Digital Commons Network^™

Being Female And Indigenous: Barriers To Reducing Bolivia's Maternal Mortality Rates Under Evo Morales, Channell Cole

Honors Theses

This thesis seeks to answer the question: What are the barriers to attempts to reduce Bolivia’s maternal mortality rate under Evo Morales? While Morales’ presidency began in 2006, the timeline is from 2004 to the present to account for changes due to his policy. Using activity theory and social capital theory, I argue that machismo and racism are two social factors that are barriers to efforts to reduce the maternal mortality rate. Machismo manifests itself uniquely in Bolivia, as I argue through a comparison to Paraguay. Machismo is also riddled with a history of anti-indigenous racism. I examine the Rockefeller …

The Root Of The Problem: Mississippi And The School-To-Prison Pipeline, Matthew Brennan Hendley

Honors Theses

The Root of the Problem: Mississippi and the School-to-Prison Pipeline is a solutions journalism piece about the “schoolhouse to jailhouse” theory, which represents a phenomenon in which grade school students, the majority of which are minority youth, are funneled into the criminal justice system via schools through policies and procedures that criminalize student misbehavior. The piece is an in-depth analysis of the arrival, history, and current state of the school-to-prison pipeline in Mississippi, featuring one specific effort to dismantle the phenomenon in the Sunflower County Consolidated School District in the Mississippi Delta. In addition to this analysis, the piece explores …

Soil Inhomogeneity Effects On Seismic Wind Noise, Bipin Koirala

Honors Theses

Wind causes local pressure fluctuations over the ground. The pressure waves couples with the ground and transmits into the ground as seismic waves. The seismic wave, in turn, causes ground motion. Naderyan et al. [9] developed a prediction of the ground displacements spectra from the measured ground properties and predicted pressure and shear stress at the ground surface. Naderyan modeled the ground as a linearly elastic half space bounded by an infinite plane on one side. The quasi-static model for predicting displacement components in the ground is effective for the vertical component of the displacement response, but the model significantly …

The Association Between Appearance Related Safety Behaviors And Anxiety Symptoms In Adolescents, Emily Olson

Honors Theses

The goal of the current study is to examine the associations between appearance related safety behaviors (i.e., behaviors aimed at preventing humiliation or embarrassment associated with appearance, such as mirror checking or skin picking) and anxiety symptoms during adolescence. Adolescence is considered a core risk period for the onset of many psychological disorders (e.g., social anxiety disorder). Critically, adults with these psychological conditions report engaging in higher levels of appearance related safety behaviors than adults without these disorders. Further, initial, promising evidence, suggests that reducing engagement in appearance related safety behaviors is associated with reduced symptoms of anxiety. To date, …

A Stolen Culture: The Harmful Effects Of Cultural Appropriation, Amirah Lockhart

Honors Theses

Entertainment has always been an outlet from reality, no matter the culture. Whether in the form of music or television, entertainment has something for everyone. Different factors influence the content of the entertainment being consumed, but culture is one of the most important and decisive elements. The appropriation of entertainers in their work is not always immediately obvious to all consumers of entertainment, but members of the affected culture are quick to notice and usually shut out. I argue that the cultural appropriation of Black culture in most cases facilitates results that are harmful and damaging to the Black community. …

Walt Disney World As A Model For Brand Marketing: An Imc Approach To Build Brand Loyalty, Sarah Camille Blankenship

Honors Theses

The Walt Disney Company has an estimated brand value of $61.3 billion and a brand revenue of $38.7 billion according to Forbes’ 2020 World’s Most Valuable Brands (Swant, n.d.). As number seven in the world’s most valuable brands and the only leisure brand in the top fifty, the Disney brand is often used as a business model and inspiration for many companies (Swant, n.d.). Its success can be attributable to the high degree of brand loyalty they create among their customers. Among its approximately 157 million visitors who visited Disney Parks globally, there was a 70% return rate of first-time …

An Investigation Into Cognitive Radio System Performance, Courtney Hardy, Lucas F. Feather, William S. Guy

Honors Theses

The objective of this thesis is to explore cognitive radio performance through an in-depth literature review and an implementation of a software-defined radio prototyping system. Specifically, this thesis investigates the spectrum-sensing aspect of cognitive radio by comparing two spectrum-sensing methods. It was found in the literature review that a system utilizing matched filter detection would provide higher probability of detection in low signal-to-noise ratio environments when compared to a system utilizing energy detection. These spectrum sensing methods were thus implemented and compared in the cognitive radio systems presented in this thesis. Additionally, experiments were conducted to determine the most efficient …

