Stander Symposium Projects

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  Gifted Education: How Does it Look in the 21st Century?

  Carly Joan Olson

  Gifted education is an approach designed to provide students who have been identified as “gifted and talented” with more opportunities to grow and challenge themselves. What these programs look like varies from school to school, with little consistency. The results of this are that children within the program have vastly different experiences and opportunities depending on what their school has in place for gifted students. This review examines the gifted education system as it stands in the 21st century in U.S. schools including the selection processes, requirements for teacher training, impact on students, and evidence of inequality within the system.

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  Growing Radicle: Growing native plant seedlings for changing landscapes

  Madelyn Clare Moore

  In the wake of great anthropogenic change in the landscape across eastern North America, there is a need for ecological restoration. The decline of the previously dominant oak forests and the need to protect the understory from persistent invasion are of particular interest. There is a current trend of maples overtaking oaks in overall dominance and regeneration with massive consequences for wildlife diversity and human economic activity. Acorns are a major food source in deciduous North American forests, and maple samaras are not an adequate replacement. Beyond the issue of oaks, forest understories are heavily overrun by invasive honeysuckle. Even after its removal, honeysuckle tends to return to its previously invaded sites. It is thought that removing honeysuckle and then filling its niche space with native species may prevent it from reestablishing itself. Ohio buckeye, paw paw, and spicebush are all native understory inhabitants that could protect understories from reinvasion. Paw paw and spicebush have the added benefit of being resistant to deer herbivory. With these issues in mind, the goal of this project is to start up a native sapling repository for key woody species for use in future restoration projects. This project is based in Ginny’s Garden Greenhouse at the University of Dayton and involves seed collection, germination, and sapling management. Native oak species include bur oak, red oak, chinkapin oak, and pin oak. Other species involved include Ohio buckeye, paw paw, and spicebush, with the potential to expand the number of species in the fall. In the future, we may work to collect, germinate, and grow saplings from ancient oaks to further their successful genetics. There is also the potential for experimentation involving sapling success in differing soil qualities and assessing the root systems of saplings grown in differing container sizes.

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  Handheld Packaged Photonic Sensor for Chem-Bio Sensing

  Noelle Elizabeth Boltz

  Silicon semiconductor chips utilizing label-free optical methods can achieve multiplexed sensing of multiple biomarkers of several potential cancers, infections and diseases in a single measurement in real time with a few microliters of sample fluid. However, commercial benchtop optical instruments are often prohibitively expensive, hindering global adoption. The sensors offer high specificity detection down to sub-nanogram levels, enabling early diagnosis of cancers, infectious diseases, and pollutants. Combined with affordable instruments and silicon photonic chips, they could transform global rapid testing, even in remote, low-resource settings. To further facilitate its global application, this project has been focused on designing a compact, durable packaging solution that enables the sensor-equipped device to be easily integrated into testing stations. This design includes internal mechanisms that swiftly direct fluid samples across the photonic chip, enhancing the device's practicality and shipping feasibility to diverse regions.

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  Harmony & Temperance: Gandhi’s Vision of Health and the Influence of Alcohol

  Andres Ignacio Umpierre

  What is nonviolence — a concept, a mode of protest, a practice for modern living? This poster explores the ways in which nonviolence has been historically interpreted as "ahimsa," "beloved community," and as a way for practical and ethical thinking in our modern lives. We highlight the role of nonviolence as method and practice in historical and contemporary global instances that range from the farm workers movement, anti-nuclear protests, environmental green politics, and Dalit and Black actions towards representation.

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  Having a Father Figure in the Home and its Effects on Juvenile Delinquency

  Michael W. Macdonald, Andrew J. Stevens

  In this study we look at the effects of having a father figure in the home and how that can deter juvenile delinquency. We used the Pathways to Desistance data to look at a multitude of factors that contribute to juvenile delinquency which include frequency of offending, having a father figure in the home, domains of social support for the family, depression of the juvenile, anxiety of the juvenile, gender of the juvenile, ethnicity of the juvenile, the mother's current job, and the age at first offense of the juvenile. We recoded some of these variables and ran a negative binomial regression to see whether they had a significant effect on the frequency of offending amongst juveniles.

