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  Immune Signaling by HCT-8 Cells in Response to Intracellular Pathogens

  Aysha Choudhury

  Viral infections have the potential to completely overwhelm the body if appropriate measures by the immune system are not taken. Under the mentorship of Dr. Sun and Dr. Rajput, my research focused on the influence of propionate (a metabolic byproduct of gut microbiota with putative health effects) on intestinal epithelium cells infected with coronavirus (OC 43). By studying the cytopathic effects of HCT-8 cells exposed to different concentrations of propionate, we were able to gain a better understanding of how the metabolism of our gut microbiota can modulate our immune functions, something that can potentially lead to the development of new treatment options for coronaviruses, including COVID-19.

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  Impact of Consistent Exercise and Academic Performance

  Maxwell Faulds, Alexander Barrett, Olivia Burd, Lucia Wheeland, Abagail Tharpe

  The purpose of this study is to look at the correlation between exercising and academic performance among college students. This is a cross-sectional study, utilizing an anonymous survey to gather data on the various types of exercise such as duration and intensity, along with consistency. Also taking into account respondents' answers on their academic performance including GPA, course load, and other factors to determine whether or not consistent exercise habits have influenced academic performance among college students ages 18-23. The survey will be distributed via email as well as stories through social media platforms to most effectively reach the target audience. After the data is collected it will be examined based on the recommendations laid out by the CDC's guidelines of what activity is recommended for adults.

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  Impact of Religious Groups on Immigration in Western civilization

  John Saxton, Mary Koonce, Estil Stevens

  This project is a literature review focusing on immigration in the United States and Europe. This project evaluates different perspectives among immigrants and native citizens. The review focuses on the intersection of religion and immigration, both discriminatory and supportive practices and perspectives. Findings include biases among religious groups regarding immigrants. Discrimination stems from the societal and cultural frameworks from where individuals originate. This review finds religious organizations that offer support and resources to immigrants in their communities. Religious groups must do what they can to support immigrants in this ongoing issue.

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  Impact of the addition of a food resource on the aggression levels of Sunburst Platies between different sex combinations

  Elizabeth Vear, Palmer Lambert, Alyssa Hack, Claire Van Meter

  Interspecies aggression is used by many organisms as a way to win mates, gain food resources, protect offspring, and develop status within social groups. In this study, we assessed the level of conspecific aggressive behavior observed before and after feeding in male and female Sunburst Wag Platies (Xiphophorous maculatus). We hypothesized that when feeding bloodworms, a high value food, to two fish in the same tank, conspecifics will show more aggressive behavior and be more territorial after the addition of the food compared to prior to the feeding event in an effort to protect their food source. We used different sex pairings, (two males, two females, and a male and female together) to get a better understanding of how sex combinations impact aggression levels in response to food territoriality, and hypothesized that males will show more aggressive behavior than females. We found that aggressive behaviors do increase after the addition of a food source, and that one individual was more dominant compared to the other. This resulted in the dominant individual usually consuming more food than the subordinate, however; they were both able to consume the majority of the food without any aggression when the food density was high.

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  Increasing 6th Grade Magnet Student Yield

  Amber Reeves

  There is currently no designated policy, procedure or staff in place to facilitate the objective of increasing student yield. As a result, magnet applications and acceptance of invitations to attend Owl Middle School is approached without a strategy which makes planning difficult and negates the ability to determine effective methods. Filling these public-school magnet seats is a priority as student enrollment equates to staff funding from the state and school doors being open (NCES, 2020). Identifying policy to increase 6th grade magnet students is determined by setting achievable goals. Setting achievable goals for increasing magnet students begins by identifying specific, measurable, achievable, time bound and realistic objectives. Elementary schools with similar demographic populations will be targeted with recruitment efforts through speaking engagements at the schools, parent information nights, and printed material in English and Spanish distributed to prospective families and students. The purpose of this study is to understand the effectiveness of this targeted marketing and to develop a process of continuous improvement thus potentially increasing 6th grade magnet student yield. Two semi-structured virtual interviews consisting of five questions were conducted for 10 families regarding their decision of school choice and the impact marketing had. Findings included a need to incorporate digital marketing along with honoring the power of student decision making in this school choice process.

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  Inflation Trends in a Rising Interest Rate Environment: An Analysis of Growth Rate Trends For the Education and Communications Component of CPI

  Nora Jackson

  In 2022, the U.S. Federal Reserve initiated a tight monetary policy with unprecedented increases in the Federal Funds Rate. In this study, I examine the monthly growth rates sequentially for the Education and Communications component of CPI to determine if the rise in Fed Funds Rate has caused a downward trend in its inflation growth rate. I also compare a similar analysis for overall CPI. Lastly, I look to see if the growth rate trends for CPI and its Education and Communications component have similar trend direction. I use year over year by month growth rates and rolling 3 month growth rates annualized to determine the trend direction for CPI and the Education and Communications component.

