Stander Symposium Projects

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  Dynamic Holography using Photorefractive Materials: Applications to 3D Visualization and Image Processing

  Akash Kota Kota

  Digital holography (DH) has many applications in science and engineering, especially in the recreation and display of 3D images of objects. DH is able to reconstruct the three-dimensional surface by processing holographic data recorded on a charge coupled device (CCD). Holographic data can also be recorded in a photorefractive (PR) material. In fact, dynamic real-time holographic interferometry (RHI) can be implemented by using PR materials. To implement RHI using PR materials, two beams, one called a pump and one called the object beam are introduced onto a PR material to write the hologram of the object. During the hologram writing process, these beams can couple in intensity and/or phase which thereafter are responsible for self-diffraction of these incident beams, and can also give rise to Bragg and non-Bragg orders. In this work, the exact solutions to the interaction equations of Bragg and non-Bragg orders in a PR material for the case of interacting angular spectra are obtained by numerically solving them in MATLAB©. An iron doped lithium niobate crystal is used as an example of a PR material and an incident wavelength of 514 nm is assumed. Experimentally, it has been observed that when the angle between the two incident beams is small, typically a few degrees, multiple non-Bragg orders are generated. For numerical simulations, only the interactions between the spectra of two incident optical beams (Bragg orders) and two non-Bragg orders are considered. Different beam profiles such as Gaussian and flat-tops are considered as incident beams and the spatial evolution of both Bragg and non-Bragg orders as well as their relative phase shifts are numerically obtained.

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  Effect of Combination Ice and Compression Socks on Resting Calf Blood Flow in Trained Male Athletes

  Michael J. Hudock

  Compression socks are common tools that are utilized in the realm of athletics. The purpose of the compression is to increase blood flow to the lower extremities, thereby increasing oxygen and energy sources needed for increased skeletal muscle function and/or recovery. Recently, a product has been marketed that combines the compression element and cryotherapy, with the goal being increased blood flow to the lower extremities while reducing inflammation post-workout to quicken recovery. However, to our knowledge, direct measures of blood flow using this type of product have not been performed. Thus, this study looks at the effects of compression with and without cryotherapy (e.g. icing) on the blood flow of trained male athletes. The hypothesis was that compression would increase blood flow, ice would reduce it, and a combination of both would produce an intermediate result. The present results indicate that compression, alone or in combination with ice, does not increase CBF as measured by venous occlusion plethysmograph, at rest in trained males. Furthermore, CBF was not attenuated during the ice alone condition. Taken together, the marketed effects of this product are questioned in the present experimental setup.

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  Effects of Acute Stress and Ethanol Consumption on IL-1β in Female Long Evans Rats: A Pilot Study

  Kristin Rose Creel

  Background: Acute stress may elicit many physiological, behavioral, and neuropathological responses, and studies aim to better our understanding of these responses and their effects on human behavior. However, a majority of preclinical studies that involve Long Evans rats are currently using male test subjects. This study thus aims to evaluate the physiological response of interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β) to various acute stressors in adult and adolescent female Long Evans rats. Methods: Female Long Evans rats were exposed to three acute stressors over the course of three consecutive days. In order, these stressors were Swim Stress (SS), Open Field with High Light (OF-HL), and Predator Odor (PO). Plasma samples were collected both prior to and following each stressor, and IL-1β levels were measured using a 96-well ELISA. For the two weeks that followed, EtOH self administration was assessed in an intermittent access two-bottle choice design, followed by a final measure of IL-1β levels. Results: No significant difference was found between the pre-stress and post-stress levels of IL-1β for any of the acute stressors. However, the general trend of our data suggests that IL-1β levels decreased following the stressor for both adult and adolescent subjects. IL-1β levels were also lower at final measure than compared to pre-stress baseline, suggesting that ethanol consumption may impact basal levels of IL-1β. Conclusion: The goal of this pilot study was to assess the physiological reactivity of female rats to various acute stressors with the hope of finding behaviorally meaningful stressors that allow us to further study the neurobiological substrates of anxiety-like behavior, stress, and ethanol consumption. Though these data are preliminary and would require further replication, they do suggest that acute stress and alcohol consumption may decrease IL-1β levels. Future studies will assess how IL-1β is affected by chronic stress in female subjects.

