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  Understanding the Impact of Fuel Volatility and Viscosity on Gas Turbine Engine Ignition

  Katherine Claire Opacich

  In the current alternative jet fuel certification process, approximately $3-4 million and 20,000-100,000 gallons of fuel are used over a three to five year period to evaluate the behavior of new blends of fuel within engines. This extended process is not only costly but also carbon intensive. The National Jet Fuels Combustion Program’s (NJFCP) mission is to streamline the certification process of alternative jet fuels, which is controlled by a fuel’s operability limits for select ignition and lean blowout conditions. For ignition, the propensity of a fuel to ignite is limited by its ability to form a flammable mixture with air near a spark kernel. The fuel properties of viscosity and volatility largely govern this reaction because of their influence on the mean droplet size and vaporization rate, respectively. This research aims to achieve a thorough droplet modeling analysis and surrogate generation that imparts key information about whether viscosity or volatility is the fundamental factor in ignition performance. The proposed work will also supplement the NJFCP’s goal of assessing the behavior of alternative fuels within combustors with minimal engine testing. Success of this research will assist the NJFCP in their efforts to accelerate the alternative fuel certification process, promote the de-carbonization of aviation jet fuels, and produce next generation high performance fuels.

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  Understanding the Intricacies of Obesity

  Maddy Rae Dutton, Joseph Cole Emery, Dana Lynn Pflugradt, Collin Robert Rook

  Health literacy refers to one’s understanding of healthcare information and the ability to make informed decisions when it comes to health benefits and risks. Obesity is a major health epidemic, so we analyzed and revised a health document from the Obesity Action Coalition website to enhance the understanding and readability of the document for the University of Dayton’s level two Intensive English Program (IEP) students. The original document required a college-age reading level. The IEP students read at a 3rd or 4th grade level, so this document was not appropriate for this audience. We visited with the IEP students to gather information about what they already knew about obesity, what they wanted to know more about, and if they had any questions pertaining to obesity. We were then able to create a new brochure for them, making sure to address the information that was of interest. During our field test with the IEP students, we presented our draft in order to receive comments and questions. After the field testing and running SMOG and Flesch-Kincaid readability tests on the original and drafted documents, the final brochure was created and the IEP students reading level was attained. The document our group created allowed the IEP students to better understand important information about obesity, which was lost in the original document. This revision process shows how important it is to assess the readability of health documents and to make them appropriate for a specific audience.

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

  Jordan Clay Dubbs, Neha Gogia, Ankita Sarkar, 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 mis-regulated 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 (along with the controls) on regular, low, and high sugar diet and checked the phenotypes in eye imaginal discs, adult flies and collected final death count. Wingless and a soy protein, Lunasin (anti-inflammatory in nature) were also studied to understand their role in progression of AD. 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.

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  Understanding the Repopulation of Glioblastoma in Drosophila Model System

  Leah Dawn Bullock

  Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is the most common form of malignant brain tumors, accounting for about 52% of primary brain tumors. Patients diagnosed with GBM typically die within a few months after diagnosis. Standard treatment consists of surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. GBM has an unfavorable diagnosis due to the high rates of tumor recurrence. The cause of the repopulation of the tumor after treatment is currently unknown; therefore, there is a need to study the repopulation of GBM in more detail. We have created a simple glioma model in Drosophila melanogaster to study the effects of treatment on tumor size and repopulation of the tumor. We have created the glioma model by suppressing Pten while overexpressing oncogene Ras in glial cells in order to induce a tumor. Flies with genotype UASPten RNAi;UASRasV12; Repo Gal4 UASGFP developed aggressive brain tumors and failed to survive to the adult stage. 1st instar larvae of this genotype were exposed to different dosages of X-ray radiation to study the radiation sensitivity of glioma larvae. We utilized 3.5 Gy of radiation to carry out further experiments. We found there is a significant reduction in tumor size in the larvae exposed to X-ray compared to the unexposed samples; however, there is still repopulation of the tumor after X-ray exposure. Through the use of immunohistochemistry, we found that there is significant reduction in Glial cells, neuroblasts, and neurons after X-ray exposure. We plan to further our study by looking into the effects of radiation on the ganglion mother cells and dying cells of the brain. Since the pathways in this study are conserved from flies to mammals, these findings can be utilized in other model systems and in humans. These findings have the potential to lead to possible treatments for glioblastoma tumors in humans.

