Digital Commons Network^™

A Microdebitage Analysis Of The Winterville Mounds Site (22ws500), Stephanie Leigh-Ann Guest

Master's Theses

The Winterville Mounds site (22WS500) was a civic ceremonial center of 23 mounds and is located near Greenville in northwest Mississippi. Winterville excavations as field schools are ongoing since 2005 under the direction of Dr. H. Edwin Jackson of The University of Southern Mississippi. Examination of the >1/4" (6.35 mm) mesh screened lithic material provided mixed results of reduction stages and lacked variety of non-local materials (Guest 2006, Winter 2009, McClendon 2012). Authors of these analyses called for the examination of the 1/16” (1.58 mm) water-screened lithic material to identify reduction stages and traces of non-local materials to provide evidence …

"And A Sad Ditty Of This Story Born": Regeneration Through Decay In John Keats's Isabella, Erica Van Schaik

Master's Theses

John Keats’s Isabella; or the Pot of Basil (1818) has been read, like many of Keats’s of works, as an allegory for the death that surrounded the poet and his life’s tragic circumstances. Isabella has also been studied in regard to its gothic horror elements. Such previous readings identify a theme of mortality and decay within the poem, but I argue these themes serve a larger purpose, one related to the possibilities created by regeneration. Isabella, a young woman whose lover, Lorenzo, is murdered by her own brothers, removes Lorenzo’s head from his corpse and places it in a potted …

The Legacy Of British Rule On Lgbt Rights In Jamaica And The Cayman Islands, Zachary Stewart

Master's Theses

This thesis explores the relationship between British colonial influence and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) rights in the Caribbean. Comparing the Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory, and Jamaica, an independent former colony of the United Kingdom, the situation for LGBT people is evaluated. While Jamaica has serious abuses and a concerning situation for the human rights of LGBT people, the Cayman Islands’ LGBT community’s position is far less concerning. Owing to its continued connection to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Cayman Islands’ LGBT rights situation is much less dire. Through British influence via …

Comparison Study Between Post-Fermentation Stillage And Pre-Fermentation Mash Utilizing Acidification And Steam Explosion Techniques For Cellulose Saccharification, Daniel Mckee

Master's Theses

Pre-fermentation mash fiber and post-distillation stillage fiber were examined and compared using a variety of preparatory techniques to determine the better source for cellulose fiber saccharification. Once screened, dried, and diluted to a 10% solution, mash fiber and stillage fiber were exposed to increasing temperatures for steam explosion techniques as well as increasing acidification techniques. Both underwent enzymatic saccharification to convert the exposed cellulose to glucose and other sugars. Once the optimum steam explosion technique parameters and acidification parameters were determined to be 2.5% sulfuric acid at 127.8°C for 1 hour, a comparison of the saccharification of pre-fermentation mash fiber …

Rethinking Civil Wars: An Overview Of Literature And The Syrian Conflict Towards A Structural Definition Of Civil War, Mphatso Kaufulu

Master's Theses

Civil War is a term often used to classify a type of conflict which arises within states. This being so, the exact criteria upon which such a classification of conflict is arrived remains unclear. Additionally, political, dispensational and ideological currents have influenced the classification of conflicts within states by different scholars, so that the determination of conflicts as being civil wars rather than some other kind of intra-state conflict can seem arbitrary. Beyond just the academic implications of this arbitrariness are policy impacts as well. This is because the term civil war carries with it certain implications about the nature …

A Neuroprotective Role For Mir-1017, A Non-Canonical Mirna, Matthew De Cruz

Master's Theses

miRNAs are post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression, with numerous being involved in neurobiology. Within the human genome a quarter of the identified miRNA loci derive from a class of miRNAs termed tailed mirtrons. Despite the identification of this large population of miRNA, no functional studies have been conducted to identify their role. In this study we examined the highly expressed and deeply conserved Drosophila 3’ tail mirtron, miR-1017, as a candidate to elucidate tailed mirtron functionality. We identified acetylcholine receptor transcripts, Da5 and Da2, as bona fide targets for miR-1017. Interestingly, Da2 is also the host transcript for miR-1017. We …

