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A Unified Synthetic Approach to Onychine, Eupolauridine, and 1-Azafluoranthene via A Shared 1,2,4-Triazine Precursor
No full textOnychine, eupolauridine, and 1-azafluoranthene are three distinct pyridine-containing alkaloids with recognized bioactivities in each of their own respectives. This thesis describes a unified synthetic approach to access all three alkaloids via a shared tricyclic 1,2,4-traizine precursor. The total synthesis of onychine was achieved featuring an inverse electron-demand Diels-Alder/retro-Diels-Alder cycloaddition/cycloreversion, a nucleopholic aromatic substitution reaction, and a silver-catalyzed protodecarboxylation. The progress toward the syntheses of eupolauridine and 1-azafluoranthene will be described.ChemistryBachelors of Science (BS
When The Declaration Of Independence Was News
No full text“When the Declaration of Independence was News” focuses on the nine months between May 1776 and January 1777 when the Continental Congress’ Declaration of Independence was news. Proclaiming independence to the world was a messy and unpredictable process that has been overlooked in the historiography of the Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution more broadly. Once the Declaration was printed, the Continental Congress had little control over what people did with it or thought of it. The Declaration was celebrated, but the text was also translated, excerpted, and critiqued in ways that undermined the sovereignty of the United States. As news, the Declaration of Independence was obscured by and combined with other pieces of information and misinformation. The founding of the United States looks different when we consider the timing of the Declaration, as well as the time it took for the Declaration to circulate around the Atlantic. Chapters 1, 2, and 3 set up the local and international expectations for a declaration of independence from Great Britain by focusing on two resolutions dated May 15, 1776: one passed by the Continental Congress, recommending the establishment of new governments in every colony, the other passed by the Virginia Convention, instructing Virginia’s delegates in the Congress to declare independence. Richard Henry Lee formally presented these new instructions on June 7, and after a few days of debate, the Congress postponed a vote on independence for three weeks. Meanwhile, the news of the May 15 Resolution reached Europe, where it was treated as a declaration of independence. Chapter 4 examines the drafting of the Declaration of Independence and Chapter 5 focuses on the broadsides printed by John Dunlap and the reception of the news in and around Philadelphia. Chapters 6 and 7 contrast the celebration of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Army in Manhattan with the disdainful reaction by the British forces assembling on Staten Island. Vice-Admiral Richard Howe, one of the King’s Commissioners for Restoring Peace, issued his own declaration which influenced the Congress’ decision to create a parchment copy of the Declaration for the delegates to sign. Chapter 8 focuses on Massachusetts, where the Declaration arrived in the middle of a window for legal smallpox inoculation in Boston and a treaty negotiation with Mi’kmaq and Maliseet representatives across the river in Watertown. Chapter 9 highlights the people who refused to read the Declaration of Independence publicly, including ministers and county sheriffs. Chapter 10 examines copies of the Declaration that were intercepted by British officials. Chapter 11 reveals how London printers manipulated the Declaration by self-censoring and excerpting the text and printing it alongside other pieces of news. Chapter 12 shows that European newspapers copied the London newspapers, to the dismay of Silas Deane, the Continental Congress’ agent in Paris. The Conclusion returns to the Continental Congress in January 1777, when they ordered a broadside of the Declaration with the names of the fifty-five men who had signed the parchment copy by that time. These broadsides marked the end of the period of time when the Declaration of Independence was news.HistoryDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.
