Digital Commons Network^™

Advancing Nanotechnology For Hematological And Osteological Disorders, Chase K. Hamilton

Integrated Studies

When people think of medicine, they often picture stethoscopes, routine clinical checkups, surgeries, and standard prescriptions. One field that needs more acknowledgement is the technological side. As technology continues to evolve, healthcare advances alongside it, with nanotechnology emerging as a substantial area of innovation. This paper reflects the expanding role of nanotechnology in modern medicine, focusing on its potential applications in trauma and internal medicine care and in the treatment of blood and bone disorders as well as bone and blood related cancers. By working at an extremely small scale, nanotechnology allows for more precise and targeted treatment, reducing damage …

Public Libraries: Communities Need Them To Survive, Genesis Wilson

Integrated Studies

Public libraries continue to play a highly impactful and transformative role in community life, even as digital technologies reshape how individuals access information, participate in civic life, and access social support. The literature consistently shows that public libraries function not only as information centers but also as inclusive community anchors that advance digital equity, civic engagement, lifelong learning, and social well-being. Drawing on research from respected scholars such as Akst, Alemanne et al., Lewis, Elmborg, and Schencker, this literature review integrates key themes related to public libraries as community builders, technology and broadband leaders, and essential social support systems for …

Using Vaginal Cytology To Confirm Estrus In Swine - Pilot Study, Carly J. Johnson

Honors College Theses

This study aims to determine whether there is a correlation between cellular changes observed in vaginal cytology and the physical signs of estrus in swine. Vaginal cytology is a technique commonly used in dogs, cats, and rodents, and if proven effective in swine, it could serve as a practical tool for producers to confirm estrus status and improve reproductive management.

Horse Sense, Jordan Harrell

B.F.A. Practicum Exhibition (ART 498)

Art is a language of connection—between people, animals, and the quiet spaces in between. At its core, this work explores emotional bonds, particularly those shared with horses, offering a visual expression of love, trust, and healing that words often cannot reach. Through oil painting, colored pencil, and mixed media, each piece invites the viewer into a moment of relationship—where grief softens, companionship deepens, and memory lingers.

Influence comes from artists like Peggy Judy, whose painterly style brings emotion forward through bold brushwork and tone. Her ability to convey depth beyond realism continues to shape this body of work. Inspiration also …

Fragments, Addison E. Miller

B.A./B.S. Practicum Group Exhibit (ART 499)

Plants have cultural, spiritual and medicinal importance. Artists have long been inspired by the beauty of flowers, but how do we determine what’s considered a flower and what’s considered a weed? In the series “Beyond the Evergreen”, I create characters based on the environment around me, specifically, the plants and animals in my own backyard. I illustrate species which are often considered a nuisance, elevating their importance and honoring their ecological importance. My work created, develops their personalities, and explains how they interact with each other in their ever-changing world. tells the stories of the characters I have created and …

Raini Evergarden: Art399-Fa25 Portfolio Final, Raini Evergarden

Professional Practices (ART 399)

The value of an American worker has long since been measured in the value they provide in the enlargement of a billionaire’s wallet. Manipulated and oppressed by the system, American laborers have been reduced to shells of themselves, their sole purpose to keep the machine running. My work picks up the broken narrative and reflects the modern effects of violent American Capitalism on the working class.

Lithography and book arts are inherently anti-capitalist. The process and laborious nature of printmaking and bookbinding is inefficient, unruly, and full of failure. It resists the capitalist obsession with speed, productivity, and optimization. Through …

Characterizing The Relationship Between Parturition In Beef Cattle And The Lunar Phase And Meteorological Factors., Caroline E. Chambers

Honors College Theses

For beef cattle, parturition is one of the most critical stages in the reproductive process. It is crucial that farmers understand the factors that may influence the timing of parturition. There is a persistent preconception that the onset of parturition is influenced by the lunar phase and weather factors. The objective of this study is to characterize the association between parturition in beef cattle, the lunar phase, and/or different weather factors such as barometric pressure and temperature. Cattle records were obtained from Chambers Family Farm in Cumberland Furnace, TN. Data was collected from 142 calvings from January 2017 to October …

Strategic Business Planning For An Optometry Practice: A Comprehensive Approach To Market Analysis, Operations, And Growth, Molly Elizabeth Weber

Honors College Theses

This study is a comprehensive analysis of the field of optometry in order to develop a business plan which could be utilized to open a new optometry practice. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats are all studied in order to gain a robust view and offer insights of how a business would fair in the field of optometry to allow entrepreneurs to make informed decisions in business endeavors involving practice operations, market terrain, and growth potential.

