University Of Akron Research Articles

The development of polymers and fibers: an interview with Stephen Cheng.

Polymer and fiber science has evolved significantly since the 1920s, with polymers becoming integral to both industry and daily life. China's fiber research, initiated in the 1950s, has made substantial societal and technological contributions, particularly in chemical fibers. How will future advancements in polymers and fibers address ongoing challenges and drive further innovation? NSR spoke to Prof. Stephen Cheng, a member of the National Academy of Engineering (U.S.) and former Dean of the College of Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering at the University of Akron. He is currently Dean and Honorable Professor at South China University of Technology. His research interests center on the condensed states in polymers, liquid crystals, surfactants and hybrid materials, focusing on the interactions, responses, dynamics and structures of materials at varying lengths, energy and timescales, in which the material itself embodies the technology.

Managing Electronic Resource Collections and Batch Loads at The University of Akron

The University of Akron University Libraries has developed a workflow and set of documentation to streamline the batch loading of MARC records for electronic resources. This paper outlines the challenges posed by retrieving and loading from various sources, applying different customizations to different sets of records, and maintaining statistics. Developing workflows and maintaining documentation were essential to ensure that loads were run efficiently and consistently, and that new problems could be adequately addressed as they arose.

THE CLARK TIBBITTS AWARD AND HIRAM J. FRIEDSAM AWARD LECTURES AND PRESENTATIONS

Abstract The Clark Tibbitts Award Lecture will feature an address by the 2023 award recipient Edward Schneider, MD of the University of Southern California. AGHE’s Clark Tibbitts Award was established in 1980 and named for an architect of the field of gerontological education. The award is given each year to an individual or organization that has made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of gerontology and geriatrics education. The Hiram J. Friedsam Award Lecture will feature an address by the 2023 award recipient Harvey Sterms, PhD, FGSA of the University of Akron. Hiram J. Friedsam was the professor, co-founder, and director of the Center for Studies in Aging and dean of the School of Community Service at the University of Northern Texas. Dr. Friedsam was an outstanding teacher, researcher, colleague, and mentor to students, faculty, and administrators, as well as a past president of AGHE. The purpose of this award is to recognize those who emulate Dr. Friedsam’s excellence in mentorship.

Emerging researchers interview—Junpeng Wang, The University of Akron

Emerging researchers interview—Junpeng Wang, The University of Akron

Nominations sought for Akron Section Award

The American Chemical Society Akron Section is accepting nominations for the Akron Section Award, which recognizes outstanding chemistry professionals. Nominees can be working in any branch of chemistry or chemical engineering and should reside within 500 mi (about 805 km) of Akron, Ohio. The award consists of a $1,000 honorarium and an engraved plaque. The awardee will deliver a lecture in person at the University of Akron for a technical audience and an evening lecture at another venue for a general audience. These lectures will take place the second week of November. Nominators should submit curricula vitae with their nominations to Charles M. Kausch, awards chair, at cmkausch@hotmail.com. Nominations are due by Aug. 25.

Prashant Kamat to give 2023 Crano Memorial Lecture

Prashant V. Kamat , the Rev. John A. Zahm, C.S.C., Professor of Science in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Radiation Laboratory at the University of Notre Dame, will present the 2023 Crano Memorial Lecture. Kamat was selected in recognition of his nearly 4 decades of work building bridges between physical chemistry and material science to develop advanced nanomaterials that promise cleaner and more efficient light energy conversion. He will give two lectures at the University of Akron on April 14. The afternoon talk is titled “Light Energy Conversion with Halide Perovskite-Molecular Hybrids. Energy versus Electron Transfer” and the evening talk is titled “Reducing Carbon Footprint with Next Generation Photovoltaics.” The Crano Memorial Lecture Series is organized by the ACS Akron Section in memory of John C. Crano, a past chair of the section and developer at PPG Industries of photochromic polymer lenses for eyeglasses.

Whose Midwest?

