Digital Commons Network^™

Daphnia: A Possible Way To Combat A Deadly Amphibian Pathogen, Taylor Thomas

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Globally there is a biodiversity crisis, with many groups of species threatened with extinction due to changes in the environment and human impacts. Amphibians are one such group and according to the IUCN, over 30% of amphibians are threatened by extinction. There are many factors have that can explain the decline of amphibians including pollution, habitat loss, climate change and disease. One factor is chytridiomycosis, an emerging infectious disease caused by the chytrid Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. The chytrid enters the keratinized skin of the amphibian and asexually reproduces, where it disrupts host functions, often leading to host death.

Due to …

Manipulated Manipulation: The Political Origins And Implications Of Shakespeare's Henry V, Kate Morton

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Shakespeare’s Henry V has long been one of the most ambiguous adaptations of the story of England’s most celebrated historical figure: King Henry V. This adaptation raises the question of why Shakespeare presents Henry V in a way that not only differs significantly from the other accounts of Henry V’s life, but is also entirely ambiguous as to whether this presentation of Henry V’s character is optimistic or pessimistic in nature. In my thesis, I will argue that the ambiguities present in Henry V are actually a result of Shakespeare's own stress over the political succession looming over England at …

Untangling The Mechanics Of Co-Entangled Cytoskeletal Networks, Shea Ricketts

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Active networks of interlinked protein filaments comprising the cytoskeleton largely control cellular mechanics and cell architecture. By forming cytoskeleton networks that combine motile, semiflexible actin with rigid, supportive microtubules, cells maintain structural integrity and shape while being able to flow and move. To elucidate the complex mechanical processes that arise between interacting networks of actin and microtubules within cells, we create a suite of randomly-oriented, well mixed networks of actin and microtubules by co-polymerizing varying ratios of both proteins in situ. We use optical tweezer microrheology in order to characterize the nonlinear mesoscale mechanics of in vitro co-entangled actin-microtubule composites. …

2d Nmr Structural Study Of A Dna Duplex Containing Two Unnatural Base Pairs, Weston Preising

Undergraduate Honors Theses

DNA is the genetic blueprint responsible for the traits of living organisms. The "genetic alphabet" consists of four molecules called nucleobases, represented by the letters A, T, G, and C strung together in a "strand." A DNA duplex consists of two "strands" held together such that A is across from T and G across from C, referred to A-T and G-C "base pairs". Recently, the genetic alphabet or code has been expanded by synthetic biologists in an effort to unveil new insights to the machinery of DNA replication, and potentially develop new medicines to cure diseases like HIV. The new …

Is Being Wicked The Same As Having Wickedness? A Dialogue On Human Nature Between Wicked, Frankenstein, And Rousseau’S Second Discourse, Emily R. Bezold

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis revolves around the characters of Elphaba, from the musical Wicked, and the Monster, from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. In the comparison of these two verdant characters I seek to analyze their psychological development, starting from their conceptions, to their final moments in their respective stories. I will focus on the parallels between their relations with their fathers, other social connects they may or may not make, and their interaction within the wider social-political world of their stories. In this I seek to explain how Elphaba and the Monster come to represent two different types of man, according …

Investigation Into The Mechanism Of Ion Transport In Rio Negro Characiformes, Vineza D. Reduta

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Four fish species within the Characiform Order [(Rosy tetras (Hyphessobrycon rosaceus), Serpae tetras (Hyphessobrycon eques), Emperor tetras (Nematobrycon palmeri) and Penguin tetras (Thayeria obliqua)] are native to the ion-poor, acidic waters of the Rio Negro. In this paper, we focus on Wood’s revised Na⁺/NH₄⁺ exchange model to gain better insight into the mechanisms of ion transport within the Characids. We exposed each species to two experimental treatments: (i) 1mM ammonia (high external ammonia [HEA]), to test coupling of Na⁺ uptake and ammonia excretion, and (ii) 100μM Acetazolamide …

Drag: Spectacle,Transformance, And The Construction Of Gender Utopia, Tyler J. Henry

Undergraduate Honors Theses

We live in a world of constant performance. Simultaneously being performer and audience, we navigate every day situated in the suspension of disbelief due to society’s spectacle. We are continuously enacting, evaluating, providing feedback, and adjusting in order to perform just well enough to be accepted into mainstream society. Gender is often understood and constructed in rigid binaries where performing too much or too little can lead to exclusion from acceptance into society. However, there are some who purposefully perform in order to criticize the binaries and cultivate an area of limbo between masculine and feminine. I am referring to …

Evaluation Of The Efficiency Of An Arm-Based Beowulf Cluster Versus Traditional Desktop Computing For High Performance Computing, Nicholas Addiego

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In the realm of scientific computing, it has become increasingly important to focus on results driven growth (Kamil, Shalf and Storhmaier). Doing this enables researchers to continue building the rapidly expanding area of scientific discovery. However, with the growth comes a cost of the amount of resources consumed to accomplish these results. Large supercomputers are consuming power at a rate roughly fourteen thousand times that of a traditional American household (U.S. Energy Information Administration). Parallel to this, public consumers have been driving the mobile industry and the research behind it. The need to have faster and faster mobile devices that …

