tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85005106350096980192024-02-06T21:12:06.044-05:00OSCAR at George Mason UniversityOSCAR at George Mason UniversityBethany M Usherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18352469807617088774noreply@blogger.comBlogger938125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500510635009698019.post-4052703463925120642022-08-26T17:22:00.000-04:002022-08-26T17:22:01.491-04:00URSP Student Ulda Maldonado-Arias Researches the Immigrant Paradox and Advantage<p>The research project I took on was to observe the immigrant
paradox and immigrant advantage within the MSRP data set provided by my faculty
advisor. The MSRP (Miami School Readiness Program) data set is 5-cohort, 14
year sequential project that observes children attend Miami Dade Public
schools. This was influenced by my decision to join the honor’s psychology
program at George Mason University. In this program as an undergrad, you choose
to go through a mock thesis process. For three semester you must prepare a
thesis document, propose it and finally defend it. During this process you will
present to other in conferences/symposiums and work in a research lab.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">During Covid-19 this was quite difficult because you could
not really meet someone that shared your research interests in person. Not only
that but a lot of research was put on hold. Finding someone who would be
interested in mentoring you was quite hard. I didn’t lose hope and found Dr.
Adam Winsler. I had learned about the immigrant advantage in my adolescent
psychology course and found out that immigrants show greater resilience than
U.S. born children, so I wanted to investigate that more. Dr. Adam Winsler
loved the idea and explained some previous graduate students had also
investigated the phenomena. After figuring out exactly what I was interested
in, by examining various literature I decided to fill in the gap by looking at
variation based on country of origin and solely compare immigrants to one
another.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This project has lasted for about three semesters. In the
beginning I spent 5-7 hours looking at the literature. During the summer and
spring of 2021, I made drafts of my introduction/literature review. A total of
8 drafts were made! Dr. Winsler has helped with refining my writing skills which
I am grateful for. Fall of 2021 it was time to defend and come up with the
methods on how to go about data analysis for spring of 2022. I spent 8-10 hours
on my project, as I was also applying for the OSCAR grant and the NCUR
conference. I also went through a couple of versions for my methods section.
Now it is finally spring of 2022 and I spend about 10 hours on my project a
week. I have been cleaning data to make sure all the kids in my sample are
included. Then data analysis has been done and interpretation of data. In a day
I try to break time intervals for my project and schoolwork. If its exam week I
reserve one day for my project and the other for studying. <o:p></o:p></p>
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This project has fit into my future plans as I
wish to continue research on minorities within developmental psychology. This
project will help open doors with all the skills I have acquired. I went from
not knowing what a syntax file was in SPSS to knowing the difference between
point and click and syntaxing (FYI makes the job easier). Next year I will be
looking into graduate programs and this project will help with that by helping
me refine my interests and stand out to schools. Now, that’s the long-term
future, as for short term I hope to continue my project with different grade
levels and hopefully publish before I end my undergraduate career as I work
alongside the Winslab the research lab that has made this project possible</span>OSCARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271758259808637827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500510635009698019.post-89866443464056760802022-08-26T17:18:00.000-04:002022-08-26T17:18:11.842-04:00URSP Student Natasha Tagle Assesses the Redox Conditions in the North Pacific Ocean during the Warm Pliocene Epoch using Nitrogen Isotopes<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhiXCMmImXRCMoTiYgd6HY_oyqVBDjLJHxphEXY-bB6pFL_oSrFwOQYuPECPEa5O3gZNmkHMRFRCQ4hCruYYtEwsvutnGBy0MxReA3mjPxylDafmOqEVnxaidaZ4H_rWrF2cSAtDYQ9dRSAv8QaDvA-mcx9K8wfM9uXaEqneDX-Q_6F6he5krw5gnOU" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="338" data-original-width="802" height="135" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhiXCMmImXRCMoTiYgd6HY_oyqVBDjLJHxphEXY-bB6pFL_oSrFwOQYuPECPEa5O3gZNmkHMRFRCQ4hCruYYtEwsvutnGBy0MxReA3mjPxylDafmOqEVnxaidaZ4H_rWrF2cSAtDYQ9dRSAv8QaDvA-mcx9K8wfM9uXaEqneDX-Q_6F6he5krw5gnOU" width="320" /></a></div><span style="text-align: left;"><div style="text-align: left;">Assessing past oceanic current patterns is very important to understanding and predicting
the future of the Earth and its oceans. My research proposes that there was a deep-ocean
current that occurred in the North Pacific Ocean. I used two core samples provided by the
International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP). The project consisted of crushing the samples,
weighing them out in a centrifuge tube, acidifying, rinsing the samples, drying them in an oven,
reweighing, and homogenizing the samples into a powder again. From there, the samples were
ready for nitrogen isotopic analysis at the University of Maryland (UMD). Working through this
research project has been very interesting, each day came with its own challenges. This made
the pacing of completing the research a greater lesson in time management, as well as adapting
to new work environments & problem-solving. </div></span></div><p></p><p>For example, one day will consist of a meeting to debrief on any information I am unfamiliar
with, work through a few steps in the lab to prep my samples, and then head to class. Next, I’ll
be doing readings for research, and then work for my second job, aside from my project,
school, and another job. I have valuable weekly progress meetings with the entire research
group. As a result, I have been able to learn more about the other research topics the other
students have been working on. The last biggest step for this research is having the opportunity
to present my project at the Joint North-Central & Southeastern Section in April 2022 for the
Geological Society of America (GSA). Thus far, I have gained much more knowledge throughout
the process of having a research project than I thought possible, and am looking forward to any
opportunities that may come forth as a result of this project</p>OSCARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271758259808637827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500510635009698019.post-53975123889359611852022-07-28T19:42:00.000-04:002022-07-28T19:42:19.619-04:00URSP Student Ayman Slamani Researches Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) <p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: justify;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHwMH0PY_l_iGfuNXCnVoDy4X7HIu8vJgflk3n_QOJXbSsANOzAIcHnV1qqo-hajn-QZ7WmUt47v8G3k_-5_4PSTL7s-JDf_42Y74Lwp2hzGbn7P8CsUSIG3L-sJzoKg0tXpyZPH1Q9RYkgoxg2lEffHnTfa_9M7EpFTZF3zAxg5fxG_UhEVJAe6Ux" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2208" data-original-width="1186" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiHwMH0PY_l_iGfuNXCnVoDy4X7HIu8vJgflk3n_QOJXbSsANOzAIcHnV1qqo-hajn-QZ7WmUt47v8G3k_-5_4PSTL7s-JDf_42Y74Lwp2hzGbn7P8CsUSIG3L-sJzoKg0tXpyZPH1Q9RYkgoxg2lEffHnTfa_9M7EpFTZF3zAxg5fxG_UhEVJAe6Ux" width="129" /></a></div>The brain is arguably the most
important organ in the human body but even in this day and age we know so
little about it. My name is Ayman Slamani and I am a senior majoring in
Bioengineering, with a concentration in pre-health. I have always been a
curious person to the core, and I seek to learn the most that I can about
topics that pique my interest. The topic that has interested me the most, since
learning about Ben Carson’s revolutionary neurosurgery while watching the movie
<i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: justify;">Gifted Hand,</i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-align: justify;"> has been the brain. This is why my ultimate career goal is
to become a neurosurgeon and why I chose to focus my research on brain-computer
interfaces (BCIs).</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Most of the current research
studies regarding BCIs use electrocorticography (ECoG). This is due to the
necessity of gathering high resolution electrical activity from the brain to allow
for easier manipulation of data gathered and the specialization of that data. The
issue with this method is that it is very invasive, requiring the implantation
of a microelectrode array on the surface of the brain. This comes with many
risks for the patient.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">Electroencephalography (EEG) is a
non-invasive method of collecting electrical activity of the brain. Because it
involves collecting electrical signals via electrodes on top of the scalp, the
signal is attenuated. This research area is still in its infancy in terms of
what has been accomplished. That’s I chose to use EEG signals for my research</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">I am currently working with my
