Digital Commons Network^™

Documenting A Personal And National History: Echoes Of The Urban-Rural Divide In The Works Of Helga Gamboa, Sonja Gelin

Honors Theses

This paper analyzes a series of vessels created by artist Helga Gamboa from 2003-2008. Gamboa, an Angolan artist, based in the United Kingdom, uses her work to recount the experiences of rural women during the Angolan Civil War (1975-2002) and her own experience growing up in the capital during the final years of the Salazar-Caetano regime. Gamboa’s syncretic approach incorporates European tin-glazing and indigenous African hand-building techniques. Early Modern Portuguese and traditional Southern Angolan material culture also guide the artist. The resulting works document a lasting urban-rural divide among Angolan women, dating back to colonial policy, liberation struggles, and civil …

What's In A Name? An Assessment Of Degradation Of Women In The Name Of Climbing Routes, Raiza Barahona

Honors Theses

Gendered behavior is reinforced at an early age. In media, women are usually portrayed following gender stereotypical behaviors and are often sexualized, meaning that their worth is often determined by their body shape and clothing type and as such women are often wearing revealing clothing, following gender stereotypical behaviors, and portraying unrealistic body proportions (e.g., Gentlemen’s Quarterly Magazine; Collins, 2011). The representation of women in climbing media is similar to that of the general media. The present study focused on route names within the climbing community and presents a qualitative analysis on the sexism and other derogatory (i.e., overtly sexual) …

Global Privacy Concerns Of Facial Recognition Big Data, Myranda Westbrook

Honors Theses

Facial recognition technology is a system of automatic acknowledgement that recognizes individuals by categorizing specific features of their facial structure to link the scanned information to stored data. Within the past few decades facial recognition technology has been implemented on a large scale to increase the security measures needed to access personal information. This has been specifically used in surveillance systems, social media platforms, and mobile device access control. The extensive use of facial recognition systems has created challenges as it relates to biometric information control and privacy concerns. This concern raises the cost and benefit analysis of an individual’s …

Politicized Prayer: How Thoughts And Prayers Hinder Gun Legislation, Hope Cody

Honors Theses

Thoughts and prayers are a strategic rhetorical tool, rather than a religious sentiment, when it comes to gun reform in the US. I confirm my three hypotheses: that the rhetorical use of thoughts and prayers do rise sharply after a mass shooting, that the use is centered in the gun rights coalition, and the use of thoughts and prayers is intentional. This establishes a direct link between the sending of thoughts and prayers and the lack of measurable gun reform laws in the United States.

The Design And Validation Of A Qpcr-Based Approach To Cell Quantification Of Fungal-Algal Symbioses, Isabelle Katherine Garlotte

Honors Theses

Symbiotic relationships are extremely common in virtually all species. These relationships between organisms, particularly mutualistic symbioses, can have an incredibly large impact and can greatly affect the evolution of the species involved. Of particular interest is the suspected mutualistic relationship between green algae and fungi that may hold key evidence of how terrestrial plants evolved. In this experiment we established a method of quantifying the cells of each species involved in these symbioses through qPCR analysis to determine if the relationships are truly mutualistic. We developed a system for using DNA copies as a proxy for cell count in co-cultures …

Search For Antibiotic-Producing Microorganisms In Sites Affected By Acid Mine Drainage, Hannah A. Bussell

Honors Theses

Antibiotic resistance in bacteria are an escalating problem. Little is known about the potential of microorganisms in sites affected by acid mine drainage (AMD) to be sources of new antibiotics. Sediments from AMD sites in Letcher County, Kentucky, were collected and microorganisms isolated. These samples were screened for their capacity to produce antimicrobial compounds active against known bacteria E. coli and S. aureus. The results showed no antimicrobial activity. This could be due to sample death, incorrect pH of media, or antibiotic resistance already present in the AMD site.

