Digital Commons Network^™

Quiet Times: The Application Of Self-Management To Private Spiritual Practices, Noah Branson

Honors College Theses

A “quiet time” refers to the private spiritual practice of reading the Bible, praying, and meditating on one’s own initiative outside of religious sanctioned events. This study examines the effect of a self-management intervention on establishing and maintaining the habit of a daily quiet time. The study’s hypotheses predicted there would be an increase in quiet time 1) frequency, 2) duration, and 3) overall satisfaction from the baseline phase to the intervention phase. Data was collected via a daily check-in and pretest/posttest surveys, and participants attended an in-person intervention to determine how to apply self-management tactics to their own personal …

Childhood Experiences, Resilience, And Ghanaian Adult Psychological Well-Being, Kadence A. Lewis

Steeplechase: An ORCA Student Journal

Significant amounts of research exists concerning adverse childhood experiences and trauma (ACEs) and its negative consequences on adult well-being. However, there is minimal research on a concept known as positive/benevolent childhood experiences (BCEs), which are circumstances in childhood that provide safety, security, and predictability in the home. It has been shown that BCEs and ACEs have co-occurred in childhood. It is apparent that BCEs have a positive effect in one's life, can counteract negative effects of ACE exposure, and can promote resiliency. These studies have been done with samples across the western hemisphere, however, this study seeks to examine the …

Clinical Education Program For Hair Removal To Reduce Surgical Site Infections, Madison Smith, Dana Todd

Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Abstract

Surgical site infections (SSIs) significantly impact surgical patients and with one contributory to their development is hair removal method, education about surgical hair removal methods is minimal in continued educational programs. The purpose of this project was to provide an educational program that discussed hair removal methods to reduce surgical site infections. The staff was educated on methods for hair removal in surgical patients, recommendations from manufacturers of the product, hospital policies regarding hair removal and governing organizational guidelines. Over two days for a 10-hour shift each day, a poster board and a 15-30-minute presentation then a pre/post-test was …

Examining The Impact Of Widespread Disease On The Economy, Ryan Howell

Honors College Theses

Over centuries, disease has been an instigator of economic change. From the Black Death and the overturning of feudalism to the Spanish flu and its relationship with World War 1, pandemics have a profound effect on the social, political, and economic climate of the affected areas. In 2020, COVID-19 began in Wuhan, China and spread across the world rapidly and unexpectedly. The world economy was forced into a recession with major effects on industries such as airlines, energy, and automobiles. While some industries made smooth recoveries, the pandemic undeniably altered the way business is conducted. The shift between in-person and …

Identifying Molecular Components Of A Fertility Pathway, Zoë Galvin

Steeplechase: An ORCA Student Journal

Reproductive failure is a common problem which deeply impacts those affected. Many will, unfortunately, never learn any potential cause for this issue. Treatment for reproductive complications are limited due to the lack of understanding of the molecular pathways associated with fertility, especially due to the limitations placed on studies focusing on reproductive health. Model organisms can thus be used in order to gain a better understanding of the pathways that modulate fertility in multicellular organisms. C. elegans are a common model organism notable for their large brood size, short lifespan, and affordable maintenance. They also share much of their genetic …

Passive Integrated Transponders: An Effective Marking Technique For Individual Identification Of Anaxyrus Fowleri?, Emily Leprell

Honors College Theses

With the rise of fungal disease such as Chytridiomycosis, known as chytrid, causing massive population declines for many species of frogs and toads (order Anura), specific conservation strategies are needed now more than ever. In many cases, being able to mark and identify individuals is a necessary step in developing an effective conservation plan. Individual identification allows researchers to obtain accurate population estimates, which are needed to test the progress and validity of conservation management decisions. However, due to their unique life history, including cutaneous respiration and a dichotomous lifestyle, anurans are among the most difficult wildlife species to …

The Economic Factors Of Suicide, Hogan C. Fox

Honors College Theses

This study examines how macroeconomic indicators influence state‐level suicide rates in the United States and, critically, how those effects differ by gender. Drawing on annual data from all fifty states over 2010–2020, I merge age‐adjusted suicide rates from CDC WONDER with five key economic indicator: real hourly compensation, labor productivity, employment rate, median income, and logged state GD, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Census Bureau, and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. After comparing pooled OLS, random‐effects, first‐difference, and two‐way fixed‐effects specifications, I adopt a two-way, state‐and‐year fixed‐effects model for its superior fit and capacity to control for unobserved heterogeneity. …

Temperature And Density-Dependent Effects On Mole Salamander (Ambystoma Talpoideum) Growth And Life History, Andrew Brown

