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Nidec Automated Winder
Get PDFNidec Drive Systems is a leading electric motor manufacturing company with several facilities in the US and around the world. However, as of recent, Nidec has started to see some signs of old and outdated production machines affecting their production numbers even though the demand for electric is ever increasing. In an attempt to repair some of these issues, Nidec reached out to the University of Akron to look for senior design groups to help design and standardize better production machines. We were tasked with redesigning a new winder, which is a machine that winds the copper coils to the core of the motor. The design and manufacturing process is detailed in the following report, in addition to the results of our project
Smart Power Outlet
Get PDFWith an ever-increasing demand on the electrical grid and an increase in electrical consumer goods per household, effective power management and monitoring for home users is a must. The objective of this project is to create a consumer outlet and companion phone application. The power outlet will measure power draw on each socket and report these measurements via an embedded system, wirelessly, to the application. The application will then allow for setting custom power draws at which an individual socket will switch off if exceeded and will display how much a given outlet or individual socket is costing per unit time at current power/electrical rates. The application will also allow for switching on or off any sockets akin to a smart home device and labeling each outlet and socket within the application. The application will enable sending push notifications, if a dangerous or undesirable power draw/current is reached. These features will enable consumers to be more aware of the electricity they are consuming and its associated cost
The Effect of Alpha Lipoic Acid on Cardiac Autonomic Neuropathy in Danio rerio
Get PDFEven though poor glycemic control puts diabetics at risk for a variety of disease complications, there are many barriers to achieving adequate blood glucose regulation. Diabetic cardiac autonomic neuropathy (CAN) is a progressive autonomic denervation of the cardiovascular system resulting from chronic hyperglycemia and characterized by orthostatic hypertension, sinus tachycardia, low heart rate variability, and fatal arrhythmias. Available CAN therapeutics are limited to symptom alleviation, and do not prevent or reverse cardiac nerve damage. Limited evidence from clinical trials suggests the antioxidant Alpha Lipoid Acid (ALA) prevents CAN progression (Lee et al., 2017; Serhiyenko et al., 2020; Tankova, Koev & Dakovska, 2004; Ziegler et al., 1997). This study tested the effect of ALA in the preclinical setting using a zebrafish model with diet induced hyperglycemia. Zebrafish were divided into four groups: balanced diet, high carbohydrate diet, balanced diet with ALA tank water, or high carbohydrate diet with ALA tank water. Noninvasive techniques were used to quantify symptoms of hyperglycemia and cardiac autonomic neuropathy. Hyperglycemic behaviors were analyzed using novel tank diving tests while light cardiography was done to measure heart rate and heart rate variability. The results indicate that a six-week high carbohydrate diet in zebrafish inhibits weight gain and promotes bradycardia under anesthesia. Additionally, ALA treatment may reduce anxious behavior during novel tank diving
The Queer Performance
Get PDFFor my project, I decided to make a documentary focusing on the experiences of queer, University of Akron students appropriately called, “The Queer Performance.” As a member of the LGBTQ+ community myself, it was particularly important to me to document the unique challenges that queer students have to face. One specific challenge that rings true for me is putting on many different personas in different situations, and I wanted to see how this compared and contrasted with other members of the community. According to Goffman’s Dramaturgical Theory, everyone puts on an act when they are around people, but each of these acts are still part of one’s true self. Going off of this I wanted to see where students felt they were putting up more of an act, and where they felt they did not have to act as much. Overall, I wanted to highlight a group that has done so much for me as a community and welcomed me with open arms
The New Intersectional and Anti-Racist LGBTQIA + Politics: Some Thoughts on the Path Ahead
Get PDFThis article examines the changes to LGBTQIA+ consciousness and the politics they are producing. One result of these consciousness shifts is the increasing number of LGBTQIA+-identified people and organizations reconstituting themselves, their identities, and their politics around pro-Black, anti-racist positions, and doing so as foundational elements of their LGBTQIA+ liberation work. At the same time as these developments are unfolding, however, they are on a collision course with emergent social conservative positions and obstacles. These obstacles include developments at a Supreme Court that is increasingly deciding based on constitutional originalism. This article begins to show how the Court’s conservative originalism may confound—and perhaps, unravel—the consolidations and potential gains of anti-racist LGBTQIA+ political consciousness and action
Symposium Review: Exiled Among Nations: German and Mennonite Mythologies in a Transnational Age—John P.R. Eicher
Get PDFIn his book Exiled Among Nations: German and Mennonite Mythologies in a Transnational Age, historian John P.R. Eicher chronicles the stories of two Mennonite colonies transplanted during the rise of nationalism. As the introduction makes clear, though, the book is more than a mere record of history; it aims to show how “mobile populations fashion collective narratives as nations, religions, and diasporas.” The book can therefore be understood on two different levels. It acts as a straightforward history from 1874 to 1945, of the migrant Menno Colony’s (from Canada) and the refugee Fernheim Colony’s (from Russia) inception in Paraguay. As an explanation, it also attempts to, through the microcosm of the two colonies, “uncover the insecurities and ambiguities that accompanied the formation of modern nation states, which was the largest and most destructive experiment in the history of social engineering.
Symposium review: \u3cem\u3eThe Highway and Me and My Earl Grey Tea\u3c/em\u3e—Emily Smucker
Get PDFWith its poetic lilt, The Highway and Me and My Earl Grey Tea beckons with the lure of travel, comforting drink in hand. To Conservative Mennonite author Emily Smucker, it is time to explore. Her world of 28 years has been Willamette Valley, OR, a place of faith and family while dealing with West Nile Disease and finishing college. Moving beyond the educational structure to pursue a career in writing posed new questions. “Where should I live? Where do I belong? What is my purpose? What is my identity?” [First paragraph.
Dimerization of Dopamine (D2) and Adenosine (A2A) Receptors
Get PDFThis experiment will aim to explore the heterodimerization of Dopamine (D2) and Adenosine (A2A) receptors in cells when bound to different ligands. Borroto-Escuela et al. (2018) investigated the dimerization of the A2AR-D2R in rats when administered with cocaine, and they found that disrupting the A2AR-D2R complex restores the cocaine reward system in rats. This was a strong influence as to why we chose to investigate A2AR-D2R dimerization in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells.
One goal that we have for this experiment is to combine our current laboratory skills with new laboratory techniques. There are constantly new techniques in labs, and performing this research project will allow us to have the confidence in our base skills to know that we can carry out new techniques properly.
Our main motivation in performing this research project is to learn from our PhD student. Working with Grant, we will explore the dimerization of D2R and A2AR. As Grant publishes his own paper about GPCR, we will highlight our contributions made at the undergraduate level. If successful, we will play a role in preparing cells that will be imaged to explore the dimerization