mentor, Dr. Siddartha Sikdar, to develop a brain </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">computer interface that integrates
the use of an EEG headset with a predictive algorithm built to manipulate the grasping
actions a prosthetic hand. My research so far has been looking at precedent in
this area of study as well as how to process EEG data through MATLAB and
adjunct software. The EEG headset that I will be using for this study just came
in and I am excited to start data collection and work on the algorithm side of
this research. These will be the most important steps in producing a working
BCI.</span></p>OSCARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271758259808637827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500510635009698019.post-60295358761819864722022-07-28T19:32:00.000-04:002022-07-28T19:32:05.158-04:00URSP Student Garret Rich Investigates if Elephant Toenails can be Utilized for the Monitoring of Long-term Hormone Patterns<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp7W3czzQiwnbc6R1Jz0ViRpuHyFpPdjejWfPJlPt2OkjJKjmLUzTSHsb33PXHYdP2e32Pa4DYneznVTuQ-yqvc2f8cuxgXPQWytUaD3avzMgUMDxu3DqouR4kTEIQKDkzDcqgUeyEUtMvMQS6nP4OwtxvloiBSc5R1qTD8bknA_JXHrV5J3NOxppC/s2485/GarrettRich_BlogPhoto.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2485" data-original-width="2320" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp7W3czzQiwnbc6R1Jz0ViRpuHyFpPdjejWfPJlPt2OkjJKjmLUzTSHsb33PXHYdP2e32Pa4DYneznVTuQ-yqvc2f8cuxgXPQWytUaD3avzMgUMDxu3DqouR4kTEIQKDkzDcqgUeyEUtMvMQS6nP4OwtxvloiBSc5R1qTD8bknA_JXHrV5J3NOxppC/s320/GarrettRich_BlogPhoto.png" width="299" /></a></div></div>Over the course of the fall and spring semesters, I have been working with Dr. Elizabeth Freeman and Dr. Kathleen Hunt on a project to identify if elephant toenails can be utilized for the monitoring of long-term hormone patterns.<br /><o:p></o:p><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Traditionally, urine,
feces, and blood have been used for monitoring hormones. One of the main
drawbacks of traditional samples is that they reflect short periods of hormone
information. This can be problematic for species like elephants as they undergo
long-term fluctuations in hormones (for example, three month long estrous
cycles), which may not be as easy to detect with the day-to-day variation of
traditional samples. Toenail samples attracted our interest as their slow
growth may better capture fluctuations that occurred over weeks and months. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Throughout this semester,
we have worked on processing toenail samples to determine their hormone
concentrations. We are currently working on running samples from three African
elephants (two females and a male) collected across the span of a year. My
typical lab work includes pulverizing samples, doing hormone extractions, and
testing hormone extracts to quantify concentrations of testosterone,
progesterone and cortisol. All three hormones turned out to be highly
detectable from toenail extracts and have had no issues passing verification
tests. Even more exciting, variations in hormones have been preserved in our
toenail samples and the variations do line up with our physiological
expectations for the individual elephants (e.g., dramatic fluctuations in
progesterone in a female known to be cycling, and periods of high testosterone
in the male). By the end of the semester, we will have finished our data
analysis of hormone concentrations with African elephants and begun work to
publish the results.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">I feel very fortunate to
have worked on this project so far. I am interested in animal physiology and
have considered possibly attending veterinary school after finishing my
undergraduate degree. This project has given me the unique opportunity to work
with endangered species while also giving me hands-on skills used in
investigating animal physiology. In the future we plan to continue our analyses
with Asian elephant toenails and will present our work at relevant conferences.</span></p><br />OSCARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271758259808637827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500510635009698019.post-54301686202955486082022-07-28T19:20:00.004-04:002022-07-28T19:20:50.424-04:00URSP Student Isabella Meerzaman Investigates whether BAX or Bax Inhibitor 1 (BI-1) suppresses Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) stress induced cell death in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 9.5pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjt7DQGteYiXT_GvbDsN9ZKerd8KL2J-PAvgy7dpN4mya3xb_w7k9MF3nUG3QbqpSh1NVR7T9R1qLZ8JSQV8A38G13NVvT5BenOVhBKtWEb9FexhCbakEMQpYVBAMIckP27PEtOvchDXirFZovyph8EN3OT0bT47Q4-2WANOF1aTvKDAiui2HxDrRI1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="456" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjt7DQGteYiXT_GvbDsN9ZKerd8KL2J-PAvgy7dpN4mya3xb_w7k9MF3nUG3QbqpSh1NVR7T9R1qLZ8JSQV8A38G13NVvT5BenOVhBKtWEb9FexhCbakEMQpYVBAMIckP27PEtOvchDXirFZovyph8EN3OT0bT47Q4-2WANOF1aTvKDAiui2HxDrRI1" width="270" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 9.5pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Clinical research has led to novel treatment options that offer patients a glimmer of hope by improving and extending their quality of life. The ability of scientists and researchers to map disease-causing pathways to identify inhibitors/activators that slow or stop disease progression has provided the medical community with a new treatment arsenal. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a fatal lung disease that affects 3 million individuals globally. IPF causes</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 9.5pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"> e</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 9.5pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">xcessive permanent scarring of the lungs known as fibrosis, making it hard for proper gas exchange to occur.</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 9.5pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">I
have been working in Dr. Grants lab focusing on a project that investigates
whether “BAX or Bax Inhibitor 1 (BI-1) suppresses Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER)
stress induced cell death in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis.”. ER stress is
induced in IPF cells, then BI-1, BAX or both are silenced to see if sensitivity
to ER stress is altered. If BI-1 or BAX can suppress ER stress induced cell
death, it could critically alter IPF treatment and provide a possible pathway
framework to target. This project has allowed me to gain more experience with
bench based lab research and data analysis. Working in Dr. Grants lab has
helped prepare me for my post bacc research fellowship with the Department of
Defense and my future career as a clinical research physician.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-indent: .5in;"><o:p></o:p></p>OSCARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271758259808637827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500510635009698019.post-51120112118357337802022-07-10T18:50:00.001-04:002022-07-10T18:50:39.942-04:00URSP Student Violetta Rostobaya Studies the Mechanical and Tribological Properties of 3D printed PLA+HA Composite<p><span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghiZ9D6WB9dbcUsLC-nooQpAQb6lTX-YK59EzP5bf6gJdND877-bvorMYjgSsswjgRTCFKQb36G115KM9NwC9ef-UEUGCsPH9CUsFaZoF5djlC_ii7I6w2vwjCIMBxV8iRNmH295Jbiww6i5MzDvvB6mzke3PosdTdiOSC51C8FtNDmNlBHZI0FNmg/s576/Picture1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="576" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghiZ9D6WB9dbcUsLC-nooQpAQb6lTX-YK59EzP5bf6gJdND877-bvorMYjgSsswjgRTCFKQb36G115KM9NwC9ef-UEUGCsPH9CUsFaZoF5djlC_ii7I6w2vwjCIMBxV8iRNmH295Jbiww6i5MzDvvB6mzke3PosdTdiOSC51C8FtNDmNlBHZI0FNmg/s320/Picture1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;">My name is Violetta Rostobaya and I am a senior mechanical
engineering student at Mason. I have been working on material science project
under mentorship of Dr. Ali Beheshti and Dr. Shaghayegh Bagheri since Fall
2021.</span><span style="text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="text-align: justify;">This research project became an
important step in my journey as an engineer and a researcher. I am very
grateful to both of my mentors and URSP program for the opportunity to
participate in undergraduate research and become an active member of Mason
engineering research community. </span><span style="text-align: justify;">My average day at a lab starts with preparing the polymer
material for extrusion. Sometimes depending on the method of manufacturing it
can take up to several days for the mixture to prepare before the extrusion. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="text-align: justify;">This process is tedious and requires a lot of patience, precision as well as
lab equipment management skills, which I did not have at the start of this
project. This semester however I feel more confident and have clearer direction
of the project. After the material is extruded, the produced filament is used
to 3D print samples for compression and indentation testing.</span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">My next steps are finishing up the production process and
