Stander Symposium Projects

Follow

• 

  Veterans: Civilian Adjustment

  Nick Steven Lafrance

• 

  Wall Street Journal Reporter's Possible Conflict of Interest with Neighborhood Mosque

  Rachael Kay Haselhuhn

  Paul Overberg, reporter for the Wall Street Journal and president of his community association in Fairfax County, is involved in a perceived or real conflict of interest regarding his complaints about a local mosque, the McLean Islamic Center. Through his role in the community association, Overberg made complaints about the mosque’s recent expansion, which simply allowed the morning prayer service to include more than ten people. He complained on the grounds that this expansion would cause more noise in early morning hours, and as a result, the McLean Islamic Center has had to spend thousands of dollars on traffic and noise-mitigation studies and lawyer’s fees. Many news organizations highly discourage their employees from getting involved in public or political issues because it could come into conflict with the journalistic norms of objectivity and neutrality. Although Overberg is not in direct opposition to the Journal’s rules, many respected journalists think he would be smart to step back from this issue, as it could be perceived as Islamophobic. Edward Wasserman, dean of the University of California at Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, said “The Wall Street Journal should be worried that his involvement, even in a neighborhood squabble, will be viewed as religious intolerance”. This conflict of interest, or perceived conflict of interest, is in contention with many common values in the field of journalism, such as independence and loyalty. Should Overberg be free to participate in controversial projects, or should he remain loyal to a journalist’s obligation of objectivity in the public eye? This question and topic of research will be presented in a poster at the Stander Symposium and in a two to four page case study.

• 

  Water quality and captivity both affect the birth rate of the stingray Rhinoptera bonasus

  Rachel Elizabeth Brewer

  Little research has been done on stingrays in captivity and in the wild, which is an important topic that I felt needed further investigation. Stingrays are marine and freshwater Chondrichthyan fishes that are commonly displayed in aquariums and zoos worldwide. While there is significant scientific knowledge of rays there is much remaining to know about these fascinating organisms. My internship at the St. Louis Zoo, allowed me to dive into the world of stingrays. Zoo’s all over the world create their exhibits to mimic what habitats would be like for the animals in the wild. At the St. Louis Zoo, Caribbean Cove is home to Cownose and Southern stingrays. These gentle creatures have a flat body, long pointed, fins, and a long whip-like tail. The Cownose and Southern stingrays breed during summer to early fall in shallow waters out in nature. In captivity, these rays breed throughout the year. The goal of this project was to understand how captivity may influence stingray births by observing water quality and environmental control. This study evaluated the differences in the St Louis Zoo’s pool temperature in relation to the number of births of Cownose stingrays. By evaluating the time of year that the ray pups were born in comparison to water temperature, I found that in captivity more stingrays were born in the month of May. I then compared this to other published research to see if there was a correlation between the breeding period in captivity versus the wild. More importantly, I will include all the contributing factors that may influence the Cownose and Southern stingrays breeding patterns.

• 

  What's Better, Primary or Secondary Batteries?

  Courtney N Catchpole, Daniel W Pearson, Ashley Marie Siefker

  This project compares the manufacturing processes of primary and secondary batteries. Primary batteries are typical household batteries. Secondary batteries are rechargeable batteries and most commonly used for storage of electricity that is generated from renewable sources. This project explores the energy usage, greenhouse gas emissions, and other environmental impacts that result from the production of each type of battery.

• 

  Wine Bottle Problems

  Daniel J Illg

  This is a project for MTH 466, Graph Theory and Combinatorics. A graph is a mathematical object that consists of two sets, a set of vertices and a set of edges. An edge joins two vertices and depicts a relationship between those vertices. Using vertices to represent states and directed edges to represent a transition between states, we can construct digraphs to model the Wine Bottle Problems. These problems ask how few pourings are needed to distribute specific amounts of wine amongst a set of unmarked bottles knowing only the capacity of each bottle and the total amount of wine. We will model problems such as finding the minimum number of pours required to distribute 8 liters of wine evenly into 2 bottles using only three bottles that have capacities of 3, 5, and 8 liters of wine. We will also explore properties of these digraphs.