Impacts Of Oil Exposure During Early Life Development Stages In Sheepshead Minnows (Cyprinodon Variegatus) Under Different Environmental Factors, Danielle Simning

Master's Theses

The release of approximately 5 million barrels of crude oil into the northern Gulf of Mexico during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill jeopardized estuarine ecosystem health from Texas to Florida. These estuarine habitats, which serve as nurseries for many important fisheries are also prone to rapid fluctuations in environmental stressors such as oxygen concentration, and salinity. The consequence of combined exposure to crude oil and suboptimal environmental factors during early life stage development of fish is still largely unknown. The objective of this project was to investigate the impacts of exposure to crude oil in combination with varying environmental …

Examining Movement Dynamics Of The Gulf Menhaden Fishery Using An Individual-Based Model, Robert D. Trigg Iii

Master's Theses

This study investigates the movement and harvest dynamics of the Gulf Menhaden Brevoortia patronus fishery. The fishery-dependent data collected by NOAA (years 2006-2009 and 2011) describe vessel-specific information on catch locations (latitude and longitude) and magnitude of harvest in metric tons (mt). A series of probability distribution functions (PDFs) were fit to the frequency distributions of number of harvests per day (Poisson), between-harvest distances (gamma), and harvest magnitude (log-normal). These analyses were used to inform an individual-based model (IBM). The IBM was run under several different spatial restriction regimes, including (1) current regulations in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama; (2) …

Sony Pictures And The U.S. Federal Government: A Case Study Analysis Of The Sony Pictures Entertainment Hack Crisis Using Normal Accidents Theory, Mohamed Ismail

Master's Theses

In this case study, I analyze the 2014 North Korean computer database hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), a serious national security crisis of cyberterrorism. I utilize Normal Accidents theory as a lens, to help explain how the accident within one system (SPE) and later crisis lead to the interaction with a second system (U.S. Federal Government), the development of a new crisis, and the need for a crisis response from system two. The evolution of a single organization’s accident into a national security crisis does not occur without specific complex interactions that take place to connect the two systems …

The Role Of Pain Persistence In The Association Between Negative Urgency And Suicidal Behavior, Hyejin Jin

Master's Theses

Impulsivity has been identified as an important component of suicidal behavior (Mann et al., 1999) but the relationship has been shown to be indirect through painful and provocative events (PPEs; Bender, Gordon, Bresin, Joiner, 2011). Negative urgency (NU) is a subscale of impulsivity (Cyders et al., 2007) that has been associated with high engagement of PPEs such as non-suicidal self-injury because individuals high in NU are highly motivated to eliminate the aversive emotion (Anestis & Joiner, 2011). Past research found that repeated PPEs may increase the capability for suicide by changing how one responds to pain, thereby increasing their pain …

The Utility Of Foraminifera In Documenting Sediment Provenance For Overwash Deposits: A Case Study Using Sediments Deposited By Tropical Cyclone Pam In Vanuatu, Thomas Kosciuch

Master's Theses

Tropical cyclone inundation is a major threat to the highly exposed islands of the South Pacific. This vulnerability was highlighted in March 2015 when Tropical Cyclone (TC) Pam made landfall on Vanuatu as a Category 5 storm, impacting coastlines with storm surges that produced high water marks up to 7 m above MSL and deposited sediments up to 400 m inland. We examined the foraminiferal assemblages contained within TC Pam sediments at two locations in Vanuatu: a mixed-carbonate embayment (Manuro), and a volcaniclastic beach (Port Resolution Bay; PRB). At Manuro, the TC Pam sediments were up to 10 cm thick …

The Prevalence Of Overweight And Obesity Among Adolescents With Chronic Health Conditions, Catherine Levy

Master's Theses

Overweight and obesity during adolescence is a primary public health concern as these conditions are associated with several chronic health conditions (cardiovascular disease, Type II Diabetes, etc.) that can affect individuals into adulthood. The purpose of this study was two-fold: 1) to examine the prevalence of overweight and obesity among adolescents with chronic health conditions; and 2) To examine the odds of physical activity and sedentary behaviors in adolescents with chronic health conditions, viewing whether the presence of chronic health conditions impact PA and sedentary behaviors.

