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  4 x 4 Matrix Method Simulations of Swinging Nematic Liquid Crystals

  Ighodalo U Idehenre

  We present the results of numerical simulations of swinging nematic liquid crystal (SNLC) systems using the 4 x 4 Berreman matrix method. SNLCs are a special class of cholesteric liquid crystals that periodically change handedness when propagating along the helical axis. Unlike standard cholesterics which can only reflect one circular polarization state allowing the other to pass, SNLCs are able to reflect both simultaneously. Our simulations explore the advantages and disadvantages of various periodic functions (sinusoidal, square wave, triangular, etc…), the influence of pitch and optical birefringence on the reflection central wavelength and bandwidth, as well as the overall impact incidence angle has on the reflection spectra.

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  A Biological Perspective: The Effects of Line Style on Arc Curvature Perception

  Thomas E Boggs

  The visual system often misperceives the curvature of arcs. The current study investigated the role the primary visual cortex (V1) and area V4 of the occipital lobe play in arc perception. Past research has demonstrated that the V4 response is responsible for curvature detection and perception. The V4 response is directly proportional to the amount of excitation of V1 simple cells. By manipulating the style of the line that the arc is drawn in (solid, dotted), fewer simple cells in V1 should be excited therefore causing a smaller response in the curvature detectors of V4. Male and female university students, in independent groups, adjusted the size of a circle to match the curvature of the arc in nine different trials of varying arc radius and arc length. Participants saw a solid line arc or a dotted arc. The dotted arc should appear to be less curved than the solid arc due to less excitation from the V1 simple cells. Preliminary results did not indicate a significant main effect of line style (solid, dotted). Preliminary results did indicate a significant effect of length, a significant effect of radius, and a significant radius with line style interaction. The preliminary results agree with past research by suggesting shorter arcs tend to be underestimated more than larger arcs. By determining how the amount of excitation of V1 simple cells are related to veridical curvature detection, we better understand how the brain processes curvature.

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  A Body Composition Analysis between First-year Students and Seniors in the Health and Sport Science Department.

  Adria L Butler, Samuel W Fadayel, Christine M Hannigan, Claire E Herdina

  The primary purpose of this effort was to compare body composition measurements between first-year students and seniors majoring in Health and Sports Science at the University of Dayton. A secondary aim was to consider if differences may be due to acquired knowledge, interest, and awareness in the Health and Sports Science Field. Data was collected from forty participants, all from the Health and Sport Science Department. Twenty senior students and twenty first year students were separated into equal male and female subgroups. All participants signed an Invitation to Participate document acknowledging willingness to volunteer. The following data was collected on all participants: anthropometrics including waist and hip circumferences, height and weight, and sex-specific 3-site skinfold body composition measurements. The skinfold measurements were used to estimate percent body fat, fat mass, and lean mass. Additionally, all participants completed a questionnaire examining their general knowledge of health and sport science related content. Data was analyzed using SPSS, and results and conclusions of this investigation will be presented via poster session at the Stander Symposium.

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  Additive Manufacturing Face-off

  Gonzalo Perez

  Commercial grade Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D printers continue to provide industry access to high quality quick-turn plastic components at premium prices; however, lower cost consumer grade FDM printers and materials are becoming more mainstream for cost-effective end-use components. This has created a need for more data on expected part quality from consumer grade printers as compared to their industrial counter-parts.

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  A descriptive study of Ohio superintendents' views of the opioid epidemic, legal options and medical response in schools.

  Margaret E Wagner

  The opioid epidemic has reached all portions of society, including into the lives of youth. This is a descriptive study of the views of Ohio superintendents and other administrators. and their willingness to provide training of school staff to administer naloxone in drug induced overdoses on school property. The research explores variables of school district demographic classifications, as well as, education and drug related experience of school leaders. With other states,such as Massachusetts and West Virginia, serving as models of naloxone training into their school districts, it is imperative to start the research of perceptions of school leaders in implementing training programs for Ohio School Districts.

