Stander Symposium: All projects - 2024

Follow

• 

  Unveiling the role of Hippo Interactors in Glioma Progression in Drosophila glioma model.

  Satya Burugupalli, Arushi Rai

  Signalling interactions play an important role in tumorigenesis. The Hippo signalling pathway originally identified for its role in organ size maintenance also plays a key role in tumor progression. Using the previously published Drosophila glioma model in which coactivation the EGFR receptor and Phospho-inositol 3 kinase (PI3K) pathways in the CNS glia using repoGAL4, we plan to study the role of interactions of Yorkie (YAP/TAZ in human), the downstream effector of the Hippo pathway, with other pathways in promotion of glioma growth. Given the conservation of genes and cell biological pathways, finding from our studies are expected to be extrapolated to higher vertebrates. Initial studies showed the role of Yorkie in neural stem cells in the growth of glioma. Here we present our progress with evaluating the role of other Yki interacting pathways using immunostaining, western blots and qPCR analyses to investigate which pathways are important for glioma progression.

• 

  Using Different Wavelengths of Light to Develop a Simple, Low-Cost Tool for Equitable Melanoma Diagnosis in Low-Resource Settings

  Nathaniel Joseph Bacon, Michael Brendon Basenback, Rachel Catherine Panko, Thiago Giovanni Perez, Ethan Andrew Selkirk, Andrew Michael Shoemaker, Griffin Chase Sullivan

  In a world full of blossoming technological advances, medical care remains one of the costliest services. Thus, all who seek diagnosis and treatment of an illness typically must have effective health insurance or carry a large debt. With these systems so deeply entrenched, our team seeks to push technological boundaries to find an economical solution to help diagnose common medical conditions. One condition we decided to focus on is melanoma, a type of skin cancer that can be deadly if not detected early. Since a biopsy of the skin is the only way to be sure a patient has cancer, medical procedures for suspected skin cancer are often prolonged, costly, and painful. To make matters worse, these expensive treatments are often not available for patients in low-income communities, many of whom may be uninsured. This socioeconomic disparity can often lead to certain groups of people not receiving the care they deserve. Our research team of engineering and physics students is committed to designing and building a low-cost, portable device that shines light onto the skin and analyzes combinations of different colors (wavelengths) of that light to determine if a patient has melanoma. After the creation of this device, our team wants to prioritize its distribution and use in free clinics and impoverished areas. It is there where many are unable to afford the early diagnosis and thorough treatment of skin cancer that they deserve. Furthermore, we hope that the device's mobility will allow melanoma detection to more effectively reach places like military bases and rural areas with minimal healthcare technology. Our device may be small but we believe that its capabilities to serve those in need can be extensive.

• 

  Using GIS to Determine How Climate Change Influences the Prevalence and Socio-Economic Impact of Wildfires

  Aidan Francis Kelly

  Wildfires are frequently occurring, and potentially devastating natural disasters. In the past decades the frequency and intensity of these wildfires have increased. The purpose of this study is to determine how climate change influences the prevalence and socio-economic impact of wildfires. This was achieved by analyzing both geographic and socioeconomic data to determine where fires are most likely to occur, and what populations they are most likely to affect. The scope of this study is ten counties in Southern California, USA; San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Kern, Ventura, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, and Imperial counties. Wildfire risk is quantified by a statistical model using physical factors such as precipitation, fuel type, land cover, soil moisture, road density, land surface temperature, and slope. The wildfire risk is then overlaid with socioeconomic variables such as population, race and ethnicity, age, sex, education level, and income, to examine the socioeconomic impacts of the wildfires. This analysis is done over multiple time periods: 2000, 2010 and 2020. The comparison between time periods will provide a comprehensive view on how climate change influences the risks and socio-economic impact of wildfires over time.