• 

  Wing Performance Changes Due to Wing Surface Contours

  Faith Alison Loughnane, Rachael Marie Supina

  Most leading-edge tubercles studies (inspired from the humpback whale) involve serrated-type leading edges where the airfoil cross-section is destroyed. In this research, the effect of the tubercles is investigated where the airfoil cross-section is preserved along the span of the wing. By maintaining the same airfoil section throughout, reducing the chord reduces the thickness of the wing, creating uneven wing surface contours. These contours are hypothesized to affect the spanwise flow thereby affecting the induced drag, roll-up of the wingtip vortex, and the parasite drag of the wing. Sensitivity study was done on the number of contours along the span (6, 9 and 12) and contour location (leading edge, trailing edge, both leading and trailing edge) by performing force-based experiments at the University of Dayton Low Speed Wind Tunnel (UD-LSWT). The aerodynamic coefficients were compared among the wing with and without contours. The aerodynamic lift and drag coefficients along with variations in aerodynamic efficiency will be presented for wings with and without contours.

• 

  Work vs Play in classrooms

  Hailee M Cain, Katelyn Marie Gillotti

  We will be exploring the benefits of play in early childhood classrooms and beyond. Research shows that there are significant benefits to play, but recently school systems have begun to phase out the importance of play in their curriculums. Instead increasing academic rigor has taken over the life of the everyday classroom. While academic skills are vital, social skills are equally as important for student's proper development. Teachers and educators of all grade levels must find methods to incorporate both cognitive and social emotional development into their classrooms. With the implementation of several required standardized tests, school districts have been forced to focus only on academic scores in order to receive good grades on these large-scale assessments. The consequence of these tests is that students have been given less time to work on and cultivate creative activities and ideas in the classroom, including time for free play. Methods such as intentional teaching have emerged to help teachers combine both academics and play or exploration into the same lesson plans. The goal of our research will be to explore both the benefits and drawbacks of prioritizing play in the everyday classroom.

• 

  Xsens Distance and Displacement Accuracy in Human Motion

  Julie A Buynacek

  The Xsens MVN Awinda tracks human movement with 18 wireless sensors placed in specific places on the body as well as a prop. The system allows for real-time 3D visualization of motion and measures the distance and displacement of tracked motion. It is hypothesized that Xsens data would be most reliable when walking, less reliable when jogging due to greater disturbed motion, and least reliable when using crutches. Disturbed motion is greater movement that could contribute to displacement of the sensor from its original position.

• 

  Youth Sport Concussion Management

  Cordell James Stover

  As knowledge about concussions increases and more is being discovered regarding the lasting effects of concussions, youth sport coaches need to be better informed and educated on the signs and symptoms of concussions and the management of concussions and return-to-play procedures. This research examines what coaches of youth athletes (5-12 years of age) know about concussions and concussion management. Semi-structured interviews with coaches were conducted and will be analyzed in order to develop recommendations for effective training tools to help coaches identify and properly manage youth sport concussions.

• 

  21st Century Policing in Dayton

  Max Hunter Boorsma

  In light of the 2015 Presidential Task Force on 21st Century Policing (Task Force), police departments across the country have been adapting with the ever-changing culture of the United States. The Task Force highlights six pillars essential to effective modern policing that are discussed throughout this research, with an emphasis on pillar one, Building Trust and Legitimacy and pillar four, Community Policing and Crime Reduction. This research attempts to answer the questions of how the Dayton Police Department (DPD) is engaging with the findings of the Task Force and how the public perceives the Dayton Police Department. Exploring the first research question, this research analyzes DPD programs in relation to the Task Force pillars. Discussion of the DECA Taft Seminar highlights the focus on Problem Oriented Policing (POP) and Community Oriented Policing (COP) in relation to pillars one and four. A content analysis of twitter is used to explore the public perception of the DPD. This is an analysis of all 2017 public tweets from twitter users in the Dayton area, which include the key word ‘police’. Discussion of DPD programs in relation to the Task Force pillars allows for analysis and recommendations based on relevant literature. The objective of this paper is to highlight connections between the DPD and the Task Force and to gauge the success of DPD programs based on public perception.