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  Adsorption of Bisphenol S (BPS) By Clay Minerals

  Keerthi Samineni

  Bisphenol S (BPS), 4,4’- sulphonyl diphenol, is an analog of bisphenol A, and a serious endocrine disrupting chemical that impacts the hypothalamic development in humans and animal lymphocyte proliferation. BPS is being used as an alternative to BPA in daily applications, and BPS production is expected to rise to 8.4 million tons by 2018. BPS is extensively used as a monomer in the production of epoxy resins, cyclic carbonates, as an electroplating solvent, and in everyday products like thermal paper, canned foods, and baby bottles. BPS was detected in human urine samples from seven countries, with the U.S. samples having the highest level of 0.299 ng BPS/mL urine. Wastewater biosolids from wastewater treatment plants are bisphenol sources. The biosolids can be applied to land. Thus, this research investigates BPS adsorption onto important soil components- clay minerals. Conducted in organic-free water, batch sorption studies investigated the sorption of 10 ppm BPS onto sterilized kaolinite and montmorillonite clay minerals. The studies were conducted in acid-washed, amber glass vials, with no headspace with 24 hours mixing in a rotary mixer. The following clay mineral:BPS ratios (mass in g/volume in mL) were investigated: 1:4, 1:5, 1:10 and 1:12. Using high-performance liquid chromatography to quantify BPS concentrations, the maximum BPS removals for kaolinite and montmorillonite were 8.5% and 48%, respectively. These percent removals corresponded to a 1:5 kaolinite:BPS ratio and a 1:10 montmorillonite:BPS ratio, indicating that BPS sorbs to montmorillonite more readily. Kaolinite had minimal BPS sorption. Ongoing studies will investigate the impact of relevant environmental conditions on BPS sorption.

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  A Group Comparison Study of Undergraduate Student-Related Indicators of Satisfactory Academic Progress at an Ohio Community College

  Matthew R Moore

  Each year, thousands of students at Ohio community colleges lose eligibility for federal financial aid due to their academic performance and not meeting the required GPA or minimum Pace of Completion standards required in the federally regulated Satisfactory Academic Progress policy. At community colleges, a great majority of students are receiving some type of federal financial aid and would not be able to enroll without the benefit of that aid. The purpose of this quantitative, group comparison study is to examine the difference between student categories related to student loan and grant eligibility, age, gender, and race in terms of two Satisfactory Academic Progress standards, GPA and Pace of Completion, among undergraduate students at an Ohio community college. This research study identifies specific predictors that lead to a student losing eligibility for federal financial aid that ultimately impacts the success and completion of these students by disrupting their pursuit of an undergraduate credential.

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  Aiscrima e Checchi: Italian American Dialect and Development in the New Milennium

  Elizabeth L Pedrotti

  My project explores the language usage and perceptions of Italian Americans in the Dayton area. I focus particularly on their use of words or phrases considered part of an Italian-American variety of English and the roles the Italian language plays in family and community life. I situate my research in current and past scholarship, looking toward Hermann Haller's 1981 study of Italian American language patterns and the Italian American word list compiled by A. Menarini in 1947. By combining personal interviews with Italian Americans living in the Dayton area today with more widespread conceptions of Italian American language and culture, I present an in-depth study within a niche of a larger community.

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  Aiscrima e Checchi: Italian American Dialect and Development in the New Milennium

  Elizabeth L Pedrotti

  My project explores the language usage and perceptions of Italian Americans in the Dayton area. I focus particularly on their use of words or phrases considered part of an Italian-American variety of English and the roles the Italian language plays in family and community life. I situate my research in current and past scholarship, looking toward Hermann Haller's 1981 study of Italian American language patterns and the Italian American word list compiled by A. Menarini in 1947. By combining personal interviews with Italian Americans living in the Dayton area today with more widespread conceptions of Italian American language and culture, I present an in-depth study within a niche of a larger community.

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  Alternative Teaching Styles Designed to Reach All Students

  Gabrielle M Eviston, Mary E Schultz, Kristen Travers

  As alternatives to traditional teaching styles, we will identify educational models designed to reach high needs students. Specifically, we will focus on how to assist unmotivated students and those living with a disability reach their full potential.