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  Understanding the Transition from Rural High School Student to Urban College Student

  Hannah Danielle Zimmerman

  The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study is to understand the transition from high school to college among first year, undergraduate students from rural communities at The Ohio State University. Through the conduct of interviews with 13 participants, I have been able to gauge how rural community high school graduates describe their transition into an urban university setting in one of Ohio’s largest cities. Research has shown that students in rural communities are in the lowest of proportions on college campuses, and often it is because they are not exposed to the resources available to prepare for post-secondary education. In this study, students from rural communities have expressed feeling unprepared for college upon graduating high school, and lack of preparedness has been demonstrated through minimal challenging class offerings, unmotivated high school teachers, and not being a part of a college conversation prior to enrolling at the university. My interpretation of the data suggests that some of our rural students may not be exposed to and prepared for post-secondary education, indicating missed opportunities towards maximizing leadership potential and growth within our agricultural communities.

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  Unique Approaches to the Finite Difference Method

  William Thomas Shovelton

  The oldest and most useful technique to approximate the solution of differential equations is the finite difference method (FDM). This technique allows for derivatives to be replaced by the finite difference discrete approximation, hence we get a finite difference equation (FDE). As with all numerical solutions, this method is only an approximation and there will be errors due to rounding and discretization. Over the years, new approaches to the FDM have been derived to improve the stability of the numerical solutions. These unique approaches are referred to as nonstandard finite difference methods (NFDM). The focus of this project will be to determine the effectiveness of two different NFDM proposed for an autonomous dynamical system and a class of reaction-diffusion equations. Effectiveness will be based on the accuracy to the exact solution and stability.

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  Unravelling novel calcium-signaling mechanisms implicated in the neurobiology of learning and memory

  Aikaterini Britzolaki, Joey Edward Saurine

  Calcium ions are potent regulators of cell fate, as they carry essential information from egg fertilization to cell death. Neuronal cells are no exception to this; calcium signals are critical for neuronal cell function and survival. Intrinsic calcium-cycling aberrations have a detrimental effect on neuronal cell fate, long-term potentiation , learning and memory. Subsequently, calcium signaling imbalances are associated with a wide range of debilitating neurolopsychiatric disorders whose pathophysiological mechanisms are elusive. Our group focuses on unravelling the regulatory mechanisms coupled to calcium handling in the central nervous system. Comprehensive studies have revealed that distribution of calcium in the cell is majorly regulated by the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and hence the latter’s critical role in maintaining neuronal calcium homeostasis. We have recently identified a novel calcium-regulating protein expressed in the brain and we demonstrate for the first time, its implication in regulating learning and memory processes in the mouse brain. In the context of this presentation we will demonstrate overwhelming molecular and behavioral data to support the pivotal role of this novel calcium-regulating protein in the neurobiology of learning and memory.

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  Unrecognized and Underwritten:The History of the Black Press

  Jada Monique Woods

  The black press was born out of a need and that need is still pertinent today. Before 1827, black people largely did not exist in the media. There were only two options for the black community stay silent and keep their marginalized voices to themselves or start voicing those opinions and advocating for rights by creating a newspaper. After 1827, black newspapers in the North developed into the main medium of expression and primary community service outlet for black people. The researcher examined the history of black media from the mid-1800s to 2017. Evidence from black newspapers and publications throughout history shows every success against oppression and inequality has come with a price for black press in the United States. In 2017, blacks have more opportunities because of those publishers whose goal was to elevate and educate blacks. Currently, blacks have improved the second-class citizen status in some respects, but clear inequalities still persist. Although mainstream news organizations have made efforts to represent blacks more, there are still large disparities. The black media is still essential for the well-being of the black community. The black press began as an outlet to acknowledge the black community and push for equality and this kind of activism is still needed today.

