Digital Commons Network^™

Figures Of Wwi, Grant Morgan

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This is a paper about three things: the connection between The University of Oxford and Akron; T.E. Lawrence's exploits in the WWI Hejaz; and the fall of the British Liberals after WWI.

Elephant 2000: A Programming Language For Remembering The Past And Building On It, Kerry J. Holmes

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Elephant 2000 is a programming language to specify programs that accept user speech as text inputs and outputs speech text. The inputs and outputs are based on Dialogue Act theory which describes several forms of speech outputs, such as requests, questions, and answers. The language also relies on Named Entity Recognition to determine what types of objects a user references. These entities include persons, locations, times and so on. Using these attributes of user speech, a program is able to perform simple rule matching and pattern recognition to respond to input. The result is a programming language with English like …

Multi-Dimensional Mass Spectrometry For The Characterization Of Glycopolymers, Maria Ganios

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Several glycopolymers synthesized by Activators regenerated by electron transfer atom transfer radical polymerization (ARGET ATRP), were characterized by mass spectrometry to elucidate their microstructure and architecture. Analyses were performed using Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization- Time of Flight/ Time of Flight (MALDI-ToF/ToF) and Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry (ESI-MS) instruments. The linear isopropylidenated glycopolymer (P65B1) analyzed with ESI-MS also was examined with multi-stage mass spectrometry (MSⁿ) using collision induced dissociation (CID) to examine the tetramer parent ion. This glycopolymer was found to be either cyclic or linear (sans end groups) due to the data being fit for both forms …

Proposal For A University Of Akron Chronic Condition Support Group, Kendra Taylor

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

With constant advancements in modern medicine, new opportunities are opening up to those diagnosed with chronic conditions during childhood and adolescence. Children who would have died early on due to their life-altering medical conditions are now living well into adulthood, with approximately 500,000 youth with chronic conditions turning 18 years old each year in the Unites States. Despite them having similar high school graduation rates as their peers, students with one or more chronic condition are only half as likely to graduate from college after starting. Data on this specific population while in college is very limited, but what is …

The Importance And Development Of Catastrophe Models, Kevin Schwall

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The Importance and Development of Catastrophe Models

I thought this was a very interesting project to work on. I was intrigued by catastrophe models and how the insurance industry will be able to use them to better predict natural disasters moving forward. From my research, I found that these models are quite effective, and will only improve as time goes on. As more data is gathered and input into the models, the quality of output will only improve, helping insurers and all of us, in the form of more accurate insurance rates. I was surprised to see just how devastating …

Effect Of A Pre-Existing Lattice Preferred Orientation On The Strength Of Quartzite, Casey Braccia

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Ductile deformation of the middle to lower crust during interseismic periods influences loading of brittle faults in the upper crust. Quartz is a common mineral in the middle to lower continental crust and is thought to significantly affect the strength of this zone. Quartz deformed by dislocation creep produces a crystallographic alignment of quartz grains, or lattice preferred orientation (LPO), because deformation is easier along specific crystallographic planes and directions. However, formation of a LPO may cause the strength of the quartz aggregates to be anisotropic, approaching the properties of a single crystal.

In order to determine the viscous anisotropy …

Spacecraft Fire Safety Research: Combustion Of Lithium-Ion Batteries To Predict Fire Scenarios, Elisabeth Meyer

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this project was to research characteristics of a Lithium-ion battery fire to determine if trends exist in measured fire characteristics that can help predict different fire scenarios. These experiments will ultimately aid in developing an alarm threshold for a spacecraft smoke detector, specifically for Orion, a new, multi-purpose crew vehicle under development by NASA. Orion is the next-generation of spacecraft designed to replace the space shuttle and will play an important role in NASA’s journey to Mars.

