24th AnnualStudent Research and Creative Endeavor Symposium 2021

Sponsored by • Office of Sponsored Programs • Helmke Library • Honors Program • University Research and InnovationEA/EOU

24th AnnualStudent Research and

Creative Endeavor Symposium

2021 Virtual Symposium

Office of Sponsored Programs

Walter E. Helmke Library

Honors Program

University Research and Innovation

In accordance with Purdue University Fort Wayne administration’s COVID-19 procedures, the 2021 Student Research and Creative Endeavor Symposium was held on the Gather.Town virtual application. For this event, student presenters submitted digital copies of their research posters as part of their participation, and their posters were evaluated by teams of faculty judges that also provided feedback. Prizes were not awarded at the virtual event.

Student Research Supported by the Office of Sponsored Programs

Student Research & Creative Endeavor: https://www.pfw.edu/centers/irsc/research-symposium/

Symposium Planning Committee

♦ Tina Gasnarez, Office of Sponsored Programs and University Research and Innovation♦ Michele Shawver, Honors Program♦ Ann Marshall, Helmke Library

Statement from Carl Drummond, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the 2021 Student Research and

Creative Endeavor Symposium. I’m very proud of you the students who

have worked so hard throughout the very difficult conditions of the past

year. I would like to thank the many organizers who helped coordinate

this year’s virtual symposium. Likewise, I would like to pass along my

sincere appreciation to the many faculty mentors who shared freely of

their time and their knowledge. I wish you all the best for a great event.

Special thanks to the faculty judges for their support.

Table of Contents Poster 1: Effects of Ruta graveolens on Melanoma and Spleen Cell Inhibition/Proliferation

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Kimberly Flores Poster 2: An interdisciplinary approach to oral care: data from a pilot program in a regional hospital

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Holly Anderson

Poster 3: Effects of Face Masks on the Acoustic Properties of Speech 3

Gabrielle Fanning and Kailyn Wade

Poster 4: Potential for Neonicotinoid Insecticide Exposure in Bats of the Corn Belt 4

Deanne Jensen Poster 5: DBP suppresses CD4+ inflammatory cytokine production to induce insulin production in pancreatic beta-cells to alleviate Type 1 Diabetes

5

Avery Volz Poster 6: Effectiveness of Sherman Traps Versus Camera Traps On Monitoring Small Mammal Populations

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Jessica Clements Poster 7: Effect of Astaxanthin on the Stress Response of Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus)

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Lindee Mason Poster 8: Literature review of The Ethics of Euthanasia from the Social, Medical, and Political Perspectives

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Wei Lin Xue

Poster 9: The Burials of the Señora de Cao and the Eight Moche Elite 9

Cozette Mengerink Poster 10: Social Emotional Learning, an amazing educational concept at an unfortunate cost for children of color.

10

Lillian Austin Poster 11: Feasibility of developing an untethered swimming robot using shape memory polymer and bistable mechanism

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Tu Lu Anh Vu

Poster 12: Adversarial Attacks of Speaker Verification Systems 12

Li Chi Chang Poster 13: The human pathogen Mycobacterium abscessus forms biofilms in response to thiol-reductive stress and displays increased antibiotic tolerance

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Matthew Hathaway Poster 14: Analysis of the Effects of Efflux Pump Inhibitors on the Antibiotic Tolerance of Mycobacterium smegmatis Under a Combination of Stresses in vitro

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Varun Shenoy Poster 15: Una libertad no vista antes. la mexicanidad en literatura y en el cine del siglo XX

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Cristal Galicia

Poster 16: PlayDay 16

Nicholas Kacprowicz, Connor Cuney, Katherine Kohrman, Eric Vasquez, and Calvin Bender Poster 17: Visual Interfaces Designed for Exploratory Search on Large Text-based Digital Contents

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Chaitanya Subhedar and Eric Wise

Poster 18: Detection of IoT Botnets Using Decision Trees 18

Meghana Raghavendra Poster 19: The First Step in Synthesis and Evaluation of Antibacterial Activity of Diversely Functional Pyrrolines

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Samuel Dick Poster 20: How can Mathematical Modeling save my life? Minimizing Deaths through Compartmental Models

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Derek Brown, Kashyab Ambarani, Shivansh Sharma, and Shravan Komarabattini

Poster 21: The Effects of Religion and Party Identification on the Death Penalty 21

Kameiya Slaughter Poster 22: The Effectiveness of Contactless Services in Restaurants from a Consumer Perspective

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Ngoc Tran Nguyen

Poster 23: How Do Socioeconomic Factors Correlate to COVID-19 Cases and Deaths? 23

Anthony Guzman

Poster 24: Poster Withdrawn 24

Poster 25: Feasibility of using Gynura procumbens on the modulation of stress and immunity in vertebrates

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Sinthia Mumu

Poster 26: The Effects of CBD on Skin Cancer and Spleen Immune Cells in Mice 26

Rosemary Burch and Eaint Aung Win Poster 27: DementiaTrack: A Telehealth Solution for Detection of Early-Stage Dementia using Smart Home Technology

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Chase Walters and Tyler McCaully

Poster 28: Will Astaxanthin Enhance Immunological Effects of Cells in-vitro? 28

Malaika Ahmed

Poster 29: Identification of Microorganisms in Biofertilizers 29

Graciela Jimenez

Poster 30: Using a ZeeCam to Analyze Gum Arabic Films 30

Ateik Almalahi

Poster 31: Imaging Gum Arabic Films Using Atomic Force Microscopy 31

Ateik Almalahi and Diaa Almalahi

Poster 32: Prosper Veteran Living Community 32

Hannah Greenwood and Allison Miller

Poster 33: Hope Living Community 33

Bu Paw, Tommi Bonner, Heather Nellum, and Janelle Cooks

Poster 34: Examining the Racial Effects of the Neoliberal Movement in Education 34

Olivia Fisher Poster 35: Improvement to Pix2Code using Fast.ai : Automatic Generation of Graphical User Interface with a Model Classification

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Haemin Ryu Poster 36: Turtle Community Patterns in a Large Urban Wetland Complex 36

Katherine Brandewie

Poster 37: Population Genomics of Blanding’s Turtle on a Regional Scale in the Midwest 37

Connor Dempsey Poster 38: Landscape Conservation Genetic Analysis of Blanding’s Turtles Across Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana

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Daniel Guinto

Poster 39: 'The Canopy' Veterans Center/Interior Design Competition 39

Rachel Loechner, Yesenia Coronado and Savanah Singer Poster 40: Determining the Environmental Associations of Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola on a landscape using Environmental DNA

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Nicholas Friedeman Poster 41: Methodology to Develop a 5-year Capital Improvement Plan for Road Systems in the City of Fort Wayne using PASER

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Hoang Nam Pham and Emma McMillan

Poster 42: Sleep Data Analysis 42

Justin Fisher

Poster 43: A Systematic Approach Towards Building Software Remotely 43

Kashyab Ambarani and Shivansh Sharma

Poster 44: Deep Learning Sandbox 44

Jimmy Nguyen and Vinamra Munot

Poster 45: Hope Haven Veteran Living 45

Paige Rondeau and Chesni Munci

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1. Effects of Ruta graveolens on Melanoma and Spleen Cell Inhibition/Proliferation Kimberly Flores Class level: Senior Major: Biology Faculty Sponsor and co-author: Dr. Elliott Blumenthal Department: Biology In different areas of the world Ruta graveolens (R. graveolens) has been used as a medicinal plant as it has been thought to contain antibacterial, antifungal, and anticancer potential properties from its chemical properties. Throughout history R. graveolens has been used in different forms for its medicinal properties such as stems, oils, leaves, and boiled. In this experiment R. graveolens will be tested on its anticancer properties as well as determining what part of the plant contains the most amount of important chemical properties. To test this, boiled vs. non-boiled stems and leaves were made into 4 serial ratio dilutions (1:1, 1:5, 1:25, and 1:125). These dilutions were tested with melanoma cells from the B16 mice as well as spleen cells from C57 mice. The 1:5 dilutions were compared in a Bio-Rad protein assay to determine the most amount of protein kinase C. The experimental results included that the most T cell proliferation in spleen cells occurred at factor leaves at 1:125 dilution of 41.83% and that the most inhibition of melanoma cells occurred at factor leaves boiled at 1:1 dilution of 66.65%. When comparing both experiments the greatest contrast between one dilution is 1:25 leaves with an 87.23% difference meaning that the proliferation was 43.05% of T lymphocytes and 44.19% inhibition of melanoma cells. The Bio-Rad protein assay displayed that at 40 ug/100 1:5 leaves boiled had an absorbance of .6424 at 595nm and when converted into concentration of protein it had the highest concentration at 20.07 mg/ml.

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2. An interdisciplinary approach to oral care: data from a pilot program in a regional hospital Holly Anderson Class level: Senior Major: Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Sponsor and co-author: Dr. Naomi Gurevich Department: Communication Sciences and Disorders Co-author: Carolyn Wade The benefits of oral care for dysphagia management are not controversial. However, there is no clear guideline regarding whose responsibility the provision of oral care is in a healthcare facility. One solution is to form an interdisciplinary team combined of nursing, Occupational Therapy and Speech-Language Pathology professionals to address this issue. The current study examines the benefit of such a team approach to patient outcomes. A retrospective pre-/post- design was used through a chart review comparing outcomes of inpatient stay before an oral care program was implemented (pre- group, n=59) and after (the post- group, n=91). Inclusion criteria were diagnosis of dysphagia and length of stay of five or more days. Outcome considerations included the discharge diet, length of stay, dysphagia status and presence of pneumonia. Patients in the pre- group had 11.86% presence of aspiration pneumonia; patients in the post- group had 5.49%. The average length of stay was insignificantly shorter in the pre- group (14.20 days) than in the post- group (15.33 days). Decreased complications from dysphagia in the post- group suggest the oral care program was effective on this outcome measure. Additional data is needed to analyze the cost benefits of training staff and implementing the program, however, preliminary results suggest an oral care program is effective in reducing the risk of aspiration pneumonia in patients with dysphagia. Attendees will be able to describe the benefits of implementing an interdisciplinary team approach for oral care. Attendees will be able to explain the relationship between oral care and aspiration pneumonia and analyze how these relate to outcomes of patients with dysphagia.

