Digital Commons Network^™

Epinephrine Regulates Aquaglyceroporin Hc-3 Expression And Subcellular Localization In Cultured Erythrocytes From The Freeze-Tolerant Treefrog, Hyla Chrysoscelis, Connor J. Ratycz

Honors Theses

Cope’s gray treefrog Hyla chrysoscelis, accumulates and distributes glycerol as a cryoprotectant in anticipation of freezing. Transmembrane glycerol and water flux in H. chysoscelis erythrocytes likely occurs through HC-3, an ortholog of mammalian aquaporin 3. HC-3 protein is in higher abundance and is preferentially localized to the plasma membrane in RBCs from cold-acclimated treefrogs as compared to warmacclimated animals. It is hypothesized that neuroendocrine agonists via receptor mediated second messenger pathways integrate signals derived from fasting, dehydration, diurnal, and/or temperature changes during cold-acclimation to regulate HC-3 expression as part of the mechanism of freeze tolerance. In this study, cultured …

Population Variation In Fossil Graptolites: A Quantitative Study Based On Single Species Assemblages, Elliott Matthias Mazur

Honors Theses

There are several different types of variation in populations of fossil organisms. These include intra-specific (population) variation, evolutionary variation (specimens on a slab accumulating over thousands of years), and preservational variation. An understanding of the extent and type of variation present in a population is fundamental to biological and paleontological studies. This study examines several populations of fossil graptolites from which population variation can be studied without the influence of the other types, and includes several types of morphometric analyses to examine population variation in several species of fossil graptolites. These analyses include isolating three dimensionally preserved specimens from limestone, …

Auditory Information In The Form Of A Scratching Sound Enhances The Effects Of The Rubber Hand Illusion, Bridget O'Mera

Honors Theses

The body schema describes an internal representation of the body in space, and is generated from a number of different sense modalities such as vision and proprioception. Botvinick and Cohen's rubber hand illusion (1998) demonstrates the relative contributions of vision, tactile perception and proprioception to body awareness. In this illusion, a participant's real hand is concealed from view and a prosthetic rubber hand is seen in its place. An experimenter simultaneously administers tactile stimulation to both the seen rubber hand and participant's actual hidden hand. The combination of this visual and tactile information overrides proprioceptive cues to body perception, creating …

Language Trends Of Spanish/English Dual Language Learners, Cailin Amundsen

Honors Theses

This honors thesis project explores past and current research on the language and literacy development and assessment of Spanish-English bilinguals. The researched differences between Spanish and English language acquisition, cross-language development patterns and phenomena found in bilingual children, and holistic approaches to accurate and authentic assessment of language acquisition of bilinguals have lent support to future research questions and methodologies. The following literature review provides clear connections from current bilingual language acquisition and literacy development studies to the future research questions and ideas they rouse. Said questions and ideas have been organized into a research proposal addressing the language trends …

Brown Capuchins (Cebus Apella) Exhibit Self-Control On A Delay Of Gratification Food Exchange Task When Food Options Differ Qualitatively, Kimberly Ann Fisher

Honors Theses

Self-control allows an individual to obtain a more preferred outcome by forgoing an immediate interest. Self-control is an advanced cognitive process because it involves the ability to weigh the costs and benefits of impulsive versus restrained behavior, determine the consequences of such behavior, and make decisions based on the most advantageous course of action. Self-control has been thoroughly explored in Old World primates, but less so in New World monkeys. There are many ways to test self-control abilities in non-human primates, including exchange tasks in which an animal must forgo an immediate, less preferred reward to receive a delayed, more …

Capuchin Monkeys (Cebus Apella) Fail To Be Equitable In An Ultimatum Game, Mackenzie Florence Smith

Honors Theses

The ultimatum game is a commonly used economics game testing humans' sense of fairness. In the game, a "proposer" is given a sum of money and is told they can split it however they want with another human partner. The partner can then either accept the division and both proposer and responder receive the proposed amounts, or the responder can reject the offer and neither player will get anything. Human subjects from most western cultures typically share almost half of an allotted amount, but it remains unknown whether our close primate relatives share this generosity. Recent attempts to present chimpanzees …

Variations In Intra- And Interspecific Response To Mobbing Calls By The Black-Capped Chickadee (Poecile Atricapillus), Katerina M. Faust

Honors Theses

Mobbing calls are produced by a variety of bird species in response to predator sightings. These mobbing calls often function in intraspecific recruitment, but have recently been shown to have an interspecific response component as well. The mobbing calls produced by the Black-capped Chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) are distinct and encode information about the threat level of the predator. Conservation biologists often use playbacks of chickadee mobbing calls to detect species of birds and numbers of individuals in an area with higher accuracy than counts conducted without the use of playbacks. In this study, the factors that could potentially …