Analyses included 28,778 adolescents aged 10-17 from the 2011-12 National Survey of Children’s Heath. …

Reassessment Of The Red Drum Stock In Mississippi Coastal Waters: The Role Of Ages 3-5 Year-Class Fish, Emily Satterfield

Master's Theses

Red Drum, Sciaenops ocellatus, are highly sought after by sport fishermen in Mississippi coastal waters. In 2016, Mississippi anglers made over 180,000 fishing trips targeting Red Drum, making it the second most targeted marine species. The current Fishery Management Plan of the Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council, prohibits harvest of Red Drum in federal waters. Monitoring of the stock in Mississippi state waters occurs at sites that are almost exclusively estuarine, using gear types selective for juvenile fish. Additional samples come from the for-hire-industry that typically targets larger Red Drum. This project’s goal was to target age three …

Women In Wartime Shipyards: Operating A Drill Press Was Like Using An Egg Beater, Carol A. Strohmetz

Master's Theses

This research examines the duality of the roles of American women during World War II. The research draws upon oral histories, newspaper accounts and advertisements, music and films of the time, letters and family scrapbooks, and primary and secondary sources. Most prior research focuses on either women in the workforce or women in the home. This research synthesizes all aspects of the lives of women as they navigated the hostile terrain of the male workforce and continued to perform the duties assigned to them by society. This research highlights the multiple roles that women successfully executed as they cared for …

Lois Lenski, A Friend To Children: An Interdisciplinary Analysis Of A Children's Book Author, Stephanie Evans Thomas

Master's Theses

In her lifetime, Lois Lenski wrote, illustrated, and otherwise contributed to more than one hundred books for children and preteens. This study focuses on Lenski’s regional books for preteens, novels that Lenski claimed were written from real life. Using interpretive narrative analysis, this study evaluates two of Lenski’s regional novels: Strawberry Girl (1945), the 1946 Newbery award-winner and second installment in the American Regional series, and High-Rise Secret (1966), the eleventh installment in the Roundabout America series, focusing specifically on Lenski’s creative process. The analysis of Lenski’s works was contextualized using literature focusing on the concepts of character representation, authority, …

Combined Effects Of Dissolved Oxygen And Temperature On Aerobic Respiration And Respiratory Recovery Responses Of The Spioniform Polychaete, Streblospio Gynobranchiata, In Relation To Body Size, Alyssa Bennett

Master's Theses

Elevated surface temperatures exacerbate the threat of hypoxia within coastal ecosystems. These two primary stressors likely interact as they elicit opposing physiological responses from marine organisms. Metabolic depression is typically associated with hypoxia, while metabolic rates increase with temperature. Moreover, physiological effects of combined stressors may not be additive. In light of increasing pressures from hypoxia, elevated ocean temperatures, and other stressors within coastal regions, studies need to examine effects of multiple stressors on physiology of coastal organisms.

Mass-specific aerobic respiration (V_O2) was characterized as a proxy for metabolic cost of Streblospio gynobranchiata, at combined levels of …

Effects Of Temperature On Growth And Molting In Blue Crabs (Callinectes Sapidus) And Lesser Blue Crabs (Callinectes Similis), Abigail Ann Kuhn

Master's Theses

Temperature can exert impacts on many processes in ectotherms. With global temperatures rising due to climate change, many ectothermic species may exhibit changes in growth rates and size at maturity, and these changes can have population-level effects. Predicting responses of species to climate change will require not only knowledge of thermal tolerance limits, but also effects of temperature change on growth rates and other life history parameters. For arthropods that exhibit discontinuous growth (i.e., molting), this includes both intermolt period and growth per molt. Previous laboratory and field experiments suggest that temperature affects both intermolt period (IMP) and growth per …

The Effects Of Real-Time Visual Performance Feedback Using A Tier Approach For Increasing Behavior Specific Praise On Teachers, Elizabeth Lown