Development of Low-Cost, Arduino based, Nephelometric and Back-Scatter Turbidity Sensors for Community-Led Environmental Restoration Monitoring in Rural Alaotra-Mangoro Region, Madagascar and James City County, Virginia
No full textLake Alaotra is the largest lake in Madagascar, and the surrounding wetlands are a major food producing region for Madagascar. The regions around Lake Alaotra are suffering from deforestation and erosion. Due to the cultural and economic importance of Lake Alaotra it has become of particular interest for restoration. Conservation International and the Priceless Planet Coalition have collaborated on a project to reforest the area. This project relies on stakeholder engagement and is led by the communities in the region. Community engagement and the expertise they provide is critical for successful conservation. The community involvement in the evaluation and monitoring is just as important, although there are many obstacles to monitoring and many projects are never evaluated. In particular, the cost of project evaluation is high, especially for water quality. A meter for water turbidity capable of mid to long-term deployment costs thousands of dollars. We aimed to create a sensor capable of mid to long-term deployment that was low cost and made from locally sourced parts. We heavily considered materials likely to be available in Madagascar as we created our design. In summer 2023, we built three sensors. One was built from parts almost entirely found in Madagascar. Two were deployed successfully for a week-long test period in study streams in the Alaotra-Mangoro region and one was used for local workshops. Over fall 2023 and spring 2024 we built two additional sensors that have been used to collect calibration data. The data from these tests has allowed us to refine the sensor design, improve deployment materials, and engage with community membersChemistryBachelors of Science (BS
Faraday Rotation Results Associated with the Photoionized Gas of IC 1396
No full textWe utilized the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array radio interferometer to make polarization measurements of eight distant galaxies viewed through and near the IC 1396 nebula at frequencies between 4.43 GHz and 7.31 GHz. These return Faraday rotation measurements that we use as probes to assess the extent to which the Galactic magnetic field is modified by the HII region. We find that sources having lines of sight passing through IC 1396 have an excess rotation measure (RM) values of 62-465 rad m-2 with respect to the background RM. We employed two separate techniques to determine the RM of each source, a least-squares fit to χ(λ2) and Rotation Measure Synthesis. We additionally applied a simplified shell model to understand the plasma structure of IC 1396, which returned the geometry of the shell, electron densities as well as expected RM values. We find the observed RMs are smaller than those predicted by the model, while aligning with the values returned by RM Synthesis. We also find sources with lines of sight passing through and near IC 1396 are consistent with the polarity with the Galactic background RM. Additionally, these results indicate that the Galactic magnetic field is not amplified by the dynamics, such as ionization fronts, of the nebula.PhysicsBachelors of Science (BS
Sea Turtle Patrol
No full textGrades: 4. Subjects: Life Science | Environmental Science | Oceanography | Math Collecting data on nesting sea turtles and graphing data.Virginia Institute of Marine Scienc
Artificial light as a tool to reduce bycatch in the sea scallop, Placopecten magellanicus, dredge fishery
No full textTwo bycatch reduction methods were tested on a sea scallop dredge to investigate their effects on bycatch reduction. SafetyNet Technologies Pisces light technology and a 6 inch square mesh escape panel installed in the twine top were tested. White, green and blue light colors, two flash rates and two brightness levels for the Pisces lights were tested. The Pisces lights were tested on the bale bar as well as with the experimental and commercially used twine tops. A two row escape panel was tested in the center and the trailing edge of the twine top. Pisces lights reduced the catch of flatfish, but there was no effect of color, flash rate or brightness level. The escape panel located at the trailing edge of the twine top has the largest reduction in flatfish catch. The reduction in catch of other bycatch species was minimal.Virginia Institute of Marine Scienc
2024 Chesapeake Bay Dead Zone Report
Get PDFWilliam & Mary’s Batten School & VIMS and Anchor QEA have released their 2024 Dead Zone Report Card detailing the volume and duration of hypoxic, or low-oxygen, conditions in the Chesapeake Bay. The annual Dead Zone report is created using a computer model based on the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Forecast System (CBEFS). The computer modeling complements the Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) annual Hypoxia Report, which is based on semi-monthly monitoring cruises measuring dissolved oxygen. Both reports are used by the Chesapeake Bay Program to monitor the health of the Bay in relation to established nutrient management and water quality goals
An Image that Resonates: Yang Liping and the Evolution of Contemporary Chinese Folk Dance
