Digital Commons Network^™

The Role Of Gac/Rsm Signal Transduction Pathway In The Biology Of Antagonistic Marine Bacterium Gynuella Sunshinyii 449, Anhthu Truong

Honors Theses

Gynuella sunshinyii is a newly characterized bacterium with a remarkable ability to produce multiple secondary metabolites that act as potential antibiotics for medical applications. Currently, little is known about gene regulation in this unusual microorganism. In 2018, studies conducted of rhizosphere microbiomes of tidal marsh grasses on Deer Island, MS, resulted in multiple isolates of halophilic, aerobic, Gram-negative bacteria with antagonistic properties. One of the most active antagonists was identified as Gynuella sunshinyii 449. The genome of strain 449 was sequenced with Illumina MiSeq, assembled with Unicycler and SPAdes, and annotated with RASTtk. The annotation revealed a 6.09 Mb genome …

A Comparison Of Approval Ratings Of Gender Inclusive Spanish Suffixes Between Learners And Speakers Of Spanish., Chandler Nichols

Honors Theses

The following study aimed to investigate the correlation between varying levels of Spanish learners who had taken different levels of Spanish courses, and fluent speakers and their approval ratings of gender inclusive suffixes in Spanish. The study used a survey in order to gather information and approval ratings. The results indicated that higher level Spanish learners on average had lower approval ratings of the three gender inclusive suffixes included in the survey.

Leaf Phenology And Freeze Tolerance Of The Invasive Tree Pyrus Calleryana (Rosaceae) And Potential Native Competitors, Abby E. Hay

Honors Theses

Pyrus calleryana is quickly becoming one of the most problematic invasive species in the Eastern and Central part of the United States. Pyrus calleryana is an early successional species that quickly proliferates in highly disturbed soils such as old fields and younger prairies. Currently, this species poses a large threat to land managers as it changes the successional trajectories of forest and prairie systems, creating new novel ecosystems. Pyrus calleryana outcompetes most native early successional species and is relatively understudied. The mechanism in which Pyrus calleryana utilizes to dominate ecosystems are not fully understood, but one theory is Pyrus calleryana …

The Expanding Role Of Analytics In Operations, Lauren E. Luechtefeld

Honors Theses

In the competitive business world today, every company must keep up with technological advances and, therefore, incorporate data analytics into their operations. Data analytics are a vital aspect of every department in every company. When these analytics are operationalized, or the analytics are automated and applied to the operational side, companies can increase productivity, efficiencies, and customer satisfaction. Through my thesis, I establish how utilization of operational analytics can provide a competitive advantage for a company. I walk through the history of analytics, the different platforms involved in making an analytics process operational, as well as the decisions involved. Along …

An Examination Of The Themes Of Invisibility And Hypervisibility In Black Women’S Experiences Within The Prison System, Sarah N. Kuhns

Honors Theses

Using Kimberlee Crenshaw’s concept of intersectionality, the author argues that how incarcerated Black women are treated because of how others perceive their identities lead to certain traits of theirs being rendered invisible or hyper-visible. Their humanity and needs are rendered invisible while stereotypes of criminality, insanity and hyper-sexuality are hyper-visible. Because their humanity is not fully seen, while their criminality is seen as hyper-visible, state violence is used against them as a tool of control and domination. Due to the fact that incarceration and the state violence that comes with a prison sentence, prison abolition should be considered as a …

Hedge Fund Performance With The Treynor-Black Model, Gurkamal S. Pannu

Honors Theses

This paper seeks to analyze the information ratio differences between long/short hedge funds over the past two decades using the Treynor-Black model. The Treynor-Black model is a method to derive an optimal portfolio allocation across safe and risky assets, based off of expected alphas of active investments and the unsystematic volatility that can be attributed to each given security. We first developed and implemented a model to forecast information ratios on a database of long/short hedge funds. With the predicted information ratios, we calculated out-of-sample allocation weights from a Treynor-Black active portfolio model. These weights were then tested in a …

Making Culture-Centered Music Therapists: Resources For Working With Latinx Young Adults, Michaela A. Miller

Honors Theses

This thesis investigates the lack of music therapy literature related to this topic and identifies considerations music therapists should take when working with Latinx communities. I illustrate how social justice and culture-centeredness can be integrated into music therapy practice with the identified communities. I use interviews collected from Latinx university students to learn about the diverse musical preferences and cultures that different members of Latinx communities hold. I describe necessary changes in the American Music Therapy Association’s Competencies for Music Therapists to equip music therapy students to better work with diverse populations. Finally, I provide examples of music experiences and …

