The Brother Joseph W. Stander Symposium recognizes and celebrates academic excellence in undergraduate and graduate education. This annual event provides an opportunity for students from all disciplines to showcase their intellectual and artistic accomplishments. The Stander Symposium represents the Marianist tradition of education through community and is the principal campus-wide event in which faculty and students actualize our mission to be a "community of learners."
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Piperazine-Based Metallopolymers for Bioengineering Applications
Jessica Schneider
Engineering realistic and functional tissue models presents promising possibilities in drug discovery and other biomedical research. A novel polymer with potential applications in biomedical studies was developed. I report the first synthesis and characterization (with NMR, IR, GPC, UV–vis spectroscopy, and thermal analysis) of two thermoplastic poly(alkyl piperazine succinate) diols with either propyl or hexyl alkane chains bridging the piperazines. These polyester diols were chain extended with hexamethylene diisocyanate to create highly amorphous polyester urethane thermoplastic polymers. Ru(III) and Fe(III) was then successfully coordinated with these polymers, producing a total of four different metallopolymers. The crosslinking of these complexes introduces degradative properties to the polymer, which could be valuable in biomedical studies.
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Police-Citizen Encounters: The Influence of Behavioral and Locational Factors on the Outcome
Amelia Saucier, Lillia Allen
Police use of force is subject to many influential factors that affect the likelihood of occurrence. Many studies have been conducted with the aim to determine what factors affect police use of force. Prior studies have attempted to outline why there has been a recent increase in use of force incidents with a particular focus on race (Miller, 2015). The current study aims to determine what overall factors present in police-citizen encounters increase or decrease the likelihood that a use of force incident will occur prior to an arrest, using the data collected in the 1994 Phoenix Use of Force Project. The dependent variable of how police respond to a suspect, will be compared to twelve independent variables to determine which is most influential to the outcome of an encounter. The results concluded that the independent variables of Suspect Resistance, Suspect Sex, and Suspect Impairment were statistically significant in determining when a use of force incident will occur.
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Portable Optical Fiber Bio-Sensing Device for the Detection of Biomolecules in Bodily Fluids
Chaminda Ajith Kumara Ranathunga Ranathunga Mudiyanselage Ihala Gane Gedara
Bio-sensing plays an important role in the determination of bio-target molecules in medical applications. In this regard, Tapered Optical Fibers Sensor (TOFS) is emerging due to its higher sensitivity, real-time specimen, and practical measuring capabilities. The sensitivity of a typical TOFS is 0.0001 RIU (Refractive Index Units) meaning the device is capable of detecting a 0.0001 change in refractive indices. This allows TOFS to be sensitive in molecular-level interactions. A tapered region or the sensitive area of a TOFS is obtained by stretching single-mode fiber cables to desired dimensions. Typical dimensions of a tapered region are 20-25 mm. A wavelength-swept laser beam is launched at one end of the fiber, passes through the tapered region, and then is collected at the other end. The modes excited at the tapered region have evanescent components in the surrounding medium and are sensitive to the concentration of bimolecular antigen-antibody pairs. This evanescent electromagnetic (EM) field enables the detection of minute changes in the refractive index close to the surface of the fiber. For the detection of biomolecules, an aqueous solution that contains the target biomolecules is introduced where they can be captured by a functionalized fiber (carrying antibodies for the analyte).The developed TOFS system was experimentally tested for practical use and yielded repeatable results with high resolution. It had been tested using various liquids, such as PBS, water, and saliva. The system utilized for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) through IL-8 virus in saliva and the Covid variant HCoV-OC43. Both experiments showed success with resolutions of 10 pg/ml for IL-8 and 50 viruses/ ml for HCoV-OC43 , exceeding practical requirements in real applications.
