Digital Commons Network^™

Novel Zinc Porphyrin And Bacteriophage Pev2 Combination Therapy For Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Biofilms, Erin Elise Pellot

Honors Theses

Within recent years there have been a growing number of antibiotic resistant bacterial strains. Many of these strains produce biofilms, which are sturdy layers of bacteria on a surface. Biofilms often form layers on surfaces which can prevent typical antibiotic treatment methods from being effective. In recent years the novel porphyrin, Zinc Porphyrin (ZnPor), has been used at the University of Dayton to disrupt biofilms created by the bacterial species Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Experiments using ZnPor as a biofilm disruptor have successfully reduced the number of colonies present on multiple substrata (Patel). To further reduce biofilms presence on substrata surfaces the …

Capes And Catechesis: The Use Of Comic Books To Catechize Catholic Youths, Lindsey Bronder

Honors Theses

Since the 1930s, comic books starring superheroes have been popular among youth in America. This original archival research seeks to analyze how comic books have been used in the past to catechize, or teach the Catholic faith, American Catholic youth. Using George Pfaum's comic series "Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact" (1946-1972) as an example of a Catholic comic book, this study examines and analyzes the themes and stories of the comics and how they were designed as a teaching tool. This study will also identify ways comic books can be used today as a catechetical tool.

Understanding Chemolithotrophic Reduction Mechanisms From The Dark Marine Biosphere, Anna Gwendolyn Blair

Honors Theses

As greenhouse gas emissions contribute to global warming and an increase in CO2 concentration in the earth’s atmosphere, the scientific community is under pressure not just to examine new technologies to reduce emissions, but also to consider the effect that increased CO2 concentration has on our terrestrial and marine ecosystems. In marine ecosystems, atmospheric CO2 dissolves and reacts with water to form carbonic acid. This diprotic acid then dissociates, contributing to a lowered pH of ocean water and affecting all levels of marine life. Fortunately, nature already has carbonate reduction mechanisms in place that can reduce the harmful effects of …

The Development Of A Scfa Analysis Method And The Examination Of Factors Affecting Listeria Pathogenesis, Ashton Dix

Honors Theses

This thesis focuses on the three different projects that I worked on during my time in Dr. Yvonne Sun’s microbiology lab. The main goal of the first project was to develop an analytical method on UD’s campus to analyze SCFAs by using Gas Chromatography. This was achieved by creating defined media that could sustain the growth of Listeria monocytogenes (Listeria) and developing a successful characterization method on a GC. The main goal of the second project was to determine the effects that SCFA supplementation and age have on Listeria infection. This was achieved using in vitro methods to assess the …

Investigating The Role Of The Etc In Listeria Monocytogenes During Ethanol Exposure, Amanda Fawcett

Honors Theses

To better understand how alcohol consumption negatively impacts our defenses against pathogens, I investigated how Listeria monocytogenes, a foodborne pathogen that can cause serious infections, responds to ethanol exposure. More specifically, I investigated the contribution of the electron transport chain (ETC), which involves different proteins to carry out respiration, in L. monocytogenes survival in ethanol. Survival assays were performed under different physiologically relevant conditions for wildtype bacteria and mutants deficient in ETC components. I found that ETC mutants, compared to wildtype bacteria, exhibited significantly altered ethanol survival in a manner sensitive to oxygen levels. This suggests that ETC plays a …

Toward A Pa-Inhibitor Complex Crystal System: Influenza Polymerase Acidic Protein Fusion Constructs And Protein Expression, Rebecca Kramb

Honors Theses

Globally, three to five million people are afflicted on a yearly basis with serious illnesses due to influenza. In attempts to combat this epidemic, vaccines and antivirals are developed, yet they are not effective enough. The polymerase acidic protein (PA) is vital for viral replication, and inhibiting PA would potentially stop the virus from replicating. In order to inhibit PA effectively, the structure of the protein inhibition site is beneficial but has not yet been obtained because the site is blocked by another protein in crystal structures. Our solution is to fuse different proteins to PA to open up the …

Angry Tweets And Interest Groups, Sean Newhouse

Honors Theses

Social media have become a primary vehicle through which interest groups have sought influence on the U.S. political system. While the relationship between social media and politics has been studied, little research has been conducted into which posts, specifically from interest groups, receive the most public feedback. Through a content analysis, I coded more than 2,000 tweets from two pairs of diametrically opposed interest groups according to the type of language that was employed in the tweet (argumentative, agreeable, action-oriented) and the multimedia that was utilized (plain, photo, link, video). Tweets with argumentative language tended to receive more likes, retweets, …

Donald Trump’S ‘Presidential’ Rhetoric For The Wall: The Mobilization Of ‘Crisis’ Rhetoric On Behalf Of A Campaign Promise, Nicole Perkins