Measuring Perceptions Of Various Forms Of Rehabilitation And Re-Entry Programs On Various Types Of Offenders And Reducing The Likelihood Of Recidivism: A Qualitative Study Of Criminal Justice Professionals In Ohio, Jasmine H. Riechmann

Honors Theses

Research suggests that rehabilitation and reentry programs reduce rates of recidivism for various types of offenders. The study, based on the constructivist paradigm, will use a phenomenological strategy to explain criminal justice professionals’ perceptions of rehabilitation and reentry programs. Participants with experience working with at-risk populations in Ohio were selected for inclusion in the study. Participant experiences and feedback were analyzed to answer the research questions posed in the study. Data collected from each interview and the researcher’s field notes were compared to identify themes.

A Study On Formal Verification For Javascript Software, Zachary S. Rowland

Honors Theses

Information security is still a major problem for users of websites and hybrid mobile applications. While many apps and websites come with terms of service agreements between the developer and end user, there is no rigorous mechanism in place to ensure that these agreements are being followed. Formal methods can offer greater confidence that these policies are being followed, but there is currently no widely adopted tool that makes formal methods available for average consumers. After studying the current state-of-the-art in JavaScript policy enforcement and verification, this research proposes several new techniques for applying model checking to JavaScript that strikes …

Dialectical Reasoning And Developing Responsive Models Toward Political Ecology, Dawson J. Vandervort

Honors Theses

In this thesis, I seek out the modes of thought that we have developed for making sense of the world and elucidate how the logic of domination and reduction of reason to a calculative tool has led to the climate crisis. Throughout my research, I look for models to overcome mechanized thought and find two useful remedies that will require time and effort to implement: critical self-reflection and storytelling skills. Self-reflection involves dialectically thinking or considering alternative approaches to how we understand the world rather than accepting the standard norms for thinking and using them without question. Storytelling involves the …

Breast Cancer Treatment Causing Cardiovascular Complications: How Can We Prevent It?, Abigail L. Reese

Honors Theses

Breast cancer has the highest incidence rate of any cancer in the United States, and it is the second most deadly. It comprises 30% of all diagnosed cancers in women, and it is predicted that the incidence of breast cancer will continue to rise. Most common chemotherapeutic agents utilized in the treatment of breast cancer are known to be cardiotoxic, each with differing mechanisms and possible damage done to the patient. In turn, cardiovascular diseases are the number one killer of women in the United States, and their prevalence is continually growing. It is unknown exactly how many women who …

An Analysis Of The Pollinators Of Echinacea Purpurea In Relation To Their Perceived Efficiency And Color Preferences, Carmen Black

Honors Theses

This study aimed to better understand how insects interacted with species of Echinacea in Tennessee and specifically their preference to floral color. Based on previous studies I expected the main visitors to be composed of various bees, beetles and butterflies. Based on previous studies, I hypothesized that most bees (especially social bees) would most likely pollinate the purple/violet morphs of the flower versus the white morph. I also expected the bees would have the most visits to the coneflowers versus any other taxonomic group. I believe bees to be the majority of pollinators based upon the results of Stucky, Gadd, …

Building A (Great) Wall: A Semiotic Analysis Of The Rhetoric Of President Donald J. Trump, Lauren Gilmore

Honors Theses

When Donald J. Trump announced he was running for president of the United States, the country was thrown into division. He was an abnormality as a presidential candidate and a rhetorical oddity since so many of his messages were ones of ignorance and bigotry rather than understanding and inclusion, the expected rhetoric of a president. Through a semiotic analysis, this study aims to understand who the people were that supported Trump, why his rhetoric appealed to them, the ways in which Trump talked about America and its people, and how his supporters interpreted his language. Semiotics is the study of …

Reading On The Home Front: The Evolution Of U.S. Children’S Literature And American Values During Wartime Conflicts, Sophie Barton

Honors Theses

Children’s print culture is an understudied dimension of American history. It is well established that children’s history is vital to understanding the role of the child in American history and how modern childhood has developed. This study aims to uncover how children’s print culture plays a vital role in understanding how children’s perspectives changed and the varied messages adults imposed on children during the Civil War, World War One, and World War Two. In this Honors Thesis, I study various types of print productions including short stories, comics, and school textbooks in order to understand the various ways adults attempted …

Race, Sex, Exoneration, & Compensation: How Do They Relate? What Is Done? And What Needs To Be Done?, Sarah Emily Still