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  Amateurism and The NCAA: The Controversy (A Legal Review)

  Mitchell W Pollard

  There is rising concern that the concept of “amateurism” is limiting to student athletes who are governed by the NCAA. Amateurism is a complex subject, and is becoming more so with recent litigation (e.g. O’Bannon v NCAA, Bloom v NCAA) and events. This research is a review of what both sides, the NCAA and student- athletes, have argued “amateurism” means and the effect this conflict has on intellectual property law.

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  Ambiguous Pleasure(ers): Negotiating the Bodies of Falstaff and Moll

  Lauren A Van Atta

  The British Early Modern period was a time of shifting social ideologies, where class as well as gender were mapped onto bodies and embedded in the very material conditions of life. But class and gender were not discreet categories with dichotomous definitions like 'male' and 'female' or 'nobility' and 'peasant'. They had many inbetweens, and the theater was perhaps the most glaring inbetween of all. The theater necessarily complicates definitions and ways of viewing bodies as no body is what they seem. And at the heart of these ambiguous identies lay the fat body. It is consumptive, it is transgressive, and it is sterile. It, much like the theater it is reproduced on, contributes nothing to society of cultural or economic value. It only produces pleasure.

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  Am I Part of the Community? Perceived “Fit” of Non-Drinkers at the University of Dayton

  Alex McSwain

  Alcohol consumption is a lifestyle choice embraced by the majority of students on most college campuses. According to the Princeton Review (2016), the University of Dayton (UD) is the number two institution in the nation based on the amount of beer consumed by students. If alcohol consumption is such a key aspect of the student experience, this begs the question on how students who abstain from alcohol consumption perceive their sense of belonging on campus. By sampling a specific portion of the population at UD (undergraduate, White, domestic, full-time, residential, male students), the experiences of seven students were collected and analyzed through personal interviews. Themes were identified, looking at factors that contributed or detracted from the students’ sense of belonging on campus. One of the greatest contributing factors to these students sense of community and belonging came from their experience and involvement with campus ministry. Overall, most students expressed a satisfactory experience at UD although abstaining from alcohol consumption, at times, did make them feel out of place among their floor or residential community.

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  Analysis of Joint Leakage in Variable Geometry Die

  Sean M Conway

  This project presents a computational analysis of multiple joint types used in variable geometry dies that enable the extrusion of polymer plastic parts with a varying cross sectional area. Polymer extrusions account for nearly half of all manufactured plastic parts due to it being a high production and low cost process. Traditional polymer extrusion is limited to fixed dies that produce plastic products of continuous cross-sectional area defined by the die exit profile. A variable geometry die allows the cross-sectional area of the extruded polymer part to vary while being extruded. To allow for a change in shape, multiple links move around various joints. Clearances in the joints are required for the joints to properly function and to be able to properly manufactured the joints. These clearances create leakage paths for the melted polymer to escape through and potentially damage the quality of the plastic part. Computational fluid dynamics models have been constructed and used to assess the effect of the various clearance sizes on the leakage through the joints. The goal of this analysis is to optimize the clearance require in the geometry of the joints.

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  Analysis of the spermtail axoneme following a substitution of Drosophila melanogaster beta 2-tubulin with Anopheles gambiae beta 2-tubulin: functional or not?

  Christian R Jensen

  How does a protein evolve while maintaining function? Nature is constantly flowing like a raging river; the consistent flow does not readily allow for a pause to chart a course through the dangerous waters. Much like navigating violent waters, nature must take a specific narrow path when making changes in the genetic code; one misstep can result in a loss of function. Our model focuses on the beta 2-tubulin found in Drosophila melanogaster; past research has demonstrated that beta 2-tubulin has a major role in the formation of a functional 9+2 spermtail axoneme. Through phylogenetic analysis it has been determined that the D. melanogaster beta 2-tubulin sequence has not been altered for at least 110 million years; this is highly unusual in the scope of nature. Although there have been no recent changes in the Melanogaster sequence, there are marked changes in the beta 2-tublin sequences among Melanogaster’s close relatives. Anopheles gambiae and Melanogaster shared a common ancestor around 220 million years ago, however there are 40 amino acid differences between the two beta 2-tubulin sequences. This proposal aims to create a transgenic organism; the Melanogaster beta-2 will be replaced with the Anopheles beta-2. If the resulting spermtail is functional, it will show that the 40 changes in the Anopheles sequence followed a specific, precise path that allows it to remain functional within the Melanogaster domain. However, it is possible that the substitution will result in the spermtail axoneme being compromised and a loss of spermtail function. This would show that there has been a significant evolutionary event since the divergence 220 million years ago; this event effectively prevents further adaptive changes from occurring in the Melanogaster beta-2 sequence.