testing the samples. The results of the tests will be summarized and analyzed
in a research paper. I hope to publish the paper in an academic journal and
launch my researcher career. I am planning to start my graduate school in Fall
2022, so I hope this work will provide me some recognition within scientific
community.<o:p></o:p></p>OSCARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271758259808637827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500510635009698019.post-52323892419999382022022-07-10T18:31:00.000-04:002022-07-10T18:31:43.190-04:00URSP Student Ashley Rodriguez Examines the Effects of Presentation of Pretrial Risk Probabilities on Pretrial Release Decisions<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj6HxMzawD2YxlYJsutyTruixFhLQPZ3CColvQvof7uI307Piv5KTpNXynERwvA-y2eDraE-N7Be20jmpp1KPGybU0UhVHHEbPwO-qWXljo6fRHi7sBUiYoY6f7h0W2zl8wvPcar-rldMmx6WO1r_NrODixFT7Sg1wI1b2QtkcXZmntgun0oHBpqGSw" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="283" data-original-width="624" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj6HxMzawD2YxlYJsutyTruixFhLQPZ3CColvQvof7uI307Piv5KTpNXynERwvA-y2eDraE-N7Be20jmpp1KPGybU0UhVHHEbPwO-qWXljo6fRHi7sBUiYoY6f7h0W2zl8wvPcar-rldMmx6WO1r_NrODixFT7Sg1wI1b2QtkcXZmntgun0oHBpqGSw" width="320" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Jurisdictions across the U.S. are increasingly using risk assessment
tools to standardize every defendant’s risk to community safety which informs
pretrial decision-making. One often overlooked area of risk assessment research
is how risk assessment information is communicated to decision-makers.</span></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The goal of my project is
to examine whether presenting risk assessment information as a fixed or
variable probability effects pretrial decision-making. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Under the supervision of my mentor, Dr. Evan Lowder, I
created eight vignettes to simulate the information a typical pretrial actor
would receive during a pretrial hearing. These vignettes varied by risk
assessment score and whether the offense was violent. I created one
questionnaire for all participants to answer. I uploaded my vignettes and
questionnaire to Qualtrics. Next, I recruited judges, pretrial officers,
defense attorneys, and prosecutors through locating publicly available contact
information for their offices or through professional associations.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">An average day this half of the semester involves me
continuing to recruit more participants in order to increase my sample size and
to obtain a more geographically representative sample. I am also in the process
of perfecting an R script to clean and graph the data and creating a Stata
script to analyze the data. Finally, I am refining my manuscript to hopefully
send to publication.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I fell in love in research when I began working with
Dr. Lowder on my own independent research project and with other projects
within the Early Justice Strategies Lab. I decided a year ago that I wanted to
do research permanently which led me to applying to various criminology
doctoral programs last semester. I used an enhanced version of this project’s
proposal as my writing sample to these various schools to illustrate my desire
to conduct research. I believe that this project was one of many factors that
led me to my admission to numerous funded criminology doctoral programs. Through
conducting this research project this semester, I will have a stronger skillset
and overall experience when I begin my doctoral journey next semester.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">
<br /></span></p></div>OSCARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271758259808637827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500510635009698019.post-26934976391934996442022-07-10T18:13:00.002-04:002022-07-10T18:13:33.003-04:00URSP Student Daniel Hernandez Analyzes the Surface Degradation of Additively Manufactured (AM) ABS Polymers for Naval Application<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgsCUxPOOouttqaHJSyls-GtUYdq1SDXWbeX7k9Djj5RYQtplO_A-Xaq3Hv3_RPqrQyfGCcQnIaFeyYIwGxqkeBk-UE4MqO2qleDChCoCuYu2p1fd8HLh6KAzG-7QpFKNk8PnHbsxpzyydwIS9AoLI1aMzoSvwydSqORIbRHqk2rGgKJsIDhFrgsrDO" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgsCUxPOOouttqaHJSyls-GtUYdq1SDXWbeX7k9Djj5RYQtplO_A-Xaq3Hv3_RPqrQyfGCcQnIaFeyYIwGxqkeBk-UE4MqO2qleDChCoCuYu2p1fd8HLh6KAzG-7QpFKNk8PnHbsxpzyydwIS9AoLI1aMzoSvwydSqORIbRHqk2rGgKJsIDhFrgsrDO" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">My name is Daniel
Hernandez, I am a junior at George Mason University working with Dr. Ali
Beheshti to analyze the surface degradation of additively manufactured (AM) ABS
polymers for naval application. This project is a continuation of my work done
in the summer semester to determine the viability of AM ABS polymers in a
saline environment in comparison to their traditionally manufactured
counterpart. Where the main focus this semester has been the aging of the ABS
samples and observing the changes in the surface topography. The aging chambers
consisted of tanks filled with artificial seawater heated to 22°C, 27°C, and
105°C accordingly using a water heater with set submerged durations of 7, 14,
and 21 days. My day-to-day interactions consist of ensuring the proper levels
of seawater in the tanks and recording the change in mass of the samples.
Currently, only half of the samples have been aged though the remainder is set
to be finished soon.</span><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The next steps are to assess the surfaces of the samples
through micro indentation and profiling tests. These tests will allow for the
observation of the change in wear and friction of the surfaces as well as the
Young’s Modulus of the samples. Given if time permits mechanical and
tribological evaluations will be done on the ABS samples to observe the change
in mechanical strength and serve as another method of observing the surface
topography of the samples.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This has been a rather
engaging experience that has allowed me to pursue my interest in the naval engineering
field. Furthermore, working with Dr. Beheshti has allowed me to gather a sense
of the lab working environment and has compelled me to develop my understanding
of the 3D printing process and corrosive behavior of the ocean through
whichever future opportunities may be presented.</span></div>OSCARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271758259808637827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500510635009698019.post-61876461100444346462022-07-03T13:10:00.000-04:002022-07-03T13:10:19.386-04:00URSP Student Tulane Simpson Uses Popular Cartoon to Reimagine Intersection of Environmentalist Theory and Gender Expression<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgDFpScrp2dCAB14SkyPF0a-wdwgt-_UIvYloMSJDERq_BYGrlYy2z2WWTa5NkPsMt66WbyjyP8rRXutK2wJUZg3eZbzUQcP1I2je79_d8wL4jtaUBw8AFJ6wB_-VRwPKtmJxzVYf-VPWu2FfsXfUox9aB-R-la9cRAILcaLNSkn3Wqko_P2UPxxHYt" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="576" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgDFpScrp2dCAB14SkyPF0a-wdwgt-_UIvYloMSJDERq_BYGrlYy2z2WWTa5NkPsMt66WbyjyP8rRXutK2wJUZg3eZbzUQcP1I2je79_d8wL4jtaUBw8AFJ6wB_-VRwPKtmJxzVYf-VPWu2FfsXfUox9aB-R-la9cRAILcaLNSkn3Wqko_P2UPxxHYt=w180-h320" width="180" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">My
research involves using popular media as a tool to separate environmentalist
practice from the gender binary. Historically, environmentalism has been
divided along binary gender lines, as in the cases of ecofeminism and
ecomasculinity which use one’s gender as the basis for environmental attitudes.
Since environmentalism should be inclusive of all people regardless of gender,
I’ve spent this semester developing the environmental theory of ecoandrogyny as
an environmental framework that is inclusive of all gender expressions. As
popular literature and media are powerful tools or sharing environmental
values, especially to young people, I identified Nickelodeon’s </span><i style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Avatar: The
Last Airbender </i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">as an example ecoandrogynous text for its nuanced depictions
of both environmental practice and gender expression.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I have been fortunate to receive an array of support on
this project. My URSP funding has allowed me to attend academic conferences where
I could meet and learn from other scholars in my field. As I am completing this
project in conjunction with Mason’s English Honors thesis course, I received
additional assistance with discipline-specific research and drafting issues.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Completing this project will help me reach my future
goals of continuing my education and becoming a college-level educator. Not
only can my completed paper serve as a writing sample for graduate school
applications, I have also gained a strong background in advanced research and
writing techniques that will serve me well in my future academic and professional
work. Additionally, working with so many outstanding professors, scholars, and
library staff has given a better understanding of what I look for in a mentor.