Fragments, Vuanh Pham

B.A./B.S. Practicum Group Exhibit (ART 499)

My work draws on animals, birds, and, most recently, flora as symbolic vessels through which the human experience can unfold. By placing our intricate emotional capacity into the bodies of creatures and plants, I create a space where the complexities of being human can be observed from an outside perspective from my own. These forms allow me to explore the intensity of emotional growth—its highs that feel like flight, its lows that demand shedding, retreating, or transforming.

Animals and birds become stand-ins for our instinctive selves: the parts of us that react, protect, yearn, and adapt. Their movements and postures …

The Best Of Whinot Productions, Adam R. Ashlock Mr.

B.A./B.S. Practicum Group Exhibit (ART 499)

Art is a space where humor and absurdity are welcomed with open arms. It's a way to break down barriers and connect with others—especially when traditional social interactions are challenging. Growing up with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) means I've navigated a world that often feels out of sync with how my brain works. Conversations are challenges, and it’s easy to feel disconnected from the people around me. But growing up I found that humor is a universal language. It's a great way to find common ground and create a shared experience that feels natural even when other forms of connection …

Fragments, Jakyah Acree

B.A./B.S. Practicum Group Exhibit (ART 499)

Growing up, I’d always been infatuated with fairies and other mythical creatures. After losing my mom during my second semester here at Murray State, I felt a strong urge to reclaim my childhood as a way to both remember and honor her. Cosmic Fayes, Cursed Immoral Rouge, and Cursed Corrupt Fiend take inspiration from both the whimsical and the dark sides of fantasy. The female fairies are vibrantly colored and ornately dressed.

They draw inspiration from Winx Club and Art Nouveau. Each is dressed in a way that represents their individuality but remains cohesive hinting at the fact that they …

The Flower Bed, Mara Gagel

B.F.A. Practicum Exhibition (ART 498)

After the initial loss settles, and grief takes root, it transforms into something else: negative space. It becomes the absence of something that was once so constant in your everyday life that, suddenly, something as simple as a vacant desk chair reminds you of what’s missing. In turn, grief can also bloom, and transform into a sense of community that you may not have had when the loss was first planted. The Flower Bed is a branded communal garden space that focuses on suicide awareness and prevention, but also acts as a representation of everything I wish I could have …

Communication, Education, And Trust: Exploring Client Compliance, Treatment Plan Adherence, And Perceived Patient Outcomes In Veterinary Medicine, Isabella J. Eads

Honors College Theses

Unlike human physicians, veterinarians are unable to directly communicate with their patients and must utilize client-veterinarian interactions to achieve the desired level of patient care. Communication, client education, and trust have been previously identified as important aspects of veterinary clinical interaction, and this study aimed to assess how these variables influence client compliance, treatment plan adherence, and perceived patient outcomes in veterinary medicine. This study utilized an electronic survey to collect data from 68 participants in regard to research questions centered around client-veterinarian interactions and how they play a role in client perception and overall patient care. Screening questions and …

Effect Of Freezing And Freeze-Thaw Cycles On Equine Serum Insulin Concentration: A Pilot Study, Molly Wallace, Shea Porr, Lydia O'Sullivan

Honors College Theses

Insulin dysregulation is a key component of Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS), and is often a predisposing factor to conditions such as laminitis and hepatic lipidosis. Diagnosis of EMS is most often reached through a combination of glucose and insulin measurements in equine serum. Achieving an accurate result of insulin concentration is vital for diagnosis, making proper sample handling essential. The aim of this project was to evaluate the effect of repetitive freeze-thaw cycles on equine serum insulin concentrations. Serum was collected from 10 university-owned horses and split into four treatment groups: Unfrozen, Once Frozen, Twice Frozen, and Thrice Frozen. Unfrozen …

Soil Health Comparision Between Maize-Cultivated And Fallow Grassland Fields In Murray, Kentucky, Manasha Dahal, Indra B. Air, Prabin Gouli

Scholars Week

The physical and chemical properties of soil are important markers of ecosystem resilience and soil quality. Crop rotation, tillage, and cultivation are examples of land management techniques that impact organic matter content, porosity, and structure of soil. This study aimed to compare selected physical and chemical properties of soils from maize-cultivated (MC) and fallow grassland (FG) fields in Murray, Kentucky. Undisturbed and disturbed soil samples of 24 each were collected from (MC) and (FG) fields across Pullen, West, and North farms. Undisturbed soil samples were used to determine bulk density (BD), porosity, macroporosity, soil water holding capacity (SWHC), and water …

Evaluating Soil Responses To Three Different Tillage Practices, Robert L. Burchett, Cordale L. Straub Senior, Logan D. Renfrow Sophomore