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Powering the Future with Sodium Ion Batteries: “A Sustainable and Cost-Effective Energy Storage Solution"
Subathra Rajendran
Energy storage is an essential component of the transition to renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, which are intermittent and dependent on weather conditions. Energy storage systems can help balance the supply and demand of energy and provide backup power during peak demand.However, traditional energy storage technologies, such as lithium-ion batteries, face several challenges, including limited availability of raw materials, high cost, and safety concerns. Sodium-ion batteries are emerging as a promising alternative to lithium-ion batteries, with several potential advantages.One major challenge with lithium-ion batteries is the limited availability of raw materials, such as cobalt and lithium, which are concentrated in a few countries. In contrast, sodium is abundant and widely available, making sodium-ion batteries a more sustainable and scalable option.Another advantage of sodium-ion batteries is their lower cost. Sodium-ion batteries use lower-cost materials than lithium-ion batteries, and the manufacturing process is simpler, which could lead to lower production costs.Sodium-ion batteries have a lower risk of fire or explosion than lithium-ion batteries. This is because sodium-ion batteries use a solid electrolyte instead of a flammable liquid electrolyte, which can reduce the risk of thermal runaway and improve safety.
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Power to the Plants: Measuring Plant Cover and Species Richness in a Solar Prairie Array and Proposed Solar Sites
Valerie Thurston, Allyson Allen, Catherine Landry, Elizabeth Vear, Madelaine Gregory
Solar energy in the state of Ohio has exponentially increased in recent years and has shown no signs of slowing. Large areas of unused land, or previously used agricultural areas are now being converted to solar array areas. At the same time, native Midwest prairies have diminished to making up less than 1% of land. We are now at the forefront of investigating how native plants and solar arrays can share the same spaces and create healthy ecosystems that can benefit many organisms. Few studies have been done on the effects of solar panels on plant composition, but recent studies have investigated how the microclimates created by shading of panels may yield a more diverse plant community. In our own study we wanted to investigate the current solar prairie at Curran Place in comparison to potential solar sites in the City of Dayton to see if solar prairies can have higher amounts of plant cover. Our first hypothesis was that plant cover is higher at Curran Place than the proposed sites. Our second hypothesis was that there would be higher forb species richness at Curran Place than proposed sites. Our last hypothesis was that plant cover will be higher outside of the solar array than inside. We used identification skills to identify the different plant species in quadrats and used Multivariate GLM testing. Univariate GLM testing, and Tukey testing to analyze our findings. We found that there were significant differences in bareground, grasses, and forbes between the sites. We also found that percent cover of plants was higher outside of the panels than inside. Lastly, we found that species richness was highest at the Curran Place prairie compared to the proposed sites. These findings indicate that solar prairies can be a successful ecosystem that yield a variety of native plants.
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Precipitation trends in East Africa 1980-2021
Elisabeth Arnold
The East African region has experienced changes in precipitation over the past 4 decades. This region is especially vulnerable to climate change because of its dependence on predictable precipitation for subsistence agriculture. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the changing patterns of rainfall in East Africa using high resolution MSWEP data from 1980-2021. Our results show an overall decrease in annual precipitation (-2.5% per decade) and precipitation frequency (-4% per decade). As a result, precipitation intensity remained largely unchanged. Annual maximum daily rainfall decreased by -1.6% per decade, and maximum consecutive five-day precipitation decreased by -2.7% per decade. Annual maximum number of consecutive wet days also decreased by -5.5% per decade. With the decrease in overall annual rainfall, the annual maximum number of consecutive dry days increased by 2.7% per decade. The high spatial resolution of the data reveals significant spatial variability of these trends, with a clear east/west divide. The western part of the study area experienced more significant decreases in annual rainfall, rainfall frequency, maximum daily and 5-day rainfall and consecutive wet periods. On the other hand, the eastern part of the region experienced slight increase in rainfall and rainfall frequency, and maximum daily and 5-day rainfall remained largely unchanged. Despite such differences, the maximum number of consecutive dry days increased throughout the region, indicating higher propensity for droughts.
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Predicting NBA Player Performance: An Analysis of 11 Seasons of Offensive Statistics
Payton Reaver
This project aims to utilize machine learning algorithms to predict a player's performance for the upcoming NBA season. The study utilizes a comprehensive data set comprising various offensive metrics. Such metrics are but not limited to: points, rebounds, assists, fouls, and blocks from the last 11 seasons of NBA basketball. By analyzing historical trends and patterns, this project seeks to develop a predictive model that can forecast a player's future performance accurately. The study has implications for fantasy basketball enthusiasts, sports analysts, sports betting, and team managers seeking to improve their decision-making processes.