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  Urban Gardening in a Participatory Community Action Research Project at Homeless Shelters: Enhancement of Wellness and Vocational Readiness for Shelter Residents

  Katey M Gibbins

  Homelessness is a ubiquitous community problem that exists at the local, national, and international levels. This Participatory Community Action Research Project represents a collaboration between Dr. Roger N. Reeb (Roesch Endowed Chair in the Social Sciences, Professor of Psychology, University of Dayton) and administrators at St. Vincent De Paul (Dayton, OH). This project, which began in August of 2013, implements Behavioral Activation sessions at local men’s and women’s homeless shelters and well over 1,500 shelter residents have participated in the Behavioral Activation project thus far. Behavioral Activation is based on operant conditioning, refers to a therapeutic strategy that attempts to increase overt prosocial behaviors that bring a person into contact with reinforcing environmental opportunities, and thereby enhances thoughts, mood, quality of life, and actualization of inherent potentialities. This project also utilizes service-learning pedagogy, with faculty, community partners, graduate students, and undergraduate students working together to implement Behavioral Activation sessions within the shelters. Quantitative findings, which have been presented at numerous conferences, indicate that shelter residents perceive individual Behavioral Activation sessions as meaningful, worthy of repeating, and enjoyable. Over time, quantitative findings also indicate that participants perceive the Behavioral Activation Project as contributing to their sense of hope, capability and motivation for education/work, purpose or meaning in life, wellbeing, quality of life, social/emotional support, and improved social climate. Qualitative data support these quantitative findings and also reveal important themes (e.g., importance of student-resident relationships in supporting psychosocial improvements). This proposed research involves the establishment of an urban garden within the context of this project. In addition to yielding produce to enhance nutrition for shelter residents, this research will examine pre-to-post improvements in wellbeing in shelter residents who participate in the farming initiative.

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  Urban Gardening Initiative for the Enhancement of Wellness and Environmental Attitudes of Service-Learning Research Assistants: A Participatory Community Action Research Project within Local Homeless Shelters

  Alicia Michelle Selvey

  Homelessness is a complex and pervasive community problem that affects all levels of society. This collaborative Participatory Community Action Research Project between Dr. Roger N. Reeb (Roesch Endowed Chair in the Social Sciences, Professor of Psychology, University of Dayton) and administrators at St. Vincent de Paul (Dayton, Ohio) implements Behavioral Activation at local homeless shelters as a way to address this pervasive problem within our community. Behavioral Activation, a form of operant conditioning, refers to a therapeutic strategy that attempts to increase overt behaviors by bringing a person into contact with positive response-contingent reinforcement. This enhances positive thinking, mood, quality of life, and the pursuit of personal potential. The project, which began in August of 2013, is implemented at both the Men’s Shelter and Women’s Shelter and has recruited well over 1,500 residents and served countless more. The project utilizes service-learning pedagogy; community members, faculty, and graduate and undergraduate students contribute to the project in various ways. Based on quantitative findings, shelter residents perceive Behavioral Activation sessions as meaningful, worthy of repeating, and enjoyable. Furthermore, quantitative findings indicate that, as shelter residents participate in the project over time, they perceive Behavioral Activation as contributing to key psycho-social factors as follows: hope, capability and motivation for education or work, purpose or meaning in life, and social/emotional support. Additionally, the project has contributed to creating a healthier social climate within the shelter, as evident by qualitative analyses; the data has revealed important emergent themes (e.g., importance of student-resident relationships in supporting psycho-social improvements). This proposed research involves the establishment of an urban garden within the context of the Behavioral Activation project. In addition to enhancing nutrition for shelter residents, this research will examine pre-to- post semester outcomes (wellbeing, environmental attitudes and behavior) for service-learning students who implement the urban gardening initiative.

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  U.S. Inflation Trends and the 2008 Recession

  Alison M Berry, Carmen May DeRose

  The U.S Federal Reserve Board uses long term inflation trends and projections to guide its policy decisions on controlling inflation. The objective of this study is to determine if the severe recession in 2008 altered the long term trend in inflation. Using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as well as the Personal Consumption Expenditure Index (PCE) for our measures of inflation, we first divide the overall period of analysis into two nine year periods, 1999-2007 and 2009-2017, with 2008 the inflection point. Using linear regression with time as the independent variable, we develop regression coefficients (B) for both nine year periods and test the hypothesis that the 1999-2007 B coefficient is larger than the 2009-2017 B coefficient. If the hypothesis is correct, the difference in the B coefficients can be considered a proxy for the 2008 recession effect on trend inflation. We also run another test where a linear regression is run for the complete period but a dummy variable, D1, is added to the equation line with D1=1 for the 12 months in 2008. We test for a negative coefficient attached to D1, which indicates a downward shift in the regression line and provides another measure of the effect of the 08 recession on the inflation trend. Finally we test for a Phillips Curve effect on inflation trend in the 2009-2017 period. With U.S. unemployment reaching a rate around 4% during the last third of the 2009-2017 period, we run another trend regression but add the dummy variable D2 for the months in 2015, 2016, and 2017, in order to test for an upward shift in the inflation regression line. A positive coefficient attached to D2 would suggest the presence of the Phillips Curve affect.

