Faculty Development Grant Award 2017-2018 Recipients

This Comparative Ethnographic Study Abroad Trip titled “Ethnography of Africa SOC 321” was conceived as a result of the 2017- fieldwork experience undertaken by students majoring in Anthropology and Africana Studies to South Africa in which the students were immersed in the fieldwork experience in rural South Africa looking at issues of community health, education, job availability and food security. During that successful trip undertaken by six students in 2017, the students noticed the parameters of comparability between Oxford, Pa. and Kroonstad, Free State in South Africa. 

These parameters of comparability include: 

• The experience of black people who live in white dominated rural environment in Oxford Pa. USA and Kroonstad, Free State in the Republic of South Africa 
• The existential (day-to-day) condition of Black men and women in Oxford Pa. and Kroonstad, Free State of South Africa 
• The socioeconomic statuses of black communities helped by the presence of Houses of Worship, Community centers, Food-lovers Centers versus Farmers’ Market and Hospitals. Emphasis will be put on identifying black cultural rituals of self-affirmation and stress release in both societies. 

 Preliminary research papers comparing both societal structures will include the following: 
Introduction, Literature Review, History, Concepts/Theories, individual sections (e.g. rituals of stress release, interaction in the community centers, the place of Worship houses in cementing or strengthening community bonding, coping with infractions of the law and the place of education in providing hope for the youth. 

The first part of this comparative study deals with the subject matter of fieldwork itself. The second part applies some of the techniques, theories and concepts to the ethnographic field in Oxford Pa. USA and Kroonstad, Free State, South Africa. Emphases will be on etic and emic models of ethnography and participant observation on the topic of enquiry selected by the students. Course Student Learning Outcomes (CSLOs) will include 1, 2, 3. CSLO 1 will introduce students to a variety of cultural practices in in countries of visit. CSLO2 will introduce students to methods of gathering ethnographic data beginning with theoretical and research related concepts. CSLO 3 Students will be required to write research papers using standard citations bibliographical arrangements and other methods.

Project 1. Study Abroad Course to Jamaica
I will participate in a faculty led study abroad that includes 18 students and Dr. Nicole Files-Thompson. The trip will take place from May 7 2018-May 29 2018 in Jamaica. We will instruct students in completing qualitative research projects and investigative digital travel journalism focusing on socioeconomic and cultural perspectives via tourism in Jamaica. Student research projects include: “Sociocultural aspects of language in Jamaica,” “Mediated colorism: sociocultural aspects of skin bleaching in Jamaica,” “Perception and Potential of
agritourism in the marijuana, sugar cane, and coffee industry of Jamaica,” “Increasing Black American participation and engagement in study abroad: A digital case study of Lincoln University students in Jamaica,” “Black girl vlogging: The eco-tourism journey of a future microbiologist in Jamaica,” and “Jamaican Joy: A Digital Exploration.

Project 2. Preproduction for documentary film based on my slave heritage
https://www.nytimes.com/1986/08/31/us/1500-slave-descendants-at-carolina...
In 1986, a reunion for all slave descendants of Somerset Plantation was held in North Carolina. I was eleven years old and that day forever changed my life. I remember walking the grounds and crying, because I was so overwhelmed with sadness and love. Dorothy Redford Spruill is the woman responsible for the event and in1988, she released a book about the plantation's descendants. My grandmother, Harriet Spruill and my grandfather Winton Hill grew up about 20 minutes away from the planation so I always had close ties to the area. As I grew up I viewed my slave ancestry with pride and I wanted to know more about them as individuals. Often slavery is described as a blanketed event with a singular experience. The individuality is lost. For my documentary, I will research my family as well as that of Josiah Collins the man that owned us. My personal feelings paired with academic research will create a fresh perspective on slavery that will encourage African Americans to feel proud of their slave heritage while showing other communities the impact of our struggle as descendants of slaves.

PROJECT INTRODUCTION
The proposed research will use the coding instrument of the previous exploratory qualitative research conducted by Dr. Carmen Brookins House titled: “Waking Up To Whiteness: An Exploratory Qualitative Analysis of ABC’s Good Morning America Morning News Show.” The findings of that research was presented at the 2015 National Popular Culture Far West Conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The following research proposal will discuss how this research will continue and expand the prior work on the scholarship of whiteness by focusing on its dominance and its perpetuation of ‘normalcy’ in early morning network television news programs. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The proposed qualitative analysis study will examine how network morning television news programs perpetuate whiteness as the “norm” in news stories particularly when the story is not related to race. In other words, people used in a television news story used to illustrate or highlight the story when ethnicity or race of the people needed to tell the story is irrelevant to the information in the story.

