Stander Symposium Projects

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  Surgical Reconstructive Techniques Within The Management Of Breast Cancer

  Jessica Garvin

  Did you know that breast cancer is the most common cancer worldwide and the most common cancer diagnosed in the United States? There are currently nearly 4 million women in the United States alone that are diagnosed with breast cancer and as many as 50% of cancer patients who have undergone a mastectomy or lumpectomy elect to have breast reconstruction surgery. Restoring the anatomical wholeness of someone is just as important to a person mentally as it is physically. With the multitude of people that are victims of breast cancer, understanding the different approaches to how the removal of malignant breast tissue is done and how breast reconstruction takes place, has value to learn about. The purpose of this study is to share and explain some of the different approaches breast cancer patients may choose after a lumpectomy or mastectomy to restore anatomical correctness. Among several of the different options available, implant reconstruction is one of the most popular reconstruction techniques. This works by utilizing a breast implant to replace the breast tissue that was removed to restore the original shape and volume. A second widely-used surgical procedure used for reconstruction is autologous reconstruction. Autologous reconstruction is also commonly known as “flap” reconstruction, this works by using skin, fat and sometimes muscle from areas such as the abdomen or buttocks to better resemble breast tissue in look and feel. Fortunately, there are many options for patients that may decide to undergo reconstructive surgery and there are many innovative techniques constantly being discovered. This study is able to educate and also bring awareness to ways that breast cancer can be prevented and also serve as a resource to learn an in-depth understanding of options breast cancer patients have after cancer removal.

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  Sustainability Tourism

  Melissa Weidner

  Part of a course project on intercultural communication, which can be expressed and studied in myriad ways. The students of CMM 316.01 investigated various forms of cultural expression by comparing and contrasting the ways a particular form is used by multiple cultural groups. Specifically, each group researched and presented about the ways food, music, festivals, rituals, dance, clothing, and other artifacts communicate cultural identity in at least two different cultures.

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  Synthesis and characterization of BODIPY single molecule probe for protein conjugation

  Amy Hess, Erin Stuczynski

  A single molecule 4-difluoro-4-bora-3a,4a-diaza-s-indacene (BODIPY) dye designed toconjugate to the peripheral amines of proteins have been synthesized. The syntheticroute taken toward this dye along with characterization by 1 H NMR will be described.This dye offers extraordinary absorption and emission properties within the visibleregion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Details of its spectroscopic properties alongwith first attempts to conjugate this dyes to proteins will be presented.

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  Synthesis and characterization of CuZn2InSe4 and CuZn2GaSe4 nanocrystals

  Fajer A. Almanea (Presenting author); other authors: Sohini Sengupta, Venkateswar Rao, Soubantika Palchoudhury (faculty advisor)

  A particular class of materials, multinary chalcogenide semiconductor nanocrystals, allow for tunable band gap and optical properties through composition, structure, and morphology flexibility. Among them, the copper-based compounds are attractive- in terms of sustainability since they frequently contain elements that are found in abundance on the earth’s crust and are promising to have made significant advancements for various device applications including photovoltaics and. CuZn2InSe4 and CuZn2GaSe4 nanocrystals have been synthesized using a novel hot injection approach to engineer these materials at the nanoscale. We added various cations, zinc, copper, group III elements like gallium or indium, oleylamine as the ligand, and diphenyl diselenide as our selenium source to form the multinary composition. A modified hot injection method was used where we injected the chalcogen at 150 °C and then heated the reaction to get the final product. The stoichiometry and group III cations were tuned in this multinary chalcogenide nanocrystal composition to achieve the desired bandgap of the materials in the visible range for application in thin film solar cells.