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  Inflation Trends in a Rising Interest Rate Environment: An Analysis of Growth Rate Trends for the Food Component of CPI in 2022

  John Deeley

  In 2022, due to rapidly rising inflation, the U.S. Federal Reserve initiated an aggressive policy of monetary tightening primarily through increases in the Federal Funds Rate. In this study I focus on the food component of CPI and look to see if the significant rise in the Federal Funds Rate has had a dampening effect on the growth in food inflation. I also compare inflation growth rate trends in the food component of CPI to the inflation growth rate trends in overall CPI to see if the growth rates follow a similar trend pattern.I used year over year by month growth rates in inflation and rolling 3 month growth rates in inflation annualized to determine the trend direction for both the food component and overall CPI.

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  Inflation Trends in a Rising Interest Rate Environment: An Analysis of Growth Rate Trends for the Shelter Component of CPI, 2022

  Julia Reinker

  In 2022, The US Federal Reserve, prompted by rising and high levels of inflation, began an aggressive policy of monetary tightening through increases in the federal funds rate. In this study, I looked at the monthly growth rate trend in the shelter component of CPI to see if the rise in the federal funds rate has resulted in a downward trend in its growth rate. I also carry out a similar analysis for overall CPI and then determine if the inflation growth rate trends in CPI and the shelter component of CPI move together. I use year over year by month inflation growth rates and rolling three month growth rates annualized to identify the direction of the growth rate trends.

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  Inflation Trends in a Rising Interest Rate Environment: An Analysis of Growth Rate Trends For the Transportation Component of CPI

  Patrick Burns

  Rising levels of inflation has caused the Federal Reserve to substantially increase the Federal Funds rate in 2022 - in this study I analyze the monthly growth rate pattern for the transportation component of CPI to see if the increases in the Federal Funds rate have brought about a decline in its growth rate trend - I also carry out a similar analysis for CPI. Finally, I compare the growth rate trends for CPI and its transportation component to see if the trend pattern is similar. I use year-over-year by month growth rates and rolling 3 month growth rates annualized to carry out my trend analysis.

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  Inflation Trends in a Rising Interest Rate Environment: An Analysis of Growth Rate Trends in the Medical Care Component of CPI, 2022

  Sydnee Haymore

  In 2022, the U.S. Federal Reserve, in order to curb growing inflation in the U.S., responded by making rapid and significant increases in the Federal Funds Rate. In this study, I look at the Medical Care component of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to determine if the rise in the Federal Funds Rate has brought about a downward trend in its growth rate. I also make a similar comparison for overall CPI and then see if the Medical component and overall CPI growth rates are trending together.I use year over year by month inflation growth rates and rolling three-month growth rates annualized to determine trend direction of both the Medical Care component and CPI.

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  Inflation Trends in a Rising Interest Rate Environment: An Analysis of Inflation Growth Rate Trends in the Goods Component of CPI, 2022

  Thomas Roebker, Andrew Weltman

  In 2022, because of rising and high inflation, the U.S. Federal Reserve aggressively raised the Federal Funds rate with the aim of reversing the upward trend in inflation. In this study, we evaluate the inflation growth rate trends for the durable and non-durable goods sectors of the economy to see if they have had a reversal in trend direction. We carry out 3 empirical analyses: (1) We compare year over year by month inflation growth rates in the durable and non-durable goods sector to see if a trend reversal has occurred. (2) We calculate rolling 3-month growth rates annualized to see if the goods sector growth rates are also declining. (3) Using Step (1) and (2) above, we calculate CPI Inflation growth rates and then compare them to the goods sector growth rates to determine if they trend together.

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  Inflation Trends in a Rising Interest Rate Environment: An Analysis of Inflation Growth Rate Trends in the Services Component of CPI, 2022

  Michael Dahill

  In 2022, the U.S. Federal Reserve initiated a number of meaningful increases in the Federal Funds Rate in order to reverse the upward trend in inflation. In this study I analyze the inflation growth rate trend in the services sector of the economy to determine if the rise in the Federal Funds Rate had a material impact on its trend direction. I carry out 3 empirical tests: 1) I compare a year over year by month inflation growth rates in the service component to see if a downward trend has occurred. 2) I calculate rolling 3 month inflation growth rates annualized to see if the growth rates are declining. 3) I calculate the same inflation growth rate metrics for CPI to see if the inflation growth rates for the services component and CPI trend together.

