Digital Commons Network^™

Comparison Of Enamel Microstructure Of Ictidomys Tridecemlineatus Formed During Hibernation Versus The Active Season, Amanda Cho

Honors Theses

Ground squirrel incisors grow continuously, preserving a record of their most recent weeks of life. Previous research demonstrated that an abnormality in the surface of incisor enamel and dentin of thirteen-lined ground squirrels (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus) corresponded with hibernation. Using scanning electron microscopy, we compared internal microstructure of incisor enamel deposited during and outside of hibernation to determine if surface disruptions corresponded to differences in internal microstructure. For one specimen, hibernation enamel displayed irregularities in microstructure that were not present in non-hibernation enamel, but this difference was not observed in other specimens. Given these inconclusive results, further research is warranted.

One Writer, Two Genres: Composing And Analyzing Creative Nonfiction And Fantasy, Kara Herrera

Honors Theses

Creative writers face a wide range of options when they sit down to craft art out of words. Available to them are many genres, each with their own characteristics or traits. Additionally, many writers have accomplished self-reflection in interviews, Q&A sessions, and in print. It is not unusual to find writers taking their craft and turning it into their subject matter. This project aims for the same. In order to analyze the similarities and differences in the writing process across genres, a “writing about writing” essay is included along with four creative nonfiction essays and a young adult fantasy novel …

Role Of Forensic Chemistry And Analytical Intrumentation In The Identification Of Designer Drugs, Mariah A. Barko

Honors Theses

This thesis describes the overall issues that designer drugs are causing in society today. There are three main types of structural differences between designer drugs and the parent drug they are created from. The substances can be direct or indirect regioisomers with the same atomic components as the parent drug or isobaric compounds containing different atomic components than the parent drug. These substances are slowly becoming classified as stimulants, sedatives, dissociative, psychedelics, or synthetic cannabinoids, and scheduled into one of the classes set in place by the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, appropriately once enough information is known about them. …

Honors Project, Zachary M. Murray

Honors Theses

Accounting is an essential function of the operation of all businesses. Accounting is a vital function in the internal operations of all businesses because it is used to manage all monetary transactions. The American Accounting Association defines accounting as, “the process of identifying, measuring, and communicating economic information to permit informed judgments and decisions by the users of the information” (American Accounting Association). In the United States, the market size of the accounting industry as measured by revenue is $110 billion (Statista). For as long as humanity has been participating in trade and the process of buying and selling goods …

It’S All About The Ferns: A Literature Review Of Species Concepts Referenced In New Pteridophyte Species Described Since 1989, Nicholas A. Koenig

Honors Theses

Taxonomy is the field of science responsible for giving names to all living organisms. These names are given based on the data available or discovered, and the foundational knowledge about related organisms. All fields of science are theory-laden with testable hypotheses made atop, and taxonomy is no exception. However, trends in descriptions of new species point towards an implicit citation of the underlying theories (species concepts) and hypotheses (proposed species) rather than explicit statements that are common for other fields of science. Therefore, to assess the status of pteridophyte taxonomy, we conducted a literature review of all new pteridophyte species …

Meat, Masks, And Medicine: Covid-19'S Impact On Supply Chains, Autumn Robinson

Honors Theses

Over the past year, the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has impacted every aspect of our lives. The entire world saw mass shortages and shutdowns all through 2020. While 2021 has seen an exponential increase in vaccine distribution, the new variants of COVID have been running rampant through the United Kingdom and the United States. How does all of this impact our supply chains across all industries? This thesis will explore the basic foundations of supply chain management and the year-long history of COVID-19. Additionally, this thesis will discuss the current scholarly opinions regarding COVID-19’s impact on supply chains for products such …

Impact Of Antibiotic Alternatives On Concentrations Of Escherichia Coli Harbored By Broiler Chickens Challenged With Coccidiosis, Emma King

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Loss, Reckless Behavior, And Jane Austen’S Realism In Sense And Sensibility And Persuasion, Lindsey Downs

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Potential Of Biochar For The Removal Of Waterborne Microbial Contaminants, Shankia Musser

Honors Theses

A Guadua chacoensis bamboo biochar, which has shown efficacy for heavy metal, organic and inorganic compound remediation, was tested for its capacity to remove Escherichia coli, heterotrophic bacteria, and total coliform bacteria to determine if the biochar is a viable option for removal of pathogenic microbes in drinking water applications. Two distinct approaches were used to perform this assessment. In the first approach, an axenic culture of E. coli was treated using varying amounts of biochar and E. coli survival was assessed. In the second approach, environmental water samples taken from surface water at the Mississippi State University campus were …

Buddhist Environmentalism: How Buddhist Values And Practices Offer Hope For Escaping The Climate Crisis, Alexa Rae Rohrkasse

Honors Theses

The 2015 United Nations' Paris Climate Agreement signed by 191 parties and the 1997

The Kyoto Protocol currently agreed to by 192 international parties, state that the fate of

humanity depends on its ability to recognize its self-destructive actions and act rapidly to reverse

their effects (UNFCC, 1). Throughout our time on earth, the same internal struggles and external

battles have persisted and continue to repeat. It is only recently that these battles have begun

impacting everyone and everything on earth in way that must be urgently addressed for survival.