Master's Theses

A number of studies have found behavior specific praise to be effective in increasing academically engaged behaviors and decreasing disruptive behaviors of students. The proposed study evaluated the effects of real-time visual performance feedback as a strategy for promoting teacher use of behavior-specific praise. An ABCBC design was utilized to determine the efficacy of real-time visual performance feedback in comparison to delayed visual performance feedback. The primary dependent variable measured was teacher use of behavior-specific praise. Additionally, student outcomes were assessed to determine the relationship between teacher use of behavior-specific praise and student behavior. The results from the study provide …

What Do Work Value Differentiation And Profile Elevation Predict?, Jinhao Chi

Master's Theses

Using a sample of 251 college students, it was found that 1) when differentiation (D) of work values was calculated using three indices, high-low D, Iachan D, and variance D, only Iachan D positively related to indecision but high-low D and variance D did not, 2) none of the three indices of D related to career maturity, 3) work values profile elevation (PE) positively related to extraversion, openness, and negatively related to depressive symptoms and career indecision but was unrelated to career certainty and neuroticism and 4) work values PE moderated the relationship between Iachan D and career indecision. The …

The Impact Of Fe-Ti Oxide Concentration On The Structural Ridgity Of The Lower Oceanic Crust, Atlantis Bank, Southwest Indian Ridge, Daniel Winkler

Master's Theses

Fe-Ti oxides are important components of oceanic core complexes (OCC) formed at slow-spreading mid-ocean ridges since Fe-Ti oxides are more susceptible to crystal-plastic deformation than silicate minerals. This study investigated the predicted relationship between the presence and concentration of Fe-Ti oxides and the presence and intensity of crystal-plastic deformation in gabbroic samples from Atlantis Bank, Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR). Atlantis Bank is an oceanic core complex that formed through the exhumation of lower oceanic crust along a detachment fault. OCCs form along slow-spreading ridges and are characterized by the complex interactions between magmatism and lithospheric extension, thus making these complexes …

A Close Encounter With Death: Narration In Markus Zusak's The Book Thief, Erin M. Gipson

Master's Theses

While critics have discussed Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief (2005) in terms of the Holocaust, its generic hybridity, and its crossover readership for child and adult audiences, I offer the first narratological reading of its unusual narrator: Death. This reading focuses on the rhetorical strategies underlying Death’s contradictory narration, which is at once anthropomorphized and constitutively nonhuman. Scholars of The Book Thief often assume the narrator’s omniscience, but I find that Death is crucially not omniscient; rather, he merely performs omniscience to mask his humanlike limitations. Since current terminology falls short of describing Zusak’s narration, I propose the new classification …

The Influence Of Parental Communication About Sexual Health On Quality Of Emerging Adult Romantic Relationships, Jaclyn Denise Powers

Master's Theses

The research on relationships between parent-child communication about sexuality and sexual communication between adult partners is currently lacking. The current study aims to examine the influence of parent-child sexual communication on adult sexual communication when those children reach adulthood and engage in romantic relationships. Parent-child sexual communication, attachment styles, sexual attitudes, and partner sexual communication were examined for influence on the physical and emotional relationship satisfaction of emerging adults. Study 1 included a quantitative analysis with 553 emerging adults participating in an online survey, and study 2 incorporated a qualitative analysis with an additional 7 emerging adults participating in online …

Exploitation Of Land And Labor In Appalachia: The Manipulation Of Men In Ann Pancake's Strange As This Weather Has Been, Britani W. Baker

Master's Theses

Ecofeminism is traditionally interested in the relationship between patriarchal domination of women and nature. Ann Pancake’s novel Strange As this Weather Has Been critiques the way the coal mining industry has affected the Appalachian people and land. The novel reflects natural ecofeminism, which views the connection between women and nature in essentialist terms. This outdated mode of ecofeminism leads to a reinforcement of gender stereotypes and a misrepresentation of the relationship between gender, nature, and culture. This study of Pancake’s novel employs a material ecofeminist approach to both critique and develop the novel’s gender politics. Material ecofeminism, even as it …

The Effects Of Plickers As Response Cards On Academic Engagement Behavior In High School Students, Morgan G. Mccargo

Master's Theses

Multiple studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of increasing student opportunities to respond for increasing academically engaged behavior. The use of response cards has held the most efficacy in terms of increasing opportunities to respond, yet no research has been done with the addition of a technology component. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the utility of technology-based response cards on increasing academically engaged behavior of students in three high school general education classrooms. It is hypothesized that the use of Plickers® will increase academically engaged behavior classwide and decrease disruptive behavior across students in all three classrooms.

