Digital Commons Network^™

Transcriptomic Profiles Of Peripheral White Blood Cells In Type Ii Diabetes And Racial Differences In Expression Profiles, Jinghe Mao, Junmei Ai, Xinchun Zhou, Ming Shenwu, Manuel Ong Jr., Marketta Blue, Jasmine T. Washington, Xiaonan Wang, Youping Deng

Faculty Publications

Background: Along with obesity, physical inactivity, and family history of metabolic disorders, African American ethnicity is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes (T2D) in the United States. However, little is known about the differences in gene expression and transcriptomic profiles of blood in T2D between African Americans (AA) and Caucasians (CAU), and microarray analysis of peripheral white blood cells (WBCs) from these two ethnic groups will facilitate our understanding of the underlying molecular mechanism in T2D and identify genetic biomarkers responsible for the disparities.

Results: A whole human genome oligomicroarray of peripheral WBCs was performed on 144 …

Learning The Structure Of Gene Regulatory Networks From Time Series Gene Expression Data, Haoni Li, Nan Wang, Ping Gong, Edward J. Perkins, Chaoyang Zhang

Faculty Publications

Background: Dynamic Bayesian Network (DBN) is an approach widely used for reconstruction of gene regulatory networks from time-series microarray data. Its performance in network reconstruction depends on a structure learning algorithm. REVEAL (REVerse Engineering ALgorithm) is one of the algorithms implemented for learning DBN structure and used to reconstruct gene regulatory networks (GRN). However, the two-stage temporal Bayes network (2TBN) structure of DBN that specifies correlation between time slices cannot be obtained by score metrics used in REVEAL.

Methods: In this paper, we study a more sophisticated score function for DBN first proposed by Nir Friedman for stationary …

Gulf Coast Faculty Council Minutes - December 09, 2011, Usm Gulf Coast Faculty Council

Gulf Coast Faculty Council Minutes

No abstract provided.

Faculty Senate Minutes - December 2, 2011, Usm Faculty Senate

Faculty Senate Minutes

No abstract provided.

Attitudes And Perceptions Of Early Childcare Professionals In Community-Based Programs In Regard To Inclusion Of Children With Disabilities, Catherine Parker

Honors Theses

The purpose of the study was to determine why early care and education facilities are not identified as inclusive. This study compared the differences in attitude toward inclusive programming among directors, preschool teachers, and infant/toddler teachers in early care and education facilities. This study addressed two questions in regard to the attitudes and perceptions of early childhood professionals. First, what are the attitudes of early childhood professionals toward advantages and disadvantages of inclusive classrooms and how their attitudes may differ depending on staff position? Second, what are the major obstacles identified by early childhood professionals to inclusive programming and how …

A Critical Edition Of Madison Cawein: Examining The Effects Of Modernism On Regional Poetry, Kristin Teston

Honors Theses

When I first began this project, I had hopes of discovering that long forgotten poet, Madison Cawein, was one of America’s early Modernist writers. However, as time progressed and as I became intimate with Cawein’s work I realized that he was, in fact, not a Modernist. Rather, Cawein’s writing reveals interesting insight on how poets steeped in traditional form were affected by the shift to the Modernist ways thinking and writing. Although, as this project will later reveal, Cawein was much opposed to the free verse style of Modernist writing his concerns about the ever changing modern world closely relate …

Assessing Landscape Change In Western Honduras, 1957-2010, Eric Lenhardt Mcgregor

Master's Theses

Human impacts on environmental conditions have long concerned researchers investigating changing forest conditions in the world's tropical regions. This thesis uses repeat photography, satellite imagery, and quantitative spatial statistics to evaluate landscape change in western Honduras between 1957 and 2010, and specifically focuses on changes in tree cover. Results from repeat photography and satellite classification show an increase in tree cover. Spatial statistics indicate that increases in shade coffee production may also be related to much of the observed increases in tree cover. Forest transition theory is used as a framework to help explain the observed changes, such as dooryard …

Using Prolonged Exposure To Treat Abortion-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder In Alcohol-Dependent Men: A Case Study, Aisha Denise Baker, Jay A. Morrison, Scott Coffey