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3. Effects of Face Masks on the Acoustic Properties of Speech Gabrielle Fanning Class level: Junior Major: Communication Sciences and Disorders Kailyn Wade Class level: Senior Major: Communication Sciences and Disorders Faculty Sponsor and co-author: Dr. Naomi Gurevich Department: Communication Sciences and Disorders Co-author: Christopher Grindrod We will analyze the acoustic properties of speech produced by an individual with and without a face mask. Most research has looked at the implications face masks have on speech perception either in individuals with hearing loss or in acoustically challenging situations (e.g., presence of background noise), but there is little research that has assessed to what degree wearing a mask can distort the acoustic properties of the physical speech being produced. Given COVID-19 and the newly instated federal mask mandate across the country, this research is very timely. We will be comparing the acoustic properties of sounds produced through a mask compared to when they are produced without a mask. This research helps understand how wearing a mask can impact how we communicate with each other, especially as we navigate through the new normal brought about during this pandemic. We will be performing an acoustic analysis of recorded speech samples using Praat, a program designed specifically for speech analysis. Both masked and unmasked speech samples will consist of the same 11 CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant, such as ‘sat’)words with each word containing one English vowel sound, recorded with minimal background noise. We will compare the spectrograms and waveforms of each word pair in Praat. We will measure acoustic properties such as position of the formants, frequency range, amplitude, duration, and periodicity of sound waves.In conducting background research on the impact masks have on everyday communication, we realized there was a critical gap of knowledge as it pertained to the acoustic properties of speech sounds. Far too often previous research provided subjective perceptual data, whereas we hope to focus on objective measurable data in spectrograms of masked and unmasked speech sounds to ultimately see how speech sounds are affected and to what degree. This project will add a previously unexplored measurable aspect to comparing masked and maskless speech, and thereby contribute greatly to future studies on communication with masks.

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4. Potential for Neonicotinoid Insecticide Exposure in Bats of the Corn Belt Deanne Jensen Class level: Senior Major: Biology Faculty Sponsors and co-authors: Dr. Scott Bergeson & Dr. Robert Gillespie Department: Biology Environmental Resources Center, Purdue University Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne, IN 46805 (RBG) USDA-ARS, National Soil Erosion Research Laboratory, West Lafayette, IN 47907 (JMG) Neonicotinoid insecticides (clothianidin, imidacloprid, thiamethoxam) have been widely promoted as an effective means of agricultural pest management due to their acute toxicity in invertebrates while having minimal toxic effects on vertebrates. While mounting evidence suggests neonicotinoid exposure is responsible for large-scale mortality events of non-target invertebrates, such as bees and other insect species, minimal research has been conducted to investigate the impacts of neonicotinoid exposure on mammals. This includes insectivorous bats, which forage within neonicotinoid contaminated environments. We began a multi-year study in the summer of 2020 to investigate if bats had been exposed to neonicotinoid insecticides, if bat diet was a potential vector of exposure, and the effects of neonicotinoid exposure on bat body condition. During our 1st year of sampling, big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) and their invertebrate prey items were sampled from four DeKalb County, Indiana sites that had recorded concentrations of neonicotinoids in adjacent streams. We captured a total of 38 big brown bats over 4 total net nights and collected 52 tissue samples (blood and fur). We also sampled potential flying invertebrate prey items using malaise traps. Body conditions of big brown bats captured in this agriculturally dominated (and historically neonicotinoid exposed) landscape are lower (0.35 ± 0.01 g/mm) than those from more forested landscapes (0.44 ± 0.06 g/mm). While analyses of neonicotinoid concentrations in potential prey items, bat fur, and bat blood are still on-going, these results suggest that neonicotinoids may have a negative effect on bat body condition.

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5. DBP suppresses CD4+ inflammatory cytokine production to induce insulin production in pancreatic beta-cells to alleviate Type 1 Diabetes Avery Volz Class level: Senior Majors: Biology and Psychology Faculty Sponsor and co-author: Dr. Arturo Villalobos Department: Biology Type 1 diabetes, T1D, is a multifactorial, autoimmune disorder in which the body is not able to produce its own insulin due to the destruction of the pancreatic beta islet cells. The pancreatic beta islet cells are destroyed through immune cells, specifically CD4+ cells. A specialized type of CD4+ cell is the Th1 cell which produces inflammatory cytokines. These inflammatory cytokines attack the cells and cause them to undergo apoptosis. Recent studies have revealed the connection between type 1 diabetes and the vitamin D binding protein, DBP. DBP is a protein that has multiple effects in the body including transporting vitamin D, causes immune effects, is the precursor for the macrophage-activating factor, and is an actin scavenger. It is necessary to have DBP to induce insulin secretion and production. DBP has been identified as an autoantigen present in type 1 diabetes and is believed to affect the onset of the disease. DBP could be used as a treatment for T1D if it is combined with a β-2 microglobulin, β2M. The β2M is required for the expression of major histocompatibility complex, MHC II, on cell surfaces to trigger a response in immune cells, such as T cells. By combining DBP with the β2M, it can be used as a treatment for type 1 diabetes. By using the microglobulin, it will attach to the CD4+ cells that destroy the pancreatic beta islet cells and prevent this destruction. Additionally, the DBP-β2M protein fusion may also increase vitamin D uptake in CD4+ cells, which could reduce the synthesis of inflammatory cytokines. With lowered rates of pancreatic beta islet destruction, insulin can be made and secreted in the body and reverse the effects of type 1 diabetes.

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6. Effectiveness of Sherman Traps Versus Camera Traps On Monitoring Small Mammal Populations Jessica Clements Class level: Senior Major: Biology Faculty Sponsor and co-author: Dr. Scott Bergeson Department: Biology Small mammal surveys are a valuable technique used for population conservation and assessing environmental conditions. Due to its value, researchers are constantly attempting to generate new and more effective small mammal survey methods. We conducted a study that compared the effectiveness of Sherman traps and the newly developed AHDriFT camera trap system (drift fence with trail cameras inside inverted buckets at each end) when monitoring small mammal populations. We installed AHDriFT systems at 2 forested sites within Eagle Marsh Nature Preserve, Allen County, IN and let these systems continuously (day and night) record photos from March–August 2020. We deployed 10 Sherman traps within 50m transects centered on the AHDriFT systems once a week throughout the same time period; transect length and number of traps were chosen to ensure similar surveying efforts. We coded animals recorded by the AHDriFT systems to species whenever enough of the animal was caught in the photo. Each photo was coded twice by 2 randomly assigned researchers to check for observer bias. Preliminary results show that on average there were more individual small mammals identified by the AHDriFT systems than the Sherman traps, although many of the individuals captured by both techniques were likely recaptures. The AHDriFT systems also identified more species (richness = 9) than Sherman traps (richness = 2). This indicates that AHDriFT systems may be more effective than Sherman traps when investigating both small mammal populations and communities. Sherman traps were useful for identifying specific characteristics from each individual, but it was much more time consuming. The results from this study show that camera trapping can be used more frequently, in a variety of different experiments, that could save time and could potentially capture more species than regular trapping methods

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7. Effect of Astaxanthin on the Stress Response of Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) Lindee Mason Class level: Graduate Major: Biology Faculty Sponsor and co-author: Dr. Ahmed Mustafa Department: Biology Due to the world’s continual increase in human population, the demand for a protein source is at an all-time high. Current agricultural practices alone cannot keep up with this demand, so we have turned to our water sources for the addition of seafood as a substantial protein source. Fisheries have started overfishing to keep up with the demand, causing a decline in our natural fish populations. Aquaculture solves this problem by decreasing the number of fish and other seafood products taken from nature. Aquaculture also has its problems, with stress being the most significant issue. Stress causes a decrease in disease resistance, causing fish to become ill. Because of stress farmers experience a significant amount of financial loss every year, so to treat the effects of stress antibiotics and other chemicals are used. Antibiotics are harmful to the fish, the consumer, and the environment so a better solution is needed. This solution is nutraceuticals, which is a food or food additive that is believed to have medicinal properties. Astaxanthin (AST), a carotenoid, has been shown to have strong antioxidant, anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, and immunomodulation properties but effects of AST on the modulation of stress in fish has not been investigated extensively. In this experiment, we wanted to investigate the effect of AST on the stress response of Nile tilapia by measuring the blood glucose, packed cell volume, spleen-somatic index, serum lysozyme activity, macrophage phagocytic capacity and condition factor. There were three experimental groups, control, stressed (hydrocortisone supplemented diet) and stressed treated with astaxanthin (hydrocortisone and AST supplemented diet). There was only a significant difference between the control and stressed group for blood glucose and spleen-somatic index (P = 0.008; P = 0.033, respectively). There were no significant differences between control and stressed groups to stressed group treated with astaxanthin. The data suggests that a diet supplemented with the current amount of AST (200 mg/kg of feed) is not able to modulate the stress response of Nile tilapia. Further research will need to be conducted to determine if AST will have a therapeutic effect on the stress response.

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8. Literature review of The Ethics of Euthanasia from the Social, Medical, and Political Perspectives Wei-Lin Xue Class level: Graduate Majors: Political Science, Public Policy Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Nurgul Aitalieva Department: Public Policy

If you have a terminal illness, would you consider asking for euthanasia? Euthanasia is an extreme measure when terminally ill patients cannot tolerate pain or, more strictly, receive doctor-assisted suicide. If a patient has an incurable disease, the doctor's measures can place a heavy burden on the patient to the point where he no longer wishes to be suffering from the disease (Angell, 1997). In 2001, the Netherlands became the first country to legalize euthanasia, and many countries implemented conditional euthanasia (Miller, Dresser & Kim, 2018). In the Terri Schiavo case in 1998, her husband asked the state court to allow doctors to terminate her life, which caused society to be concerned and reflect on the right to life and ethics. So far, nine states in the United States have allowed doctors to assist patients in suicide. The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) clearly states that everyone is born with the right to choose without jeopardizing others' rights. However, some argue that patients should not end their lives under any circumstances (Schweda, Schicktanz & Silvers, 2017). If physicians helping patients commit suicide against medical ethics? The poster will show the current state of euthanasia in the United States. Second, through literature review to discuss the ethical perspective from society, medical, and political. Third, in the discussion, I will use a Practical Approach to the Clinical Medical Ethical Decision-Making model (Jonsen, Siegler & Winslade, 2015) to discuss this issue. Finally, there should be complete systems and audits in areas where euthanasia is legal to prevent abuse.

