Digital Commons Network^™

The Effects Of Acoustic Signals On The Endocrine Physiology Of Female Green Treefrogs, Hyla Cinerea, Melissa Paige Dent

Honors Theses

The vocalizations of male H. cinerea stimulate cortisol production in male receivers during close-range interactions. In many vertebrate species, males and females possess similar sensory neuroendocrine pathways, suggesting that acoustic signals may also stimulate CORT production in females. Males of this species would potentially benefit from stimulating CORT production in females because elevated CORT levels significantly decrease the strength of female preferences for energetically costly calls (i.e., calls produced at rapid rates). The primary objective of my honors research was to assess how the acoustic signals produced by male green treefrogs, Hyla cinerea, influence the endocrine physiology of female signal …

A War On Women? The Malleus Maleficarum And The Witch-Hunts In Early Modern Europe, Morgan L. Stringer

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the topic of gender and witchcraft, specifically why women were so heavily represented in witchcraft trials. The demonology text, The Malleus Maleficarum was analyzed. Several other demonological texts were also analyzed and then compared to one another regarding their statements about women, men, and witchcraft. Then historiography pertaining to gender and witchcraft were analyzed and critiqued. The Malleus Maleficarum contains a high degree of misogyny, but it presents an extreme misogynistic view that is not present in other demonology texts. The argument that the Early Modern European Witch-Hunts were a war on women fails to account for …

A Global Perspective On Ethical Consumerism: A Study Of Advertisements From Social Enterprises To Identify The Ethical Consumer, Murray Miller

Honors Theses

This paper explores ethical consumerism in the United States and Latin America. I examined ethical consumerism in these two settings by identifying social enterprises from different countries in each setting to identify the ideal ethical consumer. After comparing and contrasting the ethical consumer in each context, I determined that ethical consumerism does exist in Latin America. According to scholarship, a country must be postmaterialist in order for ethical consumerism to exist. Through my research, I concluded that Latin America is postmaterialist, therefore ethical consumerism does exist.

Effect Of Atomoxetine On Attentional Lapses: An Animal Model, Pooja Chawla

Honors Theses

Atomoxetine (ATX) is a non-stimulant drug that has been used to treat symptoms of ADHD, including lapses of attention. These attentional lapses are depicted as a longer, positive skew in a reaction time distribution comprised of a normal and an exponential curve. The central tendency is thought to represent sensory-motor processing; while the positive skew is thought to be caused by attentional lapses in animal models. This positive skew is larger in individuals with ADHD and is thought to be a result of an increased number of attentional lapses. In the animal model used in this experiment reaction time is …

The Effects Of Testosterone On Calling Behavior In Green Treefrogs, Hyla Cinerea, Brandon Bunol

Honors Theses

Circulating androgen levels can have a profound effect on the expression of elaborate male traits and courtship behaviors that are important in attracting females. For example, elevated androgens are necessary for the expression of vocal displays used by male anurans (frogs and toads) to attract mates. However, the nature of the relationship between androgen levels and the extent, or magnitude, of vocalization in male anurans is unclear. For example, androgens may have a threshold effect on vocalization wherein elevation in androgens is required for vocal expression, but elevations above threshold do not mediate an increase in the magnitude or extent …

The Diverse Nature Of Corporal Punishment: An Investigation Of The Relationship Between Students’ Perceptions Of The Discipline Method, Academic Performance, And Social Behaviors, Demeka Lashun Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The use of corporal punishment has been debated due to linkage to decreased academic performance (Hickmon, 2010) and negative social behaviors (Hicks-Pass, 2009). Disparities exist in who has received corporal punishment (Rollins, 2012). Although there is much research pertaining to corporal punishment, there have been few studies conducted where students' opinions of it have been obtained (Holden, 2002). Thus, there is a need to examine students' perceptions of corporal punishment. The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between academic performance, social behaviors, and previous experience with corporal punishment at school and perceptions of corporal punishment among elementary …

Evaluation Of Inhibitors Of Histone Deacetylases As Potential Neurotrophic Agents, Surabhi Shukla

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The inhibitors of histone deacetylases (HDACs) have shown promising neuroprotective and neuroactive properties. A set of pan- and isoform-specific HDAC inhibitors were evaluated for neurotrophic activity on Neuroscreen-1 (NS-1) cells, a subclone of PC-12 (rat pheochromocytoma) cells.