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  Inmates Likelihood of Engagement with Mental Health Resources

  Madyson McKinney, Samantha Dwyer

  In recent years, mental health has been a prevalent topic in society. One group greatly affected by mental health issues are prisoners, with the Bureau of Justice Statistics (2016) reporting that over half of all state prison inmates had a past or current history of mental health issues. Nonetheless, only a small percentage receive mental health services while in prison. One must wonder what may affect an inmate's likelihood of engagement with such services. To help determine this, we chose to look at the 2004 Survey of Inmates in State Correctional Facilities (SISCF). It was conducted for the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) and uses personal interviews conducted from October 2003 through May 2004 with inmates in both state and federal prisons. We focused on seven main dependent variables in relation to our independent variable of inmate participation in a self-help group. Specifically, we strongly focus on whether possession of an unauthorized substance impacts an inmate's likelihood of engagement with a mental help group.

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  Insects as an indicator? How unwanted and overlooked creatures in litter can be a useful tool to indicate prairie restoration success

  Matthew Carroll

  Tallgrass prairies were once a dominant ecosystem in the US historically covering roughly 1/3 of the nation but now roughly 4% of prairie coverage remains. These prairies provide valuable ecosystem services and serve as a safe haven for native plants and wildlife. To combat prairie loss there has been a series of prairie restoration projects taking place around the greater Dayton area. While these projects are great at bringing back native wildlife there has been no real criteria established to measure how well these restoration projects have boosted biodiversity at higher trophic levels. We were interested to see if any invertebrates that live in the litter or soil could indicate successful prairie restoration. We tested whether there was a difference in the communities of ground dwelling insects between both native prairies and restored prairies to see if there is a group or species of insects that we can use as a measurement of restoration success. We used a transect of pitfall traps to collect insects at each of 12 field sites. These pitfalls collected invertebrates for roughly a week, and then they were brought back to the lab and identified to order. We found that both snails as well as isopods are significantly more abundant at remnant sites, likely because these species have low levels of dispersal so they take a long time to get to restored sites. These two groups have potential to be used as indicator species to show restoration success of prairies in the Miami Valley.

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  Insights into an emerging insect habitat: Ant communities on green roofs in 3 Ohio cities

  Grace Jackson

  Many cities are experiencing a phenomenon known as the urban heat island effect largely as a result of decreased vegetation. Green roofs have been used to help combat this issue, and many claim that they also provide habitat for urban wildlife. There is a significant knowledge gap in our understanding of the interactions between urban wildlife and this artificial habitat. The insect family Formicidae (ants) are a great study organism for this system because they are ubiquitous across urban areas and their ecology is easily studied with simple methods. In the summer months of 2022, soil samples, temperature data, and ants were collected from nine study sites spanning across three cities in Southwestern Ohio (Dayton, Cincinnati, and Columbus). I predicted that the green roofs would be hotter and drier than their immediate ground level habitats. Ant activity was predicted to be negatively correlated with increasing height and positively correlated with increased plant species richness and soil depth. I also hypothesized that when presented with an equal opportunity to forage for salt or sugar, ants foraging on green roofs would have a more pronounced preference for sodium over sugar due to the deicing practices of roads and sidewalks and increased sucrose availability on the roofs. This proposed work could help inform land managers about the type of habitat that green roofs provide, and provide novel insight into how they affect arthropod communities.

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  In-situ Optical Surface Feature and Temperature Sensing System for Selective Laser Melting (SLM) Technology

  Yujie Yang

  We describe techniques and present results for in-situ monitoring of surface features and temperature that can operate in challenging environments near laser-material interaction locations. The techniques are considered for incorporation into laser material processing systems such as for laser welding or additive manufacturing of metallic parts with powder bed selective laser melting (SLM). Surface characterization is performed using a fiber-based line-scan confocal optical system, where a laser beam is transmitted and received by a fiber whose tip is affixed to a piezoelectric actuator that changes the lateral position of the fiber tip at a rates up to several kilohertz. Characteristics of the power of the received laser light depend on surface properties and can be used to classify surface roughness, for instance with the help of machine learning (neural networks), or to identify anomalies or defects at the surface. The temperature sensing approach uses a similar line-scanning optical system, but in a passive configuration, where the received light is thermal radiation emitted from the surface under test. The line scanning of the receiver fiber tip allows for generation of temperature profiles, for instance in the vicinity of the melt pool in SLM systems.During the SLM process, there are some critical parameters that must be monitored to ensure the quality and integrity of the final part. In-situ surface monitoring and temperature sensing are particularly important. In-situ surface monitoring can detect defects or irregularities as they occur, allowing for immediate corrective action and it can also help to ensure that the part is being built correctly, by verifying that the dimensions and features of the part are within acceptable tolerances. By monitoring the temperature in real-time, operators can adjust the laser power, scan speed, or other process parameters to maintain the optimal temperature range for the specific material being used.