The Role Of Underutilized Fish In New England's Seafood System, Taylor Witkin

Honors Theses

The global fisheries crisis has led to an increasing recognition for the need to relieve pressure on overfished, popular food fish stocks. Opportunities exist to shift consumer demand toward more sustainable choices, including fish that may be locally abundant. Attempts have been made to market underused fish (sometimes termed “trash fish”) that represent more sustainable alternatives; however, it is unclear whether consumers will choose to purchase these more sustainable options, particularly if underused fish are also unfamiliar. Chapter 1 reviews existing research and current issues surrounding sustainable seafood and the recent shift toward local, abundant, undervalued species in New England’s …

The Economic Impact Of Shale Gas Development: A Natural Experiment Along The New York And Pennsylvania Border, Brendan Cosgrove

Honors Theses

In the United States, the rapid increase in shale gas production has recently stimulated local economies. This paper investigates the regional economic impact of shale gas development. The border of New York and Pennsylvania provides a natural experiment for its economic impact because of the moratorium on fracking in NY and the supportive fracking regulations in PA. Using BLS data from 2001-2013, results show that shale gas development has a statistically significant impact at the industry level, but not across the entire economy. The findings contribute new evidence to the economic benefits and the boom-bust cycle of shale gas extraction.

Host-Specialization Of Bartonella In Flea Vectors Collected From Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs, Mark D. Massaro

Honors Theses

At least 22 species of Bartonella bacteria have been named and many are associated with one of a list of potential mammalian reservoirs and arthropod vectors. One example of such a system is the parasitism of black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) of the Western U.S. by Oropyslla hirsuta and Pulex simulans fleas. These vectors are thought to maintain B. washoensis infection in these mammals, but little is known about their role in the specialization of this strain to this reservoir. We found that the more specialist O. hirsuta fleas were much more likely to be infected with B. washoensis than …

The Use Of Human And Conspecific Gestures By Capuchin Monkeys To Solve An Object-Choice Task, Lindsay Paige Schwartz

Honors Theses

Most primates live in highly complex social systems, and therefore have evolved similarly complex methods of communicating with each other. One type of communication is the use of manual gestures, which are only found in primates. No substantial evidence exists indicating that monkeys use communicative gestures in the wild. However, monkeys may demonstrate the ability to learn and/or use gestures in certain experimental paradigms since they¿ve been shown to use other visual cues such as gaze. The purpose of this study was to investigate if ten brown capuchin monkeys (Cebus apella) were able to use gestural cues from monkeys and …

Queering La Politique Lgbtq En France : Entre L'Universalisme Et La Particularité, L' HéTéRosexualité Et Les IdentitéS Non-Normatives, Le Mariage Et La LibéRation Totale De La Communauté Queer, Erik Lampmann

Honors Theses

Après avoir institutionnalisée une diversité des sexualités et genres à travers le système du pacte civile de solidarité (PaCS) et – plus récemment – avec l’adoption du projet de loi pour le mariage des personnes du même sexe, la Ve République a rompu avec beaucoup d’autres pays en offrant à ses citoyens l’accès aux différentes types d’unions consacrés par l’état. En évoquant la libération des communautés des personnes lesbiennes, gays, bisexuelles, trans*, et queer (LGBTQ), la France s’est dit prête à élargir sa conception de citoyenneté ; elle a décidé de valorisé une nouvelle Marianne – celle d’une auto-identification qui …

The Forces Of Value: Structure And Content Of Self-Reported Values By Civilian And Military Science Students, Shelly Holland

Honors Theses

Upon graduation, students in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) programs are commissioned to lead the individuals tasked with protecting the American people and their ideology. This project examines the values of leaders and followers in military and nonmilitary contexts to determine if students in military education programs endorse values that are different from the values of students in non-military programs. First, this paper discusses the concept of values, and how values are defined and differentiated from other concepts. By providing an overview of past literature on values within the military and in general, the importance leaders place on values …

Intuition And Its Proper Uses, Chris Boss

Honors Theses

What is intuition? Is it nothing but a nagging conviction in certain beliefs? Is it the same thing as common sense? When, if ever, is intuition a legitimate epistemological tool? Is the use of intuition in philosophical inquiry not just legitimate, but also inevitable? The aim of the present research project is to answer these and related questions. This research project will prove important due to the regularity with which intuitions are evoked in philosophical discourse, and the judgment errors that can result from a misunderstanding of the proper scope of these intuitions.