This proposal seeks to advance the mission of the University by identifying two projects which specifically promote the University's ILO #6 Lincoln Legacy. The first project (a) supports the revision and updating of a grant submitted in October 2016 to the National Parks Service (NPS) for the purpose of refurbishing and updating Amos House for use as a Heritage Center. Although this grant application included all necessary documentation related to the physical preservation of the building, and was well received for many reasons, the grant narrative failed to convince grant funders that Lincoln University students and alumni were crucial to the success of the American Civil Rights movement of the 20th century. My goal will be to update the grant documentation with the assistance of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs and to revise the narrative in such a way that grant reviewers are convinced of the historic value of Amos House. Restoring the building will contribute to the larger University goal of developing Lincoln University as a national historic site. This grant proposal is essential to the University's renovation plans since Amos House is not included in the master plan, and in addition to evoking the university's unique place in the African American experience, it remains a viable source of instructional space.

The second phrase of this grant application (b) relates to editing three manuscripts for publication by the Lincoln University Press in a series entitled Heritage Studies.  Two of these manuscripts have emerged from student work completed in two separate ENG 495 Independent "Heritage" Studies. The third is a manuscript entitled Black Abolitionists in the Chester County Area submitted for review by Dr. Michele Sullivan, Board Member of the Kennett Underground Railroad. These publications will require a reconstituted Board of Editors for the Lincoln University Press, and will stimulate further publications that will contribute to building a strong reputation for the LU Press.

With the introduction of a new strategic plan and a new vision for Lincoln University as a liberal arts institution and a new campus-wide effort to spearhead undergraduate research as a central component of the Lincoln University undergraduate experience, it is an ideal moment to reimagine, redesign, and restructure the senior seminar capstone course. Currently, the course is structured as a two-part course. As it is taught now, in the fall, students read literature within a theme selected by the professor and in the spring, students write a 25-page paper that incorporates one or more of the texts read in the fall. Currently, the course in the spring culminates with a presentation of this paper to an audience of their peers and English major faculty. As it is currently designed, the senior seminar limits original research by the students by artificially narrowing the texts and thereby the range of themes that a student can explore in their capstone project. However, in order to give students a more genuine research experience that allows them to fully marshal their own literary interests burgeoning research expertise, I propose that we restructure the senior capstone so that students spend the first semester working closely with the professor, the undergraduate research center, the library, and the writing center to develop a research question that originates from their own intellectual curiosity, allows them to engage the literature of their choice, and ultimately fulfills the criteria for original research in literary studies. In a redesign of this course, students would complete the 25-page thesis in the first semester and present their findings to the faculty within the department by the end of the fall semester. In this way, students would be then able to capitalize on their senior project appropriately for both graduate school and employment opportunities because in the spring semester they would learn, through a series of carefully scaffolded professional development activities organized within the class, within the department, and coordinated with, for example, career services, how to use their thesis as a cornerstone of their academic and professional portfolio. In the spring semester, students would polish their 25-page thesis paper and prepare for the spring campus-wide Lincoln University Undergraduate Research Conference where they would present their work to the campus. They would also spend the spring semester in an intensive preparation for their academic and life after Lincoln University by preparing carefully crafted job and graduate school documents (i.e. cover letter, resume, personal statement, etc.) and developing an on-line portfolio of their work. It is an ideal moment to reimagine and restructure the senior seminar capstone course for the English major so that students can fully realize the value of their undergraduate degree by creating a course that marries their academic achievements with their future academic and professional goals and thereby effectively prepares them for the ‘real’ world. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION
This summer faculty development proposal focuses on two projects 1) an interdisciplinary book chapter 2) a faculty led study abroad.

1) The book chapter, co-authored with Melina McConatha MSW, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychology, “Social media and the mobilization of intercultural communities: Digital storytelling of violence against trans women of color” will be published in the Rowman and Littlefield text Queer Intercultural Communication. The aim of this chapter is to explore how queer communities deploy digital storytelling on social media networks as a form of intercultural community mobilization. The chapter will take its focus specifically on the digital
storytelling of violence enacted against Black trans women.

