Digital Commons Network^™

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 …

The Influence Of A Mindfulness-Based Curriculum On Executive Function In Four-Year-Olds, Victoria Mccann

Honors Theses

Research on the effectiveness of mindfulness as a method for improving a variety of psychological, social, and emotional skills has grown throughout the last decade. Extensive literature reviews show promising results for the improvement of executive function skills utilizing mindfulness-based interventions, though the current literature is primarily focused on adults, adolescents, and older children. Preliminary work has suggested that training executive function skills using mindfulness-based interventions in early childhood would be beneficial, but few studies investigating mindfulness-based interventions for young children exist. The purpose of this study was to examine whether a 12-week mindfulness-based curriculum using yoga had an impact …

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 …

Do Autocratic Regimes Excel In Natural Disaster Relief? A Case Study Of Political Institutions And Covid-19 Exposure, Jane Kay

Honors Theses

The COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has challenged what we know about the politics of public health. In this research study, I investigate the COVID-19 pandemic as a natural disaster and hypothesize if authoritarian governments are more adequate at disaster control and relief. I hypothesize that the more autocratic a government structure, the better they would be at handling COVID-19 exposure and outbreaks due to their centralized decision making, unified media, and their ability to make unpopular decisions without repercussions. In order to test this theory, I gather data from the Johns Hopkins database for three key dates in the pandemic …

Investigating The Economic Effects Of Food Affordability, Food Access, And Education On Obesity Rates In Mississippi Counties, Youssef Osman

Honors Theses

The growing rate of obesity across the United States is a topic of great concern considering both the health and financial costs associated with the disease. Many researchers have sought to determine the major causes of obesity so that policy suggestions can be made to reduce its occurrence. Some of the referenced drivers of obesity include high food costs, poor access to healthy food, and a lack of knowledge regarding nutrition. This thesis seeks to find the effects of county-level food prices, income, food access, and education level on obesity rates in Mississippi counties. The analysis uses cross-sectional data from …

Modulation Of Apoptosis In Breast Cancer Cells Mda-Mb-157, 93a And 93b By Aqueous Extract Of Chinese Medical Herb Scutellaria Barbata, Nathaly Manrique

Honors Theses

Scutellaria barbata (S. barbata), a Chinese herb used in Traditional Chinese Medicine has been known to contain anti-cancer properties. SB has been investigated as a potential treatment for multiple types of cancer including colon cancer, glioblastoma, and ovarian cancer. Breast cancer cell lines MDA-MB-157 and its APC-mutants 93A and 93B are more resistant to treatment due to genetic modifications. In this study, the effectiveness of S. barbata in apoptotic modulation of breast cancer cell lines MDA-MB-157, 93A, and 93B was investigated. Assessments were performed using green/red/blue fluorescent Apoptosis/Necrosis Detection Kit and the Human Apoptosis Antibody Array - Membrane (43 Targets) …

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 …

Finding Optimal Opa-Iblc Derivatized Amino Acid Analysis Parameters With Three-Dimensional Fluorometric Scans For Hplc Method Validation, Aaron Jacobs

Honors Theses

Three-dimensional fluorometric scans of OPA-IBLC derivatized glutamic acid and histidine solutions revealed that decreasing concentration maintained maximum λem but produced different maximum λex. In pH 0.4 M sodium borate buffer (pH 10.4), 50 μM derivatized amino acid solutions had maxima around 350- to 450-nm λex-λem where 12.5 μM solutions had maxima around 230- to 450-nm λex- λem. In the lower concentration, the λex peak at 230 nm was about 80% higher than 350 nm. Thus, collecting spectra with 230 nm λex would provide better LOD and LOQ. Results inform HPLC standard concentrations since differential quenching effects may produce non-linear calibration …

Thermodynamic Analysis Of Pamam Dendrimer Synthesis, Ryutaro Einar Jacobson

Honors Theses

The objective of this research was to determine kinetic and thermodynamic data about the reaction between ethylene diamine and methyl acrylate which is used in the production of PAMAM dendrimers. Establishing a rate law and finding values such as rate constant, activation energy, and Arrhenius coefficient will help in determining the best possible conditions for the reaction. A rate law was established through the method of initial rates, comparing the rates of reactions with different initial concentrations to one another. Additional reactions were run with active cooling to observe the effects on rate and reaction progress, and finally reactions were …

The Impact Of Technology On The Developing Visual And/Or Auditory Memory In School-Aged Children, Cameron Mayer

Honors Theses

This study aimed to determine whether time spent on technology impacts the developing auditory or visual memory in school-aged children. A survey was completed with the child participants to acquire a catalog of time spent on both technological devices and non-technological activities. Tests included a visual and auditory memory assessment adapted from the Preschool Language Scales Fifth Edition (PLS-5). The results indicated that there was no significance between the time spent on technology and the visual and auditory memory scores. However, the researchers did find that the auditory mean scores were significantly different from the visual mean scores across the …

Computational Difficulty And Invariants Of The Snake Cube Puzzle, Adrian Negrea

Honors Theses

The snake cube is a popular puzzle that has been analyzed for its computational difficulty and shown to be NP-complete. Conceiving of the puzzle as a Hamiltonian path in an n x n x n graph, we offer a novel mathematical analysis by considering invariants of the puzzle. This allows us to determine necessary conditions for a particular snake cube to be solvable and eliminate a large class of possible puzzles as unsolvable. In particular, we establish upper and lower bounds on the possible number of straight components in solvable snake cube puzzles.