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9. The Burials of the Señora de Cao and the Eight Moche Elite Cozette Mengerink Class level: Senior Major: Anthropology Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Richard Sutter Department: Anthropology and Sociology ‘The Burials of the Señora de Cao and the Eight Moche Elite’ was written to shine some light on elite women within a male dominated archaeological culture. Many elites were buried with elaborate funerary goods and most of the elites within Huaca Cao Viejo were female. However, the highest elite buried within the Huaca (an honor in of itself) was a female dubbed the Señora de Cao. Moche elite women were given the highest honors in life and in death. They all had elaborate burials and funerary offerings. The offerings were all, but not limited to, human sacrifices, vessels, bone/metal/stone artifacts (Barreda, 2007). The vessels typically had images of ceremonies on them or were sculptural in a way that represented the buried person (Castillo, 2000). There were some purposefully broken pottery, most likely done during the burial process, that were recovered and pieced back together by scholars. Most of the buried, not the Shamans (Rengifo, 2004), were put into coffins or bundles that kept them preserved/protected from outside degradation. The evidence that they were held in such high esteem is shown within their tombs, their funerary offerings, and the preservation of themselves. The last one is shown by the Señora de Cao, who was kept in such a well-structured bundle that scholars are able to learn so much from her than they would if she was damaged by decomposition. She was buried with such complexity and respect. The Moche Elite were buried in such intricate and complex ways that show not only the status of the individual but the development of the society and culture in general. Essentially, the elite women were integral pieces to Moche society and were not at a loss of power when the state fell, but kept their practice of healing and shamanism in order to maintain their power.

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10. Social Emotional Learning, an amazing educational concept at an unfortunate cost for children of color. Lillian Austin Class level: Junior Major: Elementary Education Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Benjamin Kearl Department: School of Education

For centuries, human beings have longed for a unified, welcoming, equal, safe, and fair society for all people, regardless of race, gender, religion, and economic or ethnic background. In education, the Social Emotional Learning (SEL), and its five core competencies’ have been introduced and incorporated in many classrooms, as a way to achieve and create this desired society. These competencies include self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. Presumably, these skills would allow students to form deeper and safe relationships with their peers and communities which would allow for conversations about differences in order to confront and fight against injustice, hate, and inequity. However, educators typically teach Social Emotional Learning excluding the larger sociopolitical context, that is being consumed by injustice and inequity which affects our students lives and has ultimately led to harmful educational environments that silence children of color while policing and in some cases labeling them as “bad students” or “disabled.” According to the assistant director at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, Dena Simmons, the biggest issues that hinder the effectiveness of Social Emotional Learning are the educators lack of understanding and awareness regarding sociopolitical issues, and the lack of courage in educators to fight for their students and push against oppression and racism, also known as abolitionist teaching, due to a fear of being fired or ostracized. A teacher’s lack of awareness and understanding of sociopolitical issues is more harmful towards students of color when utilizing SEL than not utilizing this method at all. Because students of color do not have the luxury of avoiding challenging topics and conversations about racism, violence, and sexism surrounding them, teachers should not be given the opportunity to avoid these topics. Instead, teachers need to dive deeper and become more informed about these hard topics so that they can effectively and safely provide SEL in their classrooms in order to push against racism and sexism in schools and society. The deep connections built between teachers and their students, the safe and welcoming space for students to ask questions and discuss hard topics about racism, the ability for change and growth in our society, and the stand against racism is not possible without SEL and abolitionist teaching being incorporated in the classroom. Abolitionist teacher-educator, Bettina Love asks: how can you love something; you know so little about? This question shines a light on just how important the relationships formed through SEL is and how dire it is for educators to be informed and aware of how racism engulfs schools and society, in order to push against it and to better educate and treat their students. Ultimately, given the ways that SEL can result in students of color being labeled as “bad students” and “disabled”, it is important that educators practicing SEL utilize this method as an occasion for also practicing anti-racism.

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11. Feasibility of developing an untethered swimming robot using shape memory polymer and bistable mechanism Tu Lu Anh Vu Class level: Graduate Major: Mechanical Engineering Faculty Sponsor and co-author Dr. Zhuming Bi Department: Mechanical Engineering Research into untethered soft robotics has been receiving a lot of interest recently as untethered robots have more freedom to move, unlike their tethered counterparts. Even though there are many studies about the autonomous actuation of untethered soft robots, most of them require complex fabrications that are not commonly available (Rich et al.). There are many different actuation methods for soft robots such as pneumatic actuation, thermal actuation, and electrical field actuation. However, recent developments such as the light-driven artificial flytrap (Wani et al.) require advanced manufacturing techniques. Hence, the search for a simple actuation design is important to make untethered robots more practical. Previous research has designed a simple thermal actuation method for self-propulsion of untethered robots by analyzing the shape memory behavior of VeroWhitePlus and a multi-material 3D printed bistable mechanism. In this research, the focuses are put on identification of the design constraints of each component of the robot that was printed using PLA – another commonly available 3D printing material. The robotic design is simplified such that its components can be printed using any single-material 3D printer and easy to assemble. Properties such as deformation forces and deformation time for the robot components were recorded through physical testing of printed PLA prototypes and compared to available data for VeroWhitePlus from the previous research by Chen et al. It was found feasible to utilize shape memory polymer and a bistable mechanism as the actuating solution for the untethered robot; however, the future work will be needed to address a number of identified technical challenges.

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12. Adversarial Attacks of Speaker Verification Systems Li Chi Chang Class level: Graduate Major: Computer Science Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Zesheng Chen Department: Computer Science Smart devices at home, such as Amazon Echo, Google Nest, Apple Homepod and android/iOS smartphones, become popular and make our life convenient. In 2020, the average number of connected smart devices per home is about 10. These devices can be controlled through different methods such as position detection, habit record, and most importantly, voice control. Because of its convenience and ease for operations, voice control is becoming the main interface at home for controlling smart devices. To make voice control more secure, speaker verification systems have been widely studied and attempt to apply human voice as biometrics to distinguish people, in a similar way as fingerprint and iris recognition. The goal of this project is to study the security of speaker verification systems. Specifically, a machine-learning based adversarial attack is researched and implemented to against state-of-the-art speaker verification systems. The state-of-the-art speaker verification systems usei-vector, GMM (Gaussian Mixture Model), d-vector, or x-vector based models. Specifically, these models attempt to extract speaker features to identify speakers by applying different signal processing models or deep learning models. In a speaker verification system, a legitimate user or the user owning a smart device needs to enroll into the system by providing their voice clips, so that the system can transfer their voice into a fixed length low dimensional vector as an identifier of the user, called speaker embedding. When a user attempts to use the smart device, this user’s voice is collected by the system as the test voice clips. The system transfers the test voice into the speaker embedding and compares the similarity between the enrolled one with the test one, so that the system can decide if the user is legitimate or not. However, the state-of-the-art speaker verification systems are vulnerable to different security attacks, such as reply, cloning, or adversarial attacks. In this research, we focus on adversarial attacks. Specifically, adversarial attacks use an arbitrary user’s voice to break into the speaker verification system by adding well-designed noise-like signals. The methodology of producing an adversarial sample is based on a machine learning method called gradient descent. By getting the information of the similarities of the enrolled speaker embedding and the test one, the adversarial attack adjusts how to add the noise-like signal into the test voice. Moreover, the amount the added signals is not significant so that people cannot recognize that they are attacking voices by hearing them. Currently, we are implementing the attacks based on Python and C++ open-sourced library Kaldi. In this project, we demonstrate the feasibility of such adversarial attacks and attempt to identify the key factors that can affect the speaker embedding. By implementing such an attack, we will study how to defend against such malicious and important attacks, in order to make the speaker verification systems more secure.

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13. The human pathogen Mycobacterium abscessus forms biofilms in response to thiol-reductive stress and displays increased antibiotic tolerance Matthew Hathaway Class level: Graduate Major: Biology Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Jaiyanth Daniel Department: Biology Mycobacterium abscessus is an emerging human pathogen that has gained prominence in recent years. It is an environmental pathogen that can be found in locations as innocuous as a showerhead and is capable of causing opportunistic infections in individuals with compromised immune systems. It has also become a source of hospital-acquired infections that are incredibly difficult to treat and, in some cases, untreatable due to being extremely resistant to multiple antibiotics including many front-line drugs. This usually requires long-term antibiotic therapies that can cause adverse effects and are difficult to maintain. This antibiotic resistance has been attributed to the ability of M. abscessus to form biofilms. These biofilms have traditionally been developed in vitro by limiting the presence of certain nutrients, which stress the bacteria. We adapted a method used to generate biofilms in Mycobacterium tuberculosis which subjected the mycobacteria to a reducing environment in liquid culture medium. We were able to successfully induce biofilm formation in M. abscessus by exposing it to thiol-reductive stress. Furthermore, we found that the tolerance of M. abscessus to frontline antibiotics was significantly increased when it was in the biofilm state. We also examined whether efflux pump inhibitors affected biofilm formation and analyzed the composition of lipids present in planktonic cells and in biofilms formed under thiol-reductive stress.

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14. Analysis of the Effects of Efflux Pump Inhibitors on the Antibiotic Tolerance of Mycobacterium smegmatis Under a Combination of Stresses in vitro Varun Shenoy Class level: Sophomore Major: Biology Faculty Sponsor and co-author: Dr. Jaiyanth Daniel Department: Biology Tuberculosis is an extraordinarily difficult disease to treat since the causative agent Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) can develop multi-drug resistance to antibiotics. This makes the treatment of antibiotic-tolerant Mtb intensive and expensive, requiring in some cases a 20-month treatment regimen. The intense treatment regimen of TB makes it difficult to treat especially in third world countries, where immediate access to healthcare is lacking. We used Mycobacterium smegmatis (Msm), a non-pathogenic model organism for Mtb, to investigate antibiotic tolerance for this study. One mechanism utilized by Mtb and Msm to develop antibiotic resistance involves a class of transport proteins known as efflux pumps. Efflux pumps use energy to remove antibiotics from the bacterial cell, thereby protecting the bacterial cell from the effects of the antibiotic. Mtb can also enter a dormant, non-replicating state in the human body, and in this state, they are more resistant to antibiotic treatment and are known to accumulate lipids. We subjected Msm to a combination of stresses – low oxygen, acidic pH and nutrient starvation since these stresses are experienced by the Mtb pathogen in the human body. We analyzed the antibiotic tolerance of Msm under this combination of stresses and examined the effects of efflux pump inhibitors on the observed antibiotic tolerance. We used a rapid colorimetric redox-indicator assay to measure the levels of viable cells since this assay could be adapted for high-throughput screening. We report that the efflux pump inhibitors significantly decreased the antibiotic tolerance levels. Further studies using other efflux pump inhibitors are expected to reveal new knowledge on the mechanisms of antibiotic tolerance in mycobacteria. Research in M. smegmatis can illuminate novel interactions between Mycobacteria, efflux pump inhibitors and antibiotic tolerance.

