Digital Commons Network^™

Effects Of Increased Salinity On Mississippi Coast Bacterial Community Composition And Diversity, Clifton C. Wade

Honors Theses

Bacterial communities are important to ecosystem function in coastal environments, but the response of these communities to short term increased salinity conditions is understudied. This study utilized a microcosm setup to investigate the response of coastal seawater bacterial communities to three treatments: an unamended seawater control, a reference treatment that received reverse osmosis (RO) water, and an elevated salinity treatment that received artificial seawater dissolved in RO water. Microcosms were sampled four times over a five-day period to analyze the effects of time under different salinity conditions on the seawater bacterial community. 16S rRNA gene sequencing was used to analyze …

The Influence Of The Federalist Society On Originalism In Supreme Court Opinions, Edoardo Santopuoli

Honors Theses

This thesis will investigate the influence of the Federalist Society on the use of originalism in Supreme Court opinions. To investigate this influence, justices that served on the Supreme Court from 1994 to 2022 are categorized based on whether or not they are affiliated with the Federalist Society. Then using artificial intelligence (ChatGPT version 5.3), ten Supreme Court opinions known to be originalist are used as a baseline for artificial intelligence to know what an originalist opinion looks like. Then, all majority opinions of the Supreme Court from that timeframe are scored from 1-10, with 10 meaning an opinion is …

Nutrilog: Design And Development Of A Full-Stack Web Application For Holistic Health Tracking, Jaromir J. Saloni

Honors Theses

NutriLog is a web-based fitness and nutrition tracking application designed to help users record, organize, and interpret personal health data in one centralized platform. Many existing applications focus primarily on either nutrition tracking or exercise performance, which can make it difficult for users to understand how food intake and physical activity interact. NutriLog addresses this gap by combining food logging, exercise logging, calorie adjustment, nutrition summaries, and historical tracking into a single dashboard-based interface.

The application was developed using React and TypeScript for the frontend and Supabase for authentication, database storage, and user-specific data management. Nutrition data is supported through …

Developing Spanish-Language Campus Tours To Enhance Accessibility And Competitive Recruitment At The University Of Mississippi, Caitlyn E. Culpepper

Honors Theses

This thesis proposes and outlines an initiative that would bring Spanish-language campus tours and visit resources to the University of Mississippi, increasing accessibility to the campus visit experience while also providing institutional benefits within a competitive recruitment landscape. Through a review of current literature on Hispanic/Latino students in higher education, institutional enrollment and recruitment data, comparative research on peer institutions, and conversations with university professionals, this project explores the role that language accessibility, family engagement, and campus visits play in the college decision-making process.

Findings suggest that Hispanic/Latino students remain an underrepresented yet rapidly growing population in higher education and …

Design And Production Of A Carbon Fiber Longboard, Jacob T. Williams

Honors Theses

This thesis contains an overview of the design, prototyping, and manufacturing of a carbon fiber long board. The purpose of this capstone was to create a viable product for the real-world market and then determine how to manufacture it at scale with sustainable financial practices. In order to accomplish this task, engineering, accounting, and manufacturing challenges had to be overcome throughout all stages. The production process involved the carbon fiber layup, baking, water jet cutting, and assembly of the carbon fiber longboard. In order to optimize this process, continuous improvement and lean manufacturing problem solving techniques were applied. After a …

Mending The Research-Practice Gap In Psychology: Using Role-Play, Self-Reflection, And Ai Feedback To Enhance Unified Protocol Skill Development, Farryn A. Pauly

Honors Theses

This study explores ways to bridge the research-practice gap in psychology by examining how role-play, structured self-reflections, and AI-generated feedback support the development of Unified Protocol (UP) clinical skills. Using a single-subject design, the researcher simulated therapy sessions with a volunteer acting as the patient, implementing UP modules in sequence, while collecting both quantitative and qualitative data. Each session included preparation using the UP, role-play, and pre- and post-session reflection. Performance was evaluated using Lyssn, an AI-based platform that generated Cognitive Therapy Rating Scale (CTRS; Young & Beck, 1980) scores and detailed feedback on CBT techniques. This was interpreted and …

Manufacturing Processes Of A Wooden Tortilla Press: Idea To Production, Emma J. Palmer, Glenn Walker, Colleen Nolan, Olivia Marque, Benjamin Bird

Honors Theses

This thesis follows the Manufacturing Process of a Wooden Tortilla Press from idea to production following lean manufacturing processes and producing a valuable, and profitable product.