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  Synthesis Of a Single Stranded DNA Aptamer to Inhibit Multidrug Resistance Caused by Bacterial Efflux Pump Overexpression

  Lara Mitzka

  The increasing prevalence of multidrug-resistant bacteria has become a major concern for public health, due in part to the high cost of treatment. One factor contributing to this resistance is the overexpression of bacterial efflux pumps which are proteins located in the cell membrane that can pump out antibiotics as they enter the cell. To address this issue, this research aims to develop a DNA-based inhibitor, called an aptamer, to target the TolC component of the bacterial efflux pump and inhibit its function. By blocking the TolC, it is expected that this will reverse the multidrug resistance phenotype and make bacteria sensitive to antibiotics that were previously ineffective. The aptamers will be selected from a single stranded DNA library using a systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX) process, which involves selecting and amplifying DNA molecules that bind to TolC. The optimization of asymmetric and symmetric PCR techniques to ensure that single stranded DNA is amplified efficiently as well as several SELEX rounds was successfully completed. Currently, SELEX rounds are being analyzed to determine if any active aptamers were recovered. Once the TolC-binding aptamers have been identified, they will be synthesized and evaluated for their efficacy as agents to sensitize bacteria to antibiotics. The successful development of aptamers as inhibitors of the TolC component of the bacterial efflux pump has the potential to have a major impact on public health.

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  Synthesis of novel nanoparticle embedded biohybrid hydrogels for self-healing bandages

  Venkateswar Rao (presenting author); other authors: Sohini Sengupta, Fajer A. Almanea, Soubantika Palchoudhury (faculty advisor)

  Hydrogels offer a unique material platform for realizing new therapeutic wound healingsubstances such as bandages. They are hydrophilic and consist of three dimensional polymericnetwork that can retain water within their pores while maintaining the structural integrity. A newpolyhydroxymethacrylate (pHEMA) hydrogel modified with various therapeutic metal oxidenanoparticles is reported in this project. The nanoparticles including polymer coated iron oxideand zinc oxides are synthesized via a modified polyol approach. A detailed materialcharacterization of the biohybrid pHEMA hydrogels is conducted via a combination of x-raydiffraction, dynamic light scattering, and scanning electron microscopy to investigate thestructure-property relation of the hydrogels for application in wound dressing.

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  Task Allocation and Dead-Lock-Free Trajectory Planning for Collaborative Multi-Robot System

  Mohammad Zainullah Khan

  With advances in technology, robots have become an integral part of industries across the board. They are being employed in all sorts of applications from simple pick and place operations to the more complex operations involving AI with computer vision. In the manufacturing sector, robots are mostly used to perform tasks in isolation. There lies a big opportunity for efficiency improvement by having robots collaborate on tasks. This brings along with it challenges of obstacle avoidance, task allocation, and deadlocks. These challenges are easier to tackle for non-varying tasks such as a multi-robot system (MRS) used for spray painting a specific part. But when the same MRS has to be used for a number of tasks such as spray-painting a wide variety of parts, each with its own requirements, the challenges become harder to solve. The goal of this research is to advance task allocation and trajectory planning for multiple robot agents working collaboratively to perform manufacturing tasks. These industrial robots can vary from simple gantry robots to industrial robot arms mounted on mobile bases. Their applications will involve low-volume, high-mix manufacturing tasks such as spray painting, pressure washing, 3D printing, media blasting, and sanding. Apart from dealing with the generation of an offline collision-free path, manufacturing constraints must be considered as well. These involve achieving a constant speed of end-effector throughout a trajectory to avoid any undesirable effects. This research focuses on developing a technique for several robots with 3 or more revolute and/or prismatic joints with partially shared workspaces that enables them to allocate and perform manufacturing tasks in a time-effective and computationally efficient manner.

