Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Honors Theses

Discipline
Institution
Keyword
Publication Year
Publication Type

Articles 1201 - 1230 of 2784

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Indoor Localization Using A Smartphone: Approaches, Issues, And Challenges, Lee J. Easson May 2019

Indoor Localization Using A Smartphone: Approaches, Issues, And Challenges, Lee J. Easson

Honors Theses

Localization has gained priority in an increasingly inter-connected world. The majority of industries and sectors require some means of tracking the location of objects and/or people anywhere on the Earth, whether indoors or outdoors. GPS is an already-implemented and viable solution for outdoor localization. However, indoor localization is more challenging to implement and thus has become a broad area of research. Despite the challenges of tracking location in places where satellite GPS signals are unreliable or unreachable (i.e. within a building or structure), there has been considerable progress made in indoor localization research. Although current indoor localization technology can achieve …


Breath: Capturing Energetic Forms In Pottery, Raymond Brown May 2019

Breath: Capturing Energetic Forms In Pottery, Raymond Brown

Honors Theses

As a Bachelor of Fine Arts candidate with an emphasis in Ceramics, the culmination of my undergraduate education was a formal showing of my work at the Gallery 130 in Meek Hall at The University of Mississippi, Oxford Campus from April 1, 2019 to April 5, 2019. I chose to make pieces of functional, utilitarian pottery with the intent of providing the user with an entrance into a memorable and contemplative experience. Taking influence from historical slipware mark-making - especially German Pennsylvanian Tulipware, I work to craft pieces that are inviting, generous, and strong. Both my show and written thesis …


Erg1a Potassium Channel Abundance Varies Within Specific Skeletal Muscle And Fiber Type, Luke Anderson May 2019

Erg1a Potassium Channel Abundance Varies Within Specific Skeletal Muscle And Fiber Type, Luke Anderson

Honors Theses

Skeletal muscle atrophy results from an imbalance of protein degradation and protein synthesis which produces a net loss of protein. This loss occurs mainly through the ubiquitin proteasome pathway (UPP). The ether-a-go-go related gene (ERG1A) is a voltage-gated K+ ­­channel that is upregulated in atrophying skeletal muscle. Expression of ERG1A in skeletal muscle increases UPP activity and induces atrophy. Because ERG1A appears variably expressed in muscles composed of mixed fiber types and is a K+ channel which has the potential to modulate contraction speed by enhancing repolarization, we hypothesized that ERG1A would be more abundant in slow-twitch fibers …


Neuroprotection With Novel Anti-Oxidant And Cannabinoid-Based Small Molecules, Jacqueline R. Mcgrath May 2019

Neuroprotection With Novel Anti-Oxidant And Cannabinoid-Based Small Molecules, Jacqueline R. Mcgrath

Honors Theses

Neurodegenerative diseases are caused by various underlying mechanisms within the nervous system. Excitotoxicity is a hallmark of many neurodegenerative diseases, and is produced by over excitation of glutamate receptors on neurons, ultimately leading to cell death. Protein aggregates and oxidative stress have also induced neuronal cell death that lead to many neurodegenerative diseases as well. Many compounds isolated from plants have shown protective ability against these underlying toxicity mechanisms. In this study, we tested several cannabinoid and anthyocanin-based small molecules protective abilities against excitotoxicity. We found several compounds that protected against glutamate-induced excitotoxicity in a concentration-dependent manner. We also tested …


Innovative Medicine For Acl Repairs In Dogs, Megan Quinn May 2019

Innovative Medicine For Acl Repairs In Dogs, Megan Quinn

Honors Theses

The acronym ACL, more commonly CCL, stands for the Anterior (Cranial) Cruciate Ligament; the word cruciate means "to cross over" or "form a cross". There are two cruciate ligaments in the knee: the anterior cruciate ligament and the caudal cruciate ligament. These fibrous ligaments located within the knee join the femur and the tibia together allowing the knee to function as a hinged joint. The most common orthopedic injury in dogs is a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament. This ligament typically ruptures during daily activities due to non-traumatic degeneration of the cranial cruciate ligament over time. Cranial cruciate disease …


Two Sides Of The Same Coin: Panpsychism As A Solution To The Mind-Body Problem, Andrew Coyle May 2019

Two Sides Of The Same Coin: Panpsychism As A Solution To The Mind-Body Problem, Andrew Coyle

Honors Theses

The Mind-Body problem in philosophy has haunted philosophers for years. It asks, “what is the relationship between the mind and the body in a human being?” Is the mind something distinct from the body? Or is it nothing more than matter within the brain? Various theories have been proposed over the years as attempts to answer these pivotal questions. This paper provides a history of the mind-body problem, along with an analysis of many of the theories that have been proposed to answer the problem. After reviewing dualism, materialism, and panpsychism as theories of mind, I defend panpsychism as the …