This knowledge will help inform my own teaching and mentorship style so that I
can serve my future students to the best of my ability.<o:p></o:p></span></p>OSCARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271758259808637827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500510635009698019.post-77697358255042893662021-12-19T22:21:00.001-05:002021-12-19T22:21:24.956-05:00Sisc Johnson Created an Adolescent Mentorship in Detention Facilities and Alternative Learning Spaces<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; text-indent: 0.5in;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Ktzce51sJ2sugWAf4z2yVKH0WzcbkMNj_1VS8V7Asy53KUsLQIi5CO3LMBx538olhzFd6a-qt7p46gznqmngDpLG4PLNkj2zd_C72yscW1UGgUxry63LJWwYv6A7VtzDO6T6BwV_gR8/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="4480" data-original-width="6720" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1Ktzce51sJ2sugWAf4z2yVKH0WzcbkMNj_1VS8V7Asy53KUsLQIi5CO3LMBx538olhzFd6a-qt7p46gznqmngDpLG4PLNkj2zd_C72yscW1UGgUxry63LJWwYv6A7VtzDO6T6BwV_gR8/" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For my research project, I created a mentorship
program to teach photography and text in alternative learning spaces to court
involved youth. Desired outcomes include fostering and promoting positive
self-esteem by developing new skill sets acquired from learning the technical
and creative skills of photography. This process also results in
promoting positive and respectful communication skills as students learn how to
write about and critique their work and the work of others.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This summer I spent three days each week working
with 3-5 residents at Stepping Stones. Stepping Stones is a
community-based, non-secure residential treatment program for male court
involved youth, ages 14-17 that is located in Fairfax County, Virginia.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">After our first session each resident was
provided with a DSLR camera, two lenses, and a portable flash drive. During our
sessions the program participants learned how to operate a DSLR camera. They
also learned how to select the appropriate lens and the fundamentals of
composition and lighting. Lessons also included instructions on how to upload
images from memory cards to Adobe Lightroom and how to edit images in Adobe
Photoshop.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The first session of each week would typically
begin with a critique of their work from the prior week. The remainder of our
time was spent photographing, scrapbooking, creating cyanotypes, and/or
learning about other camera-based processes and influential photographers. For
the final week of my program, we will have an exhibition showcasing their work
to their families.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">From my observations throughout the project, I
feel that to continue my program in the future a few adjustments could be made
in the following ways. For instance, it was difficult having only a single
laptop when uploading and editing images with a group of five participants.
This was time consuming because I could only work with one participant at a
time. Also having an assistant would be beneficial for providing more
one-on-one time with each participant. Fortunately, the entire staff at Stepping
Stones are vested in the success of each resident, and they were not only very
helpful with their ideas and suggestions throughout my program, but I learned a
great deal from them regarding how to better handle challenging moments.
Because the staff supported me and their residents throughout my entire
program, this also added to my awareness regarding what things might be of more
interest to the participants.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Measuring the long-term success of my program
will not be possible for a few years. As for measuring short term success, I
observed drastic improvement not only in their work, but in their behavior.
They began dressing up for our sessions becoming more confident behind and in
front of the camera. The participant’s critique of their work and the work of
others was also impressive and very respectful.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the future, I plan to continue my work with
the adjustments noted above. A few years from now I will reach out to each
participant to measure the success of my program.<o:p></o:p></span></p><br /><p></p>OSCARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271758259808637827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500510635009698019.post-9917528318724558502021-12-19T16:24:00.000-05:002021-12-19T16:24:05.200-05:00URSP Student Mounia Hammadi Studies the Potential Effects that Endoparasites Have on Feeding Habits of Their Crab Hosts <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSjBmkR3kcWY35eIoppw8tZHpcC5sMUh26YAusVceX9w6ap8sbyA2ktLl-BfEcFsqat85XJhMzQr182STiduRfUdhPVt_qyhQ0hO3DpUFnA4VqP3ljapldkn64CbJH1SUrl2Ul2EhhElo/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="985" data-original-width="1023" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSjBmkR3kcWY35eIoppw8tZHpcC5sMUh26YAusVceX9w6ap8sbyA2ktLl-BfEcFsqat85XJhMzQr182STiduRfUdhPVt_qyhQ0hO3DpUFnA4VqP3ljapldkn64CbJH1SUrl2Ul2EhhElo/" width="249" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">The
survival of a species of mud crab along the East Coast of the U.S., known as
the </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Rhithropanopeus harrisii </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">(Harris mud crab),</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> is being tested by a multitude of factors, including
the continued fluctuations in salinity that result from the estuaries it
resides in and the ever-changing levels of parasitism in different locations
along the coast. The biotic pressure of parasitism is influential on not only
the survival of </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">R.
harrisii </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">but also
the trophic structure of its community</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">.
The two most prevalent parasites that cause a significant role in the survival
of the Harris mud crab community </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">include the
castrating parasitic barnacle, </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Loxothylacus
panopaei</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, and the lesser-known parasitic </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">entoniscid
isopod<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, Cancrion</i> sp. Parasitic
castration means that<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> L. panopaei</i> inhibits
the organism’s ability to reproduce. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">However, since<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Cancrion</i> sp. is considered a new species, there is minimal evidence
suggesting complete parasitic castration of <i>R. harrisii</i>. This summer I
have been working in Dr. Amy Fowler’s lab at the GMU Potomac Science Center
answering the question, do these endoparasites affect the feeding habits of
their crab hosts? We suspect that the intense energy drain of being infected
with these endoparasites leads to changes in the feeding behavior of <i>R.
harrisii</i>. Luckily, the COVID-19 restrictions have begun to loosen, allowing
me access to the laboratories to run a multitude of feeding trials on a total
of 25 uninfected crabs, 8 infected with entoniscid (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cancrion</i> sp.), and 11 infected with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">L. panopaei</i> where feeding behaviors are accessed for 45 minutes. The
collection of these crabs has been done from three main sites: Boathouse Marina
in Colonial Beach, VA, Garrett’s Marina in Dunnsville, VA, and near the Choptank
River Bridge in Cambridge, MD. This summer, an interesting observation I had
was that the mud crabs can be the host to both parasites at the same time, as
shown by an individual crab that acquired <i>L. panopaei</i> externa (sac on
the abdomen of the crab that holds thousands of parasitic larvae) as well as
released <i>Cancrion</i> sp. larvae. How double infections affect <i>R.
harrisii’s</i> feeding habits is still yet to be determined. Another interesting
observation was that gravid crabs (those with fertilized eggs) and crab hosts infected
with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Loxothylacus panopaei</i> in the
externa phase will both not molt to minimize loss of its eggs or parasitic
externae. However, it has been shown that the crabs infected with the
entoniscid do continue to frequently molt where its infection does not inhibit
its ability to grow. Although trials are still being run and the data has yet
to be properly analyzed, what has been obtained so far is extremely interesting
and will further be looked upon during the Fall 2021 semester. <o:p></o:p></span></p>OSCARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271758259808637827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500510635009698019.post-64183825761208950292021-12-10T16:08:00.000-05:002021-12-10T16:08:19.242-05:00Amanda Graf Studies Multiplexed Antigens on DNA Nanoparticles for Vaccine Development<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoh0AlxcamcWB-06WOwf4adOWhvy7F4lPD7I1FMQTuVcgsk_QXa6RY12F9VfctOLGxp36saCrpCgi86_PA-hrbjww0gJOoYctZLzX2byjDuQHDaNNyqxaSEmHVc_9uar_Ol3ksBRdyBPI/s1792/AmandaGraf_blog_picture+%25281%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="828" data-original-width="1792" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoh0AlxcamcWB-06WOwf4adOWhvy7F4lPD7I1FMQTuVcgsk_QXa6RY12F9VfctOLGxp36saCrpCgi86_PA-hrbjww0gJOoYctZLzX2byjDuQHDaNNyqxaSEmHVc_9uar_Ol3ksBRdyBPI/w400-h185/AmandaGraf_blog_picture+%25281%2529.png" width="400" /></a></div></div><p></p></blockquote><p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Vaccines and the technologies used to develop them are more relevant now than ever. If you had asked me or my colleagues a year ago, none of us would have ever guessed that vaccines would be the global hot topic they are now.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">After taking Dr. Veneziano’s tissue engineering class, I met with him to discuss the research going on in his lab and discovered that he has been working on DNA nanoparticles with the intention of using them in a vaccine for several years now. The process of making these 3D nanostructure scaffolds begins with isolating and purifying single stranded DNA. I typically do this right when I get to the lab each morning using an aPCR machine (antisense polymerase chain reaction) and then isolate the single stranded DNA that results from that using gel electrophoresis and a centrifuge with elution buffer to isolate the single stranded DNA from the other byproducts. From there, I fold the protein into the desired shape and test its binding capabilities.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Throughout the rest of the summer and into the fall semester, I will be testing the binding rates of my desired nanoparticle with varied antigen properties and attachment configurations.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 18.4px;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">This project has been very insightful and ties directly into my future plans to become a physician, possibly specializing in infectious diseases. Working with Dr. Veneziano has allowed me to develop a better understanding of not only what it’s like to work in a wet lab but has also compelled me to further explore topics outside of my normal course of study and think more about what advancements could be made through supplementary research in the field of platform vaccine development.</span></p>OSCARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271758259808637827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500510635009698019.post-20690014621279429372021-12-10T16:00:00.000-05:002021-12-10T16:00:13.959-05:00Dhruv Participates in the 2021 COVID-19 Human Behavior Research Project <p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">My
name is Dhruv Gandhi, I am a Senior at George Mason University working on a
research project titled, “Data-Driven Analysis of Human Behavior in COVID-19
Simulation Models.” I had no idea what this internship would be like, not only
because of the coronavirus, but also because this is my first summer being part
of a research project. Surprisingly, COVID didn’t affect the internship too
much as we always had our scheduled meetings and interacted with all the other
team members fairly frequently. At the beginning of the internship, a typical
day would start with an hour-long meeting in the morning with each group
updating the professors and the other groups about their progress. Then we
would have our goals set for the day, which we would work on with our other
group members. Most exciting part was the weekly hybrid meeting on Fridays
because there was always a stock of donuts and coffee. Working with people with
varying background working towards the same goal and learning every week about
something you had never heard of before made this internship incredibly
exciting. I was able to learn and implement techniques that I had thought to be
too complex previously because I had professors and other group members to help
me through the process. This internship was able to give me not only confidence
about my abilities to contribute in a professional setting, but also taught me
how to work in a professional setting and network with others. I believe this
internship has done a great job of giving me a taste of what’s to come after I
graduate from George Mason.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">For
the research, my group is developing a location predication algorithm using
data from SafeGraph. The data contains 650 different geographical subsections
of Fairfax County called census block groups (Tysons, West Springfield, etc.)
