Stander Symposium Projects

Follow

• 

  The Prevalence of Aversive Racism in the Reality TV Show Survivor

  Jessica Nicole Eischen, Michael Terrence Stark

  Aversive racism is a form of prejudice and discrimination in which individuals who profess egalitarian ideology and hold non-prejudiced self-views discriminate towards racial minorities in subtle, rationalizable ways (Gaertner & Dovidio, 2000). Unlike overt, intentional racism, aversive racism is characterized by feelings of uneasiness about racial minorities rather than hate and hostility; however, it still results in discrimination towards racial minorities. Research examining white people’s attitudes and behavior towards black people finds that one context in which aversive racism occurs is when discrimination towards black people can be blamed on non-racial factors. That is, people fail to identify race playing a role in why they behaved more positively towards other white people than they did black people. The present study seeks to examine the prevalence of aversive racism in the reality-television series, Survivor, where contestants vote someone out of the game each week in order to win a one-million dollar prize. With few exceptions, the majority of contestants each season are white, and attribute their decision of who to vote out of the game to various non-racial factors. We will examine the association between contestant race and the rate at which they are voted off the show by the other contestants. Aversive racism predicts that, although there are usually far fewer non-white contestants each season, non-white contestants would be voted-off at a disproportionately higher rate than the white contestants.

• 

  The Prickly Problem of Pears: Potential effects of native orthopteran herbivory on an invasive woody plant

  Kaitlin Marie Gawkins, Tara Brianna Masthay

  Across the United States, land managers are struggling to cope with a relatively new invasive species, Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana). At the present, Callery pear is one of the most important invasive species threatening prairies and early successional habitats in Ohio and the Midwest, and yet, there is no viable means of control that is widely used for this species. This is due to the fact that this species is resistant to herbicides and resilient against prescribed cutting/burning. One potential management strategy of invasive species is biocontrol, or the intentional introduction of natural enemies to control the growth and propagation of a target organism. Previous experiments with Callery Pear have been limited herbivory by large animals, thus, an important knowledge gap exists in the interactions between native insect herbivores and the woody plant. In order to explore this knowledge gap, we conducted a month-long field enclosure experiment where we manipulated the species richness of native orthopterans in enclosures with either a Callery Pear sapling or a similar native tree sapling, American Basswood, and destructively measured the biomass of the tree and vegetation in each enclosure. We then calculated the percent change in biomass between the treatments and controls to determine if varying the orthopteran species richness had any effect on plant growth. We found that in treatments with a high species richness of orthopterans, there was a larger positive percent change in Callery Pear biomass. This was opposite to what we expected due to the fact that, traditionally, a higher diversity of herbivores would lead to an increase in herbivory and thus a decrease in biomass. This should be studied further in order to understand how intentional reinstatement of insect diversity to early successional areas by environmentalists may actually be helping invasive species to grow more rapidly.

• 

  The Relationship Between Growth Mindset and Students' Psychological Well-Being

  Kelly Marie Berlin

  Research suggests that adopting a growth mindset can have positive implications for students’ academic outcomes, adjustment, academic emotions, and motivation. Having a growth mindset is also positively associated with resilience, which is positively associated with psychological well-being. The present study examined the relationship between high school students’ self-reported levels of growth mindset and psychological well-being. Results of a survey given to (n = 85) high school students demonstrated no significant relationship between students’ overall levels of growth mindset and psychological well-being. Further, results indicated that no significant relationship existed between growth mindset and any individual domain of psychological well-being (i.e., autonomy, environmental mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, purpose in life, and self-acceptance). Implications for practice and future research in the area of growth mindset are provided.