How Non-Centrist Parties Gain Electoral Success In German Politics: An Analysis Of The Alternative Für Deutschland’S Success In The 2017 Federal Election., Madison B. Bickert May 2019

How Non-Centrist Parties Gain Electoral Success In German Politics: An Analysis Of The Alternative Für Deutschland’S Success In The 2017 Federal Election., Madison B. Bickert

Honors Theses

[No Abstract was provided]


Two Arguments For Extending Legal Personhood To Nature, Hailey Walley May 2019

Two Arguments For Extending Legal Personhood To Nature, Hailey Walley

Honors Theses

This thesis will articulate new sorts of arguments under a legal philosophy framework that I believe can be used to protect the environment, but which also have a chance at convincing a wide range of citizens and politicians. The conclusion for which I will argue is that the United States should extend legal personhood to Nature. I will first provide detailed analyses of two countries that have already extended rights to nature, Ecuador and Bolivia. I will then proceed to compare the two cases and discuss what aspects of their models can and cannot be applied to the United States, …


Encoding A 1-D Heisenberg Spin 1/2 Chain In A Simulated Annealing Algorithm For Machine Learning, Daniel Pompa May 2019

Encoding A 1-D Heisenberg Spin 1/2 Chain In A Simulated Annealing Algorithm For Machine Learning, Daniel Pompa

Honors Theses

The application areas of machine learning techniques are becoming broader and increasingly ubiquitous in the natural sciences and engineering. One such field of interest within the physics community is the training and implementation of neural networks to aid in quantum many-body computations. Conversely, research exploring the possible computational benefits of using quantum many-body dynamics in the area of artificial intelligence and machine learning has also recently started to gain traction. The marriage of these fields comes naturally with the complementary nature of their mathematical frameworks. The objective of this study was to explore the possibility of encoding a quantum spin …


The Impact Of High Intensity Training On The Fitness Of Middle School Students, Hailey Wimmenauer, Christine Rockey, Justin Guilkey May 2019

The Impact Of High Intensity Training On The Fitness Of Middle School Students, Hailey Wimmenauer, Christine Rockey, Justin Guilkey

Honors Theses

Obesity and lack of physical activity (PA) pose a risk to an individual’s physical health through both short-term and long-term effects. A decline in PA occurs between 5th and 8th grades, with the greatest decreases in activity being seen between the ages of 13-19. Further, many students in that grade range are unable to reach the healthy fitness zones (HFZ) on the Fitnessgram, the assessment used in physical education classes to gauge health status. Many interventions have been tried in schools to increase fitness but few have been successful. High intensity training (HIT) has been shown to be …


The Need To Believe: Belief In Science & Religious Belief Examined As More General Components Of Positive Psychological Functioning, Jordan Madrigal May 2019

The Need To Believe: Belief In Science & Religious Belief Examined As More General Components Of Positive Psychological Functioning, Jordan Madrigal

Honors Theses

Furthered by the spectacular innovations of technological advancement over the recent centuries, empirical science has yielded a depth of knowledge about the universe that early naturalistic philosophers could not imagine. Present-day scientists seem to have a much stronger motivation to espouse naturalistic worldviews than do early philosophers – the explanatory power of science appears to render null the need for explanations via numinous religious beliefs. Why do so many people maintain religious beliefs, then? A large body of literature suggests that religious belief is strongly associated with positive psychological functioning. However, other research suggests that religious belief is sometimes associated …


The Effects Of Animal-Assisted Therapy On Participation In Rehabilitation In A Patient Post-Stroke: A Case Study, Chloe Cross May 2019

The Effects Of Animal-Assisted Therapy On Participation In Rehabilitation In A Patient Post-Stroke: A Case Study, Chloe Cross

Honors Theses

The human-animal bond is a powerful and emotional connection. The bond between dogs and people can provide numerous physiological and psychological benefits as well as potentially increasing the human’s quality of life. Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) utilizes the human-animal bond by incorporating a dog into the patient’s rehabilitation therapy. This case study examines if AAT sessions increase a stroke patient’s participation in the rehabilitation sessions when compared to normal sessions. Participation in therapy reduces the length of stay for patients, improves outcome measures, and lessens the effects of depression.A key part of stroke rehabilitation is incorporating exercises that increase neuroplasticity. One …


Evaluation Of Different Research Methodologies For Acoustic Monitoring Of Anuran Populations, Richard Alexander Schwartz May 2019

