Stander Symposium Projects

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  Portfolio Weighting, Risk Aversion and Stock Returns in the S&P Materials Sector: An Empirical Analysis 2006-2016

  Stuart W Allen

  Over the last several years stocks in the materials sector (XLB) have experienced increased volatility. In this study, I develop a risk dampening portfolio weighting scheme in order to increase the potential for excess returns in the sector. Using portfolios of ten and twenty stocks, ranked by market cap, I calculate the standard deviation of the return on equity (ROE) for each stock over rolling 5 year periods and divide it into the standard deviation (weighted average) for all ten and twenty stocks. This scheme allows stocks with lower relative standard deviations to have higher portfolio weights. Both buy and hold and rebalancing strategies are used in the analysis. The performance benchmarks are the materials sector, XLB, and SPY, a proxy for the S&P 500 stock index.

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  Prayer and Political Views

  William J Gross

  Does the amount of time spent in prayer affect one’s political views? This research looks at how often one prays during the week to see if it affects whether one is more likely to be conservative or liberal. This study builds on previous research on how religion affects political views. It seeks to concentrate on how the amount of time spent in prayer affects political views. In this way, it is not only religion that is being accounted for, but through prayer, how religious someone is and how it may or may not affect their political views. For this study, data will be taken from the General Social Survey. The hypothesis that will be tested is as follows: On average and all else equal, a person who prays more will be more likely to identify as conservative. To test the hypothesis, a logistic regression will be conducted to determine the probability of a person being liberal or conservative. The logistic regression will be a function of several variables – including the amount of time spent in prayer.

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  Predicting Baseball Player’s Salaries Based on Past Performance and Other Factors

  Courtney A Arand

  The purpose of this project is to predict a baseball player’s salary in the 2016 season based on their performance and other factors in the 2015 season. The factors (regressors) used in this project that could possibly affect the salary (dependent variable) were age, seasons played, games played, wins above replacement (WAR), and batting average. The data was collected from sources such as the Major League Baseball (MLB) website and the USA TODAY website. We used the statistical software package SPSS to analyze the data and obtain a good prediction model.

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  Predicting How Many Points a Famous NBA Player Will Score in a Game

  Crystal D Brock

  Stephen Curry is a player in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and he plays as a point guard for the Golden State Warriors. The overall purpose of this project is to predict, based on a number of factors (independent variables) from the 2015-2016 season, the amount of points Stephen Curry will score in any given game. The independent variables (regressors) chosen that could have an effect on the number of points scored are minutes played in a specific game, field goal percentage, three point percentage, free throw percentage, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals, fouls, and turnovers. The data was obtained from the ESPN website. The statistical software package, SPSS, was used to analyze the data and obtain a good prediction model.

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  Predicting Residential Heating Energy Consumption and Savings from Known Energy Characteristics and Historical Energy Consumption

  GROUP Badr Al Tarhuni, Adel Ali Mohamed Naji

  Cost effective retrofits of residential buildings could yield annual electricity savings in this sector of approximately 30 percent in the United States. Furthermore, investment in energy efficiency can create millions of direct and indirect jobs throughout the economy for manufacturers and service providers that supply the building industry. Unfortunately, the actual energy savings, compared to predictions based upon physical energy models, have been somewhat disappointing, leading to wariness on the part of those wishing to invest in efficiency projects. The objective of this study is to use an expanded set of building characteristic data to predict savings from the adoption of individual energy saving measures based upon actual building data and not only on energy models. Key to this study will be the use of a large number of buildings/residences for which all energy characteristics are known. The specific case considered here involves hundreds of university-owned student residences in the U.S. Midwest. A neural network approach is used to develop a single model that accurately predicts heating energy for all houses given the specified energy characteristics. The resulting neural net is used to predict savings associated with a small subset of houses in the study which have already been upgraded from a variety of measures. The estimated savings are compared to the actual savings realized. The results show that the predicted savings match the actual savings within 2.5 percent for most of the measures considered. These results show the potential for establishing larger public databases of building energy characteristics in order to strategically implement energy reduction strategies with the greatest energy savings per cost to implement

