Digital Commons Network^™

Narrative Storytelling In Conjunction With Environmental Journalism, Abbey Edmonson

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the effectiveness of long-form narrative storytelling in relation to environmental journalism. It particularly focuses on effectively communicating the seriousness of climate change on a local level through narrative storytelling. The bulk of the information was gathered through multiple interviews with people experiencing the effects of climate change on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. By using interviews with local people interspersed with scientific data, I hope to be able to show the average reader that climate change is real and it can dangerously affect people on a local level, even in rural states like Mississippi.

Through my research, I …

Honors Accounting Thesis, Ryan Rodgers

Honors Theses

This thesis contains twelve case studies that pertain to various accounting concepts and matters. The topics vary from 10-K evaluations to blockchain. This thesis was written under the guidance from Dr. Victoria Dickinson during my junior in an Independent Study class (ACCY 420). I benefitted greatly from participating in this class, and it allowed me to gain more knowledge from current accounting situations.

Prevalence Of Adhd And The Nonmedical Use Of Prescription Stimulants Among College Students, Leah Potate

Honors Theses

Objective: The principal objective in this study is to identify the contextual factors predicting the nonmedical use of prescription stimulants among college students who nonmedically use prescription stimulants (NMUPS) for academic reasons.

Participants: 470 college-aged students from varying undergraduate classes

Methods: This study utilized an observational design, which consisted of repeated surveys administered to a sample of undergraduate students at the University of Mississippi. Descriptive statistics were used to assess frequencies of contextual factors regarding the background and exam surveys. Logistic regression models assessed the correlations between the nonmedical use of prescription stimulants and various contextual factors.

Results: The percentage …

The Past, Present And Future Of Psychedelics, Helen Claire Mcnulty

Honors Theses

This thesis is a systematic literature review that will articulate the need for psychedelics as a treatment for several mental illnesses and ailments. Starting with the origins of psychedelics used in South American religious ceremonies and their development and early trials in the mid 20^th century as well as the legal battles of psychedelics in American society. Additionally, this thesis examines the chemical structure, pharmacology, and safety of psychedelics. An in-depth examination of psychedelics as a therapy for treatment-resistant depression, depression and anxiety as a result of a cancer diagnosis, nicotine addiction and alcoholism, OCD, PTSD, and cluster headaches …

The Effect Of Color Morph On Behavior Interactions In Red-Backed Salamanders (Plethodon Cinereus), Taylor M. Aliferis

Honors Theses

Studies in behavioral ecology provide critical information regarding a species’ territoriality, predator-prey interactions, and reproduction. Red-backed salamanders (Plethodon cinereus) are a polymorphic terrestrial amphibian whose behavioral interactions have long been studied to provide insights on the processes that structure salamander populations, which are often cryptic and difficult to study. However, research regarding the effect of coloration on these interactions is more limited, but potentially extremely important for studies of population dynamics and speciation in terrestrial salamanders. In this study, aggressive and submissive behaviors of adult male red-backed salamanders in five different color morph treatment pairings were observed to …

Comparing Lithic Artifacts And Native American Activity At Stark Farm, An Early Contact Period Site In Northeast Mississippi, Gillian Steeno

Honors Theses

Supposed ancestors of the modern-day Chickasaw, the occupants of Stark Farm inhabited the area known today as Starkville, Mississippi. These Native American peoples left behind archaeological evidence of their occupation, especially in the form of large midden-filled basins. In order to investigate these refuse pits, a lithic analysis was completed using stone typology in order to infer supposed activities. Each of the five contexts are compared to each other to determine which assemblages have similar elements and which ones prove to be unusual in comparison. Through this stone tool analysis, domestic and non-domestic activities and areas in the site can …

In His Image And Into His Likeness: Human Nature's Theosis In C.S. Lewis's Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold, Jacob Ross Taylor

Honors Theses

C.S. Lewis’s standalone title Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold transforms the Greek mythos “Cupid and Psyche” into a novel about human nature being deified. In TWHF, Lewis presents an arc from pagan dualism through rationalism and finally to our relational God who makes us holy like Him. Lewis studies have suffered from the lack scholarship applying St. Thomas Aquinas’s christened Aristotelianism which would illuminate the metaphysical foundations that Lewis founds his words and builds his worlds upon. In Aristotle metaphysical biology he proposed that the human soul is neither an altogether separable spirit divorced from the bodily …

A Playwright’S Process: How Ideas Change From Germination To Execution, Austin Roberts