• 

  The Role of Short Chain Fatty Acids in the Activation of Macrophage Production of Nitrogen Radicals by Listeria monocytogenes Infections

  Megan Rose Bias

  Macrophages are important immune cells that can help protect our health by engulfing and destroying pathogens. For macrophages to work, they must be activated when there is a threat. My study focused on testing the effect of propionate, acetate, and butyrate on the ability of macrophages to produce nitrogen radicals. Propionate, acetate, and butyrate are short chain fatty acids that are present in the human body. They help with regulatory functions that are important for our health. We do not yet know how these short chain fatty acids can affect the macrophages’ ability to destroy possible threats. Macrophages have many ways to destroy pathogens, such as the production of nitrogen radicals. The production of nitrogen radicals can be measured through a nitrite assay. The macrophages were infected with Listeria monocytogenes that had been treated with one of the short chain fatty acids and then we measured the amount of nitrite production in the cell media. High levels of nitrite indicate high nitrogen radical production. Results from my study helped me understand how short chain fatty acids impact susceptibility to infections in the human body.

• 

  The security robustness of Modbus/TCP protocol in industrial control systems

  Hassan Ali Alsaad

  Since most of Industrial Control Systems (ICS) systems have been isolated from public networks, there have not been a colossal needs to secure them. However, in most of today's applications such as Experimental Physics and Industrial Control Systems (EPICS), Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), Distributed Control System (DCS) and Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) system are getting connected to the internet without paying attention to the security robustness of these devices. Industrial Control Systems (ICS) such as SCADA, DCS, PLCs are communicating with industrial equipment such as actuators, sensors, motors, and pumps using a special communication protocol called Modbus. For remote applications, multiple PLCs can be connected to each other to form a controlling network that uses Modbus / TCP communication protocol utilizing private/public networks. This research focuses on examining the security vulnerability of the Modbus/TCP protocol. To achieve this goal the researcher utilizes Modbus PLC simulator to simulate different cyber attacks through the local network. The cyber attacks have been formed using the MBTGET Perl script and Metasploit module, in Kali Linux penetration testing operating system. Our research shows some of the major security vulnerability in the Modbus/TCP protocol, which is one of the main communication protocols ICS system.

• 

  Thulium-holmium mode-locked fiber soliton laser

  Jordan Mackenzie Adams

  Thulium-holmium doped fiber is used to fabricate a ring cavity with 1900 nanometer lasing wavelength. The cavity is mode-locked and multiple spectrums observed. A 379 femtosecond pulse width is calculated from a wide 10 nanometer bandwidth spectrum. Applications of femtosecond lasers and 1900 nm lasers are discussed.

• 

  Tiny Green Grasshopper Pharmacy: Does Antibiotic Treatment of Buckwheat Grasses Impact Orthopteran Eating Habits?

  Emily Elizabeth Jones, Troy Harry Lampenfeld, Olivia Margaret Pettigrew

  Antibiotics are extremely prevalent in modern medicine and are used in treatment of a multitude of bacterial infections and diseases. As such, humans are increasing the abundance of antibiotics in many natural systems, especially those close to range-land systems where cattle are often prophylactically treated with antibiotics. Increases in antibiotics could be detrimental to organisms, such as herbivorous insects that need to maintain their microbiota to help break down their food. A small choice experiment was conducted to determine the effect of the antibiotic tetracycline on the dietary habits of Chortophaga viridifacsiata (Orthoptera: Acrididae), a species of grasshopper native to Ohio. The results of this experiment did not yield significant evidence that C. viridifacsiata show dietary discrimination between grasses treated with tetracycline and grasses grown under normal conditions. However, there was a trend towards reduced feeding on plants grown with antibiotics, which could be important given the small sample sizes of this study. Future experiments will include a wider array of antibiotic treatments as well as multiple species of grasshoppers. If the antibiotic enrichment of these ecosystems is causing changes in herbivory patterns among arthropod communities, it could be impacting arthropod and plant community structures depending on which species of plants are taking up these antibiotics.

