Digital Commons Network^™

Walking Adaptations To An Ankle Foot Orthosis In Individuals With Peripheral Artery Disease, Todd Leutzinger, Iraklis Pipinos, Jason Johanning, Mahdi Hassan, Holly Despiegelaere, Mukul Mukherjee, Sara Myers

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Single Session Walking Adaptations to an Ankle Foot Orthosis in Patients with Claudication and Peripheral Artery Disease

Todd Leutzinger^{1, 2}, Iraklis Pipinos^{2, 3}, Jason Johanning^{2, 3}, Mukul Mukherjee¹, Sara Myers^{1, 2}

¹Department of Biomechanics, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, NE USA

²Nebraska and Western Iowa Veterans Affairs’ Medical Center, Omaha, NE USA

³Department of Surgery, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE USA

Email: [email protected]

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is an atherosclerotic disease affecting the arteries of the lower extremities [1]. The primary symptom of PAD is …

An Exploration Of Iranian Use Of Gray Zones And Their Deterrence, Lauren Zimmerman, Amanda Urick

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Iran, being the religious minority in the Middle East, has begun to extend its reach outside of its borders by influencing the stability of other states within the region. They have been utilizing their economic revenue to fund terrorist organizations and cyber capabilities to threaten free use of the internet in the Middle East. Iran is the world's most active state sponsor of terrorism, but how do we deter them? Our paper will explore the history of deterring Iran and future possibilities.

Experienced Sexual Harassment In The Military: Why Soldiers Aren't Reporting, Jacqueline Jaramillo

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

The prevalence of U.S. military personnel experiencing sexual harassment is a significant problem that must be addressed. Recent estimates suggest that 26% of female service members and 7% of male service members experience sexual harassment in the military (Bell, Dardis, Vento, & Street, 2018). One purpose of this study is to review the research to determine the extent to which the culture of reporting in the military influences why soldiers demonstrate a strong tendency to not report sexual harassment they have experienced. A second goal of this research is to explore the evidence for soldiers’ fear of retaliation for reporting …

Abiding By Poe's Law? How Users Interpret Ambiguous Messages Of Polarizing Content Posted On Social Networking Sites, Kelly Johnson

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Today’s political climate is marked by a polarized citizenry and widespread use of social media for politically-charged exchanges. It can be difficult to discern whether posts that demonstrate an extreme position on face value intended the message to be parody or whether the author expressed sincerely held beliefs. In an online Creationism debate, a user summarized this difficulty with, “Poe’s Law: Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humor, it is [utterly] impossible to parody a Creationist in such a way that someone won’t mistake [it] for the genuine article.” Studies have shown people are more inclined to …

A Content Analysis Of Advertisement To Volunteer In The Global South, Kristina Medero

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

In the past decade, volunteer tourism, or the venture to volunteer abroad as a learning or leisure activity, has grown immensely. This study conducted a content analysis through a cultural intelligence theoretical framework to examine the strategies of persuasive rhetoric and images in voluntourism advertisement. The data revealed that organizations that requested monetary donations used images of egoistic appeals on websites p> 0.05, t(13) = .76. However, no significant difference was recorded between volunteer tourism organizations that required time commitment or monetary donations when using expectations of exchange. Considering the volunteer tourism organizations used a variety of techniques with …

Using From The Heartland In The First-Year Writing Classroom: Measuring Instructor Reception Of The Customized Textbook, Sarah Cohen

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

The aim of the first-year writing program at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) is to equip students with critical reading and writing tools and strategies to advance effective written communication well into their future. This study examines and measures attitudes of UNO composition instructors – who come from a variety of pedagogical and theoretical backgrounds – toward the efficacy of UNO’s self-published Composition I textbook, From the Heartland: Critical Reading and Writing at UNO. In many ways, From the Heartland embraces what Richard Fulkerson refers to as “a critical cultural pedagogy” which encourages students to consider personal …

Pregnancy In Zoo-Managed African Elephants (Loxodonta Africana): Investigating Possible Hormonal And Metabolic Indicators Of Successful And Unsuccessful Pregnancies., Chelsi Marolf

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Female African elephants (Loxodanta africana) in zoos in the United States currently have high rates of ovarian acyclicity and if they do become pregnant, the calf is often lost before or during birth. This issue likely stems from various metabolic and reproductive factors, including obesity, advanced age, and stress. While this is a complicated problem, analyzing certain hormones related to reproduction and nutrition in elephants might reveal biological indicators for successful and unsuccessful pregnancies in African elephants. The goal of this study is to create a range of hormone levels throughout a typical successful pregnancy, and to compare …