• 

  A Business Application of Markov Chains

  Emily Lynn Seals

  The purpose of this project is to look at the economic applications of Markov Chains and stochastic matrices in a real-world problem. For this project, I studied a specific case for a rental car company which has a fleet of vehicles for rent in a number of locations. It is very important for the company to know the number of vehicles that will be available on a typical day at each location. This project will show that, on a typical day, the number of available vehicles at the various locations can be known by calculating what is called the steady-state vector of the stochastic matrix associated with the problem. This will help the company to better manage the customer demands. It can then be used to meet any increased demand at a particular location which can occur due to various reasons.

• 

  ACL Reconstruction Graft Types and the Effects on Recovery Time in Young Adults

  Megan Marie Gusky, Chrissy Hannigan Marie Hannigan, Daniel Vincent Passafiume, Michael Louis Valenti

  This study focuses on ACL Reconstruction Graft Types and The Effects on Recovery Time of Young Adults. There has been a large increase in ACL tears amongst both males and females recently and there are multiple different graft types that can be chosen from for repair. These options include autografts and allografts. Autografts consist of using a tendon from the patient's own body, which could include: a patellar tendon graft, a hamstring graft or a quadriceps graft. An allograft involves using a tendon that is taken from a source outside of the patient’s own body. A cadaver is a common source for an allograft. The different graft types can result in different recovery times. Quantitative data is used to see the correlation between the graft the subjects chose and the overall recovery time. Therefore, students currently attending the University of Dayton will be informed about this study and asked to volunteer if they have previously torn their ACL and have had surgery to repair it. The goal of this research is to figure out which graft type used in ACL reconstruction surgery leads to the quickest recovery for both males and females. This study assesses why the subjects chose the particular graft that they did, what their experiences were during the rehabilitation process, how long it took them to recover from surgery and if they still have any problems with their knee currently.

• 

  Adapting an existing health document to increase awareness about dietary supplements for the Intensive English Program

  Ibrahim Khaleel Alsulaimani, Maris O'Malley Ebeling, Emily Margaret Flaherty, Catherine Victoria Matheny

  Health literacy can be defined as an individual’s ability to understand health information and integrate the information to make informed decisions in order to reduce health risks and enhance overall quality of life. We partnered with the Intensive English Program (IEP) to revise an existing health document about dietary supplements for students in this program. First, we met with level two IEP students to assess their initial knowledge of dietary supplements and to determine how the document should be tailored to meet their health literacy needs. The initial document had a readability level of 12.0 according to the Microsoft Flesch-Kincaid readability tool and the Simplified Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) tool had a reading level of 13.5. Our goal was to adapt the existing health document to a 3.0 to 4.0 reading level for IEP students. This was accomplished by reducing sentence structure complexity and eliminating complex terminology. This project brought to light the need for developing and adapting existing healthcare documents for marginalized audiences with low health literacy.

• 

  Advance cooling feedback system

  OMAR Mohammed Alokali

  it is an advanced cooling feedback control system, attached with a motor control..

• 

  A Fundamentals Based Portfolio Weighting Model for the Information Technology Sector:An Empirical Analysis: 2009-2017

  Sallie Rebecca DeYoung

  A central proposition in finance theory is that investors are risk averse and attempt to minimize the risk relative to expected returns regardless of the particular asset class being considered as an investment. In this study, I combine a fundamentals-based approach to portfolio weighting with a measure of return relative to risk to generate portfolio performance for the Top 20 Stocks by market value in the SPDR Information Technology Sector. I use a three-year moving average of each stock’s earnings per share to calculate the inverse of the coefficient of variation (1/cov), a return-risk ratio. Higher portfolio weights are given to stocks with higher 1/cov ratios. Stock weights are recalculated each year so that the portfolio is rebalanced annually. The initial investment is $1,000,000. Portfolio returns are generated for the years 2009-2017 and the performance benchmark is the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY).

• 

  Agents of Change: Influence of Service Learning and Volunteerism on Career Choice among Military Personnel

  Marcia Mills Nehring

  Since 9/11, more is known in the field of College Student Affairs about how to support military students who transition into college. Engaging these nontraditional students in service learning and volunteerism has shown to influence career choice, increase completion rates, and strengthen community partnerships (Sims, 1989; Travor & Kates, 2014). With higher numbers of unemployment rates for this population, the purpose of this qualitative narrative research study is to explore the perspectives of military students and staff at a Community College in mid-western Ohio, whose career choices were influenced by volunteerism and service learning. The primary investigator used a confidential interview protocol. The findings could inform future studies and encourage community buy-in to engage military personnel in nonprofit activities that may influence their future career choices. Waddell (2011) says, “The significance of entire concept of community service or service learning is directly linked to their military core value of mission first and service before self” (p.18). This study adds to that conversation.