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Predictive Modelling Of Mortality Rates for Diabetes: An Analysis Of Risk Factors
Simin Zhao
Diabetes is a chronic disease affecting millions globally and is a leading cause of death. Understanding mortality trends and predicting future mortality rates is crucial for public health planning and intervention strategies. This project analyzes mortality rates for diabetes in the United States from 2015 to 2020 and employs various predictive methods in Statistics and Machine Learning to forecast future mortality rates. Our objective is to identify critical factors that contribute to mortality from diabetes and develop a suitable model for predicting future mortality rates. The outcomes of this study could inform policies and interventions aimed at reducing the burden of diabetes-related mortality.
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Pride in the Profession
Jason Honesto
LGBTQIA+-identifying individuals often depend on a series of identity management strategies when navigating the challenges presented by sharing their queer identity with others. In acknowledging the opportunities Higher Education/Student Affairs (HESA) professionals receive in providing identity-specific support to students, there is potential to identify and connect the dots leading from the personal experiences of LGBTQIA+-identifying HESA professionals and the support they provide as practitioners. Utilizing qualitative inquiry, this study explores the experiences of current and former HESA (para)professionals as they share how their identities have shaped their approach to support provision. Themes from the results of this study include a) familial influence on LGBTQIA+ development b) identity-centered advocacy for students and c) desire to increase institution support of LGBTQIA+ identifying students, faculty, and staff. The results of this study may not only contribute to dismantling barriers that prevent the professional advancement of LGBTQIA+-identifying persons, but also encourage HESA (para)professionals to review their competencies for practice in relation to their identities.
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Prioritization of Discordant Chronic Comorbidities and prediction of its medication using machine learning
Ichchha Pradeep Sharma
About one in three adults worldwide suffer from multiple chronic diseases [1]. In the United States, about 12% of adults have five or more chronic conditions [2]. Such chronic conditions are increasing in the elderly, putting a high toll on our healthcare system. Patients with Discordant Chronic Comorbidities may require numerous appointments with general practitioners, complex and structured care, as well as enhanced coordination between various healthcare providers to ensure quality of care and treatment.With the large prevalence of multiple chronic conditions, it is difficult for the patients and providers to prioritize the medications and understand the impact caused by one treatment on the other simultaneous treatments. Healthcare practitioners trust the patients to actively participate in their care and treatment because of the prolonged nature of chronic disorders. Meanwhile, multiple factors affect a treatment, and it becomes difficult for patients to keep up with the interactions, change in body weight or the cost of a treatment. These factors need to be taken into consideration while making any recommendations.Numerous research studies are being done for managing and recommending medication for a single chronic disease. To the best of our knowledge, there are no solutions available to help people simultaneously manage their type-2 diabetes and any other disease. In this work, we seek to design a decision aid/recommendation system powered by state-of-art Machine learning algorithms to aid the healthcare practitioners and patients make informed decisions.We start out by designing a survey on Amazon Mechanical Turk. The survey captures multiple concerns and complex/changing needs of patients with DCCs. The goal is to use this survey to understand healthcare providers' treatment strategies for patients and how they prioritize the care of patients with complex care needs. Mechanical Turk provided us access to a diverse set of healthcare providers who have different experience and working in different contexts. After the collecting the data, it is cleaned to extract the required data for further processing. We tested out this data and are creating benchmarks using various state-of-art Machine Learning algorithms. Reference:[1] Hajat C, Stein E. The global burden of multiple chronic conditions: a narrative review. Preventive medicine reports. 2018 Dec 1;12:284-93.[2] Buttorff, Christine, Teague Ruder, and Melissa Bauman. Multiple chronic conditions in the United States. Vol. 10. Santa Monica, CA: Rand, 2017.
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Propaganda Campaign Analysis
Emma Pearn, Madeleine Cachat, Lauren Riley
Examining the propaganda techniques utilized in different media messages, students analyze a variety of public health and marketing campaigns to understand how these messages serve to shape audience awareness, attitudes, and behavior.
