Digital Commons Network^™

Impacts Of Salinity On Microbial Enzyme Activity In Coastal Waters, Natali Ariyoshi

Honors Theses

Microbial extracellular enzymes are critical for the breakdown of organic matter and nutrient cycling in aquatic ecosystems. Extracellular enzyme activity serves as an indicator of nutrient turnover rates, metabolic states, and nutrient limitations within an ecosystem. Coastal ecosystems are especially dynamic as the influx of freshwater from inland runoff or seawater intrusion from storm surges can lead to fluctuations in salinity which can restructure microbial communities and alter enzymatic activity. Despite the ecological significance of these changes, few studies have explored the effects of short-term salinity shifts on microbial extracellular enzyme activity in coastal waters. This study investigated the effects …

Jtc 26: Following Her Passion For Performance, Andrea Drummond

University of Mississippi News

This story is part of the 2026 Journey to Commencement series, which celebrates the pinnacle of the academic year by highlighting University of Mississippi students and their outstanding academic and personal journeys from college student to college graduate.

Jtc 26: Building Himself To Be Someone Else’S Inspiration, Whitney Woods

University of Mississippi News

This story is part of the 2026 Journey to Commencement series, which celebrates the pinnacle of the academic year by highlighting University of Mississippi students and their outstanding academic and personal journeys from college student to college graduate.

Jtc 26: Fields Of Dreams, Christina Steube

University of Mississippi News

This story is part of the 2026 Journey to Commencement series, which celebrates the pinnacle of the academic year by highlighting University of Mississippi students and their outstanding academic and personal journeys from college student to college graduate.

Jtc 26: A Winding Path To A Clear Calling, Jennifer Parsons

University of Mississippi News

This story is part of the 2026 Journey to Commencement series, which celebrates the pinnacle of the academic year by highlighting University of Mississippi students and their outstanding academic and personal journeys from college student to college graduate.

Jtc 26: Advocate, Scholar And Storyteller, Whitney Woods

University of Mississippi News

This story is part of the 2026 Journey to Commencement series, which celebrates the pinnacle of the academic year by highlighting University of Mississippi students and their outstanding academic and personal journeys from college student to college graduate.

Jtc 26: Magnolia Trees And Olive Groves, Jennifer Parsons

University of Mississippi News

This story is part of the 2026 Journey to Commencement series, which celebrates the pinnacle of the academic year by highlighting University of Mississippi students and their outstanding academic and personal journeys from college student to college graduate.

Prematurity And Special Education: Raising Awareness Of The Connections Between Preterm Births And Special Education, Nadia R. Corder

Honors Theses

In this thesis, the goal was to find the link, if any, between prematurity and special education, with regards to probability of special education and outcomes, and to create a means of professional development for not only special education teachers about prematurity risks and effects on students but also parental education about the possible procedures of their child’s education. This is accomplished through the organization of infographic pamphlets for parents and an online professional development presentation. Both these formats are compliant to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility parameters. A literature review was conducted to achieve this goal using …

Development Of A Putting Green Manufacturing Process, Jose Andres Cepeda Santiago

Honors Theses

Our Capstone project investigates the end-to-end design, development, and production of a 6‑foot long portable putting green marketed for individuals seeking a high quality, competitively priced golf product for home or office use. The capstone project examines the full lifecycle of product creation applying manufacturing principles learned through the center of manufacturing’s coursework. From the initial concept through engineering design, market research, prototyping, manufacturing optimization, and final production the project emphasizes cross‑functional collaboration across engineering, business, and accountancy majors. Methods used to gather data included marketing surveys, CAD drawings, time studies during production runs, value stream mapping, and controlled documentation …

Development Of A Putting Green Manufacturing Process, Avalon R. Madden

Honors Theses

Our Capstone project investigates the end to end design, development, and production of a 6‑foot long portable putting green marketed for individuals seeking a high quality, competitively priced golf product for home or office use. The capstone project examines the full lifecycle of product creation applying manufacturing principles learned through the center of manufacturing’s coursework. From the initial concept through engineering design, market research, prototyping, manufacturing optimization, and final production the project emphasizes cross‑functional collaboration across engineering, business, and accountancy majors. Methods used to gather data included marketing surveys, CAD drawings, time studies during production runs, value stream mapping, and …