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15. Una libertad no vista antes. la mexicanidad en literatura y en el cine del siglo XX

Cristal Galicia Class level: Senior Majors: Spanish, International Studies Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Stephen Buttes Department: International Languages and Culture There are two key tendencies within Mexican literature that become clear when analyzing two important authors. The first tendency is developed in Octavio Paz’s work: “el mestizaje,” a term that refers to the mixtures of races, cultures and traditions that make up Mexico. The second tendency is developed in Alfonso Reyes’s work: “la síntesis de cultura,” a term he uses to explain Mexico’s culture as a dynamic starting point rather than simply the passive end result of European interactions with indigenous and Afro-descendant cultures in Mexico. For Paz, la mexicanidad (Mexico’s distinct cultural traits) is mestizaje and is defined by the weight of the past. For Reyes, la mexicanidad is síntesis de cultura and is a cultural and artistic practice capable of liberating Mexico to find new ways to create and express their culture. This liberating practice tends to break away from the old and traditional styles imposed by older generations, and these tendencies tend to make individuals find a point which embodies both the past and the present, which can make the practice of síntesis a point of conflict as there are new ways to be followed in order to continue progressing for the future. In this essay, I study literary and cultural narrative works by Mexican and Chicano authors as well as cinematic works by Mexican filmmakers and argue that they explore the tensions between these models of mexicanidad. I draw attention to those who, on the model of Reyes, find a liberating cultural practice that has not been experienced before. This dynamic starting point embodies growth and creates new ways of living in the present by engaging critically with cultural and artistic traditions rather than accepting cultural traditions as obligations or mandates from the past.

Key words: Mexicanidad, el mestizaje, la síntesis de cultura, punto de partida, libertad, mezcla de culturas, mito, presente, pasado, morir y vivir.

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16. PlayDay – Social Skill Development for Children with Autism Nicholas Kacprowicz Class level: Senior Major: Computer Science Katherine Kohrman Class level: Senior Major: Computer Science Calvin Bender Class level: Senior Major: Computer Science

Connor Cuney Class level: Senior Major: Computer Science Eric Vasquez Class level: Senior Major: Computer Science

Co-authors: Autumn McMillian, Shaina Gonzales, Claire Rorick

Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Amal Khalifa Department: Computer Science Children with autism and other developmental disabilities often have problems developing social skills, such as social interaction, social cognition, and language processing. The assessment and treatment of social communication disorders requires professionally trained Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) within the context of social situations. Considering the limited time of a therapy session, SLPs often assign “homework” for patients to independently practice specific skills that are targeted in therapy. However, with a decreased ability for imagination, it becomes challenging for these developmentally delayed children to “pretend play” a social situation and repeat what they learned in therapy. As part of this project, we are developing a game, PlayDay, to help children with autism learn social skills in a fun and enjoyable environment. PlayDay is a collaborative effort of three different teams: a communications and research team, a graphics design team, and a software development team. The research team works in cohort with the software team to develop feasible game ideas that simulate social situations with different levels of complexities. The software team then brainstorms and relays the visual assets they need to the graphics team. With the help of these resources, the software team tackles the programming aspects of the game. With this great collaborative effort, PlayDay can pioneer video games that are specially designed using evidence-based practice activities to enhance motivation, interest, and engagement in children with autism.

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17. Visual Interfaces Designed for Exploratory Search on Large Text-based Digital Contents Chaitanya Subhedar Eric Wise Class level: Graduate Class level: Graduate Major: Computer Science Major: Computer Science Co-authors: Connor Gilliom, Aaron O’Donnell Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Beomjin Kim Department: Computer Science Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Jeffrey Malanson Department: History With a rapidly increasing amount of data, searching for the relevant information from a digital compilation is getting difficult as search engines oversupply results to the user. The outputs of the search system greatly depend on the selection of a good query of the data set. A key area where traditional search applications can be enhanced is when the user wants to find information without having a clear strategy, which is known as exploratory search. This study developed an application to help users perform exploratory searches on a large compilation of text documents. The system advances the search through a series of multi-tiered interfaces that are intuitive to use and help users avoid information overload. Unlike traditional search applications, which present the data in text format, this application incorporates visualizations of the data to display large amounts of information in a limited space. Each application interface presents the data from a different perspective and amount of information. Visualization also helps in abstracting the details of documents until those details are necessary and useful. Interface 1 of the application is designed to assist users find valuable search terms to improve search efficiency. Interface 1 provides a quantitative analysis of associated terms which the user can consider in choosing keywords to enhance their search. When the user enters refined search terms, the system will present the next level of visual abstraction. Interface 2 presents each document in the data set that contains the keywords in a graphical illustration by using multiple visual attributes including color, size, and location. Creating customized color groups and representing the document as a mixture of the color groups helps the user easily identify useful parts of the documents without actually having to read their contents. Interface 2 assists a user to select from the visualized documents those that merit further in-depth examination. Interface 3 is equipped with interactive tools to reorganize the content across multiple documents. Interface 3 allows the user to select or segment portions of a document and review the underlying content. This interface also provides the capability to group the selected document segments into multiple categories, add annotations, and save the reorganized search results for future reference. The utilization of visualization and search supporting tools will help the user to review a large amount of data in a small amount of time, identify important terms to improve their search, and intuitively identify related documents. The system will reduce the time and effort required to perform an exploratory search and help users in gaining useful insights about the search topics, which they otherwise might have missed due the recursive and labor-intensive nature of traditional methods.

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18. Detection of IoT Botnet Using Decision Trees Meghana Raghavendra Class level: Graduate Major: Computer Science Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Zesheng Chen Department: Computer Science International Data Corporation (IDC) data estimates that 152,200 Internet of things (IoT) devices will be connected to the Internet every minute by the year 2025. This rapid expansion of the usage of IoT devices in everyday life, leads to the increase in the attack surface for cybercriminals. IoT devices are frequently compromised and used for the creation of botnets. It is difficult to apply the traditional methods to counteract IoT botnets and calls for finding new methods to mitigate such threats with higher efficiency. In this project paper, we use network snapshots of 9 different IoT botnet traffic from various devices like baby monitor, doorbells, thermostat, web cameras, and security cameras. These devices were infected with Mirai and BASHLITE malware, and real data has been collected. The IoT traffic collected consists of 115 stream aggregation feature statistics like weight, mean, covariance, correlation coefficient, standard deviation, radius, and magnitude with a time-frame decay factor along with a class label defining the traffic as benign or anomalous.The goal of our project is to identify the most important features that distinguish benign and anomalous traffic for IoT devices and research the effective and efficient method to detect IoT botnets in real-time. Specifically, we have used the Input Perturbation Ranking algorithm with XGBoost to find the 7 most important features among the 115 features. These 7 features can be collected in real time and be applied as inputs to many detection methods. We have utilized a supervised machine learning method, i.e., Decision Trees, to detect anomalous traffic patterns with a 98% accuracy. The advantage of using decision trees, instead of other deep learning or other machine learning methodologies, is that this method takes lesser time and memory to achieve accurate results. Moreover, different from deep learning, decision trees can provide clear explanations to detection process based on rules or policies. Such explanations will lead to better security policies and setup in IoT environments. Furthermore, the importance of our methodology is that it can be run as an initial defense mechanism to detect malicious activity in real time with performance comparable to offline anomaly detectors, even on a low-performance edge device like Raspberry Pi. This demonstrates the usability of our methodology to be efficient and cost-effective. Keywords: Internet of Things (IoT), Botnets, Decision Trees, Input Perturbation Ranking Algorithm, Raspberry Pi

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19. The First Step in Synthesis and Evaluation of Antibacterial Activity of Diversely Functional Pyrrolines Samuel Dick Class level: Sophomore Major: Biology Faculty Sponsor and co-author: Dr. Liliya Frolova Department: Chemistry Step 1 in Synthesis and Evaluation of Antibacterial Activity of Diversly Functional Pyrrolines N-methyl(sulfonamido) acetophenones are important starting materials for the synthesis of highly substituted 5-membered rings in AZO heterocycles. Unfortunately, their synthetic yields are not higher than 50%. As the first step to the synthesis of new biologically active 5-membered rings with AZO scaffolds. We made the optimization of the synthetic approach to N-methyl(sulfonamido) acetophenones, and achieved yields up to ≈ 70%.

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20. How can Mathematical Modeling save my life? Minimizing Deaths through Compartmental Models Derek Brown Class level: Sophomore Majors: Computer Science, Mathematics Shivansh Sharma Class level: Sophomore Majors: Computer Science, Mathematics

Kashyab Ambarani Class level: Junior Majors: Mathematics Shravan Komarabattini Class level: Sophomore Majors: Mathematics

Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Peter Dragnev Department: Mathematics How do we ”bend the curve” or avoid ”super-spreader” events? Who should get vaccinated first? Government and Public Health officials need to pose and answer these questions daily. We, as members of society, ask them all the time. After all, a ”once-in-a-century” deadly pandemic is a treasure trove of research topics. Answering many of these questions empowers decision-makers with the tools to save lives. We initiate our presentation with an in-depth analysis of the SEIR compartment model, which serves as one of the fundamental epidemiological models. This model is a set of differential equations used to relate Susceptible, Exposed, Infected, and Recovered people to understand the disease’s behavior better. By developing a good understanding of the base model, we were then able to add different variations to suit better the needs of researching this pandemic. We started by breaking the Recovered category into Deceased and Healed, allowing better observation of the death toll the pandemic has caused. We also looked at incorporating vaccinations into the disease, thereby demonstrating how to model the best possible vaccine distribution to minimize deaths. An Important aspect of Mathematical Modelling is the communication of the results to decision-makers and a wider audience. Visualization tools such as graphs of daily exposures, infections, hospitalizations, deaths, vaccinations, and cumulative and running averages are illustrative and helpful. Using real-time data to scale and monitor counties’ pandemic levels is a powerful and effective tool that we demonstrate via various data visualization methods. Vaccine distribution poses significant challenges and, in some cases, competing goals that need to be attained. Because of the nature of COVID-19 and its impacts on various segments of the population, we have considered two models, Deceased Reduction and Infection Management. The first is prioritizing the vaccine’s distribution among the vulnerable population so that fatal outcomes are minimized. The second model minimizes the total number of infections, decreasing the overall impact on the economy and society. We conducted the study utilizing these two models to analyze various vaccine distributions’ effects on reducing deaths and cases. In conclusion, we summarize the challenges we faced in our COVID-19 mathematical models and outline possible future research topics.

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21. The Effects of Religion and Party Identification on the Death Penalty Kameiya Slaughter Class level: Junior Majors: Psychology, Public Affairs, Criminal Justice Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Nurgul Aitalieva Department: Criminal Justice and Public Administration The revolving door of capital punishment is a highly debated topic. The question many citizens are forced to address is what is the reasoning behind exercising the death penalty? The answer relies heavily on deterrence and retribution. Many studies have explored both sides and found that there is evidence that is supportive on either side. The loaded diversity of information found on capital punishment has left many religious and political sectors completely divided on this issue. A vast majority of U.S. citizens are in favor of the death penalty, but the numbers of approval are slowly declining. However, descriptive statistics and cross tabulations assist in cultivating the factual data behind capital punishment. As a result, Democrats are eleven percent more likely to favor the death penalty when compared to Republicans. Cross tabulations present the narrative that religion and the death penalty have a positive correlation. The General Social Survey provided the conclusive statistics that the upbringing of an individual is an underlying factor to their subjective opinion on the use of the death penalty. While society as a whole is turning away from abetting capital punishment the list for people on death row continues to expound.