• 

  Using MotionGen to Help Teach Concepts from Machine Theory

  Luke C. Lococo, Kahra Gikanga Loding, Ryan Joseph Rotsching, Benjamin Michael Schaiper

  Researchers in Mechanical Engineering at SUNY Stony Brook have recently developed a free-access, online tool called MotionGen which enables users to virtually synthesize and assemble 2-dimensional mechanisms. Designers can then animate the mechanisms and observe the motion to assess performance. The course MEE 321 Theory of Machines, a requirement in the University of Dayton Mechanical Engineering curriculum, focuses on the analysis and use of these systems. MotionGen provides a new resource for bringing the static images from that course's content to life via animations. MotionGen assists students in gaining exposure to functioning mechanisms by helping visualize how linkages move, thus building a stronger understanding of the fundamental concepts for the course. A student team has created a significant number of short videos which range from simple mechanisms in motion to example videos breaking down complicated concepts like the “seize and fix” methodology for assessing degrees of freedom.

• 

  Utilizing ArcGIS Pro Deep Learning Models to Perform Land Cover Classification for use within Civil Engineering Design

  Daniel M. Deddens

  This project aims to develop a workflow for existing deep learning models to perform land cover classification on high resolution satellite imagery that can be used in conjunction with the Arc Hydro toolkit, both developed by ESRI for ArcGIS Pro. By performing land cover classification on high resolution imagery, and reclassifying the data with land cover-related hydrologic parameters, a watershed can be delineated, assigned a curve number, and a report can be constructed to provide engineers with pertinent information to the design process. The use of GIS tools within Civil Engineering design is sparse, by developing a workflow for engineers and designers to utilize, I hope to increase the use of GIS within engineering design to construct reproducible and accurate results.

• 

  Vaccine Attitude Spillover: COVID-19 Vaccination, Flu Vaccination, and Political Polarization

  Ryan J. Walsh

  Vaccinations protect people against diseases and prevent the spread of harmful infections. However, when comparing the total flu vaccination uptake prior to the pandemic and the total amount of uptake in 2024, there is a 9.97% decrease in the number of doses distributed. During the 2019-2020 flu season, 174.77 million doses of flu vaccines were distributed through the week ending on February 15, 2020. In comparison, during the 2023-2024 flu season, 157.35 million doses of flu vaccines were distributed for the week ending on February 17, 2024 (CDC, 2024). The present research will examine whether this decrease is related to political polarization surrounding COVID-19 vaccination uptake. During the pandemic, political polarization influenced people’s health decisions. For example, one study looking at the political polarization on COVID-19 pandemic response in the United States found that U.S. conservatives and Republicans were less likely to report intentions to receive a vaccine (Kerr et al., 2021). The current study will examine whether COVID-19 vaccination decisions spillover into flu vaccination decisions. The study will launch in mid-March 2024. We aim to recruit 100 undergraduate participants enrolled in Psychology courses at the University of Dayton to complete an online survey. The first part of the survey will ask participants to answer questions regarding their COVID-19 and flu vaccination history prior to the pandemic and after the pandemic. The second part will ask participants to answer questions regarding the reasons for receiving or not receiving both the COVID-19 and flu vaccination, and their political ideology. We will conduct regression analyses to determine whether political ideology relates to the COVID-19 to flu vaccination spillover phenomenon. We expect to find that conservatives are more likely to avoid receiving flu vaccinations after the pandemic as a result of the politicization of public health.

• 

  Varying Physical Activity Levels During COVID-19 and its Impact on Mental Health

  Liam C. Miller

  During the COVID-19 pandemic, physical activity facilities closed down and prevented many people from exercising in public. Physical activity has been shown to have benefits for both physical and mental health. During the lockdown, people engaged in varying levels of exercise, with different outcomes for their mental health. The purpose of this research study is to explore the impact of exercise on mental health in college aged students.

