individuals in mindfulness practices and activities are being used to improve a variety of physical and mental ailments in many different populations. The body of research on mindfulness is rapidly growing. However, there is a notable lack of research regarding the utilization of mindfulness-based interventions among some of the most stressed populations such as those with insecure housing. The proposed study will pilot a new mindfulness program in two gateway facilities utilized by men and women with insufficient housing. Although the focus of the proposed research is on the development of the program, a small N’s design will be used to measure the change for each participant on pre- and post-tests, analyzing within-subject group variance on a state-based measurement of anxiety. The goal of the proposed research is to determine whether it is feasible for a mindfulness intervention to be implemented into a residence shelter.

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  Mirror-Augmented Solar Irradiance using meteorological data for applications

  Davis A Urena

  Mirror augmentation for increased irradiance on tilted surfaces has been studied in previous literature using illumination and ray tracing software. These simulations are not based on typical meteorological data, and hence do not capture the weather-driven variation in solar radiation. This limits their applicability for predicting performance of real mirror augmented applications. This project describes algorithms for predicting mirror augmented solar radiation using readily available meteorological data. The algorithms have been incorporated into software to calculate the irradiance distribution on a tilted surface with mirror augmentation. The code is validated through comparisons with published ray tracing and experimental results. The code is used to perform parametric analyses that explore the effect on performance of mirror length, width, angle and other effects.

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  Mixed-initiative Human-Computer Dialogs through Natural Language

  Joshua W Buck

  Specification and implementation of flexible human-computer dialogs is challenging because of the complexity involved in rendering the dialog responsive to a vast number of varied paths through which users might desire to complete the dialog. To address this problem, we developed a toolkit for modeling and implementing task-based, mixed-initiative dialogs based on metaphors from lambda calculus. Our toolkit can automatically operationalize a dialog that involves a given number of prompts and/or sub-dialogs, given a high-level dialog specification of it. Our current research entails incorporating the use of natural language to make the flexibility in communicating user utterances commensurate with that in dialog completion paths.

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  Mixed metal Prussian blue analogues as working electrodes for rechargeable batteries

  Madeline L Mackey, Mark G Nielsen

  A facile method was used to synthesize six different mixed metal Prussian blue analogues, specifically hexacyanoferrate and hexacyanocobaltate. Two of the mixed metal hexacyanoferrates are currently being tested and the information on its electrochemical properties is unable to be disclosed. Because of this, only one mixture, nickel cobalt hexacyanoferrate (NiCoHCF), was tested in a three-electrode battery cell with cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanic cycling (GC). NiCoHCF was also examined under SEM. The purpose of the experiment is to create a high-energy storage and rechargeable battery in order to provide an environmentally friendly, high abundance, and low cost alternative to the lithium ion battery.

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  Modeling Satellite to Planet Fly-by

  Joshua M Lynch

  The purpose of this project will be to simulate a satellite performing a planetary fly-by. The problem will be modeled in python using a two body simulation. Computation will be performed using numerical methods. Expected result is for satellite total energy to be higher, or decreased depending on approach (leading edge vs trailing edge fly-by). Resulting velocity and energy changes will be compared to the analytical solution.

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  Modeling the Performance of Information Technology Stocks over the Period 2006-2016: A Case Study in Fundamentals Portfolio Weighting

  Sallie R Deyoung

  A growing number of investment firms are using fundamentals based weighting for the stocks in their mutual funds or Exchange Traded Funds (ETF’s). In this study, I use the profitability metric, Return on Equity (ROE), as my stock weighting factor and model the returns to stocks in the Information Technology Sector ETF (XLK). I also use a concentrated portfolio approach with two portfolios: 10 stocks and 20 stocks as my test prototypes. I test two hypotheses: (1) The ROE weighted Portfolios will outperform XLK and (2) the ROE weighted portfolio will outperform the S&P 500 Index (SPY).

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  Motion-Induced Blindness: Where Does the Yellow Dot Go?