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

How Gata3 Affects Neuronal Survival In The Inner Ear, Hiba Ahmad

Honors Theses

Broadly speaking, Gata3 is a transcription factor involved in neurosensory specification and hair cell differentiation. Previous studies have shown that Gata3 null mutants do not develop neurons, so Gata3 appears to be necessary for neuronal survival. To better understand the role of Gata3 in spiral ganglion neurons of the inner ear, a Neurod1-cre model was used to conditionally knock out Gata3 at E9-E9.5, the timepoint when neuroblasts first begin to delaminate from the otic placode. The mutants used in this study were Nd1-cre: Gata3 f/f mutants. In situ was performed to determine gene expression within the cochlea, and immunohistochemistry was …

B'Ars And Catamounts: A Study Of Davy Crockett Through Genre And Medium, Jack Fieweger

Honors Theses

This project seeks to investigate and discuss the changes and variations that have occurred to the mythology of David Crockett over the course of time. Initially appearing as a literary character in 1833, the likeness of Crockett has appeared in a myriad of different texts including: biographies, almanacs, plays, dime novels, comics, television shows, and films. The project attempts to discern how these different iterations of medium and genre altered the mythology of David Crockett. In order to methodologically understand these changes, this project makes use of W.T. Lhamon’s concept known as the Lore Cycle. Lhamon identified that lore diffuses …

Temperature Scale Influence On Perceptions Of Climate Risk, Chelsea Spaman

Honors Theses

This study explored how the use of the temperature scales Fahrenheit and Celsius in climate science communication affects climate change concern. The study specifically targeted Americans due to their familiarity with the Fahrenheit scale, which is not the primary temperature scale used in scientific communication. The study employed a survey, in which the anonymous participants read a short introduction about climate change and temperature rise and then answered a series of questions regarding levels of climate change concern. These questions covered concerns about climate change in general and its potential to harm individual survey participants, flora and fauna, future generations, …

Crayfish And Climate Change: How The Growing Acidity Of Freshwater Lakes, Streams, And Ponds Negatively Impact The Nervous System Of Crayfish, Lauren Irmen

Honors Theses

The nervous system of crayfish, a freshwater crustacean, is largely regulated by the flow of calcium (Ca²⁺) ions in a cell across a concentration gradient that produces electrical impulses and controls movement (Krause et al., 1998). Crayfish obtain Ca²⁺ from their external aquatic environment. Therefore, rapid changes in the concentration of Ca²⁺ in freshwater environments may cause negative impacts to the neural system of crayfish and subsequently the freshwater food chain. These impact of altered Ca²⁺ levels may create hyperactive or hypoactive movement due to over-, under-stimulation, respectfully in the skeletal muscle of the crayfish, …

"Woodburn, Texas: A Study In Southern Gothic", Katherine Stone

Honors Theses

My thesis, titled “Woodburn, Texas: A Study in Southern Gothic”, is a short story separated into four main sections as well as an introductory piece and conclusion that are separate from the other sections. The four main sections are separated by four prose poems ¾one for each season.

Separating the sections are four prose poems that follow the seasons. They allow for further access into the history and mindset of the people of this seemingly quiet and slow town as well as the Southern mindset in general.

Both the poems and the regular prose are told in the first person …

Assessing Arthropod Responses To Volatile Organic Compounds From The Algal Microbiome Of A Sloth Using Drosophila Melanogaster, Lilli Gordon

Honors Theses

Sloths contain an unexplored ecosystem of microbial diversity in their fur, including algae, fungi, bacteria, and arthropods. These symbionts are able to communicate through the chemicals they release, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can lead to unique ecological interactions. The VOCs released from the algal polycultures of sloth hairs merit further investigation in their ability to cause a response from other organisms in this microbial community and within a broader ecological context. This research team aimed to assess the response of Drosophila melanogaster as test subjects when exposed to VOCs of the algal microbiome of a sloth. Exploratory research …

The Importance Of Leaders In The Time Of Covid-19, Lindsay Pett

Honors Theses

This capstone examines if leaders mattered during the time of COVID-19. I analyzed this by examining the effect of the stringency of leaders’ policies on total cases and deaths per million from COVID-19. This initial analysis found that a decrease in the stringency index was associated with increases in both cases and deaths. Next, I ran additional statistical analyses examining if leaders had an effect on COVID-19 outcomes independent of the economic situation, health infrastructure, and cultural norms of their respective countries. It was found that the stringency of leaders’ policies still had an effect on cases and deaths independent …