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  Predicting Smoking Rates in the U.S. Using Multiple Regression

  Marie K Bertolo

  In this work, we will try to predict the smoking rates (dependent variable) based on several independent variables (regressors) such as graduation rate rate (measured by high school graduation rates), race, religious status, age, median household income, crime rates and cigarette tax per pack. We also test if the smoking rate is dependent on the state. In the model, smoking rates are shown as a percentage of a state’s population and all 50 states are included to give an accurate representation of the United States as a whole. The data used was obtained from several websites such as Americas Health Rankings, the US census, the Kaiser Family Foundation, Governing and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. These variables are being tested to speculate the reasons behind the differences in smoking rates across U.S. states and to predict potential future rates.

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  Preparation, Analysis and Derivatization of Benzo[1,2-d:3,4-d’:5,6-d”]tris(thiazole)-2,5,8-triamine

  Jonathan P Alessi

  Multiple fields are areas of active research where organic materials hold considerable promise, such as thermoelectrics or photovoltaics. In an effort to design and prepare a new system which would exhibit a set of promising features such as high thermal stability, high degree of planarity, rigid skeleton and strong electron accepting properties, we have undertaken the preparation and characterization of benzotrithiazole and its derivatives. Our work has led to a reproducible and scalable protocol for the generation of one particular structure: benzo[1,2-d:3,4-d':5,6-d"]tris(thiazole)-2,5,8-triamine. We have also conducted further attempts to functionalize this structure, leading to other derivatives of the target compound.

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  Preparing Preservice Teachers to Collaborate with Families

  Fatimah A Rubayyi

  ABSTRACT During a time when the impact of education has come into question, family engagement is one factor that has been shown to have a positive effect on student learning. Many in the field focus on families to improve their engagement. The research is clear. There is a set of practices that when teachers use them, parents are more engaged. The purpose of this study was to determine whether teachers with different levels of education learned about these strategies. In this qualitative study, teachers at three different degree levels were interviewed to determine their perspectives about and knowledge of best practices in family engagement. The interview transcripts were analyzed and implications for teacher preparation what identified.

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  Principle Component Analysis

  Conor J McCormick

  Principle Component Analysis (PCA) is a powerful tool used in the field of statistics. In a given or collected sample of data, statisticians normally like to see correlations, or relationships, between variables in the sample. By examining the correlations between these variables, statisticians are able to create a linear representation to help make estimations for currently unknown values. Getting to this linear representation can be easy if there are only a few variables and/or the sample size is small. However, this is not always the case and this is where PCA comes into play. When the amount of variables taken is large it could lead to an even larger amount of correlation plots that must be looked at and could potentially be hard to interpret, but with PCA the number of plots can greatly be reduced and make it easier to see to correlation between variables. In my presentation, I plan to explain this technique.

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  Projecting Future Groundwater Recharge with CMIP5 Climate Models

  Amber N Johnson, Colin J Mctighe

  Abstract This project aims to predict the future precipitation characteristics for the Dayton region using climate model scenarios. This is part of an on-going research project on assessing the future sustainability of the Great Miami Valley Buried Aquifer under the changing climate. Dayton is home to one of the most productive aquifer systems in the country, and assessing the effects of climate change on the sustainability of this resource provides important information for future utilization and planning. In this region, precipitation contributes to 35% - 66% of the groundwater recharge with seasonal variations. Therefore, it is important to project future precipitation patterns in order to assess the sustainability of the groundwater. This research is performed in 4 major steps: (1) Collect historical station data for Dayton from the Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN), and historical simulations of precipitation and temperature from 10-15 CMIP5 Climate models; (2) Compare the GHCN station data with the historical model simulations to evaluate model bias; (3) Collect future simulations of precipitation and temperature from the same CMIP5 models for future climate scenarios, and correct the bias; (4) use future precipitation information to predict future groundwater recharge in the Dayton region. This information will be useful for regional planning committees and local government for decision making and planning processes for the future.