Expanding Expanded Access: A Case Of Onc201 And The Ethical Limitations Of Compassionate Use, Ava C. Hutchings

Honors Theses

This study examines the ethical and structural limitations of the Expanded Access program in the United States, with particular focus on its application to terminal pediatric illness. Although the program is intended to provide patients with life-threatening conditions access to investigational therapies outside of clinical trials, its effectiveness in serving critically ill children remains uncertain. This program is analyzed through careful consideration of regulatory review and ethical theory. Key policies governing Expanded Access are examined alongside scholarly discussions of pediatric autonomy and parental authority.

A case study of ONC201, a now-approved investigational drug, is used to illustrate how Expanded Access …

How To Fail At Faith, Olivia R. Bacon

Honors Theses

How to Fail at Faith tells the story of Ruth, a girl in middle school who begins to doubt her faith in the Christian God. With these doubts come existential questions, fear, and, most strangely, a voice that narrates Ruth’s everyday activities inside her head. Ruth is scared this voice means she is only a character inside a story, but is even more scared to tell her parents about her internal struggles. As Ruth grapples with her faith, this “narrator” becomes a tangible support amid uncertainties. Ruth surrenders to trusting God after fighting her doubts, and discovers that her mysterious …

Peace Agreements, Provisions, And Profit: How Peace Agreement Provisions Impact Foreign Direct Investment Inflows, Wendi M. Sheehan

Honors Theses

There are many provisions that post-civil war states may include in peace treaties. This paper seeks to analyze the inclusion of three specific provisions– political power sharing and political institutions, rule of law/property rights, and infrastructure and reconstruction– and their impact on the resulting foreign direct investment inflows into a post-conflict nation over the course of ten years. I hypothesize that states that include one or more of these provisions will subsequently experience higher FDI inflows. To test this theory, I used the peace agreement information from the PA-X Peace Agreements dataset and FDI inflow information from the United Nations’ …

Homeschool Policy In Mississippi: Perceptions Of Regulations Among Parents, Alumni, And Policy Advocates, Kaley Lecroy

Honors Theses

In recent years, the growth of homeschooling and alternative education methods such as hybrid and virtual schools has reshaped educational opportunities for both parents and students. As more options become available and more parents opt for the flexibility of non-traditional school, it is imperative that we examine the educational guardrails in place for these students. Even more importantly, it is imperative that the perspectives of home educators and homeschool alumni have a place at the table when we review the regulations in place. This thesis seeks to understand the perspectives of current and former Mississippi home educators, Mississippi homeschool alumni, …

Ballistics Characterization Of Micro-Truss Reinforced Lunar-Inspired Geopolymer Concrete For Space Construction, Phoebe G. Johnson

Honors Theses

This research investigates the ballistics response and compressive strength of a Fly Ash/ Lunar Regolith hybrid geopolymer concrete developed for space construction. The study aimed firstly to optimize the Fly Ash/ Regolith mix ratio for maximum mechanical performance and secondly, to evaluate the effectiveness of carbon-fiber micro-truss reinforcement, produced by 3D printing, in mitigating damage from high-velocity impacts. Concrete specimens with varying Fly Ash-to-Regolith ratios (100-50% Fly Ash) were fabricated and tested under compression and ballistic loading. Compressive strength tests followed ASTM C109 using a 110 Kip 810-MTS testing apparatus on both unreinforced and reinforced 2” cubes. For unreinforced samples, …

Synthesis Of A Halogenated Glyoxime For Cobalt Deposition Suppression, Liam S. Allen

Honors Theses

Dr. Qiang Huang at the University of Alabama is a chemical engineering professor and works on the electrodeposition of metals to create circuitry. During this process suppressive molecules may be added to control help the process. This project focuses on synthesizing an alpha-halogenated glyoxime to test whether the compound is a more effective suppressant in comparison to regular glyoximes. More specifically the target chemical is called bromo-dimethylglyoxime which is created in a two-stage reaction. The starting material, diacetyl monoxime, is brominated at the alpha carbon position. The product of this reaction, officially called bromodimethylglyoxalmonoxime, is then reacted with hydroxylammonium chloride …