Lyme Disease In Kentucky: Prevalence, Awareness, And Diagnosis In A Conventionally Low-Endemic Area, Rachel L. Carden Ots

Honors Theses

Lyme Disease is the fastest-growing vector-borne illness in the United States – including in low-endemic states, such as Kentucky; given Kentucky’s low Lyme disease incidence in prior decades, it has since experienced an increase of cases despite a lack of discussion on the condition and its implications on patient health and wellbeing. To measure current levels of knowledge and awareness of Lyme disease in Kentucky residents, a survey was distributed to Microbiology and Honors Program students at Eastern Kentucky University, and its results were discussed. While Lyme disease cases do continue to rise, the general public of Kentucky lacks in …

Button Box: An Exploration Of Matriarchy And Material, Rozlin Opolka

Honors Theses

Rozlin Opolka’s Lee Honors College Thesis was completed in November 2020. Committee consisted of Vince Torano (thesis chair), Cat Crotchett, and Patrick Wilson. The thesis took form in a visual arts exhibition exploring the relationship of the artmaking material to the concept of matriarchy. The specific material explored in this exhibition is buttons. When the rich historical connotation of buttons paired with the personal aspect of the collection process of buttons in the artists own family the thesis came about in three large scale artworks. The following artist statement will detail the process and conceptual importance of combining buttons as …

Use Of Nanotechnology And Phytochemical Approaches To Investigate Boar Spermatozoa, Robyn E. Hadden

Honors Theses

Mass semen production for genetic conservation and large commercialization is considerably limited in the swine industry. Boar semen have specific features that prevent mid- and long-term preservation in cooling and freezing extenders, respectively. The success of long-term semen preservation in liquid nitrogen following deep-freezing, also known as cryopreservation, is drastically limited in swine farms. Meanwhile, the preservation of chilled extended boar semen has limitations due to the progressive decrease of sperm fertility potential during storage. With the ultimate goal of producing high quality semen for larger distribution, there is a need to investigate novel approaches to improve boar semen quality, …

Optimization Of Cation Exchange Chromatography Purification Of A Small Peptide: An Industrial And Practical Approach, Jamin Willoughby

Honors Theses

Ion exchange chromatography (IEX) is a common chemical separation technique that is used to separate ionizable target molecules from a liquid mixture mobile phase by adsorption of the molecule to a stationary phase. In chromatography, the stationary phase is a porous solid that the target molecule and mobile phase flows through, and is commonly referred to as the resin. Resins are commonly packed into hollow cylindrical columns. The mobile phase is the liquid solvent which flows through the column containing the stationary phase. The target molecule will have an affinity for the resin and adsorb to it, while impurities in …

“What Did You Say To Me?” – Social Feedback, Body Image, & Eating Disorders In Modern Day Society, Caitlin N. Mehs

Honors Theses

Eating disorders are one of the most lethal psychological disorders and need further insight into how they are developed. After an extensive literature review, I am proposing that social feedback influences body image, and body image influences eating disorders. It was predicted that there will be a strong, positive correlation between body image (as measured by body dissatisfaction) and eating disorders. It was also predicted that there will be a strong, positive correlation between social feedback and body image. A meta-analysis was conducted to determine the correlation between body image and eating disorders, yielding a moderately strong, positive correlation ( …

Booked Up: An Appalachian Graphic Novel, Brandi K. Mills

Honors Theses

Booked Up is a graphic novel detailing a young Appalachian girl's life as a big sister with a maternal role, escapism through books, and desire to win a writing competition that can help her reach her goal of attending college.

Quantification Of Neurite Degeneration Through Use Of An Optimized And Automated Method, Lauren Fuller

Honors Theses

Neurite degeneration is a cellular dysfunction commonly associated with neurodegenerative pathologies such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease (PD). One common method of scoring neurite degeneration in micrographs involves calculation of a degeneration index (DI) using neurite fragment measurements obtained via the particle analyzer plugin of FIJI software. However, this method can be time consuming and subject to inaccuracies related to inadequate contrast. Here we describe a modified method for performing DI measurements with enhanced efficiency, accessibility, and accuracy compared to existing techniques. We developed a macro to automate the analysis process, enabling rapid and objective measurements of multiple images. …

Incorporating Diverse Literature Into The Middle Grades Classroom, Katheryn A. Heinrich

Honors Theses

In the field of education, we know from existing research that the literature students are exposed to has an impact on how they view themselves as students, as people, and as citizens of the society in which they live. It can have a lasting impact on their success in school, in work, and in their relationships with others. However, almost all research also shows that it’s not just about which books are taught, but how they are taught. For this project, I have designed a series of unit plans that can be used as a tool for any middle grades …

Treating The Trauma: Evaluating The Perceived Effectiveness Of Narrative Therapy On Individuals Who Have Experienced Trauma, Emily Faith