Evaluation Of Different Research Methodologies For Acoustic Monitoring Of Anuran Populations, Richard Alexander Schwartz

Honors Theses

Amphibians are important for a wide variety of reasons. However, in recent years their global populations have seen a sharp decline. It is therefore increasingly important to conduct research relevant to their protection and success. The main way this is accomplished with anurans is through the monitoring of male vocalizations. This can take the form of Manual Call Surveys, Automated Recording Systems, or some hybridization of the two. However, selection of the proper research method can be complex and time-consuming, and use of the incorrect method can result in wasted funding and useless data. Very few studies have been recently …


Social Skills Training And Generalization Of Skills In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Brittany Wright May 2019

Social Skills Training And Generalization Of Skills In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Brittany Wright

Honors Theses

The social deficits observed in individiuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can often be improved with social skills training. The current study evaluated the effects of the Superheroes Social Skills training program which uses animated superheroes, video modeling, and comic books to teach social skills training. Three participants with ASD were trained in Conversation, Responding to Questions, and Body Basics over ten sessions, with sessions occurring twice a week in a non-school setting at the Arc of Southeast Mississippi. A multiple baseline across skills design across participants was used to examine the effects of the intervention on skill …


Contagious Or Not Contagious: Is That The Question? Evaluating The Effects Of Disease Contagion On Memory For Word Lists, Laura Pazos May 2019

Contagious Or Not Contagious: Is That The Question? Evaluating The Effects Of Disease Contagion On Memory For Word Lists, Laura Pazos

Honors Theses

Researchers have suggested that individuals possess a disease-avoidance system designed to detect and remember potential sources of harmful pathogens, a system termed the behavioral immune system. Recently, Fernandes, Pandeirada, Soares, and Nairne (2017) reported an increase in memory for objects associated with individuals that are contaminated with a disease. My thesis extends this finding by examining whether disease-related memory benefits are due to the mere presence of a disease or whether the disease needs to be perceived as contagious and thereby threatening to facilitate memory. Two experiments, one between- and one within-subjects, were designed to test memory performance in the …


Motivations In Volunteer Tourism: The Mini-Mission Concept, Lindsey Hargrave May 2019

Motivations In Volunteer Tourism: The Mini-Mission Concept, Lindsey Hargrave

Honors Theses

In our increasingly globalized world, people have more access to each other than ever before. With the plight of those in faraway places more visible now, people have demonstrated a desire to help. In the last twenty years, the industry known as volunteer tourism has grown exponentially. From its roots as an eco-friendly alternative, this industry has evolved into a multibillion-dollar global phenomenon. As volunteer tourism evolved, many different subsets of this concept emerged. One of which includes the idea of a mini-mission. The mini-mission is traditionally a short, volunteer tourism trip, however, it also includes some religious aspects. Academics …


The State And The Spirits: Voodoo And Religious Repression In Jim Crow New Orleans, Kendra Cole May 2019

The State And The Spirits: Voodoo And Religious Repression In Jim Crow New Orleans, Kendra Cole

Honors Theses

Voodoo transitioned from a religion that caused its practitioners to be criminalized and apprehended by the state to a lure used to entice visitors to the Crescent City. This thesis attemtps to show how the public perception of Voodoo shifted in the late nineteenth-century from a hidden threat to a public novelty. I explain this shift through analyzing New Orleans guidebooks, newspapers, and court cases at the turn of the twentieth-century. This thesis fills the gap in the scholarship pertaining to the twentieth-century. I achieve this by drawing upon more extensive literature on the oppression of African-derived religions in other …


The Impact Of Oxygen On The Intracellular Survival Of Listeria Monocytogenes, Amber N. Coats May 2019

The Impact Of Oxygen On The Intracellular Survival Of Listeria Monocytogenes, Amber N. Coats

Honors Theses

Listeria monocytogenes is an intracellular pathogen that is responsible for the foodborne disease listeriosis. In order to invade host cells and establish an infection, this pathogen must travel through the gastrointestinal tract where it is exposed to a variety of stressors, including low pH, bile, and variations in oxygen concentrations. These stressors necessitate this organism’s ability to sense and respond to its environment. Previous research has shown that bacteria use two-component systems to sense and regulate genes needed for improved survival in stressful environmental conditions. The goal of this study was to determine if the expression of the putative oxygen …


Fate Of Ingested Rna In The Two-Spotted Spider Mite, Obrie D. Scarbrough May 2019