  Sara E Wetter

  Motion Induced Blindness (MIB) is a phenomenon of visual disappearance or perceptual illusions observed in the lab, in which stationary visual stimuli, or targets, disappear as if erased in front of an observer's eyes when masked with a moving background. The current study sought to investigate this optical illusion by investigating two competing theories of motion induced blindness – attention (target blindness is due to a lack of attention) vs scotoma / perceptual filling-in (target blindness is due to the visual system misinterpreting the target as a damaged part of the retina [scotoma] and the area is perceptually filled-in with the surround). Results on attention theory revealed less motion-induced blindness, contrary to past research. Scotoma / perceptual filling-in theory did not appear to have an effect on motion-induced blindness. Results will be discussed further and possible explanations for findings will be discussed.

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  Multiracial in a Monoracial World: Identity Integration Among Multiracial College Students

  Amberly J Santana

  Students with multiracial identity are an emergent population in higher education. This research uses interviews with eight multiracial undergraduate students to explore how identity integration impacts the way multiracial students navigate monoracial campuses academically and socially. The objectives of this research are 1) to explore the academic and social experiences of multiracial students at a predominantly White institution and 2) to determine the impact of multiracial identity integration on student outcomes related to sense of belonging, resiliency, and self-image. The findings of this study increase our understanding of how identity development relates to positive student outcomes in order that student affairs professionals can support multiracial students in more tailored ways.

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  Nanostructured Microcantilevers for the Sensing of Volatile Compounds

  Ryan J Mcneilly

  The goal of this study is to create a biomolecular sensing device with high sensitivity and selectivity. The micro-machined cantilever has been selected as the sensing platform, and will be improved using a bio-inspired approach. Inspired by the small hairs on fly antennae, the sensitivity of the sensor is increased through the use of a nanostructured surface. Nanostructure was deposited on the surface of the microcantilever using the Glancing Angle Deposition process and the nanostructure was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and a Scanning Kelvin Probe. Incorporation of odorant binding proteins will also be used to increase the selectivity of the device, inspired by the sensing compounds of a dog’s nose. The sensing capabilities of the microcantilever will be tested on three molecules: trimethylamine, acetic acid, and ammonia. Peptides for the detection of these compounds have been modeled using PEP-FOLD and binding interactions have been modeled using PyRx. The chemistry was tested using fluorescence microscopy and Raman spectroscopy, demonstrating the successful attachment of the peptides. The microcantilever can be constructed in an array format, leading to potential applications in many areas, including environmental monitoring, food quality monitoring, hazardous gas detection, and medical diagnostics.

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  Navigating Work Politics 101: How Student Affairs Professionals Navigate Workplace Politics While Balancing Authenticity and Well-Being at a Private, Catholic-Affiliated Institution

  Nickole R Watson

  Finding yourself navigating workplace politics as a student affairs professional? This research strives to provide a better understanding of how student affairs professionals navigate workplace politics in a way that allows them to be their authentic selves and practice well-being. Student affairs professionals are faced with various choices that they must make that affect students, and there are times when these professionals have to carry out decisions with which they may not agree. There appears to be a lack of research on workplace politics in student affairs; thus, the significance of this study is in its contribution towards closing this gap in the literature. The sample for this study includes eight full-time student affairs professionals at a private, Catholic institution. This study uses qualitative, phenomenological methodology. This research is grounded in the field of student affairs and higher education administration. The specific themes for this research include: authenticity, workplace politics, and well-being. Findings of the research show that professionals have not come to a common definition of workplace politics; thus, it is recommended that future research should work to construct a common definition for the field to utilize. Additionally, future research could look at how identity and workplace politics relate.

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  Non Destructive Evaluation of Urethane-Epoxy Coating Systems using the Scanning Kelvin Probe Technique

  David J Borth

  High performance aircraft are subjected to harsh environmental factors during operation including impacts with water and other particles, as well as high temperature and humidity. Rain erosion coatings (REC) made from polyurethane (PU) are used to protect the metal and other coatings from these damaging elements by absorbing the force of impacts and providing a barrier against corrosive substances. Over time these coatings break down and may fail in flight by delamination. Traditional lifecycle estimates fail to predict coating life due to the variety of environmental conditions aircraft are exposed to. Therefore, there is a need for a reliable non-destructive method to detect the changes in the surface coating that indicate when it is close to failure or has begun to fail. Previous studies have shown that it is possible to detect change in alkyl chain length in polymers using a Scanning Kelvin Probe (SKP) system. Additionally, Hansen et al. demonstrated the ability to detect the changes in length and conformation of DNA molecules using an SKP system. These, and other experiments, show the sensitivity of the SKP to changes in surface material and indicate that the SKP should be able to detect chemical changes in a degraded PU coating as well. The objective of this research is to determine if the SKP can be used to detect the changes in polymer coating structure associated with degradation as well as characterize the degradation of PU RECs as a function of time exposed to elevated temperature and humidity. If successful, it will serve as the justification for developing a portable scanning unit that can be deployed by maintenance crews to determine when a coating needs to be reapplied. Having a reliable method to assess degradation will increase the service life of coatings, saving time and money by reducing preemptive reapplication.