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22. The Effectiveness of Contactless Services in Restaurants from a Consumer Perspective Ngoc Tran Nguyen Class level: Graduate Major: Business Administration Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Haeik Park Department: Hospitality & Tourism Management The development and utilization of internet based technology in the most of the industries across the world has been gaining momentum in the last few decades. The hospitality industry is not an exception. It has witnessed an exponential growth in adopting and offering technology in service to improve their guest experiences. Previous research indicated that the number of customers who use technology in hospitality businesses has been increasing. Recently, due to the global pandemic, Covid-19, restaurants started implementing contactless services to protect their guests and employees as well as survive from unforeseen circumstances. Preliminary research indicated 64.71% of restaurant customers believe that the usage of technology during service encounters is necessary to minimize the direct human contact. For example, one can get the digital menu on their devices by scanning QR codes, make payments through contactless payment methods (credit and debit cards, key fobs, smart cards), or place orders via websites or mobile applications. While the academia has been studying the use of various technology in restaurants, there is a lack of research about the effectiveness of contactless services from a consumer perspective. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine consumers’ perceptions of contactless services use in restaurants. Specifically, it will answer the three following questions: 1) What contactless service or technology makes people feel safe? 2) How much do consumers perceive safety with contactless technology? 3) What are the contactless services customers want to keep after the pandemic? This study will be quantitative research. To answer those research questions, an online survey will be used to collect data from potential restaurant consumers who have experienced with contactless service in restaurants. Participants will be asked about perceived safety, contactless services, and their intention to use contactless services in restaurants. The measurement items will be developed and modified based on previous research about technology and behavioral intentions. The expected number of data will be approximately 300. The outcome of this study will have both theoretical and practical contributions. The findings will provide insights into customers’ perceptions of safety about using contactless technology and the effectiveness of contactless service from a consumer perspective in restaurants. In addition, the results of this study will help restaurant owners and managers understand customers’ preference for a particular contactless service. It helps the industry practitioners effectively manage their contactless services to improve customers’ experiences in the restaurant businesses.

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23. How Do Socioeconomic Factors Correlate to COVID-19 Cases and Deaths? Anthony Guzman Class level: Senior Major: Computer Science Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Jin Yoo Department: Computer Science This work explores the correlations between various socioeconomic factors and the number of cases and deaths resulting from COVID-19. The study was conducted using two sets of data. The first data set comes from the U.S. Census Bureau and contains data for socioeconomic factors such as household income, level of education, employment rate, and more. The second data set comes from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and contains data for COVID-19 cases and deaths over time. To accurately assess correlations between various socioeconomic factors and the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, each data set was gathered and analyzed by county-level. Various methods for correlation analysis were used for this study, including the Kendall, Pearson, and Spearman correlation methods. Previous research in this field could not find any significant correlation between median household income and COVID-19 cases and deaths. However, this research aims to expand the socioeconomic factors beyond household income and discover other interesting correlations. The results of the analyses were visualized and discussed, and improvements to the data mining tasks are suggested. Any strong correlations found between socioeconomic factors and COVID-19 cases and deaths may help government officials and medical professionals make more informed decisions in determining where medical resources should be allocated when the next pandemic strikes.

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24. Poster Withdrawn

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25. Feasibility of using Gynura procumbens on the modulation of stress and immunity in vertebrates Sinthia Kabir Mumu Class level: Graduate Major: Biology Faculty Sponsor and co-author: Dr. Ahmed Mustafa Department: Biology As an industry, farming fish has progressed fast to provide healthy protein to human consumers. But along with the progression, farmers have been facing effects of stressors on fish growth, reproduction and immunity. It is, therefore, important to find alternative methods to reduce stress within fish and to improve their capability against acquiring diseases as well as reducing farmers’ dependency on chemical treatments. Gynura procumbens or commonly known as longevity spinach is a widely used medicinal plant in South East Asia to treat kidney disease, inflammation, rheumatic fever, and viral ailments. In addition, it has been used traditionally to decrease blood cholesterol and glucose, reduce high blood pressure, and even to treat certain types of cancer. Our research aimed to determine the effect of Gynura procumbens extract (GPE) on stressed Nile tilapia. In this experiment, we are investigating the effects of GPE on T cell and B cell response in-vitro and the modulation of physiological and immunological responses in-vivo. This research will be completed soon and the results obtained will be presented at the Purdue University Fort Wayne (PFW) Annual Student Research and Creative Endeavor Symposium.

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26. The Effects of CBD on Skin Cancer and Spleen Immune Cells in Mice Rosemary Burch Class level: Senior Major: Biology Eaint Honey Aung Win Class level: Senior Major: Biology Co-Authors: Asif Mortuza, Dr. Elliott Blumenthal Department: Biology Faculty Sponsor and co-author: Dr. Ahmed Mustafa Department: Biology Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the most popular emerging plant extracts that is being investigated for its wide range of potential health benefits. CBD is being reported to assist individuals with anxiety, depression, cancer, pain, and inflammation. While the potential applications for CBD are abundant, there remains the need for further research to test the validity of these health claims. Hence the purpose of this research, which focuses on the effect of CBD on cancer cells and spleen immune cells. The first experiment tested how mice melanoma cells, were affected by four different concentrations of 99% pure CBD. The results of this experiment demonstrate that CBD significantly inhibited melanoma cell growth in-vitro at the two highest concentrations. This shows that CBD has the potential to inhibit melanoma cell growth in vertebrates. Spleen cells were also investigated for the dual purpose of investigating CBD’s effect on healthy cells and also its effect on the immune system. The spleen is an important organ in the lymphatic system and is involved in both innate and adaptive immunity. It also filters out defective cells in the circulatory system to prevent tumor formation. Therefore, if CBD causes both melanoma cell suppression (which our results demonstrated) and spleen cell proliferation, this will show that CBD can target defective cells and assist healthy immune cells. The results for the spleen cell portion of the in-vitro experiment are currently being collected and analyzed.

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27. DementiaTrack: A Telehealth Solution for Detection of Early-Stage Dementia using Smart Home Technology Chase Walters Class level: Senior Major: Computer Science Tyler McCaulley Class level: Senior Major: Computer Science Co-authors: Brendan Perry, Ryan Hurd Faculty Collaborator: Isaiah Fisher Department: Computer Science Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Beomjin Kim Department: Computer Science Medical studies have presented that early detection of Alzheimer’s and other dementia can maximize the benefits of executing available treatments, improving the quality of life of patients and their family members, and decreasing the medical cost. This study develops a prototype system to detect early stage of dementia symptoms by utilizing Internet of Things (IoT) devices that can be part of future smart home. The system monitors sensor data, detects abnormal behaviors that may be an early sign of dementia, and notifies the symptoms to caretakers if the progression is worsening. The project team has determined to explore four common early symptoms of dementia including disorientation (wandering and pacing), sleeping disorders, Urinary Tract Infection (UTI), and memory loss of the subject (behavior changes in daily activities). The medical studies showed that these symptoms have correlations and can affect the quality and condition of one another. Cases include where a patient who has UTI could affect their sleeping patterns, which could lead to sleeping disorders arising. Along with that, when analyzing the movement data, it augments to track the usage of the bathroom and movement patterns over the time that will help solidify whether the patient has a UTI or early sign of memory loss. Different forms and types of information will be collected with multiple sensors installed at a house such as Bluetooth low energy beacons, a small tensile sensor, and other IoT devices. A series of intelligence algorithms continuously and parallelly evaluate the collected data over periods of time. When the system ever notices an increase in the occurrences or events, it will send a notification to the guardian and specialist along with a report. The notification will include a summary of data and description of reason for concern and that assistance/intervention should be provided. This research is to help better bring awareness and prevent dementia in homes where symptoms may go undetected as they cannot be easily seen through normal day to day interactions. This can benefit the lives of loved ones where the family member can't be with them all the time. This pilot study opens ways of integrating IoT devices to a smart home and future research direction to bring about a telehealth system in our everyday lives.

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28. Will Astaxanthin Enhance Immunological Effects of Cells in-vitro? Malaika Ahmed Class level: Junior Major: Biology Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Ahmed Mustafa Department: Biology In the aquaculture industry, fish farming has advanced to supply quality produce for general consumption while protecting overfished environments. An increased demand for fish has led to stressor development, negatively impacting overall fish crop health. Astaxanthin, a natural carotenoid which is responsible for red pigmentation in fish and crustaceans, is sourced from the microalgae Haematococcus pluvialis. Astaxanthin is a known antioxidant as it prevents free radical formation whilst also enhancing antibody production, thus contributing to decreased proliferation in cancer cells. The objective of this experiment is to explore the effect of astaxanthin on spleen T and B cells response in-vitro to assess the immunological effects astaxanthin has on melanoma in Nile tilapia and mice. The results produced from this ongoing experiment will be determined soon and presented at the Purdue University Fort Wayne (PFW) Annual Student Research and Creative Endeavor Symposium.

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29. Identification of Microorganisms in Biofertilizers Graciela Jimenez Class level: Senior Major: Biology Co-author: Madelyn Buhr Department: Biology Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Tanya Soule Department: Biology Biofertilizers contain microorganisms that can enhance the growth of plants by increasing their primary nutrients while also giving the soil back its natural nutrients. This can be done by bacterial nitrogen-fixation, solubilizing phosphorus, or through the synthesis of growth promoting substances. Biofertilizers are extremely important in agriculture since they are non-toxic, they can increase plant growth and could potentially replace chemical fertilizers that are harmful to the environment. It is important to be able to identify the organisms in a biofertilizer product to ensure quality and reproducibility. The biofertilizer Environoc 401 by Biodyne USA contains over 20 different microorganisms. In this study, several microorganisms in Environoc 401 were identified using molecular techniques that targeted specific microorganisms, since culturing these organisms has yielded limited success in the past due to the restricted and unknown culture conditions of some of the organisms. Molecular techniques avoid the problems associated with culturing by targeting the presence of specific DNA sequences. In order to do this, DNA primers were designed to target individual microorganisms at both the genus and species level. These primers were then used to amplify DNA from Environoc 401 microorganisms using PCR to obtain a product from each targeted organism. These products were then evaluated using agarose gel electrophoresis and sequencing to confirm the correct products. Using this approach, strains of Pseudomonas, Cellulomonas, Bacillus, and Streptomyces were identified. Each of these organisms presented unique challenges, requiring protocol changes for DNA isolation and PCR cycling which were optimized over several rounds of testing. Several more strains are currently being optimized with the hopes of creating molecular protocols for identifying all the strains in Environoc 401. With there being an abundance of microorganisms, not all are capable of nitrogen-fixing, solubilizing phosphorus, or of any other process that could potentially enhance the growth of plant. Environoc 401 contains multiple strains that do not correlate with the same functions, each is unique. This work demonstrates that the organisms being used are the correct microorganisms stated to help enhance the work on biofertilizers do on nature.