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  An Analysis of Challenges and Solutions Facing Fraternity and Sorority Advising Programs

  Keri L Good

  Fraternity and sorority advising programs (FSAP) characterize the administrative staff employed at a college or university who provide support to Greek letter organizations. They serve as a liaison between the student and adviser leadership of the organizations, the national organization, and the institution. Four overarching challenges to professionals working in FSAP are facilitating a culture of diversity and multiculturalism, autonomy of chapters and national organizations, scrutiny from non-Greek constituents, and Greek members exhibiting unethical behavior (Whipple, 1998). Specific solutions for each of these challenges recommended to FSAP professionals are rooted in fostering self-authorship in members that is necessary to change campus culture.

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  An Analysis of International Adoption in Relation to Nationalist Sentiment

  Victoria S Szczechowski

  My thesis project seeks to answer the question: Does the level of nationalist sentiment expressed by citizens of a country affect the restrictiveness of the country’s international adoption policy and the number of children adopted out? Current literature has examined the influence of the level of nationalism expressed in a country on adoptive parents in choosing from which country to adopt; however, no study has examined the link between nationalism and country-specific intercountry adoption policy. The variable of nationalist sentiment warrants study, for the Hague Convention posits that intercountry adoption is a valid option only if “a suitable family cannot be found in his or her [the adoptable child’s] State of origin” in order to preserve the child’s nationality of birth (Varnis, 2001: 42). This statement implies that domestic adoption is considered to be in the better interest of the child versus intercountry adoption. In addition to the fact that “nationalists might subscribe to the view that children ‘belong’ to their countries of birth and are better off growing up there (Leblang et al, 2015),” countries may be reluctant to act as sending countries in intercountry adoption because adopting out their children indicates an inability of the country to care for its children and thus “injures its national pride (Varnis, 2001).” Although current literature somewhat addresses nationalist sentiment in terms of its affect on intercountry adoption, no study has empirically examined the potential link between nationalist sentiment and actual adoption policy restrictiveness; therefore, my project analyzes this potential link.

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  An Ecological Assessment of an Urban Stream Corridor and the Impact of Low Dam Removals.

  Amanda Elizabeth Angelucci, Caitlin Michele Buchheim, Catherine J Devitt, Claire T Kaminski

  This study was undertaken to understand the effects of low dam removal on the biodiversity in the Great Miami River. Samples of fish and macroinvertebrates were collected both above and below two different low dam sites, Monument Avenue and Tait Station. Fish samples were collected using boat-electroshocking and bank-electroshocking and an Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) was calculated with the data. Samples of macroinvertebrates were obtained using artificial substrate samplers, kick nets, and sweep nets and used to calculate the Macroinvertebrate Aggregated Index for Streams (MAIS) at each sampling site. Physical characteristics of the stream channel, riparian zone and floodplain were quantified with a habitat evaluation index. Hand-held meters were used for measuring pH, conductivity, temperature, TDS, and dissolved oxygen and the float method was used to measure surface water velocity.

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  An Investigation of Supercapacitor Design with Specific Emphasis on Energy Density

  George E Padavick

  Imagine charging your phone in minutes rather than hours. With supercapacitor technology this could become a reality. Supercapacitors offer an alternative to batteries in that they store electrical energy but provide faster charging and discharging. However, commercial supercapacitors store less energy than batteries, resulting in the widespread prevalence of batteries over supercapacitors. Recent developments in advanced carbon materials have improved the energy density of supercapacitors suggesting that further improvements can be made. This work aims to build on materials developments to provide better energy storage systems specifically by increasing the energy density of supercapacitors. Applications include electric vehicles, smart grid technology, renewable energy, and your smartphone.