and over 15,000 POIs which are places of interests such as malls, barber shops,
and restaurants. Our goal is to create an algorithm that accurately predicts
the number of visitors to a POI from a CBG for the next few weeks. This project
is incredibly interesting to me because it applies a lot of the techniques I
have learned in classes throughout my time at George Mason.</span></p>OSCARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271758259808637827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500510635009698019.post-39652434701144787152021-10-17T16:56:00.001-04:002021-10-17T16:56:37.108-04:00URSP Student Selassie Fugar Researches Multiple ways to Support the Bailey's Culmore Community<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_EmCsME_ILhIigqROBfvaJBa8KwTr1Cs9TDkBfCeuwlPMXyfnRHk-GSyfAi-Hv49AZTOn_APQFmkPTuZUdJp3AJxyps2P-NidAfn04AolGfs9LLvKfACa5Tqu8DPaHCkpzKhsE2pRM70/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_EmCsME_ILhIigqROBfvaJBa8KwTr1Cs9TDkBfCeuwlPMXyfnRHk-GSyfAi-Hv49AZTOn_APQFmkPTuZUdJp3AJxyps2P-NidAfn04AolGfs9LLvKfACa5Tqu8DPaHCkpzKhsE2pRM70/" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
Culmore neighborhood of Bailey’s Crossroads is an area located in Fairfax
County, Virginia. As one of the most disadvantaged places in Northern Virginia,
this area consists of many different types of people from the Latinx community
as well as other races and ethnicities. Kaiser Permanente plays a big role in
fostering the vision to build a better community in Culmore. Due to the grant
that was given to George Mason University and CASA de Virginia, creating a
vision for Culmore that improves their community based on the social
determinants of health is more achievable.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">My
research focuses on food insecurity and providing what people need and what to
eat in the community. My main focus amongst food insecurity is how to make
people in the community comfortable with receiving free food and how to reduce
unhealthy lifestyles as well. One way of fostering healthy lifestyles is
providing access to free or cheaper healthy foods through connections with
different farms and gardens with certain faith-based organizations. Another way
we could foster healthy lifestyles is to set up cooking classes for people who
don't know how to use healthy food.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">From this
project I have learned how to better communicate with others and how to assume
that everyone I interview will be friendly instead of the opposite. Developing
conversational skills will improve my outlook on this project and help me
remember that it is not what I think is best for the community but what the
community wants for themselves</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: Spectral; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">.</span></p>OSCARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271758259808637827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500510635009698019.post-76030900292886264692021-10-17T16:53:00.000-04:002021-10-17T16:53:35.150-04:00Reagan Emmerling Researches Gender Differences in those Participating in OSCAR Research Projects<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2eniu5-KuMteGv-9hPjAHjjCBd21Nm-EdYz2w0k2PuvajvG2C1hSrQdJzY4Y7reZjvuWDggXwWF0hL3m6b1Kz2cXrHlMR0_KjWD5C16zApCx5BtWyGPxTRKov3jddw9qpoo-jnSUKZMo/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2eniu5-KuMteGv-9hPjAHjjCBd21Nm-EdYz2w0k2PuvajvG2C1hSrQdJzY4Y7reZjvuWDggXwWF0hL3m6b1Kz2cXrHlMR0_KjWD5C16zApCx5BtWyGPxTRKov3jddw9qpoo-jnSUKZMo/" width="180" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">I
decided to join a summer research project because I knew how much it would
benefit my future. I hope to one day become a college professor with heavy
focuses on research and writing. Being part of a summer project was an easy,
and highly beneficial, way to know if this career path suited me, and I am
happy to announce that it did. I worked entirely virtual this summer in my
research project, which completely changed my view on what my work could be and
mean. I was able to take my research with me to amazing places, such as Acadia
National Park, Myrtle Beach, my home in Ohio, and so much more. My summer would
have looked so different had I not been able to work virtually, and I am so
thankful that I was able to work remotely rather than being stationary in
Virginia.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My original plan for my summer
research was to cover on-campus living conditions during the pandemic, but then
shifted to issues of housing instability in college student populations. I
ended up on a project researching the massive gender difference in who is
participating in OSCAR research projects. To briefly wrap up a summer’s worth
of work in barely a sentence; roughly 7/10 of researchers in OSCAR over the
past 10 years have been women, but George Mason is divided almost 50/50 in
terms of gender. This tells us that something is drawing drastically more women
to research programs, and we wanted to find out why. It turned out that other
universities saw a similar trend in their participation rates as well.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: 8.0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">My next steps are to return to campus
in the fall as a junior, where I am majoring in Integrative Studies with a
concentration in Women and Gender studies. I will be working on campus as a
MASI peer mentor and as a research assistant mapping the 1926 Religious Bodies
Census. I hope to find myself involved with more research projects and gain
even more experience in my field. Following graduation, I plan to attend
graduate school in Colorado, where I have already started looking at programs
with a masters in Women’s History. I am very thankful for this amazing
opportunity and hope to work with OSCAR in future projects.<o:p></o:p></span></p>OSCARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271758259808637827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500510635009698019.post-78556139847440681982021-09-28T12:34:00.008-04:002021-09-28T12:36:30.409-04:00URSP Student Daniel Hernandez Analyzes the Surface Degradation of Additively Manufactured (AM) ABS Polymers for Naval Application.<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXtikXfLKs9mJr4ZbzC4JOKhhCPjhUwJZcNshi092-XwSgQJrG1Y_30h8qnW2bZS5Kg8EPyxieMrenwCU2ZvSbuNdpeN8f0ID3uKd3PfO1LtGxmWOI8J6U4bzJkQIaZ3_CYAhvtlE-n08/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXtikXfLKs9mJr4ZbzC4JOKhhCPjhUwJZcNshi092-XwSgQJrG1Y_30h8qnW2bZS5Kg8EPyxieMrenwCU2ZvSbuNdpeN8f0ID3uKd3PfO1LtGxmWOI8J6U4bzJkQIaZ3_CYAhvtlE-n08/w300-h400/Oscar_Blog_Photo_DanielH.JPG" width="300" /></a></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This summer, I worked with Dr. Ali
Beheshti to analyze the surface degradation of additively manufactured (AM) ABS
polymers for naval application. The aim of my studies was to determine the
viability of AM ABS polymers in a saline environment in comparison to its traditionally
manufactured counterpart. As of recently I have been working on a literature
review as well as an experimental plan for the project. I also printed 20
rectangular ABS samples and ordered 20 traditionally manufactured parts from a
plastic manufacturer. A typical day of research consists of me searching for
articles while managing the printing of the ABS samples. In the remaining
timeline of the project, the samples will be aged accordingly for a set
duration of 4, 8, and 16 days in tanks filled with artificial seawater. The
tanks will be heated to 22°C, 27°C, and 105°C accordingly using a water heater.