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30. Using a ZeeCam to Analyze Gum Arabic Films

Ateik Almalahi Class level: Junior Major: Biochemistry Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Michael Columbia Department: Chemistry Ferric gum photography is a form of photography that is done using iron (III) and gum Arabic. This is done by applying a solution of iron(III) chloride onto a paper, which will cause it to display a lemon-yellow color. The next step is to print the desired image onto a transparent paper, and then expose the paper to ultraviolet light through the transparency. Over time, the image on the transparency will begin to form on the paper due to the reduction of the exposed iron(III) to iron(II). However, this image is not very visible so watercolor paint, usually black, is applied to the paper which is then immersed in water. The areas where the iron was reduced, do not react with the gum Arabic in the paint, so the paint is washed away. However, areas where the UV was blocked from reducing the iron cause the gum Arabic to harden, preventing it from being washed away. Eventually, the image on the transparency appears on the paper. The phenomena where the gum Arabic is hardened by the iron(III) has not been studied to any great detail. Our previous investigation of this phenomena used an atomic force microscope to image the surface of gum Arabic films with and without iron(III). The data acquired showed that the gum Arabic films that were not treated with iron(III) had “clumps” dispersed all across the sample, each at a size of approximately 1 µm. The films that did not contain any iron(III) did not show any sign of these structures. My current project focused on the use of a device called ZeeCam to further investigate this reaction between gum Arabic and iron(III). The ZeeCam is an accessory that can be added to a standard light microscope to allow the user to capture multiple images at slightly different heights. This allows the creation of a final 3-D image and generates height data by examining the differences between all the images acquired. During the course of using the ZeeCam, I have acquired data from multiple samples that show the 3-D topography of the Gum Arabic with and without iron(III) as well as surface roughness data. An increase of almost 70% in the layered volume was observed and an increase in almost 68% was seen for the surface roughness when comparing the samples containing iron(III) and the ones without it. We believe this is maybe due to the influence of the ferric ion on the growth of the gum Arabic layer.

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31. Imaging Gum Arabic Films Atomic Force Using Atomic Force Microscopy Ateik Almalahi Class level: Junior Major: Biochemistry Diaa Almalahi Class level: Junior Major: Biochemistry Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Michael Columbia Department: Chemistry Ferric gum photography is an alternative form of photographic printing that relies on a chemical interaction between iron(III) ions and gum Arabic, a naturally occurring binder used in watercolor paint. The process starts with application of an iron(III) chloride solution to a piece of watercolor paper; this imparts a lemony-yellow color to the paper after it has dried. The next step is to expose the paper to ultraviolet light through a transparency of the photographic image; this “burns” the image into the paper by photobleaching the iron ions in the areas exposed to ultraviolet light. This image exists in shades of yellow and is not very sharp. To generate a more appealing photograph, a black watercolor paint is painted over the entire image, then the entire paper is immersed in water. The gum Arabic binder in the paint is “hardened” by the iron(III) ions that remain in the unbleached areas of the paper and resists being washed away by the water. After a few minutes in the water, the original photographic image emerges on the paper, as the paint dissolves from the regions where the iron ions were bleached. The hardening of gum Arabic in the presence of iron(III) ions has been reported previously, but investigation of the chemical nature of this phenomenon is lacking. Prior work from our research group has probed the interaction at the atomic scale using infrared spectroscopy; this has indicated that the iron(III) ions form chemical bonds with the molecules in gum Arabic via coordination with acidic functional groups in those molecules. Such chemical bonds can lead to crosslinking, a process that “networks” smaller molecules into larger ones that are harder to solvate with water. Our current project has imaged the surface of gum Arabic films using atomic force microscopy. To our knowledge, this is the first imaging of gum Arabic films to study the effect of the interaction with iron(III) ions. We have produced films by brushing 5% gum Arabic suspensions on to hot-pressed 140# Arches Aquarelle, both with and without prior treatment with 5% iron(III) chloride solution. When the films had dried, they were imaged using these two techniques. The atomic force micrographs indicate the gum Arabic film produced on the untreated paper is dominated by “clumps” that have diameters of approximately 1 µm, while the films produced on the paper treated with iron(III) chloride show no sign of these structures.

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32. Prosper Veteran Living Community Hannah Greenwood Class level: Senior Major: Interior Design Allison Miller Class level: Senior Major: Interior Design Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Suining Ding Department: Interior Design Prosper Veteran Living Community is a residential and community gathering center where veterans and service members can go to reacclimate to civilian life. This sustainable design uses green materials and facets to enhance serenity within the space. PVLC will have activity centers and gardens, both indoors and outdoors, to promote wellbeing and longevity. Each housing unit will have unique color schemes, giving them their own identity but similar facades elicit cohesion throughout the space. Designing a space for veterans takes a lot of thought. Some veterans suffer from one or many disabilities. These disabilities include vision and hearing imparities, physical and motor disabilities, PTSD, stress, anxiety, physical injuries, language barriers, and low literacy skills to name a few. It is important to make veterans feel at home and at ease by creating a calm and positive environment with nothing that could trigger negative emotions or reactions. PVLC will also be socially sustainable. Social sustainability promotes wellbeing and combines the physical and social world. It also supports social and cultural life, social amenities, engagement with others, and a place to evolve. This will be achieved in the design by implementing front porches in the interior façade. The space will make members of the community feel informed, empowered, prepared, and in control of their life. Amid a global pandemic, the use of antimicrobial and wipeable materials is imperative, especially in a community with members that could be at high risk of infection. Designing an area for numerous people to be engaged in one another while maintaining a safe distance proves to be difficult, especially when PVLC’s goal is to promote socialization. This design and layout shows to be one that checks all the boxes. PVLC provides residents and members of the community a beautiful, functional, and most importantly, safe, space.

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33. Hope Living Community Bu Paw Class level: Senior Major: Interior Design

Heather Nellum Class level: Senior Major: Interior Design

Tommi Bonner Class level: Senior Major: Interior Design

Janelle Cooks Class level: Senior Major: Interior Design

Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Suining Ding Department: Interior Design

Hope Living Community is a facility designed to help veterans. Residents that reside at the Hope Living Community will develop a sense of connection and belonging by participating in the various therapeutic activities provided by the facility. Within this community we will incorporate an open floor plan, follow ADA and Covid-19 safety guidelines to ensure that all needs are being meet. The goal of the design is to promote the overall health and wellbeing of the veterans who reside there. At Hope Living Community our goal is to ensure the success of the veterans that are housed here, by making sure all their needs are meet through design. There will be an open floor plan to allow residents to interact with each other and not feel confined. Veterans tend to avoid spaces where they cannot see people’s movements and intentions. With an open floor plan Veterans are less likely to feel trapped and to feel as if their movements are hindered. Although most of the public spaces are open there will also be a number of private spaces. Within these private space’s residents can exercise, relax and train in their own comfort bubbles. Here at Hope Living Community it is our goal that every resident feels comfortable in each space they enter. Due to the pandemic, designers are required to use sturdy antimicrobial materials that can be frequently cleaned with products that kill bacteria and viruses. The flooring throughout this space will be made of oak that has been treated with an antimicrobial layer. The paint for the walls will be acrylic latex that contains zero VOCs. Leather was chosen for the chair fabric due to its durability and ease of cleaning. Metals such as copper, brasses, bronzes are natural antimicrobial materials. It will be important to use these metals on areas that are used more, for example, faucets, door handles, and cabinet knobs. Veterans react to different environments, for example green spaces helps them feel calm and at ease. Large windows bring in natural light which in return reduces stress and anxiety. At Hope Living Community all our corridors are well lite and have bright colors to help reduce PTSD. For health concerns we aim to keep all spaces clean and sustainable with good lighting and air quality. A built environment alone cannot solve PTSD, but it can help improve it. The primary goal of the design is to allow veterans to live comfortably and happily in the space. This can be achieved by making the correct design decisions when it comes to space planning and materials. The provided floor plan allows residents to move with ease from the reception area to their units, or to the designated areas for daily activities. This open floor plan can prevent the veterans from feeling confined or trapped. Specific antimicrobial materials were chosen to prevent the spread of bacteria and viruses. All of these design decisions will allow the residents to live safely and thrive at Hope Living Community.

ADEC ESG. “What Is Social Sustainability?” Adec Innovations, www.esg.adec-innovations.com/about-us/faqs/what-is-social-sustainability/. Interior Architects. “Nature's Way: Antimicrobial Materials.” IA Interior Architects, 27 Aug. 2020, interiorarchitects.com/natures-way-antimicrobial-materials/.

Detweiler, Mark B., et al. "The case for using restorative natural environments in veterans’ rehabilitation programs." Federal Practitioner 27 (2010): 26-28.

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34. Examining the Racial Effects of the Neoliberal Movement in Education Olivia Fisher Class level: Junior Major: Secondary Education Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Benjamin Kearl Department: School of Education Traditionally, education in the United States has followed a democratic agenda, which views public education as responsible for providing equality of educational opportunity regardless of race, gender, or socioeconomic status. However, as educational historian, Dianne Ravitch demonstrates, this ideal is being increasingly challenged by neoliberal educational reforms, which are focused on replacing public education with a privately managed, free-market system of schooling. As a result of this movement a strong emphasis is placed on educator accountability, student sorting and tracking, and competition among educational institutions. Although neoliberalism entices educational outsiders, many within the field of education understand that the neoliberal movement perpetuates inequality, including racial injustice in American classrooms. The increased accountability and standardized testing that accompanies neoliberalism threatens the closure of public education institutions. Often, such schools are highly concentrated in poor and minority students. Thus, the neoliberal movement leaves students who need education the most without it. Fearful of closure, educators in such schools devote a significant portion of classroom time to prepare students for standardized exams—presenting similar questions from previous exams, effective test taking techniques, and time management skills among various other strategies. Students within these schools are not authentically learning material, but are instead caught within what teacher educator, Bettina Love, describes as education’s survival complex, that is, teaching minority students to survive schooling rather than to educationally thrive. Because of its emphasis on privatization and competition, the neoliberal reform movement perceives students as consumers of educational services. Consequently, parents are encouraged to make informed decisions about the institutions in which they enroll their children. As sociologist Margaret Hagerman argues, parents—whom are often of White, upper-middle class backgrounds—choose to enroll their students in institutions they feel will provide the best return of investment. Thus, schools become more racially segregated as families of lower socioeconomic status (often minorities) often do not have the resources to flee from failing schools. By perpetuating racial segregation in public schools, neoliberalism is perpetuating racial injustice in society for decades to come. Hagerman demonstrates that White children’s comprehensive racial learnings—defined as the process through which children negotiate, interpret, and make meaning of the various and conflicting messages about race, ultimately forming their own understandings of racial issues in society—is negatively affected by a lack of exposure to diversity. A consequence of neoliberalism, then, is the production and maintenance of racially segregated schools that produce color-blind ideology, an important ideological pillar to maintaining racial injustice in American society. To combat neoliberalism and racism in education, Love calls for abolitionist teaching. This form of pedagogy collaborates with communities of color while drawing on abolitionist techniques to eradicate injustice in and outside of schools. By challenging the neoliberal policies that are flooding public education, educators are committing to stand in full solidarity with their oppressed students while defending the basic foundation of American democracy—public education for all.