The HDAC inhibitors were tested alone and in combination with nerve growth factor (NGF). An in vitro method has been standardized that measures neurite outgrowth along with cytotoxicity of test compounds in a single assay. The neurotrophin signaling pathways were interrogated with selective inhibitors of MEK1/2 (PD98059/U0126) PI3K (LY294002) and TrkA (GW441756) and phosphorylation of target kinases. Associated factors namely, acetylation of histones …

Oviposition Site Selection By Mosquitoes: Predator-Released Kairomones And Responses To Different Taxa, Lauren Larea Eveland

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Oviposition site selection is a critical reproductive behavior for egg-laying organisms that offer little to no parental care. Determining the mechanisms females use to assess sites is critical to understanding life history traits, community structure, and species interactions. Mosquitoes are excellent model organisms for studying oviposition site selection for numerous reasons: 1) a poor decision can lead to zero reproductive success, 2) females actively assess and choose among habitat patches when locating an oviposition site, 3) larvae remain in the habitat where they hatch until they metamorphose, and 4) they lay conspicuous egg rafts that allow direct assessment of oviposition. …

Functional Reactive Programming For Games, Peter Adewunmi Salu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

We investigate the effectiveness of functional reactive programming for games. To accomplish this, we clone aa, an existing game, in Elm, a purely functional programming language. We find that functional reactive programming offers an excellent alternative to event driven programming in purely functional languages. Elm still needs more work if it aims to compete with JavaScript libraries. Games, which typically need several inputs at the same time, benefit from the first class status of Signals, which allow them to be combined.

Adaptive Movements And Thermoregulation In Big-Eared Bats, Cody Jordan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There are a variety of (non-exclusive) reasons to explain the presence of group-living, but clustering or huddling is especially important for small endotherms with high surface-area-to-volume ratios. Clustering is interesting because variations within clustering are seldom investigated despite anecdotal evidence that bat clustering varies widely. I studied a colony of Rafinesque's big-eared bats (Corynorhinus rafinesquii) to learn more about clustering behavior using infrared video. I predicted that temperature would be the primary driver of how and when bats cluster while roosting. The actual relationship was not as predicted by an energetic model. High density clusters of bats were comacross a …

Transdermal Iontophoretic Delivery Of Lipophilic Drugs, Abhishek Juluri

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Iontophoresis is one of the most widely studied active technique for enhancing transdermal delivery of drugs. However, its ability to enhance the delivery of highly lipophilic compounds is poor due to lack of any charge and poor water solubility of molecules. Propofol, a sedative and anesthetic drug was chosen as a one of the model lipophilic drug in this study. Initially, feasibility of delivery of propofol phosphate, a water soluble prodrug of propofol, via transdermal route using iontophoresis in combination with chemical permeation enhancers was investigated. Cathodal iontophoresis in combination with 0.1% sodium dodecyl sulphate synergistically enhanced the flux of …

Synthetic Study Of Karlotoxins And Investigation Of Alpha-Diaminoboryl Carbanion Chemistry, Yusuke Takahashi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Karlotoxins (KmTxs), produced by a toxic marine/estuarine phytoplankton, the dinoflagellate Karlodinium veneficum, are known to be ichthyotoxic, thus being associated with numerous fish deaths events worldwide. They have also been reported to show a variety of biological activities such as hemolytic, cytotoxic, and anti-fungal activities. Recently, the Hamann group successfully assigned the absolute configurations of KmTx2, the first complete structure elucidation among the congeners. In a structural sense, karlotoxins are a family of linear polyketides with three distinctive regions; a bis-tetrahydropyran core fragment, a long, highly oxygenated carbon chain, and a lipophilic chlorodiene unit. Such potent biological activities as well …

Lipid & Surfactant Based Systems For Improved Delivery Of Poorly Soluble Apis, Sri Satyasai Nagendra Babu Punyamurthula

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A large number of pharmaceutical compounds belong to class II and IV of biopharmaceutical classification of drug (BCS). Class II compounds are limited by their poor aqueous solubility, while class IV compounds suffer from poor solubility and permeability. This translates to poor absorption and low plasma levels post oral administration. Lipids comprise of fatty acids and their derivatives and are considered a biocompatible option for drug delivery. In the studies discussed in following chapters, lipid based drug delivery systems (LBDDS) have been utilized in improving the handling, ease of formulation, solubility and bioavailability of three compounds. In the first study, …

Protein-Ligand Interaction Studies And Identification Of New Drug-Like Hits As Cannabinoid Receptor Modulators, Pankaj Pandey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The cannabinoid receptors (CB1 and CB2) belong to the family of class A GPCRs. The CB1 receptor is predominately found in the central nervous system and regulates various neuromodulatory and physiological processes while CB2 receptors are found in peripheral tissues, particularly in the immune system tissues. This dissertation reports several projects including: (1) an examination of the putative binding modes of Cannabis-derived ligands with CB1 and CB2 receptors, (2) the identification of novel CB1 inverse agonists, and (3) the identification of allosteric site(s) in the CB2 receptor and screening of new CB2 allosteric modulators (AMs).