Heterogeneous Boolean Networks With Two Totalistic Rules, Katherine Toh

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Boolean Networks are being used to analyze models in biology, economics, social sciences, and many other areas. These models simplify the reality by assuming that each element in the network can take on only two possible values, such as ON and OFF. The node evolution is governed by its interaction with other nodes in its neighborhood, which is described mathematically by a Boolean function or rule. For simplicity reasons, many models assume that all nodes follow the same Boolean rule. However, real networks often use more than one Boolean rule and therefore are heterogeneous networks. Heterogeneous networks have not yet …

A Typological And Iconographic Analysis Of Macedonian Burials In The Classical And Early Hellenistic Period (5th-Mid 3rd Centuries Bce), Ann Haverkost

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Much of what we know of ancient cultures comes from burials, and this is also true in Macedonia. Yet, little is known about Classical Macedonian culture outside of the nobility, and even less is known about what they thought of death. This project analyzes funerary images from Macedonia during the Classical and early Hellenistic periods (5^th- mid 3^rd century BCE) with three questions in mind. First, are there specific motifs that are more prevalent? Second, is there a change in motifs over time? Third, how are these images similar to and different from images in Greece and …

Isolating And Characterizing Novel Bacteriophages From Freshwater Samples, Mackenzie Conrin, Avery Misfeldt

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Bacteria are responsible for many Healthcare-Associated infections each year and are evolving to become multidrug resistant (MDR). Bacteriophages, also called phages, are naturally occurring bacterial viruses. These phages infect and kill their bacterial hosts. It is estimated that there are 10 different phages, per bacterium. This makes phages the most abundant entity in the biosphere. Isolating and characterizing these naturally occurring bacterial killers offers the potential for strain specific treatment of MDR infections. Such treatments, coined Phage Therapy, can be used in the fight against evolving bacterial infections. Pseudomonads are a classification of bacteria that infect a variety of plants …

The Effects Of Stiffness Of A Prosthetic Shock-Absorbing Pylon On Mechanical Work During Walking, Jenny Anne Maun

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Name: Jenny Anne Maun

Title: The effects of stiffness of a prosthetic shock-absorbing pylon on mechanical work during walking

Degree: Masters

Faculty Advisor: Kota Z. Takahashi, PhD

Co-authors: Steven A. Gard, PhD; Matthew J. Major, PhD

A prosthetic shock-absorbing pylon (SAP) is intended to attenuate impact forces, provide comfort, and reduce residual limb pain for prosthesis users. However, the effect of an SAP and its spring stiffness on the mechanical work done by the prosthetic limb during walking remains unclear. The purpose of this study: to investigate the effects of SAP spring stiffness and walking speed on the mechanical work …

Meta-Analysis Of Characteristics In Upper Missouri River Fishes: Prediction Of Invasiveness, Steph Purcell

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Invasive species are often considered a global threat due to their association with biodiversity loss and novel diseases. The Missouri-Mississippi River Watershed, including the Missouri River Basin, is particularly vulnerable to invasive species because of low species diversity following historic glaciation events. Management of invasive species is imperative in this watershed but continues to be challenging in that there are over 100 invasive species currently present in this region. The goal of this project is to identify characteristics associated with successful invasions that may assist in developing management strategies to reduce the negative outcomes caused by the establishment of invasive …

What Makes A Good Therapy Dog? Identifying Factors Associated With Calm Behavior In Therapy Dogs, Kristen Cunningham, Zachary L. Darwish, Rosemary Strasser

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Dogs offer a variety of benefits to society, including the use of therapy dogs to provide therapeutic and physiological benefits, enhancing the lives of a wide range of recipients. Unlike service or emotional support animals, therapy dogs provide support to a multitude of individuals, often in hospitals, schools, nursing homes, or other venues. While many studies have examined behavioral assessments of service dog programs, little research has investigated the factors that make a good therapy dog. Therapy dogs must undergo strategic training before becoming certified. The present study seeks to illuminate what factors might distinguish therapy dogs from pet dogs …

Updates On Epigenetic Alterations To Brca1: Chemosensitivities, Haley Blum

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Breast cancer 1, early onset (BRCA1) is a human tumor suppressor gene encoding the BRCA1 protein that maintains genomic integrity. Molecular events may contribute to the loss of BRCA1 function, contributing to site specific tumorigenesis. Loss of BRCA1 function may arise from mutation or epigenetic events. Germline mutations of BRCA1 have been thoroughly implicated in heritable breast and ovarian cancers. More recently, sporadic breast cancer has been shown to be driven by epigenetic alterations to the BRCA1 promoter region, specifically methylation. Breast carcinomas that present with BRCA1 promoter methylation have been associated with triple negative breast cancers, as well …

Lake Sediment Analysis At Heron Haven Nature Center, Erik Lato

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Understanding the chemical composition of a wetland sanctuary lakebed can help us understand how recent developments may have changed the chemical composition. Due to recent dredging by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and previous research on water composition at Heron Haven, the goal of this project was to determine the chemical composition as a function of sediment depth. The concentration of seven different metals and nutrients were analyzed in terms of depth. The aluminum, iron, and phosphate concentrations had no real discernible concentration change as a function of depth. There is some hint of a steady increase of manganese …