The Effect Of Dialect On Lexical Recall, Chandler Douglas

Honors Theses

Investigating the performance of listeners as they attempt to recall words in both a familiar and unfamiliar dialect could likely lend some insight to the cognitive processes concerning speech perception. Specifically, the current study investigates whether speech spoken in an unfamiliar accent in a listener’s language influences comprehension and, therefore, memory recall of content. To test this, a group of speakers of General American English speakers and a group of speakers of Southern American English listened to two sets of words: one in General American and one in Southern American English. Participants were then asked to write down or type …

Creation Of A Wooden Model Toy Car As A Learning Module For Students Enrolled In Manufacturing 152, Patrick Brown

Honors Theses

This project involved the design and manufacture of a children’s wooden model toy car constructed on the CME factory floor. Apart from building a children’s toy, the purpose of this project was to introduce younger CME students to a high-quality product made efficiently in regards to manufacture time and total cost. The design for the car required the inclusion of principles from different manufacturing philosophies taught in the CME such as LEAN Manufacturing, which works to eliminate waste from a process, and Design for Manufacture and Assembly, which seeks to reduce cost and cycle time for a product. Through the …

Film Festivals And The Covid-19 Pandemic: How A Global Health Crisis Changed The United States Film Festival Circuit, Treviso M. Davis

Honors Theses

An essential step in the life cycle of a film, film festivals provide an organized opportunity for filmmakers to present a film to an audience, gain feedback on their work, develop a reputation in the film industry, network with other individuals in the field, and attract the attention of distributors. Fulfilling these purposes became drastically more difficult because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and its effects will bring about lasting changes to the independent film landscape once the virus is not an immediate threat to the success of a festival. This thesis outlines strategies taken among film festival organizers in response …

Synesthesia: Does It Have An Effect On Memory?, Elizabeth Evans

Honors Theses

Synesthesia is a perceptual phenomenon involving an inducer (a stimulus) and a concurrent (elicited response). For many years, scientists have striven to explain synesthesia and whether or not there are benefits to the people who experience it. In this study, nineteen participants were asked to complete a questionnaire in an attempt to see if their synesthetic experiences gave them advantages in the area of memory. The seven questions were given in a multiple-choice or text entry format, and the questionnaire was approved by The University of Southern Mississippi’s IRB before being sent out in an electronic format. The majority of …

Emotional Intelligence As A Moderator Of The Relationship Between Psychopathic Personality Traits And Relational Aggression, Aria T. Smith

Honors Theses

Psychopathy is a robust predictor of aggressive behavior and psychopathic personality traits have been shown to predict relational aggression in non-clinical samples of college students. Given the manner in which emotional intelligence appears to be useful in navigating complex social interactions, some have suggested that it may be involved in certain forms of deceitful or manipulative behavior, including those that may be part of relational aggression. The current project evaluated the role of psychopathic personality traits and emotional intelligence in the prediction of relational aggression among college students. In addition to examining the direct relationship of these variables to relational …

Leadership, Job Stress And Uncertainty Among Nurses During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Impacts And Implications In Lieu Of Pertinent Theoretical Constructs, Davis Woodson

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on practicing nurses in the United States. The study considered the effect of communication, self-efficacy, intolerance to uncertainty, and life satisfaction on nurses’ job satisfaction; additionally, this study considered the extent to which nurses perceived organizational response efficacy was predicted by their perceptions of communication and perceived threat susceptibility. A total of 191 nurses participated in the online survey. The study revealed that life satisfaction was positively predicted by communication, self-efficacy, and life satisfaction in multiple regression analyses. Perceived communication positively predicted perceived organizational response efficacy …

Undergraduate Nursing Students’ Knowledge Of Endometriosis: A Pilot Study, Stephanie Schlorke

Honors Theses

This descriptive post-test design study was conducted to assess knowledge level of undergraduate nursing students regarding risk factors, clinical manifestations, age of diagnosis, common psychiatric co-morbidities, treatment methods, and pathophysiology of endometriosis. An author-created 8 question multichoice and select all that apply questionnaire was used to collect the data. Twenty-eight students responded to the questionnaire. The results were divided to compare knowledge differences between second-semester and fifth-semester students.

It was determined that the undergraduate nursing students have a working knowledge of endometriosis, but there are knowledge gaps that need to be addressed. Fifth-semester participants scored higher than the second-semester participants …

College Students’ Use Of Social Media And Its Effects On Well-Being During Covid-19, Virginia Pressly

Honors Theses

Beginning in the late 2000s, social media began its ascent into mainstream media. Today, it has become a part of our daily routines. Due to its prevalence and nature, social media has been directly linked to deteriorating mental health in teens and young adults for some time. Many of the studies previously conducted studied Millennials. However, today’s generation of young people, Gen-Z, has a very different relationship with social media and the internet. In 2020, when the world was hit with the COVID-19 pandemic and most work and school went virtual, social media became that much more prevalent in our …