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  Nonlinear Adaptive Control for Hypersonic Vehicles at Subsonic Speeds

  Turki Mohammed Alsuwian

  Hypersonic vehicles are complex nonlinear systems with uncertain dynamics. This work presents a robust nonlinear adaptive (NA) control system for the operation of these vehicles at subsonic speeds. The complexity of the dynamic system is considered in the design, in order to address robustness issues. In this work, we only consider lateral dynamics with a fixed roll angle (five degrees of freedom, or 5-DOF). These dynamics are divided into subsystems for aircraft speed, flight-path angle, and yaw angle. A robust NA control design is implemented to provide asymptotic tracking regulation of these output quantities. Adaptation is employed in this study because of its robustness properties. The stability analysis is performed based on a Lyapunov function candidate for the feedback closed-loop system. Simulations of the design indicates that it successfully provides flight control.

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  Novel Porphyrin Antimicrobial

  Marissa Christine Jama, Nehaben N Patel

  The CDC reports there are over 2 million illnesses and 23,000 deaths per year attributed to antibiotic resistance in the US. The recent report of a colistin resistant strain of E. coli in the US heralds the first truly panresistant bacterium. These data signal a major challenge to human health and a clarion call for new and novel antibacterial treatments. Photodynamic therapy using porphyrins and light activation has emerged as one such strategy. We report here standard antimicrobial testing of a novel Zn containing porphyrin, ZnP, we recently patented (US PAT. NO. 14,466,662). Additionally, we report a novel antimicrobial strategy using a well-known porphyrin, TMP, in the treatment of biofilm associated pathogenic bacteria (US PAT. NO. 8,551,456.Our novel, patented porphyrin, (ZnP) possesses dark as well as light activated toxicity effective at micro molar levels against a broad range of bacterial pathogens: P. aeruginosa, Listeria monocytogenes, Mycobacterium smegmatis and MRSA, for example. Typical killing ranges are from 4-8 logs. Further, ZnP added to planktonic cells results in biofilms that are 6 logs reduced compared to control biofilms. We also present data that show pretreatment of 24h old P. aeruginosa biofilms with TMP, in the dark, substantially enhanced killing by antibiotics such as tobramycin and vancomycin; and dismantles the biofilm from the surface. Enhanced killing by vancomycin is of great interest since this is an antibiotic not typically effective against gram-negative bacteria. In vitro toxicity testing of ZnP has shown no toxicity at effective treatment levels in lung alveolar tissue cells. Resistance has yet to be observed by us or reported by others. Our novel porphyrin ZnP is uniquely effective against a wide range of pathogens in the absence of light. Prior to this finding the requirement for light has limited the areas in the body where porphyrins could be used to treat infections. Our finding that TMP can enhance and expand the effectiveness of currently used antibiotics, and dismantles biofilms from surfaces, provides a combination therapy that should prove to be useful for a wide range of infections.

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  Numerical Analysis of a Mathematical Model for the Formation of Alzheimer’s Disease

  GROUP Summer E Jenkins, Christopher A Negri, Amelia I Pompilio

  Mathematics can be applied meaningfully to a variety of disciplines and research areas, especially the spread of disease. The pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease remains largely ambiguous in current research because of the complex relationships between cell types due to aging. In this project, we computationally study a mathematical model that is a system of coupled differential equations to represent such relationships between cells. We use Runge-Kutta methods and Euler’s method to study the model.