Bax Activation Through The N-Terminal Bh3-Like Domains Of Vdac1 And Vdac2, Autumn A. Peters

Honors Theses

Voltage-dependent anion channels (VDACs) are central to mitochondrial function by mediating metabolite diffusion across the mitochondrial outer membrane (MOM). Two isoforms­­­­­­­­­­­,­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ VDACs 1 and 2, are also implicated in apoptosis based on interactions with Bcl-2 family proteins that control this process, including Bax and Bcl-xL. Activation of the pro-apoptotic protein Bax by interaction with ‘BH3-only’ proteins, such as Bim or Bid, induces MOM permeabilization to signal apoptosis, yet accumulating evidence indicates VDACs 1 and 2 may also affect Bax. We discovered that the VDAC N-terminal domains contain high sequence similarity to the conserved BH3 domains within Bcl-2 family members that …

The Design And Manufacturing Process Of The Concealed Shelf, Mexrojiddinbek Sattorov

Honors Theses

This document contains information regarding the design and build process of the Concealed Shelf, which is a furniture product with hidden storage capability. First, the team members decided on the design of the product, followed by market analysis and manufacturing feasibility. Lean manufacturing principles were applied to improve the process efficiency and reduce waste.

Multiple prototypes were built with varying raw materials and locking mechanisms. Jigs and fixtures were handcrafted to ensure more consistent product quality. Two production runs were conducted to evaluate performance and identify areas for improvement.

The final design includes economic considerations, manufacturing layout, and continuous improvement …

The Practice Book: An Interactive Website For Figure Skating Training Plan Development, Lydia J. Popple

Honors Theses

Figure skating training relies on structured practice plans developed by coaches to guide athlete progression. However, many coaches and skaters continue to use paper-based or fragmented digital systems, limiting organization, accessibility, and visibility into athlete progress. This project introduces The Practice Book, a web-based application designed to digitize and centralize the creation, assignment, and tracking of figure skating practice plans.

The system is implemented using a three-tier architecture with a PHP-based application layer, a MySQL (MariaDB) relational database, and a user interface built with HTML, CSS, and Bootstrap. The database models standardized figure skating elements defined by the United …

The Isoperimetric Inequality And Wirtinger’S Inequality, Mason Neal

Honors Theses

In this thesis, we present Hurwitz’s proof of the Isoperimetric Inequality, which roughly states that the area enclosed by a simple closed curve is always less than or equal to the area of a circle with the same perimeter. Hurwitz’s proof relies on Wirtinger’s Inequality. We survey results about periodic functions and Fourier series, and we use them to provide a proof of Wirtinger’s Inequality. We then give a new proof of a variant of Wirtinger’s Inequality due to Alzer and generalize this variant to higher powers.

Penitential Systems In The Latin West And Byzantine East, Elijah C. Dodson

Honors Theses

This thesis examines the development and organization of penitential discipline in early medieval Christianity through a comparison of the penitential tradition associated with Theodore of Canterbury in the Latin West and the canons attributed to John the Faster in the Byzantine East. The study focuses on how these texts regulated sexual sin and what their structures reveal about the institutional role of the Church in different historical contexts. The analysis is based on a comparative reading of penitential texts, supported by patristic writings and modern scholarship. By examining how specific categories of sexual misconduct are classified and disciplined, this study …

Determining The Relatedness Of Simian Varicella Virus Strains Using Polymerase Chain Reactions And Delta Herpesvirus-Dervied Primers, Ellyn M. Waits

Honors Theses

This study examines genetic variation among strains of Simian Varicella Virus (SVV) using genomic analysis. The primary goal of this experiment was to observe potential genomic differences among the Liverpool vervet virus (LVV), the Tsukuba herpesvirus, and the Delta herpesvirus (DHV) strains using primer sets developed from the fully sequenced DHV strain. SVV strains were initially cultivated in Vero cell cultures to begin viral propagation. Viral proliferation in these cell cultures enables DNA isolation via standard purification methods. The extracted viral DNA is subjected to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification targeting specific regions of open reading frames (ORFs) in the …

From The Grove Into The World: Alumni Share Advice For New Graduates, Emily Howorth

University of Mississippi News

OXFORD, Miss. – Commencement is as much a beginning as it is an ending. When the Class of 2026 gathers to celebrate years of achievement and turn their tassels on Saturday (May 9), they will join one of the most spirited alumni communities in the country.