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  Healthcare Barriers in Honduras

  Andie Marie Lang, Grace Marie Schneider, Oluwayemisi Omobonike Tayo-Ayorinde

  In the United States, healthcare is provided through a combination of private insurance, public government programs (e.g. Medicaid and Medicare), and out-of-pocket payments (Commonwealth Fund 2020). However, the Honduran healthcare system is provided by the Ministry of Health and funded by the government through the NHS (National Healthcare System), which aims to provide equal access to medical services to its citizens (Global Financial Security 2023). While this may seem like an ideal institution, it is estimated that almost 20% of the country lacks access to healthcare services (International Health Partners 2023). In the NHS system, basic healthcare is free, but families are responsible for their loved one's advanced medical care (e.g., non-life saving procedures, medications, palliative and hospice care), meals, and other additional costs making healthcare unaffordable for most individuals (Etheridge 2023). Additionally, many rural Honduran communities encounter other barriers including long travel times/distances, availability of transportation, inability to take time off work, lack of alternative childcare, and even that they are too ill to travel at all. Almost half of the country lives below the poverty line, struggling to live on less than $5.50 a day, and more than 25% of the population is in extreme poverty (International Health Partners 2023). Furthermore, there is a limited presence of health personnel in the country, with only 0.3 physicians existing per 1,000 people, compared to the UK’s figure of 5.8 (International Health Partners 2023). Access to healthcare for rural Hondurans is commonly made possible through international relief efforts by organizations such as Americares and Global Brigades.This poster aims to evaluate the primary barriers to healthcare access, the effect lack of access to care has on Honduras’ population, and the international aid initiatives that attempt to enhance healthcare in Honduras.

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  Hegemony in the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-Day Saints: Discursive Formations in Cults

  Sophia Hollins, Mary Kate Kelty, Mark Martino

  Rhetoric drawing on religious stories, ideals, concepts, and experiences surround us in our daily lives. These posters represent a sampling of the rhetorical analyses conducted by students from CMM 357 Religious Rhetoric throughout the Spring 2024 semester. Groups presented several themed reports prior to Stander and picked one to showcase at the symposium.

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  Herbicidal-induced effects in rivulus mangrove killifish, Kryptolebias marmoratus.

  Lauren Elizabeth Corrigan

  Glyphosate, a key ingredient in roundup, has been increasingly present in aquatic systems due to agricultural runoff. High doses of this toxin causes defects in organisms due to its ability to disrupt physiological processes as an endocrine disruptor. To evaluate the effects of glyphosate on non-target species in aquatic environments, I used the mangrove rivulus fish (Kryptolebias marmoratus). They are self-fertilizing amphibious hermaphrodites with the ability to escape water in times of poor quality. These fish produce genetically identical offspring, so we can look at how variation in toxicant exposure alters phenotypes across genetically identical fish. Newly hatched larvae were treated for 96 hours with three different concentrations of glyphosate: control (0mg/L), environmentally relevant (.01 mg/L), and high (1 mg/L). Phenotypic traits of behavior, morphology, and reproductive traits were measured. Fish with relevant doses were predicted to show adaptive jumping behavior while deficits in other traits were expected in all glyphosate dosages. We found fish exposed to both high and relevant concentrations showed behavioral deficits. A trend at low doses was observed at the beginning of maturity; however, this did not persist through adulthood. Fish treated with high concentrations had later reproductive deficits. There was no evidence to support the relevant adaptive hypothesis. This study displayed the importance of maintaining healthy ecosystems by providing evidence even relevant concentrations of herbicide may be harmful to aquatic organisms.