Fact-Checking Of Claims From The English Wikipedia Using Evidence In The Wild, Aalok Sathe

Honors Theses

Automated fact checking is a task in the domain of Natural Language Processing that deals with the verification of claims using evidence. Fact checking is becoming increasingly important as large amounts of human-generated information accumulate online. In the recent past, our society has witnessed large-scale spread of disinformation via the internet that has time and again led to noticeable disruptions in the fabric of society. Fact-checking would help mitigate the spread of disinformation by allowing large magnitudes of content to be automatically evaluated for disinformation. In this work, we construe and tackle multiple subtasks of fact checking using labeled data …

The Lgbtq Health Disparities Gap: Access To Healthcare For Lgbtq Individuals In The United States And The Impact It Has On Their Health, Clarissa E. Dennis

Honors Theses

Within the United States, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals statistically face a higher health disparity rate than heterosexuals. Studies show that LGBTQ individuals are often hesitant to seek care, or do not return for follow up care because they experience unwelcoming environments or uncomfortable encounters with healthcare providers. The advancement of medical education in order to create more culturally competent healthcare providers, as well as a more welcoming healthcare environment, could begin the process of closing this health disparities gap. Not only do negative encounters affect the physical health of LGBTQ individuals, but there is also adverse …

Mental Health Related Benefits And Barriers Of Exercise Among College Students, Madison Hamilton

Honors Theses

It is very clear that college can be a very stressful time. These high levels of stress can lead to negative coping mechanisms. However, there is a positive coping mechanism: exercise. The purpose of this study is to examine mental health related benefits of exercise and discuss any differences between males and females. This study examined raw data from a previously done study with a large sample size of college students (n=629). The data included their answers to the Exercise Benefits/Barriers Scale (EBBS), along with other measures of fitness. The EBBS consists of forty three statements that the participants rated …

Associations Among Academic Motivational Styles, Purpose In Life, And Depressive Symptoms In College Students, Linnea V. Anderson

Honors Theses

Students vary in three motivational styles when pursuing academic attainment: (1) amotivational style (lack of motivation), (2) extrinsic style (contingent upon external influences), and (3) intrinsic style (dependent upon internal influences) (Froiland, 2018). Research has demonstrated that individuals who are intrinsically motivated are more likely to report higher rates of meaning and purpose in life (Chalofsky & Krishna, 2009) and higher rates of psychological well-being (Huang & Wu, 2016). While this relationship between intrinsic motivation, purpose in life, and psychological well-being has been supported, research has yet to explore the relationship between extrinsic motivation, purpose in life, and psychological well-being …

Healing Hands: J. R. R. Tolkien’S Germanic Understanding Of Medicine And Monarchy, Elizabeth Lucas

Honors Theses

In The Lord of the Rings, J. R. R. Tolkien uses Aragorn’s healing abilities to solidify his identity as the rightful king. While it is made clear that this ability to heal is a sign of kingship, it is never clarified from where this belief arose. There is no other lore in The Lord of the Rings, The Appendices, or in The Silmarillion to suggest that healing hands were at all common among the kings of Númenor, Arnor, or Gondor, so the rhyme remembered by the old wife in the House of Healing may be surprising. Aragorn’s abilities, however, do …

The Modulation Of Interleukin-4-Induced Immune Responses By Prostaglandin D2 And Its Glyceryl Ester, Hannah Scheaffer

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Development Of A Novel Chemical Timer, Mitchell Harvey

Honors Theses

The goal of this thesis is to develop a chemical timer for Chem-E Car (Chemical Engineering Car), that is as inherently safe as possible. Chem-E Car is an undergraduate competition held at the regional and national conferences of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers that, “increases awareness of the chemical engineering discipline among the public, industry leaders, educators, and other students” (“Chem-E-Car Competition,” 2020). Students are tasked to build a shoebox sized car powered and stopped by chemical reactions and this car must travel a distance between fifteen and thirty meters in under two minutes. Teams are scored on traveling …

Transit-Oriented Inclusionary Mixed-Use Development, Sarah Hoing

Honors Theses

The focus of this project is to resolve several lacking aspects that currently plague the city of Jackson. First and foremost, the city needs more affordable housing so that life and cash flow are infused back into the city. Secondly, downtown Jackson is a food desert. Current residents must travel miles in order to acquire basic necessities because there are no in-city grocers. And lastly, the lack of inner-city residents has made the current public transit system an underutilized financial burden. Through the creation of inclusionary housing units and an accessible grocery market, sited in close proximity to Jackson’s Union …