After undergoing the appropriate</span><span style="background: white; color: #272727; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">
exposure time,</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> the </span><span style="background: white; color: #272727; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">topography
of the sample surfaces will be assessed and compared with the initial data
collected prior. If time permits mechanical and tribological evaluations will
be done on the ABS samples to observe the change in mechanical strength, wear
and friction of the surfaces.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt;">My main interest is robotics with a sub
interest of ocean engineering. Additive manufacturing (3D Printing) has had
transformative effects on the performance and technology of many industries. In
the robotics industries, additive manufacturing has contributed to the
development of emerging fields such as soft robotics due to its ability to
create flexible and creative designs at high quality. This project was the
perfect learning opportunity for me because it has allowed me to gain an in
depth understanding of the 3D printing process as well as the corrosive
behavior of the ocean. Moreover, since I plan to obtain a master’s in mechanical
engineering in the future this research has been an essential step towards that
goal. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have enjoyed learning about the
degradation of ABS in a naval application and hope to continue this research in
the future.<o:p></o:p></span></p>OSCARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271758259808637827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500510635009698019.post-43387652691809754812021-09-27T15:23:00.000-04:002021-09-27T15:23:12.371-04:00URSP Student Mounia Hammadi Studies the Potential Effects that Endoparasites Have on Feeding Habits of Their Crab Hosts <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL8RsOvqB7ZZcCm-vipx7UWl_R9biQFbgemEzWII_nL8LYB6Qg_4MUBkHvseDkPgYYz5kHFEGZUS1MFpSwb1J_FQzioJefoVsp-nOmF5MpNKhAzcnOdEuHZfYDVeu0zvifKsCQSkxpIbM/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="985" data-original-width="1023" height="309" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL8RsOvqB7ZZcCm-vipx7UWl_R9biQFbgemEzWII_nL8LYB6Qg_4MUBkHvseDkPgYYz5kHFEGZUS1MFpSwb1J_FQzioJefoVsp-nOmF5MpNKhAzcnOdEuHZfYDVeu0zvifKsCQSkxpIbM/w320-h309/BlogPhotos5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">The
survival of a species of mud crab along the East Coast of the U.S., known as
the </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Rhithropanopeus harrisii </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">(Harris mud crab),</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;"> is being tested by a multitude of factors, including
the continued fluctuations in salinity that result from the estuaries it
resides in and the ever-changing levels of parasitism in different locations
along the coast. The biotic pressure of parasitism is influential on not only
the survival of </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">R.
harrisii </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">but also
the trophic structure of its community</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif;">.
The two most prevalent parasites that cause a significant role in the survival
of the Harris mud crab community </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">include the
castrating parasitic barnacle, </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Loxothylacus
panopaei</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">, and the lesser-known parasitic </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">entoniscid
isopod<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">, Cancrion</i> sp. Parasitic
castration means that<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> L. panopaei</i> inhibits
the organism’s ability to reproduce. However, since<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> Cancrion</i> sp. is considered a new species, there is minimal evidence
suggesting complete parasitic castration of <i>R. harrisii</i>. This summer I
have been working in Dr. Amy Fowler’s lab at the GMU Potomac Science Center
answering the question, do these endoparasites affect the feeding habits of
their crab hosts? We suspect that the intense energy drain of being infected
with these endoparasites leads to changes in the feeding behavior of <i>R.
harrisii</i>. Luckily, the COVID-19 restrictions have begun to loosen, allowing
me access to the laboratories to run a multitude of feeding trials on a total
of 25 uninfected crabs, 8 infected with entoniscid (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Cancrion</i> sp.), and 11 infected with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">L. panopaei</i> where feeding behaviors are accessed for 45 minutes. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The collection of these crabs has
been done from three main sites: Boathouse Marina in Colonial Beach, VA,
Garrett’s Marina in Dunnsville, VA, and near the Choptank River Bridge in
Cambridge, MD. This summer, an interesting observation I had was that the mud
crabs can be the host to both parasites at the same time, as shown by an
individual crab that acquired <i>L. panopaei</i> externa (sac on the abdomen of
the crab that holds thousands of parasitic larvae) as well as released <i>Cancrion</i>
sp. larvae. How double infections affect <i>R. harrisii’s</i> feeding habits is
still yet to be determined. Another interesting observation was that gravid
crabs (those with fertilized eggs) and crab hosts infected with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Loxothylacus panopaei</i> in the externa
phase will both not molt to minimize loss of its eggs or parasitic externae.
However, it has been shown that the crabs infected with the entoniscid do continue
to frequently molt where its infection does not inhibit its ability to grow. Although
trials are still being run and the data has yet to be properly analyzed, what
has been obtained so far is extremely interesting and will further be looked
upon during the Fall 2021 semester. <o:p></o:p></span></p>OSCARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271758259808637827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500510635009698019.post-34415446544439568032021-09-27T15:17:00.000-04:002021-09-27T15:17:14.022-04:00STIP Student Elaine Borresen Creates a Unit Plan and Activities for Physical Education Instruction while Integrating STEM<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiGF2J411YZVYFHoYIOefiM2iq_g9T7Zr99_WuvIu2pxb5mz3y0DkhyGXJ1iK1zKCVP4UHz1250Ax43cAwJ9BdbuLpAiQ-H8irHQY_bBlxyu8-h5drGOi2fCPAYtqEcNzfvGTKKpMmIzs/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1102" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiGF2J411YZVYFHoYIOefiM2iq_g9T7Zr99_WuvIu2pxb5mz3y0DkhyGXJ1iK1zKCVP4UHz1250Ax43cAwJ9BdbuLpAiQ-H8irHQY_bBlxyu8-h5drGOi2fCPAYtqEcNzfvGTKKpMmIzs/w215-h400/7244140D-8E98-45E9-AE02-16A5498CCEEE.jpeg" width="215" /></a></div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
goal for this Summer Team Impact Project is to present a unit plan and
activities for physical education instruction while integrating STEM content.
We found that integrating STEM topics is extremely beneficial for students.
Students can get extra time exploring their classroom content. Our hope is that
this integration can also pique interest in activities for those who may not
usually be as engaged during PE. Using Virginia Standards of Learning, we
sought to combine relevant science topics for K-12 students with games to
develop their basketball, pickleball and softball skills. This plan is
flexible, for teachers to use this unit plan in its entirety, or use lesson
activities and games as they see fit. My particular contribution was towards
the STEM content in the softball unit.</span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">This
project fits into my future plans as a nurse and an Army officer by
contributing how to plan with various factors and reinforcing my knowledge in
STEM and biomechanics in particular. An average research day consists of a zoom
meeting with all undergraduate and graduate students then breakout sessions
with our individual groups to continue work on our unit plans. We had one day
in the gym to test out some physical education activities and record ancillary
materials for teachers. Something that I have discovered through this project
is how complicated it is to create a unit and lesson plans. There are so many
things that go into creating them. This project was different than it would
have been if it were face to face because a majority of this was done virtually
with all of us in different states, this was very cool since we were able to
travel and still do research and work on the project. My next steps are to take
the knowledge I learned from this project and apply it anyway I can to nursing
school and Army ROTC.</span></p>OSCARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271758259808637827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500510635009698019.post-43006158158463934402021-09-27T15:08:00.000-04:002021-09-27T15:08:35.885-04:00Jack Blumstein Studies the Sociodemographic Factors that Impact Vaccine Uptake Across the US<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKip8UBGqrfjU6DBgRirp8gTSnUS2jQMSI73AjpU28pIQLPTRQC6qHQppsLIzHV0wdrHcSVqagY_oRoL7N4G8eKzJaYRY_MBdDWveK47-2juOl76XA1CEf-gX7xKofA3BIKDggdm8r4Q4/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="378" data-original-width="600" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKip8UBGqrfjU6DBgRirp8gTSnUS2jQMSI73AjpU28pIQLPTRQC6qHQppsLIzHV0wdrHcSVqagY_oRoL7N4G8eKzJaYRY_MBdDWveK47-2juOl76XA1CEf-gX7xKofA3BIKDggdm8r4Q4/w400-h253/Jack_Blumstein_LISA_County_Map.PNG" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Covid 19 has greatly impacted the world.