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  Effects of Body Weight Loading on Arch Height

  Anastasia Bjelopetrovich

  Foot functionality is integral to normal human locomotion. The most commonly assessed area of the human body studied during locomotion is the medial longitudinal arch and its deformation. The Arch Height Index Measurement System (AHIMS) is the most reliable tool to measure this arch. This system typically measures arch deformation in two baseline conditions, sitting and standing. The sitting condition is considered unweighted and approximately 10% of a person’s body weight. The standing condition is considered a loaded condition and represents 50% of body weight. The first aim of this study was to see if the baseline measurements traditionally taken with the AHIMS were valid assessments of their perspective body weight conditions. The second aim was to characterize the body weight load and arch deformation relationship. This study used the AHIMS to replicate loaded body weight conditions during gait, from 10-120% of a subject’s body weight. The subjects’ arch height was measured at twelve different body weight measurements of 10% increments (10-120%) using a real-time force data stream. The subjects were also loaded with a weighted vest that contained 20% of their body weight in order to aid them in achieving the higher loads of weight. Their arch deformation was recorded at all 12 conditions. The results will further the understanding of how the foot and specifically the arch change during ambulation.

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  Effects of single-dose dietary nitrate on oxygen consumption during and after maximal exercise in healthy humans

  Genevieve M Kocoloski

  Dietary nitrate (NO3-) has been shown to impact oxygen consumption (VO2) as well as exercise performance in a number of prior studies. To date, previous investigations have observed NO3- effects at moderate to high-intensity (e.g. time to fatigue, time trials) exercise and often in trained athletes. However, less is known in regards to maximal and prolonged exercise and the potential impact of NO3- on post-exercise excess oxygen consumption (EPOC), particularly in untrained individuals. Here, we tested the hypothesis that acute dietary nitrate supplementation would attenuate VO2 during and following cycle ergometry at maximal efforts. Six young, moderately active, healthy males (age: 26±2 years, body mass index: 23.5±0.5 kg/m2; VO2max: 37.7±5.1 ml/kg/min) performed step-wise maximal cycle exercise (8±1 min) in control (anti-bacterial mouthwash) and acute NO3- supplemented conditions [70ml concentrated beet root juice (0.4g NO3-), 2 hrs prior to exercise] on separate occasions. Measurements of VO2 (indirect calorimetry), arterial blood pressure (MAP; sphygmomanometry), and heart rate (HR; ECG) were made for 45 min prior, during, and 60 min following exercise bouts. NO3- reduced MAP at rest ~1-3mmHg and this was accompanied by reflex-mediated HR increases (2-4 bpm). Additionally, NO3- slighty attenuated VO2 max during exercise (Ctrl: 30.9±3.4 ml/kg/min vs NO3-: 29.4±3.2/kg/min) and post exercise energy expenditure (Ctrl: 112.9±22.1 kcal/min vs NO3-: 94.1±15.7 kcal/min). While NO3- supplementation may have performance benefits, especially in elite athletes exercising at high intensities, it would not be an ideal choice of a supplement to aid in weight loss and increased energy expenditure.

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  Electrical Characterization of Tungsten Oxide Based Memristor for Improved Resistive Switching

  Ayesha Zaman

  Memristor,the forth fundamental circuit element, has opened new phase in the realm of thin film semiconducting device. The non-volatility of memristors, used as Resistive switching RAM, is promising for applications such as DRAM, hard disks etc. The implementation of a memristor device with Tungsten Oxide (WOx) is presented in this work. The presentation addresses fundamental electrical characterization of the memristor devices for their switching performance. Resistive switching in WOx is bipolar in nature. The Pd/WOx/W made memristors become more conductive (resistive) when applied with a positive (negative) bias voltage. The conductance or resistance change is controlled by the re-distribution of oxygen vacancies (VOx) within the WOx film creating or removing conductive regions between the two electrodes. Here switching is analog type that refers to the incremental modulation of the device conductance. As a result the total change of resistance within the device goes higher which is in the range of 100. With the practical implementation of the suggested work we will be able to fabricate memristor devices with faster switching capability. Such Tungsten oxide based memristor provides better switching, assures non-volatile memory effect and also gives precise analog nature of a memory device for advanced neuromorphic application.