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  Technological Literacy, Underserved Families, and School Choice: A Critical Race Theory Analysis

  Amber Reeves

  This session will present a completed case study of one school’s struggles to address limited access using digital outreach to families. This qualitative, action research, case study is designed to explore and understand barriers to inclusion, offering research findings help to address that problem of practice. Findings in this study highlight the implications of antiquated organizational structures and policies interfacing with new social realities, resulting in unintentionally exclusionary practices. In the interest of fulfilling adult education’s social justice goals, Critical Race Theory provides a lens to interpret these findings for greater inclusivity. The lessons learned from this study can assist educators in helping organizations improve access to their services, while examining intersections of power and privilege through structural practices. Adult educators and family literacy practitioners confront similar challenges as digital communication and education are a gateway to access social capital leverage and will benefit from this investigation and subsequent work for greater inclusivity.

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  Temperature and Humidity Monitoring with Email Alerts

  Sandeep Perugu

  Biomedical, agricultural, and pharmaceutical industries make up the majority of the country's economy. All of these industries place a significant emphasis on the monitoring of temperature and humidity. Any sort of unbalancing in the natural circumstances or disconnectedboundaries can make monetary misfortune in the efficiency of drug and agribusiness businesses. Patients who pose a threat also require environment-controlled conditions in the healthcare industry. In this project, we will use the Arduino tool and DHT11 to measure temperature and humidity, which will help to balance the environment and boost productivity. I will be using email alerts if the temperature meets a condition on maximum celsius or minimum celsius. We can control any electronic device in homes or businesses using the Internet of Things. In addition, we are able to visually analyze data from any sensor from any location in the world. The microcontroller Arduino UNO retrieves temperature and humidity data from the DHT 11 sensor. These kinds of things are making microcontroller-based systems possible, which are taking the place of older, more complicated electronic circuits. It reads the output of the DHT sensor module, converts the temperature and humidity values into a suitable percentage and Celsius scale number, and then displays the humidity and temperature readings using the DHT11 sensor.This project aims to develop a hardware- and software-based system that can accurately measure temperature and humidity. Additionally, this system will enable time monitoring. In this, we measure the temperature and humidity using an Arduino board that connects to a sensor that is placed in the local environment. The following objectives are the main focus of the project, achieving a hardware and software system that works and lets you measure temperature, humidity, and the time, utilizing a development board for sensor communication.

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  Temperature control

  Varsha Tejaswi Kilaparthi

  We hear about temperature control issues a lot these days. The temperatures in the rooms will alter according to the seasons. Temperatures inside, outdoors, and those of food, heating equipment, and the atmosphere can all be measured. In order to regulate the temperature, you can either heat or chill the space as needed. If you live in the cold north, you might be able to create something that will sound an alarm, turn on the heat, or start moving water when your pipes are about to freeze. So, using the ESP8266, which allows us to perform tasks wirelessly, we will examine how to resolve this temperature-related problem.The main aim of this project is to control the temperature. By using constant temperature in a room, reading can be set up-to a certain value. If the value reached its maximum, the alarm will indicate the system that it is exceeding its limit. On an hourly basis the data readings can be noted in the web service. .

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  Temperature Control Fan Usingn a Thermistor

  Praneeth Panjugulla

  TEMPERATURE CONTROL FAN USING A THERMISTORThis project presents the design and implementation of a temperature control fan using a thermistor, Arduino, and IoT technology. The system monitors the temperature in the room using the thermistor and controls the speed of the fan accordingly. The Arduino microcontroller is used to read the temperature values from the thermistor and adjust the speed of the fan using a PWM signal. The system consists of a thermistor, an Arduino microcontroller, a motor driver, and a fan. The thermistor is used to measure the temperature in the room, and the Arduino converts the temperature values into a PWM signal that controls the speed of the fan. The motor driver is used to provide the necessary voltage and current to the fan.Overall, the temperature control fan using a thermistor, Arduino, and IoT technology presents an innovative and practical solution for temperature control in a room, allowing for efficient and convenient management of fan speed through IoT-enabled remote control.