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  Numerical Integration

  Jiaying Chen

  The objective is to calculate the integral of a function f over an interval (i.e. area under the curve). However, in practice, f or its antiderivative is analytically unknown, forcing us to settle for a numerical approximation. We investigate different numerical methods such as Trapezoidal rule, Simpson's rule, Newton-Cotes rules and Gaussian quadrature rules to compute the area under f, and compare their accuracies and efficiencies.

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  One Click to Meet the Physical Therapy World

  GROUP Swetha Nanda Dugulam, Sindhura Nalluri

  Physical therapy is a health care profession that makes use of mechanical movements and emphasizes on the rehabilitation of physical impairments without focused use of medicine or surgery. So, how can we enter the physiotherapy world by just one click? What’s the idea? So here is the collaboration between the world of physical therapy with an innovative open-source operating system called ‘android’. The proposed app provides an insight of how the different body parts carry out their functionalities, how to identify injuries/illness and what should be done to cure them. This helps the reader to have a quick view of the overall process. Based on the individual’s history and physical examination, an intervention plan is made to address the dysfunction. Each body part has different functionality and its management includes assistance with specific exercises, manual therapy and manipulation, mechanical devices such as traction, education, physical agents which includes heat, cold, electricity, sound waves, radiation, rays, prescription of assistive devices and other interventions. How to perform each of the above mentioned process is shown effectively in this app. This app can be used in all android devices and is developed using the Android Studio 2.1.2 with the help of images and videos. The android studio plays a vital role in giving the support environment, which has the inbuilt java libraries and can identify the styling languages as well. In the process of development, the developer can drag or drop the panels/layouts for the correct measures of the phone view or the tablet view. The overall application outcome is to let the physical therapy students understand the diagnostic process and how certain tests and measures relate to dysfunction and treatment in an interactive manner through one-click. Ever wondered how science is combined with technology? Our application is an excellent example for this scenario.

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  On the Hall Effect Measurements

  Gina M Lucia

  The Hall Effect has long been the standard experimental technique to measure the free carrier concentration, mobility and resistivity in semiconductor materials. In this presentation, we will describe in details the functions of all the equipment of our Hall Effect setup in our laboratory on campus. Because the Hall system is fully automated and controlled by a computer, the emphasis will be focused on explaining how the measurements are made and how the calculated carrier concentration, mobility and resistivity are obtained as a function of temperature from these measurements.

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  Optical characterization of Vanadium Dioxide smart materials under phase transition and its thin film effects

  Pengfei Guo

  Vanadium Dioxide (VO2) is a polycrystalline material that exhibits a reversible transition from a monoclinic semiconducting phase to a tetragonal metallic phase in the temperature range of 55 – 68 °C. The refractive index of VO2 also undergoes a dramatic change during this phase transition. In this project, the VO2 thin films were grown by ion-assisted deposition (IAD) using E-beam evaporation on sapphire substrates. A simulation model was developed to extract the optical constants from the measured reflectance and transmittance spectrum.

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  Optical Propagation in Anisotropic Metamaterials

  Rudra Gnawali

  Optical propagation through metallo-dielectric stacks is analyzed using the Berreman matrix approach for electromagnetic propagation through anisotropic media. Effective medium theory is used to represent the metallo-dielectric stack as an anisotropic bulk medium. Transmission and reflection are investigated as functions of the incident angle and wavelength. Validity of the effective medium theory is investigated by varying the layer thickness and number of layers.

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  Partnering with IEP Students to Improve the Readability of a Seasonal Flu Health Document

  Maria E Anderson, Dominick R Massa, Cynthianna M Mastropietro, Lauren T Olson

  Partnering with the Intensive English Program (IEP) students at the University of Dayton, we attempted to address the issue of health literacy, specifically in the form of reading health documents. Being health literate requires the ability to understand instructions, guidelines, and general health information that can lead to action. Current health documents often include medical jargon and complex English that makes interpreting the information difficult for native English speakers and especially for those whom English is their second language. We transformed an informational document from a government site that covered general information on the flu into something that was more easily understood by students in UD’s IEP. First, we visited an IEP class and asked what they knew or wanted to know about the flu and then tailored the editing of a document toward their needs. We edited the original flu document into a more concise and “readable” brochure and then returned to the IEP class for further suggestions. We received feedback that certain terms were harder to understand than others and that they had a difficult time interpreting charts. Based off of the feedback, we made final edits to our document in which we removed the chart and further simplified the language used. Using the Flesch-Kincaid readability test, we determined that the original document was written at an 11th grade level. After editing the document into a brochure, we were able to reduce the reading level to 3rd grade, which is more understandable for these readers. Through this project we were able to gain a better understanding of the issue of low health literacy in a hands on approach.