Humankind: A Perspective Collection, Madison Larimore

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

HumanKind, an ongoing project that began with FUSE funding, preserves diverse perspectives and addresses the empathy deficit in the form of creative nonfiction profiles. Profiles are an ideal, underused form for promoting empathy and establishing contact points across differences. Traditionally, profiles are written about celebrities or people of established public interest, but this oral presentation will present a collection of multimodal profiles written from the perspectives of fifteen everyday students at the University of Nebraska at Omaha from diverse backgrounds. Each profile is based on the answers the students provided during an extensive interview of over 100 questions about what …

A Compartmental Network Model For The Spread Of Whooping Cough, Kimia Ameri

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Outbreaks of pertussis have increased over the past few years, drawing the attention of health care providers. Understanding the transmission mechanisms of contagious disease is critically important, but depends on many intricate factors including pathogen and host environment, exposed population, and their activities. In this work, we try to improve upon the prediction model for the exposed population. The number of whooping cough reported cases in Nebraska between 2000-2017 was gathered. The standard SEIR model is used to predict the infected numbers. The results show that the Susceptible-Exposed-Infected-Recovered (SEIR) model prediction for the number of infected individuals is much higher …

An Exploration Of Why Healthcare Professionals Under-Report Observed Patient Aggression, Sydney Bonta

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

An Exploration of Why Healthcare Professionals Under-Report Observed Patient Aggression

Authors: Sydney Bonta & Lisa L. Scherer, Ph.D.

Advisor: Lisa L. Scherer, Ph.D.

According to the 2011 US Bureau of Justice Statistics report, medical professionals experienced the third highest proportion of workplace violence (WPV), with violence primarily emanating from patient. In a national survey of nurses employed in hospitals, 76% stated that they had encountered some sort of violence in their workplace (Speroni, Fitch, Dawson, Dugan, Atherton, & Leesburg, 2014). Similarly, patient aggression against physicians has long been a problem (Morrison, Lantos, Levinson, 1998). Despite this widespread exposure to WPV …

Collaborative Disagreement: Coming To See The Evidence In A New Light, Erin Wiebe

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Many disagreements regarding complex matters are essentially disagreements about how evidence ought to be assessed. After all, the way in which one assigns weight and strength to various pieces of evidence determines what one believes. These “evidential valuations” are the product of one’s previous experiences and background beliefs. One’s evidential valuations are determined by the ways of understanding the world one acquires from past evidence and the authority figures one recognizes. Accordingly, the greater the difference in two individuals’ background experiences, the greater the difference in their evidential valuations. Thus, disagreements over complex matters such as philosophy, religion, and politics …

Effects Of Chronic Ethanol Exposure On Stress Coping Style And Genetic States Of Zebrafish (Danio Rerio), Alexander Goodman

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Neurotransmitter systems are important in regulating the stress response. If a behavioral response is disproportional to a stressor it is characterized as anxiety-like behavior. Many anxiolytic compounds, such as ethanol, increase stressor engagement, but how these compounds interact with an organism on a neurogenetic level is less understood. In this study, I assessed the impact of chronic ethanol treatment on behavior and gene expression of GABA_Areceptors subunits on two strains of zebrafish. Each strain was selectively bred to display the proactive or reactive stress coping style where proactive individuals will actively engage a stressor more than reactive individuals. …

Decreasing Technology Design Costs By Using Youtube Video To Evaluate User Acceptance, Tom Chappelear

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

User acceptance is a measure that contributes to technology feasibility which is a decision point that entrepreneurs use to help make better investment decisions (Hoffer, 2011). User acceptance testing is part of a design strategy where the system designer attempts to minimize risks and provide design information that an entrepreneur can use to make better investment decisions (Hoffer, 2011). A user acceptance testing instruments can range from a low-cost coffeeshop review to expensive lab-based user testing (Shneiderman, 2017). This study builds upon the User Acceptance of Information Technology (UTAUT) model to measure user acceptance for the system being evaluated (Venkatesh, …

Collaborative Disagreement: Coming To See The Evidence In A New Light, Erin Wiebe

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Many disagreements regarding complex matters are essentially disagreements about how evidence ought to be assessed. After all, the way in which one assigns weight and strength to various pieces of evidence determines what one believes. These “evidential valuations” are the product of one’s previous experiences and background beliefs. One’s evidential valuations are determined by the ways of understanding the world one acquires from past evidence and the authority figures one recognizes. Accordingly, the greater the difference in two individuals’ background experiences, the greater the difference in their evidential valuations. Thus, disagreements over complex matters such as philosophy, religion, and politics …