With the implementation of vaccines, the impact of covid on the world has been
greatly reduced, but there are many people who refuse to get vaccinated which
allows covid to have a larger impact on the world than it would if those people
who refuse to get vaccinated get vaccinated. My research project looks at the
sociodemographic factors that impact vaccine uptake across the US. We recently
ran a multivariate geographically weighted regression which creates a
regression model that takes geographical location and distance into account
when making the model. The geographical component causes the model to be more
accurate than a simple linear regression. We are planning on using this
regression model to predict vaccine uptake on the census block group level and
then use a “local indicators of spatial association” analyses to find census
block groups that are local outliers in vaccine uptake. We can then look at
these local outliers and determine which census block groups are more at risk
which should be able to help counties decide where they need to focus their
efforts on increasing vaccine uptake.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">There
were many techniques, such as multivariate geographically weighted regression,
that we used to analyze data that I had never heard about before starting this
research project. I had a very good time learning about these techniques and
implementing them because I have an interest in data analyses and playing with
data. This research project has helped me learn more about data analyses in an
out of classroom setting which should help me a lot in the future.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">An
average research day starts off with a meeting in the morning where the members
in my group update each other on what has been done and what we want to do
next. After this meeting, we separate to work on whatever we need to get done
that day by ourselves. Sometimes we will have a meeting towards the end of the
day to update the group on our progress.<o:p></o:p></span></p>OSCARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271758259808637827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500510635009698019.post-19894187773466030052021-09-19T23:12:00.001-04:002021-09-19T23:12:34.793-04:00Lina Alkarmi Conducts Stability Studies of Lipid Nanoparticles Using Analytical Chemistry <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFTx2PwJDBpYmXDHqeE5WN9flyS0RZJlw63Bv1-MOa4tIZ7c2LGxyIMn8wzKE4L09Df_n0KSwcc-dS-akxTlyRt28SlhCUzWjolSSyr3dgNcmF4ppnOExDAixOnW9vSbXyesidO8x5p4s/s1655/Picture1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1655" data-original-width="1241" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFTx2PwJDBpYmXDHqeE5WN9flyS0RZJlw63Bv1-MOa4tIZ7c2LGxyIMn8wzKE4L09Df_n0KSwcc-dS-akxTlyRt28SlhCUzWjolSSyr3dgNcmF4ppnOExDAixOnW9vSbXyesidO8x5p4s/s320/Picture1.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">Messenger RNA (mRNA) sequences can be
engineered to encode certain proteins that can be translated and expressed
within cells. Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are used to package mRNA payload for
delivery in vaccines. <span style="background: white;">The four lipid components
of LNPs are an ionizable cationic lipid, a neutral helper lipid, cholesterol,
and a PEGylated lipid. </span>My research focuses on the synthesis and
purification of ionizable lipids used to formulate LNPs. <span style="background: white;">The storage temperature and time stored play a large
role in the stability of LNPs as the mRNA can degrade, rendering the LNPs
ineffective. Research suggests that the lipid components of the LNPs may
degrade over time as well<sup>1</sup></span>. Over the past semester, I have
developed a method to test the stability of the lipid components of LNPs stored
at 4<span style="background: white;">°C, 25°C, and 37°C.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">After LNPs are formulated, the encapsulated mRNA can be extracted
from the nanoparticles for analysis. The extraction method results in an
aqueous phase containing the mRNA, as well as an organic phase containing the
four lipid components. For my project, I examined the extracts from LNPs stored
at 4<span style="background: white;">°C, room temperature (25°C), and 37°C over
the course of 3 weeks.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">For each week of the 3-week stability study, I
used thin layer chromatography (TLC) to qualitatively examine the aqueous and
organic extracts from the LNPs stored at each temperature. L</span><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">iquid
chromatography mass spectrometry (LCMS) spectra were analyzed to observe the
fragmentation of the compounds.<span style="background: white;"> Nuclear magnetic
resonance (NMR) spectra were also used to examine the molecular structure of
the compounds.</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;">A typical day of research is arriving at the lab and checking on
synthesis reactions set up the night before. Typically I will run three columns
each day as well as run my samples on the LCMS. My research experience has
been exciting, challenging, and rewarding. I am interested in the field of
bioengineering so this project fits into my future plans of attending graduate
school.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> 1.)</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">European Medicines Agency, Committee for
Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP); </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Assessment Report, Covid-19 Vaccine
Moderna. 2021</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"></p><p class="MsoListParagraph" style="line-height: 150%; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; text-indent: -.25in;"><o:p></o:p></p><span style="color: black; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri;"></span><p></p>OSCARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271758259808637827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500510635009698019.post-9642871624712443922021-09-14T15:31:00.000-04:002021-09-14T15:31:02.981-04:00URSP Student Sarah Abbas Studies Organizational and Interpersonal Conflict within Correctional Facilities<p> Conflict is everywhere. Conflict and it’s resolution contain personal, relational, structural and
cultural dimensions. There are several ways one can go about resolving conflict. Some are more
constructive than others. It is paramount to analyze and examine the various dimensions of social
interactions that lead to conflict situations. Such can be done through theories, models and
frameworks for analyzing, engaging and resolving conflict. I have always been interested in
creatively and strategically managing conflicts that hinder the performance and organizational
improvement among groups because often, dysfunctional organizations do not perform as well.</p><p>I am pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Conflict Analysis and Resolution with an individualized
concentration in Law and Justice. Following graduation, I aspire to apply my education to help
research and resolve the process of conflict within various criminal justice organizations. </p><p>My summer research specifically takes a look at organizational and interpersonal conflict within
correctional facilities. When it comes to organizations like various departments of corrections, it
is paramount to ensure that conflicts are constructively managed or resolved, because the
services provided directly influence the personal lives of many. My USRP project, The Role of
Power in Interpersonal Conflict Between Carceral Residents and Correctional Officers is aimed
at taking the critical first step in resolving conflicts, unpacking and examining the deep layers
and roots of the problem. I am collecting data through a questionnaire. Ideally my data will allow
me to identify patterns and systems of interpersonal conflict in correctional facility settings. I
mainly am taking a look at the role of power. My questions aim at measuring the perceived
power of inmates and CO’s and examining the role it plays in interpersonal conflict. </p><p>I am working with a research team that is also collecting data for their specific projects. Due to
COVID-19, we had to quickly adapt to conducting research in the pandemic. Initially our plan
was to collect data by observing, interviewing, and collecting field notes in person. Due to
complications with the facilities, such was not feasible. Then, we planned to gather data by
holding interviews virtually. That wasn’t feasible either. We had to be very flexible and creative
in order to overcome the challenges that come with conducting research with a vulnerable
population during the pandemic. Our team met a lot and discussed the best ways to react to this
rapidly changing and unpredictable situation. We decided to mail residents who have previously
mailed us and consented to receiving mail. We had to submit a new proposal for IRB approval. which delayed our entire data collection process. The new proposal was finally approved late
June. Our team met, prepared the envelopes, and mailed them out. Now I am awaiting responses
to my section of the questionnaire. I am planning on interpreting the data as it comes in. This
experience taught me the importance of flexible, creative problem solving, and working as a
team. I did not realize how unpredictable research can be. In school, I learned about how
important planning and structure is when conducting research, but I never learned about the
fluctuating nature of research in the real world. This experience definitely taught me that</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRx_H2adlIKM4uBb4zGA1Bwhbh7JF2LIZt-4NfrKl1ptZj84zicPz274RMuImcu91UKCTyXEfxUxORZD-S5VURGXxshRZ1Fgfo-O7VSSeDP9Qmdz409yJZ7Gd7F67M1aPuy8CMcBhf0z8/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="906" data-original-width="1250" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRx_H2adlIKM4uBb4zGA1Bwhbh7JF2LIZt-4NfrKl1ptZj84zicPz274RMuImcu91UKCTyXEfxUxORZD-S5VURGXxshRZ1Fgfo-O7VSSeDP9Qmdz409yJZ7Gd7F67M1aPuy8CMcBhf0z8/" width="320" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p>OSCARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271758259808637827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500510635009698019.post-29687109765808581602021-01-21T14:18:00.002-05:002021-01-21T14:19:34.019-05:00URSP Student Sidney Boakye Conducts a Study on the Surface Degradation of Additively Manufactured (3D-Printed) ABS Polymer for Naval Applications<p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Additive manufacturing
(AM) has recently gained attention due to its ability to transform
manufacturing and logistics processes. Additionally, additively manufactured
alternatives would provide extra savings and a level of flexibility, especially
when it comes to replacement parts, which can not be matched by traditional
methods. However, questions remain about the durability of 3D printed
components and if trade-offs in durability are worth the cost benefits. My
research attempts to tackle these questions by comparing additively
manufactured ABS plastic with its traditionally manufactured counterpart.