• 

  Aircraft Generator Design and Analysis

  David Gross

  Aircraft electrical power demands have been rapidly growing due to an increased amount of electrical load onboard aircraft. This increased load has come about as electrical sources for various aircraft subsystems, such as pumps, compressors and flight controls, replace mechanical sources. The main source of electrical power on an aircraft is a generator. The power demand on an aircraft is not constant, but rather dynamic, and the nature of these power demands causes increased temperatures and complex/dynamic loads, for which many contemporary generators are not designed. Because of the need for high amounts of reliable electrical power among future aircraft, future generators should be designed for reliability, stability, power density and long-term durability. The objective of this thesis project is to determine if generator sizing techniques (e.g. equations, assumptions, rule-of-thumb metrics) can be calculated to a reasonable accuracy for preliminary machine design optimization and analysis.

• 

  A Journey Towards Multiculturalism: Cultural Identity Development Among Chinese International Students

  Yuan Zhou

  This is a qualitative, narrative research study examining the stories told by six undergraduate Chinese international students about their transitional journey from a monocultural to multicultural identity. In the interviews, students were asked to reflect on their understanding of self, Chinese culture, and American culture. Students were also prompted to reflect on their past experiences in China leading up to their arrival to the United States as well as those while attending the University of Dayton. The commonalities in their narratives showed evidence of internal motivation to immerse themselves in American culture, in addition to the negative and positive encounters with both Chinese and American students on campus.

• 

  Alcohol Deprivation Effect: An Investigation of a Model of Alcohol Dependence and Relapse Behaviors in Male and Female Long Evans Rats

  Hanna Jane Peterson

  Humans that become addicted to alcohol and other drugs often relapse even long after becoming abstinent especially when they encounter stressors in life. Stress that a healthy person handles with coping mechanisms like exercise or talking to a friend, an addict may handle by resuming use of their drug of choice. People may also relapse if they re-enter an environment where they used the drug because of a learned association between that environment and the good feeling of the drug. In order to understand relapse behavior, a pre-clinical rodent model of relapse is used which models the important aspects of the human addiction and relapse condition. While a rodent model does not replicate every aspect of the human condition, it can model the aspects that are most important in addiction and relapse overall. The model used in this study is the alcohol deprivation effect (ADE) model. It has been found to model alcohol addiction and relapse in rats and can therefore allow for further understanding of relapse behavior as well as allow for testing of the effects of various variables like stress or therapeutic drugs on relapse behavior. However, before these further tests can be done, it must be clear that the model works in the Long Evans rats that are used in the lab. I am also interested in whether the ADE model yields similar results in male and female rats. This project will investigate the usefulness of the ADE model in Long Evans male and female rats by replicating a similar study done previously by Sinclair and Tiihonen (1988).

• 

  A Low Power High Throughput Architecture for Deep Network Training

  Yangjie Qi

  General purpose computing systems are used for a large variety of applications. Extensive supports for flexibility in these systems limit their energy efficiencies. Neural networks, including deep networks, are widely used for signal processing and pattern recognition applications. This poster presents a digital multicore on-chip learning architecture for deep neural networks. It has memories internal to each neural core to store synaptic weights. A variety of deep learning applications can be processed in this architecture. The system level area and power benefits of the specialized architecture are compared with an NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 980Ti GPGPU. Our experimental evaluations show that the proposed architecture can provide significant area and energy efficiencies over GPGPUs for both training and inference.