Whose Midwest? Paul Finkelman (bio) "They're Selling postcards of the hanging,they're painting the passports brown,The beauty parlor is filled with sailors,the circus is in town… And I look out tonight From Desolation Row." Bob Dylan, 1965 Much of my scholarship has focused on race and race relations in the Midwest. Thus, I was genuinely delighted to review a book that would help explain the very complicated and contentious history of race in the Midwest and how such issues play out today. For example, I thought the authors might explore why Iowa, which jump-started Barack Obama's presidential aspirations in the 2008 caucuses, and voted for him twice for president, then twice voted for Donald Trump. Sadly, this book offers few answers or insights to such questions. One major problem with this book is its use—or failure to use—evidence, and the authors' apparent lack of understanding of basic U.S. history. They make assertions that are only partially accurate or demonstrably untrue, such as the truly weird claim that such states as Iowa, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan "all enrolled more soldiers [in the Civil War] than New York or anywhere else in the East." (61) In fact, New York enrolled more than 400,000 soldiers in the War, about the same as the combined total of these four states. Pennsylvania, another eastern state, enrolled 360,000 soldiers. The authors are quite open about their strategy of skewing evidence to make their points, noting they will make their arguments "through a selective analysis" of data. (40) They are also aggressive about reading into the past what they "see" as the intentions of actors. This is not exactly the "alternative facts" of Kellyanne Conway, but it comes close. [End Page 111] I: Who Can Write About the Midwest? Throughout this book the authors tell personal stories—they call them "reflections." They seem to feel a need to establish their bona fides to write about the Midwest. Professor Halvorson grew up in Muskegon, Michigan, which establishes her Midwest-street cred. Professor Reno went to graduate school in Ann Arbor and lived in Livonia and Ypsilanti, Michigan and we assume this makes him an expert on the vast area of the Midwest. For a scholarly book, I find this odd. By their standard, the Englishman Edward Gibbon should never have written The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Robert Caro, the son of a Jewish immigrant from Poland, should not have won a Pulitzer for writing about Lyndon Johnson of Texas, and David Blight, a White man from Flint, Michigan, should not have won the Pulitzer for a book about Frederick Douglass, a Black man from Maryland. But, since the authors think that one must be connected to the Midwest to understand it, I suppose I should establish my street cred. I did my Ph.D. in Chicago, lived in South Shore and Hyde Park, and delivered pizzas and once served as an election judge on the south side. I later taught at Chicago-Kent Law School, living in downtown Chicago. I currently hold a chair at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minnesota. I have taught at Hamline University in St. Paul, Cleveland State University, University of Akron, and Washington University in St. Louis. I edit a book series on the Midwest at Ohio University Press, and I have been a consultant to historic homes in both St. Louis and in Muscatine, Iowa. I have published many articles and book chapters on slavery and civil rights, Native American history, and ethnic and religious persecution in the Midwest. I am the co-editor of A History of Michigan Law, which won a "best book" prize from the Michigan Historical Society and was named a notable Michigan book by the Library of Michigan. And I once got fogged in for two days after lecturing at Michigan Tech, on the Upper Peninsula. So much for my bona fides. II: Defining the Midwest This book is supposed to be about "the Midwest," but we are quickly told it is "not a book about the Midwest, the place, or Midwesterners." Rather it is about something called "place making." (11) The...

ECR Spotlight – Derek Jurestovsky

ECR Spotlight is a series of interviews with early-career authors from a selection of papers published in Journal of Experimental Biology and aims to promote not only the diversity of early-career researchers (ECRs) working in experimental biology during our centenary year, but also the huge variety of animals and physiological systems that are essential for the ‘comparative’ approach. Derek Jurestovsky is an author on ‘ Blood python (Python brongersmai) strike kinematics and forces are robust to variations in substrate geometry’, published in JEB. Derek conducted the research described in this article while a PhD student in Henry Astley's lab at University of Akron, USA. He is now a Postdoctoral Scholar in the lab of Jonas Rubenson and Steve Piazza at Pennsylvania State University, USA, investigating squamate skeletal morphology, biomechanics and their distributions in the past, present and future.