• 

  Towards a Pre-Processing Algorithm for Automated Arrhythmia Detection

  Sarah Miller

  There are a variety of different wearable fitness/cardiac monitoring devices that are currently used in many people’s day to day life. The primary cardiac function of these devices is to monitor heart rate, however we believe that they could be utilized to detect different forms of arrhythmia. In order to categorize and identify different forms of arrhythmia, we are utilizing published EKG data sets from existing databases as a basis for machine learning. The challenge that comes from the existing data sets is that the format they present the data in does not lend itself to machine learning, which requires data to be in a vector. This makes the process of converting the existing data sets into workable vectors long and tedious. Therefore, we are working to develop an algorithm that will be able to vectorize the data from multiple different data sets so we, and anyone who wishes to use machine learning on these signals, are able to quickly and accurately use now workable, prior data sets.

• 

  Tracking the Center of Mass of a Human Using a Statically Equivalent Serial Chain

  Ian R Melnyk, Alex James Seither

  This project seeks to validate the use of a statically equivalent serial chain (SESC) in locating and tracking a human’s center of mass (CoM). The statically equivalent serial chain used in this project is comprised of 13 parameters, each roughly corresponding to a portion of the human body. Given these 13 parameters, the SESC points directly at a person’s CoM. Every individual has a unique set parameters to calculate their SESC. These parameters are determined by capturing poses and using the body segment length and position information, as well as the center of pressure reading, acquired from the different poses. A Wii Balance Board and Xbox Kinect were used in this study as inexpensive force plate and motion capture systems. There are other methods for calculating a person’s center of mass, but these require expensive equipment and more complex computational processes. The method proposed here is a low cost, fast, and easy way to accurately predict a person’s CoM. In order to determine the feasibility of the SESC model, we constructed a PVC and steel human model. This way, the weights for each part of the body could be known to validate the accuracy and repeatability of the program. A minimum number of poses required to achieve an accurate CoM prediction was determined by figuring out where human model’s parameters converged, which increases time efficiency of the process. Thus, validating the SESC method as a fast, easy, and fairly accurate solution for predicting a human’s CoM.

• 

  Truth or Lie: Applying Indirect Methods to Detect Deception

  Jacob Severino Avendano, Kelly Catherine Boris, Colin L Lamb, Cara Jane Miller, Shelbie Nicole Weightman

  The ability to detect deception accurately has been found to be 54%, which is only a slightly better judgment than predicting the outcome of a coin flip (Bond & DePaulo, 2006). Fortunately, more recent research conducted by ten Brinke et al. (2016) indicates that indirect methods may better produce detection of deception than do direct methods. These research results have inspired our team to study indirect and direct questions further to better understand the underlying causes for the success of indirect questioning. Consequently, the present research utilized different types of indirect questions to better determine if someone is being deceptive. These questions were based on the role of biases, individual personality characteristics, and expected behaviors,-verbal and nonverbal-, all believed to be associated with deception. Answers from a control group of observers asked direct questions about whether an interviewee in a video was lying about previous behavior were compared with answers from an experimental group of observers asked indirect questions. Two research hypotheses about the outcome of this manipulation are: (a) indirect questioning of an interviewee’s dishonest responses would produce more accurate determinations of dishonesty than direct questioning, and (b) questions designed to detect bias about or expectations of dishonest behavior would be more accurately related to the dishonesty of the interviewee in the video than those questions related to interviewee verbal and nonverbal characteristics. Data collected thus far indicate that indirect questions, as a group, are consistently better at detecting deception. The next steps in our analyses are, first, to analyze the different types of indirect questions (biases, characteristics, and expected behavior) to better understand which indirect questions are more reliable in detecting deception, and second, to assess any interactive effect of participants’ gender with the gender of the interviewee in the videos on detection results.