Describing The Gut Microbiome Of Two Freshwater Mussel Species Within The Tennessee River Basin, Eloise Cotten

Honors Theses

Freshwater mussels are important bioindicators of aquatic environmental quality, yet little is known about the composition of their gut microbiome or how it varies between different locations and mussel species. In this study, two species of mussels were collected from three sites located in two rivers, the Duck River and the Paint Rock River of the Tennessee River Basin. The gut microbiome of each mussel was characterized by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Gut microbial communities were primarily composed of members of the Planctomycetes, Cyanobacteria, and Proteobacteria, which along with six other phyla accounted for nearly 90% of the sequences. Dominant …

Examining The Role Of Wnt Signaling In Vascular Calcification, Kaylee Bundy

Honors Theses

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a worldwide epidemic. As the leading cause of death across the world, many researchers are working to better understand the causes and mechanisms resulting in the disease [1]. One of the predictors of and contributors to cardiovascular mortalities is vascular calcification, the buildup of hydroxyapatite deposits within the arterial wall. The mineral deposition can occur in either the intimal or medial layers of the arteries; the location depends upon the causative factors and can create different effects within the body [2]. Conditions conductive of calcification include but are not limited to hypercalcaemia, hyperphosphatemia, and mechanical stress …

A Baseline Documentation Report For The Delta Wind Birds Sky Lake Nature Reserve, Preston T. Perkins, J Hays Dubberly, Michael J. Thomas, Jensine Coggin

Honors Theses

The purpose of this baseline documentation is to conduct a report on our subject property and discuss the findings. A conservation easement is established by upholding a certain standard of a property’s current condition which makes a baseline documentation necessary for an easement to be enacted. Baseline documentation reports are used as a resource to monitor and enforce the legal agreements of the conservation easement. The subject property is currently owned by the Delta Wind Birds organization. In our scenario, this documentation report will serve to aid in the conversion of our subject property into a conservation easement in which …

The Societal Impact Of Capital Punishment And Its Future Role In Modern Day America, Laurel Lee

Honors Theses

Capital punishment has been a well-established, although extremely controversial, practice throughout American history. It has been the subject of much criticism and debate both nationally and globally, dating back to ancient times. This study intends to research the historical, legal, and social changes of capital punishment in the United States that have occurred since the dawn of the practice in order to detect any trends, and if so, whether these trends allow a realistic prediction of the future of capital punishment. The chronology of capital punishment is first examined in this study in order to indicate that the controversy surrounding …

20 Things, Reann Parker

Honors Theses

20 Things is a short young adult novel that explores a variety of topics and themes, from mental health, recovery, and self discovery to race, love, and friendship. Beginning with a high school girl named Halle waking up in a hospital after a suicide attempt, the novel is a coming of age story about the help Halle receives and what she goes through in trying to find reasons to keep living. The novel is divided into ten chapters: “Waking Up,” “Going Home,” “Arriving,” “Being Honest,” “Keeping the Faith,” “Soul Searching,” “Willingness,” “Maintaining,” “Checking In,” and “Living.” Each chapter represents the …

Theory And Practice: Selecting And Implementing Effective Framing To Present Climate Science To A Lay Audience, Lauren Wilson

Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the advantages and effectiveness of using storytelling in the form of narrative journalism to communicate the topic of climate science to a lay audience. The thesis combines personal experience with secondary research in order to support the claim that framing the issue in such a manner effectively communicates the severity and impact of climate change.

Through my research I discovered that storytelling is not only a social tool for humans, but a means to safely and efficiently pass on vital information to those unfamiliar with certain knowledge. The use of narrative has …

A Spectroscopic And Computational Study Of Diacetyl And Water Clusters, Margaret Baldwin

Honors Theses

Diacetyl, otherwise known as 1,2-butadione or biacetyl, is a flavor additive used in microwave popcorn, and more importantly as of late, e-cigarettes. The compound is known to cause lung disease for those who have been exposed to a large quantity of the buttery smelling molecule. As such, the characterization of diacetyl’s vibrational modes when it interacts with water are pivotal to understanding the effects it has on human lung tissue. In this research, the intermolecular interactions between water and diacetyl and the effects they have on one another’s vibrational modes are explored. While some experimental data is presented, the spectra …

An Evaluation Of The Historical Interactions And Epistemologies Of Science And Christianity, Tyler Partridge

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Speech And Sovereignty: A Kantian Defense Of Freedom Of Expression, Alec Greven