Polymer Science and Engineering at the University of Akron: A Brief History

Polymer Science and Engineering at the University of Akron: A Brief History

Polymer Science and Engineering at the University of Akron: Special Issue

Polymer Science and Engineering at the University of Akron: Special Issue

Uncovering a Natural History Mystery at the University of Akron

Students were engaged in a combination of detective work, biology, archives, art, and education/outreach to prepare a collection of taxidermied birds donated to the University of Akron by the Rhodes family in the early 1900s for public access and exhibition. Students had the opportunity to learn from leading experts regarding the historical significance of biological collections, proper preservation protocols, digitizing and archival practices, and the urgency of science education and communication for a public audience. Many campus and community partners were involved, including experts from local museums and nature centers.

First Author Spotlight.

AnnouncementFirst Author SpotlightPublished Online:18 Nov 2022https://doi.org/10.1152/ajprenal.2022.323.5.AUMoreSectionsPDF (429 KB)Download PDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesGet permissionsTrack citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInWeChat EDWIN J. BALDELOMARMallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United StatesFigure 1.Edwin J. BaldelomarDownload figureDownload PowerPointEdwin J. Baldelomar is an Instructor of Radiology at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO. He earned a PhD in Physics at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, HI, mentored by Dr. Kevin M. Bennett. Dr. Baldelomar has been a key contributor of novel imaging tools to investigate the heterogeneity of kidney microstructure and function at the scale of individual nephrons throughout the whole kidney. He is interested in applying his background in physical science to uniquely investigate biological and kidney systems. He is also interested in developing imaging tools toward clinical applications. Dr. Baldelomar was born in La Paz, Bolivia, and raised mostly in Texas. In his spare time, he enjoys watching and playing soccer with friends, spending quality time with others, and growing in his faith [Photo: Fig. 1].https://doi.org/10.1152/ajprenal.00103.2022BARNABAS P. ILENWABORDepartment of Physiology, Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The NetherlandsFigure 2.Barnabas IlenwaborDownload figureDownload PowerPointBarnabas Ilenwabor is a PhD candidate at the Department of Physiology, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. His PhD research focuses on the regulation of renal Mg2+ transport in health and rare monogenetic tubular disorders under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Joost Hoenderop and Dr. Jeroen de Baaij. In his spare time, Barnabas enjoys watching sporting activities like football, Formula 1, and tennis [Photo: Fig. 2].https://doi.org/10.1152/ajprenal.00101.2022RAM B. KHATTRIDepartment of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United StatesFigure 3.Ram KhattriDownload figureDownload PowerPointRam Khattri is a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Applied Physiology and Kinesiology at the University of Florida, under the supervision of Dr. Terence Ryan. He completed his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Akron. At the University of Florida, he is working on studies related to the discovery of the mechanisms of muscle dysfunction in chronic kidney disease, impaired mitochondrial energetics as a driver of hemodialysis, and the roles of PFKFB3 in peripheral artery disease. Away from the laboratory bench, he enjoys outdoor activities such as bike riding and playing cricket, soccer, and badminton [Photo: Fig. 3].https://doi.org/10.1152/ajprenal.00156.2022YUJIRO MAEOKADivision of Nephrology and Hypertension, Department of Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, Oregon, United StatesFigure 4.Yujiro MaeokaDownload figureDownload PowerPointYujiro Maeoka is a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. James McCormick’s laboratory at the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Oregon Health and Science University. He earned his MD degree and PhD degree at Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan, where he studied the role of kidney-specific ubiquitin ligase, which protects cells from hypertonic stress. His current work focuses on the role of mutations in cullin 3, a key regulator of the WNK-SPAK/OSR1 kinase signaling pathway, in the pathogenesis of familial hyperkalemic hypertension. He spends his time away from the laboratory hiking with his family [Photo: Fig. 4].https://doi.org/10.1152/ajprenal.00153.2022TURUN SONGDivision of Nephrology and Hypertension, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota, United StatesFigure 5.Turun SongDownload figureDownload PowerPointTurun Song is a surgeon in the Organ Transplantation Center, Department of Urology, Institute of Urology of WestChina Hospitol, Sichuan University, Sichuan, China. He earned his MD degree from Sichuan University. Between 2018 and 2019, he spent more than 1 yr in Dr. Lerman's laboratory at Mayo Clinic for science training. His current research interests focus on senescence and renal ischemia-reperfusion injury and ABO-incompatible kidney transplantation. He has also specialized in robotic assisted kidney transplantation and performed more than 100 cases of it [Photo: Fig. 5].https://doi.org/10.1152/ajprenal.00064.2022This article has no references to display. Download PDF Back to Top Next FiguresReferencesRelatedInformationRelated ArticlesMapping single-nephron filtration in the isolated, perfused rat kidney using magnetic resonance imaging 19 Oct 2022American Journal of Physiology-Renal PhysiologySLC41A1 knockout mice display normal magnesium homeostasis 19 Oct 2022American Journal of Physiology-Renal PhysiologyMetabolomic profiling reveals muscle metabolic changes following iliac arteriovenous fistula creation in mice 19 Oct 2022American Journal of Physiology-Renal PhysiologyCullin 3 mutant causing familial hyperkalemic hypertension lacks normal activity in the kidney 19 Oct 2022American Journal of Physiology-Renal PhysiologyExogenous pericyte delivery protects the mouse kidney from chronic ischemic injury 19 Oct 2022American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology More from this issue > Volume 323Issue 5November 2022Pages i-ii Crossmark Copyright & PermissionsPublished by the American Physiological Society.https://doi.org/10.1152/ajprenal.2022.323.5.AUPubMed36399095History Published online 18 November 2022 Published in print 1 November 2022 Metrics