Honors Theses

Abstract

Narrative therapy (NT) has been utilized by many clinicians and found to be effective as an intervention with clients facing a wide range of issues. Focusing on one’s narrative has been given attention in many academic disciplines (e.g., social sciences, humanities and healthcare) and especially among popular written media and academic journals. Despite this attention and the various studies on its efficacy, there is a lack of research on client and non-client perceptions of this therapy. This ethnographic study’s purpose was to compare the perceived effectiveness of the NT between those who had previously participated in narrative therapy and …

Slipping Through The Cracks: Addressing Mental Health Needs Of Students In The K-12 Classroom, Emily H. Kerr

Honors Theses

Mental health illnesses have become more prevalent over the past 20 years. With this increase in mental health disorders, schools have failed to provide students with the necessary support and resources needed for them to be successful in the classroom. The objective of this study is to highlight the prevalence of mental health illnesses and give insight to strategies that can be implemented by the school system in order to give every child the opportunity to be successful. This study focuses on adolescents with anxiety and/or depression. Research has been conducted to identify the increase in cases of mental health …

Food Insecurity In Mississippi: Examining The Relationship Between Food Insecurity And Race, Cady Cooper

Honors Theses

The relationship between food insecurity and race is examined in this thesis. The author analyzes the history and background of food and race in Mississippi to bring about a recommendation to change policy. An analysis of USDA data as well as a spatial analysis was used as the primary method for investigating the relationship between race and food insecurity in Mississippi. The findings indicate that, in the urban setting, at ½ mile, 61% of whites are food insecure, and in the urban setting, at the 1 mile, 64% of whites are food insecure. In urban settings, the White population of …

Sealds: A Quantitative Content Analysis Of #Donttrashyourvote On Twitter, Viviek Patel

Honors Theses

Public relations research has slowly integrated with the study of advocacy organizations, but little research has integrated this and social movements. Using the pyramid model of mobilization-driven relationship-building social media based advocacy, this study employed a quantitative content analysis to examine the prevalence of previously identified communicative functions in social media messages by SEALDs. Unlike previous research on advocacy and health organizations, action messages were the most common. This study also investigated the influence of message type on audience engagement through retweets. The results indicate that information tweets had the most retweets. This study also analyzed how social movements recruit …

A Meta-Analysis Of The Human Uses Of Pteridophytic Species In Tennessee, Diana Sevier

Honors Theses

Pteridophytes are an ancient lineage of plants, composed of ferns and fern allies, which are spread across the globe. There is also a long record of humans using pteridophytes to their benefit, which includes the broad categories of medicine, ornamentation, food, phytoremediation, and agriculture. Understanding these concepts, the goal of this thesis was to conduct a meta-analysis which pulled together data from many resources on the 94 Tennessee pteridophyte species to create a repository of human use information, as well as to examine, analyze, and comment on the trends present within and between taxonomic groups of pteridophytes. The methods used …

A Retrospective Investigation Of Racial-Ethnic Socialization, Adeola Ijiyode

Honors Theses

Racial and ethnic socialization is the way in which parents teach their children about race and ethnicity and it occurs in all families in varying forms. Unlike many white families, those of racial minorities tend to take an approach that makes their children aware of their race and its social implications. The present research project investigated the racial-ethnic socialization methods of Americans from varying racial and ethnic backgrounds to identify similarities and differences. This research analyzed the surveys of 52 parents and 32 nonparents in order to examine generational similarities and differences of race talk. Parents of color were more …

Building Professional Development Through The Research Of Financial Accounting, Amanda Starrett

Honors Theses

The following work is compiled from twelve cases assigned by Dr. Victoria Dickinson over the course of an academic year. The program used in creating this work was designed to enhance students’ professionalism and enhance their exposure to real world examples of accounting methods. Each case provided different outlooks on accounting standards and provided the opportunity to examine specific issues regarding financial statements. Public accountants face a wide variety of problems when working with clients; learning from real world situations, students are able to create a better understanding of what challenges may await them in their future careers. By the …

Informational And Normative Influences In Youth Sport, Hannah Von Zup

Honors Theses

It is widely accepted that participation in youth sport has abundant benefits. These include improving overall fitness, higher self-esteem, and socialization with others. In a 2014 study on those between the ages of six to 18, 27 million reported participating in team sports, and 60 million reported participating in any form of organized athletics within the United States (DiFiore et al.). Sports are an enormous part of American society and a great pastime for viewers and players alike. Most athletes report starting their sport at an early age, and many adults claim some of their best memories are from their …