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

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Designing An Urban Funeral Home In Downton Jackson, Matthew Murphy

Honors Theses

Humans have been dealing with death since the beginning of time. More specifically, architects, artisans, designers, and engineers throughout the ages have had to create structures to handle the practical and emotional processes associated with saying goodbye to members of their societies. While not always a welcome subject to discuss, death and mourning are very real in everyone’s lives, and these facts must be addressed thoughtfully by a new generation of designers to accommodate the needs of today’s society more fully and appropriately. This programming document seeks to look at a wide array of practices, projects, and people that will …

Neurodiversity And Online Communities: Why They Matter, Laura Ingouf

Honors Theses

Neurodiversity is an approach that accepts and embraces neurological differences as a natural variation, and neurodivergent people are those whose brains work differently from what is considered the norm by society. This thesis examines the impact of online neurodivergent communities on the neurodivergent people that participate in them through the use of a qualitative online survey distributed via Twitter and Mastodon, a decentralized Twitter alternative. It is informed by the researcher’s experience as a neurodivergent person in these online communities and analyzes the functions that these online communities serve for the neurodivergent people who participate in them and how this …

College Football Recruiting And The Correlation To Success, Bryce Mclaughlin

Honors Theses

This research paper will explore the recruiting aspect of college football and its importance regarding the overall success of the team. The introduction will inform the reader of the recruiting aspect of college football and the basics of the recruiting world. Following this will be a section discussing schools within the Power Five conferences (more specifically the Big Twelve, Pacific-12 Conference, and the Southeastern Conference) including their recruiting budgets that lead to fruitful results based on the talented recruits that they pull in. After an examination of these schools, the following section will discuss schools in the Group of Five …

Cultivation Effects From Television Crime Dramas To Forensic Practices, Stephanie P. Mobley

Honors Theses

Television and its effects have been frequently studied due to the prevalence of television in today’s society. Cultivation theory examines these effects by claiming that people’s perceptions of the real world are shaped by the social reality portrayed on television. This paper used this theory to examine a link between college student’s viewership of television crime dramas and their opinions about forensic practices. It used quantitative survey questions and previous research to come to conclusions for the research questions. The three research questions asked whether frequent viewing of crime dramas cultivated false beliefs about three forensic practices, (fingerprint analysis, polygraph …

Dijkstra’S Pathfinder, Taylor F. Malamut

Honors Theses

Dijkstra’s algorithm has been widely studied and applied since it was first published in 1959. This research shows that Dijkstra’s algorithm can be used to find the shortest path between two stations on the Washington D.C. Metro. After exploring different types of research and applying Dijkstra’s algorithm, it was found that the algorithm will always yield the shortest path, even if visually a shorter path was initially expected.

The Role Of Social Support During Injury Recovery, Rehabilitation, And Return To Play, Lindsey N. Rehmer

Honors Theses

Social support is a multidimensional construct (Arvinen-Barrow & Pack, 2013), primarily consisting of three different types of support: emotional support, informational support, and tangible support (Stowe, 2015). While the athletes are the ones who receive and perceive the effectiveness of the social support, those who give the social support can come in a wide variety of people (Yang, et. al., 2010). Previous research on male versus female athletes show very small differences (Stowe, 2015). Social support is key during the returning to competition phase following an injury (Fernandes, et al, 2014). Despite previous research in the field, there remain limitations …

How Music Therapy Affects The Development Of Children With Autism, Bailey C. Sweet

Honors Theses

How does music therapy affect students with Autism and their development? Music therapy is not a very popular field of work, often times people forget or do not acknowledge its existence as a professional career and underappreciate the value it holds. Music therapy helps patients with all different disabilities. The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of music therapy on children with autism. There are so many positive effects and numerous proven strategies that improve social skills and alleviate impairments that allow for people with Autism to gain knowledge and abilities to allow them to live more …

How Power Creates Alteration Among Communication For Members Within A Greek Letter Sorority, Kelsey M. Kopec

Honors Theses

This study aims to address whether or not communication is altered due to hierarchical or seniority status within an all-female base organization such as a sorority. Prior to doing this research, I predicted that the outcome would result in negative alterations within communication. Using a survey method, I was able to obtain 90 participants within female based, National Panhellenic sororities nationwide. Overall, I found that there was more of a positive shift in communication between members who are in power positions, to those that are not.

An Exploration Of Case Studies Surrounding The Accounting Environment, Kaitlin Elizabeth Haines

Honors Theses

I formulated my thesis throughout my yearlong Accounting 420 and 421 class, an exclusive class for accounting majors in the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College. Throughout the year we were assigned eleven different cases to complete, ranging from interviews, certifications, and in-depth case competitions.

Each case was selected to teach us a new accounting topic for the week. Our knowledge expanded by using real companies and financial statements, to prepare us for the future.

Instead of defending my thesis to the Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College, the class competed in two case competitions with Big 4 accounting firms. This unique …

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 …