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Public Opinion, Voter Turnout, and Public Policy: Political Science Senior Capstone Presentations
Rosemary Drake-Brockman, Tocarra Hogue, Xavier Russell, Nikolaus Rottjakob, Gunnar Hendrix, Kevin Parente, Brenden Dempsey, Judith Clark, Justin Phares, Keelin Slawecki, Jessica Leffew, Mary Vanek, Patrick Murray, Sofia Garcia, Grace Zehner, Katherine Hodgdon, Aija Cason, Jordan Ford, Michael Gibson
This semester senior political science majors have conducted varied group projects. Presentations will assess support amongst college students for U.S. support of the Ukraine-Russia war, the factors that influence voter turnout, and analysis of sports betting and environmental policies.
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Public Speaking Simulator with Multiple Feedback
Bao Truong
in this project, we introduce a simulator for public speaking. We developed the simulator in Unity3D with 3D environment scanning. The system provides feedback via gaze and virtual audience.
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Queen Elizabeth II's Death and Its Impact on Media Ethics
Mary Newman
Queen Elizabeth II's passing led to many different responses. Many were positive, but some criticized the Queen and her role in Britain's history. This poster will highlight responses on social media, specifically Twitter, from university professors, many of which are negative toward the Queen. These Tweets and the responses they garnered raise many ethical questions such as "Should professors or educators be allowed to have social media accounts and share their personal opinions?" or "Does mentioning negative traits or issues a celebrity or famous person was involved in violate the notion of “don’t speak ill of the dead,” or does the practice of only positive obituaries violate the journalistic values of objectiveness, truth, and fairness?”
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Queer Art and Activism
Sarah Behnke
As anti-transgender rhetoric and regressive laws spread across the U.S., it is vital that queerness in all its forms be visually represented in art and society. This presentation explores the effects of queer visibility for artists and their audiences. This research reviews art selections from the past and the present and relates the work to LGBTQIA+ liberation movements. Connections to this theme in art will be demonstrated by several selections at Dayton's Edward A. Dixon Gallery.
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Ready to Help: Exploring Student Affairs Practitioners’ Readiness to Support Students Amid Increasing Mental Health Challenges
Laurise Johnson
The occurrence of young adults between the age of 18-25 experiencing life events that impede on their ability to complete daily functions has skyrocketed. Student affairs professionals need competency in crisis management as they are often seen as “first responders” in their role while serving as advisers, supporters, and helpers to students facing a challenge, barrier, life stressor, or crisis. Therefore, the purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore the readiness of Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA) professionals in responding to the varying levels of challenge, life stressors, and barriers faced by college students. The results throughout this study uncovered a number of gaps that impact HESA professionals’ ability to feel confident and equipped with the tools needed to support students in need: 1) newer professionals do not feel equipped to support students across various levels of challenge and reported lower levels of crisis management competence and intervention confidence; 2) the ability to provide support to students in crisis is heavily dependent upon a professional’s functional area; 3) the lack of mental health training overrides HESA professionals’ confidence and competence; and 4) specialized training sessions and professional development opportunities around mental health and helping strategies are not being provided. The findings from this study provide specific implications for future practices and research on the readiness of HESA professionals in supporting students facing challenges.
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Recidivism in the Criminal Justice System
Brendan Kadel, Carson Rhoades
Our group has done analysis of inmates in the prison systems, and the many variables that impact recidivism rates here in America. We have conducted research, a survey analysis, and developed a clear understanding of our topic that we can share with others. The goal of this project is to determine whether specific socioeconomic-related variables, like educational attainment, have an affect on the number of prior arrests among inmates.
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Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences, Attachment Style, and Relationship Satisfaction in Young Adults
Rachel Banks
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are defined as childhood events considered as traumatic. These events can lead to a plethora of physical and psychological health issues as the individual ages (Mosley-Johnson, 2019). Furthermore, ACEs can lead to the development of more insecure attachment styles (Thomson, 2017). It is predicted that those with an insecure attachment style will experience lower relationship satisfaction if they have a higher ACEs score. Participants will be recruited from the University of Dayton’s Psychology Research Sign-Up titled Sona Systems, which is utilized by Introduction to Psychology courses at the university. Participants will complete several questionnaires to measure their ACEs score, level of satisfaction in relationships, and the security in their attachment style. There are not many studies that investigate the relationship between ACEs and relationship satisfaction, especially when using attachment styles as a means to connect those variables. This study intends to determine whether there is a relationship among these variables so that further methods of treatment and therapy can mitigate the negative health issues of ACEs. It is important to investigate the aspects that can increase the likelihood of physical and psychological health issues so that they can potentially be discovered and treated before becoming too detrimental. If ACEs, attachment style, and relationship satisfaction are found to have a relationship, then treatments can be developed in an attempt to decrease the severity of health issues caused by high ACE scores.