• 

  Twin Towers Community Nutrition Assessment (micro-level)

  Emily Rose Fritz, Lauren Elizabeth Lynch, Michelle Ann Schick, Leah Elizabeth Wagner

  The Twin Towers neighborhood is a low-income community in East Dayton, located about 1.5 miles away from the University of Dayton campus. The purpose of this assessment was to identify various dietary contributing factors so an appropriate intervention can be implemented to improve the dietary habits of those families and children living in the Twin Tower neighborhood. The objectives were to determine dietary intake, anthropometric, and physical activity habits of the population using secondary and primary data sources. Through a self-reported survey, we found that 81% of the sample population was overweight or obese and exercised an average of 45 minutes each week, which is below the recommendation for physical activity. Generally, families in low income communities have a high intake of saturated fat and a lower intake of fruits and vegetables. Due to this information gained, we recommend implementing a multi-component nutrition and physical activity intervention addressing the overweight/obesity epidemic, as well as the lack in physical activity seen among those in the Twin Towers neighborhood.

• 

  UD Campus Solar Energy

  John Francis Decaprio, Cooper B Graves, Isaac J Lytle

  After looking at a few articles about UD’s solar efforts, it was found that the solar panels in front of Daniel J. Curran Place and the panels on top of Fitz Hall do not provide nearly as much power as we expected. This was researched to see if there were any alternatives to help increase the impact that the existing solar panels have as well as look at other places solar panels can be installed around campus. We will consider the use of other alternative energies, efficiency improvements, and the different types of solar systems used on campus.

• 

  UD Public Memory: The Unsung Flyer Project

  Kaitlyn M Alleman, Kelly Elisabeth Barry, Jayson Joseph Breier, Jordan James Buccelli, Julie A Buynacek, Sophia Grace Chirumbole, Scarlett R Crabson, Ethan James Dawson, Marianna Rose DeMatteo, Michael E Francis, Emily Marie Gill, Maxwell William Higgins, Chris Alan Johnson, Kiersten Shelby Joslin, Justin Andrew Kahwaji, Nicole Marie Kozak, Joseph F Lamosek, Johnny Paul Lenehan, Kevin W Meyer, Kenton Nash, Abigail M Potter, Jorge Ramirez, Alexandria Rose Rozich, Gavin John Swink, Elizabeth Hope Thiedke, Ragan M Tuffey, Danny Christopher Vail, Jacob W Wagner, Jessica Ruby Washington, Kevin C Wilson

  The Public Memory themed section of SSC200 was tasked with proposing a monument/memorial for a lesser known person connected to the UD community, a Unsung Flyer. Five groups of four to five students each conducted survey, observational, and archival research to support their proposal. Through careful consideration of concerns related to public memory, identity, culture, and materiality, each group created and designed either a monument or memorial fitting the memory of their Unsung Flyer. Groups will be able to explain their designs, rationale, and processess culminating in their final course project for SSC200.

• 

  UD Public Memory: The Unsung Flyers Project

  Christopher Anthony Aman, Gregory Joseph Biggio, John Richard Coffey, Christian J Conway, Drake J Dahlinghaus, Engels Imanol Diaz Gomez, Carter Joseph Gans, Kelly Amelia Elizabeth Hines, Katherine Leigh Knapp, Timothy Edward Mahay, William Matthew Manzella, Alyssa Theann Mims, Kirah Noble, Rhyan E Pearson, Alure M Powell-Russell, Shannon Elizabeth Powers, Jane Marie Reiter, Diego Rafael R Rive Lockwood, Catherine V Schindler, Piper J Sereno, Jason A Serrer, Nicholas Robert Shearer, Hugo Adrian Sigona Gonzalez, Nicholas J Skorupski, Taylor Elizabeth Stewart, Allison A Svachula, Joshua Abet Vivas-Rodriguez

  The Public Memory themed section of SSC200 was tasked with proposing a monument/memorial for a lesser known person connected to the UD community, a Unsung Flyer. Six groups of three to five students each conducted survey, observational, and archival research to support their proposal. Through careful consideration of concerns related to public memory, identity, culture, and materiality, each group created and designed either a monument or memorial fitting the memory of their Unsung Flyer. Groups will be able to explain their designs, rationale, and processess culminating in their final course project for SSC200.