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  The Assumption of Mary across Select Christian Literature in Light of Modern Catholic Church Teaching: 4th to 12th centuries

  Vincent LoBiondo

  This presentation analyzes the Assumption in literature across history with a focus on early Christianity and Medieval Christianity. Using Catholic Church teaching, the presentation will assess the various literature in terms of how well they match to modern day Church doctrine. The presentation will use the modern sources of Munificentissimus Deus, Lumen Gentium, Redemptoris Mater, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and the early Christian work Panarion by Saint Epiphanius of Salamis as Church teaching and doctrine. Many texts in the beginning of Christianity were often heterodox in nature and are opposed to Church teaching today. Early assumption literature still led rise to the pious acceptance by Catholics during the medieval ages. The texts analyzed in this paper include The Six Books Apocryphon, English Sermon literature, Norse Homiletic books, and various Anti-Jewish Christian literature.

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  The Benefits and Modalities of Successfully Implementing Co-Teaching in Elementary Classrooms

  Megan Nock

  Co-teaching is a style of classroom teaching that emphasizes shared responsibility between teachers for learning. When implemented correctly and with strong administrative support, it provides many benefits, including support for all students’ best interests.

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  The Correlation Between the Nutritional Value of a College-Aged Student's Diet and Their Mental Health

  Jenna Schwabe, Kylee Shroat, Elizabeth Huber, Miles Miller, Ella Weaver

  The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between a college student's diet and their mental health. An anonymous survey was sent out to University of Dayton students asking them to answer questions regarding demographics, housing, meal plan status, and the nutritional value of their diet. Participants were also asked questions about their mental health such as presence of anxiety, depression, if they are or have sought out professional help, have received a diagnosis, or are currently taking medications.

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  The 'Cultish' Rhetoric of Mark Driscoll

  Phillip Cicero

  This project focuses on the rhetoric utilized by Mark Driscoll in a series of blog posts that appeared on the Mars Hill Church website in late 2001 to early 2002. Using Amanda Montell’s theorization of the rhetorical characteristics of a discourse she calls “Cultish” in her book, Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism, this project identifies the various ways Driscoll’s rhetoric fits within her theorization of “Cultish.” The core of this project is a rhetorical analysis of Driscoll’s blog posts that seeks to demonstrate that his rhetoric mobilizes key characteristics of “Cultish.” Then, using Stuart Hall’s theorization of desire, identification, and investment in popular culture texts along with Judith Butler’s notion of subjectivation (the process by which we are always being constructed as subjects by the rhetoric within which we are immersed), this project will aim to explain how Driscoll’s “Cultish” rhetoric attracts and retains audiences one might expect would reject Driscoll. More specifically, this project will argue that Driscoll’s “Cultish” rhetoric has attracted white men who have felt emasculated and disempowered by neoliberal (and other dominant discourses) during late 20th and early 21st-century American culture by constructing a “Cultish” form of “Christian” identity that aims to give these men a sense of masculine identity, power, and belonging. Driscoll’s rhetoric does this by constructing a homophobic and misogynistic form of “Christian” masculinity that he aggressively advances as the only form of “Christian” masculinity that is “good.” Thus, his rhetoric gives his reader two options: be actively and explicitly homophobic and misogynistic or admit that you have been “pussified” – that is, completely emasculated.

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  The Effects of Mental Illness on Reoffending Among Juvenile Offenders

  Patrick Westendorf, Kevin Cook

  A current issue in our criminal justice system today is determining what factors are linked to criminal behavior and reoffending. One factor that can be taken into consideration is mental illness. It is important to examine research among juvenile offenders to see what factors are linked to reoffending. Past research has shown that juvenile offenders with mental health issues are more likely to reoffend than those without mental health issues. The current study will use the Pathways to Desistance dataset, a longitudinal study with a quantitative approach that examines adolescent offenders as they make their transition to early adulthood. 1,354 individuals from Maricopa County, Arizona or Philadelphia, Pennsylvania while being between the ages of fourteen and eighteen at the time of committing their offense. The participants involved in the study completed a baseline interview, follow-up interviews throughout the course of many months, and release interviews within 30 days of release when held in a residential facility. The sampling technique for Pathways to Desistance is a prospective design where the researchers follow and observe a group of participants over time to track information for their data and to see what outcomes will occur based on the information collected. Factors taken into consideration were age, family structure, ethnicity, and gender to determine whether there was a relationship between mental illness and reoffending. Certain variables were re-coded to make them dichotomous variables.