• 

  Analysis of Environmental Effects of Chemical Deicers in the Southwestern Ohio

  Christopher Alexander Barrett

  In the modern age, virtually every sphere of society uses various manufactured chemicals. Factories use various lubricants to improve machine up time, sanitation crews use disinfectants to annihilate bacteria, and farmers use specialized fertilizer to improve crop growth. The use of these chemicals can be extremely helpful, and in some cases necessary to keep the wheels of modern society rolling. However, while these chemicals help, in some cases they can be very hazardous to individuals or the environment if not handled properly. This is the case with excessive use of chemical deicers that can runoff from roads into water and negatively affect freshwater wildlife. This project uses deicers as an example for the potential health and ecological effects that can be caused from the use of environmentally harmful chemicals, and attempts to highlight practices that minimize these risks.

• 

  Analyzing the Factors of Performance: Is There a More Precise Way for Trainers to Score an Individual's Form During Exercises?

  Amanda Nicole Delaney

  As part of a collaborative project, our overall research aim was to gain a better understanding of factors that contribute to successfully predicting performance in a variable environment. My research concentrated on adding objectivity for evaluating the effectiveness of training exercises and assessments that are performed and normally scored based on an expert’s rating. The Lock and Load exercise, which resembles the bird dog exercise but is done in a high plank position, was the focus of this study. Biomechanical marker data was recorded with an Xsens Awinda 17 sensor suit for comparison to the ratings of form assigned by the trainer. Analyzing the center of mass and maximum acceleration of the individual allowed for examination of how well the person was balanced, controlled, and in sync throughout the test. This data was then used to determine the accuracy of the form ratings given by the certified trainer involved in the project. Results suggest that other sensor-based outcomes may need to be incorporated in training exercises to provide a better picture that equates to the expert’s rating. Analysis of jerk, hip rotation, and coordination plots are the next steps in determining the relationship between the expert’s form rating and the true form.

• 

  Analyzing the Use of Pressure Sensing Shoe Insoles for Biomechanical Research

  Kevin Michael Nowacki

  The foot is an especially intricate piece of the already complex human body. In biomechanical research, gait is a popular research topic, but it is hard to demonstrate¬–or even understand–how the foot articulates. Motion capture is a common way to attempt to analyze how the foot works during gait. This method has shown major improvements in understanding the human foot, but has many limitations. There can be variation on where markers are placed, which lead to varying kinematics, which leads to inconsistent results. A pressure sensing insole could assist in understanding multi-segment foot kinematics. This would allow pressure mapping of the foot throughout the gait cycle. There are limited people and studies that have looked at pressure mapping of the foot through gait using insoles. In collaboration with a company called SensingTex out of Spain, I am experimenting with their product in development to analyze if it could be useful for future biomechanical research. This research will hopefully validate the device, and show it can accurately detect how people are distributing their weight across their foot. The ability to see how and where the pressure is being dispersed throughout the foot during gait can open a lot of doors and create many opportunities for other research moving forward. This research is a pilot study to analyze how the device works, and if it is a viable option for understanding multi-segment foot kinematics. Through initial testing, it was found that the sampling rate of the sensors is not fast enough to get an adequate number of samples during a foot strike. The next steps include increasing the sampling speed of the sensors, and continue testing to compare these data.

• 

  A Nationwide Study on the Impact of Racial Battle Fatigue on Black Student Affairs Professionals

  Beverly Auston Dines

  The purpose of this qualitative, online survey-based study is to explore racial battle fatigue and its impact on Black student affairs professionals across the United States. How do Black student affairs professionals describe racial battle fatigue and its impact on their professional lives? The findings enhance our understanding of the needs and opportunities for advocacy as it pertains to these professionals. The survey results are organized by theme and analyzed for trends and best practices.

• 

  And Give Me Support: How SUNY Institutions Address Employee Experiences of Burnout

  Conor Matthew Kutner

  The purpose of this content analysis study is to uncover how higher education institutions in the State University of New York (SUNY) system offer support to higher education professionals in their employment who experience burnout during the course of their work. With the high attrition and turnover rates of higher education professionals (Rosser & Javinar 2003; Tull, 2006), institutions do not seem to be meeting the needs of their employees. This study will utilize a content analysis approach to systematically review the publicly-available literature such as employee handbooks, human resource websites, and employee wellbeing services websites from SUNY system institutions (n = 10). This study seeks to identify a multi-dimensional method (Abbott & Baun, 2015) of addressing these issues and needs, of providing support and services to employees, and to offer recommendations on best practices in responding to those need-specific gaps in future research and progress.