Student Publications

Men’s reactions to a partner’s abortion are an understudied area. Few studies have examined abortion as it relates to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in males, and no studies have examined the use of an empirically supported behavioral treatment for PTSD in this population. The current case study examines prolonged exposure (PE) for the treatment of abortion-related PTSD in a 46-year-old White male who also has alcohol dependence. The patient was involved in a residential substance abuse treatment program at the time of treatment. After receiving 12 sessions of PE, the patient experienced a decrease in PTSD symptoms as measured by …

December 2011 Minutes, Usm Council Of Chairs

Council of Chairs

Minutes of the December 2011 meeting of the USM Council of Chairs.

State Space Model With Hidden Variables For Reconstruction Of Gene Regulatory Networks, Xi Wu, Peng Li, Nan Wang, Ping Gong, Edward J. Perkins, Youping Deng, Chaoyang Zhang

Faculty Publications

Background: State Space Model (SSM) is a relatively new approach to inferring gene regulatory networks. It requires less computational time than Dynamic Bayesian Networks (DBN). There are two types of variables in the linear SSM, observed variables and hidden variables. SSM uses an iterative method, namely Expectation-Maximization, to infer regulatory relationships from microarray datasets. The hidden variables cannot be directly observed from experiments. How to determine the number of hidden variables has a significant impact on the accuracy of network inference. In this study, we used SSM to infer Gene regulatory networks (GRNs) from synthetic time series datasets, investigated …

Quantifying Rates Of Autocompaction In The Pearl River Marsh, Louisiana, Jeremiah Nicholas Prouhet

Master's Theses

Annual rates of shallow autocompaction (< 1 m) were calculated in the upper ~one meter of sediment from six cores of a transect in the Pearl River Marsh (PRM), Louisiana, in order to determine the most significant sedimentary property controlling this process. Compaction-free wedge cores were sub-sampled at one centimeter intervals to collect the following data: age control, using 137Cs and 210Pb, and sedimentary variables, specifically, particulate organic carbon, bulk density, median grain size, porosity, and water content. An upper and an underlying sedimentary unit (named the 137Cs and 210Pb units) were defined between radiometric datum levels, and their sedimentary properties were statistically tested for significant differences using the non-parametric Mann-Whitney test. Rates of autocompaction were calculated from the model of Williams (2003), and both rates of autocompaction and sedimentation were tested for significant differences between the upper and lower sedimentary units.

The upper unit in the six cores generally had lower bulk density, higher water content, higher porosity, and higher particulate organic carbon than the underlying unit, but with some interesting exceptions. Additionally, annual autocompaction and sedimentation rates were greatest in the overlying unit at stations PR02 (0.39 ± 0.05 cm/y) and PR05 (0.42 ± 0.03 cm/y) and greatest in the underlying unit at stations PR02 (0.22 ± 0.08 cm/y) and PR03 (0.18 ± 0.06 cm/y). Based on Spearman correlations, rates of autocompaction were most strongly correlated to and influenced by rates of sedimentation rather …

Measuring And Comparing Quantum Yield In Two Species Of Marine Diatoms Subjected To Constant And Fluctuating Light Conditions, Matthew Leon Stone

Master's Theses

A small-scale study was conducted to determine the effects of light fluctuations on the photosynthetic efficiency of marine phytoplankton. Two species, Phaeodactylum tricornutum and Chaetoceros gracile were grown in specialized photobioreactors on a 12-hour:12-hour light:dark cycle. The cultures were diluted 50% daily to attain a specific growth rate of 0.70 d-1. To simulate vertical mixing in high turbidity habitats under various wind conditions, dense cultures were subjected to fluctuating light treatments with frequencies ranging from 0.10 Hz to 2.00 Hz. Parallel experiments subjected the cultures to static light conditions with equal total daily light doses as those of the cultures …

Phytoplankton Abundance And Species Composition In Relation To Environmental Paramenters In Coastal Mississippi Waters, Luz Karime Molina