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  Here comes the sun: A study of insect ecology during Ohio’s solar power boom

  Grace L. Litavsky, Stephanie Kaitlyn Murray, Joseph W. Reichel, Leen Sawas, Skylar M. Shannon

  As the world’s population and demand for energy continues to increase, we are also experiencing a rapid increase in renewable energy, such as solar power. Ohio is in the midst of a large solar boom, in which many solar fields are converted to something called “solar prairies.” The native, flowering vegetation in a solar prairie is meant to attract pollinators to boost the ecological value of the land. As solar prairies continue to surface in Ohio, we are still facing a large knowledge gap regarding (1) the effects of solar arrays on insects and (2) the best management practices for solar prairie vegetation. To help bridge this first knowledge gap, we are surveying insect communities at newly proposed solar sites before and after solar installation. Many of these proposed sites will be seeded as solar prairies during or following the installation process. Thus far, we have sampled the insect community at Marianist Environmental Education Center (MEEC) once before the installation of their solar array (September 2022), and three times after installation (June, July, and October 2023). We collected insects using pitfall traps (2022: n= 9; 2023: n= 12 per sampling date), pan traps (2022: n= 9; 2023: n= 12 per sampling date), and sweep nets (2022: n= 10; 2023: n= 12 per sampling date). Insects were sorted to order level identification (e.g., bees are of the order Hymenoptera) and we used analyses of variance (ANOVA) and generalized linear models (GLM) to test for differences in insect communities before and after solar installation. Insect abundance increased after installation, while insect diversity decreased. However, we will be following the progression of this solar prairie over time, and expect to see a rebound and increase in insect diversity, as the plant community grows and diversifies.

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  High Precision Partial Object Tracking using Intensity and Depth Data

  Eric G. Smith

  Object and target tracking algorithms often have scenes and objects that they are better utilized for. However, the goal for object tracking algorithms is to be robust enough to be employable in many scenarios with as few disadvantages as possible. This project attempts to leverage open-source object tracking algorithms and combine the tracking performance of each for improved tracking capabilities. This fusion approach is done utilizing OpenCV, an open-source library for real-time computer vision functionality. An image set with objects of interest is used as the data source. The performance of individual trackers will be analyzed and compared to the performance of the fusion approach this project attempts to leverage. The goal of this project is to leverage the capabilities of each tracker and fuse their track results in a way to make up for poor performance in each algorithm individually. The resulting algorithm tracks a part of the object with sub-pixel precision.

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  Hilf Mit! The Role of the German Family and Society in Third Reich Children's Publications

  Siobhan R. Chawk

  This project began as an independent study with the unique opportunity to visit the Miami University Archives to analyze primary sources from Nazi Germany. The research began to develop as themes about the family and society were consistent topics of discussion in the Hilf mit! children’s magazines that were distributed by the National Socialist Teachers League. Each article selected for deeper analysis allowed for a comparison of the wording and messages being conveyed to the target audience of school children ages 10 and older. The poster presentation is a synopsis of the various steps taken in this research process to provide insight on a specific aspect of education in the Third Reich.

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  Hippo, Wnt, and JNK Pathway Interactions in a Drosophila Colorectal Cancer Model

  Michael K. Gruhot, Arushi Rai

  Colorectal cancer (CRC) will be the leading cause of cancer-related deaths for people under the age of 50 by 2030. Due to increased efforts to spread awareness for regular screenings, the five-year relative survival rate for those diagnosed with colon cancer is 64.4% (www.fightcolorectalcancer.org). Treatment for CRC consists primarily of the excision of the tumor paired with regular doses of chemotherapy and radiation therapy. These treatments cause systemic stress, damaging both cancerous and healthy cells alike. In order to create more efficient treatments, first, we must better understand the biology underlying changes in cells that lead to tumors in the colon. The proposed research aims to generate a better understanding of CRC using genetic models in Drosophila. We will specifically study the roles of the Hippo, Wnt, and JNK pathways on tumor formation and metastases in the colon. In order to do this, we have designed one- and three-hit models that disrupt each pathway singly and in combination with each other. These models represent the genetic heterogeneity in cancer patients, as well as represent the three most frequently found genetic lesions (p53, Ras, and APC.). The CRC models in flies will generate patches of cancerous cells in the fly gut (intestine). We will evaluate the CRC models (a) using antibody staining to check pathway activity (JNK, Wg, Hippo) and (b) using antibody staining to determine levels of proliferation and cell death. Overall, our studies will provide a platform for evaluating the effects of the three common genetic lesions in CRC and add to our knowledge about the altered communication between these oncogenes and pathways in CRC.