• 

  Understanding Chemolithotrophic Reduction Mechanisms from the Dark Marine Biosphere

  Anna Gwendolyn Blair

  As greenhouse gas emissions contribute to global warming and an increase in CO2 concentration in the earth’s atmosphere, the scientific community is under pressure not just to examine new technologies to reduce emissions, but also to consider the effect that increased CO2 concentration has on our terrestrial and marine ecosystems. In marine ecosystems, atmospheric CO2 dissolves and reacts with water to form carbonic acid. This diprotic acid then dissociates, contributing to a lowered pH of ocean water and affecting all levels of marine life. Fortunately, nature already has carbonate reduction mechanisms in place that can reduce the harmful effects of ocean acidification. Being able to identify individual bacteria in biological carbonate-fixing consortia can lead to adaptive systems engineered around biofilms. In this study, environmental samples taken from defined sites the dark marine biosphere (ocean depth of 2100-2300 meters) in the Gulf of Mexico were grown in a number of selective medias with defined carbonate contents. Bacterial samples were then analyzed using ion chromatography to measure carbonate consumption as a function of time. The data suggests that by selectively pressuring environmental consortia from the dark marine biosphere toward the purpose of fixing carbon, mechanisms and pathways can be generated to control the level of CO2 in the marine environment.

• 

  Understanding Headaches: An Analysis and Revision of an Existing Health Document for Intensive English Program Students

  Madie O'Brien Clements, Wyatt Andrew Kaiser, Shannon Rae Saelinger, Marrisa Ann Therriault

  Low health literacy serves as a distinct barrier for proper healthcare and affects a large portion of the U.S. population. Our team’s goal was to revise a brochure about headaches to fit the reading level and educational goals of the students in UD’s Intensive English Program (IEP). Our team performed a Health Literacy Load Analysis, SMOG test, and Word readability test to analyze the literacy of a headache brochure from Dr. Schneider’s Clinic, a headache and back clinic in Indiana. The results of these tests found that the reading level of the original document was much higher than the IEP students’ third to fourth grade reading level. We made two visits to the IEP class. The goal of the first visit was to find out what the IEP students already knew about headaches and what information they still wanted to know. Then we revised our existing brochure so that it matched the IEP students’ health literacy levels and incorporated the information that matched their interests. In the second visit, we field tested the revised brochure and received additional feedback from the IEP students to create a more effective final brochure. We were successful in lowering the readability of our brochure from an 11th grade reading level to a 5th grade reading level by replacing complex words and ideas with simpler terms. This project directly shows the need for health materials that are cognizant of individuals with lower health literacy.

• 

  Understanding the development of antibiotic resistance in Listeria monocytogenes

  Andrea Marie Vietti

  Bacterial antibiotic resistance is on an alarming rise worldwide, thus posing an urgent threat to human health. The rise in antibiotic resistance can be attributed to the overuse and misuse of antibiotics in both the healthcare and agricultural industries. In order to address this concern, this research is aimed to identify environmental conditions that may lead to the development of antibiotic resistance in Listeria monocytogenes. Listeria is a foodborne pathogen capable of causing the disease listeriosis especially in immunocompromised populations. Although infected individuals are treated with antibiotics, an alarmingly high mortality rate of 20 percent still persists; thus, it is important to further understand the impact various environmental conditions may have on the development of antibiotic resistance. Various genetic mutants of Listeria were exposed to antibiotics commonly used to treat Listeria infections, and the susceptibility to these antibiotics was observed under environments with and without oxygen.