Master's Theses

Phytoplankton pigments from Coastal Mississippi waters were measured to determine the spatial and temporal distributions and composition of phytoplankton communities. Concentration of phytoplankton pigments were analyzed using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and the compositional changes in phytoplankton communities were determined with CHEMTAX 1.95. Surface water was collected for two years (September 2007-November 2009) at three sampling sites on a monthly basis. The stations were located at the Bay of St. Louis (station 1), the Mississippi Sound (station 4) and the Mississippi Bight (station 8), following a salinity gradient. A time series of the observations documented the variability of different …

The Use Of Computed Tomography To Measure Biogenic Structures In Recently Hypoxic And Normoxic Sediments On The Louisiana Continental Shelf, Valerie Ann Hartman

Master's Theses

Over the past 60 years, seasonal hypoxia in the northern Gulf of Mexico has occurred with increased severity and over a greater area. To determine if biogenic structures in the northern Gulf of Mexico vary in response to hypoxic stress, the seafloor on the continental shelf of Louisiana was analyzed during the spring and fall of 2009 at four provinces of similar sediment type that differ in recent history of bottom water oxygen concentration. Subcores were analyzed by computed tomography (CT) to determine the number, diameter, length, volume, surface area, and depth of biogenic burrow structures in sediments where biogenic …

A Study Of The Early American Author Judith Sargent Murray, Her Role In Early American Print Culture And Her Misappropriation By Twentieth-Century Feminism, Robert Allen Fowler

Master's Theses

In 1798, Judith Sargent Murray published a three-volume collection of one hundred miscellaneous essays on topics ranging from social politesse to women’s education to international politics. Her diligence, forethought and manipulation of pseudonyms in the print-hungry post-Revolutionary America create a unique place for her in the history of American letters. However, in the twentieth century, modern feminism has attempted to claim Murray as one of their own, choosing between one and four examples of her work as proof of her forward-looking philosophy, while ignoring significant pieces of those same works as well as much of her oeuvre as a whole …

Consequences Of Contact: An Evaluation Of Childhood Health Patterns Using Enamel Hypoplasias Among The Colonial Maya Of Tipu, Amanda R. Harvey

Master's Theses

Located in western Belize, Tipu was occupied from 1541-1704. This Colonial Maya population from a Spanish visita mission church was analyzed to investigate health disturbances associated with European contact. Dental defect called enamel hypoplasias were scored to assess childhood health. Standard methods of scoring (Buikstra and Ubelaker 1994) were employed to assess frequency, severity, and type of episode in the permanent anterior dentition. For analysis, 325 individuals were placed into age groups of subadults (6-17 years), younger adults (18-35 years), and older adults (36-50+ years). The population was also considered for differences by sex and tooth type.

Results showed a …

Ancestral Analysis Of The French Colonial Moran Cemetery, Biloxi, Mississippi, Danielle Nicole Cook

Master's Theses

The Moran site (22HR511) in Biloxi, Mississippi, dates from 1719 to 1723 and is the earliest known French Colonial cemetery in the United States. Historical records suggest that those interred likely represent immigrants from Western Europe as well as Africa who were relocated in an effort to colonize the Louisiana Territory. Given the variety of cultural backgrounds at the site, an ancestral analysis of the 25 individuals uncovered has been conducted. Traditional markers such as cranial and tooth morphology and metrics, and enamel composition, were evaluated in all individuals, and DNA was analyzed in five. Stable isotope levels were also …

Shady Grove Site (22qu525) Quitman County, Mississippi: Analysis Of Demographics And Mortuary Practices, Stacy Ann Scott

Master's Theses

The Mississippian Period (A.D. 1000-1500) is distinguished by reliance on stable agriculture, sedentary ranked populations, and production of prestige goods. Sociopolitical structure was based on kinship, wealth, and power, and can be revealed through the local mortuary programs. This thesis explores the mortuary practices observed at an ossuary at Shady Grove (22QU525), a small mounded center in Quitman County dating to the Early Mississippian Period, based on demographics, burial mode, cemetery location, and associated grave goods.

