Open Access Kent State (OAKS)

In today’s apparel driven world, athleisure is one of the fastest growing sectors of all. Unfortunately, cotton has been losing its competitive edge to more popular synthetic materials (Morrison, 2017). In order to combat synthetic materials, top athleisure companies are offering new cotton developments (Friedman, 2016). The purpose of this study is to identify if the new cotton products within the athleisure market are meeting millennial women's expectations. To answer this research question, two research methods will be included: first, a study followed by a survey of applicable consumers, and accompanied with an analysis of the reviews millennial women left on cotton athleisure products on Amazon. The results of the study reveal what millennial women expect in newly developed cotton athleisure. The expected outcome will include: changing the perception of cotton into common sports through marketing education will increase sales. Increasing the thickness and warmth of the cotton blend will increase interest, and one main barrier to entry is price and availability differences between cotton and synthetic fibers (Demand, 2016). The study will conclude with a discussion and analysis of methods that work best for the millennial generation for marketing, the most important feature of a garment, and what drives millennial consumers to purchase.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the 6th leading cause of death in the U.S and represents a major public health concern. Recent evidence showed that chimpanzees, our closest living relatives, spontaneously develop the pathological hallmarks of AD- amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. We conducted a study to get a better understanding of the relationships amongst the risk factors of AD pathology, including cardiac disease and metabolic syndrome in chimpanzees. Cardiac disease is the leading cause of death for captive chimpanzees and evidence indicates that they also develop metabolic syndrome, however, it is unclear if these are interrelated. In addition, severe age- or pathology-associated cognitive decline has not been documented in this species. Serum biomarkers, hematology, and echocardiogram data were analyzed to evaluate the relationships among disease processes. We specifically analyzed glucose, triglyceride, cholesterol, and total protein levels of 90 chimpanzees, housed at Yerkes, since elevated levels of these chemistries are associated with cardiac disease and metabolic syndrome in humans. Student’s t-test revealed a significant effect of cardiac disease status with age (t = -4.82, p < 0.002), cholesterol (t = -3.27, p < 0.00), and lymphocytes (t = 2.43, p < 0.002). There was an increase in cholesterol with age, which is greatly associated with cardiac disease. Lymphocytes were also elevated in individuals with cardiac disease, which may be indicative of a pro-inflammatory state. These data revealed that chimpanzees may share similar risk factors for the development of AD pathology as humans.

Water usage in the Fashion Industry creates a huge impact on the environment and the industry. With focusing on areas such as water waste management, raw materials usage, cost and availability and the role of consumers there is hope that the production of apparel can become more sustainable. Water is a major resource needed in cotton production, therefore finding ways to foster water conservation in cotton production and utilization would have a sizeable impact on water use in the fashion industry.

The apparel production industry needs to take water usage and other natural resources into consideration because it is harmful to the environment but also affects other natural resources. The purpose of our project is to discover sustainable practices for growing cotton and conserving water. We want to find a solution for making the cotton and fashion industry more sustainable to help the environment. We want to get a better understanding of the millennial consumers knowledge of the subject and apply that to a wider range of consumers to spread awareness and make a bigger impact.

Our expected outcomes from our research will result in water conservation worldwide, as well as clean water, especially in less developed countries where clean water is unheard of, raising awareness among consumers about water scarcity and educate them to demand better practices, and inspiring more brands and designers to become more sustainable through their work ethic and apparel production process, and take the environment into deeper consideration.

VR is a womanswear collection, designed by Leticia Dimushi. This collection attempts to answer the question on how to reuse scraps in the industry, designing around the material found and leaving as little waste behind.

75% of all fabric is not recyclable, therefore every scrap that ends up in soil, causes exponential damage in the long run. The problem chosen to give an alternative solution to, is closing the loop from fabric production to garment manufacturing.

The collection is made of 90% scraps and donated fabric, with the addition of purchased trims and findings. The inspiration being VR games relates to the secondary reality that this concept is attempting to create, a reality where resources are used to their full potential, minimizing waste and reusing what is thrown out of the cycle. The collection serves as a metaphor to use resources consciously and work towards a reality of minimal waste, where consumerism is no longer a global culture, and the production system improves in its waste management ethics.

Creating a Virtual Reality, where the missing chain in to close the loop is found, and proposing a solution to how to use scraps are the main issues this collection addresses. Refining this collection and self-understanding as a designer through the process of research and industry design have been key points to the development and defined ideas on using the symbolic and chosen visual inspirations into giving answer to these issues.

Sexual assault preceding comorbid Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) has been widely established, but the nuanced influences of the gender of the victim and perpetrator bare further examination. This study sought to examine which victim/perpetrator gender dyad (female/male, female/female, male/female, male/male) leads to a greater risk of comorbidity of PTSD and SUD. Men are more likely to have an SUD, but women are more likely to turn to substances because of trauma (Nida, 2016; Truchman, 2010). While many other factors play into the development of PTSD/SUD comorbidity, research suggests that that sexual trauma is an especially high-risk factor (Dworkin et al., 2017). The most common victimization dyad is female victims with male preparators (female/male dyad) (Dube et al., 2005). Thus, the study hypothesized that female victims with male perpetrators (the female/male dyad) would exhibit the highest PTSD/SUD comorbidity.

Potential participants were recruited from the ADM Crisis Center in Summit County, Ohio. The center offers detoxification to patients presenting with an SUD upon admission, and more than half of our sample also met diagnostic criteria for comorbid-PTSD. Participants were administered questionnaires, including the PCL (PTSD screen), ASSIST (SUD inventory), and SES-SFV (sexual trauma inventory) to gather data. Data is in the process of being analyzed, and will be presented at the poster presentation.