• 

  Understanding the Link between Sugar Diet and Alzheimer’s Disease using Drosophila Eye Model

  Jordan Clay Dubbs, Neha Gogia, Akanksha Raj, Ian Joseph Tobal

  Alzheimer’s disease (AD), is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder and is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States (US), with no cure to date. It is caused by abnormal cleavage of amyloid precursor proteins (APP), generating amyloid-beta-42 (Aβ42) plaques that trigger neuronal cell death by unknown mechanism(s). Neuroinflammation (body’s response to repair, damage and defend against foreign agents) is another characteristic feature of this disease. According to US Department of Agriculture (2017), an average American consumes 94 g of sugar per day which is equivalent to amount of sugar in 2.4 cans of coke. The impact of this high amount of blood sugar can be very significant as breakdown of glucose in high-sugar diet damages the enzymes that regulate inflammation (in immune responses), resulting in misregulated neuroinflammation, strokes, and chemical imbalances, and thus may contribute towards AD. In our study, we want to elucidate the effect of both high and low sugar diet on Alzheimer’s. To test our hypothesis, we have used Drosophila melanogaster (a.k.a. fruit fly), (as genetic machinery is conserved from flies to humans) and developed a fly model of AD, where human Aβ42 peptides can be misexpressed in Drosophila eye using GAL4/UAS system. We placed flies expressing human Aβ42 in eyes as well as the central nervous system on regular, low, and high sugar diet. We examined the phenotypes in eye imaginal discs, adult flies and collected final death count. We also performed a series of behavioral assays to understand the impact of these different diets. Our study shows that a high-sugar diet displays a more aggressive progression of AD as compared to a normal diet or a low-sugar diet. This research has significant bearings in understanding the potential link between AD and diabetes, as both are very prominent diseases in today’s world.

• 

  Universidad de Deusto, San Sebastián, Spain

  Brandi Alexis Letsche

  Exploring the geographical, historical, and cultural aspects of the Basque Country, that it, San Sebastián, Spain. Presented are experiences taken out of a five month study abroad experience where the student attended the Universidad de Deusto and was taken on the journey of discovering a new cultural lifestyle.

• 

  U.S. Industry Wage Trends Pre and Post 2008 Recession

  Casey (Patrick) Casey Marsh

  Since the 2008 recession, wage growth within the U.S. economy has been considered muted at best. In this study I use time-trend regression equations to determine rates of wage growth both pre and post 2008 recession. I test the hypothesis that the slope coefficients for the pre-2008 trend regressions were higher than the slope coefficients for the post-2008 regressions. I also forecast wage growth for 2018 using the univariate regression models adjusted for root mean square forecasting error (RMSE).

• 

  U.S. Inflation Trends after the 2008 Recession; An Empirical Analysis of CPI - All

  Kathryn R Schulz

  A key variable in determining U.S. Federal Reserve Policy concerning Fed Funds Rates is the inflation rate in the U.S. economy. In this study, I developed time trend models for each month of the year using 2009 - 2017 as my modeling period. I then used the twelve time trend regression equations to forecast inflation levels for each month in 2018. Adjusting the forecast using the root mean square forecasting error procedure, I test for forecasting accuracy based on an error tolerance of 2%.

• 

  Using a cutting-edge in vivo brain microdialysis technique to assess the effects of ketamine administration in hippocampal glutamate release in male and female mice

  Claire C Cronin, Emily Margaret Flaherty, Patrick Robert Flaherty, Pothitos Pitychoutis, Joey Edward Saurine, Connor F Thelen

  Major depressive disorder affects more than 350 million individuals and is being ineffectively managed by current treatment options. A single dose of the novel antidepressant drug ketamine has been shown to rapidly induce antidepressant-like effects in both depressed patients and in preclinical rodent models of depression. It is theorized that ketamine’s therapeutic effects are mediated by a burst of glutamate, an excitatory amino acid, in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) inducing synaptogenesis or the formation of synapses in the PFC and the hippocampus (HIPP). Recently our group found that ketamine induced sex-specific synaptogenic effects in both the mPFC and HIPP and that these effects were more pronounced in the female HIPP. In order to further understand ketamine’s antidepressant effects in female mice, we implemented a cutting-edge in vivo brain microdialysis technique to assess putative sex differences in ketamine-induced glutamate release in the HIPP of male and female mice.