The Design And Manufacturing Process Of The Concealed Shelf, Emma R. Freeman

Honors Theses

The Haley Barbour Center for Manufacturing Excellence (CME) at the University of Mississippi challenges students to manufacture a product and put forth a balanced manufacturing line in a senior capstone project. The chosen product was a concealed shelf, or a shelf with a hidden compartment. The team aimed to design a product, formulate a project plan, analyze the market, conduct financial analysis, develop a prototype, establish a manufacturing process, and demonstrate that process in two production runs. The team used tools such as Computer Aided Design (CAD), market surveys, jig creation, and line balancing to accomplish these tasks. After two …

"En Papel,” Not In Practice: Indigenous Autonomy And The Structural Barriers To Land And Resource Control In Bolivia, Andrew F. Purcell

Honors Theses

This thesis examines why Bolivia’s 2009 plurinational constitution—despite its strong recognition of Indigenous autonomy, collective territory, and prior consultation—often produces rights that remain “en papel” rather than in practice. Based on one month of fieldwork in Tumupasa, Chojasivi, La Paz, El Alto, and Santa Cruz, the study draws on interviews, participant observation, and NGO documents to analyze the structural barriers that prevent constitutional guarantees from becoming enforceable governance tools. This gap between recognition and implementation structures the central research question: why do Bolivia’s constitutional and legal protections for indigenous land and resource rights function as symbolic guarantees rather than enforceable …

Stridevision: Automated Detection Of Running Form Deviations From 2d Pose Estimation And Machine Learning, Paulina Eguibar Ortega

Honors Theses

Running gait analysis plays a critical role in injury prevention and performance optimization, however, existing approaches often rely on specialized laboratory equipment or wearable sensors with limited interpretability. Recent advances in computer vision, particularly 2D human pose estimation, enable markerless motion analysis from standard video. However, progress remains constrained by the lack of publicly available datasets designed for running form analysis.

In this work, we introduce a preliminary dataset and benchmark for stride-level running gait analysis. The dataset consists of 73 treadmill running videos from 15 participants with varying experience levels, annotated with over 4,600 stride-level labels across multiple biomechanical …

Windows Of Developmental Susceptibility To Tetrahydrocannabivarin (Thcv) Reveal Stage-Dependent Morphological And Biological Effects, Mirielle Clayton

Honors Theses

Tetrahydrocannabivarin (THCV), a minor cannabinoid found in Cannabis sativa, is gaining attention for its potential therapeutic applications, yet its effects on early development remain poorly understood. This study investigated how the timing of THCV exposure influences morphological, behavioral, and bioaccumulation outcomes in zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryos. Embryos were exposed to 2 μM THCV during discrete developmental windows (6–30, 30–54, 54–78, 78–102) and continuous 6–102 hours post-fertilization (hpf), designed to model early stages of human gestation. Behavioral analysis using a larval photomotor response assay revealed significant reductions in locomotor activity during dark phases, with the strongest hypoactivity observed …

Consumer Reaction To Olympic Sponsorships, Bailey R. Wood

Honors Theses

The Olympic Games are the world’s premier sporting event, hosting athletes from 206 countries every four years. The Ancient Games date back over 3,000 years in what is now modern-day Greece. The “Classical Games” consisted of a single foot race, the “stade,” and eventually grew to include long-distance running, wrestling, long jump, javelin throw, and discus throw (Abrahams, n.d.). Now, the Games are split into summer and winter sports, with the Summer Olympic hosting 329 medal events and the Winter Olympics 116. Due to the size and magnitude of this event, the Olympic Games are broadcast all over the world, …

Analyzing Best Practices In Large-Scale Digital Archaeological Databases, Chloe M. Vizier

Honors Theses

Archaeological databases, the foundation of archaeological analyses, have changed drastically alongside the rise of new digital tools in the twenty-first century. Digital databases, alongside other digital tools, must therefore be evaluated for their efficiency and effectiveness within the field. This thesis seeks to determine a set of best practices within large-scale digital archaeological databases through analyzing an existing example: The Paleoindian Database of the Americas (PIDBA). PIDBA is composed of multiple state-level datasets, a trait that both invited collaboration and creates discrepancies in data entry. Though examining both PIDBA's user-facing website and one of its most robust state-level datasets, the …

Perception Of Asset Price Bubbles In Graphical Data, Cooper P. Vining

Honors Theses

This thesis studies how individuals judge asset price paths and bubbles from graphical data. It primarily investigates whether individuals can differentiate simulated asset price paths that are generated from pure random walks, and graphs that have a bubble element. This question is important because inventors and ordinary people often interpret price paths visually.