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  Encounter and Kinship: Lessons from the Marianist Universities LA Immersion

  Elizabeth A. Abrams, Timothy K. Fasano, Brandon Paluch, Kristine T. Perez

  Campus Ministry panel discussion: Students from all three Marianist Universities (Chaminade in Honolulu, St. Mary’s in San Antonio and the University of Dayton) lived together in community for a week in Los Angeles, learning about its cultural richness as well as issues of poverty, homelessness, immigration and criminal justice. They served on Skid Row, at a domestic violence shelter and urban Catholic schools, praying and reflecting on how to be leaders advancing social justice in the Marianist spirit. Hear what lessons they learned about encounter and kinship.

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  Evaluation of Mammalian Stress and Inflammatory Response to a Novel Porphyrin

  Thomas L. Bennett

  Porphyrins are a specific class of aromatic, heterocyclic compounds that are either naturally occurring or artificially synthesized. Porphyrins have demonstrated robust antibacterial properties, which arise from the generation of singlet oxygen. However, most porphyrins are photodynamic, meaning they require activation by light at an optimal wavelength. A novel porphyrin, developed by Dr. Shawn Swavey (UD Chemistry Department) has shown exceptional antibacterial efficiency against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, even without photoactivation. As P. aeruginosa infections are often the root cause behind lung diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, identifying a way to safely control bacterial presence is a major concern. The ability of this novel porphyrin to effectively work in the dark identified this molecule as belonging to the rare group of porphyrins that hold potential for lung therapeutics. Therefore, this project evaluated the response of human lung co-culture model following exposure to the synthesized porphyrin. The lung co- culture was comprised of A549 epithelial and U937 macrophage cells, thereby allowing for the detection of inflammatory responses, in addition to cellular viability and stress induction. The viability of the lung co-culture model was assessed after a 24 hour exposure to the porphyrin at multiple concentrations, with no induction of cellular death identified. Looking beyond toxicity, the stress and inflammatory responses were investigated through evaluation of reaction oxygen species (ROS) levels and secretion of target cytokines, respectively. Taken together, these results will help support the development of novel porphyrins for lung therapeutics through determination of their safety within enhanced mammalian models.

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  Examining Factors Associated with High Leadership Self-Efficacy Among International Women College Students in the U.S.

  Chanel M. Winston

  Leadership self-efficacy is an area of self-efficacy related to the level of confidence one has in his or her knowledge, skills, and abilities to lead others (Bandura, 1997). When leadership self- efficacy is placed within the context of student development, it has the ability to contribute to or negate from a student’s motivation to persist and succeed in leadership associated tasks (Bandura, 1993; Stage, 1996). The goal of this research is to explore how international female undergraduate students perceive their leadership abilities in relation to their personally constructed definition of leadership. Through qualitative interviews with six international female undergraduate students, this research identifies specific experiences that contribute to their leadership self -efficacy. Common themes associated with high leadership self-efficacy are pre-college leadership experiences, on campus involvement, and overall self-confidence.

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  Fall Risk Assessment of Older Adults with Dementia Attending Goodwill Easter Seals Adult Day Services Programs

  Jamie L. Wynk

  Older adults with dementia are at an increased risk for falls. However, little is known about what specific factors increase fall risk in this population. The purpose of this study was to assess performance based fall risk factors among older adults with dementia who attend day service programs in the Miami Valley so that more specific interventions can be designed to reduce future falls. To be included in this study, participants had to attend Goodwill Easter Seals Adult Day Service and have a diagnosis of dementia. There were 19 participants in this study (8 male) with an average age of 72 years old (ranged 64-86 years old). Participants were assessed for cognitive function by using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Testing also included gait speed, the Timed Up and Go test, a 30-second sit to stand test, and a grip strength test. The average MoCA score (16 points) was consistent with MoCA scores for the cognitively impaired or Alzheimer’s population. MoCA scores ranged greatly (0-29 points) signifying a wide range of cognitive abilities among this population. Participants scored lower than published age matched normative values for each measure, signifying an increase in fall risk by each parameter. In the future, an intervention should be designed that can be easily implemented in day service programs with an emphasis on targeting the strength of large anti-gravity muscles of the lower limbs and trunk.