Honors Theses

This thesis critically examines the moral foundations of free expression and offers a framework for evaluating morally justifiable forms of censorship. This investigation has three parts. The first section argues that rational considerations constrain how moral principles for censorship can be structured methodologically. It concludes that moral principles must be universally coherent and consistently applied. The second section considers several existing justifications for censorship that fall short of these methodological requirements and arbitrarily apply extensionally inadequate moral principles. To be rational, these approaches must either abandon these inconsistent justifications or commit to more consistently authoritarian moral principles. The third section …

Development Of An Immunoblot To Detect Human Antibodies Against Sars-Cov-2 Virus Proteins, Shivum Desai

Honors Theses

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a virus that infects cells in the lungs, nasal passages, and intestines via the ACE2 receptors of the host, and leads to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Since the occurrence of the pandemic in December 2019, there have been 114 million cases worldwide in which 2.5 million lives have unfortunately been taken away.

Being diagnosed with a past infection stems questions among those that have tested positive through antibody testing. The problem here is that patients were notified that they have antibodies resulting from a SARS-CoV-2 infection, but in fact they may not …

Enamel Corrosion Levels On Squirrel Teeth From The Fox Canyon Locality, Pliocene Of Kansas, Emma Tennyson

Honors Theses

The enamel of teeth may be corroded after death, especially if the teeth pass through the digestive tract of a predator with low gastric pH. This study characterized enamel corrosion of fossil squirrel teeth from two species (Otospermophilus rexroadensis and Ictidomys meadensis) obtained from the Fox Canyon locality of Kansas. Using microscopic imaging, I categorized teeth based on corrosion level. Overall, 45% of specimens exhibited heavy to extreme corrosion. There were no significant differences in the distribution of corrosion categories between both upper and lower teeth of either species (O. rexroadensis: X2 (3, N = 140) = .562, p= .905; …

Comparisons Of Silver Nanoparticle Synthesis Methods By Microwave And Non-Microwave Using Hydrogen Gas As A Reducing Agent, Sofia Erech Hanapin

Honors Theses

Synthesis and characterization of silver nanoparticles are of current interest. This research project describes a simple and rapid synthesis of silver nanoparticles upon reduction of Silver (I) oxide (Ag2O) by molecular hydrogen (H2) at elevated temperature (70 – 100 °C) and a pressure of > 1 atmosphere by heating the aqueous mixture using a common kitchen microwave. This reaction generates naked silver colloids that contain no foreign stabilizers other than metal particles in aqueous media. Its application of an antibacterial effect was monitored by using biological cultures using the Kirby-Bauer Test.

A Note On Cannibalism And Synchrony In Seabird Egg-Laying Behavior, Yosia Nurhan

Honors Theses

During years of high sea surface temperature, food resources for glaucous-winged gulls (Larus glaucescens) are scarce. In response, male gulls cannibalize the eggs of neighbors. When this occurs, female gulls in dense areas of the colony adopt a tactic of egg-laying synchrony, in which they lay eggs synchronously on an every- other-day schedule. Field observations show that the first laid egg of each clutch is the most likely to be cannibalized. In this paper, we analyzed a discrete-time model of egg-laying behavior that tracks egg order in the nest. Using Jury Conditions, we found that the equilibrium destabilizes into a …

Evaluation Of Phonotactic Behavior In Male-Exposed Female Cricket Acheta Domesticus, Janelle An

Honors Theses

Phonotaxis is defined as the movement of organisms in response to an auditory stimulus. It plays an important role in helping animals find a potential mate, and thus it is worthwhile to understand what factors may influence phonotaxis. Phonotactic behavior in virgin female cricket Acheta domesticus has been the focus of multiple studies, which have reported a degree of variability among individuals. Several factors that have been reported to influence such variability include age, environmental temperature, and the presence of certain neuromodulators. This study investigated possible changes in the behavioral responses of young females when raised with males but not …

The Exploration And Analysis Of Mancala From An Ai Perspective, Trevon J. Hunter

Honors Theses

Through the study of popular games such as Chess and Go, countless artificial intelligence (AI) research has been conducted in an attempt to create algorithms equipped for adversarial search problems. However, there are still a plethora of avenues that offer insight into further development. Mancala is traditionally a two-player board game that originated in the East and offers a unique opponent-based playing experience. This thesis not only attempts to create a competitive AI algorithm for mancala games by analyzing the performance of several different algorithms on this classic board game, but it also attempts to extract applications that may have …