To test this, the project creates simulated asset price paths using random walks and bubble multipliers. The survey has four types of graphs: pure random walks, random walks with a 25% bubble, random walks with a 50% bubble, and random walks with a 75% bubble. The graphs …

Honors Accounting Thesis, John Cordia

Honors Theses

This thesis includes a variety of topics related to public accounting. I completed a series of six case studies completed during the Accountancy Honors Professional Development course at the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College. In this course, Dr. Victoria Dickinson often challenged her students to “think like an auditor.” The variety of cases coupled with the auditor mindset allowed me to gain a brief understanding of financial reporting and public accounting before I had any practical experience. In the group cases revolved around Home Depot and General Mills, we analyzed their 10-ks, pulled relevant information from reliable sources, and developed …

Evolution Of Nematode Prey Chemotaxis Behavior Across Different Environments, Hailey R. Smith

Honors Theses

Climatic conditions in the near future are projected to be warmer, with more frequent and intense weather events. This will substantially alter the environments in which organisms must integrate specific information to find essential resources. Many organisms rely upon chemical signals to orient towards attractive resources through a mechanism called chemotaxis. How different environmental conditions, like temperature, impact this process will be important to understand as environments change. I conducted a laboratory evolution experiment with the model nematode Caenorhabditis elegans to see how success in chemotaxis assays changes over time when selected under different temperature regimes (normal laboratory temperature, increased …

Studying More, Not Less: Rethinking Test Anxiety In Undergraduate Biology Courses, Kailey E. Reeves

Honors Theses

This study investigates the relationships among test anxiety, study behaviors, and metacognitive evaluation in undergraduate biology courses. While prior research has established that study strategies and metacognition influence academic performance, less is known about how these factors interact with test anxiety in undergraduate Biology courses. Guided by the student approaches to learning (SAL) and metacognition frameworks, this study examines whether test anxiety is associated with the type and number of study strategies students use, as well as their ability to evaluate their own learning and preparedness. Using a convergent parallel mixed-methods design, data was collected from 205 students enrolled in …

The Impact Of Patient Navigation On The Hepatitis C Care Continuum In Underserved Populations: A Scoping Review, Deauntaye Jones

Honors Theses

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) remains a significant public health concern and is a leading cause of cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and liver transplantation when left untreated. Although direct-acting antiviral therapies have made HCV curable for most patients, many underserved populations continue to experience barriers to diagnosis, linkage-to-care, treatment completion, and sustained virologic response (SVR). This study evaluated how patient navigation programs influence progression through the HCV care continuum among underserved populations. Relevant studies published between 2014 and 2025 were identified through searches of PubMed and Embase using terms related to HCV, patient navigation, linkage-to-care, underserved populations, and treatment outcomes. Following title, …

How Ai Governance Differs Between Regime Type, Jackson T. Guillou

Honors Theses

This thesis will examine how artificial intelligence (AI) regulation and development differ across political regime types, arguing that governance outcomes are fundamentally shaped by institutional political structures. This thesis will draw on comparative frameworks analyzing democratic and authoritarian systems. This thesis will also include case studies of the European Union, the United States of America, China, and Russia. The study finds that democratic regimes tend to emphasize transparency, accountability, and rights-based regulation of AI. This often results in slow regulation of AI, but it is more ethically legitimate and constrained. In contrast, authoritarian regimes prioritize centralized control, strategic coordination, and …

Neurophysiological Signatures Of Perceived Control In The Human Brain: An Electroencephalography Study, Megan Staehling

Honors Theses

Perceived control is defined as the belief that one’s actions can influence the outcomes in the environment. It plays an important role in decision-making, motivation, and emotional regulation. Previous studies suggest that perceived control shapes how the brain processes both reward and punishment stimuli. However, the neural mechanisms underlying this process are still unclear. The present study examined the neurophysiological correlates of perceived control during a decision-making task. Electroencephalography (EEG) was used to record the neural activity of twenty-nine undergraduate students while they completed the Choice Task. Participants associated visual cues with different levels of control over trials involving monetary …

Controlling Fiscal Destiny: Evaluating The Effect Of State Tax Composition On Resilience During Defined Shock Period, Calloway R. Bills