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Younger sidewinders weave identically to their elders

The verb ‘snaking’ could have been invented for sidewinder rattlesnakes (Crotalus cerastes). Keeping two points of the body in contact with the ground at all times, each rippling serpent lurches its head forward as it initiates the next wave, while the weaving back end is still completing its previous wriggle. ‘It's nearly impossible for human eyes to make sense of how sidewinders move’, says Jessica Tingle from the University of Akron, USA, and it was unclear whether the animals modify their writhing manoeuvres as they grow. ‘As we grow, legged animals have to support more weight’, says Tingle, explaining that adults tend to move in quite different ways from their offspring as a result. However, snakes require little additional support as they grow, remaining largely in contact with the ground, so Tingle, engineering graduate Brian Sherman and Theodore Garland Jr. (University of California, Riverside, USA) decided to find out whether the serpents adjust their manoeuvres as they grow.‘We spent hours walking around in the desert at night with a flashlight searching for the snakes’, says Tingle, who often followed distinctive sidewinder tracks for 1 km in the hope of finding an animal. Fortunately, when Tingle and colleagues from Rulon Clark's lab (San Diego State University, USA) found a snake, the animals were usually pretty docile. But the scientists still took no chances, using snake tongs to pick them up and gently anaesthetising each animal to record their vital statistics – ranging from head size to body length and girth – before painting 10 dots along the snakes’ bodies to keep track of their manoeuvres. Then Tingle filmed the animals moving in 3D. ‘It's way too hot to have sidewinders outside during the daytime, so we stayed in shacks that had previously been used by the U.S. Air Force and I set up a sandbox and cameras in mine’, she recalls. After filming 66 serpents writhing across the sand, Tingle selected movies of 14 females, ranging in length from 253 to 688 mm, and 12 males, from 226 mm up to 553 mm. Then, Sherman wrote a MATLAB program to untangle the fine detail of the snakes’ sinuous movements. ‘As the program processed each trial, it displayed an animation of digitized points’, says Tingle.Surprisingly, when the trio compared the manoeuvres of the young and adult rattlesnakes, the youngsters were moving almost identically to the older animals; the movements of young sidewinder rattlesnakes are ‘petite versions of the adults, making exactly the same shapes with their bodies at a smaller scale’, says Tingle. And the youngsters achieved similar average speeds (0.18 m s−1) to their elders (0.21 m s−1), despite being several times smaller, ‘contrary to many results from limbed terrestrial animals, where large individuals move appreciably faster than small ones’, she adds. And when the trio compared the animals’ speeds as they travelled across the sand with how many ripples they performed per second – the frequency – and the distance they lurched forward at the beginning of each ripple – their effective stride length – the scientists found that the snakes barely extended each ‘step’ when moving at higher speeds. Instead, they rippled faster and the slenderest snakes formed tighter curves than the stouter animals.Comparing the snakes’ dimensions, the team also found that the smaller males had larger heads in proportion to their bodies than the females, which could be related to the snake's diet. ‘Because they swallow prey whole, a snake's range of potential prey is limited by its gape’, says Tingle, explaining that smaller males may require larger heads to gobble down the same-sized morsels that female sidewinders swallow with ease.