Chapter 1 describes background information …

Effects Of Benzo[A]Pyrene And Cyp19a1b Knockdown On Zebrafish Development, Khalid M. Alharthy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) is a ubiquitous environmental contaminant that is both an endocrine disruptor and a carcinogen. Aromatase (CYP19) is a key enzyme in steroidogenesis playing a key role in the hypothalamus-pituitary-gonad feedback loop. We hypothesized that BaP would negatively impact cyp19a1b expression in zebrafish, in turn, adversely affecting development and physiology. Here, we consider whether the toxicities observed following BaP exposure are comparable to those following a transient morpholino (MO)-mediated CYP19a1b knockdown or exposure to an aromatase inhibitor (fadrozole) during early development. One-cell zebrafish embryos were injected with a CYP19a1b-MO or control-MO. Other non-injected embryos were exposed to nominal waterborne …

Up And Down, Guibing Qin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 1953, one day before the Korean Armistice Agreement, two Chinese young peasants decide to join the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army. Wu Xiu-quan is hesitant because he is the only son and he has a young child bride of seven years waiting to marry him. Wu Xiu-bang, his cousin, convinces him that joining the army would bring honor to his family. The cousins hiked over night to get to the enlist office by the Yangtze River, only to be told that the Korean War has ended. They were sent home. Wu Xiu-quan’s father captured him and gives him a good …

A Gpu Powered Mobile Ar Navigation System, Mengshen Zhao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents a real-time Augmented Reality Navigation System(ARNavi) on Android smartphone that leverages the parallel computing power of mobile GPUs. Unlike conventional navigation systems, our proposed ARNavi augments navigation information onto real scene video streaming from device camera in real-time. To achieve this goal, we implement and accelerate compute intensive part of applications using OpenCL on GPU integrated on mobile Application Processor (AP). The contributions of this thesis are three-fold. First, we propose new lane detection algorithm and prediction mechanism based on geometric coordinates. The result shows that these two algorithms are fast and accurate. Second, we port and …

Design, Synthesis, And Biological Evaluation Of Sigma Receptors (Σrs) Ligands As Potential Pharmacotherapy For Cancer And Drug Addiction, Walid Alsharif

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sigma receptors are a well-defined unique class of receptors and are highly expressed in the central nervous system and also widely distributed in peripheral organs and tissues. There are two subtypes of sigma receptors: sigma-1 and sigma-2. These receptors are thought to be associated with functions and disorders such as inflammation, depression, anxiety, Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy and drug abuse. The sigma-1 receptor has been demonstrated to be involved in acute and chronic effects of cocaine and methamphetamine toxicities. However, the role of sigma-2 receptors is less clear due to the lack of availability of detailed protein structural information and truly …

Autoregulation Of The Glial Gene Reversed Polarity In Drosophila Melanogaster, Jamie L. Wood

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

During development, cells of the nervous system begin as unspecified precursors and proceed along one of two developmental paths to become either neurons or glia. I seek to understand more about the genes that control this process, focusing on the lesser understood of the cell types, glial cells. Using Drosophila melanogaster as a model system, previous work from my lab and others has established the role of the master regulatory transcription factor Gcm in directing neuronal precursor cells to assume a lateral glial fate. Gcm acts on many target genes, one of which is reversed polarity (repo). repo is necessary …

Birdie See, Birdie Do: Zebra Finch Observational Learning In Three Cognitive Domains With Discussion Of Cerebellar Involvement, Amy Hribar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Observational learning is a cognitive ability that allows individuals to acquire information or skills through watching others. Examples of observational learning can be seen in all major vertebrate groups and some invertebrates. Observational learning may confer a selective advantage to animals due to improvements in decision-making and increased behavioral flexibility. While studies of animals’ observational learning capabilities and the types of information acquired have been examined in many species, multiple types of observational learning have rarely been examined in non-rodent species in controlled laboratory experiments. Additionally, only recently have the neural mechanisms that support observational learning been examined. I sought …

Developing An Architectural Sequence For A Portion Of The Mound A Enclosure At The Carson Mound Group, Coahoma County, Mississippi, Todd Bryan Mcleod

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Spatial Distribution Of Debitage At A Chert Procurement Site And A Cultural History Assessment On Orange Lake In North Central Florida, Joseph Petererson Culen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project evaluated a 90 acre parcel of property located on the southern shore of Orange Lake in NCFL (North Central Florida). A cultural resource management style survey was conducted to determine what archeological evidence for prehistoric activity was present. In addition to this general assessment, this research was conducted in order to identify specific settlement patterns in the area and determine if they corresponded with the settlement strategies already identified for wetland environments within the area of north central Florida. Further, after a tool stone procurement zone was identified a study examining debitage size grade drop-off trends was conducted …