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35. Improvement to Pix2Code using Fast.ai : Automatic Generation of Graphical User Interface with a Model Classification Haemin Ryu Class level: Senior Major: Computer Science Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Venkata Inukollu Department: Computer Science This poster is about a study of prototype photo recognition and model classification to improve the accessibility and speed of Pix2Code with a new tool on how to generate Graphical User Interface (GUI) models by taking photos. Based on the classification model data through the component identification obtained by Fast.ai, Pix2Code offers the code and results of the high-fidelity prototype GUI processing. Image classification can improve the accuracy of user interface replacement for much more complicated designs. As the personal computer environment moves from personal computers (PCs) to smartphones, the importance of creating mobile GUIs taking service and design into account is increasing both in academia and industry. However, it is inefficient to create several phases of prototyping of mobile applications, such as sketching, card-based prototyping, and high-fidelity prototyping by vector-based design tools. GUI creation problem is the time-consumption due to redundant work for prototyping the same design by converting drawings into implementation. This research is the process of completely replacing the layout coding task with AI. Automatic Generating GUI models is an attractive way of thinking to improve the workflow for the front-end development in Automation Software Engineering. Pix2Code takes one single input image that we can trivially obtain by making a screenshot of the user interface, and it provides us with the code required to recreate it. This computer code generation provides the GUI mockup that improves the workflow of the software development process. Moreover, automatic modeling by detecting and classifying specific user interfaces facilitates the search and analysis of commonly used interfaces. After capturing a mobile GUI by taking a photo through a mobile camera application, the machine learning algorithm processes the GUI Data transmit. A novel approach for an effective automated deep learning interaction using Fast.ai helps the accuracy and speed of the Pix2Code UI Generation. In this poster, Fastai, a system using neural nets technology, establishes end-user communication to support partial image compensation and user accessibility defects. By analyzing the natural language input, we built GUI prototype models trained by Fastai using Learner to classify an optimized and user-friendly GUI. With the consistent teaching machines in fast.ai, the data and trends of GUI prototype sketching applied to the GUI code generation. The codes generated from the Pix2Code can care about the user-driven design. Improvement of the speed and quality of general UI development produces the mobile GUI with reasonable code generation. This approach gives accessibility technologies for a visualization mechanism that enables non-programmers to generate the layout code by performing camera picture operations on a mobile device. With these improvements, it can quickly prove its worth by augmenting human labor and cutting down the costs of implementing graphical user interfaces in the future. The final goal is to analyze the uniqueness and usability of each prototype and to analyze prototype patterns. Keywords: Pix2Code, Fast.ai, Automatic GUI generation, Model Classification, Deep Learning

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36. Turtle Community Patterns in a Large Urban Wetland Complex

Katherine Brandewie Class level: Senior Major: Biology Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Mark Jordan Department: Biology Turtles species are experiencing a global decline due to habitat loss and fragmentation, pollution, climate change, overharvesting, and road mortality. Urban habitats may pose acute challenges due to the high level of disturbance and human activity but little is known about the ecology of turtles in these areas. The Eagle Marsh Nature Preserve (EMNP) in Fort Wayne, is a large wetland complex surrounded by urban infrastructure which includes an interstate, a four-lane road, a railway, suburban and commercial development, and a landfill. I and previous students began surveying turtles at EMNP to better understand the distribution and abundance of resident species to help inform conservation practices on the property and contribute to broader knowledge of urban turtles. Turtles were surveyed using two types of baited traps over two weeks in May and June, 2018 – 2020. Each year a total of eight sites representing different habitats and proximity to the four-lane road were trapped. Because some trap locations varied by year, I limited data analysis to five trapping sites that were used consistently all three years. Each site can be considered either very structured (Scrub shrub/Forested wetlands) or little to no structure (aquatic bed/open water). Within each habitat category, at least one trapping site is in close proximity to urban infrastructure (roads) and at least one trapping site is protected from urban disturbance. The traps captured four turtle species at EMNP: painted turtles (Chrysemys picta), snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina), spiny softshell (Apalone spinifera), and pond sliders (Pseudemys scripta). C. picta and C. serpentina are the focus species of this study. The most successful trapping years were 2018 and 2020, with 68 C. picta and 32 C. serpentina captures in 2018, and 99 C. picta and 14 C. serpentina captures in 2020. 2019 had 34 C. picta and 5 C. serpentina captures. This decrease could be due to decreased turtle activity as a result of cooler and wetter weather conditions in May 2019. Total turtles captured per trap night for each year are compared across the five sites, and averaged over the three years for both C. picta and C. serpentina. While each of the sampled wetlands were suitable habitats for C. serpentina and C. picta, the results suggest that C. picta may prefer wetlands with increased vegetation and structure while C. serpentina may prefer wetlands with more open shallow water. Based on captures for the three trap years, C. picta favor wetlands with increased structure that are located centrally at EMNP, away from urban infrastructure. There does not seem to be a similar trend in C. serpentina habitat preference. This suggests that compared to C. serpentina, C. picta may be more sensitive to urbanization and disturbance by human activity. Continued annual monitoring of EMNP is planned so that demographic parameters can be estimated to project the future population size of each species. By collecting data on freshwater turtle populations and habitats in urban areas, better conservation strategies can be developed and implemented locally and globally to protect turtle populations

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37. Population Genomics of Blanding’s Turtle on a Regional Scale in the Midwest

Connor Dempsey Class level: Graduate Major: Biology Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Mark Jordan Department: Biology Population genomics studies can provide insight into the structure and status of a species while providing vital information for conservation and management plans. Here, a genomic analysis of over 5,000 SNPs was conducted using 3RAD on populations of the highly threatened freshwater Blanding’s Turtle. At present, there is no regional analysis of genetic variation in Blanding’s Turtle that includes Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. Samples focused on these three states with preliminary results from clustering analysis suggesting there is little to no population structure. Although correlations between geography and genetic distances were not significant, including geographic coordinates in analyses showed structuring into 2-3 clusters based heavily on local watersheds. Clustering analyses may have been impacted by a relatively small number of loci and high amounts of missing data. Population genetic studies with different markers such as microsatellites have shown structure in Blanding’s turtles suggesting that SNPs may be less useful for this species. Future population genomic studies on this species should focus on including more individuals per population.

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38. Landscape Conservation Genetic Analysis of Blanding’s Turtles Across Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana Dan Guinto Class level: Graduate Major: Biology Faculty Sponsor and co-author: Dr. Mark Jordan Department: Biology Blanding’s Turtle (Emydoidea [Emys] blandingii) is a species of conservation concern across much of its range due to habitat loss, habitat degradation, road mortality, and collection for the exotic pet trade. Blanding’s Turtles are long lived, slow to reproduce and lack genetic diversity making them vulnerable to inbreeding and reduced viability. Since Blanding’s Turtle have long generation time and late maturity, they accumulate changes slowly making rapidly evolving genetic markers necessary to understand genetic trends of the species. Microsatellites or short tandem repeats of on non-coding DNA rapidly accumulate genetic changes through slippage and proofreading errors during replication making them ideal for Blanding’s Turtle. I am using microsatellite analyses to investigate genetic diversity within and among locations as well as to determine population structure. DNA samples were collected across Ohio and Michigan in the spring and summer of 2019, and subsequently extracted then amplified using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). I selected 15 loci from prior studies and developed five multiplex reactions. Additional samples from prior studies were included from Indiana, New York, New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts to provide a multi-regional perspective. The genotypes derived from this process were then used to examine population structure, Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, heterozygosity, Fst, and linkage disequilibrium. Early analyses indicate the existence of three populations: Indiana, Ohio, and the northeast sites with Michigan and New York showing admixture. Although additional population sampling is forthcoming these preliminary results can be used to inform future sampling and provide preliminary genetic inferences. Going forward regional and local differentiation provides opportunities to inform the relocation of turtles confiscated by law enforcement and understand landscape influences on populations. Genetic differentiation between locations can be used as a proxy for movement data to ranking landscape resistance. Understanding the genetic history of Blanding’s Turtle allows for opportunities to inform population structure, understand historic movement and promote restoration of natural connectivity allowing for more informed conservation management decisions.

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39. 'The Canopy' Veterans Center/Interior Design Competition Rachel Loechner Yesenia Coronado Class level: Senior Class level: Senior Major: Interior Design Major: Interior Design Savanah Singer Class level: Senior Major: Interior Design Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Suining Ding Department: Interior Design The Canopy Veteran Community envelopes many key factors necessary for the care and support of veterans. After comparing different research from different researches, the research analysis identified four key elements for successful Veteran care. These elements are; mobility, depression and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) sensitivity, social sustainability, and integration into civilian life. The Veteran Community is designed to care for the needs of veterans in all of these elements.The varied mobility issues of veterans are addressed by locating pedestrian pathways, universal design accommodation and offering of single-floor residence studios. The generous skylights fill the entire space with natural light. This natural light serves several purposes. The UV rays in sunlight can rid surfaces of viruses and bacteria and the natural light has been shown to improve the mental state of persons suffering from depression. Being aware of how the built environment, including the public spaces in our design, will make the veterans, who may be suffering from PTSD or traumatic brain injuries, react and respond. There is some evidence that fewer adornments, as in modern design, can help people with neural injuries better focus on their interactions with others. This neutral palette can foster social sustainability. Also, public spaces that offer areas to relax, as well as stimulate, will draw people to the 'outdoor' spaces and therefore help them to interact with more people and feel less isolated.