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  Using and Implementing Continuous Stirred-Tank Reactors and Plug Flow Reactors to Study Reactions in Undergraduate Chemical Engineering

  Alex R Paschal

  Understanding the behavior of Continuous Stirred-Tank Reactors (CSTR) and Plug Flow Reactors (PFR) is vital to graduates of the University of Dayton’s Chemical Engineering Program. This primarily is due to the widespread usage of these reactor types in commercial settings; therefore, students should be exposed to ‘hands-on’ laboratory experiences with these type of reactors prior joining the Chemical Engineering workforce. Realizing that the Unit Operations Laboratory is a capstone class, and it lacked adequate education on such reactors, experiments were developed and performed on both types of reactors to establish empirical standards of reaction kinetics and rates that can be used to guide the education of future undergraduate chemical engineering students. Overall, the CSTR and PFR reactors were used to develop theoretical and empirical understandings of the reactor systems based on calibration of reactor system mechanics; non-reactive qualitative experiments; and bimolecular-reactive experiments. Specifically, the saponification reaction between Sodium Hydroxide and Ethyl Acetate producing Sodium Acetate and Ethyl Alcohol was the primary reaction analyzed in this work. As a quantitative result, models of the studied reaction in both types of reactors were developed and compared. In addition to this common experiment, reactions for future studies to be tested by undergraduate students using green solvents and reactants are suggested. Ultimately, this work will lay the foundation of chemical reactor analysis in the Unit Operations Laboratory at the University of Dayton.

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  Using RNA-interference to Identify the Genetic Toolkit for a Fruit Fly Morphological Trait

  Abbey Marie Groszkiewicz, Jesse Taylor Hughes

  Metazoan animal morphological traits result from the combined inputs of hundreds or more genes that comprise gene regulatory networks (GRNs). Each GRN utilizes various genes from the genetic toolkit of transcription factor and signaling pathway genes to control complex patterns of gene expression. However, for few traits, if any, has the full repertoire of toolkit genes been characterized for its GRN. Thus, how traits are built by regulated gene expression remains poorly understood. For my thesis, I am investigating the genetic toolkit that makes a male-specific pigmentation for the fruit fly species Drosophila melanogaster. Using RNA-interference, I will reduce the expression of ~190 transcription factor and ~21 signaling pathway genes to find those necessary for this trait by surveying for deviant pigmentation phenotypes. The results will provide a greater understanding of how a GRN is able to direct the formation of a well formed trait.

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  Using Strategic Business Process Architecture Models to Create a Process Architecture Reference for the Healthcare Industry

  Baxter Rechtin

  Strategic Business Process Architecture (SBPA) models identify the key elements and their relationships that can be used to document, design and improve operational processes across any process type or industry. The critical SBPA process architecture elements was previously combined with a traditional process map to develop a novel process architecture mapping tool enabling the capture of important elements needed to design streamlined processes. The goal of this research project is to apply the process architecture meta models and the process architecture mapping tool to the healthcare industry, and subsequently develop a standard healthcare process architecture reference model. The process architecture reference model can be used by healthcare organizations as a basis for process management, including to document, design and improve their processes to provide excellent patient care.

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  Utilizing GIS and Multi Variable Analysis to determine optimal wind farm site locations in Ohio

  Kyle Hrabak

  This project aims to determine the most optimal locations for the implementation of utility scale wind farms within the state of Ohio. The use of fossil fuels for electrical energy production is one of the world’s largest contributors to the growing atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, known for having long term impacts on climate. Developments and growth in the clean energy sector have offered alternatives to current dominant methods of energy production, with specific focus into wind powered electrical generators. Wind turbines are a carbon free source of energy, but are limited in use due to restrictions of needed wind energy. This form of energy is widely available in enough quantities across the Midwest region to be a viable source of electrical generation. As such this project aims to look at all variables that need to be taken into account to determine optimal sites for wind farms in the state of Ohio. Factors of consideration include wind energy, land cover, soil type, roughness of terrain, elevation, slope, orography, road access and environmental impacts. Data regarding all of these factors is collected and processed using a geographical information system, ESRI ArcGIS, creating a spatial representation of suitable areas for development. Within the GIS system, an analysis technique known as multi-variable analysis is conducted assigning weights to various factors and calculating an overall suitability score to be ranked and investigated as optimal sites. The finding of this report are to provide a starting point for clean energy implementation in the state of Ohio for which currently only has renewables accounting for 3% of the state’s energy production.