Honors Theses

Previous literature has noted multiple causes of wrongful conviction including mistaken eyewitness identification, false confessions, ineffective assistance of counsel, crime lab error, and prosecutorial misconduct. Over time, more wrongful convictions caused by these factors are overturned through the help of organizations such as the Innocence Project. With these increasing exonerations comes the increased needs of exonerated people. The previous literature has exemplified that exonerees have unique needs (Simms, 2016), but these needs are often not met by the compensation that is available (Chunias & Aufgang, 2008; Mandery et. al, 2013). This occurrence is problematic given that exonerees had to lose …

Albinism In Africa: Examining Identity Formulation, Corinne Tinkham

Honors Theses

Albinism is a genetic condition that often intersects at disability and perceived notions of race; this double-stigmatization has proved problematic for people with albinism living in Africa, who not only appear physically different from others in their community but are also commonly regarded as ontologically different. Individuals with albinism in Africa undergo frequent challenges throughout their lifetime that significantly shape their identities. This process of identity formation begins in early childhood and is greatly impacted by unequal access to healthcare and schooling, harmful rumors and mythologies surrounding the condition’s origins, violence, workplace discrimination, income inequality, and many other factors. In …

The Effect Of The Apolipoprotein A1 (Apoa1): The Stability And Folding In Potassium Chloride Environment, Alexandra Paladian

Honors Theses

Healthy levels of potassium chloride (KCl) can significantly affect the workings of the cholesterol level of the human body and how they pertain to an individual person. The search for a better salt additive for the human diet can provide a better option for people who experience high cholesterol levels and heart disease. The study focuses on the experimental design of the Molecular Dynamic (MD) simulation of the Apolipoprotein A1 (APOA1) in the potassium ion solution environment to determine the stability and folding of the protein. The study also compares its data to the previous experimental design of chloride ions …

Troglofauna Of Van Buren And White County: A Survey Of Four Caves In The Mideastern Cumberland Plateau, Gavin Page

Honors Theses

The Cumberland Plateau in Tennessee has the highest cave-obligate biodiversity in North America. Cave-obligate species are entirely restricted to subterranean habitat and demonstrate unique troglomorphy. These species are categorized as troglobionts. However, because of their isolated occurrences, theses species are vulnerable to a variety of disturbances. This issue is furthered in the fact that only approximately 7% of the caves in this region have been surveyed. Of these caves that have been surveyed, only a small portion were professional entomological surveys, while almost no cave has ever been extensively repeat sampled. This study involved newly sampling one cave and repeat …

Molecular Dynamic Simulation Of The Complex Folding Patterns Of Apolipoprotein A1 In Various Concentrations Of Potassium Chloride, Hannah Holmberg

Honors Theses

Apopliprotein or ApoA-1 is a complex lipoprotein that functions in the removal of cholesterol from the blood, removing cholesterol from the area around white blood cells and promoting the excretion of lipids through the lymphatic system. Previous research has found that ApoA-1 shows both folded and unfolded conformations depending on the concentration of NaCl in solution in the water around it. The protein was studied using molecular dynamics simulations. Once this state of equilibrium was reached, various structural properties of the protein were measured including the radius of gyration and the radial distribution function. The goal of the project was …

Accountancy Honors Thesis, Christian Jarrell

Honors Theses

This thesis is a collection of cases completed over two semesters under the direction of Dr. Dickinson. The cases covered multiple topics in the areas of business and accounting with the goal of exposing students not only to the accounting industry but give them a look at a professional career. Due to the various subject of each case, rather than have one central abstract for this thesis, each case will have its own abstract that will include an explanation of what the case was about and what was learned from the case.

A Study Of Deep Reinforcement Learning In Autonomous Racing Using Deepracer Car, Mukesh Ghimire

Honors Theses

Reinforcement learning is thought to be a promising branch of machine learning that has the potential to help us develop an Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) machine. Among the machine learning algorithms, primarily, supervised, semi supervised, unsupervised and reinforcement learning, reinforcement learning is different in a sense that it explores the environment without prior knowledge, and determines the optimal action. This study attempts to understand the concept behind reinforcement learning, the mathematics behind it and see it in action by deploying the trained model in Amazon's DeepRacer car. DeepRacer, a 1/18^th scaled autonomous car, is the agent which is trained …

Economic Feasibility Of A Methanol To Dimethyl Ether Production Process To Avoid Contract Failure Shortfalls From The Covid-19 Pandemic, Jacob Noll, Robert Wasson, Harrison Mckinnis

Honors Theses

Our team entered the 2021 AVEVA Academic Competition, where teams of undergraduate senior chemical engineering students competed across the country. The competition was composed of two parts: the base case design and the optimization of a chemical process. As part of the competition, our team is acting as the Engineering team for a fictional company that has given us this project. Due to COVID-19, our methanol producing company has lost a contract with a customer, leaving 23,000 tonnes/yr of unclaimed methanol. We have two choices with this methanol: either sell the methanol on the market at the spot price for …