• 

  Virtualize Cybersecurity Training and Learning in Unity

  Nikesh Chithambaram, Megan E. Flynn, Logan Michael Manes

  The term “Cybersecurity” is seen everywhere in our world today, and everyone should have the opportunity to understand cybersecurity and better protect themselves on the internet. Personal cybersecurity is following specific instructions and steps to protect yourself through your tech devices and accounts from hackers and threats on the internet. To help educate young people about cybersecurity, we decided to create a game for grades Kindergarten through 12th grade to help them protect themselves through technology. Our Sci-Fi themed game allows a user to move throughout the building to accomplish different modules that cover several different topics within cybersecurity. These modules include a video presentation to help them understand the basics of the topic, then a game to allow them to put what they learned into practice, and a final quiz to show what they learned. We created this game for K-12 students since they are now using technology more than ever, so they should learn to also protect themselves on their devices as well. We have created this virtual environment with cybersecurity training modules collaborating as a team of different majors and using Unity to put our ideas into game form. These results will allow K-12 students to expand their knowledge within a topic that is very relevant to their lives. By simulating real-world scenarios within a controlled virtual space, our project aims to help educate a digitally responsible and aware generation.-- This project is supported by University of Dayton Center for Cybersecurity & Data Intelligence.

• 

  Virtual Yoga Instructor

  Nikesh Chithambaram

  Engaging in high-impact physical activities may not be suitable for senior adults due to their age and traditional exerciseprograms may not always be accessible or motivating. Adaptive yoga provides a range of low-effort exercises tailored to different age groups as well as individuals with disabilities that can improve both physical and mental fitness. However, post-pandemic travel can make attending yoga sessions challenging. To address this, we propose an augmented-reality application that encourages seniors to learn and practice yoga in an immersive mixed-reality environment in a surrounding of their comfort while promoting an active lifestyle and healthy aging.The proposed yoga application uses a database of yoga poses to provide guidance and feedback to users. It has a virtual instructor to guide the user and allows them to interact with both virtual and real-world elements with the help of a mixed-reality headset. During each workout session, the application will provide live feedback with the help of a camera to correct and validate yoga poses. The application allows the user to workout with friends represented by virtual avatars in a joint yoga session.Yoga provides numerous health benefits including strengthened bones, enhanced balance and flexibility which decreases the risk of falls and improve overall physical fitness. Practicing yoga regularly can lead to improved quality of sleep, promote mental fitness and clarity for the elderly. By providing live feedback, the application ensures the exercises are practiced safe. The user can use a mixed reality headset in the comfort of their home or preferred location, without the need to travel to a yoga studio. This provides a safer solution and also promotes independence for senior adults. Working out together with friends or family represented by virtual avatars can also help promote a sense of community and belonging, enhancing overall mental health and well-being.

• 

  Visual CAPTCHA Resilience Evaluation

  Rohan Ravindra Patil, Saumya Hiten Shah

  Visual CAPTCHAs are widely used to prevent automated bots from accessing online services. However, their effectiveness heavily relies on their resilience against automated attacks while maintaining user accessibility. The CAPTCHA resilience represents the ability of the trained models to detect the object during the adversarial attack. By evaluating the performance of the noise injected CAPTCHAs, our study aims to contribute to the ongoing efforts in developing more resilient and robust CAPTCHA systems.

• 

  Visualizing Installation Consumption of Energy (VICE)

  Rachel Claire Allen, Anna Rose Gow

  MIS and OPS Senior Capstone Projects include small teams of 3 or 4 senior students working weekly with a company/organization to solve a real business problem. These projects extend for the complete undergrad senior year including both Fall and Spring semesters. Students act as Project Consultants and Managers to guide the project from inception until conclusion by delivering solutions and deliverables to the client. Students produce project documentation and formal presentations at multiple stages of the project and conclude with presentations to the supporting Client's Leadership Team.