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  Validating the Location and Tracking of a Human’s Center of Mass Using a Statically Equivalent Serial Chain

  Luke Evan Schepers

  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, subjects of varying body types were tested, and SESC predictions for the CoM were checked for both accuracy and repeatability. A minimum number of poses required to achieve an accurate CoM prediction was determined by figuring out where subject’ parameters converged, which increases time efficiency of the process. Additionally, it was found that the number of frames required to capture a pose could be decreased from 30 to 15 frames without sacrificing accuracy. This resulted in a total testing and setup time of 30 minutes per subject, opposed to one hour previously. Thus, validating the SESC method as a fast, easy, and fairly accurate solution for predicting a human’s CoM.

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  Variable Stiffness Series Elastic Actuator for Collaborative Robots

  Manoj Kumar Sharma

  Robotic manipulators with joints that are capable of precisely monitoring the instantaneous torque are currently being used in collaborative robots. These robots are safe to work alongside human beings, and execute tasks that rely on force control. A spring is placed in series inside a robotic joint actuator deflects as per the torque transfer; this information is then used by the controller to control the robot as needed. Based on this key idea, a new device is invented wherein the spring stiffness can be servo-controlled. An intelligent controls scheme is developed that helps to create a safe collaborative workspace.

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  Waiting and Service Time Optimization During Lunch at Milton-Union Elementary School Cafeteria, Dayton, OH

  Saud Abdulaziz M Alshaikh, Emma Raye Trappe

  Long waiting time by itself is a bad experience, but when you couple it with a limited available time to have lunch, that is a recipe for disaster. Milton-Union Elementary School found this out the hard way, as they were trying unsuccessfully to run their lunch process in a timely manner. Apparently, dealing with little, hesitant, uncertain kids about their meal choices, along with the constraint of time was a bit hard to intake by the teachers and lunch worker, ending up with kids being yelled at and continuous complaints by the teachers. There are high school and middle school students in the same building. They are using the same cafeteria for their lunch and they eat before the elementary school. The management stated that the only problem being encountered is with the elementary school students finishing their lunch effectively in a timely manner. There are 679 students in the elementary school distributed over 32 classes. Each class has 30 minutes for lunch followed by another 30 minutes for recess. To manage all schools lunch timing, all students at elementary school must finish their lunch within 90 minutes starting at 11:25 AM. Two lines are there to serve the students and all classes are scheduled to be released in batches with two classes per batch. Those batches are separated by 3-5 minutes as an effort to reduce the long-stacked waiting queue, which normally considered as part of that 30 minutes of lunch. Each lunch line has two servers and one cashier, except for line 2 where there is one more cashier for a limited time only (from 11:25 AM to 12:20 PM). Management believes that elementary students need at least 20 minutes to eat their lunch, otherwise they will consume less of their entrees, vegetables, and milk which means that the kids won’t meet their nutritional needs. Moreover, this often leads having an unsatisfied child for the rest of the day beside the posed long-term health risks to students. Unfortunately, management tried several improvement tactics to have the waiting and service time not exceeding 10 minutes with no success. As stated by the management, that time may exceed 15-20 minutes which is usually associated with teachers being tense and nervous beside having a chaotic environment. Other problems have been disclosed by the management as well. Dining space was one of those problems as there are not enough seats for all students. There are 16 handicap accessible seats that are currently not utilized at all. Too many choices for entrees was one of the problems as well. A third one was the layout of the cafeteria lines that could be improved. The objective of this research is to maintain the average time of waiting plus service to be equal to or less than 10 minutes by April 23rd, 2018. The research will consider the future growth as well of the elementary school to its recorded capacity.