In section (1), I define and explain …

The Effects Of Coal Mining On Health In Appalachia : Global Context And Social Justice Implications, Adrienne Schmidt

Honors Theses

The purpose of this report is to investigate the environmental and health effects of coal mining in the Appalachian region of the United States in the context of global natural resource extraction, explore existing regulation for the reduction of negative environmental health effects of mining in Appalachia, and explore the social justice implications of current mining practices. The research for this report was limited to literature published in English. It was found that there are widespread negative health effects of mining in Appalachia due to environmental toxins, a toxic social environment of limited economic opportunity, and occupational health hazards. The …

Do The Inter-Nucleotide Domain Loops Act As An Entropic Sink In The Catalytic Activity Of 3-Phosphoglycerate Dehydrogenase (3pgdh)?, Cristina Adelia Meeham

Honors Theses

In protein science the relationship between protein dynamics and catalytic activity are the subject of considerable contemporary interest. Although protein motions are frequently observed during ligand binding and release steps, the contribution of protein motions to the catalysis of bond making/breaking processes is more difficult to probe and verify. Currently, the field of protein science is trying to uncover the deeper role that dynamics plays in the catalytic activity and allosteric regulation of proteins and to better understand how to more effectively and efficiently target proteins in cancer therapeutics and other metabolic pathways.

The Origins Of An Everyday Behavior: Why Do People Share Meals?, David Lee

Honors Theses

Humans are socially driven creatures that require constant interaction. One way humans have consistently expressed their social nature since prehistory is through sharing meals. Recent studies and literature were examined in order to investigate the roots behind why sharing meals has been the most consistent method of social output. Through careful reading and analysis, reasons behind why people share meals were traced in perspective levels. The biological and molecular aspect explains how humans evolved from prehistoric primates and their similarities associated with food consumption. Genetics and food preferences also play a role by allowing humans to taste food rather than …

The Evangelical Church And Creation Care, J. B. Burt

Honors Theses

The purpose of this research is to determine the extent to which creation care is reaching and influencing the patrons in the pews of Evangelical Christian churches as well as to determine if Evangelicals will ever be prepared to take a strong and widespread stance on the environmental issues of our time. A mixed method research design was employed that consisted of three focus groups that served to directly inform the development of an online survey. Survey respondents consisted of 283 primarily Mississippi residents and students attending colleges and universities in Mississippi. Results illustrated that a majority of Evangelicals do …

Modeling Nitroglycerin-Induced Migraine In Rats, Stephanie Staszko

Honors Theses

The present research sought to determine whether nitroglycerin (NTG) produced changes in clinically relevant endophenotypes of migraine. Rats were given a single injection of NTG or vehicle with the following dependent measures recorded: Rat Grimace Scale, hot and cold tail flick latency, Rotor-Rod performance, and photophobia and movement in traditional and modified light/dark boxes. NTG increased rat grimace scores but did not produce thermal allodynia nor photophobia. Further, NTG produced paradoxical increases in Rotor-Rod performance and movement. These results demonstrate that a single injection of NTG does not produce behaviors that parallel clinical symptoms of migraine.

The Effects Of Adrenergic Antagonists On Spatial Memory In The Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia Guttata), Taylor Williams

Honors Theses

The adrenergic system appears to be involved in the consolidation and reconsolidation of hippocampally dependent spatial memories in mammals. Based on connectivity, cell types, ontogeny and receptor distribution, the avian hippocampus is thought to be a homolog to the mammalian hippocampus. The adrenergic system appears to be fairly conserved but may show some species specializations. To determine if the adrenergic system plays a role in spatial learning and memory in birds, we used a series of experiments to investigate the role of α- and β-adrenergic receptors on spatial navigation and memory in an avian species, zebra finches, using the Day …

An Evaluation Of Soil Extracellular Enzyme Activity In Response To Burning As A Forest Restoration Technique, William M. Steward

Honors Theses

Burning is a method of forest restoration with the goal of returning natural tree species to ecosystems. Burning has a wide range of effects on an ecosystem, including the alteration of important soil processes and characteristics. One of the key components of soil is the activity of extracellular enzymes, which can be used to provide insight into the nutritional requirements of soil microbes as well as nutrient availability and cycling. Because enzymes are important in the overall functioning of soil and can be used to assess soil health, there is great need to examine the effects of burning on soil …

Boredom And Memory For Positively And Negatively Valenced Words, James Kirchner

Honors Theses

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether boredom affected memory for positively and negatively valenced words in addition to class names (e.g., History) that were presented in an auditory modality while participants listened to a recorded script. This was accomplished by comparing the recall of a doodling group, who were asked to shade in shapes while listening to a recorded script, with a non-doodling group, who simply listened to the script. The results indicated that participants in the non-doodling group recalled more class names (e.g. History) from the script than participants in the doodling group. In addition, …

Cognitive Poetics And Italian Literary Criticism, John Biffle

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the possibility of the application of cognitive poetics to Italian literature, with a comparison to four major nineteenth century currents of literary criticism. Given the interdisciplinary nature of the research, the data was obtained from reviewed psychology articles, textbooks regarding both psychological and literary subjects, original sources containing the examined poetry and prose, e-books, and open source web material for literary works that lacked copyright. Unless specified, all translations from Italian to English were done by me. Since cognitive poetics are based on the assumption that we perceive literature similarly to how we perceive reality and that …