These events have always been detrimental to our internal struggles …

Shark Diversity And Relative Abundance At Myrtle Beach, Sc Fishing Piers, Lynsey E. Isner

Honors Theses

Sharks are frequently observed at fishing piers (Barwick et al. 2004; Martin et al. 2019). These piers offer structural habitats for shark prey items, such as smaller fish and invertebrates, which can attract sharks to piers (Barwick et al. 2004; Heupel 2005). Additionally, fishers often clean their catch and discard entrails at the pier, which also may attract sharks (Martin et al. 2019). Moreover, other factors could play a role in attracting sharks to piers. These include water quality parameters, like salinity and temperature, and the physical characteristics of the pier (Ulrich et al. 2007; Castro 1996; Heupel 2005).

Effects Of Caffeine Consumption On Cognitive Performance In Anatomy And Physiology Students, Sydney Wingfield

Honors Theses

Caffeine has often been associated with college students and their study habits; however, little research has been done to explore if it is actually beneficial to the students’ cognitive performance and academic success. While current studies have explored various aspects of caffeine’s influence on specific areas of cognition relevant to their own studies, there is a lack of research on how it influences academic settings. Within the present study, it is believed that caffeine usage will not cause a significant improvement in individual academic performance despite of the known physiological and cognitive effects on the students. The study consisted of …

Partisan Cues, Emotion, And The Efficacy Of Corrections To Misinformation About Democratic Norms, Julia Ruth James

Honors Theses

Political misinformation and threats to democratic norms are major problems for American democracy. This thesis examines belief in misinformation about democratic norms and the efficacy of corrective information (fact-checking) in multiple circumstances, specifically analyzing the effects of emotions, partisan cues, and conspiracy thinking on the efficacy of the corrective information. To measure these effects, a survey of 45 questions was fielded through Lucid. Approximately 2000 respondents answered questions about their demographics, political beliefs/participation, and media habits. These respondents were subsequently randomly sorted into 1 of 8 experimental groups and received an emotional priming activity and a simulated news article containing …

Genetic Diversity & Connectivity Of Chasmanthium Latifolium (Poaceae) In Pennsylvania & The Effect On Conservation Status Of A Rare Species, Jonathan D. Hayes

Honors Theses

Chasmanthium latifolium (Michx.) Yates (Poaceae) is a loosely colonial, rhizomatous, perennial grass species that lives in riparian habitats, making it fittingly referred to as river oats. Native to the southern Midwest and the eastern half of the United States, C. latifolium reaches the northeastern edge of its range in Pennsylvania. Within Pennsylvania, eleven extant C. latifolium populations are found along four waterways: the Monongahela River, the Susquehanna River, and two tributaries to the Susquehanna River. This limited state distribution exhibits an east-west disjunct distribution, where western populations are largely separated from eastern populations with one centrally located population. Between the …

Golden Mountains: Pike's Peak, Western Capitalism, And The Making Of The Colorado State: 1858-1876, Jason T. Dunn

Honors Theses

Explores the nonlinear imposition of capitalist ideologies in Western systems, using the Pike's Peak Gold Rush and development in Colorado from 1858-1876 as a case study.

Beyond Realism: Reading The Ongoing Wounds Of Enslavement In Beloved And Kindred, Stephanie Fawell

Honors Theses

In an introductory chapter, I synthesize a genealogy of African Diasporic thinkers that challenge traditionally conceptualized bounds of realism and modernism both aesthetically and intellectually. In the chapters that follow, I look closely at Morrison’s Beloved and Butler’s Kindred, as well as the scholarly discussions surrounding the elements in these novels that stretch the bounds of conventionally defined realism. In both novels the linearity of time and concreteness of space is challenged: in Beloved, the ghost of Sethe’s child continues to haunt her family after her death and then physically manifests as Beloved, crossing a mysterious bridge between …

Visualizing The Range Of Glaciers: Science, Art And Narrative, Claire E. Waichler