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  Inspirational Women in STEM Stories

  Leah Frost, Alexander Hoffman, Meredith Wall

  There is a significant lack of women within the STEM field, which is a major diversity problem within our society. Many barriers and biases make it difficult for women to thrive within this community, which is why we would like to present stories of historical and inspirational women who broke the mold and made history. This presentation will cover inspirational women, all with different backgrounds, disciplines, and contributions to STEM. We hope that these stories inspire you to promote and embrace diversity within the STEM field.

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  Instance Segmentation for Medical Image Analysis

  Kim Anh Phung

  In this work, we will explore the instance segmentation for medical image analysis. In particular, we will collect a new dataset of polyp instances for this task. Then, we evaluate and report the performance of different state-of-the-art methods. Finally, we will provide insights about applying the computer vision methods into practical problem.

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  Instance Segmentation to Identify Mouse Brain Cell Types

  Aditya Shrivastava

  I.ObjectivesFor the study of brain function and behavior, the mouse brain serves as a valuable model system. Methods to accurately analyze the complex signals produced by the mouse brain are becoming increasingly important due to developments in neuroimaging and optogenetics. Techniques that can take the information contained in mouse brain signals and turn it into useful biological insights are especially needed. In brain analysis, instance segmentation is commonly used for measuring and visualizing the brain's anatomical structures, for analyzing brain changes, for delineating pathological regions, and for surgical planning and image-guided interventions. In the last few decades, various segmentation techniques of different accuracy and degree of complexity have been developed and reported in the literature.II.MethodsThis interdisciplinary project explores the image segmentation with fluorescence microscopy images of mouse brain tissue. In particular, we will develop a model to segment dendrites, cell body, and axon from images of mouse brain tissue. The segmented results will be extremely helpful to detect synaptic proteins that are important for neuronal communication. We will focus on the excitatory synaptic proteins VGLUT1 and VGLUT2 which are specifically expressed circuits in the brain. To this end, we will use an image dataset of mouse brain tissue provided by Dr. Aaron Sathyanesan. Then, we will annotate the dendrites, cell body, and axonal regions by using our in-house annotation tool provided by Dr. Tam Nguyen. Next, we will train an image segmentation model on the newly annotated dataset. For the evaluation, we will use the performance metrics such as accuracy and IoU.

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  Integrating Fiber Optic Sensors into Composites using Tailored Fiber Placement

  Rachel Crossman

  Creating composites that have material only where it is needed to add strength, while keeping it absent from locations it is not needed, is a huge advantage to reinforcing parts while keeping them light weight. This is the advantage of tailored fiber placement (TFP). However, making these parts not only able to reinforce high stress areas, but also allowing them to detect the changes in stress/ strain in that area as the part moves and shifts, opens the door for a variety of possibilities in composite manufacturing. This project researched the possibility of this through the creation of a beam integrated with LUNA’s fiber optic sensors. Each side of the beam was reinforced with an optimized TFP design and cured with the sensors embedded. Combining the technologies of TFP and fiber optic sensors allow parts not only to be extremely lightweight but give feedback on the stresses they are undergoing to promote better overall structural health.

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  Integration of motorized kinematic stages in an optical Lithography experiment

  Russel Pienias

  Lithography is the technique used to create micro and nanostructures for a variety of applications, in which a laser creates precise patterns in a photosensitive material called a photoresist. In a modern system, both high-resolution piezoelectric stages, as well as large travel stepper motor stages, are needed. LabView is a programming system that allows its users to communicate with instruments that allow the user to control and read different instruments. In this case, LabVIEW is being used to control motion in a 3-dimensional plane, and the ability to have precise motorized movement will do two things for the optical Lithography system: a) it allows the users to align the laser coming into the system which is normally done manually, and b)also it allows users to switch samples in and out of the system with ease as the stages move the samples in and out of the system. In summary, we integrate motion control stages into a lithography system to assist in sample mounting and dismounting while maintaining positional accuracy, and we validate the lithography system using a dose parameter (laser power) characterization.