2) I will lead 18 mass communications students on a faculty led study abroad with Brandi Berry, Assistant Professor, Mass Communications from May 7 2018-May 29th 2018 in Jamaica. The professors will instruct students in completing qualitative research projects and investigative digital travel journalism focusing on socioeconomic and cultural perspectives via tourism in Jamaica. Student research projects include: “Sociocultural aspects of language in Jamaica,” “Mediated colorism: sociocultural aspects of skin bleaching in
Jamaica,” “Perception and Potential of agritourism in the marijuana, sugar cane, and coffee industry of Jamaica,” “Increasing Black American participation and engagement in study abroad: A digital case study of Lincoln University students in Jamaica,” “Black girl vlogging: The eco-tourism journey of a future microbiologist in Jamaica,” and “Jamaican Joy: A Digital Exploration.”

During the trip I will gather qualitative data about study abroad in the areas of intercultural pedagogy, social media reach and engagement, student’s critical thinking, and the application of course material and skills in professional scenarios. This research will inform faculty led study abroad pedagogy and practice to be presented to the Lincoln University community as well as professional communications organizations. The reflective observations, videos, and analytics will be organized, transcribed, and edited by Berry and Files-Thompson over the summer. A formal publication will be written of the curriculum for other academics that desire to expand their pedagogical skills within the context of studying abroad.

A concise description of the project
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) describes a class of diseases that cause inflammation of the colon and the small intestine (and sometimes also inflammation of other digestive organs including the stomach, esophagus, and mouth). The most common types of IBD include Crohn 's Disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). The chronic inflammation associated with IBO results in increased oxidative stress that damages the environment of the colon. Bilirubin is an antioxidant that is found naturally inside the body, and therefore it reduces oxidative stress. Low levels of serum bilirubin have been associated with increased risk for Crohn's disease. The overall aim of this study is to examine whether total serum bilirubin levels are associated with risk for ulcerative colitis since it is a similar to Crohn's disease in many ways (both IBO). The specific aim of the 2018 funding is to examine gene expression levels of the enzyme that metabolizes bilirubin (UGTIA 1).

Data that Dr. Gallagher collected with 2017 faculty development funds supported the hypothesis that bilirubin levels are associated with IBO. This research has resulted in one publication and one presentation at a national scientific meeting this year by Dr. Gallagher, and the project in 2018 will elucidate the scientific reason behind these findings by examining the level of the gene required for bilirubin metabolism in these patients' tissues.

Presentation at the American Society of Human Genetics Annual meeting in Oct 2017: Gallagher CJ, Schieffer KM, Bruffy SM, Rauscher R, Koltun WA, Yochum GS. Reduced total serum bilirubin levels are associated with ulcerative colitis. American Society of Human Genetics, Oct 18, 2017.

Publication in June 2017:
Schieffer KM, Bruffy SM, Rauscher R, Koltun WA, Yochum GS, Gallagher CJ. Reduced total serum bilirubin levels are associated with ulcerative colitis. PLOS ONE. 2017 Jun 8; 12(6).

Measurable goals and objectives for the project
The goal of this project is to determine whether total serum bilirubin levels are associated with risk for UC, using data that Dr. Carla Gallagher has stored in her databases, available at Lincoln. A specific goal with the 20 I 8 funds is to examine gene expression levels of the enzyme that metabolizes bilirubin (UGT l Al) in these patients to elucidate the scientific reason behind the findings that bilirubin levels are associated with both types of IBO (CD and UC). Gene Expression Assays (for UGTI A I) will be run using real time PCR. Logistic regression analysis will be performed on each quartile of total serum bilirubin compared to the last quartile (highest bilirubin levels) to calculate the risk for developing UC with lower total serum bilirubin.

Adjustments for known IBO risk factors will be conducted using logistic regression. The method for measuring the success of this goal is viewing the tables and publications that Dr. Gallagher will produce as a result of these analyses.

A concise description of the project
The WRC first opened its doors to students in fall 2015. This academic year marks its third year of operation. We have received many calls from faculty to offer workshops to Lincoln University students in different areas of writing, whether vocabulary building; writing literary analyses; editing and proofreading, among others. The goal of the summer grant funding will be to develop the academic materials for offering weekly workshops to students in the fall and spring semesters. The workshop topics will be as follows: Thesis Statements and Topic Sentences; Grammar Workshop I, II, III; Proofreading and Editing; Source Documentation: MLA and APA Formatting; Writing a Literary Analysis Essay; Writing an Argument; Reading; Vocabulary Building; Writing a Resume, Cover letter, and Thank You Notes; and Writing a Graduate School Personal Statement. We can expand the list of workshops to include writing lab reports and other topics needed in the sciences. The workshop materials will be accessible on the WRC website for professors, tutors, and students alike.

