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MJCA Fine Motor Workbook
No full textThis doctoral capstone project was completed in partnership with Mount Juliet Christian Academy (MJCA), a private Christian school serving students from Pre-K through 12th grade. MJCA is committed to providing a rigorous, Christ-centered education where students are encouraged to grow into well-rounded, faith-driven leaders. The primary focus of this project was to support the fine motor development of kindergarten and first-grade students. Another focus was the creation of a comprehensive fine motor workbook to be used in collaboration with the educational curriculum. The workbook includes educational resources on age-appropriate fine motor milestones, the importance of addressing W-sitting, strategies from The Zones of Regulation, and guidance on developing functional pencil grasps. Additionally, handwriting worksheets and hands-on fine motor activities were included to support age-appropriate development. These resources were compiled into two physical workbooks—one for kindergarten teachers and one for first-grade teachers—and were also provided in a downloadable digital format for ease of access and long-term use
Forgoing Nuclear: Nuclear Power Plant Closures and Carbon Emissions in the United States
Get PDFThis paper examines the effect of nuclear power plant decommissioning on electricity generation and carbon emissions in the United States. Using data on nuclear reactor closures in the United States between 1993 and 2022 and data on state-level carbon emissions and electricity generation from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), this paper adopts a difference-in- differences (DiD) approach to estimate the effect of nuclear decommissioning. Two-way fixed-effects (TWFE) DiD estimates suggest a nuclear plant closure increases annual state-level per capita carbon emissions between 6% and 8%. The increase in state-level carbon emissions is driven by a substitution toward fossil fuel electricity—particularly coal-fired electricity—following a plant closure. To address concerns about bias in TWFE estimates stemming from heterogeneous treatment effects and/or variation in treatment timing, I implement two alternative estimators robust to treatment effect heterogeneity. Estimates from both the Callaway and Sant\u27Anna (2021) and Borusyak et al. (2024) estimators support the TWFE findings: nuclear power plant closures increase per capita carbon emissions at the state level
The Relationship Between Walking Vs Running and Mental Health
No full textThe present study examined how mental health, specifically depression, anxiety, and stress, relates to the amount of hours one spends in a week walking or running. While previous research has focused on the general effects of physical exercise on mental health, few studies have compared the influence of high intensity physical activity to low intensity physical activity specifically in college students` mental health outcomes. Fifty-five (N=55) Belmont University students were asked to fill out a questionnaire about the amount of hours they spent running or walking in a week and different mental health surveys. A series of six correlation tests was used to examine this relationship. Results indicated that there was no statistically significant correlation between running or walking and the rates of the different mental health outcomes mentioned previously. Implications and future directions of these initial findings are discussed
Anxiety’s relationship with caffeine usage and frequency
No full textPrevious research has suggested mixed findings regarding caffeine’s relationship with anxiety, despite caffeine being the most widely consumed psychoactive substance. This study investigated this relationship further, exploring whether caffeine consumption is associated with perceived anxiety symptoms. Sixty-five participants completed an online survey through Qualtrics that assessed daily caffeine intake and anxiety levels using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale. A linear regression tested the relationship between levels of caffeine use and perceived levels of anxiety. An independent samples t-test compared anxiety levels between participants who consume less than 400 mg of caffeine and those who consume 400 mg or more. The linear regression showed no significant relationship between caffeine intake and anxiety levels. The results from the t-test also indicated no significant difference in anxiety scores between the two groups. However, the high-caffeine group only included one participant, which severely limited statistical power. These findings do not support either of the hypotheses posed and suggest that caffeine consumption may not significantly predict anxiety levels. Additionally, there was only one participant who consumed over 400 mg of caffeine, which suggests that a majority of people consume healthy amounts of caffeine. Future research could include a diverse and more compliant group of participants to clarify this relationship
Life Satisfaction in Emerging Adults: Social Opportunity Anxiety and ADHD/ADD Compared to Overall Life Satisfaction in College-Age Students
No full textLife satisfaction refers to an evaluation done by the participant of their life on the basis of their own standards (Diener et al., 1985). Fear of missing out (FOMO) is particularly widespread among adolescents and emerging adults, as increased social media activity heightens the pressure to maintain social connections (Davis et al., 2023). FOMO is negatively related to life satisfaction (Deniz, 2021). Individuals with ADHD/ADD may be more likely to experience low life satisfaction (Chao et al., 2008) as well as higher levels of FOMO due to increased sensitivity to rejection (Gupta, 2021). This study examined the relationship between ADHD/ADD diagnosis and life satisfaction via FOMO as a mediator in emerging adults. In this study, emerging adults recruited via Prolific (N = 50; Mage = 25.08) filled out a survey on Qualtrics that measured demographics, ADHD/ADD diagnosis, FOMO, and life satisfaction. Results indicated that those with ADHD/ADD did not have higher rates of FOMO compared to those without ADHD/ADD. Furthermore, those with ADHD/ADD and those without did not show any difference in overall life satisfaction. It was also found that higher levels of FOMO and low life satisfaction had no significant correlation. These results suggest that the indirect effect of ADHD/ADD on life satisfaction via FOMO was not significant