Jtc 26: Dismantling Barriers, Building A Village, By 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: Making Opportunity, One Intentional Step At A Time, 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.

Belonging, Participation, And Student Success: Evaluating The Academic Impact Of The Biology Mentor Program At The University Of Mississippi, Cole B. Davidson

Honors Theses

This thesis examines whether students’ sense of belonging within the biology department and their participation in the University of Mississippi Biology Mentor Program are associated with success in introductory biology. The project used de-identified departmental survey data and program records collected across multiple semesters in the broader archive from fall 2020 through spring 2025. For the final analyses, course outcome records, mentor attendance records, and survey based belonging records were merged by student code and semester. After removing nonbinary outcome labels and retaining cases with usable belonging data, the analytic sample included 4,299 student-semester records. The primary outcome was a …

The Rise Of Realism And The Search For Justice In 19th Century Literature, Isabella R. Clark

Honors Theses

This thesis follows parallel legal and literary arcs towards “Realism.” While these two movements do not have the exact same timeline, they both characterized the 19th century. This thesis intertwines the literary shift towards writing that more closely resembles reality with the legal realist aim at a justice that more closely relates to its society. As we look at three novels from the 19th century, we will see how the change in literary form relates to a change in legal philosophy as the popular literary style and goal was later formalized by the law. In our study of each novel, …

Dissecting The Connection Between Technological Advancement And Environmental Justice Through An International Perspective, Benson H. Le

Honors Theses

This thesis dissects the connection between technological advancement and environmental justice through an international perspective. With modern-day technologies advancing by the day, the implications of these technologies on our environment have been rising as well. This thesis looks to dissect the connection between these two entities, as well as view this connection through an international lens. Countries around the world view this connection very differently, and the way these technologies are implemented within the environment is drastically different based on different international views. This thesis aims to answer the questions about this phenomenon. How do countries around the world view …

The Associations Between Problematic Social Media Use, Social Media Appearance Preoccupation, And Sleep Quality Among Emerging Adults, Lily Gisclair

Honors Theses

Emerging adulthood is a critical developmental window in which significant transitions increase vulnerability to mental health challenges. Additionally, emerging adults are spending large amounts of time on social media sites. Recent literature suggests that problematic social media use and social media appearance preoccupation could all play a role in increased anxiety, depression, and poorer sleep outcomes in young people. However, to our knowledge, few studies have directly examined the associations among all of these variables specifically in the emerging adult population. The current study was designed to examine these associations among 178 emerging adults between the ages of 18 and …

Jtc 26: Trusting Her Gut, Clara Turnage

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.

Storytelling As A Pedagogical Tool For Improving Memory In Lectures, Sydney E. Rutter

Honors Theses

The purpose of the study was to examine if utilizing storytelling in lectures caused a positive effect on students' memory over a week-long period. Storytelling has been used as a mnemonic device to improve memory, however its benefits have not been experimented much in higher education. In this study, 53 undergraduate psychology students were placed into two groups: traditional lecture or storytelling lecture. Students then watched the lecture they were assigned, both lectures discussed the ASURE model. A week later, students returned and took a 17 question memory test. Results indicated that students who watched the storytelling lecture performed significantly …

Exploring Real-World Accounting Problems Through Case Studies, Molly Clark

Honors Theses

This thesis is made up of six different accounting case studies completed both individually and collaboratively over two semesters in Accy 420 under the guidance of Dr. Dickinson. These case studies required in-depth research on the topics and reflection on how accounting concepts apply to real-world business situations. In the fall semester, a variety of case studies were assigned to help broaden understanding of relevant accounting topics such as regulatory issues and financial reporting. In the spring semester, students were placed into groups to do research on the “Make America Healthy Again” movement and evaluate its potential impact on an …

Applied Accounting Perspectives: Case Studies In Theory, Regulation, And Practice, Zoe Justice

Honors Theses

This document includes two semesters of casework completed under the instruction of Dr. Victoria Dickinson in ACCY 420. These case studies were designed to expose accounting students to more applicable research to their field of study that will help them in their future careers. This document includes a total of eight case studies, spanning various topics in the accounting field. Most cases were completed in a group, with a few being completed individually. For each case, the topic was researched thoroughly using online resources and a solution was proposed or observations synthesized. During the second half of the course, my …