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  Family Structure and Media Influences on Juvenile Delinquency

  Charles Edward Rice

  Although, in recent years, overall juvenile delinquency rates in the United States have fallen, juvenile delinquency remains a concern in today’s society. To quote a famous song, “…Children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way...” Throughout history, the family has been the corner stone in the education of our youth. Children learn a great deal about who they are and their place in society from the family unit. The structure of the family has changed drastically in the last 50 years. The once valued structure of mother, father and children is now accompanied by a myriad of alternative parental architypes. How does the family structure influence juveniles, does the structure of the family play a role in the delinquency of juveniles? Also, having a great influence on today’s youth is modern media. Have movies, the internet, video games and social media negatively influenced our youth and contributed to juvenile delinquency? The family, no matter how it is structured, is still the key stabilizing factor in the life of our youth. It is imperative that we exercise due diligence in protecting and nurturing our youth. The family structure and modern media might be one of many factors influencing juvenile delinquency. However, examination of these two factors seem to hold the greatest promise for the further reduction of juvenile delinquency.

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  Finding Physicians Fast: Making finding a doctor easier for ESL students

  Katherine J. Gross, Marissa Christine Jama, Charles Conner Yancey

  In the realm of healthcare, it is often difficult to decipher how to locate personal and primary physicians. Those living in the United States are familiar with the role of family care physicians, however, individuals who have immigrated to the U.S. may not fully understand how to find a family physician. The topic of family physicians is important because many other countries do not have primary care physicians that require appointments. For our project, we took two documents that tested at a reading level of 12th grade. We did this by testing the original documents with the SMOG test and the Flesch-Kincaid Test. The SMOG test was performed manually and evaluated the documents’ sentence structure and individual word syllables. The Flesch-Kincaid Test was performed via the program Word and measured the documents’ average reading level. We then presented this document to students in the Level 2 Intensive English Program (IEP) at the University of Dayton to gauge how readable our revised document was. In addition to lowering the level of the vocabulary, we provided the students with a visual step-by-step guide outlining the process of finding a family physician in America. The processes included routes that the individual can take to find a physician if they do possess health insurance or if they do not possess health insurance. Through several meetings with the IEP students we were able to obtain feedback as to how to improve the quality of our document. By lowering the readability level of our documents to a 6th grade level, we made the information of locating a primary care physician in the Dayton area to these students.

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  Frame Redundancy Elimination Technology for Big Data Analysis

  ALmabrok Essa Essa, Sidike Paheding, Daniel P Prince

  Rapid advances in the area of sensor technology have enabled the use of video acquisition systems to create large datasets for analysis. However, processing big data requires extensive effort for human analysts. On the other hand, it is observed that many data, such as high-frame rate video, contain redundancy that cause extra work for analysis. Therefore, there is a need to develop an automated frame selection technique to reduce work load. In this research, we develop a method that can extract the most important and meaningful video frames from a large amount of data, while removing the insignificant ones to ease further analysis. These key frames can be selected based on the statistical analysis such as computing the mean and variance among a set of frames or between subsequent frames. We believe this technology benefits the computational performance of many real-world data processing systems, especially in current big data problems.

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  Fundamentally Based Portfolio Weighting Models: A Multi-Factor Approach

  John P Klingler

  Over the last decade, based on the pioneering work of Rob Arnott, a growing number of investment managers are now using fundamental indicators to determine portfolio weights for stocks within exchange traded funds (ETFs). In this study I use fundamental metrics to evaluate the performance of three sector ETFs. In addition, I test the efficacy of using a concentrated portfolio of stocks for each sector as a proxy for total sector performance. The sector ETFs included in the study are consumer staples, consumer discretionary, and health care. The fundamental metrics used are Price to Book, Price to Sales, Price to Cash Flow, Price to Earnings and expected earnings per share growth one year ahead. The year of analysis is 2014.