The Role of People Pleasing and Agreeableness in Impostorism
No full textImpostorism is a phenomenon present among adolescents and emerging adults that brings up feelings of self-doubt and fear and relates to various mental health struggles (Khan, 2025). Impostorism has also been linked with self-esteem and performance issues (Salari, 2025). People-pleasing is defined as the trait in which people desire the approval of others and learn positive traits that give them positive regard (Kell, 2009). Agreeableness can be defined as the personality trait that is most concerned with prosocial acts that will build positive relationships with others (Wilmot & Ones, 2022). There has been previous research conducted on the relationship between impostorism and the Big Five item of agreeableness, but no study exists so far around agreeableness and people-pleasing as factors related to feelings of impostorism in emerging adults. This study explored how agreeableness and people-pleasing tendencies relate to impostorism in emerging adults. In this study, emerging adults (N = 45, Mage = 24.82) recruited via Prolific filled out a survey on Qualtrics that measured demographics, personality (including agreeableness), people-pleasing measures, and impostorism. Results indicated that people-pleasing tendencies were related to higher levels of impostorism, while higher agreeableness scores were associated with lower levels of impostorism. This suggests that people-pleasing tendencies can be a viable predictor of feelings of impostorism, while agreeableness cannot
Immunofluorescence-Based Detection of MYC–EGR1 Pathway Activity in p53-Deficient Human Colorectal Cancer Cells
No full textImmunofluorescence-Based Detection of MYC–EGR1 Pathway Activity in p53-Deficient Human Colorectal Cancer Cells
The Wnt signaling pathway drives proliferation in the intestinal epithelium and maintains those cells in an undifferentiated state. Dysregulation of this pathway results in uncontrolled proliferation of the intestinal epithelium which can lead to colorectal cancer. These effects are driven by the expression of a common Wnt target gene, MYC. Upregulation of MYC expression by the Wnt signaling pathway, either during normal Wnt signaling or dysregulated Wnt signaling, canonically drives intestinal epithelial cells into a proliferative state. Under a specific cellular context, the loss of functional p53, MYC can noncanonically upregulate the expression of a tumor suppressor gene, EGR1, leading to apoptosis instead of proliferation (termed the MYC-EGR1 pathway). This is of particular interest because one of the standard genetic alterations found in late-stage colorectal carcinomas results in the loss of functional p53. This MYC-EGR1 pathway was identified in p53 knockout mouse embryonic fibroblasts but has yet to be observed in human cells. To assess the presence of the MYC-EGR1 pathway in human intestinal epithelial cells, we employed HCT116 variant cell lines with wild-type p53 (p53+/+) or with a knockout of the TP53 locus (p53-/-). These cell lines were transduced with shRNA targeting MYC or EGR1 or with a non-targeting (scrambled) shRNA control. The effect of MYC knockdown on EGR1 expression was used to assess whether MYC was controlling EGR1 expression, and the role of p53 was assessed within the different cell lines. For instance, in MYC shRNA transduced cells (decreased MYC expression), we expect a decrease in EGR1 if the MYC-EGR1 pathway is functional. An immunofluorescence staining technique was used to assess the levels of MYC and EGR1 protein, fluorescence microscopy was used to detect GFP expression; a fluorescence staining technique was used to assess the levels of MYC and EGR1 protein, scence staining technique was used to assess the levels of MYC and EGR1 protein and transduced cells were identified by a GFP marker. Of interest, paraformaldehyde fixation appeared to quench GFP fluorescence. Several fixation techniques were evaluated for GFP quenching before MYC or EGR1 protein levels could be compared between transduced and untransduced cells. Successsful detection of MYC-EGR1 pathway activity in human colorectal cancer cells, particularly those lacking p53 and thus mimicking late-stage tumorigenesis, could lead to this pathway being used as a novel therapeutic target
Effects of High Glucose on Embryonic Development
No full textElevated glucose levels during early development are known to cause various metabolic and morphological abnormalities. This study investigated the effects of different glucose concentrations on zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryonic development. Embryos were exposed to increasing concentrations of glucose solutions (control, 1%, 2%, and 3%) from early developmental stages [from 24 hpf to 96 hpf]. This period of incubation revealed a slight decrease in heart rate at 3% glucose [p = 0.0302], while overall survival rates remained relatively stable after 24 hours of incubation. However, measurements of tail blood vessel length and head vessel branching showed significant reductions [p = 0.0379 and p = 0.0234 respectively] at 3% glucose. Furthermore, the intensity recorded for both tail vessels and head vessels was reduced considerably in 3% glucose solutions [p = 0.0032 and p = 0.0107 respectively]. The reduced length and intensity of both head and blood vessels in increasing glucose concentrations were both statistically significant [α = 0.05], suggesting early impairment in vascular development.
To further test the impact of higher glucose levels, embryos were also exposed to 3.5% and 3.7% glucose solutions. These higher concentrations caused severe morphological defects and complete loss of viability after 24 hr incubation.
Collectively, these results indicate that hyperglycemic conditions disrupt overall embryonic development in zebrafish, supporting their use as a vertebrate model for studying the developmental effects of diabetes and metabolic disorders