Honors Theses

Glaciers are sensitive indicators and data keepers of climatic change. The glaciers of the North Cascades, Washington, also have significant economic and cultural value as they are enmeshed in hydroelectricity generation, terrestrial and aquatic ecology, and human communities. My project approaches the current climate crisis by examining the past, present and future of the glaciers of the North Cascades through the two lenses of art and science. I review and contextualize the last century of glacier research in the North Cascades to identify patterns of glacier change and how this affects ecological and human communities. Overlaid upon my literature review, …

The Quantitative Assessment Of Pond Scum: An Examination Of The Biogeochemistry Of Phosphorus Cycling In The Belgrade Lakes, Abbey M. Sykes

Honors Theses

The internal recycling phosphorus in freshwater lake bottom sediments represents a significant source of hypolimnetic phosphorus (P) release for many of Maine’s lakes. In summer months, Maine lakes often thermally stratify and the lake hypolimnion develops anoxia, leading to a reduction in redox potential at the sediment-water interface. These reducing conditions facilitate the reductive dissolution of ferric iron, and, since phosphorus is often present in freshwater lake sediments as solid FeOOH-PO₄ complexes, results in release of soluble phosphorus into the water column. Our current study presents field and laboratory data from sediment fractionation extractions designed to quantify concentrations of …

Protecting Privacy In Covid-19 Digital Contact Tracing, Nicolas M. Turner

Honors Theses

Digital contact tracing applications are a necessary and potentially dangerous tool used to combat the spread of COVID-19. Due to the potentially sensitive nature of personal information gathered by contact tracing applications, there is high potential for privacy issues to arise. This thesis explores the dangers of digital contact tracing or contact tracing via a mobile application. Focusing on the United States, this paper studies how contact tracing works and how a contact tracing application might collect different types of data. The paper then studies the effects of giving up location data and health data and what potential ramifications that …

Microbiome Community And Parasitic Infections In Wild Bees, Mark G. Young

Honors Theses

The microbiome is increasingly recognized for its complex relationship with host fitness. Akin to primates and other social animals, bumblebees harbor a specific microbiome derived from social contact. The bumblebee microbiome is characteristically species poor, with just a few “core” phylotypes accounting for the majority of total abundance. Genomic analyses reveal phylogenetic congruence and adaptation of the core endosymbionts to the bumblebee gut, indicating a shared evolutionary history. Prior investigations reveal that the relative abundance of core microbes is negatively associated with infection by a trypanosome, Crithidia bombi, and that the microbiome has a mechanistic role in immunity. As …

Morphological Variance In Mouthparts And Foraging Behavior In Bumblebees, Ye Jin Lee

Honors Theses

Bumblebees (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Bombus) show an incredible degree of size variation within and between species. Individuals from the same hive may vary up to 10-fold in mass. This variation allows individuals to specialize in foraging on different flowers suited to their morphology. However, as different species have different foraging behaviors, their variation in mouthparts and scaling of mouthparts to body size may have been under different kinds of stabilizing selection as they adapted to collect nectar from flowering plants over evolutionary time. Here, we examined the scaling relationships between body size and mouthpart structures, and the variation in mouthpart shape …

Assessment Of Hypothermia As A Correlate Of Pde4 Inhibitor-Induced Nausea In Mice, Marianna Susan Oditt

Honors Theses

Type-4-cAMP-phosphodiesterases (PDE4s) are a group of isoenzymes that hydrolyze the second messenger cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). PDE4 inhibitors have many therapeutic uses including reducing inflammation, however, they also have side effects like nausea and emesis, which have diminished the clinical utility of PDE4 inhibitors. When administered to mice, PDE4 inhibitors have been shown to cause hypothermia. Given that nausea and emesis in humans are also associated hypothermia, this project served to determine whether PDE4 inhibitor-induced hypothermia may represent a correlate of nausea and/or emesis in mice. To this end, the current literature was screened for articles that explore nausea, emesis …

A Foray Into The Interval Timing Capabilities Of Tufted Capuchin Monkeys (Cebus [Sapajus] Apella), Gryff Griffin

Honors Theses

Time is a critical part of life and timing on the range from milliseconds to minutes has proven to be critical for several behaviors such as foraging and movement. While the exact neurological structures of interval timing are currently undefined, several studies have been completed comparing the interval timing capabilities of humans and nonhuman primates. However, these studies have unanimously utilized members of Macaca, which limits the abilities for researchers to make apt comparisons between humans and all nonhuman primates. This study sought to investigate whether tufted capuchins (Cebus [Sapajus] apella) have the capability to measure time …

The Role Of Inflammasome In Vascular Remodeling Following Injury, Ted Amadi

Honors Theses

The purpose of the project presented in this thesis is to assess the contribution of inflammasome activation in mediating vascular wall remodeling that occurs following carotid artery injury due to decreased blood flow. To examine this, we used a mouse model of carotid artery ligation in mice lacking the expression of a key mediator of the inflammasome signaling pathway. Following ligation, we completed a histological assessment to compare the degree of the neointima formation and expression of inflammasome related proteins in both injured and the non-injured contralateral carotid artery in both wild-type (WT) and Caspase 1 knockout mice (Cas1 -/-).