Measurable goals and objectives for the project
This project has two main goals: 1) Creating materials that WRC tutors can use in the WRC hands-on workshops for Lincoln students weekly and that students can also access on the WRC website in the above workshop topics. 2) Preparing hands-on activities and games for students to engage in when attending the workshops or when reviewing the workshop materials online.  

Concise description of the project
The author of this proposal plans to have the translation from English into French of the book Kwame Nkrumah’s Contribution to Pan-Africanism: An Afrocentric Analysis. The book was first published in 2003 and was written by the distinguished Professor Dr. Zizwe Poe of Lincoln University.  

How the Translation will be done
The author of this proposal will be the principal editor and reviewer of the final product. He will be assisted by a professional translator whose services will be paid. The author of the book, Dr. Zizwe Poe, has given the author of this proposal the permission to translate his work.

Publication of peer-reviewed journal article and book; successful grants to support international research for multiple cohorts of engineering and STEM students; workshop for Faculty on Faculty-led Programs

The proposed research will cultivate the implantation of Mass Communications’ Conference at Lincoln University. In the past years, Mass Communications’ Week is a five-day event held each year at Lincoln University. Mass Communications’ Week provides students an opportunity to hear from professionals in their field, discuss upcoming trends within the field of Communications, and place a spotlight on future career endeavors. Since it’s induction in 2013, Mass Communications’ Week has had over twenty-five speakers representing the fields of advertising, digital, and electronic media, journalism, and public relations. The Department of Mass Communications and the Media Center collaborate with each other to develop the week-long programs to allow students to learn outside of the classroom. Students participate by attending the events, networking with peers, and interacting with guests. Mass Communications’ Week is great for the students who may want to pursue a career after Lincoln but it is limited for students who are interested in the fields of research and furthering their educational endeavors. Mass Communications’ Week should expand to a conference because it not only allows the department to recruit academics in the field, expand our professional branding as a department, develop educational comradery among various universities, and create opportunities for both students and faculty to flourish within the field of Mass Communications. The Mass Communications’ Conference will allow students to interact with other universities who have developed graduate programs that support Mass Communications, allow students to interact with future professors, off on-site admissions to various universities, allow graduate schools to explain the expectations of higher education, and develop mentorship in the field. By interchanging Mass Communications Week into the Mass Communications’ Conference, it will continue to maintain the foundation of the successful “Mass Communications Week” but it will develop a connection with Graduate Programs throughout the United States. Maintaining, the Mass Communications Week agenda will continue to be the program’s foundation but developing relationship with various stakeholders in all levels of academia is the efficient way to express comradery among the various universities within the Pennsylvania area and surrounding states. 

Through Title III funds, the Visual Art Program has been awarded close to $200,000 worth of tools and equipment for photo, video, audio new media and printmaking. 95% of this equipment will be available for checkout to students taking digital courses in Art (including, but not limited to: Art-215, Art-220, Art-260, Art-320, Art-360, Art-420, Art-395, Art-390.) I am requesting funding to catalog this equipment through CheqRoom as well as work with ATS and IT to rearrange and re-purpose Ware 122 into a MacLab. This project will allow visual art faculty to train students to use the checkout system in the Fall as well as run scheduled classes in Ware 122 without any hang-ups. During this month I will: barcode all equipment, organize the new ‘equipment cage’ in Ware 126, log the equipment serial # and warranty info, create specific groups for student access based on course, work in Ware 122 et al.

The summer project is to edit, produce and publish Volume 6 of the annual peer-reviewed publication, The Lincoln Humanities Journal (LHJ). This special issue of the LHJ will be a collection of essays devoted to analyzing the topic of Alternative Realities: Myths, Lies, Truths, and Half-Truths.

This proposal incorporates research and publications that support safe spaces for LGTBQ students on our campus. The grant will support culturally competent research on LGTBQ ally training for students, faculty, and staff at HBCUs. This study and publication will include (1) the examination of the current ally trainings, a collection of LGTBQ ally trainings at ten additional HBCUs, and (2) a publication exploring violence prevention tools online utilized by people in the trans community. Currently, LGTBQ people of color experience disproportionate rates of violence in the US. This interdisciplinary book chapter, co-authored with Nicole Files-Thompson, Ph.D. Associate Professor and Chair titled, “Social media and the mobilization of intercultural communities: Digital storytelling of violence against trans women of color” will be published in the Rowman and Littlefield text Queer Intercultural Communication. The aim of this chapter is to explore how queer communities deploy digital storytelling on social media networks as a form of intercultural community mobilization. The chapter will take its focus specifically on the digital storytelling of violence enacted against Black trans women.