Honors Theses

Historically, Oval Office addresses in the United States have been given by presidents to unify the nation after a crisis. For example, George W. Bush gave an Oval Office address after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and Barack Obama delivered an Oval Office address after the San Bernardino shooting on December 6, 2015. On January 8, 2019, Donald Trump delivered his only Oval Office address to date in response to an “immigration crisis.” This crisis, according to Trump, can only be averted with the construction of a wall at the United States’ southern border. This presentation applies Barbara …

“You Don’T Understand… It’S Not About Virginity”: Sexual Markets, Identity Construction, And Violent Masculinity On An Incel Forum Board, Joshua A. Segalewitz

Honors Theses

The “manosphere” is an online collection of antifeminists and men’s rights activists. Incels, short for involuntary celibates, interact in this space and have been labeled as extreme misogynists, white supremacists, and domestic terrorists. I engage with popular sociological theories of masculinity (including hegemonic, hybrid, and inclusive masculinities) to analyze dominant discourses on the website incels.is. The data for this project are comments from 100 threads randomly sampled from 4,532 total threads posted in 2018. Using a grounded theory approach, I first explore how incels think about sexuality as an economy, devising a scheme that places everyone in a sexual hierarchy …

Newspapers In The Transformative 1960s At The University Of Dayton, Brendan Zdunek

Honors Theses

This honors thesis focuses on the University of Dayton during the 1960s when the university transitioned from a small, parochial Catholic college to a larger, more secular institution. This change was rooted in much wider transformations taking place in both the Catholic community and broader society during the decade. During this period of transition, two major groups, Dayton residents and University of Dayton students, had differing opinions on the transition. Campus and city newspaper coverage of key debates helped shape public opinion. This thesis examines how the local Dayton Daily News and the University of Dayton student newspaper, Flyer News, …

Discovering Glioma Inhibitors Via Chemical-Genetic Screens In Drosophila Cancer Models, Jordan Terschluse

Honors Theses

Today, there are over 250 drugs being used to cure over 100 different types of cancer. We hypothesize that one of the drugs already being used in cancer treatment will either show positive or negative growth when applied specifically to glioblastoma, a type of brain tumor with poor prognosis. Using the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, and 150 tyrosine kinase inhibitors, we can induce tumors and track their growth in response to the drugs. This would open the doors to researching similarities between drugs present in hundreds of chemical libraries. Additionally, the drugs that prove successful through the screenings could start …

Confused By Cloud Computing? Float Right Up, Charles Hartley

Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop Blog

You're probably heard by now the term cloud computing. But what is it and why is it important? You've come to the right place. Let me explain.

Ud In The News April 18-24, University Of Dayton

News Releases

The Chronicle of Higher Education featured UD Arena serving as a COVID-19 testing site in a series about what colleges are doing to combat the virus. Several local and regional media highlighted how UD is supporting students with virtual celebrations on what would've been graduation weekend, the student crisis fund and career advice. Others tapped faculty expertise on learning and effects on the economy during the pandemic

Student Voices On Global Consciousness, Maya Smith-Custer, Emily Shanahan, Miranda Melone, Elizabeth Henninger, Isabel Gerardino Ríos

Proceedings: 2020 Global Voices on the University of Dayton Campus

University of Dayton students share their journeys engaging as citizens of the world and discuss why it is important to foster true community in a global society.

Alumni Voices Of The African Immersion Experience, Mary Niebler, Jessica Saunders, Hayley Ryckman Ruland, Adanna M. Smith, Frances Albanese, Benedict J. Kolber

Proceedings: 2020 Global Voices on the University of Dayton Campus

In this session, alumni shared their experiences of African immersion while they were students at UD and how that experience has carried with them in their careers and personal lives.

Love At The Landfill, Jerry Zezima

Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop Blog

Love, as a newfangled saying goes, means never having to say you're sorry for practicing social distancing. My wife, Sue, and I, who have always believed in social togetherness, recently celebrated our 42nd anniversary in the most romantic way possible in this age of quarantine: We got out of the house and took a trip to the dump.

Mary In The News: April 20, 2020, Michael Duricy

Marian Library Blog Archive

Read recent items about Mary in both Catholic and secular news. Also, see International Marian Research Institute as well as Marian Library news and updates.

Virtual Stander, Eric F. Spina

President's Blog: From the Heart

Connor Holzer and Noah Leibold thought they’d be cracking scientific secrets about the biochemistry of an oyster’s shell at a poster session in a packed Kennedy Union ballroom at the Stander Symposium this week. Instead, the roommates will present their research findings live from their childhood bedrooms.

Ud In The News April 10-17, University Of Dayton

News Releases

Media nationwide continued to cover UD efforts to assist during the COVID-19 pandemic and tap UD experts to explain how the pandemic is affecting American society. Highlights include placements in University Business, The Conversation, Georgetown University Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs, and the National Jurist. Political scientist and VP selection expert Christopher Devine continues to provide insight to media around the world, including an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times and interviews for Vox and a Ukrainian outlet.

Foldable Flyer Fun, Michelle Tedford

Materials from the University of Dayton Magazine Website

A foldable, fun family craft project to show off your Flyer pride — from UD Magazine.

