Alpha Phi Omega Section 50 Conference

The following is an assessment of my work as Conference Chair of the Alpha Phi Omega Section 50 Fall conference hosted by the Alpha Zeta Omega chapter right here at Parkland College. In addition to a reflection on the conference I have included photos from the event and the handout provided to conference attendees

It’s a Touchy Subject: How Connection is (Re)Imagined in a Global Pandemic

The Coronavirus pandemic presents a unique and unavoidable context to study haptic communication because of the ways that individuals have adapted to this new reality and how haptic, or touch, behaviors pose health and safety concerns. Touch has major benefits that influence individuals in physiological and psychological ways (e.g. increased self-value and relationship quality) that are felt both immediately and well into their future. At a time when touch seems most needed yet discouraged, there is concern that the lack of touch will cause both physiological and psychological impairments as the literature shows. This makes this time, specifically, a crucial moment and calls us to expand haptic communication research on the effects of the lack of touch and its influence on an individual’s well-being and communicative ability. Therefore, guided by the discouraged nature and new hypersensitivity of touch, this study aims to establish an understanding of the ways touch has changed within a novel context, learn how individuals are fulfilling their need for connection, and interpret how they have been navigating the “lack of touch” reality of a global pandemic. Results showed that the use of touch had experienced significant change based on a new negative perception of the form of communication, heightened awareness of comfortability and interaction partners, and spurred the development of both successful and unsuccessful compensating connective behaviors

Prioritization of diseases for work-related health monitoring by multidimensional ranking

Aim: Although working life issues are subject to European health monitoring schemes, not many routine data sources include information on occupations or working conditions. Additional in-depth analysis is therefore necessary for diseases with high public health impact. The aim of this paper is to introduce a multidimensional ranking procedure for priority setting of diseases based on European and national data. Subject and methods: Multidimensional ranking was carried out on ten disease-specific indicators. First, suitable data sources were identified and information on indicators was retrieved. Second, the diseases were sorted by their ranks according to each indicator. Third, all ranks were added to a rank sum. Finally, the diseases were sorted by their rank sum. Results: Diseases of the circulatory system account for the highest rank sum. The high public health impact is visible in regard to most criteria, particularly to mortality, hospital discharges, and costs. Diseases of the digestive system rank second mainly because of high ranks for hospital discharges and costs. The third place is assigned to diseases of the musculoskeletal system. Conclusion: A multidimensional ranking procedure has advantages when used for priority setting of diseases. The procedure leads to an overall rank as a summary measure for the public health impact but information for each indicator is still retrieved. Furthermore, the procedure uses ranks and is therefore scale invariant. However, ranking procedures do not lead to a selection of diseases but a rank order. So, there is still a decision rule required to determine which diseases are selected e.g. for in-depth health reporting

B-Mesons on the Transverse Lattice

We present results from a first study of $B$-mesons that is based on a transverse lattice formulation of light-front QCD. The shape of the Isgur-Wise form factor is in very good agreement with experimental data. However, the calculations yield rather large values for $f_B$ and $\bar{\Lambda}$ compared to contemporary calculations based on other techniques.Comment: invited talk given at CSSM workshop on `Lattice Hadron Physics', Cairns, July 2001 and at ECT* workshop on `Light-cone Physics: Particles and String', Trento, Sept. 200

A survey of hiring preferences among practicing optometrists

Most optometry students preparing to enter the work force have very little knowledge as to what real world doctors are looking for in an employee or associate. A survey pertaining to desirable traits that practicing optometrists look for when hiring a recent graduate was sent to one hundred practicing optometrists in Washington and Oregon. The results showed that practicing optometrists felt that the Personal Interview and TMOD Certification were the most important qualities. School of Graduation, NBEO Scores, GPA, and Gender were least important

Designing a Nano-Drone with Hybrid Structural Energy Storage

The Advanced Energy and Sensor Lab at the University of Akron has been working to develop a working flow battery that replaces today’s solid batteries. The objective of this senior design project was to replace the conventional lithium-ion battery as the energy storage component in nano-copters with a newly designed hybrid structural battery. In the design, the nano-copter needed to be mechanically supported and store enough energy for flying. In order to accomplish this, the nano-copter weight was reduced so that the flight range could be significantly increased. Therefore, the project was broken into two major parts. The first was the 3D modeling and printing of the hexacopter. The second was working in the research lab to develop a working flow battery. The results were mixed as a hexacopter was successfully printed, but due to delays in battery testing, the team was unable to confirm that the body would successfully house the flow battery. However, near the end of the project, one battery recipe successfully underwent a full 50-hour charge and discharge cycle, reaching 4.2 volts, which is promising. More testing would be needed to confirm its successfulness and compatibility with the hexacopter