The Reagan Administration And The Aids Epidemic: The Relationship Between Rhetoric And Marginalization, Leah Pimm

Honors Theses

The use of rhetoric can be a powerful tool to persuade individuals. Politicians are no stranger to using this tool and often employ it when speaking to their constituents. One politician who utilized his own forms of rhetoric is former President Ronald Reagan. Reagan used rhetoric to discuss major issues with the American public, including the AIDS epidemic. This thesis analyzes Reagan and his administration’s use of rhetoric regarding the AIDS epidemic in order to answer the research question: How did the Reagan administration’s use of rhetoric further marginalize the risk groups associated with the AIDS epidemic? Although previous literature …

Unraveling The Mummy: The Effects Of Natural Mummification On The Recovery And Degradation Of Dna, Marissa Gandolfo-Muller

Honors Theses

As demonstrated through casework and research studies (Hawass et al., 2010; Gielda & Rigg, 2017), anthropogenic mummification and modern-day embalming can expedite degradation of DNA. Current research in the field of forensic mummification is sparse and little research has been done on quantifying naturally mummified DNA (Leccia et al., 2018; Shved et al., 2014). This research focuses on observing and quantifying the differences in the recovery and degradation of DNA from specimens that have been naturally mummified. This research on natural, forensic mummies is a blend of experimental archeology and postmortem DNA analysis.

In this study, two control specimens and …

The Diversity And Evolution Of Phenazine Biosynthesis Pathways In Enterobacterales, Christian Leise

Honors Theses

Enterobacterales is an order of Gram-negative bacteria that encompasses plant and animal pathogens and organisms of industrial importance. Some of these bacteria produce secondary metabolites classified as phenazines (Phz). Studies in other groups of microorganisms revealed that phenazines are redox-active and exhibit broad antibacterial, antifungal, and antiparasitic activity. Enterobacterales are known to produce phenazines, but details about the diversity, biochemistry, and function of phenazine metabolites in these organisms are missing. In this work, we screened the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) GenBank for genome sequences of phenazine-producing (Phz+) Enterobacterales. Additionally, genomes of Phz+ strains Pectobacterium carotovorum cc303 and …

Interregulation Between Msaabcr Operon And Ccpe To Determine Staphylococcal Metabolism And Virulence, Erin R. Cox

Honors Theses

Staphylococcus aureus is a complex human pathogen that causes problems in both healthcare and community settings. Staphylococcus aureus is a gram-positive, sphere shaped bacterium that usually colonizes in the nasal cavity of healthy individuals. Staphylococcus aureus infections are a growing health concern due to its ability to produce virulence factors, such as pigmentation, protease production, and capsule formation. Two regulators in S. aureus virulence factors are msaABCR, which is a newly characterized operon, and ccpE. In order to determine the interaction between these two regulators in regulating virulence and metabolism in S. aureus, ccpE and ccpE/ …

To Suppress Riots And Insurrections: Development And Transformation In Mississippi’S State Militia, 1865-1890, Alec J. Blaylock

Honors Theses

This thesis argues that Mississippi’s state militia after the American Civil War developed into a functional arm of the state to supplant extralegal paramilitary groups. However, that militia transformed between 1865 and 1890 from an organization devoted to protecting African-American political and civil rights into a mechanism for the enforcement of white supremacy. Mississippi’s Constitution of 1868 made the governor Commander-in-Chief of the state militia and designated that one of the militia’s responsibilities was “to suppress riots and insurrections.” While the law provided other reasons for using the militia, this thesis argues that Mississippi’s governors only used the militia to …

Phosphodiesterase D Is Involved In Bile Resistance In Listeria Monocytogenes, Sophia A. Ali

Honors Theses

Listeria monocytogenes is a deadly foodborne bacterium that is responsible for almost 20% of food-related deaths in the United States. Listeria monocytogenes contaminates ready-to-eat products such as cheese, deli meat, and ice cream. Once ingested, it invades the intestinal lining and can enter the bloodstream, causing listeriosis. There is a gap in the knowledge of the pathogenesis of L. monocytogenes in how it is able to survive in the gastrointestinal tract in the presence of bile, which has bactericidal properties. Previous studies have suggested that the second messenger cyclic-dimeric-GMP may be involved in the regulation of virulence factors of Listeria. …

The Impact Of Graduate School Ranking On An Economics Professor’S Annual Earnings, Shailee Manandhar

Honors Theses

What are the economic returns to attending a more selective college? This thesis adds to the growing literature on college choices and economic returns by analyzing the effects of graduate school ranking on the annual earnings of economics professors in the United States. In order to answer this question, the author collected an original data set using publicly available salary information from a number of US-based institutions. The data in this paper uses McPherson’s ranking of US Economics Departments, h-index, and other factors collected from the individuals’ CVs to estimate the economic returns. The results from Ordinary Least Squares regression …