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  Intelligent Adaptive Control System for Combating Ventilator Induced Lung Injury

  Jason Cahill

  Mechanical ventilation, as a resource for critical care, is a balancing act. Everyday physicians, nurses, and respiratory therapists rely on this life saving intervention to support patients who are too weak or ill to breathe on their own. Unfortunately, structural and physiological damage can easily occur as a result of aggressive or long-term ventilator use. Because of the cardiopulmonary system’s tremendous complexity as well as the innate variability in parameters due to disease, individuality, and time, most critical care ventilators require continual adjustment to avoid these side effects, essentially making the physician the controller. This project proposes a radical step forward in design, a three-part control method that will bring the patient into the loop in an unprecedented way. First, a dynamic inversion controller based on a 148-state model of the cardiopulmonary system. Second, a neural network-based adaptive controller capable of reducing real time deviations between the base controller and the patient. Finally, a gradient based concurrent learning algorithm that optimizes the parameters of the base cardiopulmonary model in real-time, thereby further reducing error associated with long term variations. The complete controller will regulate the patient’s respiration in real time utilizing vital information from existing bedside monitors.

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  Intelligent Algorithms for the Optimization of Rare-Earth Metal Cation Forcefield Parameters

  Aaron Winget

  Molecular simulations can be used to gain a better understanding of the exact mechanisms of many physical and chemical reactions. As such, it is important that these simulations be based on models that are as accurate as possible. Unfortunately, the rare earth series of elements are difficult to model due to many of their forcefield parameters being unknown or otherwise inaccurate. This work explores finding these parameters utilizing intelligent Bayesian optimization. Rather than a linear “guess-and-check” search pattern, Bayesian optimization utilizes parallel search patterns to search many potential points simultaneously. As such, search time is drastically reduced, and the parallel nature of the optimization allows for parameters of different elements to be discovered concurrently.

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  Interaction between the dorsal selector gene defective proventriculus (dve) and Decapentaplegic (Dpp) signaling pathway during Drosophila eye development

  Katie Perry, Anuradha Chimata Venkatakrishnan, Anjali Sangeeth; other authors: Neha Gogia, Madhuri Kango-Singh, Amit Singh 1,3,4,5,6

  During organogenesis, axial patterning is required to establish the Antero-Posterior (AP), Dorso-Ventral (DV), and Proximo-Distal (PD) axes for proper organ development. The DV axis is thefirst lineage restriction event during eye development. These processes like patterning anddevelopment are carefully co-ordinated by various transcription factors, morphogens andsignalling pathways. Any errors in this process result in developmental defects, genetic birthdefects, and patterning defects in the organ. Here we wanted to study the interaction between apreviously identified dorsal selector gene defective proventriculus (dve, an ortholog of SATB1),a K-50 homeodomain containing transcription factor and Dpp morphogen. Decapentaplegic(Dpp)/Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) signaling pathway is highly conserved in humans andforms morphogen gradient in the developing eye to initiate retinal differentiation and establishthe anterior-posterior axis of the Drosophila eye imaginal disc. We hypothesize that dve couldinteract with Dpp signaling and an optimum level of interaction between dve and Dpp signalingis essential for the proper development of Drosophila eye. Our results suggest Dve might interactin an antagonistic manner with Dpp pathway to regulate growth. We will address this hypothesisusing gain-of-function and loss-of-function approaches. Here we present how the dve patterninggene interacts with the Dpp signaling pathway to determine retinal vs head cuticle fate.

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  Interactive Effects of Predation and Sex of Group Member on Social Behaviors in Platys

  Grace Litavsky, Emma Borgert, Amy Friemoth, Greta Schoettmer

  Platys (Xiphophorus maculatus) are naturally found in warm, shallow waters and typically live in social groups. These fish demonstrate complex social hierarchies where dominant individuals assert authority through aggressive and physical displays. Subordinate fish may display submissive behaviors like swimming away from the dominant individual. However, when exposed to a predator, the social dynamic of platy fish groups can quickly shift. Here, we investigated how exposure to predators and social structure influence the interactions of the platy fish. To do this, treatment groups of male-male, female-female, and male-female had their behaviors scored for 5 minutes before predator exposure as a control and for 5 minutes after with 30 second acclimation time after the 30 second predator exposure. Statistical significance was only observed for the behavior of top time, with differences observed between the male-male and male-female treatment groups during the pre period. No significance was observed between treatments or within the overall data for the pre and post periods for the behaviors of gravel time and schooling time. The effects of social structure influences the behaviors of platys greater than exposure to a predator, as significant changes in behaviors were not observed between the pre and post periods. This research is important because it can tell us more about the complex social structure of platy fish and help us to understand the evolutionary history of their behaviors.