The Burial 43 ossuary, excavated in 2010 contained stacked bundle burials of at least 78 individuals. All age groups and both sexes were present. …

Lead And Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Meta-Analysis, James Kenneth Goodlad Iii

Master's Theses

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is thought to have a significant neurological component, and several brain structures have been implicated. Environmental variables like lead have been shown to affect brain structures, which in turn impacts cognitive development and behavior. Some studies have begun to associate environmental variables like lead with the inattentive and hyperactive-impulsive symptoms of ADHD. This meta-analysis examined the association between different components of ADHD (including attention problems and hyperactivity/impulsivity) and level of lead exposure in children and adolescents. Articles focusing on the association between lead and inattention or hyperactivity-impulsivity symptoms were gathered from the online databases PsycINFO and Medline. …

Influence Of Detritus Levels And Organic Pollution On Interspecific Resource Competition, Oviposition Behavior, And Larval Survival Of Two Tire-Inhabiting Mosquito Species (Diptera: Culicidae), David Wayne Allgood

Master's Theses

Mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) are vectors of disease in the adult stage, but understanding the factors affecting distributions of the immature stages is important to the understanding and control of adult populations. Discarded automobile tires comprise important larval mosquito habitats. The Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) and the southern house mosquito (Culex quinquefasciatus) are two medically important species commonly found in tires, but factors affecting their larval distributions in tires have not been studied, nor have their interspecific interactions. I investigated the effects of chemicals associated with organic pollution on oviposition preferences and larval survival of both …

Tick Infestations And Their Consequences For Migratory Songbirds During Spring Stopover, Johnny Michael Sellers Jr.

Master's Theses

Migratory birds face a number of challenges during their seasonal movement from tropical/sub-tropical Central and South America to more temperate North America. Maintaining health during migration is of particular concern. This study seeks to understand how haematophageous ectoparasites, such as ticks (Ixodida), impact host body condition as they feed on passerines during migration. We hypothesized that foraging location would impact tick acquisition by migrants and that tick burdens during migration would negatively impact body condition. We surveyed 2,064 birds during spring 2009 and 2010 and found that 2.4% of the surveyed birds were infested with one or more …

State Super-Maximum Security Policies: An Examination Of Admission Characteristics, Classification Reviews, Mental Health Amenities, And Inmate Privileges, Harry Daniel Butler

Master's Theses

Super-maximum security prisons have flourished within a political environment that endorses tougher criminal sanctions. This punitive evolution has created new problems for correctional agencies attempting to control the “worst of the worst” inmates. Federal courts and researchers have examined the detrimental effects supermax isolation has on inmates’ mental health. This analysis examines forty-two state supermax policies to determine how states admit inmates to supermax custody, the classification review process, the management of inmates with mental illnesses, and the availability of privileges for supermax inmates. Drawing on the concept of the McDonaldization of Justice (Ritzer, 1993), particular attention is given to …

A Meta-Analysis Of Component Treatment Studies: Are The Parts As Good As The Whole?, Erin Jane Clarke

Master's Theses

Psychotherapy has been proven effective in treating a variety of mental health issues. However, there is disagreement in psychotherapy research about whether or not factors common to all psychotherapies or specific ingredients within a treatment package are responsible for successful treatment outcomes. Component studies are research designs specifically aimed at identifying the mechanisms of change in a full treatment package. Component studies do this by comparing the differences in outcome among dismantled treatment components and the full treatment protocol. The present metaanalytic review of component studies examined whether or not differences between these two treatment groups generally exist. Fifty-nine component …

The Relationship Between Salivary Cortisol Levels And Stressful Behaviors Upon The Introduction Of A New Exhibit Mate In Captive Black And Gold Howler Monkeys (Alouatta Caraya) At The Hattiesburg Zoo, Cassie Mechelle Chandler

Master's Theses

Salivary cortisol levels were taken on a male and a female howler monkey and compared with behavioral observations during their introduction to one another into an exhibit at the Hattiesburg Zoo in order to determine the link between behavior and stress. This study sought to answer the following research questions: What behavioral responses occur when two howler monkeys are introduced into the same exhibit at a zoo? How stressed are the animals at different stages of the introduction? And, what is the correlation between behaviors and hormones, if any?