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  Application of a GUS reporter system to establish hly transcription in response to oxygen and propionate.

  Erica Rinehart

  Listeria monocytogenes (LM) is a foodborne pathogen that causes listeriosis through production of the toxin listeriolysin O (LLO). In healthy individuals, the symptoms of listeriosis are minimal; however, severe illness can occur in pregnant women, immunocompromised patients, and the elderly. The Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has implicated LM to be responsible for 19% of the deaths related to foodborne pathogens. Every year 1,600 people become infected with LM and are hospitalized in the United States and 1in 5 patients do not survive. Due to these statistics, it is important to understand LM virulence and how it is regulated to ensure that the current food safety standards are effective against this pathogen. Previous work has shown that propionate, a common food preservative that also exists within the human gut, increases LLO production anaerobically with the inverse being true aerobically. Thus, if propionate affects LM pathogenesis, we expect the presence of propionate to affect the transcriptional regulation of the gene hly that encodes the protein LLO. This research verifies that a LM strain with a GUS reporter can be used to examine the effect of propionate on the transcriptional regulation of LLO production. Experiments were performed both aerobically and anaerobically in the presence of varying concentrations of propionate (0mM, 5mM, 15mM and 25mM). The results showed that anaerobically as the concentration of propionate increased the intensity of the fluorescence increased, meaning increasing hly transcription. Aerobically, however, the presence of propionate resulted in a decrease in hly transcription. These results highlight the impact propionate on hly transcription and the role of oxygen in LM response to propionate.

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  Arsenic Removal from Groundwater Using Sustainable Biochar Filters

  George W Debs

  Globally, arsenic is a widespread contaminant that enters the environment from natural geochemical sources and anthropogenic sources. Trivalent arsenic is more toxicologically potent than pentavalent arsenic. Arsenic exposure can result in gastrointestinal illnesses, various types of cancers (skin, bladder, lung, kidney, liver) and death. Arsenic is also linked with skin lesions, cardiovascular disease, neurological effects and diabetes. Although inorganic arsenic is found in soil and water, according to the World Health Organization, arsenic exposure from groundwater presents the greatest hazard to human health. Despite these environmental and public health concerns, there is no sustainable solution for mitigating arsenic contamination of water sources in developing countries such as Chile, Mexico, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh. This research study investigates the use of biochar, an inexpensive, renewable material, for the removal of arsenic from groundwater. Biochar has been shown to effectively adsorb heavy metals, oxyanions and organic compounds such as chromium, lead, phosphate, atrazine, phenantherine, naphthaline, and 1-naphtol. Since biochar is a material that can be inexpensively produced from various locally-available feedstock materials (agricultural waste, unused biomass, etc.), biochar could sustainably be used to treat waters in countries that do not have access to large scale treatment plants that require reliable, readily available energy and treatment chemicals. This research project seeks to determine the biochar production methods, biochar physicochemical characteristics, and water quality conditions suitable for efficient arsenic removal from groundwater using point-of-use water treatment systems.

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  Assessing Shape Repeatability in Variable Geometry, Polymer Extrusion Dies

  James L Vogel

  Die extrusion is a manufacturing process to create parts with a fixed cross-sectional profile by passing melted plastic through a die of the desired cross-section. The resulting plastic piece then hardens as it is pulled through a water trough and is then cut into pieces with the desired length. Extrusion has significant cost savings over other plastic processing methods. In current technology, the dies have a fixed geometry creating parts with a constant cross-section. The objective of this project is to create a die that can change shape by actuating a lever resulting in a part with variable cross sections. In order to determine the feasibility of variable geometry extrusion, dies have been designed and constructed. The process is tested by the use of a laser scanner that captures data points of the cross sections at multiple locations along the variable extruded part. The data is analyzed by a numerical process to determine the repeatability accuracy by comparing multiple profiles of the same extrusion.