No full textYang Liping 杨丽萍 (b. 1958) is China’s most successful contemporary folk dance choreographer. Beyond being famous among dancers, she has achieved the status of a mainstream popular celebrity, balancing her reputation as a fine artist and cultural purist with success in the commercial arena. Drawing on nearly two decades of ethnographic and archival research in China, as well as analysis of Yang’s dance performances, interviews, and visual media representations, this article asks how Yang achieved this unprecedented success through contemporary folk dance choreography. The paper examines Yang’s rise to fame since the late 1970s through her transformation of an iconic Chinese folk image: the peacock dance. Peacock dance uses elements of a mythological story from Buddhist literature with a type of village dance performed in one particular ethnic group in China and adapts it into a multimedia national image that gets reproduced in film, visual art, and dance choreography. The paper shows how Yang has deftly adapted the peacock dance into her own signature brand through a series of multimedia platforms, while she maintains an emphasis on dance, a charismatic public persona, and a unique yet constantly adapting contemporary folk aesthetic as the core of her appeal. Serbian Abstract: Јанг Липинг 杨丽萍 (р. 1958) је најуспешнија кинеска кореографкиња савременог традиционалног плеса у Кини. Осим што је позната међу плесачима, она је постигла статус мејнстрим популарне и познате личности, балансирајући своју репутацију ликовне уметнице и културног чистунца са успехом у комерцијалној арени. Ослањајући се на скоро две деценије етнографских и архивских истраживања у Кини, као и на анализу Јангових плесних представа, интервјуа и визуелних медијских репрезентација, овај чланак поставља питање: како је Јанг постигла овај невиђени успех кроз савремену кореографију традициналног плеса? Рад истражује Јангов успон до славе од касних 1970-их кроз њену трансформацију култне кинеске народне иконе: плес пауна. Паунов плес користи елементе митолошке приче из будистичке књижевности са врстом сеоског плеса који се изводи у једној одређеној етничкој групи у Кини и прилагођава га у мултимедијалну националну слику која се репродукује у филму, визуелној уметности и плесној кореографији. У раду је приказано како је Јанг вешто прилагодила плес пауна у свој препознатљив бренд кроз низ мултимедијалних платформи, док она задржава нагласак на плесу, харизматичној публици и јединственој, али стално адаптирајућој савременој фолк естетици као сржи своје јединственсти.Modern Languages & Literature
Ecological Restoration Of The Native Oyster, Crassostrea Virginica, To Chesapeake Bay
No full textNative oyster populations have largely collapsed worldwide, with extensive losses of habitat and ecological function. Efforts to restore oysters have been initiated in Europe, Australia, China and North America. In 2004, the first large-scale oyster restoration project was constructed in Chesapeake Bay, employing novel methods including increasing reef height to mimic pre-exploitation reefs, enlarged reef area to address spatial scale, and augmenting recruitment. High-relief reefs (HRR) were built from 25-40 cm in height to better mimic pre-exploitation reefs, while low-relief reefs (LRR) were built at 6-8 cm off existing bottom, mimicking repletion methods by state fishery management agencies used for almost a century. Results documented in 2009 for the HRR were very promising but questions remained regarding longevity of these reefs, as no restoration construction at the time showed evidence of long-term persistence nor gain in function, declining significantly within five years post-construction. We document here the ongoing high performance and long-term persistence of this restored oyster reef network, located in the Great Wicomico River, Virginia. Chapter 1 is an introduction to the topic. Chapter 2 is a thorough description and analysis of the history of the oyster fishery in Virginia from colonial times to the present. To properly restore oysters, an understanding of what happened to them and their habitat since European colonization was deemed necessary to avoid the mistake of shifting the baseline. Such a shift would lead to a lowering of standards, necessary research, and development of restoration methods such that restoration failure would likely continue. Chapter 3 assesses the efficiency of the fishing gear, an oyster patent tong, to measure the number of oysters precisely and accurately in a given sample. As it is our chosen gear for monitoring throughout the study period, it was essential to ensure the monitoring gear chosen was sufficient to produce reliable results. Chapter 4 investigated the recruitment signal in the Great Wicomico River, compared it to pre-construction data and determined that the recruitment signal in the river was enhanced, beginning several years post-construction of the sanctuary reefs. The assessment also provided information that suggests the stock-recruitment signal for oysters is strongly influenced by regional weather patterns, with drought conditions significantly enhancing the recruitment signal, even when stock levels are too low to see any distinct pattern between stock and recruitment. Chapter 5 documents the results of all monitoring data from 2006-2019 and, due to this, also serves as my ending discussion. Oyster densities, biomass and shell volume were examined. Results suggest the restored reef network has successfully transitioned to a self-sustaining reef system, with high density and biomass/m2 on the HRR, along with a positive shell budget. LRR lags far behind regarding density and biomass/m2 and does not demonstrate a positive shell budget over time. The HRR is also demonstrating a positive rate of reef height gain relative to local sea level rise. Overall, our data suggest that native oyster restoration can be successful, though novel methods were required to do so.Virginia Institute of Marine ScienceDoctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.