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  Promoting Interdisciplinary Scientific Investigations in the Secondary Biology Classroom

  Jessica L Grilliot

  This project integrates interdisciplinary biosensor research conducted in the Biology Department of the University of Dayton into the curriculum of a ninth grade biology course. The curriculum of such a course in the state of Ohio must include opportunities for students to practice inquiry and application skills. The learning experience developed for this project challenges students to investigate the purpose and applications of college level research. Learning module content includes interdisciplinary connections with biology, chemistry, and physics, such as molecular structure, chemical bonds, sensory response, signal transduction, and sound waves/resonance frequency. Inquiry and application skills are incorporated through directed reading, group discussion of the project concept, and hands-on construction and testing of a model sensor device. Assessment metrics include a pre- and post-activity survey, peer evaluation of constructed devices, and working group written and oral reflection on learning module content.

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  Reaction of Phosphonium Phosphate Ionic Liquids with Iron Substrates

  Joseph Martin Hancock

  The reactions of several oil soluble phosphonium phosphate ionic liquids with iron substrates were investigated to determine their suitability as lubricant additives. The ionic liquids, dissolved in ester based lubricant base stocks were found to react with metal surfaces to form a phosphorus containing film. Scanning electron microscopy showed the deposition of a layer on the surface and x-ray fluorescence showed that the layer contained phosphorus. Infrared analysis of the film demonstrated the formation of poly phosphate chains on the material. Decomposition products from the ionic liquid were identified by GC-MS.

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  Rear Eye Vision for Enhanced Safety in Autonomous Navigation

  Arjun Udayakumar Sherly

  Rear end traffic crashes are rising alarmingly but these crashes can be avoided effectively with the help of an efficient rear end camera system that could predict the direction of the oncoming vehicle and change the navigation of parent vehicle appropriately. The proposed approach tackles the problem by providing a camera system at the rear end of the vehicle that notifies the vehicle about the acceleration and direction of the approaching object and notifies the action to be taken so as to avoid the threat or collision by employing the principle of optic flow. The optic flow of the object of interest is calculated and tracked for extracting the key features. The three prominent features that are evaluated closely are acceleration, size and the direction of the object of interest. Acceleration determines how fast the object is moving towards the rear station. Direction attribute determines whether the object is moving towards or away from the rear station. Modified Kanade Lucas Tomasi Algorithm (KLT) calculates the optical flow of object of interest. The stationary objects such as trees, street lights and buildings are ignored as the background. The modified KLT uses a Pyramidal approach to evaluate the severity of threats. Pyramidal approach at different levels takes care of objects moving at high speed that might disappear from the frame. The testing and evaluation is done in Husky robot from Clear Path Robotics and using Robot Mobility Platform 220 by Segway. In the era of exponentially growing trend in autonomy, Rear Eye Vision stands as the epitome of research in the field of autonomous navigation.

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  Reconfigurable Antenna based on Tungsten-Doped Vanadium Dioxide Thin Films

  Kuan-Chang Pan

  The main objective for this research is to study tungsten-doped vanadium dioxide (WVO2) phase change thin films. The (0.8% ratio of W) tungsten doped vanadium dioxide (WVO2) thin films were fabricated and tested. The tungsten doping shifted the transition temperature closer to room temperature, compared to 68C in undoped VO2. For this research, a coplanar waveguide (CPW) bowtie patch antenna was integrated with WVO2 thin films and the resonant frequency of the antenna can be shifted from 6.953 GHz at low temperature (20°C) to 6.538 GHz in mid temperature range (35°C) and then made inactive in high temperature range (50°C). The overall size of the CPW bowtie patch antenna is 6.45mm×6mm and the substrate of the antenna is sapphire.

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  Remote Sensing: Natural Gas Detection with Infrared (IR) Spectrum

  Benjamin E Natarian

  Currently detecting a natural gas leak requires a boots on ground approach with handheld and vehicle mounted chemical sensors. The goal of this research is to create an automatic detection system using manned or unmanned aircraft to survey a large area in a short time and narrow the leak location to a minimal search area for boots on ground isolation. The proposed system will utilize an IR sensor for data acquisition, and a custom computer vision based algorithm to detect gas leaks in the massive data stream with minimal human interaction. Specifically, the algorithm takes a combination of preprocessing, motion estimation, and machine learning to differentiate between gas leaks and normal background.