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  History 495 02 (History Internship class): Four digital humanities projects that connect to a USAID funded Cultural Heritage Project in Iraq

  Charlotte Kane Capuano, Maria Estefania Gomez, Yasmin Amal Nassar, Delos J. Penas-Johnson, Erin Pinto, Katherine Ann Shryock, Robert John Smart, Theodore Patton Vignocchi

  UD students played a vital role in safeguarding the cultural heritage of communities in Iraq through digitization and preservation efforts. They engaged with the urgent mission of securing heritage collections that hold the key to identity, history, and community resilience for religious and ethno-religious minority groups in the cradle of civilization.In this immersive program, they joined an ongoing, on-the-ground project initiated by the Antiquities Coalition (AC), dedicated to preserving the cultural heritage of communities in Iraq through digitization. Partnering with four prominent organizations in Iraq—the Catholic Diocese of Mosul’s Centre Numérique des Manuscrits Orientaux (CNMO), the Syriac Heritage Museum, Sinjar Academy, and Assyrian Aid Society—this project seeks to document, digitize, and make accessible the rich cultural treasures of Iraq to local, regional, and international audiences.

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  Homeschooling: Diverse Methods and Motivations

  Victoria Lee Desomma

  Homeschooling is an educational method where families choose to educate their children at home or in a place that is not a conventional school. People choose to homeschool their children for many different reasons including religion and politics. There are also many different types and styles of homeschooling which families choose to use including unit studies homeschooling, and eclectic homeschooling.

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  Homeschooling: It’s Rise and Appeal

  Alejandro Cazorla Granados

  In the context of its history and traditional perceptions, homeschooling has gone through major changes in the 21st century. This brief literature review highlights different dimensions of modern day homeschooling: the technological advancements, shifts in the socio political environment, and emerging educational philosophies. In this poster one will put together the pieces of the puzzle that is the new homeschooling paradigm.

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  Homeschooling within American Households Post-Pandemic

  Kyle Edward Wood

  Homeschooling as a form of education has undergone many transformations in recent years. The definition of homeschooling itself has become more nuanced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This project focuses on how homeschooling has changed in form and in popularity due to the pandemic and new forms of technology and teaching.

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  House Price Prediction with Deep Learning

  Amira A. Yousif

  The real estate industry relies heavily on accurately predicting the price of a house based on numerous factors such as size, location, amenities, and season. In this study, we explore the use of machine learning techniques for predicting house prices by considering both visual cues and estate attributes. We collected a dataset (REPD-3000) of 3000 houses across 74 cities in the USA and annotated 14 estate attributes and five visual images for each house's exterior, interior-living room, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom. We extracted features from the input images using convolutional neural network (CNN) and fed them along with the estate attributes into a multi-kernel deep learning regression model to predict the house price. Our model outperformed baseline models in extensive experiments, achieving the best result with a mean absolute error (MAE) of 16.60. We compared our model with a multi-kernel support vector regression and analyzed the impact of incorporating individual feature sets. In future, we plan to address class imbalance by having the same number of houses in each class and explore feature engineering for improving the model's performance.

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  Housing stock returns and rising interest rates. Is there an Inverse Correlation?

  Thomas F. Roebker

  The demand for housing is considered to be inversely related to rising interest rates, particularly mortgage rates. In this study, however, I make the assumption that the Federal fund rate is a predictor of a future decline in economic activity which should be reflected in stock returns for the housing sector. I look at four periods of rising Federal Fund Rates spanning the overall period 1999-2023. If the distribution of returns is skewed left, then my assumption holds. If skewed to the right, then it does not hold. I utilized the top 20 stock returns by market capitalization in the housing sector to carry out my analysis.

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  How Beneficial are College Readiness Programs within High Schools?

  Samuel Brooks Wilcox

  College readiness programs are common within high schools across the country. Many believe that they are key in preparing students for the challenges that they will face as they prepare for college. But how effective are they really? This literature review focuses on the impacts of college readiness programs within different high schools and how effective they truly are in preparing students.