• 

  WFL Mill-Turn Setup Reduction

  Jack Michael Hingle, Madeleine M. Kinney, Joseph Anthony Messner, John T. Miller

  MIS and OPS Senior Capstone Projects include small teams of 3 or 4 senior students working weekly with a company/organization to solve a real business problem. These projects extend for the complete undergrad senior year including both Fall and Spring semesters. Students act as Project Consultants and Managers to guide the project from inception until conclusion by delivering solutions and deliverables to the client. Students produce project documentation and formal presentations at multiple stages of the project and conclude with presentations to the supporting Client's Leadership Team.

• 

  Whose Voices Matter?

  Caroline Anne Cochran

  This THR/VAR 250 Diversity in the Creative and Performing Arts poster presentation project requires each student to research and present on a topic relevant to the interdisciplinary fields of visual and performing arts through a critical multicultural and social justice lens that foregrounds the appreciation of diversity and enables the expansion of personal cultural competencies.

• 

  “Why Me?”: An Exploration of First-Generation Students Experiencing Imposter Syndrome

  Heather E. Ashley

  First-generation students experience a number of barriers in higher education, including imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is the feeling of doubt in one’s perceived achievements and abilities as it relates to their career and/or education (Clance & Imes, 1978; Peteet et al., 2015). This phenomenon impacts many facets of student wellbeing. An aspect of imposter syndrome that has not yet been explored, save for a few studies (Holden et al., 2021; Mikell & Davis, 2022), is the perspectives of first-generation students as they experience this phenomenon. This qualitative study focuses on first-generation students' experience with imposter syndrome and how such experience intersects with social location and social identities. This research uses a qualitative constructivist approach (Creswell & Creswell, 2023) and semi-structured interviews to answer: How are first-generation students impacted by imposter syndrome? How do first-generation college students perceive imposter syndrome? How do issues of inequity and systemic oppression contribute to the challenges facing first-generation college students? The findings of this study demonstrate a complex relationship between success and pressure on first-generation students that seemingly fosters a mindset of imposter syndrome.

• 

  Wildlife activity patterns vs human recreation in Five River Metroparks

  Elizabeth Ann Divish

  Fiver River Metroparks, along the Miami River watershed in Ohio is home to many species of animals and public hiking trails. The public parks in Germantown, Upper Twin Creek and Twin Creek have many chances to interact with the biodiversity while participating in outdoor recreation. The park data has been documented, organized and analyzed to determine the possible impacts that hiking trails and recreation have on wildlife activity throughout the day. This data was collected through the months of September, October and November, 2023, using camera traps to identify the time the individuals were active and the behavior they were exhibiting. Some of the species identified include: Raccoon (Procyon lotor), White-Tailed Deer(Odocoileus virginianus), Coyote (Canis latrans), and Squirrels (Sciurus sp). Through the research the relationship between human temporal recreational activity and the activity of animals at these locations has been compared. This will determine if the construction and implementation of new trails at any of these locations would be beneficial or detrimental to the current biodiversity inhabiting the parks.

• 

  Young Drivers Texting and Driving Behaviors

  Kyle Douglas Hazell, Emily Noelle Parker

  This research project explores the relationship between texting tendencies and mobility in everyday life among two age groups: young drivers (aged 17-22) and middle-aged drivers (aged 23-35). It is relevant because it directly involves drivers of all ages, as distracted drivers can pose a danger to drivers and non-drivers. It is also important because it allows us to study distracted driving indicators, and explore strategies to mitigate them. Through our secondary data analysis, we found there is a very strong correlation between phone use and distracted driving. The results indicated no significant difference between the two age groups when the involvement in distracted driving incidents was compared. Furthermore, this research analyzes the correlation between the occurrence of distracted driving incidents and the drivers’ age among both cohorts. Finally, the research hopes to explore the dynamic between “texting communication while driving” and engagement in other distracted driving behaviors.

• 

  ZFP36L1 suppresses Rotavirus and Norovirus replication, moderates the virus-induced hyperinflammation and suppresses host cell damage.