Scholars Week

Evaluating Soil Responses to Three Different Tillage Practices

Luke Burchett, Logan Renfrow, and Cordale Straub

Mentor: Dr. Iin Handayani Ph.D

Hutson School of Agriculture, Murray State University, Kentucky, USA

ABSTRACT

Tillage systems can greatly affect soil health by changing its structure, chemistry, and biological activity. This study examined how soil organic carbon (SOC), soil pH, soil moisture, soil organic matter (SOM) responds under three tillage systems: no-till, biannual tillage, and conventional tillage. Soil samples were taken from a 1–7.6 cm depth during September 2025 across three locations. The no-till site was located in Caldwell County, Kentucky, on an irrigated double-crop …

Shaping The Soil: A Comparison Of Equine, Bovine, And Ungrazed Hay Fields, Brody Ellis Higgs, Taylor Madison Wynn, Scottie Craig Berry

Scholars Week

Shaping the Soil: A Comparison of Equine, Bovine, and Ungrazed Hay Fields

Brody Higgs, Taylor Wynn, and Scottie Berry

Mentor: Dr. Iin. P. Handayani, PhD.

Hutson School of Agriculture, Murray State University, Murray, Kentucky, USA

ABSTRACT

Kentucky raises grazing species for multiple reasons, including food, recreation, and show. The most common of them are equine and bovine. These animals graze many acres across the state of Kentucky and impact soil properties in their pastures. This study was conducted on three pasturelands across Caldwell and Calloway counties in Kentucky. The pastures consisted of a cow pasture, a horse pasture, and a …

Exploratory Analysis Of Prerequisites To Teaching Early Perspective Taking In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Zoe Painter

Honors College Theses

The purpose of the current study was to determine the effectiveness of a behavioral intervention package for improving perspective-taking skills in children with ASD and specifically extend previous research focused on teaching the ability to identify what others are experiencing through their senses. Less complex verbal behaviors hypothesized to be prerequisites to this skill were first assessed systematically in three male children with ASD receiving ABA services in a community-based clinic, and then participants were taught to predict behavior according to the sensory experiences of others (e.g. after observing that a man sees a fly in his drink, responding the …

Feline Frenzy, Alissa N. Redding

B.F.A. Practicum Exhibition (ART 498)

Growing up, board games were the backbone of my childhood, it was a dry comfort during rainy days, and a refuge during frigid ice storms with nothing to keep out the chill but a roaring fireplace and warmer company to grip tight to. Feline Frenzy is a love letter to the days when it was just family and friends around a table, laughing and bickering in the way only people closest to us can.

Feline Frenzy is a completely new creative way to play, with a board that is customizable and cat-themed cards and pieces to get you to the …

The Effects Of Plastic Mulch And Irrigation On Hemp Chemistry And Leaf Endophytes, Allison Rietman, Connor Morozumi, Robert C. Pearce, Natalie Christian

Journal of Agricultural Hemp Research

As an emerging crop, cultivation techniques for industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) are still being developed and optimized. For example, irrigation and plastic mulching are some management practices that have been touted for their benefits in improving crop quality. Both techniques ensure ample water availability, which has often been attributed to improving hemp cannabinoid and terpene composition. In this study, we examined how supplemental irrigation implemented in a plastic mulch system influenced the cannabinoid and terpene profiles of one cultivar of CBD hemp, Lifter. We grew industrial hemp in field with plastic mulch and applied regular irrigation to one group …

Sample Storage Method And Collection Time Effects On Horse Hair Cortisol Concentrations, Grace Robertson, Savannah Rivers, Thomas Powell, Shea Porr

Steeplechase: An ORCA Student Journal

Serum cortisol concentration is the gold standard for evaluating stress in horses. However, it can be affected by circadian rhythms, environmental factors, and other excitatory events. Hair cortisol is less subject to these variables and is less invasive to collect, but there is a lack of published information on hair cortisol concentrations in horses. The objectives of this study were to examine 1) the impact of sample storage (Room temperature vs. Frozen) and 2) the effect of collection date (spring vs. fall), on cortisol concentration in equine hair. It was hypothesized that Frozen samples would yield higher concentrations than Room …

Bridging Cattle Farming And Technology: The Development Of Moomanager, Matthew Hayes

Honors College Theses

Small-scale cattle producers face persistent challenges in adopting digital tools for herd management, often due to barriers such as limited digital literacy, software complexity, and poor alignment with practical workflows. Existing literature highlights the potential benefits of mobile applications in agricultural contexts, yet adoption rates remain low among smaller operations. This thesis investigates how a streamlined, mobile-first application can address these adoption barriers while supporting essential farm management tasks. The study details the design and development of MooManager, a mobile application built with React Native and Supabase and structured around core features such as cattle tracking, beef sales logging, and …

Does Stress Physiology Mediate Disease Resistance In The Arizona Tiger Salamander (Ambystoma Mavortium Nebulosum)?, Megan Zerger