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Religion and Juvenile Deviance
Rachel Burton
This research looks to analyze and identify a correlation or lack of correlation between religion and criminality. Past literature presents a variety of results that prevents any concrete determination of a correlation. Through a negative binomial regression, this research looks at data from interviews of juveniles ages 14 to 18 to see if a relationship exists between higher crime rates and the importance of spirituality in their lives. The results of this research contribute to a better understanding of spirituality on individual’s criminal behaviors and specifically adds a focus to the youth population.
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Religious Rhetoric of UD
Mary Sabatino, Douglas Villhard, Rachel Young, Julian Berry, Elizabeth Finnigan, Sarah West, Natalie Blue, Jennifer Reckers, Kiley Blatt, Anthony Martine, Kristeena Bright, Phil Leon, Joseph Zern, Anna Gagliardo, Charles Corrigan, Brendan Kadel, Graysen Rizzo, Kacey Moyna, Brendan Miller, Timothy Stewart, Casey Fuller, Caroline Duarte, Casey Tirado, Abigail Carter, Anne Waters, Keelin Kelly, Ethan Schum, Liana Caterine Yara, Christierra Williams, Sarah Abed, Emma Blair
Students in the CMM 357 Religious Rhetoric course were given the choice to choose a statue, building, space/place on campus that is marked as a religious text/artifact or propose a new object of visual rhetoric in order to analyze using the rhetorical theories from class. Thier analyses employ a variety of rhetorical theories and concepts discussed in class during the semester. Each group collaborated to answer the question: how does this artifact/text rhetorically communicate and construct religious identity at UD?
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Renewable Natural Gas - Demonstrating the Potential of the World’s Biggest Battery
Subathra Rajendran
TITLE: Renewable Natural Gas - Demonstrating the Potential of the World’s Biggest BatteryI. ObjectivesThe proposed effort aims the development of commercial and technological models to demonstrate the feasibility of a closed loop renewable natural gas power production model. This process is also called Power-to-Gas (P2G).II. Method(s)Power-to-Gas represents the conversion of electrical power into a gaseous energy carrier such as methane. The overall proposed approach to P2G involves the conversion of renewable/excess electricity into natural gas using high temperature electrolysis, carbon capture in the form of CO2, and catalytic methanation. The electrolysis generates hydrogen (from water), which combined with the captured CO2 (i.e. from power plants’ flue gases) forms, under a catalytic environment, methane (methanation). In order to assess the feasibility of such an approach, the following steps will be carried out:•Identification of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) technologies for electrolysis/hydrogen production, carbon capture and methane production•Develop several integrated configurations of these technologies that are suitable for large-scale methane production (10 MW) and analyze their cost-benefit•Predict current and future costs associated with the proposed P2G systems III. SignificanceThe current geopolitical dynamics have more than ever highlighted the importance of energy independence. The existing US natural gas infrastructure has a capacity that would satisfy the domestic energy requirement for up to one year. However, it is only used at 30% of its capacity. Several countries, including the US, are racing to implement more renewable energy infrastructures. However, their dependence on natural events (sun exposure, wind intensity) often leads to peak energy productions where excess energy is lost. Thus, the ability to store such energy for later use would be of utmost importance. P2G offers a long-term and alternative solution to other energy storage technologies such as batteries or hydrogen storage. The methane produced from P2G can be stored directly in the existing infrastructure. Hence, an alternative to traditional batteries. Hydrogen storage has very strict requirements in terms of materials and safety, and the existing US natural gas infrastructure is not compatible for hydrogen storage. The proposed work will deliver several technological configurations and their associated costs for a large-scale P2G production. In addition, it will predict how improvements on existing technologies, in terms of costs and efficiencies, might affect P2G implementation costs in the future
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Resolving a gene network for a developmentally patterned and rapidly evolving fruit fly trait
Corinne Stone, Rachel Stanojev, Emily Daniel