  Malabika Bhowmik, Tooba Shafeeque Ahmed Momin

  Title: ZFP36L1 suppresses Rotavirus and Norovirus replication, moderates the virus-induced hyperinflammation and suppresses host cell damage.Malabika Bhowmik, Tooba MominPrimary Advisor: Mrigendra RajputDepartment of Biology, University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio, USA 45469 Most acute viral infections cause damage in the host body either directly when the virus hijacks the host cell machinery, changes cell physiology, causes cell death by viral proteins, or indirectly by hyperinflammation. Zinc finger proteins (ZFP) are one of the highly abundant proteins in eukaryotes. Due to their distinctive structure, ZFPs bind with different cellular components such as DNA, RNA, lipids, or other proteins. A specific type of ZFP, ZFP36L1, belongs to the CCCH-type ZFP, which has been identified as a regulator of RNA metabolism. It is known to control the overall turnover of cellular mRNA including mRNA of cytokine mediators and cytokines by breaking it down through poly A tail using the deadenylation mechanism. The current study was designed to investigate the role of ZFP36L1 on virus replication and moderating virus-induced inflammation. Our results showed that stable overexpression of ZFP36L1 through lentivirus transduction significantly reduces Rotavirus and Norovirus titre as well as it moderated virus-induced proinflammatory cytokines like IFN-α and TNF-α with reduced virus-induced cytopathic effect in cells. While knockdown of ZFP36L1 significantly enhanced viral titre, virus-induced cytokines with more cytopathic effect. Our results also showed that ZFP36L1 overexpression does not affect macrophage (RAW 264.7) migration as compared to control while knockdown of ZFP36L1 significantly enhanced the macrophage migration in trans-wells. Overall, our study showed that overexpression of ZFP36L1 suppresses the virus (Rotavirus and Norovirus) replication and moderates the virus-induced hyperinflammation and thus mitigates virus-induced damage in the host.

• 

  ZFP36L1 Suppresses Virus Replication Independent of Poly(A) Tail Deadenylation

  Malabika Bhowmik, Tooba Shafeeque Ahmed Momin, Abiageal Rai Newell

  ZFP36L1, a CCCH-type zinc figure protein (ZFP) is recognized for its involvement in RNA stability and its decay via poly A tail deadenylation [removal of the poly(A) tail from mRNA]. This ability allows ZFP36L1 to exhibit antiviral activity against a variety of viruses, including flaviviruses, retroviruses, and alphaviruses. Our preliminary investigation demonstrated the antiviral role of ZFP36L1 against the human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43) and murine norovirus 1 (MNV1). The overexpression of ZFP36L1 reduced the HCoV-OC43 production, whereas its knockdown significantly enhanced the virus production. We aimed to understand how ZFP36L1 influences viral replication. To gain further insight into the role of poly-A tail deadenylation in the suppression of HCoV-OC43 by ZFP36L1, we knocked down CNOT1, a key regulator of mRNA decay, in ZFP36L1 overexpressed cells. Results showed that the virus titer reduction was not rescued in CNOT1 knockdown cells compared to the overexpressed ZFP36L1 cells. These results indicated that the reduction in HCoV-OC43 replication was independent of poly-A tail deadenylation.We further employed computational analysis, utilizing RNA-protein interaction prediction software and docking simulations, which indicated a significant interaction between ZFP36L1 and the viral nucleocapsid. Further investigations into ZFP36L1's effect on nucleocapsid expression revealed that ZFP36L1 overexpression led to a decrease in nucleocapsid expression suggesting a direct interaction between ZFP36L1 and viral components that may underlie its antiviral activity. We have also performed RNA immunoprecipitation experiments which have shown the interaction between ZFP36L1 and the nucleocapsid. This interaction will further be validated using luciferase assays. Overall, our study showed an additional pathway by which ZFP36L1 suppresses the virus replication.