In the experiments performed, Lithium-ion batteries were placed in a test chamber and ignited while smoke concentration was measured, simulating …

Sequence Effects On The Glass Transition Temperature, William Drayer

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Lithium ion batteries are widely used for the energy needs of portable electronic devices. Unfortunately, current liquid organic solvents used as the electrolytic portion of the battery have low thermal stability, resulting in batteries that may combust upon failure. This flammability can be attributed to the configurational strain in cyclic organic electrolytes. Due to the lack of configurational strain in a flexible polymer chain, designing polymer electrolytes for use in lithium ion batteries may result in a safer battery due to their lower flammability in comparison to traditional liquid organic electrolytes. From the perspective of an electrolytic polymer, lowering the …

The Influence Of Organic Pigments On Coating Properties, Sarah Medeiros

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to identify the qualities of two synthesized organic pigments added to a coating. These high-performance pigments were benzodipyrrolidone and benzodifuranone, which are π-conjugated monomers. These pigments were each formulated into two different pigment concentrations and compared with a control that had no pigment. This project is limited by time constraints and the number of variables that can be tested in that time. Performance testing was conducted to evaluate the qualities of these coatings. The results demonstrated that the coatings were reproducible and most tests had results that were equal to or exceeded the …

Review Of United States Abortion Policy, Allison Guenther

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The ruling of Roe v. Wade was a key point in the establishment of abortion policy in the United States, sparking controversy that is still prevalent politically and socially. Prior to Roe v. Wade, abortion was banned throughout the majority of the United States with very few exceptions. In the years since this historical ruling, civilians and politicians have taken sides over what abortion policies are morally and ethically correct. Pro-life and pro-choice activists have spent over 40 years competing for their ideology to be reflected in policy. The efforts by either movement have impacted United States’ economics and …

The Effects Of Aqueous Nitrate On Freshwater Crayfish, Erik Hartman

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Globalization and a rising need for greater production from the agricultural system have increased the use of fertilizer by farms across the entire country. The purpose of this experiment was to observe the effects of aqueous nitrate (commonly found in many fertilizers) on the metabolic rate and hemolymph lactate concentration of freshwater crayfish. After exposure, there was no observed change in metabolic rate, but there was a significant decrease in hemolymph lactate concentration in the groups exposed to nitrate.

Cleaning The World One Smartlink At A Time, Ryan Zwahlen, Sarah Lucas, Sara Woika, Faith Goforth, Logan Hanreck, Rachel Schirripa

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project sought to develop the best sales plan for GOJO's currently developing product called SMARTLINK, a technology that transforms any hand soap or hand sanitizer dispenser into a smart dispenser. It allows the user to track current levels of solution among other uses.

An Electrophysiological Study On Sex-Related Differences In Emotion Perception, Natalie Wiswesser, James Houston Phd, Philip Allen Phd

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The purpose of this research project was examine the following question: Do men and women respond differently, on a neurophysiological level, to stimuli that elicit an emotional valence? Participants completed an emotional expression face identification task in which participants made speeded responses to angry, happy, and neutral emotional faces. Behavioral and event-related potential (ERP) methods were utilized to examine emotion processing differences between females and males and whether those differences were associated with emotional arousal or emotion regulation differences. Results indicated that females and males did not differ in accuracy or response time. Furthermore, there were no observable differences in …

Exploring The Correlation Between Cognitive Awareness Of Body Composition And Perceived Ventilatory Threshold, Erica Schrader

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Purpose

Seventeen subjects from The University of Akron Women's Soccer team were selected to participate in a study that assessed the correlation between body composition and perceived ventilatory threshold (VT). We compared several anthropometric measurements with results from a VO2max test.

Methods

Each participant was taken through a set of resting measurements such as height, weight, waist and neck circumference. Body composition was then estimated using the air displacement method or BodPod. Subjects were fitted with heart rate monitors and masks for a VO2max test. Subjects were read a script explaining them what a VT is, and was told to …

An Investigation Of The Violation Of Human Rights In Yemen, Abigail Watson

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This research paper aims to investigate the persistence of human rights violations in Yemen from 2008 to 2018. It examines whether this persistence of human rights violations is related to Yemen’s regime type, external actors such as the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Iran, and the United States, Yemen’s state of wealth and economic growth, and civil wars. This research paper uses data from various sources to examine different propositions related to the investigation of human rights in Yemen. The findings of this paper include that Yemen’s regime type, external actors such as the GCC, Iran, and the United States, Yemen’s …

Communication Apprehension, Self-Efficacy, And Their Effects On The Utilization Of On-Campus Services, Ashley Mikolay

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

College is a vital time in a person's life and the quality of their experiences usually go beyond just the academic and for this reason it is important that we study these experiences too.