International News From Differing National Perspectives: Spanish-Speaking Newspaper Coverage Of The 2019 Venezuelan Presidential Crisis Protests, Lauren Lalonde

Honors Theses

On January 23, 2019, the streets of Venezuela became flooded with protests in response to the head of Venezuela’s National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, announcing his claim to the Venezuelan presidency. The protests were largely in support of his announcement, though some supported Nicolás Maduro, the president of Venezuela since 2013. This day marked the beginning of the Venezuelan presidential crisis, which left Venezuela, and the world, debating the legitimacy of each leader. This investigation focuses on how Spanish-language news sources from three different countries reported on the protests surrounding the Venezuelan presidential crisis on January 23, 2019, and how the …

Board Gender Diversity, Esg, And Corporate Performance, Novena Sutiono

Honors Theses

No abstract available.

White Supremacy Culture And Capitalism As Co-Dependent Systems Of Oppression, Allegra Kistler Ellis

Honors Theses

This thesis seeks to discuss questions surrounding the intricacies and intertwining narratives of white supremacy culture and capitalism, and other systems of oppression that they fuel. For my research, I intentionally used anecdotes, essays, poems, books, and social media posts by primarily queer, trans, Black and Indigenous women and femmes. In doing so, I delve into the inherent relationship between whiteness, white exploitative institutions, and power. I discuss the history of the two systems of oppression in the United States through analyzing pillars and characteristics of white supremacy culture and capitalism, western colonized science and research, sexism, white feminism, fatphobia, …

High-Efficiency Transformation Of Yeast By Electroporation, Lilly Ruell

Honors Theses

This paper analyzes and optimizes efficiency in the yeast transformation protocol using electroporation. Three variables were tested for optimization, they are the following: DNA concentration, cell density and electroporation voltage. Further verification of transformation was done through the analyzation of HPLC data to ensure protein production. The results conclude that DNA concentration was the most important dependent variable for transformation efficiency. A voltage of 2000V is the optimal condition to achieve efficient yeast transformation. Cell density had no observational difference in transformation efficiency at the range of DNA concentration necessary for research use. Improving this efficiency of the yeast transformations …

The Evolution Of The Slave Trade In South-East Asia, Rosanna Pathmanathan

Honors Theses

Modern slavery has managed to persist through the 21^st century as it has shape-shifted into new occupations and various forms of entrapments. However, my research will prove that despite its seemingly different situations, multitudes of modern industries continue to employ harsh and unfair working conditions which utilize labor laws that restrict protections for employees. To fully comprehend how these new-age jobs are in fact new forms of old-age slavery, it is paramount to look into past forms of enslavement – primarily looking into Columbus’ discovery of Hispaniola and the Atlantic Slave Trade. To aid us easing into modern-day enslavement, …

Out Of The Darkness: Identifying Solutions For The Catholic Diocese Of Dallas Amidst Child Sexual Abuse By Clergy, Alee Corrales

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.

Impact Of Denial Of Sexual Offenses On Sentencing And Treatment Strategies, Jenna Luallen

Honors Theses

The prevalence of sexual offenses calls for a reevaluation of how the system treats offenders and addresses indicators of risk. How an individual convicted of a sexual offense accepts or denies the assault can weigh heavily on the sanctions imposed upon them, and how the system processes the offender. Acceptance of guilt is an important goal in offender treatment programs, and denial is reportedly used as an indicator of high risk of recidivism. Deeper examination into how individuals who deny their offense are understood and processed throughout treatment aids in the identification of best practices for working with sex offender …

Phenotypic Analysis Of S. Aureus Strains From University Student Health Centers And Environmental Controls, Antonio Teixeira

Honors Theses

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a group of pathogenic bacterial strains resistant to a class of antibiotics that is a major cause for concern in health care systems. There is a lack of study in whether health care centers are reservoirs for these bacteria, especially within developed countries. Five environmental swab samples were collected from five different university health care centers across the region, and 16 swab samples from a general university environment. Any isolated bacterial strains collected underwent five biochemical tests (mannitol fermentation, DNase activity, oxidase activity, catalase activity, and coagulase activity) to preliminarily identify S. aureus bacteria. 24% …