Design Of An Undergraduate Laboratory Experiment Utilizing A Stirred-Tank, Jacketed Bioreactor, Brennen Middleton

Honors Theses

Bioreactors are utilized in many industries, such as the food, alternative fuel, and pharmaceutical industries, to design and manufacture products. Unlike the similar chemical batch reactors utilized in many chemical processing facilities, bioreactor utilization requires engineers to consider a wider range of operating conditions and parameters. This results in a more complex reaction system and controls network. Due to this, it is imperative for chemical and biomedical engineering students to not only understand the theory surrounding these reactor systems, but also understand how to properly design and perform operating procedures with these systems. Thus, it was determined to create an …

Accounting Principles And Methodologies: A Case Study Compilation, Carissa Landers

Honors Theses

This thesis is comprised of a series of independent case studies investigating various areas of financial reporting. The case studies were all completed during the 2019-2020 academic year under the direction and advising of Dr. Victoria Dickinson. Different types of accounting principles were presented to us in different ways by use of both real and fictional case scenarios, and this thesis is a collection of the findings and conclusions from each one. Each case contains my own calculations and opinions and should be regarded as such. Over the course of completing these case studies, I have been able to enhance …

Making Parents Experts: Parents For Public Schools At The Turn Of The 21st Century, Mikayla Jordan

Honors Theses

There has been a long history of debate in the United States about whether centralized or decentralized control of schools is better or more desirable for the education of the nation’s children. This conversation has been shaped heavily by changes in federal education policy since the mid 20th century such as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, the Improving America’s Schools Act of 1994, No Child Left Behind in 2001, and the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015. The voices of parents have always been a prominent part of this dialogue as local citizens and as experts on …

An Analysis Of Accounting Principles Through Case Studies, Kyle Liebert

Honors Theses

The following ten cases are compilation of a semesters worth of work in my Accy 420 class. Each of these were introduced by Dr. Dickinson, at which time she gave us a perspective. From my knowledge of accounting principles, financial and managerial concepts, I was able to interpret the case. Each case required a deep understanding of the topic or an ability to understand a new concept. After being introduced, I analyzed the topic and followed up with research. These case studies outlined by Dr. Dickinson were completed in the academic year of Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 from the …

Anti-Americanism And The Auteur: Critical Discourse And The French Film Industry From 1946 To 1965, Madison Gee

Honors Theses

Cinema is not only a popular form of entertainment but an art through which socio-cultural, economic, and political activities intersect. France's cinematic history, in particular, is characterized by its government's protectionist policies and the enduring popularity of New Wave films. Yet, the end of World War II saw the expansion of American soft power and, consequently, widespread fear that Hollywood’s market dominance would push out local producers. In this thesis, I aim to study the impact of Cold War anti-Americanism on the French film industry’s development from 1946 to 1965. Through a critical discourse analysis of popular film magazines of …

A Survey Of Financial Reporting, Grace Anne White

Honors Theses

This thesis is a series of case studies that addresses multiple accounting topics and issues. Accounting majors in the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College have the opportunity to take two classes during their junior year with Dr. Vicki Dickinson that consist of twelve different case studies. Independently, the case studies vary in substance from an Excel Course and interviews to analyzing a public company’s financial statements. One of the twelve case studies was completed during her class held on Wednesday nights. Each case consists of its own title page, table of contents, and works cited. Since each case study is …

Mental Health Stigma Among Pharmacy Professionals And The Need For Continuing Education, Victoria Dale

Honors Theses

Background. The mental health stigma of pharmacists, the most accessible health professional, can have a significant impact on not only how these patients seek treatment, but also their quality of life (Mey et al., 2013). This study intends to explore mental health stigma among pharmacists and also examine the need for continuing education focused on mental health.

Methods. This study was a descriptive cross-sectional study that employed a self-administered online survey. The subjects were pharmacist members of the Mississippi Pharmacists Association (MPhA). Demographic characteristics were collected. The level of mental health stigma among the respondents was examined using the Community …

An Analysis Of Financial Accounting Through Case Studies, Maggie Herring

Honors Theses

This thesis is composed of a series of case studies performed over the course of two semesters. Each individual case challenged me to look further into a different aspect of financial accounting and how it would look as a career. The culmination of the studies provided me with a more in-depth look of what accounting actually is in practice and gave insights into how the field might change in the near future.

The cases spanned a variety of topics. The first case, “A Tale of Two Cities”, had me compare two different cities and what beginning my career would look …