My First Encounter With Blockchain Was Insane, Charles Hartley

Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop Blog

When I first heard the term blockchain, I had no idea what it meant, what it was, or who might be involved. It sounded like a wild and pugnacious black cat was strolling into my home office to haunt me and make me feel bad about my intellectual capacity. Nevertheless, I had to deal with blockchain because when you're in the tech industry, you must understand all new tech things before you can do anything with them such as write blogs.

Mary In The News: April 13, 2020, Michael Duricy

Marian Library Blog Archive

Read recent items about Mary in both Catholic and secular news. Also, see International Marian Research Institute as well as Marian Library news and updates.

What's The Good Word?, Jerry Zezima

Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop Blog

As a man of many words, not all of them repeatable in a quarantine, I will say that "quarantine" would be a great word to use if you were playing Scrabble. That's because it would be worth 19 points, most of them coming from the letter Q, which by itself is worth 10. And if you got a triple word score, it would be worth 57 points.

Ud In The News April 3-10, University Of Dayton

News Releases

University of Dayton efforts to spread hope through sheet signs, donate personal protective equipment, and support prospective and current students, plus research that may diagnose COVID-19 more quickly and expert analysis of how coronavirus is affecting American life continued to attract attention from media worldwide, including UPI, CNN, U.S. News & World Report and Our Sunday Visitor, among others

Data Visualization: Madeline Spicer, Madeline Spicer

COVID-19 Graphic Design: Data Visualization and Information Design

This data visualization project draws from Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec’s book Dear Data: A Friendship in 52 Weeks of Postcards. After thorough research and note-taking from given and discovered resources, students were asked to respond to the novel coronavirus and the outbreak of its affiliated illness, COVID-19. As designers, students were given the responsibility to deliver information about the current culture while also acting as a participant to history — a primary” source. The object was to document history while also allowing for moments of positivity in the midst of such anxiety and uncertainty.

Students gathered data about every …

Data Visualization: Grace Burke, Grace Burke

COVID-19 Graphic Design: Data Visualization and Information Design

This data visualization project draws from Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec’s book Dear Data: A Friendship in 52 Weeks of Postcards. After thorough research and note-taking from given and discovered resources, students were asked to respond to the novel coronavirus and the outbreak of its affiliated illness, COVID-19. As designers, students were given the responsibility to deliver information about the current culture while also acting as a participant to history — a primary” source. The object was to document history while also allowing for moments of positivity in the midst of such anxiety and uncertainty.

Students gathered data about every …

Data Visualization: Emily Cordonnier (Iteration 2), Emily Cordonnier

COVID-19 Graphic Design: Data Visualization and Information Design

This data visualization project draws from Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec’s book Dear Data: A Friendship in 52 Weeks of Postcards. After thorough research and note-taking from given and discovered resources, students were asked to respond to the novel coronavirus and the outbreak of its affiliated illness, COVID-19. As designers, students were given the responsibility to deliver information about the current culture while also acting as a participant to history — a primary” source. The object was to document history while also allowing for moments of positivity in the midst of such anxiety and uncertainty.

Students gathered data about every …

Data Visualization: Remy Mcallister, Remy Mcallister

COVID-19 Graphic Design: Data Visualization and Information Design

This data visualization project draws from Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec’s book Dear Data: A Friendship in 52 Weeks of Postcards. After thorough research and note-taking from given and discovered resources, students were asked to respond to the novel coronavirus and the outbreak of its affiliated illness, COVID-19. As designers, students were given the responsibility to deliver information about the current culture while also acting as a participant to history — a primary” source. The object was to document history while also allowing for moments of positivity in the midst of such anxiety and uncertainty.

Students gathered data about every …

Data Visualization: Kathryn Niekamp, Kathryn Niekamp

COVID-19 Graphic Design: Data Visualization and Information Design

This data visualization project draws from Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec’s book Dear Data: A Friendship in 52 Weeks of Postcards. After thorough research and note-taking from given and discovered resources, students were asked to respond to the novel coronavirus and the outbreak of its affiliated illness, COVID-19. As designers, students were given the responsibility to deliver information about the current culture while also acting as a participant to history — a primary” source. The object was to document history while also allowing for moments of positivity in the midst of such anxiety and uncertainty.

Students gathered data about every …

Data Visualization: Emily Busch, Emily Busch

COVID-19 Graphic Design: Data Visualization and Information Design

This data visualization project draws from Giorgia Lupi and Stefanie Posavec’s book Dear Data: A Friendship in 52 Weeks of Postcards. After thorough research and note-taking from given and discovered resources, students were asked to respond to the novel coronavirus and the outbreak of its affiliated illness, COVID-19. As designers, students were given the responsibility to deliver information about the current culture while also acting as a participant to history — a primary” source. The object was to document history while also allowing for moments of positivity in the midst of such anxiety and uncertainty.

Students gathered data about every …