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  Resolving the Gene Expression bases for the Convergent Evolution of a Pigmentation Trait

  Sumant Grover, Victoria Rene Spradling

  The genetic basis by which organisms adapt to an ever changing world remains a topic of great interest to the fields of evolution, development, and conservation biology. It is understood that animal genomes contain over ten thousand genes and distantly related species possess many of the same genes due to common ancestry. What is less well understood is how new traits evolve using these shared genes and whether the genetic basis for evolution favors certain genes over others. At the heart of trait development are genes that encode proteins that regulate the expression of other genes, notably transcription factors and chromatin modifying proteins. Traits can evolve through changes in the expression patterns for these genes or through changes in which target genes they regulate. However, case studies connecting gene expression changes to trait evolution remain few in number. Additionally, it is unclear whether gene expression evolution favors alterations in certain genes over others. In order to understand how a novel trait evolves and to determine whether evolution can prefer certain gene targets for modification, we are studying the convergent evolution of fruit fly pigmentation in the lineages of Drosophila melanogaster and Drosophila funebris. These two species can be considered biological replicates for the evolution of male-specific pigmentation on the A5 and A6 abdominal segments. To understand the genes involved in the formation and evolution of these similar pigmentation patterns, we are utilizing candidate gene and comparative transcriptomic approaches. Completion of this work will provide novel insights on the genetic changes responsible for a trait’s origin, and whether development constrains evolutionary paths to certain genes.

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  Resolving the Molecular Mechanisms by Which DNA Mutations Alter the Function of a Genetic Switch

  Emily E Wey

  Each human genome possesses around a million mutations that are genetic baggage from DNA replication mistakes or “mutations” that occurred in the past. Each mutation can have one of three outcomes on an individual, these are to improve, reduce, or have no effect on health. Moreover, the effects of such mutations can depend on the presence or absence of other mutations, so called epistatic interactions. A major goal of genomic medicine is to glean diagnostic or predictive health information from the genome sequences of individuals. However, this goal remains out of reach as the effects of mutations and epistatic interactions are difficult to predict without knowing the function of the DNA sequence they reside in. This difficulty is especially heightened for mutations occurring in cis-regulatory element sequences that act as switches to control gene transcription. The research I plan to perform for my Honors Thesis is to use a fruit fly model to test hypotheses about the molecular mechanisms by which mutations alter a genetic switch’s activity and whether these mutations are subjected to the tyranny of epistatic interactions. I will study the Drosophila melanogaster dimorphic element which is a transcription-regulating switch for the bric-à-brac genes. Three mutations in the dimorphic element were identified that individually alter the level of bric-à-brac transcription. The presence or absence of epistatic interactions will be determined by measuring the activity of dimorphic elements from related species that have been engineered to possess the Drosophila melanogaster mutations. I will also test the hypothesis that these mutations impart their effects by creating or destroying binding sites for proteins known as transcription factors. The results will provide a sorely needed example where an understanding of molecular mechanisms bridges the gap between a DNA sequence and its in vivo function.

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  Resources and Improvements for Nutrition and the Treatment of Eating Disorders at the University of Dayton

  Taylor A Brodie, Lyndsay Anne Drake, Margaret G Ziegenfuss

  Research was conducted to evaluate the programs and resources that the University of Dayton offers for nutrition and eating disorders. It was determined that the dining halls offered healthy and nutritious options for students, as every place to eat on campus offers a variation of fresh fruit and vegetables. VWK’s Passports caters well to those who have a culturally diverse diet such as international students. Marycrest offers an A+ room that is designed for those who have food allergies. Only students who have expressed their allergies to the university are granted access to the room. There is a fair amount of gluten free options at every dining hall but could still use improvement. Those suffering from lactose, nut, soy and other allergies have a challenging time fulfilling their dietary needs. The A+ room does accept requests for specific food items, which is helpful for those with a restrictive diet. Eating disorders are another important consideration relating to nutritional health of campus students. The counseling center is the main resource for those suffering from an eating disorder with group and individual therapy as an option. The group session allows others dealing with a body image issue to meet each other and know they are not alone. The center offers handouts and brochures on how to spot an eating disorder and how to approach someone you know with one. A more rigorous treatment is an option but is sought at locations outside the university grounds. The main improvement for eating disorder resources would be to increase programming to raise awareness for the destructive effects that an eating disorder can have on an individual’s body, as well as increase programming for how to recognize the signs of an eating disorder in a friend or roommate.