When We Were Monsters: Ethnogenesis In Medieval Ireland 800-1366, Dawn Adelaide Seymour Klos

Master's Theses

Ethnogenesis, or the process of identity construction occurred in medieval Ireland as a reaction to laws passed by the first centralized government on the island. This thesis tracks ethnogenesis through documents relating to change in language, custom, and law. This argument provides insight into how a new political identity was rendered necessary by the Anglo-Irish. Victor Turner’s model of Communitas structures the argument as each stage of liminality represents a turning point in the process of ethnogenesis.

1169 marked a watershed moment as it began the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland. English nobles brought with them ideas of centralized power. In …

Solitary And Social Object Play In The Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops Truncatus), Briana M. Cappiello

Master's Theses

Many comparative studies have focused on the emergence of solitary and social play in early development. However, few consider observer and parallel forms of solitary play. In this study, use of video analysis revealed that there is a significant difference between the frequency of solitary, observer, parallel, and social object play states, in calf, juvenile, subadult, and adult bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). While juveniles engaged in solitary play significantly more than any other age group, both juveniles and calves engaged in observer and social play significantly more than adults and subadults. Within their own age group, calves, juveniles, …

The Influence Of Perceived Job Flexibility And Spousal Support On The Marital Satisfaction Of Parents Of Children With Special Needs, Katie M. Perlowski

Master's Theses

Parents of children with special needs can experience more stress in their marriage than parents of children without special needs. Previous work has focused on the child as a major influence for the marital relationship, however this research sought to examine less commonly discussed factors that influence marital satisfaction for these parents. Perceived job flexibility and perceived spousal support in parenting were targeted as potential influencers. A mediation model was attempted to explain the mediating role of perceived spousal support in parenting in the relationship between perceived job flexibility and marital satisfaction. Results showed no correlation between perceived job flexibility …

"There Was No Sign Of Man In It": Casting Dracula As Posthuman And Valuing The Progressive Vampire, Mary Elizabeth Wolverton

Master's Theses

Although not an immediate commercial success, Dracula has since become a seminal example of Gothic horror at the fin-de-siècle, leading not only to film, stage, and television adaptations, but also to literary reimaginings and a plethora of scholarship. I argue that the vampires in Dracula do not fit into the traditional critical understandings of the vampire; rather, they belong in two different but related categories recently theorized by science fiction studies and related to human evolution: transhuman and posthuman. I suggest that a reading of the novel that prioritizes the pervasive influence of evolutionary theory on Victorian literature encourages …

Biodiversity And Phenology Of The Epibenthic Macroinvertebrate Fauna In A First Order Mississippi Stream, Jamaal Bankhead

Master's Theses

I used Hester-Dendy multiplate samplers and stick and leaf samples to collect the aquatic insects of Granny Creek, a first-order perennial stream in southern Mississippi, on twelve sampling dates from March 2014 to June 2015. The dominant insect/invertebrate group in Granny Creek was the dipteran family Chironomidae. Forty-two distinct taxa of chironomid larvae were collected over the duration of my study. Two of the dominant chironomid subfamilies in my samples, the Orthocladiinae and the Chironominae, displayed a phenological pattern in which the Orthocladiinae were more prevalent, both in terms of number of species and in abundance of individuals, in the …

Environmentally-Driven Variation In The Population Dynamics Of Gulf Menhaden (Brevoortia Patronus), Grant D. Adams

Master's Theses

Gulf Menhaden (Brevoortia patronus) is an abundant forage fish distributed throughout the Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM). Gulf Menhaden support the second largest fishery, by weight, in the United States and represent a key linkage between upper and lower trophic levels. Variation in the population dynamics can, therefore, pose consequences for the ecology and economy in the NGOM. Here we aim to understand variation in the individual and population dynamics of Gulf Menhaden throughout ontogeny and how such variation relates to environmental processes. We utilized a suite of fishery-dependent and –independent, remote sensing, modeled, and in situ data …