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  Personality and Smell: Investigating Associations between Personality Pathology and Odor Detection, Identification and Hedonic Response

  Hannah B Gahimer, Rhiannon A Gibbs, Russell J Mach, Maia A Mclin, Lauren T Olson, Lisa E Stone, Julia K Wiedemann

  Although personality has been shown to influence affective (Larsen & Kettelar, 1991) and sensory processing (Corlis, Splaver, & Wiseup, 1967; Wilson et al., 2000), very a few studies have investigated associations between olfaction and personality traits. Research findings do support a relation between neuroticism and increased odor detection sensitivity (Herbener et al, 1989; Pause et al., 1998) and more accurate odor identification (Larsson et al., 2000), although a more recent study found higher neuroticism in individuals with odor identification impairment compared to non-impaired healthy controls (Lehrner, Kirchebner, Auff, & Pusswald, 2015). To our knowledge, odor detection sensitivity, identification, and hedonic response have not been studied in relation to personality pathology. The aim of the present study was to investigate associations between select pathological personality traits and olfactory function. University students (N = 68) completed the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5) and olfactory function was assessed using the Sniffin’ Sticks odor detection and identification tests. Hedonic response to each odor was assessed with unipolar rating scales for odor pleasantness and odor unpleasantness. Results indicated a trending, negative correlation between Depressivity and odor detection sensitivity (r= -.235, p=.052) and a positive correlation between Depressivity and total pleasantness ratings of negatively valanced odorants (rs =.303, p=.012). Anxiousness was also positively associated with pleasantness ratings of the negatively valenced odorants (rs =.264, p=.030). When Anhedonia, Depressivity, and Anxiousness were entered into a regression model, Anhedonia (Beta = -.371, t = -2.32, p = .026) and Depressivity (Beta = .414, t = 2.284, p = .026) uniquely accounted for variability in total pleasantness ratings of all odorants. Important sex differences also emerged. Anhedonia was negatively associated with unpleasantness ratings of unpleasant odorants in males (r= -.450, p=.010), but not in females (r = .271, p=.109). Gender discrepancies were also apparent for impulsivity and antagonism. The implications of these findings on personality assessment research will be discussed.

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  Platinum Nanoparticles Induced Modifications to the Inflammatory and Signaling Responses in Liver Cancer Cells

  Rebecca T Browning, Claudia J Labrador Rached

  Platinum nanoparticles (PtNPs) are being explored as a potential therapeutic due to their ability to act as a catalyst and their high conductivity. However, in order to develop PtNPs for utilization in the medicinal field, their behavior and safety in a biological system must first be characterized. In addition to evaluating the traditional toxicological endpoints of cytotoxicity and stress response, this work sought to uncover if PtNPs induced an inflammatory response or modified critical signal transduction pathways in the human liver HepG2 model. While PtNP exposure resulted in negligible loss HepG2 viability, a dose dependent stress response was uncovered, as assessed via production of reactive oxygen species. As HepG2 cells are known to secrete key pro-inflammatory cytokines when stressed, we examined the production of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α after a 24 hour incubation with PtNPs. Our results demonstrated a significant increase in production of these critical mediators, demonstrating that PtNPs were capable of inciting an inflammatory response. Lastly, this work uncovered that incubation with PtNPs modified the HepG2 response to insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), altering basic cellular functionality. Following IGF-1 stimulation, the PtNP-dosed HepG2s were associated with intensified Akt signaling activation. As the PI3-kinase/Akt signaling pathways is paramount in the regulation of a diverse number of cellular processes, including metabolism, proliferation, cell survival, growth, and angiogenesis, this results suggests that PtNP exposure could induce a plethora of long-term consequences. Taken together, the activation of stress, inflammatory, and signaling cellular responses indicate that a more in-depth analysis of PtNP-induced bioeffects is required prior to their utilization as a medicinal therapeutic.