Considerations For Mexican Immigration Policy Reform: How Motivations To Migrate Align With U.S. And Mexican Macroeconomic Conditions, Alix Naugler

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The nationalistic rhetoric adopted by the newly-elected president’s administration along with the public’s climaxing anti-immigrant hysteria has recently forced Mexican immigration intervention to the top of the U.S. agenda. Misconceptions regarding Mexicans’ role in stealing jobs, threatening cultural and ethnic traditions, and straining public welfare, educational, and healthcare resources have spurred a fear among the American people. This politically-fabricated “schizophrenia” has ceased the political and economic collaboration between the two nations and has resulted in the unilateral militarization of the U.S.-Mexico border. In this evaluation of the U.S. government’s immigration policies, the proposed economic theories related to Mexicans’ motivations in …

The Abcs Of Aba: Comparing Consequence Preferences For Maladaptive Behavior In Children On The Autism Spectrum, Alyssa A. Serceki

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Applied Behavior Analysis, or ABA, is a common therapeutic technique that has been implemented since the 1960s as a method of teaching appropriate social and functional behaviors to children on the Autism Spectrum and related disorders. ABA focuses on altering behavior by controlling the Antecedents and Consequences related to the targeted Behavior. ABA is only implemented by trained practitioners, who select from a variety of Consequence options when determining how to modify a given child’s Behavior. Because ABA is rooted in Behavioral Psychology and techniques of learning theory, it is possible that Psychological education may play a role in the …

Light Dependent Endolysosomal Defects In A Photoreceptor Model Of Alzheimer's Disease, Michelle S. Smith

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease which is the 6^th leading cause of death in the US. AD pathology is thought to be linked to the accumulation and aggregation of toxic proteins, amyloid-beta and tau. AD development and neurodegeneration is proposed to be caused by the toxic effects of these protein accumulations, specifically amyloid-beta, as postulated by the amyloid-cascade hypothesis. To study the relationship between amyloid-beta and overall neuronal health, a study was carried out using an amyloid-expressing fruit fly photoreceptor model. Using this model, toxicity of amyloid in a stressed lysosomal system induced by light, an established …

The Effect Of Integration: A Study On The Impact Of Diversity On Economic Indicators, Luke H. Schleier

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This paper examines the effect of diversity, measured by the dissimilarity index, on the economic strength of an area. Economic strength is measured using five economic indicators: median home value, median income, median gross rent, percentage of people with health insurance, and firms per capita. The work aims to show that there is a positive economic impact due to integrating and creating communities that are more diverse. Previous work shows there is a positive impact of diversity on economic indicators such as wages, rents, and production but previous studies do not look at the effect on these economic indicators. This …

Analyzing The Social Change Model In The Context Of Women’S Rights To Education, Abigail R. Solnet

Undergraduate Honors Theses

For my Honors Senior Thesis, I analyzed a leadership theory called the Social Change Model. This model was created by Susan Komives, and consists of the “7 Cs” of leadership. These Cs are divided into individual (consciousness of self, congruence, commitment), group (collaboration, common purpose, controversy with civility), and societal/community (citizenship) values. These values are important in creating positive social change.

I applied the Social Change Model to the context of the human right to education. This human right is currently being violated in various areas around the world. Since human rights are intersectional, it is important to look at …

Impact Of Photo Angle On Food Perceptions And Evaluation, Austin B. Jacobs

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Food photography is an increasingly popular phenomenon, especially on social media. There are over 215 million photos on Instagram with the hashtag “food.” There is a growing trend to showcase the food on social media, as both health and “food art” has become part of popular culture. The purpose of this project is to explore how the photo angle utilized in the image influences a number of consumer outcomes, including evaluations of the food itself, the company, and desire to interact with the image. Specifically, pictures of food commonly employ either a three-quarter downward looking angle (as if you were …

Examining The Neuronal Dopaminergic Pathway Underlying Sleep Behavior And Related Dopamine Sleep Disorders, Mary Beth Putz

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The human brain is an extremely complex organ with approximately 100 billion different neurons that are constantly sending and receiving messages. These messages are sent using the chemical messengers of the brain: neurotransmitters and neuromodulators. Mechanisms of neural control of sleep are substantially conserved across species. Evidence from multiple animal models including flies, zebrafish, and mice shows that the arousal, or wake phase, is regulated by conserved neuromodulators such as dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. Since these neurotransmitter systems are distributed throughout the brain and sub-serve many functions in addition to sleep, the precise circuit mechanisms by which these neurotransmitters regulate …

Effects Of Sleep-Deprivation On Decision-Making And Action Selection, Shalin N. Shah

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis addresses neuroscience research focusing on the brain’s mechanisms underlying behavioral choice, or prioritization, and decision-making. The research has been conducted with Drosophila melanogaster, the fruit fly – a good model from both the behavioral and neural perspectives. This project specifically observes the co-regulation of sleep with two other behaviors – courtship and oviposition. The overlap between the sleep and courtship circuits in the brain should provide a good model for behavioral prioritization, and the interaction between sleep and ovipositional preference should provide a model for understanding the effects of sleep on decision-making. All three of these adaptive behaviors …

37 Clauses: Instructions Ignore The Narrative Voice, Jonathan L. Hall

Undergraduate Honors Theses

No abstract provided.