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  Responding to the Needs of Students with Language Barriers Through Instructional Methods and Enhanced Educational Opportunities

  Meghan D Grys, Frances M Rogan

  With increasing diversity and inclusion in the classroom, decreasing language barriers among students becomes vital to ensuring their success. We will explore how assistive adaptive technology for special needs students and different instructional models for ESL and ELL students have enhanced their educational opportunities to combat language barriers.

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  Response Bias on the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5)

  Lisa E Stone

  While the validity and clinical utility of the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5; Krueger, Derringer, Markon, Watson, and Skodol, 2012) has been established (e.g. Fossati, Krueger, Markon, Borroni, & Maffei, 2013), overlap between the wording of some items and wording of the response scale anchors is a potential limitation that, to our knowledge, has yet to be explored. Questionnaire responses can be affected by many factors, including positive vs negative wording (Kalton and Schuman, 1982), scale prompt order (Krosnick & Alwin, 1987), and exposure to extraneous information (Tversky & Kahneman, 1974). The PID-5 contains the following four response scale anchors: 1) very false or often false, 2) sometimes or somewhat false, 3) sometimes or somewhat true, and 4) very true or often true. Of the 220 items that comprise the PID-5, 46 contain the words sometimes, often, or very (e.g. “sometimes you need to exaggerate to get ahead”) which could potentially bias respondents towards the response anchors containing the same words. This study will investigate whether item-wording biases responses on the PID-5. University undergraduate students (estimated N = 100) will complete the PID-5, and response frequencies on the 46 overlapping PID-5 items will be examined using chi-square and compared to response frequencies on the 174 non-overlapping items. Discussion will address the implication of these findings for clinical practice and future research.

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  Restoration of an invaded riparian zone influences stream macroinvertebrate biomass

  Caitlin Michele Buchheim

  In the Midwest USA many riparian plant communities are heavily invaded by Amur honeysuckle (Lonicera maackii: hereafter honeysuckle), creating a dense canopy over headwater streams. Management practices aim to remove riparian honeysuckle; however, it is not well understood how these practices influence stream ecosystems. In this experiment, honeysuckle was removed from a headwater stream reach with a dense honeysuckle riparian forest. We investigated how this “restoration” activity influenced in-stream macroinvertebrate biomass dynamics compared to a “control” reach where the honeysuckle invasion remained intact. We predicted removal of honeysuckle would (H1) increase overall macroinvertebrate biomass, (H2) increase in detritivore functional feeding group (FFG) biomass. In August-September 2010, honeysuckle was removed along Black Oak Park stream in Centerville-Washington Park District, OH, creating a 150-meter honeysuckle removal reach and an upstream honeysuckle (control) reach. Aquatic macroinvertebrates were collected with a Surber sampler monthly from August 2010 to December 2014 within both reaches (n = 5/reach) and identified to genus when possible. Macroinvertebrate body metrics were measured with a micrometer using Image J software. Macroinvertebrate biomass (i.e. standing stock biomass) was estimated for each taxon and FFG using length-mass allometric equations. Preliminary analyses indicated honeysuckle removal did not significantly influence macroinvertebrate biomass; although, there was a clear pattern of increased biomass in the removal reach. Collector-filterer and the collector-gatherer FFG comprised the greatest overall biomass in both reaches. These preliminary results suggest removal of Amur honeysuckle impacts the overall aquatic macroinvertebrate biomass, potentially influencing the flow of energy within the stream food web.