Seed To Sale: Boundary Work In Mississippi Agriculture, Caroline Canarios

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

From production to sale, farm operations thrive on the demanding work of farm labor. However, social research on agriculture does not give adequate attention to issues of labor and work. Through participant observation, interviews, and content analysis, I analyze work from multiple perspectives within Mississippi agriculture. I focus on individuals involved in produce farming in two communities located in Northwest and Southeast Mississippi. I apply the boundary work theoretical framework to my findings, which reveals the complexities of the agriculture sector in Mississippi and illuminates the ways in which individuals not only define themselves but the work they do and …

Androgen Mediation Of Elaborate Male Traits: The Effects Of Dihydrotestosterone Administration On Vocal Quality In Male Green Treefrogs, Hyla Cinerea, Thor M. Goodfellow

Honors Theses

Elevated androgen levels are well known to mediate the expression of male courtship behaviors and elaborate traits, but whether androgens act via threshold or graded effects is less clear. Models linking elaborate male traits to the endocrine system often assume that androgens have a graded effect on the magnitude or extent of elaborate male traits and that female preference for more elaborate male traits thus drives concordant directional selection on circulating androgen levels. To test this hypothesis, I examined the effects of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) administration on the quality of advertisement calls produced by male Hyla cinerea. Advertisement calls are an …

Redefining The Insular Tradition: Illuminated Manuscripts Of The Seventh Through Ninth Centuries, William Boyles

Honors Theses

During my studies as an undergraduate student with an interest for medieval art, I found myself drawn to the beautifully painted works of illuminated manuscripts. Especially interested in the history, culture, and tradition of the British Isles, I became intrigued by the oftentimes-interchangeable term Insular. Textbooks, scholars, and various journal articles that I read all viewed Insularity in a slightly different light. So when given the chance to explore a unique topic for my honors thesis, I immediately knew that I had to research this problematic designation. My research began with a broad reading of the core of books, journals, …

The Wlbs: Women Of Whimsy, Rachel Ellen Banka

Honors Theses

This thesis is an entirely fictional novel about the five members of a women's book club in a small Mississippi town. It is told from three alternating perspectives and spans the course of one month, November, 2013. It is a story of lies, literature, love, and loss; of identity, community, friendship, and betrayal; and of hidden treasure, whatever form that takes.

Sandy Symbionts: How Tree Identity Shapes Ectomycorrhizal Fungus In Sand Pine, John Culbertson

Honors Theses

The purpose of my thesis was to investigate the structure and composition of the ectomycorrhizal (EMC) fungal communities of sand pine (Pinus clausa var. immuginata). Root tips were sampled from four trees located within Eglin Air Force Base. Colonization was shown to differ significantly based on tree identity. Abundance, species diversity, and the ratio of ECM fungi to pathogenic fungi did not differ significantly based on tree identity. A total of 35 ECM operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were shown to colonize the four trees. Helotiales4, Lactarius2, and Cenococcum geophilum were found to be the most abundant OTUs, while Lactarius1 was …

Non-Covalent Ineteractions Of Trimethylamine N-Oxide (Tmao) And Urea In Water, John Prather

Honors Theses

TMAO and urea are important osmolytes. Osmolytes help maintain cell volume with their presence inside and outside cells. Urea is used by kidney cells to neutralize strong osmotic gradients caused by excretion of hypertonic waste. Although urea is for volume- maintaining purposes, it is also known to be a strong denaturant of cellular proteins. The method by which urea destabilizes folded proteins is a debated topic. There is evidence that urea binds directly to amino acid side chains to make protein folding less thermodynamically favored. It has also been suggested that urea acts indirectly to denature proteins by destabilizing the …

The Prescribed Advantage: An Examination And Ethical Discussion Of The Growing Prescription Stimulant Culture, Joseph L. Maxwell

Honors Theses

The goal of this thesis is to examine the current state of prescription stimulant use, particularly on college campuses, and the impact of the attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) dilemma. I will first discuss the science explaining and relating ADHD etiology and the effects of stimulant medications on the mind and body. I will then discuss the accepted criteria for ADHD diagnosis and the ambiguity they create. Next I will identify the central issue: the widespread illicit use of stimulant medications, particularly for academic purposes. I will expound on the development of this situation, the influence of the competitive collegiate atmosphere, and …

Red, Blue, And Green: Determining Environmental Orientation On The University Of Mississippi Campus, Kendall Lane Mcdonald

Honors Theses

The goal of this research was to identify and begin to understand the environmental attitudes and behaviors of students, faculty, and staff at the University of Mississippi. This study employed a quantitative survey approach. The survey consisted of the Revised New Ecological Paradigm scale to measure environmental attitudes, and a lifestyle questionnaire to gauge self-reported sustainability behaviors and relationship with the natural world. This survey was broadcasted to all within the University of Mississippi's email listserv. Responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics, means comparisons, and independent samples t-tests. Major findings included: women reported more pro-ecological responses than men in all …