General physical sciences, such as chemistry and physics are becoming increasingly interconnected with today’s biomedical research laboratories, by providing tools and general expertise to conduct research in biological sciences and biomedical engineering. The minimum skill sets are key cross-disciplinary concepts, involving a combination of knowledge and proficiency from the fields of biology, chemistry, and physics. Therefore, it is essential that students and new graduates have a basic understanding of physical science concepts. The following proposes revisions to the laboratory manuals for Physical Science (GSC 101 & 102) and Physical Chemistry (CHE 300 & 301). Support for this revision project will advance the general science and chemistry programs at Lincoln.

Retention, according to the research literature, is everybody’s business. Helms (2014) in an article entitled "Six Critical Strategies for Increasing HBCU Retention and Graduation Rates" said that most HBCU’s know what they need to do to increase student academic success but for some reasons many appear reluctant to take the appropriate action....” This research will argue that a vibrant campus community, faculty members who are engaged in the life of the University and students, adequate advising and counseling, and faculty development are factors that help to improve retention and graduation rates.

The best practices regarding retention at Lincoln University, Howard University, Delaware State University, Spelman College, and Morehouse College would be examined and explored. This student centered pilot study would seek to capture the reasons why students leave. Sadijah Johnson (2014) a student in my senior seminar class found that many students drop out because of the lack of a vibrant campus community, student-faculty interaction, the lack of learning communities, campus pride, and a curriculum this focuses on academic vigor.

Introduction: Learning using solved example is proven effective method to acquire math literacy. Worked-out examples consist of the givens of a problem, solution steps, and the final solution itself. Learning from worked-out examples is an important source of learning, and it is a learning mode preferred by novices. Furthermore, research has shown that learning from worked-out examples is typically very effective. However, in order to successfully learn from these types of examples, the learner has to actively explain the solution steps to learners because not all the information about the rationale of the solution steps, that is necessary for understanding the solution procedure, is included in the examples.

Each year about 200 students enroll in Mat 106 course. Many of these students do not have a strong background in mathematics. Also since this being general education course, department has approved a challenging syllabus. We jointly would like to develop a work book which will cover current syllabus along with a basic algebra unit as a supplementary material. The workbook will have five chapters, each divided in required number of sections. Concept will be introduced in a tutorial followed by an example and homework assignments.

Structure of the workbook: In 2016, one author of this proposal (Dr. J. Pathak) has developed an instructional manual for Mat 106. The project was funded through faculty development grant (thank you FDC). Course material used in this manual is shared with Prof. Badame (urban center), Dr. Naik and Dr. Xu (both in main campus) and used in all the Mat 106 sections. This material has helped the department to standardized Mat 106 course. Along with this material, current project will follow the guidelines set in a research paper by Renkl and findings presented in a workshop on Problem solving by examples hosted by CETL in 2016.

This Honors course being taught in the Spring 2018 (HON 300), pursues particular topics concerning selected ancient Nile Valley dynasties. The emphasis of the course is placed on the use of primary sources and secondary sources as evidence. The course organizes context lectures, digitized sources of information, and museum visits. Students in the course will present oral and written reports utilizing a variety of academic field approaches for the class’ final presentations. Class participants will be introduced to ancient Egyptian culture through examining hieroglyphic language, which I teach, ancient Egyptian religions, ancient Egyptian scientific discoveries, and ancient Egyptian fetes of engineering. Learner observations of primary source evidence will be done in museums in Philadelphia, New York, Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, Valley of the Kings and Queens, and Abu Simbel (Egypt). This course is being used as part of the development of an iBook by the same name, Select Nile Valley Dynasties, which tentatively will be published by the Fall 2019 semester.

With the introduction of technology Information /Digital Literacy and the research process goes hand-in-hand. When upper level students begin to work on major research papers we have noticed that there are some areas of frustration and stress because due to insufficient research knowledge. I have noticed that specific and assisted time with a librarian to assist both the faculty and students with their research project has helped students become effective and efficient researchers. Specific resource tools, focused lesson plans embedded into the course along with individual time with a librarian have shown to be very helpful for patrons and their research project.