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  Revealing Evolutionary Mechanisms by Mapping Pigmentation Character States and Developmental Mechanisms onto a Resolved Fruit Fly Phylogenetic Tree

  Abigail M Groszkiewicz, Jesse T Hughes

  Since the origin of the 36 recognized animal phyla over 500 million years ago, subsequent evolution can be largely summarized as the diversification of physiological, behavioral, and morphological characteristics among these original 36 body plans. Diversification continues to this day and can be seen in humans as differences in coloration, lactose metabolism, and energy storage in fat tissue. As all animal characteristics are products of development, a key challenge for contemporary research is to reveal the ways in which development evolves through changes in the uses of genes. To meet this challenge, investigations must prioritize characteristics: that have recently evolved, the direction of character evolution is known, and for which the underlying genes can be studied by modern genetic manipulations. One ideal trait is the diverse coloration patterns observed on the abdominal tergites of fruit fly species from the Sophophora subgenus. Prior research has supported a scenario where melanic pigmentation limited to the male abdomen evolved once within this clade through the evolution of a sexually dimorphic pattern of expression for the bric-à-brac transcription factor genes. My research challenges this scenario by looking at the patterns of pigmentation on the abdomens of species representing the diverse Sophophora species groups and interrogating the patterns of bric-à-brac expression during the development of the abdominal tergites. Success in this work will advance the fruit fly pigmentation model as exemplar of how diversity evolves through the re-working of developmental mechanisms.

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  Review of Physical Rigging to Skeleton Driven Animation

  Matthew R Labadie

  Computer animation is a growing field that impacts multiple industries. From entertainment to research, it is becoming more and more important to have quick and efficient techniques which can produce reliable and accurate results. One way to approach this issue is to experiment with how 3D models are matched to skeletons. These skeletons are responsible for ultimately animating the model and thus impact the effectiveness of the animation. While an appreciable knowledge of computer science is required for such a task, it may come as a surprise to find that physical concepts have helped research groups further this effort. This paper will discuss such efforts in a manner that will be approachable by many but also offer insights into the physical concepts one might be lacking in a computer science background.

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  Rewriting the textbooks: evidence of co-limitation by macro and micronutrients

  Kiersten P Angelos, Megan M Bollheimer, Madison J Dembinski, Amanda N Finke, Kaitlin M Gawkins, Shania E Hurst, Madeline R Norman, Ryan W Reihart, Mackenzie E Ryan

  Little is known about the relative importance of factors that structure insect communities in grassland ecosystems. Macronutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, are known limiting factors in these ecosystems. Micronutrients, such as calcium, potassium, and sodium, may also be important limiting factors; however, few experiments have been done to provide evidence of their limiting effects. We are determining how micronutrients in the soil affect the insect communities in grasslands. We manipulated nitrogen and phosphorous, calcium, potassium, and sodium in every possible combination in the soil in a coastal tallgrass prairie in Texas. There were sixteen total treatments and each was replicated eight times. Insects were sampled by sweep netting and the relative abundance of insects, currently identified to order, was estimated. We also measured soil characteristics (pH, conductivity, soil moisture, the percentage of roots and root moisture). We that macronutrients actually had few effects on insect orders, but micronutrients had more, stronger effects on certain groups. Most interestingly, most orders were co-limited by nitrogen, phosphorus and sodium, a finding that has been hypothesized, but seldomly shown. These results stress a need to consider that more animals may be co-limited by combinations of macro- and micro-nutrients, and this is an extremely important implication in ecology that has been focused on just the role of macronutrients.

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  Rocket Technology and Enabling Well-Stirred Combustion

  Erin E Peiffer

  Nearly 3 billion people in the world use biomass stoves for cooking and heating their homes. Due to incomplete combustion, toxic byproducts such as soot, nitrous oxides and carbon monoxide (CO) gasses form. These toxic substances contribute to pollution and can lead to serious health issues over time if inhaled leading to approximately 4 million premature deaths each year. The formation of these toxic substances can be mitigated, in large part, by optimizing the combustion process. This optimization can be achieved, in part, through the introduction of increased turbulence intensity allowing for the so-called “well-stirred combustion regime”. Here we will be exploring the health, environmental, and social effects of biomass combustion in the developing world, the benefits of rocket technology for cooking and agricultural purposes, and the potential implementation of well-stirred combustion regimes to further improve upon this technology.