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  Water: More Than Just a Life Source for Ethiopian Women and Children

  Alyssa Marie Miller

  Water is a basic human right that we, as Americans, tend to take for granted. Many of us do not know the full extent of how water is unequally distributed in some areas of the world, specifically in developing countries. The objective of my research is to examine the effect of the lack of clean water in sub-Saharan Africa in general and Ethiopia, specifically on women and children. Ironically, Ethiopia is considered as a water tower of Africa and a source of the Blue Nile River, but 32% of the population do not have access to clean water. Studies indicate that the unprecedented effect of climate change on hydrologic cycle will significantly affect the availability of water in the region. Per the Huffington Post, Ethiopian women and children in some rural areas walk up to four hours a day to fetch even non-sanitized water, which cause waterborne diseases that claim the lives of 500,000 children. This lack of access to clean drinking water has placed a burden on females and children and risk their safety by embarking on this long journey, which also loses their opportunity to attain an education. Here, I will gather data on distribution of water resources, population, socio-economic and public health from different sources (i.e, publisher articles and United Nation reports), and analyze the severity of the problem. Further, I will consider the potential effect of the country’s plans to build the “Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam” to improve the livelihood of women and children. Finally, I will observe if there are any policies considered being passed to improve water accessibility, which would impact women and children’s well-being and could lead to an education to better develop the nation.

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  Wearable Cardiac Monitoring

  Sarah V Miller

  Arrhythmias, or irregular heartbeats, are a very common problem. In the United States alone, it is estimated that more than 850,000 people are hospitalized each year for arrhythmias. One of the most common arrhythmias is atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation is a quivering heart beat that can lead to serious issues such as blood clots and strokes. There are several existing products, such as Fitbits and Apple Watches, that are working towards being able to detect and alert users of possible atrial fibrillation. This project looks into how to improve existing technology as well as how to modify it to detect other forms of arrhythmias.

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  Wetland Dynamics and Potential Applications within the Great Miami River Watershed to Address Elevated Levels of Agriculturally-Derived Nitrates

  Matt Stephen Jones, Alex R Paschal

  Changes in agricultural practices in the Mississippi River Basin, especially high-density row crop farming and increased fertilizer usage, affect the overall total of loose, agriculturally-derived nitrates that flow through defined watersheds. Wetlands, on this note, function as filters for such water-soluble compounds like nitrates through physical mechanisms (sorption, sedimentation, and volatilization), chemical mechanisms (transformation and precipitation), and the biological mechanism of plant uptake. Thus, wetland subsections serve a vital role in watershed dynamics by removing nitrates from the macroscopic fluid-flow through the system. However, in numerous watershed-scale studies, expected empirical effects of wetlands have not been numerically realized. This is potentially due to the destructive interference between the nitrate removal effects of wetlands and the nitrate additive effects of increased crop coverage in studied regions. Thus, a study was designed and executed to isolate the effects of each of these mechanisms and compare the effectiveness of wetlands with other nitrate removal techniques; resulting from this study, it was shown that, per unit area, wetlands are five times more efficient at reducing water-soluble nitrate concentrations than the most effective land-based nitrogen removal strategies. A similar study in the Great Miami River Watershed, where more than 40% of streams do not meet Ohio’s water quality standards, is vital to improve water quality and nutrient management and. Here we will use water quality data, land use and drainage maps to suggest potential wetland locations in the Great Miami River watershed that would alleviate the problem of elevated levels of agriculturally-derived nitrates within the region.

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  Wildfire-induced mass movement susceptibility of the coastal region of northern California.

  Amaris Rodgers

  The objective of this study is to identify areas susceptible to landslides caused by wildfire damage. Wildfires and mass movement are linked by a number of factors. Wildfires not only clear areas of trees and other vegetation, but the roots can be decomposed by the lack of certain nutrients that are practical for vegetation growth that were burned away. The soil also losses it strength and exposes readily erodible materials. The potential for erosion of the areas increases with these factors impaired. Data and other studies have shown that the physical and chemical changes to an area that has experienced a wildfire is at a higher risk for landslides even with average rainfall. The risk is greater in a watershed where large amount of precipitation drained into multiple outlets. The precipitation can greatly agitate the damaged land that is now looser and easier to saturate, causing it to flow. The last five summers California has experienced record-low rainfall and record-high temperature, with longer and more frequent wildfire, making it more susceptible to landslides. The goal of this project is to assess such landslide risk in Trinity Watershed in California because of its recent wildfires and its average to above average rainfall. The significance for this work is to have a better risk assessment to predict the occurrences and damages of this particular natural disaster.