• 

  Using Food Products to Combat Antibiotic Resistance

  Madie O'Brien Clements

  Antibiotic resistance is a rising epidemic in modern-day healthcare. Numerous strains of bacteria have developed resistance to antibiotics, resulting in thousands of deaths worldwide. There are two types of resistance: specific drug resistance and multidrug resistance. Multidrug resistance can be caused by a tripartite protein complex known as an efflux pump that penetrates the inner and outer membranes of the bacterial cell and allows the cell to eliminate waste to the cell’s extracellular environment. In E. coli, one of the major efflux pumps is known as AcrAB-TolC. The goal of this research project is to inactivate the AcrAB-TolC pump via organic compounds extracted from plants. I hypothesize that these natural, organic compounds will block the activity of this pump and prevent antibiotic resistance. To test this hypothesis, I extracted organic compounds from food products and tested them for efflux pump inhibitory activity using a fluorescence-based efflux assay. The results of these experiments demonstrate that an extract of the herb, dill, inhibits the efflux function of the AcrAB-TolC pump in E. coli.

• 

  Using Soil Isolates to Test for Antibiotic Production

  Sean Andrew Kelly

  Antibiotic Resistance is a global phenomenon that has developed rapidly over the past few decades due to healthcare providers and regular people misusing these medications. Bacterial communities have the ability to become resistant to antibiotics through a number of mechanisms, such as horizontal gene transfer, which can provide members of the community genes that generate proteins to employ a defense mechanism against antibiotics. When antibiotics are introduced into a bacterial community they kill the members of the population that do not have antibiotic resistant genes and select for the ones which do. This creates a population of antibiotic resistant bacteria which are capable of becoming resistant to multiple antibiotics. Many of the known antibiotics were isolated from soil samples, where diverse bacterial communities compete with each other for nutrients and survival. The purpose of this research project is to isolate individual bacterial communities to search for antibiotic producing properties that could be beneficial to the medical and healthcare fields. Soil isolates underwent several biochemical analysis tests, which tested for identification, production of antibiotic properties, and extraction of the compound responsible for production of that compound. The isolates were tested against safe relatives of known pathogens to determine their ability to survive using antibiotics. With the rising wave of antibiotic resistance, there are many reasons why testing for antibiotic producing species is beneficial to the communities of people that are affected by this global crisis.

• 

  Using University of Dayton Soil to Isolate Antibiotic Producing Bacteria

  Ali Nicole Wiggins

  The overuse of antibiotics has created pathogens that have become resistant to the antibiotics effects. This is becoming a large issue because if the pathogens are resistant to the antibiotics then the antibiotics will no longer be able to cure certain illnesses. The Tiny Earth Network and Small World Initiative have created are partnering with undergraduate students in order to try to discover new antibiotics to combat this issue, using different soil samples from around the world. The goal of this research is to test University of Dayton soil for bacteria that produce antibiotics to help support the Tiny Earth Network and Small World Initiative. The soil sample was diluted down in order to isolate bacterium and then the bacteria colonies were plated on TSA and TH plates. Ten bacteria colonies were selected from each plate and tested against the known ESKAPE pathogens, Enterococcus faecium and Pseudomonas aeruginosa by using their safe relatives Enterococcus raffinosus and Pseudomonas putida. Two of the isolated bacteria showed zones of inhibition on both of the safe relative plates. The two bacteria colonies that had zones of inhibition were tested further using gram staining, catalase testing, hemolysis, triple sugar iron test, mannitol salt agar testing, MacConkey agar, citrate, gelatinase, motility identification. Then the bacteria was classified and then tested against Eukaryotic cells in order to find a safe antibiotic. This research helps contribute to the mission of the Tiny Earth Network and the Small World Initiative, in hopes of resolving the antibiotic crisis.