Steeplechase: An ORCA Student Journal

Climate warming affects global biodiversity, causing species to alter their life history and trophic interactions. Predicting the effects of climate warming on ecosystem function is a difficult task as the biological traits that lead to these responses are poorly understood and climate warming’s effects on individual taxa can be highly variable. Amphibians serve as excellent bioindicators of ecosystem health, enabling them to act as early-warning sentinels of climate change. Polyphenic amphibians, including many salamander species, are particularly useful models for understanding the ecological effects of global change because morph production is environmentally-induced. Facultative paedomorphosis is a process by which individuals …

Title: Bending But Not Breaking: An Investigation Of The Relationship Between Psychological Flexibility And Suicidality In Individuals With Chronic Pain, Adalyn Mcmurray

Steeplechase: An ORCA Student Journal

Chronic pain is a burdensome condition that has been found to be associated with increased suicide risk, yet the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear (Domenichiello & Ramsden, 2019). The present study aims to examine the role of pain interference and psychological inflexibility in predicting past two-week suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB) among individuals with chronic pain, with psychological inflexibility explored as a potential moderator. Replicating and expanding on McCracken et al. (2018), this study seeks to enhance the understanding of suicidality in chronic pain populations by using the Multidimensional Psychological Flexibility Inventory (Rolffs et al., 2018), a more psychometrically …

The Way To A Mother’S Heart: A Risk Assessment Tool For The Early Detection Of Peripartum Cardiomyopathies, Leighton Terrell

Steeplechase: An ORCA Student Journal

Abstract

Background

Peripartum cardiomyopathies are a rare, but deadly occurrence among pregnant and postpartum women. Maternal mortality rates have risen over the last few years proving a large problem with the focus on maternal health.

Objective

The objective of this intervention was to aid providers in diagnosing peripartum cardiomyopathies early before detrimental damage could be done to the hearts of these women.

Methods

In this quality improvement project, the need for a peripartum cardiomyopathy risk assessment survey among patients in small, rural area of Western Kentucky was determined.

Results

Using the 22 surveys that were collected, 36.4% of patients were …

Interventional Education Program Improves Family Nurse Practitioner Students' Knowledge Of Heart Disease Prevention Practices: Lead With The Heart Dnp Project, Ava Hatfield-Lomache

Steeplechase: An ORCA Student Journal

Heart disease is a major clinical problem in the U.S. today, and it continues to be costly to American lives, healthcare expenditures, and the U.S. economy. Heart disease prevention is key to affecting positive change. The Doctor of Nursing Practice project was designed to create awareness and an education-based platform for heart disease prevention. The heart disease interventional educational program was delivered to students enrolled in a university’s family nurse practitioner program. The project included a pre-test survey, a podcast series, a post-test survey, and a handout. The project focused on heart disease prevention methods, causes, and disease processes associated …

Student Perceptions On Career Decision Making Skills In Relation To The Covid-19 Pandemic, Emily G. Oliver

Honors College Theses

The Covid-19 pandemic had major ramifications on all areas of the professional world as well. As mandatory quarantines and shutdowns were implemented, the negative effects were widespread and everyone was impacted. People from all different career fields faced unforeseen circumstances that caused anxiety about their income and workplace stability. With all of these changes in the world, students who were in high school and first years of college still had to make a decision about their future and what they wanted to do for an occupation one day. This study aims to evaluate the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on …

Identifying The Factors Affecting The Survival Of Trauma Patients Using Logistic Regression Analysis, Maggie Smith

Honors College Theses

There is a broad interest among researchers and clinicians in identifying factors affecting clinical outcomes of patients with physical trauma. Numerous factors affect Hospital Discharge Status (HDS), one of the main binary outcome variables of trauma patients. Logistic regression is one of the widely used methods to analyze relationships between a set of predictors with a binary outcome. In this study, a logistic regression model is built for HDS. Predictors include arrival time, age, trauma level, injury severity score, arrival heart rate, arrival blood pressure, length of hospital stay, time from injury to arrival at Billings Clinic (BC), patient transfer …

Bending But Not Breaking: An Investigation Of The Relationship Between Psychological Flexibility And Suicidality In Individuals With Chronic Pain, Adalyn Mcmurray, Dr. Michael Bordieri, Phd

Scholars Week

Chronic pain is a burdensome condition that has been found to be associated with increased suicide risk, yet the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear (Domenichiello & Ramsden, 2019). The present study aimed to examine the role of pain interference and psychological inflexibility in predicting past two-week suicidal thoughts among individuals with chronic pain, with psychological inflexibility explored as a potential moderator. This study also sought to replicate and extend McCracken et al. (2018) and enhance the understanding of suicidality in chronic pain populations by using the Multidimensional Psychological Flexibility Inventory (Rolffs et al., 2018b), a more psychometrically sound measure …