Our research aims to further resolve a gene regulatory network (GRN) responsible forthe development of a male-specific (dimorphic) pattern of pigmentation on the abdomensegments of the fruit fly Drosophila (D.) melanogaster. The male A5 and A6 segments are blackin color from melanin pigment produced by the resident epidermal cells. These melanicsegments differ from the non-melanic A1-A4 segments, and the A5 and A6 segments offemales. Previous studies identified 30 regulatory genes whose functions are needed for thisdimorphic pigmentation, and found the cis-regulatory elements (CREs) that control theepidermis expression of four genes that encode pigment metabolism enzymes, and one CREthat controls expression of a key regulatory gene. Here we describe a plan to use RNA-interference to turn down the expression of these regulatory genes one-by-one, and determinewhat effects reduced expression has on the function of these five CREs. The results will revealconnections between regulators and their target genes that embody a pigmentation GRN.Abdomen pigmentation differs between fruit fly species, so success in characterizing this D.melanogaster GRN will bolster future studies on how this GRN evolved. Few animal GRNs havebeen characterized, and thus the breadth of regulatory genes and their CRE interactions remainunclear. While all traits have evolutionary histories, how they originate, become modified, andlost has not been characterized at the level of GRNs and CREs. However, fruit fly pigmentationpresents an ideal trait and species lineage to study GRNs, as its genetic tools are second tonone.
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Restorative Justice: Conflict, Accountability, Healing
Liliana Busic, Jeffrey Davis, Autumn Doleno
What does it mean to accomplish justice when someone has caused harm? This poster will describe how Restorative Justice answers that question in a way that centers the victim's needs and includes the perpetrator's accountability. The poster will introduce a variety of contexts where these processes are being used to build a way forward in the face of conflict and loss.
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Revealing the Dynamics of the Brain-Limb Axis During Limb Regeneration
Ben Klocke, Jason Tornes, Kaitlyn Martin, Augustine Miller; external collaborators include Dr. Katia Del Rio-Tsonis at Miami University (Oxford, Ohio) and Dr. Mario Looso at the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research (Bad Nauheim, Germany).
Complex tissue regeneration is an uncommon ability which can only be found in a small subset of vertebrates, with one of these being the amphibious axolotl, a salamander capable of regenerating its limbs following amputation. While the necessity of nerves in the process of limb regeneration has been well studied, the possible role of other components of the nervous system, such as the brain, is largely unknown. In the current study proteomics, gene expression and immunohistochemical approaches were employed to investigate changing protein expression patterns at various time-points throughout the process of limb regeneration. In the context of this presentation, we highlight intriguing neurobiological alterations that occur in the axolotl brain during limb regeneration, in an effort to shed light to the regulation of this fascinating physiological process.
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RFID based attendance system
Kovidh Kumar Tatikonda
The RFID attendance system project aims to create an efficient and accurate system for tracking attendance in educational institutions, offices, or any other organization. The system will use RFID technology to identify and record the attendance of individuals, eliminating the need for manual tracking and reducing errors.The system will consist of RFID tags, RFID readers, an Arduino microcontroller, and a database to store and manage attendance data. Each person will be assigned a unique RFID tag that they will carry with them. When the individual enters the premises or the classroom, the RFID reader will detect the tag, and the Arduino microcontroller will record the attendance in the database.The attendance data will be stored in a cloud-based database, which can be accessed by authorized personnel to view real-time attendance reports. The system will also send automated notifications to parents or supervisors in case of absence or tardiness.The project will also include an LCD screen for displaying attendance data, a buzzer for indicating successful attendance, and an LED for displaying system status. The system can be powered by either a battery or an AC adapter.Overall, the RFID attendance system project is a cost-effective and reliable solution for tracking attendance in any organization. It eliminates the need for manual tracking, reduces errors, and provides real-time attendance reports, making it easier for administrators and supervisors to manage attendance effectively.