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  Wingless, a mediator of crosstalk between Amyloid-beta 42 expressing and wild-type neurons in Alzheimer’s disease

  Ankita Sarkar

  Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a common form of dementia and an age related progressive neurodegenerative disorder, manifests as memory loss and reduced cognitive ability. One of the hallmarks of AD is formation of the Amyloid-beta 42 (hereafter Aβ42) plaques, which triggers oxidative stress due to aberrant signaling and finally results in the death of neurons. However, the exact mechanism causing cell death is still not well understood. We misexpressed high levels of human Aβ42 protein in the developing fly retina, which mimics AD like neuropathology. In a forward genetic screen, we identified members of highly conserved Wingless (Wg) signaling pathway as modifiers of the Aβ42 mediated neurodegeneration. Misexpression of negative regulator of Wg like Shaggy kinase (sgg) or a dominant negative form of Drosophila T-cell factor (dTCFDN5) or blocking Wg transport specifically by downregulating Porcupine (using porcupineRNAi) rescued Aβ42 mediated neurodegeneration by reducing the number of dying cells and restoring the axonal targeting from the retina to the brain. It is also known that Wg induces cell death in the early eye developmental stage of Drosophila. We therefore want to understand by what mechanism and in which cells the Wg signaling is triggering cell death, whether it’s the Aβ42 misexpressing cells or the neighboring wild type cells. In order to approach this question we have developed a two clone system in our lab to understand the crosstalk between the two cell populations, where we have shown that the wild type neighboring cells are undergoing cell death compared to the Aβ42 misexpressed cells.

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  Youth Sport Concussion Management

  Dell James Stover

  Concussions have become one of the most talked about health concerns at all levels of sport in the past several years. While much of the attention on this issue has been directed at the sport of football and the National Football League (NFL) in particular there has been growing awareness in the sport community that the risks of concussions extend to head injuries in all sports. Yet, in a report compiled by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and National Research Council (NRC) of the National Academies on concussions in youth sports, researchers argued that “…much remains unknown about the extent of concussions in youth; how to diagnose, manage, and prevent concussions; and the short- and long-term consequences of concussions as well as repetitive head impacts that do not result in concussion symptoms” (IOM Brief, 2013). Overall there has been an increase in the number of reported youth sport concussions over the last decade. “From 2001 to 2012, the rate of ED [emergency department] visits for sports and recreation-related injuries with a diagnosis or concussion or TBI [traumatic brain injury], alone or in combination with other injuries, more than doubled among children (age 19 or younger)” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017). Some researchers surmise that this increase in concussion reporting may be the result of more education and greater awareness of the symptoms of concussion on the part of athletic trainers, athletes, parents, coaches and athletic administrators. The purpose/objectives of this study are: 1) to examine parent’s knowledge and attitudes toward youth sport concussions; 2) to examine youth sport coaches knowledge and attitudes toward youth sport concussions; 3) to compare and contrast the knowledge and attitudes of parents and youth soccer coaches; and, 4) to provide recommendations regarding parental and youth sport concussion management education.

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  3D Indoor Scene Reconstruction using RGB-D Sensor

  Ruixu Liu

  A new methodology for 3D scene reconstruction, which can support effective robotic sensing and navigation in an indoor environment with only a low-cost RGB-D sensor is presented in this research. The 3D scene model can be used for many applications such as virtual reality visualization and robot navigation. Motivated by these applications, our goal is to create a system that takes a sequence of RGB and depth images captured with a hand-held camera as input and produces a globally consistent 3D probabilistic occupancy map model as output. This research introduces a robust system that estimates camera position for multiple RGB video frames based on a key-frame selection strategy. In order to create the 3D scene in real time, a direct method to minimize the photometric error is utilized. The camera pose is tracked using the ray casting model which means we use a frame-to-model method instead of the frame-to-frame Iterative Closest Point (ICP) tracking. The point to plan ICP algorithm is used to establish geometric constraints between the point-cloud as they become aligned. To fill in the holes, the raw depth map is improved using a Truncated Signed Distance Function (TSDF) to voxelize the 3D space, accumulating the depth map from nearby frames using the camera poses obtained above. Finally, a high resolution efficient probabilistic 3D mapping framework based on octrees (Octomap) is used to store the wide range of indoor environments. The saved 3D occupancy map could help the robot to avoid obstacle and display the robot location in the 3D virtual scene in real time.