Do Chaperones Promote Protein Splicing?, Christopher Powell, Christopher Lennon Dr

Scholars Week

Intervening proteins (inteins) are translated within host proteins and removed by protein splicing. Inteins are abundant in the microbial world and are often found within essential genes involved in DNA replications, recombination, and repair. Recent studies have made efforts to understand conditional proteins splicing, whereby intein removal and subsequent host protein activation is regulated by environmental factors. However, within the cellular context, factors influencing protein splicing are still largely unknown. In this work, we probe whether the chaperonin system GroEL/ES promotes protein splicing in vivo. Chaperonins, a family of chaperone proteins, help proteins fold under normal and stressed conditions. …

Contributions Of Biochar And Biofertilizer On Food Scraps Composting, Kabita Budthapa, I.P. Handayani Dr, Shova Shrestha Dr

Scholars Week

Food scraps have contributed significantly to environmental problems. Because of its substantial effects on the environment, the economy, and society, it has become a major global issue. This research was conducted at Nepal Academy of Science and Technology, Lalitpur, and was meant to find ways to shorten the composting period using biofertilizers and biochar and study their impacts on the compost nutrients. The experiment involved seven treatments with three replications: T1 (Control), T2 (EM-1), T3 (Prarhamva decomposer), T4 (Biofertilizer KM), T5 (Biochar 400 g + Biofertilizer KM), T6 (Biochar 800 g + Biofertilizer KM), T7 (Biochar 200 g) with 5 …

Comparing Thermal Imaging Of New York City From 1988 To 2025, Amelia R. Slaton

Scholars Week

My project compared the urban heat island effect on New York City from 1988 to 2025. After looking at the risks associated with the heat island effect on local life I compared Landsat 5 imaging from 1988 and 1989 to Landsat 9 imaging from 2025 to find any differences between the thermal output of New York City. I then used images from both inner and long island area of New York from both time periods. As well as, the reason for New York's large thermal output compared to other surrounding areas and what the city is doing to combat the …

Improving The Rates Of Sexually Transmitted Infection Diagnosis By Increasing Provider Knowledge About Testing, Lauren Cunningham

Student Scholarship & Creative Works

There has been a significant increase in sexually transmitted infection (STI) rates since 2021. Though this issue is nationwide, rural providers require education regarding testing, screening, and transmission of disease processes. The infections with the most significant increase are gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis. The purpose of this project was to provide education to providers regarding local STI statistics, in addition to when to and not to test for sexually transmitted STI infections. Education was provided to three Advance Practice Nurse Practitioners about disease signs and symptoms, transmission, and local STI statistic rates. STI testing rates were observed three months prior …

The Way To A Mother’S Heart: A Risk Assessment Tool For The Early Detection Of Maternal Peripartum Cardiomyopathies, Leighton Terrell

Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Abstract

Background

Peripartum cardiomyopathies are a rare, but deadly occurrence among pregnant and postpartum women. Maternal mortality rates have risen over the last few years proving a large problem with the focus on maternal health.

Objective

The objective of this intervention was to aid providers in diagnosing peripartum cardiomyopathies early before detrimental damage could be done to the hearts of these women.

Methods

In this quality improvement project, the need for a peripartum cardiomyopathy risk assessment survey among patients in small, rural area of Western Kentucky was determined.

Results

Using the 22 surveys that were collected, 36.4% of patients were …

Sample Storage Method And Collection Time Effects On Horse Hair Cortisol Concentrations, Grace Robertson

Scholars Week

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 …

Comparing Soil Properties In Various Crop Fields (Legume And Non-Legume), Meghana Gogineni, Meghana Gogineni

Scholars Week

Comparing Soil Properties in Various Crop Fields (Legume and Non-Legume)

Meghana Gogineni

Mentors: Dr. Iin P. Handayani and Caleb

Hutson School of Agriculture, Murray state university

Abstract:

This study compares the influence of legume and non-legume crops on soil properties for a better understanding of the roles that crops play in maintaining soil health and sustainability. The ability of leguminous crops to take nitrogen out of the air and store it in the soil-in the case of soybean, for instance-naturally enriches the soil. This attribute of legumes reduces the use of external nitrogen fertilizers and, consequently, enhances the fertility of …

Improved Protein Splicing Through Viral Passaging, John Smetana

Scholars Week

Intervening proteins (inteins) are translated as subdomains within host proteins and removed through an intein-driven splicing reaction where the flanking sequences (exteins) are joined with a peptide bond. Previously, we developed a self-removing translation reporter for labeling Ebola virus (EBOV). In this reporter, an intein (RadA) containing the fluorescent protein ZsGreen (ZsG) is inserted within the EBOV protein VP30. Upon VP30-RadA-ZsG expression from the viral genome, RadA-ZsG is removed from VP30 through the protein splicing activity of RadA, generating functional, non-tagged VP30 and functional ZsGreen. While incorporation of our VP30-RadA-ZsG fusion reporter into recombinant EBOV (rEBOV- RadA-ZsG) resulted in an …