Promotion Of Environmental Engagement Through Positive Youth Development In Tanzania, Katherine Westfall

Honors Theses

With climate change and environmental degradation already having devastating effects on communities in sub-Saharan Africa, enhancing youth's commitment to the environment and mobilizing their pro-environmental action is increasingly urgent. In this study, we explored predictors of environmental commitment and action based on a model of positive youth development. We predicted that sociodemographics, self-efficacy, connection to nature, sense of community, and club participation would predict environmental commitment and action. Tanzanian youth (N = 959) from regions across the country completed self-report measures assessing these constructs. Using a series of logistic and hierarchical multiple regressions, we were able to predict statistically significant …

An Investigation Of The Effects Of Hysteresis On The Rotation Percept, Maximilian James Shumake

Honors Theses

Although much research has been done on the role of hysteresis in apparent motion displays, no research has investigated the effects of hysteresis for rotary motion. The present experiment sought to determine and quantify the effects of hysteresis on the rotation percept. Participants viewed two types of apparent motion stimuli, which consisted of tokens appearing to move in a clockwise, counterclockwise, or chaotic fashion. One of the displays slowly changed from favoring a percept of rotation to a percept of non-rotation and vice versa. We fit the data using a logistic function and compared the point at which the direction …

The Effect Of Sumatriptan On Clinically Relevant Behavioral Endpoints In A Recurrent Nitroglycerin Migraine Model In Rats, Morgan Elizabeth Davis

Honors Theses

The present research sought to determine the effects of sumatriptan on clinically relevant behavioral endpoints in migraine produced by repeated nitroglycerin (NTG) administrations in rats. Rats were given 5 NTG administrations each of which was followed by either saline, 0.3 mg/kg sumatriptan, or 1.0 mg/kg sumatriptan over a 2-week period. During their 5th NTG migraine episode, behavioral endpoints were the Rat Grimace Scale, photophobia, and movement. Sumatriptan dose dependently attenuated a) loss in weight, b) elevated Rat Grimace Scale pain scores, and c) decreased movement in the modified light-dark box. In addition, rats with the highest dose of sumatriptan tended …

Down Creek A Screenplay, Elizabeth Britt Mcclure

Honors Theses

Growing up, the story was told to me this way: one day, a little boy’s foot washed up on a beach in Charleston. An investigation found that the foot belonged to a patient of Dr. Reed, an orthopedic surgeon who had removed the boy’s foot some three years prior. The doctor had stored the boy’s foot in his freezer at home. When one day the freezer broke down. Dr. Reed disposed of the body part by substituting it for raw chicken in his crab trap. Somehow the foot escaped the bait compartmentmuch to the leathery beachgoers’ horror. Even as a …

Mercury In Fish In North Mississippi Reservoirs: Statistical Analysis And Risk Assessment, Stacy Wolff

Honors Theses

Mercury (Hg) is a pollutant of particular concern because it is wide-spread, persistent, and poses a serious risk to human health. Once released into the atmosphere, it cycles through the environment by a series of complex biogeochemical processes. Upon deposition to aquatic ecosystems, inorganic mercury can be transformed to methylmercury by microorganisms. Methylmercury is a known human neurotoxin that can bioacculmulate in fish tissue and biomagnify up aquatic food chains. Consumption of contaminated fish is the primary route of human exposure to methylmercury. The Mississippi Department of Health has issued fish consumption advisories for Grenada and Enid Lakes in the …

Organic Farming In France: À La Mode Or A Mode Of Life?, Ellen L. Mallette

Honors Theses

Organic farming, as opposed to conventional or traditional farming that employs the use of chemicals, is a method that was begun in the middle of the twentieth century, shortly after the end of World War II. In many ways it is a return to farming practices that were conducted for centuries until about the late 1800's when pesticides and fertilizers were introduced. The rise of organic farming has been occurring all over the world to varying degrees over the past few decades. The French have always had a strong connection to agriculture, food, and the preservation of tradition, so organic …

Integrated Conservation And Development Projects (Icdps): Characteristics Of Success And Recommendations For Implementation, Emory Smith

Honors Theses

The aim of this study is to investigate integrated conservation and development projects (ICDPs) and to help improve their future implementation by identifying the underlying philosophies that make ICDPs successful. Conserving natural ecosystems in developing regions is important, but it is difficult because local people use those ecosystems for their sustenance and are not capable of forgoing that use unless some other means exists for them to earn a living. Consequently, ICDP emerged in the early 1990's as a means to both conserve natural resources and provide economic development for the local people. This thesis provides an in-depth analysis of …