This project will develop 1) LibGuides Resource Pages – The LibGuides Resource page will be a digital site that will list suggested resources to assist with the research process specific to course/program discipline. The resources will be developed in collaboration with the Professor teaching the course. The resource guide will be located on the Library Webpage and also embedded into the course Moodle course platform. 2) Focused lesson plan- The focused lesson plan will be a lesson specifically taught to the class during the semester which will be focused on specific skills needed to complete their research project such as advanced features of online databases or navigating specific databases for their project. The focused session will be incorporated into the course syllabus. 3)Research Interview Questions - A list of research interview questions will also be developed to help prepare the student for there one on one session with the librarian to maximize the time that will be spent with the librarian.

The overall goal of my proposal is to establish a new project to be titled, Lincoln’s Online College Algebra (MAT 110 online), first ever at Lincoln University; with the aim of sustaining the efforts of the traditional college instruction and flexibility for students taking College Algebra (MAT 110). To achieve this goal, I seek funding to:

1. Develop an assessment of Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) and rubrics as required by Middle States best practices;
2. Work with ALEKS Corporation to create objective learning based on the curriculum developed in the Summer 2017.

This project will be aligned to the same standard of expectations as required by General Education mathematics and Middle States.

Students in Chemistry for Health Science I (CHE-120) and II (CHE-121) must take the corresponding lab (CHE-120L and CHE-121L) in order to fulfill their requirements for their Health Science major. Chemistry for Health Science I laboratory (CHE-120L) is a requirement for admission to Nursing Programs. The laboratory class meets once per week during the semester, and lasts for two to two and a half hours. Some of the Allied Health Programs such as Physician’s Assistant (PA) and Physical Therapy programs require completion of two chemistry labs as part of their admission requirements. Over the last several years, this investigator has made strides in reducing chemical waste by introducing green chemistry principles. These include: Use of safe chemicals; Waste prevention instead of remediation and Design products to undergo degradation in the environment. The purpose of this proposal is to develop a Laboratory Manual for Chemistry for Health Science that includes laboratory experiments that generate minimal chemical waste by continuation of increasing the content of green chemistry. Following this manual would greatly help the environment by reducing the amount of chemical waste generated and hence, reduce the disposal costs for our university. This laboratory manual will motivate and engage the student in the learning process since it will serve as a ready reference for: basic and fundamental chemical principals, physical properties of commonly used reagents, commonly used laboratory equipment and glassware, and for laboratory safety rules. Availability of a Laboratory Manual for Chemistry for Health Science will undoubtedly strengthen the University’s mission to enhance its teaching and research activities.

Overall bone health is important and in particular is an integral part of elderly population healthcare reflecting a global threat to healthy aging. This leads to the need for expanded capabilities to characterize musculoskeletal conditions.

Due to its prevalence worldwide, osteoporosis is considered as a serious public health concern. Currently it is estimated that over 200 million people worldwide suffer from this disease. The prevalence of osteoporosis is continuing to escalate with the increasing elderly populations. To reduce the overall trend and prevalence of osteoporosis was a goal of the Healthy People 2010, a government initiative as these conditions are characterized by a decrease in bone strength, fragile bone and increased susceptibility to fracture.

Bone density or bone mineral density (BMD) represents the amount of bone mineral in bone tissue. Its measurement is used in clinical medicine as an indirect indicator of osteoporosis and fracture risk and is often reported in terms of T-score and Z-score. T-score is the number of standard deviations above or below the mean for a healthy 30-year-old adult of the same sex and ethnicity as the patient, and T-score is the number of standard deviations above or below the mean for the patient's age, sex and ethnicity. Commonly used test to diagnose osteoporosis and to assess an individual’s risk for developing fractures is bone density scanning, also called dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) or bone densitometry, is considered the most accurate method for diagnosing osteoporosis today.

However, there have been arguments that diagnosis of osteoporosis by using these physical and statistical parameters and scores could evaluate whole-bone strength and bone health equally well. The fracture risk has been traditionally estimated by X-ray densitometry and ultrasound, which represent not very accurate methods. Particularly, it has been difficult to assess bone loss from the spine as individuals age, because of artifacts that mask bone loss. We have previously proposed a method using a wave propagation modelling.

Considering the importance of the bone density as an indicator of osteoporosis and other bone diseases, we developed mathematical models and applied methods that automatically detect and quantify it. The proposed algorithms act as visual weight tools and numerical quantifiers. Visual function is expressed through detection and differentiation of the bone tissue by marking it in a different color. Numerical function enables quantification of the amount of detected bone tissue by calculating its numerical content equivalent.