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  Assessing the Effect of Propionate and Oxygen on the Antimicrobial Activity of Nisin

  Andrea M Vietti

  Listeria monocytogenes is one of many common foodborne pathogens that causes infections that are extremely dangerous to individuals, especially to those with compromised immune systems. From a societal standpoint, treatment can cost hundreds to thousands of dollars per patient thus causing a significant strain on public health. The human body, specifically the gastrointestinal lumen, is equipped with an internal chemical barrier that serves to fight off dangerous pathogens such as Listeria. This chemical barrier is composed of antimicrobial peptides that target invading microbes. Alongside these antimicrobial peptides are fermentation acids such as propionate that are produced by endogenous microbes in the human body. Foodborne pathogens are contracted through contaminated food products and in order to reduce this, public health officials incorporate antimicrobial peptides such as nisin to consumer food products. Research geared towards combating foodborne pathogens typically focuses on aerobic conditions; however, Listeria is exposed to anaerobic conditions due to the anoxic environment in the human gastrointestinal tract. The purpose of this study is to understand Listeria’s susceptibility to the fermentation acid propionate and antimicrobial peptide nisin in both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. By treating Listeria to incremental concentrations of both nisin and propionate and exposing the bacteria to both anaerobic and aerobic conditions, Listeria survival can be determined. This research possesses implications for the understanding of combating foodborne pathogens such as Listeria, and research can thus allow public health personnel to reduce the societal burdens of Listeria infection.

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  Automated Particle Swarm Optimization Based PID Tuning for Control of Robotic Arm

  Ouboti Djaneye-Boundjou, Xingsheng Xu

  We revisit the Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller design for torque control of robotic manipulators, for which, appropriate tuning of the said controller could prove very burdensome, especially with increasing degrees-of-freedom (DOF) and/or when designing a Multi- Input Multi-Output (MIMO) PID controller. That is, when generating and tuning matrix P-I-D gains as opposed to single values, in order to take in account possible coupling effects between involved joints. We tackle both joint space and workspace PID control tuning problems for reference tracking from an optimization standpoint. Using a previously developed stable Adaptive Particle Swarm Optimizer, we are able to automatically and systematically tune P-I-D gains, be it as single gain values or gain matrices, while optimizing a cost or fitness function. The aforesaid cost function can be arranged to feature various aggregated performance measures, ‘normalized’ so as to overcome differences in scale if any. Taking in account some practical limitations, a 2-DOF arm is used here as a case study. Numerical simulations are provided to substantiate the adequacy of our method.

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  Automatic Intrusion Detection on Oil/Gas Pipeline Right-of-Ways

  Ming Gong

  Pipeline right-of-ways (ROWs) monitoring and safety pre-warning is a vital way to guarantee safe operation of the oil/gas transportation. Any construction equipment or heavy vehicle intrusion is a potential safety hazard to pipeline infrastructure. Since millions of miles of pipes buried along the length and breadth of the United States, monitoring is required to know if pipeline ROW is under threat or not. Taken into account of less population of the vast amount of area, high cost of labor and rapid advancements in sensor technology and automated techniques for image analysis, aerial monitoring is found to be the most viable option. The images captured by aerial data acquisition system, such as fixed-wing air-crafts or unmanned air vehicles are affected by a lot of factors including varying illumination conditions, environmental conditions, camera characteristics, etc. To deal with the above mentioned problems, an automatic intrusion detection system, which is capable of dealing with the constraints of the aerial imagery caused by low resolution, lower frame rate, large variations in illumination, motion blurs, etc., is being developed to assist the threat detection as part of the ROW automated monitoring program. The automated pipeline monitoring system is designed to be in three phases: background elimination, part-based object detection and risk assessment. In the first phase, a region of interest (ROI) detector is developed to extract potential regions that may contain objects by utilizing monogenic phase features into a cascade of pre-trained classifiers. In the second phase, a part-based object detection model is built for searching specific targets, which are considered as threat objects. In the third phase, a safe pre-warning system is built to access the severity of the threats to pipelines by computing the geolocation and temperature information of the threat objects. In addition, in order to assign more precise warning, the impacts caused by different types of vehicles will be taken into account by developing new feature extraction and classification algorithms.