Determination Of Pollutant Load Reductions To Three Mile Creek As A Result Of The Implementation Of Storm Water Bio-Infiltration Basins On The Usa Campus, Jordan E. Blackmon

Honors Theses

Three Mile Creek has been identified as an impaired urban stream and is now a priority for cleanup for both the City of Mobile and the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. Methods to better manage storm water runoff on the USA campus have begun, with a goal to reduce sediment and nutrient inputs to Three Mile Creek. Both sediment and nutrient inputs to Three Mile Creek disrupt habitat and lower dissolved oxygen concentrations, which are detrimental to overall stream health. Low Impact Development strategies are an innovative way to use nature-like, green-infrastructures to minimize storm water runoff quantity and improve …

Characterization Of Bpa Sensitive Strains In C. Elegans, Giulianna I. Escobar

Honors Theses

Bisphenol A (BPA) has been present in our environment since 1891 when it was first synthesized by Aleksandr Dianin. BPA has since been a topic of interest due to the possibility of diseases associated in human consumption of the chemical. Interestingly, Caenorhabditiselegans, commonly known as C.eleganshave shown to be able to tolerate the chemical. Thisorganism is an advantageous model organism for research since they are simple organisms to study, cheap, produce a large brood size, and have a short life cycle. Previously a forward genetic screen was done to isolate 2000 healthy strains in order to determine which strains showed …

Korean Fusion: Consuming A Globalized Korea Through Food And Music, Ashley Hong

Honors Theses

In Koreatown, Los Angeles, one of the largest centers of Korean immigrants in the Western hemisphere, restaurant owners are constantly creating new forms of Korean cuisine that both challenge and preserve traditional methods of Korean culinary methods. Based on participant observation and semi-structured interviews conducted in Koreatown, Los Angeles in December 2020, I examine how Korean restaurant owners are navigating the current food scene while also maintaining their ethnic identity in a globalized landscape such as Los Angeles. I conceptualize the idea of a “twist” which can be understood as components of fusion food that allow Korean restaurant owners to …

Disabling The Abled Eye: Disability In Contemporary Art, Audrey Washuta

Honors Theses

In this thesis I examine the disability identity reflected in contemporary art history. This thesis utilizes theorists in disability studies to expose the lack of meaningful discourse regarding the disabled experience. By focusing on the need to dismantle the abled lens and highlighting disabled artists themselves, I bring to light the need for disability to be viewed as a social construct and not something to be fixed or eliminated. I highlight the importance of bringing disability to contemporary art as it fosters a space for the disabled narrative to come to light. I also highlight that the field of the …

"Taming Of The Shrew(S)": Explorations Of Gender And Power In Directing An Original Adaptation Of William Shakespeare's The Taming Of The Shrew, Katharine Cognard-Black

Honors Theses

In Fall 2021, I directed my own adaptation of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, entitled “Taming of the Shrew(s).” This project served as both the creative portion of my honors thesis as well as a Senior Showcase within the Bucknell Department of Theatre & Dance. From a young age, I have been fascinated by the malleability of Shakespeare’s plays, and having acted in and seen multiple productions of The Taming of the Shrew, my project began with a desire to take on the gendered complexities of this so-called “problem play.” The Taming of the Shrew is problematic in its sexist …

Comparison Of Cardiac Muscle Between Male And Female Rats With Exercise And Aging: Analyzing Vitals, Gdnf Expression, Ngf Expression, Rna Expression, Sympathetic Innervation, Parasympathetic Innervation, And Sensory Innervation, Katelyn Kurrie

Honors Theses

The direction of my research-based thesis answers the question of how exercise affects the cardiovascular system with aging in male and female rats. My study would highlight the important differences of the cardiovascular system of both sexes which could lead to sex-specific insight on the cardiovascular disease epidemic which prevails as the most common cause of death in the United States. The studies completed will test the hypothesis: neurotrophic factor will be higher in females than males due to the higher presence of estrogen in females. The trophic factor is predicted to increase in both males and females with regular …