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  How Childhood Factors Influence Frequency of Offending

  Shamari Sherre Devance-Dyer, Kenneth J. Smith

  When adolescents commit crimes, rarely is the full environment of the child viewed. The upbringing of children plays a big role in how they act within society as they get older. Some children come from poor parenting styles while other children may come from a stricter parenting style. The importance of parenting styles may reflect the behavior of adolescents. For example, a child may be considered a bully in their school and that can be due to that child possibly being surrounded by violence or abusive behavior in their household. Outside the home, children can experience challenges in the community as well. After school programs and sports have been extremely beneficial to development, and keeping adolescents out of gangs. These activities build life skills while having the ability to keep these developing individuals on the right track. In the social aspects, students need to be involved outside of where they are comfortable and receive a diverse amount of support to continue to prosper. Looking at childhood factors (Personal, Environmental, and Social) can be a true indicator of how often an individual will interact with the criminal justice system.

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  How did Gandhi’s Views on Health Coincide with his Political Nonviolent Policies and Swaraj

  Brendan Michael Wiehe

  What is nonviolence — a concept, a mode of protest, a practice for modern living? This poster explores the ways in which nonviolence has been historically interpreted as "ahimsa," "beloved community," and as a way for practical and ethical thinking in our modern lives. We highlight the role of nonviolence as method and practice in historical and contemporary global instances that range from the farm workers movement, anti-nuclear protests, environmental green politics, and Dalit and Black actions towards representation.

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  How did Petra Kelly’s leadership and the Green Party’s commitment to nonviolence influence the effectiveness of the environmental movement in Germany, and what lessons can be drawn from this for modern environmental activism?

  Jacob Allan Lann

  What is nonviolence — a concept, a mode of protest, a practice for modern living? This poster explores the ways in which nonviolence has been historically interpreted as "ahimsa," "beloved community," and as a way for practical and ethical thinking in our modern lives. We highlight the role of nonviolence as method and practice in historical and contemporary global instances that range from the farm workers movement, anti-nuclear protests, environmental green politics, and Dalit and Black actions towards representation.

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  How Do Different Types of Physical Activity Impact an Individual's Mental Well-Being?

  Nicole A. LoCascio

  Title on poster: How can exercising help improve our mental health?

  Research has shown that exercising can help to improve both physical and mental well-being. Engaging in physical activity helps to strengthen the brain and promotes a healthy mind and attitude. Furthermore, different types of exercise an individual performs can have a different impact on their brain. The purpose of this study is to analyze what types of exercise do most college students report having an improved sense of mental well-being.

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  How Does an Individual's Chronotype Impact the Effectiveness of Engagement in Physical Activity?

  Leah McCall

  Chronotype is what is known as our bodies natural inclination to sleep at a certain time. People are often classified as a morning person, evening/night person, or neither. Research shows that physical activity can be impacted by a number of variables including our sleepy cycle, our mental well-being, and nutrition. The goal of this research project is to obtain a better understand of the relationship between an individual's chronotype and its impact on the effectiveness in that individual's ability to perform physical activity at a certain time of day.

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  How Does Race and Parenting Styles Influence Adolescent Delinquency?

  Laynie Michael Gerhardt, Olivia Grace Gulesano

  Our study aims to fill the gap in the current literature regarding peer and adolescent delinquency. Prior research has emphasized the power of delinquent peers in determining whether or not an adolescent will engage in criminal behavior, whether that may be a first offense or an act of recidivism. However, past literature has not adequately explored the link between parental control, styles, and involvement in their children’s delinquent actions. Our study serves to highlight how parenting styles influence an adolescent’s delinquency by connecting distinctive styles and levels of parental support all while controlling for peer delinquency. In doing this, we used a negative binomial regression model, and were able to determine that parental knowledge, race, and an adolescent’s diversity of social support all had a negative association; that is, they were all significant in lowering the adolescent’s delinquency. This finding was important as studies have determined an association with deviant peers to be key. By incorporating the variable of race, we are serving to close that gap in the current literature as well. In analyzing these aspects, our study determines how race and parenting style influence an adolescent’s delinquency.