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  Get in the Box: The Impact of Male Socialization and its Relation to Conformity Among College Football Players

  Vet A Smelko

  Masculinity is a social construct that allows all men to use their manliness as status symbol. Often times, men who have a narrow definition of masculinity will see it as a competition where they must conform to societal norms of traditional manliness in order to prove their worth among their peers, teammates, or other men in general. In turn, this does not allow many men to develop a genuine and authentic sense of self. This study was distributed to the entire varsity football, which consist of 96 players ranging from freshman to fifth year seniors. Using quantitative data from the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory, this study illustrates that the rate of conformity to masculine norms among college football players at a Division 1 non-scholarship, religiously affiliated institution. The conformity is based upon a player’s prior socialization experiences, athletic identity, and their ability to make meaning within a college environment. The data represented show that as a whole, college football players at the division one non-scholarship level have a high rate of conformity in regards to traditional forms of masculinity. Specifically the data show the highest ratings of conformity among college football players who have a defensive position, and are first or second year student-athletes.

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  Ghetto University: A Critical Analysis of a Word's Power in a Community

  Amanda Jean Dee

  I am investigating the contexts that shape a name or symbol and how that name establishes, counters, and/or reinforces power within a community. This name is “The Ghetto,” the name ubiquitously used by outside media outlets and University of Dayton students, alumni, and some of its faculty and administrative staff to describe the university-owned student neighborhood, until questions of the name’s use began to gain widespread traction on public platforms and in conversation during the 2014-16 academic years. Partially as a result of a community collaborative art exhibition, GHETTO, and columns addressing the name in the student newspaper, Flyer News, debate over the word has ignited across campus and beyond. A conversation about race underlies this debate, which I hope to capture to start a dialogue. Based on voices of university and city community members from public platforms and original interviews in tandem with comparative cases at other universities and in pop culture, I will offer an analysis of this moment of discourse from a critical perspective. This is not the end of this study on “ghetto,” but rather a starting point—a case study—which will hopefully serve as a resource for others at the University of Dayton and other universities and studies broaching similar documentations and critical analyses of the power of language in our social lives.

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  Greek Life and Catholic Universities: Do the Values of Greek Life Match with Those of the Catholic Church?

  John A. Goebel

  Greek Life organizations face many negative stipulations across the United States due to several allegations of disrespectful actions. Due to these negative actions, there are Catholic institutions across the United States that do not allow Greek Life organizations on their respective campus. Such reasons Catholic institutions give is that Greek Life is not needed on campus for students to live out Catholic values. Instead, students have service, special interest and sports clubs to join to live out Catholic values. As a student apart of Greek Life on the University of Dayton’s campus feel that the values between Greek life and the Marianist match up. If Greek life can encourage members to live out their catholic values at Dayton, then why is their trouble on campuses such as the University of Notre Dame to accept Greek life? I used a data and statistical approach to understand the amount of Catholic institutions that accept Greek Life. I discovered there are many institutions that find Greek Life valuable to living out Catholic Values. In this presentation, I am comparing the schools that accept to those that don’t accept Greek Life. Secondly, I am explaining the reasons why and why not Greek Life is acceptable on Catholic campuses. Lastly, I am covering the survey answers from University of Dayton graduate and undergraduate students.

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  Honor's Thesis Proposal: Effects of Tactile versus Electronic Games on Attention, Distraction, and Understanding