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  The Effects of Physical Activity on Mental Health in Undergraduate College Students

  Anna Schwettman, Kathryn Reifel, Meredith Johnson, Jessica Phillabaum, Maya Krieger

  Research has shown how physical activity can improve physical health, or how lack there of can increase risk for decreased health status. The goal of this research study was to determine what kind of effect physical activity can have on one's mental health within the undergraduate college student population.

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  The effects of Values on the case of Henrietta Lacks

  Mykaella Romain

  Henrietta Lacks was an African American woman born in the late 1920s who was diagnosed with cervical cancer. While she was being treated at John Hopkins University hospital in Baltimore her cells were stored and studied without her knowledge leading to one of the biggest medical breakthroughs in history. The HeLa cell line is still used in medicine today since it reproduces indefinitely under the correct circumstances. My class Science, Values and Society looks at scientific research and how select values whether it be from scientists or the public influence how and what we study. For my project I would like to research how values played a role in Lacks treatment and the change of the medical field.

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  The Exponentiated Kumaraswamy-Burr Distribution and its Applications

  Alexander Griffiths

  In light of increased data collection coupled with a growing need for data analysis, we increasingly require more accurate models and lenses to analyze data. In probability theory, statistics, and economics, the Burr distribution is widely used to model household income, insurance risk, crop prices, travel time, flood levels, and failure data. Two well-known methods exist to construct generalized statistical distributions to increase flexibility, including the Kumaraswamy-generated and exponentiated methods. By combining these two methods, in this project, we obtain the Exponentiated Kumaraswamy Burr (EKB) distribution which is a generalization of the Burr distribution. Some statistical properties, including the cumulative distribution function, the probability density function, the hazard function, the moments, and the skewness, are presented. The maximum likelihood method is used to estimate the parameters of the EKB distribution. Finally, the proposed distribution is verified against real data to determine its usefulness, applicability, importance, and flexibility and compare it to other competing distributions.

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  Theft Detection And Engine Lock System Using Arduino.

  Merlin Abraham LNU

  This is a vehicle theft detection and engine lock system using Arduino. As vehicle based transportation is significant in today life for all emergency, societal, household applications we need to provide a solution for safety of the vehicle by an antitheft detection system and engine lock system. By using Global System for Mobile(GSM) technologies, Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system and in coordination operation with microcontroller the theft detection system operates and it alerts the vehicle alert system. This is a cost effective system and it forms an efficient antivehicle theft system for benefit of the society which is focusing towards Internet of Things(IoT) technologies related applications. 1) INTRODUCTION: Vehicles have become important means of communication as it is essential for transportation of essential commodities from a source location to a destination location. Vehicles in any form need to have proper identification relating safety as vehicle alert and location identification gain importance. Nowadays, vehicle identification, intrusion and theft control system using well known GSM and GPS technologies are being used and it is considered as a possible viable approach. Automated Vehicle based inspection is also becoming significant where Global system for Mobile communications and Global Positioning Tracking System also helped in preventing vehicle theft and location tracking system more efficient and utilized for developing safety systems in addition to radio frequency identification (RFID) systems. Microwave systems are used for further aiding RFID systems where IoT based systems are also nowadays used for vehicle tracking and location identification helping in vehicle identification and preventing vehicle theft. Arduino based systems and Raspberry pi systems have also gained popularity in this related fields of IoT based applications for vehicular safety. Further wireless systems such as sensors in the form of wireless sensor networks have useful in IoT systems. 2)PROPOSED SYSTEM: Research works of have given various information on vehicle identification, alert, GSM and GPS based vehicle location tracking systems. The proposed system uses Arduino Uno, Accelerometer, GSM module, GPS module, LCD display, Relay, Buzzer and DC motor and buzzer. CONCLUSION :Vehicle theft detection is very important for the society where transportation is essential. From the given system in this work safety can be achieved and it is also system with very less maintenance cost. Using this system work for theft detection future applications can be developed and it is vital for IoT oriented system applications.