Fate Of Ingested Rna In The Two-Spotted Spider Mite, Obrie D. Scarbrough

Honors Theses

RNA interference, or RNAi, is a gene regulation mechanism that uses small noncoding RNAs (sRNAs) to silence the expression of certain genes. The application of RNAi has been extended to insect pest control. The two-spotted spider mite Tetranychus urticae is a persistent agricultural pest that tends to develop pesticide resistance at an alarming rate, making it a perfect candidate for RNAi technology development. It was hypothesized that unique sRNAs could be isolated from RNA soaked spider mites, and new synthetic RNAs could be synthesized to elicit greater knockdown than was achieved in previous studies. To perform this research, a small …


The Incorporation Of Lipids Into The Cellular Membrane Of Salmonella, Betsy H. Redfern May 2019

The Incorporation Of Lipids Into The Cellular Membrane Of Salmonella, Betsy H. Redfern

Honors Theses

Salmonella is a gram negative, facultative anaerobic food borne pathogen and is the leading cause of deaths related to food borne illnesses. In order to establish an infection successfully, Salmonella must be able to survive in the presence of various stressors that it encounters, namely changes in pH, oxygen availability, osmolarity and bile. Previous research has shown that exposure to bile causes a shift in fatty acid composition in the cell membrane of the enteric bacterium Enterococcus faecalis. Thus, this led to the hypothesis that Salmonella incorporates fatty acids into its cellular membrane following exposure to bile and thereby protects …


A Study On The Modifications Of [2.2]Paracyclophane And Their Effects On The Enantioselectivity Of The Copper Catalyzed Cyclopropanation Reaction, Yousef Dawoud May 2019

A Study On The Modifications Of [2.2]Paracyclophane And Their Effects On The Enantioselectivity Of The Copper Catalyzed Cyclopropanation Reaction, Yousef Dawoud

Honors Theses

The use of chiral [2.2]paracyclophane Schiff-base ligands has been shown to induce enantioselectivity in the copper catalyzed cyclopropanation of styrene with diazoesters. 1 Previous research by Dr. Masterson tested Schiff-base ligands based on 4- amino[2.2]paracyclophane with moderate enantioselectivity. In this project, the Schiff-base N- salicylidene-4-amino[2.2]paracyclophane, was modified by way of Grignard addition to the imine carbon and its enantioselective properties were explored with the copper catalyzed cyclopropanation. The methyl Grignard addition to N- salicylidene-4-amino[2.2]paracyclophane was successful in producing the amino alcohol and the amino alcohol was characterized. The amino alcohol was produced from the R enantiomer of the Schiff-base and …


The Importance Of Rnd-Type Efflux Pumps In The Interactions Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa With 4-Methoxybenzaldehyde, Sanchirmaa Namjilsuren May 2019

The Importance Of Rnd-Type Efflux Pumps In The Interactions Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa With 4-Methoxybenzaldehyde, Sanchirmaa Namjilsuren

Honors Theses

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a common hospital-acquired pathogen and is often associated with high mortality rates due to the development of multidrug-resistance. Antimicrobial plant-derived (phyto-) aldehydes present a promising alternative to antibiotics due to their broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity and low propensity to trigger resistance. However, two main problems preclude the widespread application of these compounds: chemical instability and low antimicrobial efficacy. The ongoing collaboration between the Mavrodi and Patton labs at USM has recently addressed the problem of chemical instability by incorporating plant aldehydes into polymer materials called Pro-Antimicrobial Networks via Degradable Acetals (PANDAs). Thus, this study aimed to address the …


Checklist Of The Vascular Flora, Restoration Plans, And Educational Interpretive Signs For A Remnant Prairie At The Lakewood Memorial Cemetery, Hinds County, Mississippi, Olivia Shelton May 2019

Checklist Of The Vascular Flora, Restoration Plans, And Educational Interpretive Signs For A Remnant Prairie At The Lakewood Memorial Cemetery, Hinds County, Mississippi, Olivia Shelton

Honors Theses

A floristic survey was conducted on the eastern margin of the Lakewood Memorial Park Cemetery, located between Jackson and Clinton, Mississippi, near the western edge of the Jackson Prairie ecoregion. From soil map data and preliminary observations of the landform and flora, the eastern part of the cemetery was hypothesized to be remnant prairie now mostly covered by exotic grasses (pasture) and woodland. Plant specimens were collected, identified, and preserved in the herbarium of The University of Southern Mississippi (USMS). The survey yielded 119 species of vascular plants, of which 98 (82%) were native and 21 (18%) were non-native. Indicative …