  Samantha A. Malick

  The ability to attend to relevant information and resist attention to distractors is important for children’s cognitive development. Difficulties with attention can impede memory development and impact learning. Much has been written in the news about the impact of electronic media on children’s development of attention skills, but little research has been done explicitly comparing children’s attention to relevant information and resistance to distractions across activities that are presented in either tactile or electronic format. The goal of this study is to compare levels of attention and distraction among preschool-aged children while they engage in a common childhood activity, playing a board game, which is either presented in an electronic or tactile format. Also, comparing children’s basic understanding of the game across conditions will provide information on whether tactile or electronic games are more beneficial for children to get the most out of the task. Previous research is mixed on the potential benefits of electronic activities compared to tactile versions. One recent study suggested that the use of electronic media increases attention problems while decreasing executive function skills, but that it improves visual attention (Swing, 2013). Recent research also indicates that interactive websites appear to have many benefits for learning, but there is little empirical evidence to show media is more effective for learning as opposed to other types of instruction (Schmidt & Vandewater, 2008). Therefore, I hypothesize that while children’s visual attention to the game may be greater while playing the electronic game, the use of tactile pieces and the tactile game itself may serve as an interactive way to boost understanding. Therefore, I hypothesize that children will have a greater understanding of the game when it is a tactile board game. I will observe 10-20 families playing either the tactile or electronic version of Linear Numbers Board Game (Siegler & Ramani, 2009). Children’s attention, distraction, and understanding will be coded by the experimenter to determine how tactile and electronic games affect these skills.

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  Hours Worked and Earnings: A Closer Look At Demand Pull Effects on Inflation

  Luke A Bir, Evan J Schatz

  Federal Reserve Economists consider average hours worked and average hourly earnings as key factors in explaining inflation trends. In this study, we look at the trends in hours worked and average hourly earnings from 2006-2015. We also look at the period 2009-2015 to see if the hours worked and earnings trends have materially changed after the 2008 recession. Demand pull effects are evident in both hours worked and earnings if they exhibit upward trend patterns. Using linear trend equations, we hypothesize that if the b coefficients are >0 demand pull inflation forces are at work in the economy. A flat or downward sloping trend line i.e. (b=0 or b<0) would indicate that demand pull inflation effects, at the margin, do not exist.

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  (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction With my College Major: Impact of Motivation to Choose a College Major on First-Year Students’ Satisfaction and Sense of Belonging

  Andrew J Morrow

  Social norms, parental desires, peer influence, and money. Some students resort to these extrinsic motivations to choose their major, while ideally, students should be utilizing intrinsic motivations to inform their decisions. Choosing a major can be a difficult process for first-year students, as the complex and stressful decision influences a multitude of future implications. This study connects the motivations first-year students at the University of Dayton used to choose a major to their self-identified satisfaction and sense of belonging as they approach their sophomore year. Findings provide a glimpse into the procedures that first-year UD students prioritized and how their satisfaction and sense of belonging has been affected while at the institution due to choice of academic program. Satisfaction and sense of belonging are integral to understand further due to the retention and persistence consequences for student and institution. Attendees will walk away from this poster presentation with a framework for understanding the research and strategies for advising students who are embarking on, or inundated in, the multifaceted processes of choosing a major.

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  Identification of English Learners as Gifted Students

  Riley Catherine Weber

  The United States educational system has faced several challenges and reforms regarding assessment and identification in the past fifty years which continue to change as the nation develops new goals and needs (Giuliani & Pierangelo 2012). In recent years, schools have included a large population of immigrant students from families with native languages other than English (Carter 2005). The need for educating students in English as a second language has led to new policies and programs developed specifically for ELL or English Language Learners (Elizalde-Utnick 2008). Another current topic of educational policy concerns the emphasis on assessment and high-stakes testing. In 2004, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, IDEA, provided legal rights and expectations for special education students which includes students with learning disabilities; however, English Language Learners are not covered under IDEA unless they are identified with a learning disability. IDEA also does not cover the rights of students who qualify for gifted and talented programs, even though students who qualify for these programs require a form of specialized education. Due to these recent educational initiatives, this research study will focus on how the assessment of English Language Learners impacts their identification and placement in gifted and talented programs. This is a current topic to research because most studies have focused on the overrepresentation of English Language Learners as learning disabled or the misidentification of students of color in learning disabled programs. However, some case studies and other forms of research have considered the underrepresentation of ELL in gifted and talented programs and whether or not students learning English as a second language can be successful in gifted and talented programs. For this Honors Thesis, the research questions include: What are the most appropriate and effective assessments to accurately identify gifted and talented English Language Learners? Are there appropriate accommodations for ELL that may assist in their identification and success as gifted and talented?