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40. Determining the Environmental Associations of Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola on a landscape using Environmental DNA Nick Friedeman Class level: Graduate Major: Biology Faculty Sponsor and co-author: Dr. Mark Jordan Department: Biology Emerging pathogenic fungi have recently become a topic of conservation concern due to the declines seen in several taxa as a result of their emergence. One such newly emerging fungal pathogen is known as Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola, the causative agent of Snake Fungal Disease (SFD). SFD has been found in a variety of snake species across the eastern United States and has been associated with a population decline in Timber Rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus). SFD infection has also been observed in the Eastern Massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus), a federally threatened rattlesnake species. Most work to date has involved detecting SFD within snake populations through direct swabbing of infected snakes, where detection of SFD in the environment to understand its ecology within areas it exists is lacking. I am investigating the detection SFD of in environmental conditions that snakes may encounter O. ophiodiicola using a previously developed Real - Time PCR (qPCR) assay for the detection of SFD but applied to environmental samples. All samples were collected in a study area at Camp Grayling Joint Maneuver Training Facility in Northern Michigan, where SFD infection has been seen within the Eastern Massasauga population. Samples consisted of soil taken from four macrohabitat types, and ground water taken from a known Eastern Massasauga overwintering area. Environmental data on soil type, pH, temperature, moisture, and organic matter content was taken for each soil sample. While water temperature, pH, and dissolved oxygen were taken for each water sample collected. Preliminary results confirm the sensitivity of the SFD assay which gives a limit of detection being 1.05 x 101 copies of the target gene, internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1). With this assay I hope to detect SFD in collected environmental samples and determine the initial concentration to quantify the fungal load within the sample to identify macrohabitats that have higher degrees of fungal presence. Paired with environmental data, I will be able to determine the parameters that may predict fungal presence. The research is expected to lead to a new tool for use in Eastern Massasauga management and further our understanding on where snakes may be encountering SFD in their environment.

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41. Methodology to Develop a 5-year Capital Improvement Plan for Road Systems in the City of Fort Wayne using PASER Hoang Nam Pham Class level: Senior Major: Civil Engineering Emma McMillan Class level: Senior Major: Civil Engineering Faculty Sponsor and co-author: Dr. Promothes Saha Department: Civil and Mechanical Engineering Capital Improvement Plans (CIP) plays a critical role in maintaining and upgrading a road system, by determining which segments of road should receive which treatment over a multiyear period. The funding provided by the local government is considered as the available budget, and by synchronizing the available budgets, the CIP ensures that the overall pavement condition is optimized. This study developed a priority-based methodology for CIP and was applied to the city of Fort Wayne’s road system to verify the applicability of the methodology as a case study. The primary factors included in the methodology are the following: budget, Pavement Surface Evaluation and Rating (PASER), deterioration model, cost matrix, and improvement associated with selecting the treatment. The traffic volume is used to determine the rate of deterioration for each functional classification of roadways compared to others. Higher values represent that they will deteriorate at an accelerant rate and service more travellers, thus should receive higher priority for applying treatment. As the PASER of a segment decreases, the rate of deterioration also increases, so does the treatment cost. Another priority value was determined based on the treatment cost. Combining these two priority values, a combined value was determined for each combination of roadway and treatment type. This combined value is used to rank the projects for applying treatments. The set budget is given to the transportation department and cannot be exceeded; however, the selected projects for improvement annually maximizes the overall PASER. The affect the CIP has on the condition of the overall network is reanalyzed each year, before calculations are performed to develop the subsequential year’s improvement plan. Results of the study revealed that roadways classified as arterial, road segments with require crack sealing maintenance type, and asphalt surface types should all be prioritized when selecting projects, as their high volume, lower associated cost, and faster deterioration rate, will impact the city’s transportation network the greatest. Keywords: Capital Improvement Plan (CIP); Pavement Surface Evaluation and Rating (PASER); city roads; priority-based PASER; optimization model

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42. Sleep Data Analysis: Sleep Deficiency in the United States Sleep Deficiency in the United States Justin Fisher Class level: Senior Major: Data Science and Applied Statistics Faculty Sponsor and co-author: Dr. Yvonne Zubovic Department: Mathematics This project’s focus is to compare low-quality sleep patterns (specifically sleep deficiency at < 7 hours) for people across various regions of the country. With this project, we are trying to answer the following questions: Where do people sleep the worst? Where do people sleep the best? How do the sleep patterns change over time affect various region in the United States? Which region has seen the most change, either positive or negative change, in low-quality sleep over time? Is sleep deficiency related to age? The main sets of data used here are CDC’s 500 Cities: Local Data for Better Health 2016 and 2018 datasets as well as the new PLACES: Local Data for Better Health 2020 dataset. These data sets are created from surveys that were given out to individuals 18 years and older. All data sets contain data from two years prior. Thus, the 2016 data set contains data from year 2014, 2018 data set with data from year 2016, and so forth. The older data sets are focused on cities. The newest data set is focused on counties. For this project, we are using these sets of data using exploratory data analysis and linear regression to answer these questions of interest. Exploratory data analysis is the act of looking into data deeper and making sense of the results. In this case, we use graphical displays to help understand these results. Linear regression is used to model the data by creating a best-fit line. In this case, determining how sleep deficiency has changed over time. The data sets present that most Northeast and South cities and counties within these data sets sleep worse overall compared to West coast cities and counties (Note: this is defined by the U.S. Census Bureau Regions and Divisions). We must also understand that, as we age, we often need less and less sleep. As we approach late adulthood (60s and onward), we sleep 7 to 8 hours rather than the typical 7-9 hours. Given that the age distribution differs across the United States, we explore how age is related to the sleep deficiency of the country. The United States has a rate of 35.51% of people who sleep less than 7 hours each night according to the 2018 dataset listed earlier. This rate is age based. Details on the adjusted rate will be explained elsewhere. The Northeast region has a rate of 39.16% and the South region has a rate of 36.50%. These two regions greatly contrast that of the West coast region with their rate of 33.98%. We use a city heatmap, a color-coded geographical map which shows these differences by color, to visualize the difference. We use linear regression by fitting a line with each region’s data. Both methods allow us to see how each region differs from each other and how each region’s rate changes overtime. We see that those who live in the Northeast region have the highest sleep deficiency from 2018 dataset. Whereas the West coast region has the lowest sleep deficiency from the same dataset. Outside of this abstract, we will take a deep dive in how each region has changed from 2014 and onward as well as where we are seeing the largest change in sleep deficiency.

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43. A Systematic Approach Towards Building Software Remotely Kashyab Ambarani Class level: Sophomore Majors: Computer Science, Mathematics Shivansh Sharma Class level: Senior Major: Computer Science Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Venkata Inukollu Department: Computer Science This paper looks into creating a systematic approach towards Software Engineering while keeping the constraints and complexities in mind. From listing the advantages and disadvantages to suggesting effective practices for remote teams, the paper aims to minimize the chances of failure and create a framework for the efficient engineering of software remotely. The current COVID-19 pandemic has brought about sudden changes to the everyday schedules of ordinary civilians. Among the common people, businesses have also found themselves brought to an abrupt stop in their operations. Tech Companies have migrated to more remote options to reduce exposure to the virus, but what happens after the pandemic’s effects are of the past? As technology continues to evolve, much of society will find itself much more integrated online than any past generation. With this comes, businesses’ operations occurring remotely and employees reporting to work from their own homes. There is lots of ambiguity within such an approach, which happens primarily due to the number of different variables involved in the process. A variable such as Communication can cause massive problems within companies working remotely, potentially costing them their time and money. Time Difference, another significant variable, poses a great challenge towards facilitating synchronous communication among teams. With many such variables to consider, a systematic approach is necessary for preventing failure. We initiate our research by presenting some of the advantages and disadvantages of Remote Work. After doing so, we begin analyzing some of the primary challenges faced by the phases of the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC). Crafting a solution towards these problems requires an in-depth analysis of the processes and functions of each phase. We propose a Remote Software Development Life Cycle (R-SDLC) to target each of these problems and meet all of the functions required by each phase. The R-SDLC is validated with the support of Previous Research Papers and Articles Exploring each of the processes and functions in a remote setting. In conclusion, our research addresses the major challenges faced by remote software engineering along with a study of the causes and effects of such significant issues so as to provide a framework for future research topics.

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44. Deep Learning Sandbox Jimmy Nguyen Class level: Senior Major: Computer Science

Vinamra Munot Class level: Senior Major: Computer Science

Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Zesheng Chen Department: Computer Science Deep learning is a rising paradigm for modern applications and research in the artificial intelligence realm. Specifically, deep learning is a subfield of machine learning and involves various neural networks. Compared to traditional machine learning algorithms, deep learning is shown to improve the learning performance as the amount of data increases. This is very useful in today’s age because the amount of data can only increase over time. The applications of deep learning include self-driving cars, fake-news detection, natural language processing, computer vision (object detection/recognition), and many more. In this project, several applications were developed based on deep learning in order to understanding the benefits and the limitations of deep learning. Specifically, the goals of the project is summarized in the following: (1) to showcase various deep learning methods on applications for K-12 students; (2) to showcase extensibility of deep learning methods across multiple platforms (e.g., web, mobile, and Internet of Things (IoT)); and (3) to provide insight on the limitations of applying deep learning technology in an application. We provide a demo service for K-12 students to explore and experiment with these features so that they can better understand the applications and why they are important. Specifically, we implemented several applications, including object detection in image and in video, facial detection in video, real-time facial recognition, and face-mask detection. Another important aspect of this project is the idea of extending deep learning based applications to multiple platforms such as web, mobile, and IoT devices like Raspberry Pi. We demonstrate that deep learning applications are not limited to one platform and that they can be cleverly integrated across multiple platforms. Moreover, we show that there are potential limitations when applying deep learning technologies on an application, such as library version compatibility, device compatibility, and model training efficiency. Overall, our project is expected to apply deep learning to interesting applications, provide a demo for K-12 student outreach at Purdue University Fort Wayne, and research the possible issues for applying the advanced machine learning technology (i.e., deep learning).

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45. Hope Haven Veteran Clinic Paige Rondeau Class level: Senior Major: Interior Design Chesni Muncie Class level: Senior Major: Interior Design Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Suining Ding Department: Interior Design This project focuses on the design for Hope Haven Veteran Living, a community dedicated to the health of veterans in our surrounding areas. The goal is to create an environment that encompasses all aspects of social sustainability, including quality of life, equality, diversity, social cohesion and democracy. Hope Haven’s design concept is to incorporate these pillars of social sustainability as well as embody a calm, neighborhood feel that will promote the long-term health of each veteran resident. This neighborhood-like atmosphere will create and encourage social cohesion and help residents thrive together as a group. Given the current global pandemic, designated areas are designed to promote social interaction at a safe distance. Indoor air quality is an important factor in sustainability design, along with spaces to exercise, and textiles that are easily sanitized. The location of the site and its proximity to local resources is also considered in the design process.