Business Value Creation Through Open Source Engagement, Vinod Kumar Ahuja

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

In open source software development, individuals voluntarily contribute to the development of software. Recently, corporations like Microsoft, IBM, and others invest in open source by making their proprietary software freely available, by providing funding, and by dedicating their full-time employees to work in open source projects. This raises questions such as: Why do corporations dedicate money and resources to open source? What do they gain from it? How does this add value for their business? In sum, how do they make money engaging in open source? Literature provides various business models that companies adopted for their engagement in open source, …

An Exploration Of Factors Influencing Bystander Reporting Of Sexual Assault In The Military, Jasmine Torres

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Sexual assault in the military is a pervasive problem affecting both male and females, and military sexual assault incidents are frequently observed by at least one other person, yet research by the U.S Government Accountability Office (2008) suggests that much military sexual assault is unreported. What influences bystanders to report what they have observed? The purpose of this study is to review the factors contributing to the likelihood of military bystanders, reporting incidents of military sexual assault. We will explore the influences of the culture of reporting, the type and quality of sexual assault training programs whether observers are clear …

The Possible Cognitive Confound In Olfactory Testing For Parkinson’S Disease, Attakias Mertens

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive, incurable neurodegenerative disease thatcauses slowness, rigidity, and postural instability but which also has many non-motor manifestations. One of these is olfactory dysfunction, which has been found to occur in at least 90% of patients diagnosedwith Parkinson’s disease (Doty et al., 1988). This deficit tends to appear early in the onset of the disease and is even thought to appear before motor dysfunction (Haehner, Hummel, & Reichmann, 2009; Ross et al., 2008; Doty, 2012). Thus, olfaction is being assessed as one of a set of possible predictors for of the disease (Ponsen, Stoffers, Twisk, Wolters, …

Marked For Life: Young Adults Perspectives On The Impact Of Parental Military Deployment, Megan Humlicek

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

This qualitative study explores the long-term impact of parental military deployment (PMD) on young adults 19-25 years of age. While the literature is abundant with studies focusing on the impact of PMD on children and adolescents, it is mute when it comes to the long-term impact on young adults. Thirty-two participants responded to an in-depth Qualtrics questionnaire and seven partook in a follow-up phone interview to gain insights into their adjustment process to PMD, its impact on their personality development, the services and support systems they utilized, and the potential influence it had on their career choice. The outcome demonstrates …

Entertainment-Education Has A Potential Source For Comprehensive Sexuality Education: A Content Analysis Of The Netflix Series Big Mouth, Kristina Medero

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Health communication researchers have studied the potential for entertainment-education, to increase health literacy amongst adolescents regarding sexuality education (Moyer-Guse, 2008). This study will analyze the Netflix series Big Mouth with normative theoretical framework laid out by Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (2008) to provide support about the extent to which the series can act as a potential source for comprehensive sexuality education. This content analysis of Big Mouth will potentially provide a significant level comprehensive sexuality education to its audience, p < .05 through a one-way ANOVA that will test topics covered, relevance of social context, and inclusivity of material presented in the series.

Advancing Women & Associated Populations: The Work Of Women's Foundations & Funds, Elizabeth May Gillespie

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

This is my dissertation research, which is a landscape scan of all women’s foundations and funds in the U.S. Women’s foundations and funds, which expressly award grants to programs and organizations benefiting/advancing women and associated populations (girls, children and families), have grown in number and funding scope over the past five decades. These organizations award millions in grants each year as well as contribute resources and knowledge about the status of and issues facing women and associated populations. Yet, there is a gap in knowledge about these organizations and their work to advance women and associated populations socially, politically, and …

Today's Students, Tomorrow's Terrorists: An Analysis Of Education And Extremist Participation, Clara Braun

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

A growing number of studies have identified shared characteristics among homegrown violent extremists (HVEs). While these studies have focused on demographic characteristics such as age and marital status, research on the educational attainment of HVEs is underdeveloped. The current study utilizes general strain theory and examines the relationship between educational attainment and type of criminal participation using a sample of 215 HVEs who engaged in or were charged with extremist participation between 2011 and 2017. We utilized educational attainment as a measure of an individual’s strain to identify a relationship with their decision to engage in violent or nonviolent extremist …

Fourier Series Expansion Methods For The Heat And Wave Equations In Two And Three Dimensions On Spherical Domains, Matthew Eller

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

Description: The Fourier series expansion method is an invaluable approach to solving partial differential equations, including the heat and wave equations. For homogeneous heat and wave equations, the solution can readily be found through separation of variables and then expansion of the solution in terms of the eigenfunctions. Solutions to inhomogeneous heat and wave equations through Fourier series expansion methods were not readily available in the literature for two- and three-dimensional cases. In my previous paper, I developed an approach for solving inhomogeneous heat and wave equations on cubic domains using Fourier series expansion methods. I shall extend my …