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Cameron Zakreski Theatre Senior Project: Inside Room 302
No full textThis website serves as a tool to accompany and document my process in Twelve Angry Jurors as I aspire to complete my senior project in acting. It includes daily journals and reflections, research, and character development work I have done to help me understand my process
Effects of PFOS on Zebrafish Dopaminergic Neurodevelopment
No full textPer- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of environmental contaminants that cause disruptions to the nervous and endocrine systems. Perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) is considered one of the most disruptive PFAS to the nervous system, and may disrupt neurodevelopment of the dopaminergic system, which has been linked to neurodevelopmental disorders like Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in humans. I hypothesized that early life PFOS exposure disrupts the development of the dopaminergic system. To test this hypothesis, I exposed zebrafish to 0.05, 0.5, and 5.0 mg/L PFOS through 5 days of embryonic and larval development. To assess acute effects of PFOS on the dopaminergic system, I measured transcript levels of genes that are crucial to the transport, synthesis, degradation, and signaling of dopamine in samples collected at 5 days post-fertilization. To test for long-term effects of PFOS exposure, treated fish were transferred to system water and reared until 60 days post-fertilization. I then dissected their brains and performed a gene expression analysis. The highest concentration of PFOS (5 mg/L) significantly upregulated tyrosine hydroxylase, the gene encoding the rate limiting enzyme of dopamine synthesis, in samples collected at 5 days post fertilization (p \u3c 0.001). These data suggest that PFOS acutely disrupts the dopaminergic system
Sesame Street: From Puppets to Pixels
Full text linkSesame Street has been around since 1969 and is still creating new episodes. Joan Ganz Cooney created the program in an attempt to use television to educate and entertain children simultaneously. The show set out goals to create smarter, kinder, and stronger kids. It uniquely featured a diverse cast and was targeted towards disadvantaged youth. However, the world has changed a lot since 1969. In this research, I use a qualitative content analysis to determine how exactly the show has evolved and adapted to target today’s children versus the children in 1969. Additionally, the paper hypothesizes reasons why the show has needed to shift and argues for the preservation of PBS, a network threatened with budget cuts
Nunsense is Habit-Forming! Cora Denny Senior Acting Project
No full textThis website is a compilation of Cora Denny\u27s work and process playing Sister Mary Hubert in Nunsense. This website is part of my theatre senior project in acting. It includes daily journals and reflections, character analysis work, and research I completed to help me develop this role and understand my process
A Path for a Post-Oil Iraq: A Green Transition Strategy to Prepare Iraq for Climate Change
Full text linkDue to resource scarcities from climate change, Iraq needs to reconfigure it\u27s economic policy to resolve them. It needs to have an export model that is diversified from oil due it\u27s weakness as a valuable export. Oil is vulnerable to price shocks and decreased demand from global energy transitions. Instead, Iraq should build knowledge intensive industries that create multiple valuable products to earn the revenue to import scarce resources. This can be attained with a just transition strategy that implements a energy transition while protecting the working class. A energy transition needs policies that lower the relative cost of renewable energy to non-renewable energy. Labor upskilling policies are needed to protect the working class such as labor retraining and educational reform policies. This paper will borrow policies implemented in Germany, Oman and, Sweden to analyze their applicability to Iraq
Projecting The Loss of Shark Tooth Island from Sea Level Rise and Land Subsidence
Full text linkShark Tooth Island, a popular recreational location on the Virginia side of the lower Potomac River, is disappearing. The causes include sea level rise, groundwater withdrawal, and isostatic adjustment. Given the island’s popularity, this presents a unique opportunity to educate the public about real impacts of climate change in a region with climate change denialism
Athletic Attendance Research
Full text linkAthletics play a significant role in college communities, providing entertainment, camaraderie, and purpose for students and fans alike. This study examines attendance trends at University of Mary Washington (UMW) home softball games, analyzing factors that may influence spectator turnout. Using a dataset spanning from 2015 to 2024, this research explores attendance numbers in relation to variables such as temperature, time of game, day of the week, opponent type, and UMW’s win percentage. A linear regression analysis conducted in IBM SPSS identified temperature and day of the week as the only statistically significant factors impacting attendance, with p-values of 0.007 and 0.001, respectively. Results indicate that colder temperatures correlate with lower attendance, while weekday games tend to attract more spectators. The study suggests that UMW softball can increase attendance through strategic scheduling and enhanced promotional efforts, particularly for weekend and cold-weather games. However, limitations such as missing attendance data and the exclusion of travel considerations may impact the findings. This research provides insights that could help optimize attendance strategies for collegiate softball and similar athletic events
Ch. 3: A Generative AI (GAI) Writing Pedagogy: How Composition Pedagogy Can Inform the GAI Turn
No full textThis chapter appears in the book, Rethinking Writing Education in the Age of Generative AI. Edited by Chaoran Wang and Zhongfeng Tian.
Chapter abstract: In response to some educators’ concerns that Generative Artificial Intelligence (GAI) means the end of writing assignments and classes, this chapter contends that GAI represents the latest development in a long history of literacy technologies that begins with writing itself as a technology. After first presenting broad overviews of GAI tools and composition pedagogy, this chapter next reviews specific composition pedagogies and describes how each can inform course designs, writing instruction, and assignments addressing students’ increased access to GAI. These—and other—composition pedagogies offer distinctive emphases and perspectives that can prepare writers for present and future occasions in which they may write and be expected to compose alongside GAI.
This chapter’s overview of multiple composition pedagogies highlights how each approach can inform course development and GAI integration to support essential writing instruction and AI literacy. This discussion underscores the adaptability of various pedagogies to different instructional contexts and individual instructor values and goals. However, while this chapter asserts that existing composition pedagogies continue to offer guidance in teaching writing in the GAI era, this chapter does not argue for incorporating GAI into every writing occasion or to mandate its use. The chapter concludes by considering how some composition pedagogies may be less compatible with GAI and emphasizes the need for continued research.https://scholar.umw.edu/elc_books/1009/thumbnail.jp
Spatial Analysis of Heavy Metal Enrichment in a Historic Appalachian Mining Stream
No full textThis study examined the spatial distribution of heavy metals along the Levisa Fork and primary tributaries in Buchanan County, VA and Pike County, KY. Buchanan and Pike Counties have a long history of coal mining, a process known to release heavy metals into surrounding waterways. Exposure to certain heavy metals, such as arsenic and lead, has been known to cause health problems, such as cancer and organ damage. The study looked at concentrations in riverine sediments, surface water and groundwater for As, Al, Cr, Cu, Fe, Li, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn. Sediment samples were collected, dried and digested and the leachates and water samples analyzed in ICAP-OES. The preliminary results show evidence for anthropogenic enrichment in all elements, especially As, Cd, Cu, Mg, Ni and Zn. The highest enrichments occurred at downstream river bend locations and adjacent to the largest settlement in the area. A single groundwater sample revealed alarming levels of Mn and concerning levels of other elements. To expand on these findings, we will return over the summer to gather sediment cores, more groundwater data and eDNA fish population analysis in the region to further assess contamination trends and potential health risks