The Effect Of Therapy Dogs On Preoperative Anxiety, Morgan Royer May 2019

The Effect Of Therapy Dogs On Preoperative Anxiety, Morgan Royer

Honors Theses

Humans and animals have been companions for ages but that relationship and its benefits have only begun to be explored. Recently, animal assisted therapies have been used to improve both psychological and physiological wellbeing. One of the most popular therapies uses dogs. There are many research studies on the effects of therapy dogs on children and adults with results that have found that the companionship of a dog significantly decreases their stress levels in many different situations, including health care facilities. I investigated the effects of therapy dogs on adults’ anxiety before going into day surgery. Participants were patients from …


More Than Remembering: How Memoirists Recall And Write The Past, Faith Garner May 2019

More Than Remembering: How Memoirists Recall And Write The Past, Faith Garner

Honors Theses

Memory is integral to writing memoir, but sometimes, memory fails. How do successful memoirists mine their past for meaning, while staying true to their recollections? In my craft essay, I examine how writers harness the energy of their own explorations of the past. Then, I show how I have used these techniques in my own work. Six personal essays comprise the remainder of my thesis project.


The Analysis Of Erlanger Hospital’S Suture Inventory Management Operations, Amanda George May 2019

The Analysis Of Erlanger Hospital’S Suture Inventory Management Operations, Amanda George

Honors Theses

This paper evaluates the impact of using mechanical engineering and operations management principles to an inventory management system in Erlanger Hospital. Erlanger Hospital is a local, nonprofit hospital system in Chattanooga. Erlanger serves as a tertiary referral hospital and a Level I Trauma Center in the region. Therefore, they are heavily depended on during times of crisis or emergency [2]. This study focuses specifically on reducing the loss and ultimate waste of sutures across Erlanger’s surgery wing. A criteria for the appraisal of using mechanical and manufacturing engineering to improve the current system is established based on existing data regarding …


Let’S Talk About Sex: An Analysis Of The Gaps In Effective Sex Education In The United States And A Proposed Solution, Mackenzie Butera May 2019

Let’S Talk About Sex: An Analysis Of The Gaps In Effective Sex Education In The United States And A Proposed Solution, Mackenzie Butera

Honors Theses

The United States is not currently providing effective avenues through which the majority of U.S children are accessing comprehensive information about sexual health. This gap in education is causing serious consequences emotionally, mentally and physically for U.S. youth. It is critical that discourse surrounding sex and healthy relationships be normalized so as not to closet, stigmatize or victim blame children during formative years. Historically, the United States has perverted the right to education by allocating significant federal funding to abstinence-only-until-marriage curricula. Although this content has been repeatedly proven ineffective and the U.S. continues to rank high amongst developing countries for …


Plein Air Painting In An Anthropocentric Era, Emily Marie Charles May 2019

Plein Air Painting In An Anthropocentric Era, Emily Marie Charles

Honors Theses

Our relationship with the natural world is defined by our set conceptions of it. These conceptions tend to objectify and idealize nature and fuel the anthropocentric era we live in. Ecophenomenology provides us with a new way of interacting with the earth; this school of thought revolves around reshaping our perceptions of the natural and developing a symbiotic relationship with it. This exchange that happens between us and the earth is invisible, so engaging in it can seem absurd and a bit abstract but in understanding that the world acts upon us as we act upon it, the agency that …


Virtual Existence And Its Ambiguities: How Postphenomenology Of Technology Clarifies Our Situation In A Digital World., David Karlo King Ii May 2019

Virtual Existence And Its Ambiguities: How Postphenomenology Of Technology Clarifies Our Situation In A Digital World., David Karlo King Ii

Honors Theses

For many contemporary western societies, digital technology has become a pervasive aspect of the day-to-day lives of many individuals, and a large philosophical conversation has resulted around how the use of such technologies changes our lives. Postphenomenology, a relatively recent philosophical development, offers a distinct approach to discussing technology from a practical, situated orientation. While this approach has roots in phenomenologists like Martin Heidegger and Maurice Merleau-Ponty, it attempts a more contingent and empirical project that more thoroughly discusses the existential implications of human/technology relationships. In this paper, I trace the roots of postphenomenology in the works of Heidegger and …


A Net-Zero Framework For Farms: A Business Plan, Lauren Dunn May 2019

A Net-Zero Framework For Farms: A Business Plan, Lauren Dunn

Honors Theses

With current agricultural methods causing an abundance of environmental problems, LDEC, LLC is an environmental consulting firm created to address these environmental impacts in the Southeast region of the United States. Examining an industry overview of small dairy farming (a dairy farm having fewer than 500 cows) in the state of Tennessee, LDEC, LLC looks to potentially impact the farming industry on a larger scale. The research for LDEC, LLC is centered on utilizing net-zero technologies in order to address energy usage, water consumption, and waste build-up on farms and reduce their side effects. The success of net-zero initiatives in …