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  The Holy Family

  Kiley Blatt, Anna Gagliardo and Kacey Moyna

  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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  The Impact of Peer Influence on Juvenile Recidivism

  Arabella Loera, Claudia Vanzandt

  This study analyzes the impact of peer influence on juvenile recidivism. It is essential to understand the specific patterns of reoffending to improve efforts on reforming the juvenile justice system. Previous research has focused on certain indicators that predict juvenile reoffending. This study focuses on peer influences as the most significant predictor of recidivism for juveniles. For the purposes of this study, peer influence is analyzed by looking at the resistance to peer influence, antisocial influences and behaviors present in juvenile offenders, race/ethnicity, and gender.

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  The Impact of Physical Activity Following ACL Reconstructive Surgery on Recovery in Collegiate Athletes

  Samantha Crew, Andres Sanchez, Logan Davis, Millicent Azbill

  In recent decades, it has been increasingly common for athletes to suffer injuries of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Typically, individuals who undergo reconstructive surgery of the ACL will also undergo some sort of physical therapy or physical activity treatment to help the ligament heal and recover efficiently. The goal of this study was to assess the overall impact of different physical activity levels following reconstructive surgery of the ACL and the impact it can have on the recovery process in collegiate athletes. A anonymous survey was sent out to participants to obtain information on the type of graft used in surgery, the participants activity levels following surgery, and how these factors may have contributed to a better or worse recovery process overall.

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  The Impact of Self-Image on Academic Achievement Amongst Black College Students

  Alyssa Mims

  Scholars use components of one’s self concept such as self-esteem, self-image, and self-confidence to better understand college student’s academic achievement. Many factors impact the way a Black undergraduate student views themselves such as their high school experience, college environment, and relationships. The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore the way a Black undergraduate student’s concept of themselves, with an emphasis on self-image, impacts their academic success at predominantly White institutions (PWI). Participants in this study were Black undergraduate students who attend PWI’s. Findings consisted of Black undergraduate students needing to feel a sense of confidence regarding their appearance to perform well in their academic courses. The findings of this study provide insight into how to better support Black undergraduate students’ self-image and academic achievement.

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  The Impacts of COVID-19 on School Readiness Skills

  Jacquelyn Lavigne

  Preschool in the US is an important, but costly affair for many children. Roberts and Bryant (2011) found that preschoolers who live in homes with a low socioeconomic status (SES) are less likely to perform highly on measures of kindergarten readiness than their peers who come from homes with a higher SES. Moreover, previous research has demonstrated that there is a significant impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and related school closures on children’s academic performance in school. However, there is little that is known about the impact of the pandemic on school readiness skills among children who live in homes with low SES. This study analyzed the academic impact of school closures due to the pandemic on children who live in low-SES homes who were in preschool before or after the pandemic forced school shutdowns. We analyzed cohorts of preschool students who participated in a large-scale longitudinal study of school readiness in 2018 - 2019 and 2021 - 2022. We used the Minnesota Executive Function Scale (MEFS) and Woodcock Johnson Scale to test the children's executive functioning, vocabulary, literacy, and math skills. College students assessed preschool children ages 3-5 in the midwest. The majority of the parents of students we studied had not received a college degree and had an annual income of less than $42,000 a year. Children in the post-pandemic cohort made significantly less gains in their language skills compared to the pre-pandemic cohort. In contrast, children in the post-pandemic cohort made significantly more gains in their pre-literacy skills compared to the pre-pandemic cohort. This information indicates that students may need more classroom support in the area of language development as they develop and age through the school system.