This study looked to gain knowledge about why some students choose to be involved on campus and utilize services provided by their universities and others do not. To do this we gathered data from students about their perceived self-efficacy and communication apprehension in addition to their level of involvement while in college in the hopes to either find support, or rule these traits out as factors …

Parents' Feelings And Perceptions Towards Their Child's Speech Or Language Disorder, Elizabeth Holley

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Throughout society, there remains a stigma in regards to a person’s speech and language. While the stereotype that a person with a speech or language disorder may have a lower quality of life shines light on the perceptions of mainstream society, there has been research that provides insight into parent’s feelings. The purpose of this project was to explore the research regarding parents’ feelings and perceptions towards their child’s speech or language disorder by conducting a literature review and a questionnaire that could be used as a measuring tool. The researchers used a questionnaire to focus on two main points: …

The Kinematics Of Salamander Underwater Walking On Smooth And Rough Substrate, Sophie Cressman

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The transition from aquatic to terrestrial locomotion was a landmark event in the evolutionary history of vertebrates. In order to better understand how early tetrapods were able to transition to land, salamanders have proven to be a useful animal model. With current research focusing heavily on the anatomy, physiology, and kinematics defining salamander terrestrial walking capabilities, this experiment was designed to extract information about the kinematics of salamander walking underwater. Underwater walking of salamanders was analyzed on smooth and rough substrates to provide more insight into the early vertebrate water-to-land transition. Average salamander stride duration, time in stance phase, time …

Development Of Entubulation Strategies For Treating Central Nervous System Injuries, Ivy Brosch

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

According to the McKnight Brain Institute, at least 10,000 people annually in the USA suffer from a central nervous system (CNS) injury. These injuries can cause serve disabilities including paralysis. Due to the complexity of the spinal cord, it is common that potential CNS treatments are first applied to an optic nerve crush (ONC) model in rats. Two proposed treatments were employed; one where nerve growth factor (NGF) was immobilized to a chitosan substrate to stimulate axonal regeneration, and the other using pentadecafluorooctanoyl chloride modified methacrylamide chitosan (MAC(Ali15)F) hydrogel to enhance local oxygenation. The two different treatments were formed into …

Girls Only Science: Motivating Adolescent Females To Pursue Stem Careers, Madeline Cuckow

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Over the last five years, much attention has been drawn to the large deficit of females in STEM careers and fields. Most attribute this failure to colleges not turning out enough female STEM majors. Contrary to this belief, research suggests a young woman's aptitude for STEM related fields begins much earlier, and declines without intervention.

This project details the research of why there is a gender gap in STEM, what is being done educationally, my unique case study to test the research conducted, and the implications of that research.

Understanding The Nature Of Nanoscale Wetting Through All-Atom Simulations, Oliver Evans

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The spreading behavior of spherical and cylindrical water droplets between 30Å and 100Å in radius on a sapphire surface is investigated using all-atom molecular dynamics simulations for durations on the order of tens of nanoseconds. A monolayer film develops rapidly and wets the surface, while the bulk of the droplet spreads on top of the monolayer, maintaining the shape of a spherical cap. Unlike previous simulations in the literature, the bulk radius is found to increase to a maximum value and receed as the monolayer continues to expand. Simple time and droplet size dependence is observed for monolayer radius and …

Understanding The Millennial Buying Process In The Modern Digital Era - Secondary Research, Matthew B. Cimperman, Austin Harrison, Julia Hatch, Kelly Pillar, Tara Snipes

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper summarizes the results of secondary research done to understand the preferences and characteristics of millennial consumers in the digital era, both in terms of purchasing tires and consumer products in general. Sources used were mostly academic and gathered through the use of University of Akron Library databases. In general, when compared to older generations, millennials care more about value and less about price when shopping of goods. They are also less loyal to any single company. Millennials have taken a more active role with their finances and are making use of new payment methods, such as PayPal and …

Comparing The Usage Of React Native And Ionic, Sam Borick

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project will compare two popular programming frameworks for building mobile applications. These frameworks are called ‘cross-platform frameworks’ as they can develop applications on multiple platforms. The scope of this project is to understand the structural reasons for the differences in these frameworks. While this project does speculate on reasons for choosing either framework, this project does not attempt to make a hard recommendation.