Samples of each would be exposed to an accelerated corrosion environment while
being submerged in saltwater. I printed rectangular and dogbone shaped ABS samples
and ordered comparable traditional manufactured versions of the same. The
rectangular samples were used for wear testing while the dogbone samples were
used for tensile testing. Both sample types were placed in containers with
varying temperatures (29, 60 and 70 degrees Celsius) and left for 1, 2, and
4-week intervals.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">My primary interest is
in liquid rocket propulsion. Right now, multiple industries are figuring out
ways to better utilize additive manufacturing, including the aerospace
industry. Rocket manufacturers are now looking at 3D printing some components.
One company, Relativity Space, formed with the goal of 3D printing an entire
rocket. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.8pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">An average day of
research is walking 5 meters from my room to the unoccupied bedroom in my dorm
and firing up the 3-D printer. Yes, I am conducting this research in my dorm
room. The Covid-19 pandemic has caused a lot of adaptions in how students and
researcher go about their daily business. This is one of my adaptations. I will
test different prints, orientation for printing samples, clean on excess
materials, and repeat. The main adaptation we made was creating the
samples in my dorm room and having all the materials purchased for the
experiments shipped to my dorm. The next step is to conduct the corrosion
test for all the samples.</span></p><p></p>OSCARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271758259808637827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500510635009698019.post-26789270817682672972021-01-15T15:15:00.002-05:002021-01-15T15:15:37.411-05:00URSP Student Aditya Pulipaka Studies the Design, Development, and Characterization of 3D Printed PEEK polymer<p><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">My
research project is the Design, Development, and Characterization of 3D Printed
PEEK polymer, which can potentially be utilized in biomedical applications as a
solution for defective bone tissue. This project fits into my future plans, as
I plan to continue to pursue research for the rest of my undergraduate career.
I also plan to pursue a Masters and/or PhD degree. An average research day is
researching articles that pertain to our research, as well as printing samples
using our 3D printer. Due to Covid, we cannot be in the laboratory as much as
we would like for testing, so we are waiting until all the samples are done
printing to start the testing phase. So far I have discovered how to use PEEK
with a 3D printer, as well as the potential applications that this research
could be used for. My project stayed the same during Covid, however the
timeline was pushed back. Because we were not in the laboratory, an abundance
amount of time was spent searching for new articles and other research that
could help us with our manuscript for publishing. The next steps in our
research is to finish the 27 horizontal samples and start tribological and
mechanical testing. After this, we want to print another 27 samples with a
vertical orientation and perform these same tests. Then, the data will be
compared and analyzed to determine a correlation, which will eventually lead to
publishing of our work.</span></p>OSCARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271758259808637827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500510635009698019.post-36016580357877431442021-01-12T15:45:00.000-05:002021-01-12T15:45:39.433-05:00URSP Student Christopher Veatch Works to Fabricate and Optimize Magnetic Iron Nanorods<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd7bmPpEUNp8Hm8LQXdV8KAyEVl_1EykDbB2G2N20FFSZRqZNEldUXYJrpfDL4kZmftb7S29meS9qYk2CmHHuyYo51hKXsifJC_fdYM0fyZb-Dt4brr6eVniPVntlrvgbFI5MrG0jhgaQ/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="234" data-original-width="626" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhd7bmPpEUNp8Hm8LQXdV8KAyEVl_1EykDbB2G2N20FFSZRqZNEldUXYJrpfDL4kZmftb7S29meS9qYk2CmHHuyYo51hKXsifJC_fdYM0fyZb-Dt4brr6eVniPVntlrvgbFI5MrG0jhgaQ/w400-h150/image.png" width="400" /></a></div>This fall, I have been working with
Dr. Moran in the GMU mechanical engineering department to fabricate and
optimize magnetic iron nanorods for use in medicine, delivering drugs directly
to tumors (alleviating the issues associated with traditional chemotherapy). As
expected, COVID-19 has presented roadblocks to acquiring materials from
distributors and spending time in the lab, but that has not stopped the lab’s
research completely. My goal is to develop the apparatus to mass-produce iron
nanorods and optimize the process for coating them in polyethylene glycol
(PEG). The rods are grown through a process known as electrodeposition which
resembles making a batch of cupcakes. First, an aqueous solution containing
iron ions fills the cylindrical nanopores of a membrane. The diameter of the
pores is the same as the diameter of the eventual rods, and these pores are
tiny – about 1/10000th the diameter of a human hair. The membrane serves as our
“muffin pan.” The “baking” process occurs when an electric charge is sent
through the membrane which reduces the iron in solution into its neutral, solid
state. Slowly, the “cupcakes” grow in solid metal form. Removing these iron
cupcakes from their membrane pan is achieved by dissolving it and the product
is thousands of magnetic iron nanorods. The “toppings” can be any drug that can
be loaded on to treat diseases such as cancer. The PEG layer “lubricates” the
rods so they can move through tissues more efficiently.<p></p><p><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">So far, I have aided with the
design of the experiment and facilitated contact with suppliers and vendors to
acquire materials and ensure our setup would work. I also helped Dr. Moran in
preparing figures and graphics related to grant proposals. This semester
presented many challenges in the form of COVID-19 but this project allowed me
to learn a great deal about myself and my future goals. Throughout this
project, I realized that I am far more interested in optimizing the process for
creating iron nanorods than I am interested in their potential uses, which is
the opposite of what I expected before beginning research.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></p>OSCARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271758259808637827noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8500510635009698019.post-54009237578148344782021-01-08T14:23:00.008-05:002021-01-08T14:24:59.319-05:00URSP Student Evalise Pacheco Studies if Hispanic and Latinx Students Feel Racially and Ethnically Included in Higher Education<p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH633hu2S4I832bxjoe7YVAbXRD2OCFXrchojUG-gjSmm2-UQ48YczgwBWjIA4mTizQX3tqRRTfDcHxQlHec4Mv1CXJToRdU39MF6g7Tn_jxOSC_3TcKS7DXv8V2VpBWRB7l4wPx4BqTc/s762/blog+e.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="426" data-original-width="762" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH633hu2S4I832bxjoe7YVAbXRD2OCFXrchojUG-gjSmm2-UQ48YczgwBWjIA4mTizQX3tqRRTfDcHxQlHec4Mv1CXJToRdU39MF6g7Tn_jxOSC_3TcKS7DXv8V2VpBWRB7l4wPx4BqTc/w320-h179/blog+e.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: black;">My name
is Evalise Pacheco, I am a junior at George Mason and this is my first semester
getting involved in research. I’ve been interested in conducting qualitative
research ever since I started a Mason. As an Honors student one of the first
courses I took taught me how to formulate a research question and as a
Criminology student, I had a particular interest in understanding inequality. I
took courses that focused on inequality, discrimination, and more until I came
to a course that focused on inequality in higher education, and the rest was
history. Drawn by my own experiences as a Latina, I was curious to see how
other Latinx students may have experienced the diversity at Mason and so I
submitted a proposal to OSCAR URSP. My specific research question is, do
Hispanic and Latinx students feel racially and ethnically included in higher education?</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">When I submitted this proposal the
expectation was to conduct in-person interviews. However, due to the Covid-19
pandemic, this was no longer an option. Therefore, for the protection of all
participants, I transitioned my interviews to be conducted virtually through
Zoom. Surprisingly enough, there are a lot of things that virtual interviews
have made easier, for example the distribution of gift cards to participants,
the audio and visual recording aspect and even the ability to schedule the
interviews. I am both grateful and fortunate that my research has not been
negatively affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, but I can say this was not how I
expected my research to be conducted. Regardless, my research has been
continuing at a good pace and I am close to completing all my interviews. The
next step in my research is to finish transcription of the interviews and
analyze them through a process of open coding. After coding is completed, I
hope to use analytical memos to look for patterns across the interviewees as a
way of understanding similarities and differences in the experiences of
Hispanic and Latinx students.</p><p></p>OSCARhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05271758259808637827noreply@blogger.com