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  Identification of Potential AcrAB-TolC Efflux Pump Inhibitors in Escherichia coli using an Ethidium Bromide Method.

  Tyler Thomas Mack

  Many bacteria are known to exhibit antibiotic resistance through overexpression of efflux pumps. In this experiment, inhibition of a bacterial efflux pump through the physical binding of small molecule inhibitor compounds was explored as a way to combat substrate expulsion. The TolC protomer of the AcrAB-TolC efflux pump in Escherichia coli was targeted in a virtual screen for novel small molecule inhibitor compounds. PyRx AutoDock Vina was used to virtually dock the various small molecules to the TolC protein and rank the compounds based on favorable binding energies. Five lead-compounds from the virtual screen were ultimately selected for in vivo efflux testing with and without prolonged incubation of the bacterial cells with the test compounds. Efflux activity was monitored using an ethidium bromide substrate to determine the relative extent of inhibition. Results showed little to no effect on efflux activity unless the bacterial cells were cultured with the test compound for an overnight incubation. Bacteria with prolonged compound incubation displayed significantly decreased efflux activity for several small molecule compounds that were tested. These findings suggest that efflux pump inhibition should be focused mainly on halting underlying synthesis and assembly mechanisms rather than hindering the functionality of the pump.

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  Image Interpolation Using Fourier Phase Features

  Evan W Krieger, Sidike Paheding

  Image interpolation has been widely used for enhancing spatial resolution of the input images. Generally, the spatial resolution enhancement techniques are categorized into single frame and multiple frame super resolution. Multi-frame super resolution techniques use a set of low resolution frames, while single image super resolution only requires one single input to reconstruct a high resolution image. In real life applications, single image super resolution is preferred when lacking of multiple frames in the data. In this work, we present a single image interpolation approach for reproducing high frequency missing components of the input low resolution images. The high frequency feature is first extracted in Fourier domain, and then the system is trained to regenerate better pixel values, which contribute to better resolution. We evaluate the method visually and quantitatively using several test images.

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  Imagery Solutions Geospatial Information System (GIS System)

  Jana M. Sztuk, Eric Albert Taglieri, Colin Elliot Wilson

  Imagery Solutions is a small start-up company that specializes in imagery gathering technology using aerial methods for customers who need precise imaging data, such as those in precision agriculture and energy distributing industries. The purpose behind this image gathering functionality is to provide decision oriented information derived from image data. The mission for the company is to have this information come to the customer in a timely, accurate, and relevant way. Open GIS is the established open source application for this process. The task presented to our team is to create a business process for the organization from the point of sale to final delivery of a finished product where the users access this information and recommend an appropriate software package to support this.

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  Increasing Retention in Male Students of Color Through Student Leadership Experiences

  Nakita M. Saxon

  This study explores the implications of leadership experiences on undergraduate male students of color and its impact on their sense of belonging at a private, religious, Predominantly White Institution. Enrollment statistics depict a low retention rate among minority students, especially male students of color identifying as Black, Latino, Asian American, and Pacific Islander. A sense of belonging is a vital component to the academic success of all students, and essential to the experience of multicultural students on Predominately White Institutions. According to researchers, a student’s sense of belonging comes as a result of many different factors. For many students, their leadership experiences cultivate a sense of belonging and stronger connection to the institution. The exploration of involvement and leadership experiences, sense of belonging, and campus climate assist in visualizing the complexities of this problem for male students of color. Through in-depth one-on-one interviews on the lived experiences of male students of color, this research examines the impact of student leadership roles on their collegiate careers. Findings included insight on the interrelated concepts of retention, campus climate, sense of belonging, and servant leadership for the participants of this study. As expected, students are impacted by the university's faculty and staff but are also heavily influenced by their peers and the leadership opportunities as they engage in student organizations on campus. Recommendations will allow both faculty and staff to identify the benefits of cultivating environments where male students of color are encouraged to seek out and actively participate in student leadership roles on campus where they feel their differences are welcomed, valued and supported.