Legal and Risk Management Considerations and Implications of Carelessly Drafted Game Contracts: Avoiding a Legal Hurricane

Weather plays a crucial role in sport event management. Ignoring predicted weather conditions or not effectively communicating them may lead to unanticipated legal, financial, environmental, and social impacts. In 2018, the University of Akron and University of Nebraska football teams were forced to cancel their contest after severe lightning and rainstorms caused significant delays, thus creating a ripple effect that produced other potential risk management issues. This article examines the legal and risk management considerations of this situation, including the possible implications of a carelessly drafted game contract as well as potential strategies to mitigate legal exposure. The authors evaluated the potential application of contract ambiguity as well as contract impracticability and contract impossibility. To mitigate such issues from reoccurring, the authors suggest utilizing an enterprise risk management planning approach to create procedures as part of mitigating the risk of inclement weather in collegiate athletics event management.

Campus responds to tragedy by creating off‐campus safety director

Kerry Jackson was planning on retiring from his role as a police officer at the University of Akron on October 31, 2021, after more than 13 years of service on campus. But those retirement plans were derailed when Jackson received a call from the President of UA, Gary L. Miller, asking him to take over the newly created role of Director of Off Campus Safety.

Nominations open for Crano Memorial Lecture

The American Chemical Society Akron Section is accepting nominations for the Crano Memorial Lecture. The award consists of a $500 honorarium and engraved plaque. In April, the recipient will deliver a lecture at the University of Akron for a technical audience and a second lecture at a different venue for a general audience. Lectures can be delivered virtually. Nominators should submit a CV with the nomination to awards chair Charles M. Kausch at cmkausch@hotmail.com by Dec. 27. Please send announcements of awards to acsnews.cen@acs.org.

Optimization of Bath Parameters for Electroless Nickel Plating Using Fractional Factorial Design

Aspects in Mining & Mineral Science Optimization of Bath Parameters for Electroless Nickel Plating Using Fractional Factorial Design Shobha R1, Naveen I1, Siddaraju C2 and Srivatsan TS3* 1Department of Industrial Engineering, MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology, India 2Department of Mechanical Engineering, MS Ramaiah Institute of Technology, India 3Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Akron, USA *Corresponding author: TS Srivatsan, Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Akron, Akron, OHIO 44325, USA Submission: November 15, 2021;Published: December 14, 2021 DOI: 10.31031/AMMS.2021.08.000684 ISSN 2578-0255Volume8 Issue2

Akron Section Award to Anne McNeil

The Akron Section of the American Chemical Society has conferred its Akron Section Award on Anne McNeil, Carol A. Fierke Collegiate Professor of Chemistry and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Chemistry and Macromolecular Science and Engineering at the University of Michigan. The award will be presented virtually on Nov. 18. McNeil will give a talk titled “Microplastics Are Here, There, and Everywhere” for the public at 7 p.m. (EST). A research-based seminar will be held at the University of Akron in the spring.

The use of polyisobutylene-based polymers in ophthalmology

A novel polyolefin called poly(styrene-block-isobutylene-block-styrene) (“SIBS”) originated from Joseph P. Kennedy's laboratory at the University of Akron (Akron, Ohio, United States) and was developed as a biomaterial for long-term implant applications by the author. SIBS has no cleavable groups on its backbone or sidechains, is comprised predominantly of alternating secondary and quaternary carbons on its backbone, which prevents embrittlement and cracking under flexion, and undergoes multiple purification steps which renders it extremely biocompatible and well-suited for long-term applications in the eye. This article explores two ophthalmic devices; 1) the PRESERFLO® MicroShunt (Santen Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Osaka, Japan) made from SIBS that lowers intraocular pressure to thwart progression of vision loss from glaucoma, and 2) a novel intraocular lens (IOL) made from crosslinked polyisobutylene, which is under-development by Xi'an Eyedeal Medical Technology Co., Ltd. (Xi'an, China) that does not glisten nor cloud over time, as do most conventional IOLs.