Goat Tying Styles Impact On Performance Consistency With Rodeo Competitors In The National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association Ozark Region, Marie Baxley, C.A. Shea Porr, Thomas Powell

Honors College Theses

Goat tying is a rodeo event involving dismounting a horse, and flanking and tying three legs of a goat. Flanking is defined as picking a goat up and setting it on the ground on its side. Flank/gather (FG) is a style where riders scoop the legs with the right hand and then place them in the left. Catch the flank (CF), stuffing (ST), and funneling (FN) are other methods that involve the goats’ legs landing together so the right hand is not needed for gathering. The objectives of this study were to determine 1) if flanking method affects performance, and …

Evaluating Connections Between Environmental Conditions, Wood Duck (Aix Sponsa) Health Biomarkers, Nest Outcomes, And Duckling Survival, Jillian Murphy

Scholars Week

Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa) are a harvested waterfowl species experiencing the adverse effects of habitat loss linked to increasing human activity. To mitigate these effects, wildlife managers often provide artificial nest boxes as substitutes for natural cavities. In western Kentucky, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources (KDFWR) maintains over 150 Wood Duck boxes but has observed anecdotal declines in nest success. While beneficial, nest boxes can create ecological traps such as brood parasitism, elevated temperatures, and predation, particularly when improperly placed or infrequently maintained. Despite numerous studies on nest success, fewer have examined the relationship between …

The Cruciality Of Early Recognition Of Postpartum Depression In Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (Nicu) Mothers, Shelby Clark

Scholars Week

Postpartum depression is a serious complication of childbirth that is largely dismissed by society for a variety of reasons. Unfortunately, the condition is intensified for NICU mothers. If left untreated, postpartum depression can have detrimental effects. This quality-improvement project focused on early recognition of postpartum depression symptoms in mothers of infants admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit in Western Kentucky. The goal of the project was education for and recognition of postpartum depression in NICU mothers. Methodology for the project included utilizing the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale to determine the severity of symptoms of postpartum depression for NICU mothers. …

Improving The Rates Of Sexually Transmitted Infection Diagnosis By Increasing Provider Knowledge About Testing, Lauren Cunningham

Student Scholarship & Creative Works

There has been a significant increase in sexually transmitted infection rates since 2021. Though this issue is nationwide, rural providers require education regarding testing, screening, and transmission of disease processes. The infections with the most significant increase being gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis. The purpose of this project was to provide education to providers regarding local statistics, in addition to when to and not to test for sexually transmitted infections. Education was given to three Advance Practice Nurse Practitioners on disease signs and symptoms, transmission, and local STI statistic rates. STI testing rates were observed three months prior to an educational …

Combating Compassion Fatigue Using Mindfulness Techniques, Christie Baker, Summer Cross

Student Scholarship & Creative Works

Demands placed on health care professionals have steadily increased and as a result, compassion fatigue has become an issue by adversely affecting the well-being of nurses and health care organizations. Compassion fatigue is a widely accepted phenomenon in nursing, creating an array of physical and emotional manifestations, impairing a health care provider’s ability to provide optimum quality care. The goal of this quality improvement project aimed to educate and provide emergency room nurses with a resource for self-care enhancement to subsequently decrease their risk of developing compassion fatigue. Nurses of a small, rural emergency department located in the southeastern region …

The Effects Of Dexmedetomidine On Nausea And Vomiting In Intraabdominal Surgical Patients, Sarah Mann

Scholars Week

Abstract

Purpose: Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) affect a significant number of surgical patients. This Doctor of Nursing Practice project aimed to assess PONV rates and evaluate the effects of dexmedetomidine on PONV incidence in intraabdominal surgical patients. Additionally, the project sought to inform Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists (CRNAs) about dexmedetomidine and assess the perceived value of this information through a survey.

Methodology: The retrospective analysis of 9,035 patients was conducted from January 2023 to July 2024. Data were divided into four datasets, and comparisons were made between the datasets to determine PONV rates and the effects of dexmedetomidine. The …

2025-03-28, Board Of Regents, Murray State University

Board of Regents Meeting Minutes

No abstract provided.

The Advantages Of Being A Nurse Extern, Raylynn Broaddus, Elle Covington

Scholars Week

New graduate nurses experience low confidence levels and increased anxiety due to the limited exposure in the hospital. Nurse extern programs allow nursing students to get more hands on experience in the hospital. Is their any advantages to this? Three different research articles show advantages that arise when students complete one of these programs.