In this project, I built two applications, as similar as possible, in React Native and Ionic. I found that there were differences in the goals of these frameworks, lending each of the two better to different …

Ethical Issues And Consequences As Portrayed By Medical Dramas: An Analysis Of The Effect Of Cultivation Theory, Molly Johnson

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Television medical dramas, like American Broadcasting Company’s Grey’s Anatomy, strive to make the program as accurate as possible while creating a dramatic and entertaining program. Grey’s Anatomy, since the first episode in 2005, has employed medical consultants to help write episodes in order to make the television program as realistic as possible (Otto, 2014). Although there are some realistic aspects of Grey’s Anatomy, as a whole it is a fictional medical drama with plotlines and characters used for entertainment purposes only. However, previous research shows that fictional programs can still have an effect on its viewers. Cultivation Theory states that …

The Effects Of Rehabilitation On The Ability To Reintegrate Into Society, Benjamin J. Troxell

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

With crime and recidivism rates so high in the United States, a focus on reintegration and rehabilitation are key in order to allow these individuals to be productive, successful members of society upon release. The following research will investigate the struggles of post-incarceration life for several individuals in a particular rehabilitation program and try to understand how the program they are a part of is aiding them with these struggles. Factors detrimental to reintegration, protective factors against recidivism, environmental factors that aid reintegration, and employment post-incarceration will be examined to gain a better understanding of the life ex-offenders face and …

Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries: Design And Experimentation, Matthew George

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Vanadium flow batteries (VFB) are a type of battery that has potential as a grid-scale energy storage solution. An original design for a lab-scale VFB is presented herein, along with a procedure for electrolyte preparation from V₂O₅ using oxalic acid. The flow cell is constructed from Delrin, Teflon, Kynar, Santoprene, Nafion, graphite plate, and porous carbon. Two diaphragm pumps along with polyethylene, PVC, and Santoprene tubing are used. The active area is 58 cm². The battery was charged using a DC power supply at a constant current of 4 A with corresponding initial voltage of …

Galvanic And Pitting Corrosion Of A Fastener Assembly, Julie Shallman

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This research focuses on coupled galvanic/pitting corrosion of AA7075 when combined with stainless steel in a fastener assembly. A one-dimensional mathematical model of a well-mixed thin film electrolyte is developed to predict the damage profile of the AA7075 surface when its protective coating is damaged. The damage exposes the galvanic couple. A time dependent system of partial differential equations for potential, chloride concentration, aluminum ion concentration, and damage is developed and solved numerically. Two approaches to calculate the current density within aluminum pits are discussed. The first is a current balance between the cathodic, anodic and passive portions of the …

A Review Of The Utility Of Bayesian Network Models, Luke Magyar

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Bayesian Networks are probabilistic models built from conditional probability tables that relate two observable instances to one another in parent-child fashion. The networks’ strength lies in their ability to use inferential logic to make likelihood assessments about a parent node based on an observation of its child. Additionally, they make it very easy to combine quantitative data with qualitative knowledge from industry experts. These abilities make them very attractive for use as formulation tools in the paint and rubber industries. Paint and rubber formulation has long proven to be a challenging task because companies have a difficult time compiling the …

The Effectiveness Of Word Walls On Various Groups Of Students, Taylor Kish

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This paper discusses what word walls are and how they are used in a classroom. The various types of word walls are introduced, as well as their uses for spelling and vocabulary. It looks at the impact that word walls have on the following groups of students in a classroom: students at grade level, students above grade level, students below grade level, and students with disabilities. It was discovered that students above grade level receive the least benefits from word walls and that word walls are the most effective when accompanied with activities and explicit instruction. This paper also details …

Fornication Prosecutions Beyond The Mainstream Community And The Role Of Community Policing In Early Colonial New England, Bridget Sciscento

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

During the seventeenth century, New England was composed of several independent colonies of varying size and success. In the Puritan and separatist colonies of Massachusetts Bay, New Haven, and Plymouth, entire communities, including “others,” those who were relegated outside of the community on the basis of their status or faith, worked with the theocratical legal system to police sexual morality and preserve social hierarchies that colonists understood to be fundamentally intertwined. This commitment was so strong that these colonies overlooked centuries of English legal custom when drafting harsher fornication laws, relied on the expert testimony of midwives over that of …