The Effects Of Canine-Assisted Therapy In Speech Therapy, Malak Dawoud

Honors Theses

The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine how speech-language pathologists utilize canine-assisted treatment in their practices and the speech-language pathologists’ perceptions of the effectiveness of using canine-assistance in speech therapy. A nine-question survey was sent via email to the licensed members of the Mississippi Speech-Language -Hearing Association (MSHA). The author used the source, SurveyMonkey, to acquire and analyze the data. The data was used to determine the prevalence of canine-assisted therapy in speech therapy and to discover if the speech-language pathologists believed this kind of therapy was effective. Additionally, when canine-assisted therapy was used, was there a particular …

What Have Mississippi Band Directors Found Successful When Teaching The Horn?: A Qualitative Survey, Madeleine Case

Honors Theses

This study surveyed band directors in the state of Mississippi, asking them what methods they use to teach the horn. The purpose of this research was to find some solid methods and concepts that participants found successful in their horn teaching, as well as open the discussion on what makes horn teaching unique to that of other instruments. Participants were selected for an online survey on two criteria: they had to have at least a Bachelor’s degree in Music or Music Education, and they had to have at least one year of teaching experience in Mississippi.

After participants were surveyed, …

Investigation Of Palatal Rugoscopy For Forensic Human Identification, Cameron Filipe

Honors Theses

Human identification is critical to the field of forensic science as well as in many sub-disciplines, including forensic pathology, forensic anthropology, and forensic odontology. While few widely-accepted methods of identification dominate the discipline (primarily fingerprint and dental record analysis), the study of palatal rugae patterns (rugoscopy) is an emerging tool in human identification. Some studies suggest that patterns of the palatal rugae are an individualizing characteristic among humans. While the use of rugoscopy for identification has been explored as an identifying marker in the dental and orthodontic communities, its use for forensic applications is not widely recognized. Also, while some …

Understanding Model Reasoning In Automated Speech Systems: Implementing A Prototype Explanation System Using The Lime Method, Vadim Kudlay

Honors Theses

The field of voice processing has seen great advancements thanks in part to the rise of deep learning. However, the application of these deep learning techniques with an audio input space leads to an interesting result not commonly found when dealing with other input domains. Namely, common techniques for generating auditory adversarial samples using gradient-based optimization have been observed to have extremely low transferability among even the same model structure. This implies an inherent difference in the latent representations of audio samples that may be worth investigating in the pursuit of a more resilient and interpretable voice processing framework. Our …

Overdose Prevention Sites Placement Informed By Simulation, Jing Dong

Honors Theses

In Philadelphia, people are experiencing the greatest opioid crisis in a century. Plac- ing the Overdose Prevention Site (OPS) can alleviate this crisis. However, the journey to the successful launch of the first OPS in the USA is rough. It was first accused of having a collision with federal drug laws. While Safehouse won the lawsuit and the OPS was judged to be legal in 2020, other pressure rose afterward such as the against from the public and the COVID19, which delayed the plan to open the OPS. Without solid research on the effectiveness of OPS, we thought it is …

To Care When There Is No Cure: Chronic Illness And Medicine, Skylar Nash

Honors Theses

Millions of people worldwide are suffering from chronic illness at this very moment. Just in the United States, a little less than half of the entire population has been diagnosed with a chronic illness, and a large portion of those patients have been diagnosed with multiple chronic diseases. Those stricken by incurable illness are forced to face and manage their unique illness experience along with the side-effects of the disease itself. For this subset of the population, everyday normal activity can become relatively impossible to work through. There are financial, psychological, social, and physical obstacles to overcome every day that …

Observation And Detection Of Adhd Malingering In College Students, Zoe Tenner

Honors Theses

The rate of college students attempting to obtain Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnoses in order to gain access to prescription stimulant medications has shown a large increase over the past 20 years. Research has also shown that college students are frequently able to convincingly present themselves as meeting clinical criteria for ADHD with relative ease, meaning that the barrier to false presentation for the purpose of obtaining inappropriately prescribed medication is minimal. There is a need for more concise, accurate tools to detect these efforts in clinical settings, which is an area of research pursued by members of the University of …

Congenital Heart Defects And The Expression Of Ccdc141, Savanna Tillman

Honors Theses

Congenital heart defects (CHDs) are one of the most prevalent types of birth defects in the United States. Both environmental and genetic components are known to contribute to the development of CHDs. One of the ways toxins present in the environment cause CHDs is by disrupting the expression of genes known to be vital in normal cardiac morphogenesis. Thus, the identification of both toxins that cause birth defects in cardiac development and genes expressed during heart development is crucial in order to fully understand the relationship between environment and genetics as they relate to CHD. Due to their external development, …