The study spanned four phases including a baseline phase, the initial …

Motivating Factors Influencing Spectator Attendance At Professional Soccer Events In Brazil, Rafael Andreis

Master's Theses

In Brazil, soccer is regarded so highly that Brazilians often refer to their country as o pais do futebol, or the country of football ("Natal Brazil", 2006). Brazil national soccer teams won five of the nineteen World Cup tournaments, a record that is so far unmatched by any other country. Brazil boasts 102 million soccer fans who attend games in the country's 300 soccer stadiums, which, combined, have more than five million seats (Helal et al., 2006; Fifa.com, 2010). However, while the importance of soccer in Brazil is unquestionable, the monetization of professional soccer in Brazil is currently far from …

Jackson, Mississippi, Contested: The Allied Struggle For Civil Rights And Human Dignity, Matthew David Monroe

Master's Theses

Utilizing monthly reports and correspondence of civil rights organizations, in addition to newspaper coverage, oral histories; and memoirs, this study shows that a grassroots, community-driven movement mobilized in Mississippi's capital to challenge institutionalized discrimination. Yet, racial identity did not dictate exclusively how White and Black Mississippians responded to the unfolding Civil Rights Movement. Conflicting and shifting motivations shaped the nature, extent, and pace by which Blacks and Whites challenged or protected status quo discrimination. The Jackson Movement began as early as 1955 and sustained protest activity into the 1960s. By the summer of 1965, Jackson's Black community secured most of …

Jackson, Mississippi, Contested: The Allied Struggle For Civil Rights And Human Dignity, Matthew David Monroe

Master's Theses

Utilizing monthly reports and correspondence of civil rights organizations, in addition to newspaper coverage, oral histories, and memoirs, this study shows that a grassroots, community-driven movement mobilized in Mississippi’s capital to challenge institutionalized discrimination. Yet, racial identity did not dictate exclusively how White and Black Mississippians responded to the unfolding Civil Rights Movement. Conflicting and shifting motivations shaped the nature, extent, and pace by which Blacks and Whites challenged or protected status quo discrimination. The Jackson Movement began as early as 1955 and sustained protest activity into the 1960s. By the summer of 1965, Jackson’s Black community secured most of …

Family, Feud, And The Conduct Of War In Anglo-Saxon England, Elnathan Barnett

Master's Theses

Anglo-Saxon society was built around the concept of feud, and it is clear from history, law, and literature that the twin concerns of family and vengeance remained pillars of Anglo-Saxon society and consciousness throughout the period. Given constant warfare and the cultural and social importance of feuding, it would appear logical that warfare was essentially feud writ large, that conflicts pitted one kin group against another and vengeance for the dead was a major, if not the only, reason for making war. However, royal families often fought among themselves, while wars waged to avenge a death are conspicuous by their …

Thermal Tolerance Of Age-0 Gulf Of Mexico Striped Bass (Morone Saxatilis): Ontogenetic And Genetic Effects, Corey Robert Anderson

Master's Theses

Striped bass, Morone saxatilis, were historically abundant in the Gulf of Mexico region but were largely extirpated from most Gulf rivers by the early 1960s. Since 1967 hatchery stocking has supported populations in Mississippi rivers and to date there is no evidence of natural reproduction. Intolerance of striped bass to high water temperature is a potential factor negatively impacting Gulf striped bass survival and reproductive fitness, and may be a limiting factor to reintroduction of the species in Mississippi. This work contributed to restoration efforts by establishing molecular tools necessary for genetic monitoring of striped bass restoration, and evaluating …

Continuous Analysis Of Photocatalytic Activity In Thin-Films And Coatings, Steven Michael Allee

Master's Theses

Materials that undergo photocatalytic reactions create evolved gases due to ultraviolet light decomposition. Current methods of measuring these gases typically result in destruction of the sample. A test fixture was developed to measure evolved gases in a nondestructive manner through the utilization of a flow-through sensor array system. Preliminary testing indicates responsive measurements down to parts-per-billion sensitivity for some gases and will be compared with mass spectrometry measurements. Further development of this process could lead to the ability to measure photocatalytic reaction gases on a continuous basis without interruption of the process or destruction of materials introduced to the system.