Honors Theses

State governments operate under strict fiscal constraints that limit their ability to respond to economic downturns through borrowing or monetary policy, making tax composition a key determinant of fiscal stability. This paper evaluates how variation in state tax revenue composition affects fiscal resilience during economic shocks, focusing on the Great Recession. While prior research shows that individual tax instruments differ in cyclicality, less is known about how overall tax structure shapes revenue performance during and after shocks. Using a panel dataset of U.S. states from 1988 to 2024, this study measures resilience through two outcomes: the magnitude of revenue decline …

The Optimization Of A Robotic Welding Arm To Improve Efficiency, Margaret Close

Honors Theses

The main objective of this report is to optimize a robotic welding arm to improve a locker manufacturing process. The robotic welding arm, a Miller PerformArc, used by Lockers Manufacturing has been producing spatter. Spatter significantly reduces the quality of the product and increases the product’s manufacturing time. The goal of this project was to find the best solution to reduce spatter without weakening the welds and ensuring that efficiency will increase. The first step in this project was to test multiple weld testing variables such as voltage, current, welding angle, robot speed, and arc and crater ratios. For each …

"For Their Effectual Exclusion": Oregon, Racial Exclusion, And Citizenship In The Mid-Nineteenth Century, Riley M. Littleton

Honors Theses

In light of Oregon’s admission to the Union as the only state to receive congressional approval with a racial exclusion clause in its constitution, this project seeks to examine the constitutional and cultural thought that ultimately led to the stamp of approval on the thirty-third state. In the past, Missouri had attempted a similar maneuver, seeking to bar free Black Americans from entry; Congress had not allowed it, believing that the provision violated the U.S. Constitution’s Privileges and Immunities Clause. This project investigates what changed congressional opinion between Missouri and Oregon’s respective times.

In researching contemporary literature to understand local …

Just War Theory And Coercive Non-Proliferation: Ethically Evaluating Nuclear Prevention Efforts, P. Walker Jacklin

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the ethics of coercively addressing non-nuclear states who are attempting to acquire nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons pose a serious danger on a global scale, so ethical analysis should balance these consequences with the coerciveness of state intervention. Just War Theory provides a useful framework that balances these considerations.  Using the criteria of Just War Theory, this thesis examines two 21st century non-proliferation operations: Operation Orchard and Operation Midnight Hammer. I find that Operation Orchard fails the criteria of Just War Theory, while Operation Midnight Hammer satisfies the criteria. Making this determination is ethically risky, however, because our …

Beyond Barriers: Understanding The Struggles And Support Systems For English Language Learners In Mississippi Public Schools, Gurkirt K. Sandhu

Honors Theses

English Language Learners (ELL) make up a growing portion of Mississippi’s public school population, yet questions remain about how effectively schools are supporting their academic development. This study explores the structure and implementation of ELL programs in the state of Mississippi, with a focus on how these programs are experienced by those directly involved: ELL administrators, parents, teachers, and former ELL students. By examining both institutional practices and personal perspectives, this study aims to better understand the strengths and limitations of the present Mississippi ELL support systems. This study employed a qualitative approach to gather insights from the above-mentioned individuals …

Learning Through Play: The Effects Of Play-Based Instruction On Literacy Development, Jherica Goodgame

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the role of play-based learning in early literacy development, emphasizing its impact on student engagement, executive functioning, and overall academic success. Drawing from research and personal experience, it argues that play is not separate from learning but a critical component of it. This thesis also highlights the benefits of play for diverse learners and examines the challenges teachers face in implementing play-based instruction. It provides numerous examples of play-based instruction practiced in a real classroom setting with 17 students who are varying from early kindergarten to late kindergarten levels. This thesis seeks to demonstrate the importance of …

The Design And Optimization Of A Styrene Production Plant, Kaylee Hardenstein, Amanda Anderson

Honors Theses

This thesis presents the design and economic optimization of a Styrene Production Plant targeting a capacity of 100,000 tonnes/yr at a product purity of 99.8 wt%. The process relies on the dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene in a packed-bed reactor system. Downstream separation is achieved through a series of cooling, phase separation, and distillation operations to recover styrene while recycling unreacted ethylbenzene and recovering valuable byproducts.

A base case design was developed and evaluated using a process simulation software, Aspen Plus V14, and an economic analysis. Sensitivity analysis identified the styrene market price and ethylbenzene raw material cost as the dominant factors …