Steeplechase: An ORCA Student Journal

Amphibian biodiversity has greatly diminished in recent years due to panzootic pathogenic fungi Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), the cause of the deadly disease chytridiomycosis (chytrid). The pathogenesis of chytrid is still unclear, as certain species and individuals within a species are differentially affected. Susceptibility and mortality of Bd are influenced by prolonged corticosterone activity. When produced in excess, this glucocorticoid deleteriously affects many of the same physiological processes as Bd infections. Thus, the objective of this study was to assess the relationship of corticosterone variation and Bd spore load in wild Arizona tiger salamanders (Ambystoma mavortium nebulosum). …

"Jakyah Acree's Art399 Portfolio", Jakyah Acree

Professional Practices (ART 399)

When viewing one of my artworks, one will usually see a painting, drawing, or digital work. The painting or drawing will be that of a portrait or a subject matter. The subject at times can learn toward realism, other times I like to create more animated styled characters.

While I’ve always had a passion for creating detailed value-filled portraits in realism, my journey began with the excitement of bringing art to life with illustration.Growing up in a small town of Cadiz KY, there was very little excitement. Not only that, but I was a girl of few words, finding it …

Adamashlock Art399 Portfolio, Adam R. Ashlock Mr.

Professional Practices (ART 399)

Art is a space where humor and absurdity are welcomed with open arms. It's a way to break down barriers and connect with others—especially when traditional social interactions are challenging. Growing up with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) means I've navigated a world that often feels out of sync with how my brain works. Conversations are challenges, and it’s easy to feel disconnected from the people around me. Humor, however, has always been my in. It's a great way to find common ground and create a shared experience that feels natural even when other forms of connection don’t. Whether through animation …

Rose Craig Art399 Portfolio, Rose M. Craig

Professional Practices (ART 399)

My work often explores personal narratives related to family and childhood, using line, shape, form, and value in a representational style. Heirloom, a cylindrical nickel box with a symmetrical design of organic and geometric shapes, reminiscent of 1930s pill boxes, featuring a mother-of-pearl. Inside the box is a small brass pillbox hat. I chose to create a design and a hat that calls back to the word pill to not only symbolize heirlooms but also how mental illness can be passed down generationally. The mother of pearl symbolizes my family’s traditions of passing down heirlooms from mother to daughter.

While …

Differences Between Media And Industry Professionals’ Views On Welfare Issues At Equine Racetracks In The United States, Olivia Burris

Honors College Theses

The objective of this project was to see if there was a difference in views between lay publications in the media and industry professionals regarding welfare issues occurring at equine racetracks. This study focused on the issues of drug usage and racing-related injuries in racehorses. This project examined current lay publications versus surveys of industry professionals discussing the specific welfare issues. These lay publications were reviewed and summarized for comparison to the industry professionals’ responses to the survey.

Deepfakes On Trial: Developing A High-Accuracy, Court-Admissible Ai Pipeline For Deepfake Detection In Corporate Fraud Litigation, Aiden J. Green

Honors College Theses

As deepfake technology advances, cybercriminals are increasingly using AI-generated videos and audios to impersonate executives and carry out sophisticated CEO fraud schemes. These synthetic forgeries target human trust and corporate communication systems, creating an urgent need for forensic tools capable of authenticating digital evidence with legal accuracy. This thesis presents a forensic-grade AI deepfake detection pipeline designed for this purpose, emphasizing courtroom admissibility, reproducibility, and evidentiary integrity. Built entirely with free, opensource tools, the framework combines metadata analysis, AI-powered spectrogram analysis, neural artifact detection, and facial manipulation recognition into a transparent workflow that accurately identifies synthetic media. It was trained …

Critical Period Constraints And Learning Strategies: Balancing Incidental And Intentional Vocabulary Acquisition In Japanese Second Language Acquisition, Emma Ward

Honors College Theses

The Critical Period Hypothesis (CPH) supposes there is a biologically determined window during which language acquisition occurs most efficiently. This theory has profound implications for Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research, suggesting the timing of language learning can significantly impact one's ability to achieve native-like proficiency. As vocabulary acquisition is a fundamental aspect of language learning, understanding how to optimize learning strategies within the constraints imposed by the critical period is essential for maximizing language learning outcomes. The Japanese language, with its complex writing systems and unique syntactic structures, presents significant challenges for learners, especially those who begin learning the language …

James Baldwin's Classroom And What He Can Teach Educators About Queer Representation, Matthew Callahan

Honors College Theses

This is an extended analysis of James Baldwin's "A Talk to Teachers" about how to bring representation into the classroom. I use Baldwin's other essays and fiction along with educational research to look into the way Baldwin understands education and the importance of bringing healthy queer representation into the classroom. I provide both theoretical observations along with practical implications of what this means for educators in the classroom and what they can do to help all their students feel seen, represented, and welcome in the classroom.